--- description: Find out why 'Miracle Creek' by Angie Kim made the list. title: Miracle Creek: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9825395a216713e/698a407316d8845991c3c3c3/MiracleCreek.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 03, 2023 # Miracle Creek by Angie Kim by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Angie Kim’s 2019 Edgar Award-winning debut takes the typical courtroom drama and amps up the tension. After a mysterious explosion at an experimental medical facility kills two patients, a small-town community seeks out someone to blame. As the murder trial moves forward, secrets and lies float to the surface, leaving the reader to sift through testimonies and consider all the evidence before Kim’s quick-paced page-turner comes to a close. The author inadvertently researched her book years before writing it. When her son was two, [she tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy](https://www.vogue.com/article/angie-kim-hbot-treatment "undefined"), or HBOT, to alleviate the symptoms of his ulcerative colitis, among other medical issues; in _Miracle Creek_, she set fire to a fictional HBOT pressurized chamber. One of TIME’s[ must-read books of 2019](https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2019/5724527/miracle-creek/ "undefined"), _Miracle Creek_, which [was influenced by Dennis Lehane’s _Mystic River_](https://www.vulture.com/article/angie-kim-mystic-river-miracle-creek.html "undefined"), is part murder mystery and part psychological study. Kim weaves together a legal case, an immigrant story, and a parent’s psyche into a deeply satisfying saga that shifts between different perspectives, offering readers conflicting evidence—and a chance to close the case themselves. —_Meg Zukin_ --- ### More from TIME --- **Buy Now:** _Miracle Creek_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781250251305 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/45xCJLp "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/"},"headline":"Miracle Creek","datePublished":"2023-10-03T12:01:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:21:22.618Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9825395a216713e/698a407316d8845991c3c3c3/MiracleCreek.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9825395a216713e/698a407316d8845991c3c3c3/MiracleCreek.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/","name":"Miracle Creek"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How We Chose the 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time","description":"Here's how TIME created its 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books list. There are books from 15 different countries, and no author appears on the list more than once.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNzuDcsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-02T16:54:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNzuDcsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309246/miracle-creek-angie-kim/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```