10 Car Racing Mystery Books That Will Make Your Heart Race

The first in top-notch mystery series featuring female race driver Kate Reilly. Eager to get a spot on a team for the American Le Mans races, the ambitious Reilly finds herself slipping into the driving seat of a dead man, literally.

It transpires that the driver in question has been murdered and since Kate has the motive, she’s soon the chief suspect. \

Combining driving at over 200mph with trying to find a killer to save yourself from a prison sentence is the sort of stress most people can live without, but Kate has no choice, if she wants to survive.

British writer Cecil Street was one of the busiest authors of the Golden Age of Detective fiction writing hundreds of mysteries under a variety of pen names.

As John Rhode he penned seventy-two novels featuring ace criminologist Dr Lancelot Priestley, thought by many to be the natural heir to Dr John Thorndyke. This 1933 outing (published in the US as Dr Priestley Lays a Trap) is considered to be one of Rhode’s best.

Priestley is called in by Scotland Yard to investigate the mysterious crash that killed a driver and navigator during an arduous 1000-mile stretch of Britain’s RAC Rally (a real event).

Taking nothing for granted, the doughty doctor retraces the entire route, collecting evidence as he goes until he is finally in a position to reveal the killer. 

The third cozy mystery in Parin’s much loved 1920s-set Evie Parker series. Busy socialite Evie seeks to avoid a garrulous former friend with a shiny new husband by joining a car rally.

Unfortunately for everyone’s favorite flapper-sleuth, the peace and quiet she’s craving proves elusive. The motor race turns murderous.

Trapped in an isolated village with a cast of upper-crust suspects, Evie, and bodyguard, Tom Winchester find themselves helping Scotland Yard’s Inspector O’Neill investigate the killing, which may be connected to a sinister drug smuggling ring using the car rally as cover.

Book nine in Walker’s charming series set in France’s Dordogne region and featuring rumpled village cop Benoit “Bruno” Courreges. In his typically atmospheric outing the amiable, food-loving French detective finds himself enlisted as the navigator in a car rally.

If Bruno thinks he’s getting away from his day job, however, he’s in for a crashing disappointment. Soon two car fanatics have been murdered and Chief of Police Bruno is on the case.

At the center of the crimes lies a true-life mystery – the whereabouts of the “fourth” Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic. Hailed as the most beautiful car in history only four were ever built, three are in the hands of collectors, and the other disappeared without trace during World War Two.

Valued at around $ 40 million, it’s the sort of car people will kill over—as Bruno discovers.

Female Formula One driver Stacy James is having problems with a stalker. There are scary phone calls, threats, and eerie photos.

Then Stacy’s body double Gemma is shot while standing on the podium following the Hungarian Grand Prix and things begin to spiral out of control. With the police baffled and everybody around her a potential suspect, Stacy calls in personal security specialist Jason Hunter.

He’s a nice guy with two small children, but is he up to the task of keeping her safe while simultaneously catching her killer?

The first in a series of three mystery thrillers featuring ex-Royal Marine turned corporate intelligence director Matt Straker. The Ptarmigan Formula One team is racing in Monaco when the car of top driver Remy Sabotini is sabotaged and a teammate dies as a result.

As the action roars around the globe with the glamorous high-octane F1 circus, Straker tries to discover who is behind the crime and whether it is just about who wins the F1 title, or about something far, far bigger than that. 

Former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is a big Matt Straker fan.

Described as “Dick Francis on Wheels” by former F1 World Champion Jackie Stewart, Judd penned a series of thrillers set in the world of auto racing.

Written in 1993, this was his first foray into mystery fiction. It’s a genuine page-turner that begins with a fatal crash on the Suzuka circuit in Japan and concludes at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.

In between times, world-weary ex-F1 driver Forrest Evers finds himself reluctantly lured back into the sport he left behind as he attempts to unravel the mystery of the death in Japan and unmask the man behind it.

And all the while he’s battling for survival on the world’s most hazardous circuits.

Scottish author Alistair MacLean sold over 150 million books during a career that spanned the four decades following the end of World War Two.

Best known for Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra, MacLean ventured into the glitzy world of Grand Prix racing with this smash hit from 1973. F1 star Johnny Harlow appears to be on the way out.

A series of crashes have killed friends and rivals. It looks like his nerve is shot and he’s drinking hard. However, Harlow’s hinky behavior is all a charade.

He’s playing a part in the hope of uncovering what is really behind the so-called accidents that are blighting the season.

Former UK crime reporter Benjamin moved to Bologna with his Italian wife and has made the “Red City” the setting for a series of excellent detective novels featuring English PI Daniel Leicester.

This, the fifth in the series, sees Leicester called in at the bequest of a deceased local. The dead man wants a more thorough investigation of the death of his son, a successful Formula One driver, than the police have provided.

The acerbic Leicester follows a trail that leads to one of Bologna’s wealthiest families and to the star-studded VIP areas of the Imola Grand Prix circuit.

It’s a place where egotism and ruthless ambition rule, and even the champagne showers of the winning podium cannot wash away the stink of corruption.