The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Crime Writers' Association, 100 Books

The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time is a list published in book form in 1990 by the British-based Crime Writers' Association.

How many people potentially voted?
“800 members” (2020 figure on CWA history page; still quoted today)

How did they vote?
Each member listed five favorite titles in each of ten sub-genres (Golden Age, Hard-boiled, Espionage, etc.); the 100 highest vote-getters—regardless of category—became the master list.

The voter identities are unknown.

This list was originally published in 1990 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
419 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
805 Gaudy Night Dorothy L. Sayers 1935 British English
251 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
393 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
142 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
976 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
916 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
191 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
344 The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 British English
205 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
497 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
1214 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
3912 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3138 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
1888 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
698 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
953 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
2099 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2135 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
8710 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
1240 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
1324 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
948 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
4261 A Morbid Taste For Bones Ellis Peters 1977 British English
8750 The Leper Of Saint Giles Ellis Peters 1981 British English
1268 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1491 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
8175 A Demon In My View Ruth Rendell 1976 British English
2333 The Devil In Velvet John Dickson Carr 1951 American English
1739 A Fatal Inversion Barbara Vine 1987 British English
5579 The Journeying Boy Michael Innes 1949 British English
2909 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
2794 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
6351 My Brother Michael Mary Stewart 1959 British English
9998 Bertie And The Tin Man Peter Lovesey 1987 British English
9353 Penny Black Susan Moody 1984 British English
9217 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9220 The Danger Dick Francis 1983 British English
8960 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
10215 Underworld Reginald Hill 1988 British English
1203 Nine Coaches Waiting Mary Stewart 1958 British English
8434 A Running Duck Paula Gosling 1978 American English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
6602 The Rose Of Tibet Lionel Davidson 1962 British English
8719 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
2090 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
3457 Hamlet, Revenge! Michael Innes 1937 British English
5302 A Thief Of Time Tony Hillerman 1988 American English
2852 A Bullet In The Ballet Caryl Brahms &S. J. Simon 1937 British English
9249 Deadheads Reginald Hill 1983 British English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
7601 The Labyrinth Makers Anthony Price 1970 British English
6852 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall 1965 British English
1153 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
9681 The Shortest Way To Hades Sarah Caudwell 1985 British English
7610 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
8906 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
10062 The Killings At Badger's Drift Caroline Graham 1987 British English
1512 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
5370 Death Comes As The End Agatha Christie 1944 British English
3628 Green For Danger Christianna Brand 1944 British English
3555 Tragedy At Law Cyril Hare 1942 British English
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
6175 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
8251 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
1708 The Guns Of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 British English
6286 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
1524 Greenmantle John Buchan 1916 British English
831 Riddle of the Sands Erskine Childers 1903 British English
3403 Wobble To Death Peter Lovesey 1970 British English
536 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
8746 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
6233 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
8747 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English
10065 What Bloody Man Is That? Simon Brett 1987 British English
6934 Shooting Script Gavin Lyall 1966 British English
1940 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English