The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

This is one of the 743 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
416 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
234 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
804 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
143 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1874 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
975 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
915 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
412 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
624 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
189 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
343 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
789 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
1211 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
3906 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3133 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
138 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
1887 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
467 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
697 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
163 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
690 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
952 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
2094 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2125 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
8692 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
1237 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
1322 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
456 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
947 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
4255 A Morbid Taste For Bones Ellis Peters 1977 British English
8733 The Leper Of Saint Giles Ellis Peters 1981 British English
1268 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
142 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
1719 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1490 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
8159 A Demon In My View Ruth Rendell 1976 British English
2327 The Devil In Velvet John Dickson Carr 1951 American English
1737 A Fatal Inversion Barbara Vine 1987 British English
5571 The Journeying Boy Michael Innes 1949 British English
2903 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
2790 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
6340 My Brother Michael Mary Stewart 1959 British English
9980 Bertie And The Tin Man Peter Lovesey 1987 British English
9334 Penny Black Susan Moody 1984 British English
9198 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9201 The Danger Dick Francis 1983 British English
8944 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
10194 Underworld Reginald Hill 1988 British English
1201 Nine Coaches Waiting Mary Stewart 1958 British English
8415 A Running Duck Paula Gosling 1978 American English
1906 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
6588 The Rose Of Tibet Lionel Davidson 1962 British English
8701 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
2085 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
3453 Hamlet, Revenge! Michael Innes 1937 British English
5293 A Thief Of Time Tony Hillerman 1988 American English
2845 A Bullet In The Ballet Caryl Brahms &S. J. Simon 1937 British English
9230 Deadheads Reginald Hill 1983 British English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
7585 The Labyrinth Makers Anthony Price 1970 British English
6841 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall 1965 British English
1152 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
9662 The Shortest Way To Hades Sarah Caudwell 1985 British English
7594 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
8889 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
10045 The Killings At Badger's Drift Caroline Graham 1987 British English
1511 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1092 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
5361 Death Comes As The End Agatha Christie 1944 British English
3623 Green For Danger Christianna Brand 1944 British English
3551 Tragedy At Law Cyril Hare 1942 British English
1634 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
6165 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
8235 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
1706 The Guns Of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 British English
6275 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
1523 Greenmantle John Buchan 1916 British English
831 Riddle of the Sands Erskine Childers 1903 British English
3398 Wobble To Death Peter Lovesey 1970 British English
536 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
8729 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
6223 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
8730 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English
10048 What Bloody Man Is That? Simon Brett 1987 British English
6923 Shooting Script Gavin Lyall 1966 British English
1938 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English