The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time

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

About this list

Mystery Writers of America, 100 Books

Not to be outdone by the British Crime Writers' Association - Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time, the Mystery Writers of America came up with their list five years later.

who voted?
“more than 3,000 members” (MWA Florida Chapter membership page)

How did they vote?
Each member listed five favorite titles and the 100 highest vote-getters became the master list.

The names of the voters are not listed

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
205 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
142 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
419 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
1491 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
393 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
191 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
5717 Anatomy Of A Murder Robert Traver 1958 American English
251 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
242 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
805 Gaudy Night Dorothy L. Sayers 1935 British English
4674 The Witness For The Prosecution Agatha Christie 1925 British English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
344 The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 British English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
11 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
1494 Eye Of The Needle Ken Follett 1978 British English
8218 Rumpole Of The Bailey John Mortimer 1978 British English
1001 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
6192 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
660 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
953 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
1193 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
2090 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
5007 Dance Hall Of The Dead Tony Hillerman 1973 American English
2157 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
536 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
2734 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
423 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
2483 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
3494 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3545 I, The Jury Mickey Spillane 1947 American English
1275 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
7706 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
3322 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
7630 A Is For Alibi Sue Grafton 1982 American English
3462 The First Deadly Sin Lawrence Sanders 1973 American English
5302 A Thief Of Time Tony Hillerman 1988 American English
109 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
976 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
497 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
2284 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
1310 Our Man In Havana Graham Greene 1958 British English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
3404 Wobble To Death Peter Lovesey 1970 British English
2839 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
6405 The Seven Per Cent Solution Nicholas Meyer 1974 American English
6833 The Doorbell Rang Rex Stout 1965 American English
7840 Stick Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
7841 The Little Drummer Girl John le Carré 1983 British English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
1214 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
3471 Little Caesar W. R. Burnett 1929 American English
1503 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
5148 Clouds Of Witness Dorothy L. Sayers 1926 British English
2099 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
1153 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
8155 Crocodile On The Sandbank Elizabeth Peters 1975 American English
7715 Shroud For A Nightingale P. D. James 1971 British English
1048 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
8498 Chinaman's Chance Ross Thomas 1978 American English
470 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
8002 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
698 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
1324 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
4111 Brat Farrar Josephine Tey 1949 British English
1105 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
8159 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
7014 God Save The Mark Donald E. Westlake 1967 American English
2142 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
9093 Prizzi's Honor Richard Condon 1982 American English
6149 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
1676 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
894 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
4261 A Morbid Taste For Bones Ellis Peters 1977 British English