The Greatest Crime Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
14 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
84 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
92 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
111 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
124 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
138 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
142 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
143 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
154 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
179 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
220 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
247 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
251 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
255 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
276 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
295 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
314 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
346 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
363 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
374 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
387 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
402 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
420 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
434 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
478 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
512 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
518 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
548 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
559 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
601 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
629 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
631 Sanctuary William Faulkner 1931 American English
653 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
666 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
692 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
701 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
715 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
782 The Case of Comrade Tulayev Victor Serge 1949 French French
784 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
807 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
850 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
874 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
880 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
955 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
981 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
992 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
1010 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
1051 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
1123 The Crime of Father Amaro Eça de Queirós 1875 Portuguese Portuguese
1127 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1134 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
1152 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
1158 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
1171 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1201 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
1207 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1222 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
1258 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1260 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
1312 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1353 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
1358 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1396 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1412 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1416 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
1442 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1449 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1449 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
1530 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1538 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1549 Odessa Stories Isaac Babel 1923 Ukrainian Russian
1553 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
1630 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1661 The Innocence of Father Brown G. K. Chesterton 1911 British English
1680 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
1723 To Each His Own Leonardo Sciascia 1966 Italian Italian
1770 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1780 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1839 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
1849 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1897 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1920 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
1921 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1924 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1927 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1928 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
1937 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1962 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
1976 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
1987 Death On The Nile Agatha Christie 1937 British English
1992 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
2007 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
2012 The Honjin Murders Seishi Yokomizo 1946 Japanese Japanese
2028 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2038 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
2038 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
2085 The Nero Wolfe Series Rex Stout 1934 American English
2125 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2128 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
2152 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English
2174 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
2212 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2218 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
2226 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
2238 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
2238 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
2375 The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle 1890 British English
2375 The Murder At The Vicarage Agatha Christie 1930 British English
2516 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
2524 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2549 Last Seen Wearing Colin Dexter 1976 British English
2594 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
2635 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2702 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
2717 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
2731 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
2766 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
2784 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2818 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
2821 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English