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
80 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
89 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
102 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
126 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
128 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
136 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
137 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
157 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
165 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
189 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
254 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
258 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
262 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
285 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
303 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
323 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
325 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
352 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
357 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
372 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
407 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
426 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
440 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
486 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
525 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
532 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
563 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
574 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
612 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
639 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
641 Sanctuary William Faulkner 1931 American English
662 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
676 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
702 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
711 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
727 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
797 The Case of Comrade Tulayev Victor Serge 1949 French French
799 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
824 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
871 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
896 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
902 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
977 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
1003 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
1015 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
1031 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
1072 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
1145 The Crime of Father Amaro Eça de Queirós 1875 Portuguese Portuguese
1149 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1157 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
1175 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
1181 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
1193 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1227 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
1233 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1248 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
1286 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1288 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
1341 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1381 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
1386 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1425 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1441 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1445 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
1473 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1480 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1480 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
1562 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1571 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1584 Odessa Stories Isaac Babel 1923 Ukrainian Russian
1588 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
1663 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1694 The Innocence of Father Brown G. K. Chesterton 1911 British English
1712 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
1753 To Each His Own Leonardo Sciascia 1966 Italian Italian
1800 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1810 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1869 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
1879 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1927 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1950 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
1951 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1954 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1957 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1958 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
1967 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1993 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
2008 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
2019 Death On The Nile Agatha Christie 1937 British English
2025 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
2038 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
2043 The Honjin Murders Seishi Yokomizo 1946 Japanese Japanese
2058 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2068 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
2068 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
2115 The Nero Wolfe Series Rex Stout 1934 American English
2154 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2157 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
2179 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English
2200 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
2237 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2243 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
2251 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
2263 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
2263 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
2399 The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle 1890 British English
2397 Diamonds Are Forever Ian Fleming 1956 British English
2399 The Murder At The Vicarage Agatha Christie 1930 British English
2552 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
2559 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2584 Last Seen Wearing Colin Dexter 1976 British English
2629 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
2669 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2734 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
2749 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
2762 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
2810 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
2828 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2864 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English