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
98 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
102 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
138 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
150 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
170 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
179 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
185 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
186 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
194 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
212 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
230 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
234 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
239 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
263 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
301 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
338 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
341 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
380 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
451 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
452 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
469 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
471 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
478 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
522 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
559 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
569 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
575 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
577 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
580 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
607 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
617 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
620 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
638 Sanctuary William Faulkner 1931 American English
685 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
694 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
702 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
724 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
738 The Innocence of Father Brown G. K. Chesterton 1911 British English
757 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
758 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
801 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
804 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
826 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
836 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
845 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
854 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
896 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
919 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
948 The Crime of Father Amaro Eça de Queirós 1875 Portuguese Portuguese
962 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
969 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
970 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
977 The Case of Comrade Tulayev Victor Serge 1949 French French
1014 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
1026 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
1082 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1112 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1189 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
1210 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
1231 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
1238 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
1252 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1281 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1302 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1306 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
1365 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1390 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
1397 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1440 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
1450 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1462 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
1471 To Each His Own Leonardo Sciascia 1966 Italian Italian
1480 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1489 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
1556 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1586 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
1691 Odessa Stories Isaac Babel 1923 Ukrainian Russian
1796 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
1852 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
1929 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
1955 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
1974 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1999 The Robbers Friedrich Schiller 1781 German German
2010 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
2046 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
2064 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2070 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2074 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
2118 Millennium Trilogy Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
2125 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2143 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
2144 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
2158 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
2159 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
2179 A Thief Of Time Tony Hillerman 1988 American English
2199 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
2214 Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk Nikolai Leskov 1865 Russian Russian
2216 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
2255 Shantaram Gregory David Roberts 2003 Australian English
2256 A Harlot High And Low Honoré de Balzac 1839 French French
2302 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
2333 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
2338 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
2342 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
2362 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
2395 Sidetracked Henning Mankell 1995 Swedish Swedish
2399 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
2421 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
2442 Child 44 Tom Rob Smith 2008 Russian English
2459 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
2477 The Alienist Caleb Carr 1994 American English
2480 Last Seen Wearing Colin Dexter 1976 British English
2482 The Big Blowdown George P. Pelecanos 1996 American English
2483 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
2497 In The Woods Tana French 2007 Irish English
2500 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2508 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
2544 The Fifth Woman Henning Mankell 1996 Swedish Swedish
2547 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English