The Greatest Crime Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
5719 Anatomy Of A Murder Robert Traver 1958 American English
5739 Only Forward Michael Marshall Smith 1994 British English
5763 Sparkling Cyanide Agatha Christie 1945 British English
5763 Cotton Comes To Harlem Chester Himes 1965 American English
5763 Unnatural Causes P. D. James 1967 British English
5771 Whip Hand Dick Francis 1979 British English
5863 The New Arabian Nights Robert Louis Stevenson 1882 Scottish English
5861 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
5902 The Beggar's Opera John Gay 1728 British English
5918 Orley Farm Anthony Trollope 1862 British English
5918 The Valley Of Fear Arthur Conan Doyle 1915 British English
5930 Marathon Man William Goldman 1974 American English
5939 The Old Fox Deceiv'd Martha Grimes 1982 American English
5950 Inherent Vice Thomas Pynchon 2009 American English
5962 The Hog Murders William L. Deandrea 1979 American English
5972 The Man Who Watched The Trains Go By Georges Simenon 1938 Belgian French
5981 Chiefs Stuart Woods 1981 American English
6005 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6081 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English
6084 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6085 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
6138 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6151 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6154 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline George Saunders 1996 American English
6176 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
6195 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
6235 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
6240 Harry’s Game Gerald Seymour 1975 British English
6241 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6274 Frost At Christmas R. D. Wingfield 1984 British English
6276 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6287 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
6304 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6308 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6412 A Rich Full Death Michael Dibdin 1986 British English
6412 Live Flesh Ruth Rendell 1986 British English
6426 Cape Fear John D. MacDonald 1957 American English
6440 The Snowman Jo Nesbø 2007 Norwegian Norwegian
6472 The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987 American English
6548 A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George 1988 American English
6569 Toxic Shock Sara Paretsky 1988 American English
6583 Hardball Sara Paretsky 2009 American English
6592 A Touch Of Frost R. D. Wingfield 1987 British English
6662 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6681 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby 2020 American English
6717 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
6717 The Conjure Man Dies Rudolph Fisher 1932 American English
6717 A Man Lay Dead Ngaio Marsh 1934 New Zealander English
6717 Beat Not The Bones Charlotte Jay 1952 Australian English
6735 The Deep Blue Good By John D. MacDonald 1964 American English
6737 The Wimbledon Poisoner Nigel Williams 1990 British English
6748 De Advocaat Van De Hanen A. F. Th. van der Heijden 1990 Dutch Dutch
6767 The Common Law Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1881 American English
6789 The Investigation Stanislaw Lem 1959 Polish Polish
6833 The Doorbell Rang Rex Stout 1965 American English
6846 King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine 1991 British English
6852 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall 1965 British English
6873 The Late-night News Petros Markaris 1995 Greek Greek
6878 Galantine De Volaille Pour Dames Frivoles San-Antonio 1987 French French
6898 A City Possessed Lynley Hood 2001 New Zealand English
6938 Clear And Present Danger Tom Clancy 1989 American English
6945 A Cool Breeze On The Underground Don Winslow 1991 American English
6974 Death At La Fenice Donna Leon 1992 American English
6974 The Ice House Minette Walters 1992 British English
7000 The Gray Man Mark Greaney 2009 American English
7018 Charm School Nelson DeMille 1988 American English
7022 The Girl On The Train Paula Hawkins 2015 British English
7056 Write To Kill Daniel Pennac 1990 French Unknown
7075 The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney 2015 Irish English
7086 La Verità Sul Caso D. Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1993 Italian Italian
7086 The Crocodile Bird Ruth Rendell 1993 British English
7107 Kiss The Girls James Patterson 1995 American English
7127 Blanche Passes Go Barbara Neely 2000 American English
7127 The Redbreast Jo Nesbø 2000 Norwegian Norwegian
7137 Bury Your Dead Louise Penny 2010 Canadian English
7137 The Plotters Un-su Kim 2010 Korean Korean
7146 Dead Lagoon Michael Dibdin 1994 British English
7158 The Wager David Grann 2023 American English
7169 The Man In Lower Ten Mary Roberts Rinehart 1909 American English
7180 The Blue Tango Eoin McNamee 2001 Irish English
7194 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7198 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7204 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7206 The Shape Of Water Andrea Camilleri 1994 Italian Italian
7206 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7212 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7216 Poems Of George Crabbe George Crabbe 1807 British English
7216 The Collected Writings Of Thomas De Quincey Thomas de Quincey 1889 British English
7216 Short Novels Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
7216 Death In Silver Lester Dent 1934 American English
7216 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Horace McCoy 1948 American English
7610 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
7631 A Is For Alibi Sue Grafton 1982 American English
7630 Marks No Yama Kaoru Takamura 1993 Japanese Japanese
7692 Opernball Josef Haslinger 1995 Austrian German
7708 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7716 Shroud For A Nightingale P. D. James 1971 British English
7736 The Wanderers Richard Price 1974 American English
7741 The Ice Princess Camilla Läckberg 2003 Swedish Swedish
7779 The Cold Moon Jeffrey Deaver 2006 American English
7772 The Bad Seed William March 1954 American English
7841 Stick Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
7843 Black And Blue Ian Rankin 1997 British English
7861 The Barbarous Coast Ross Macdonald 1956 American English
7881 13 Hours Deon Meyer 2008 South African Afrikaans
7909 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7920 Mr. Mercedes Stephen King 2014 American English
7922 Small Mercies Dennis Lehane 2023 American English
7937 Absolute Power David Baldacci 1996 American English
7937 Acqua Alta Donna Leon 1996 Italian English
7937 The Keys To The Street Ruth Rendell 1996 British English
7945 The Hanging Garden Ian Rankin 1998 British English
7949 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
7961 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
7967 Saint Genet Jean Paul Sartre 1952 French French
7988 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7998 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
8003 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
8161 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8163 The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson 2006 Swedish Swedish