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
5736 Only Forward Michael Marshall Smith 1994 British English
5760 Sparkling Cyanide Agatha Christie 1945 British English
5760 Cotton Comes To Harlem Chester Himes 1965 American English
5760 Unnatural Causes P. D. James 1967 British English
5768 Whip Hand Dick Francis 1979 British English
5860 The New Arabian Nights Robert Louis Stevenson 1882 Scottish English
5858 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
5899 The Beggar's Opera John Gay 1728 British English
5915 Orley Farm Anthony Trollope 1862 British English
5915 The Valley Of Fear Arthur Conan Doyle 1915 British English
5927 Marathon Man William Goldman 1974 American English
5936 The Old Fox Deceiv'd Martha Grimes 1982 American English
5947 Inherent Vice Thomas Pynchon 2009 American English
5959 The Hog Murders William L. Deandrea 1979 American English
5969 The Man Who Watched The Trains Go By Georges Simenon 1938 Belgian French
5978 Chiefs Stuart Woods 1981 American English
6002 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6078 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English
6081 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6082 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
6135 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6148 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6151 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline George Saunders 1996 American English
6173 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
6191 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
6231 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
6236 Harry’s Game Gerald Seymour 1975 British English
6237 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6271 Frost At Christmas R. D. Wingfield 1984 British English
6273 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6284 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
6301 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6305 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6409 A Rich Full Death Michael Dibdin 1986 British English
6409 Live Flesh Ruth Rendell 1986 British English
6423 Cape Fear John D. MacDonald 1957 American English
6437 The Snowman Jo Nesbø 2007 Norwegian Norwegian
6470 The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987 American English
6546 A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George 1988 American English
6567 Toxic Shock Sara Paretsky 1988 American English
6581 Hardball Sara Paretsky 2009 American English
6590 A Touch Of Frost R. D. Wingfield 1987 British English
6660 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6680 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby 2020 American English
6716 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
6716 The Conjure Man Dies Rudolph Fisher 1932 American English
6716 A Man Lay Dead Ngaio Marsh 1934 New Zealander English
6716 Beat Not The Bones Charlotte Jay 1952 Australian English
6734 The Deep Blue Good By John D. MacDonald 1964 American English
6736 The Wimbledon Poisoner Nigel Williams 1990 British English
6747 De Advocaat Van De Hanen A. F. Th. van der Heijden 1990 Dutch Dutch
6766 The Common Law Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1881 American English
6788 The Investigation Stanislaw Lem 1959 Polish Polish
6798 All She Was Worth Miyuki Miyabe 1992 Japanese Japanese
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
7021 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
7168 The Man In Lower Ten Mary Roberts Rinehart 1909 American English
7179 The Blue Tango Eoin McNamee 2001 Irish English
7193 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7197 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7203 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7205 The Shape Of Water Andrea Camilleri 1994 Italian Italian
7205 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7211 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7215 Poems Of George Crabbe George Crabbe 1807 British English
7215 The Collected Writings Of Thomas De Quincey Thomas de Quincey 1889 British English
7215 Short Novels Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
7215 Death In Silver Lester Dent 1934 American English
7215 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Horace McCoy 1948 American English
7609 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
7630 A Is For Alibi Sue Grafton 1982 American English
7629 Marks No Yama Kaoru Takamura 1993 Japanese Japanese
7691 Opernball Josef Haslinger 1995 Austrian German
7707 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7715 Shroud For A Nightingale P. D. James 1971 British English
7735 The Wanderers Richard Price 1974 American English
7740 The Ice Princess Camilla Läckberg 2003 Swedish Swedish
7778 The Cold Moon Jeffrey Deaver 2006 American English
7771 The Bad Seed William March 1954 American English
7840 Stick Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
7842 Black And Blue Ian Rankin 1997 British English
7860 The Barbarous Coast Ross Macdonald 1956 American English
7880 13 Hours Deon Meyer 2008 South African Afrikaans
7908 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7919 Mr. Mercedes Stephen King 2014 American English
7921 Small Mercies Dennis Lehane 2023 American English
7936 Absolute Power David Baldacci 1996 American English
7936 Acqua Alta Donna Leon 1996 Italian English
7936 The Keys To The Street Ruth Rendell 1996 British English
7944 The Hanging Garden Ian Rankin 1998 British English
7948 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
7960 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
7966 Saint Genet Jean Paul Sartre 1952 French French
7987 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7997 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
8002 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
8159 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8161 The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson 2006 Swedish Swedish