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
8164 Child Of God Cormac McCarthy 1973 American English
8181 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
8183 Blacklands Belinda Bauer 2010 British English
8184 One Step Behind Henning Mankell 1997 Swedish Swedish
8218 Rumpole Of The Bailey John Mortimer 1978 British English
8238 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British English
8249 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
8287 Night They Missed The Horror Show Joe R. Lansdale 1988 American English
8303 The Ghost Riders Of Ordebec Fred Vargas 2011 French French
8304 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8313 The Bottoms Joe R. Lansdale 2000 American English
8313 Last Seen In Massilia Steven Saylor 2000 American English
8322 American Buffalo David Mamet 1975 American English
8324 Lush Life Richard Price 2008 American English
8331 The Brotherhood Of The Rose David Morrell 1984 American English
8432 A Running Duck Paula Gosling 1978 American English
8438 Fade Away Harlan Coben 1996 American English
8440 Faithful Place Tana French 2010 Irish English
8464 Griftopia Matt Taibbi 2010 American English
8464 The Poisoner's Handbook Deborah Blum 2010 American English
8488 The Dry Jane Harper 2016 Australian English
8503 The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest Stieg Larsson 2007 Swedish Swedish
8508 The Broken Shore Peter Temple 2005 Australian English
8527 Sanctum Denise Mina 2002 Scottish English
8536 Lady Joker Kaoru Takamura 1997 Japanese Japanese
8536 Morituri Yasmina Khadra 1997 Algerian French
8546 Monster Walter Dean Myers 1999 American English
8548 The Hunter Kerrigan Byrne 2016 Unknown English
8557 A Thread Of Violence Mark O'Connell 2023 Unknown English
8558 Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer 2003 American English
8590 The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais 1987 American English
8601 A Fever In The Heartland Timothy Egan 2023 American English
8665 Liliana's Invincible Summer Cristina Rivera Garza 2023 Mexican Spanish
8696 Inner City Blues Paula L. Woods 1999 American English
8695 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English
8699 Silence Of The Grave Arnaldur Indriðason 2003 Icelandic Icelandic
8699 Blacklist Sara Paretsky 2003 American English
8708 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
8717 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
8719 Rules Of Prey John Sandford 1989 American English
8722 King Of Ashes S. A. Cosby 2025 Unknown English
8745 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English
8743 All The Sinners Bleed S. A. Cosby 2023 American English
8798 The Trail Of Fu Manchu Sax Rohmer 1934 British English
8837 A Coleira Do Cão Rubem Fonseca 1965 Brazilian Portuguese
8848 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
8880 Hard Revolution George P. Pelecanos 2004 American English
8905 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
8959 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
8953 Money To Burn Ricardo Piglia 1997 Argentinian Spanish
8968 The Shack William P. Young 2007 American English
8978 Crook Manifesto Colson Whitehead 2023 American English
8999 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
9005 August Heat Andrea Camilleri 2006 Italian Italian
9005 Little Face Sophie Hannah 2006 British English
9028 The Hunter Tana French 2024 Irish English
9040 All The Colours Of The Dark Chris Whitaker 2024 Unknown English
9072 Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow 1989 American English
9093 Prizzi's Honor Richard Condon 1982 American English
9096 Eifel Liebe Jacques Berndorf 2003 German German
9104 The Art Thief Michael Finkel 2023 Unknown English
9111 Cruddy Lynda Barry 1999 American English
9114 The Wine Dark Sea Leonardo Sciascia 1968 Italian Italian
9139 Bangkok 8 John Burdett 2003 British English
9149 Mercy Jussi Adler-Olsen 2007 Danish Danish
9162 The Betrayer Michael Hennessey 2003 Canadian English
9217 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9220 The Danger Dick Francis 1983 British English
9236 Primal Fear William Diehl 1993 American English
9249 Deadheads Reginald Hill 1983 British English
9257 The Great Swindle Pierre Lemaitre 2013 French French
9274 Angels Denis Johnson 1983 American English
9299 The Client John Grisham 1993 American English
9301 Bleeding Heart Square Andrew Taylor 2008 British English
9312 White Man Falling Mike Stocks 2006 British English
9320 Red Lights Georges Simenon 1953 Belgian French
9349 Eileen Ottessa Moshfegh 2015 American English
9363 Night Watch Terry Pratchett 2002 British English
9356 Equal Danger Leonardo Sciascia 1971 Italian Italian
9356 True Confessions John Gregory Dunne 1977 American English
9365 Rosario Tijeras Jorge Franco 1999 Colombian Spanish
9375 The Notting Hill Mystery Charles Felix 1862 British English
9526 King Suckerman George P. Pelecanos 1997 American English
9529 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English
9531 City Of Veils Zoë Ferraris 2009 Saudi Arabian English
9531 Black Water Rising Attica Locke 2009 American English
9611 The Tin Roof Blowdown James Lee Burke 2007 American English
9611 A Quiet Belief In Angels R. J. Ellory 2007 British English
9611 Exit Music Ian Rankin 2007 British English
9626 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
9652 The Dinner Herman Koch 2009 Dutch Dutch
9670 Frozen Moment Camilla Ceder 2010 Swedish Swedish
9670 Blue Lightning Ann Cleeves 2010 British English
9670 Strange Shores Arnaldur Indriðason 2010 Icelandic Icelandic
9670 Heartstone C. J. Sansom 2010 British English
9657 The Unlucky Murderer Håkan Nesser Swedish Swedish
9677 Gone Baby Gone Dennis Lehane 1998 American English
9694 When Red Is Black Qiu Xiaolong 2004 Chinese English
9719 The Sunday Woman Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1972 Italian Italian
9730 The Hard Way Lee Child 2006 British English
9739 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9781 Partners In Crime Alisha Rai 2022 Unknown English
9821 Alex Pierre Lemaitre 2011 French French
9821 The Frozen Dead Bernard Minier 2011 French French
9821 The Collini Case Ferdinand Von Schirach 2011 German German
9855 Wife Of The Gods Kwei Quartey 2009 Ghanaian English
9912 Miracle Creek Angie Kim 2019 American English
9912 Your House Will Pay Steph Cha 2019 American English
9927 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English
9938 Blue Smoke Chris Bourk New Zealand Unknown
9961 Prairie Gothic J. M. Hayes 2003 American English
9998 Bertie And The Tin Man Peter Lovesey 1987 British English
10033 Death Takes Me Cristina Rivera Garza 2007 Mexican English
10053 Diablo Guardián Xavier Velasco 2003 Mexican Spanish
10062 The Killings At Badger's Drift Caroline Graham 1987 British English
10065 What Bloody Man Is That? Simon Brett 1987 British English
10068 Shot In The Heart Mikal Gilmore 1994 American English
10086 Blood Sport Robert F. Jones 1974 American English
10098 A Flower Traveled In My Blood Haley Cohen Gilliland 2025 Unknown English
10103 The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 1999 British English