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
8166 Child Of God Cormac McCarthy 1973 American English
8183 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
8185 Blacklands Belinda Bauer 2010 British English
8186 One Step Behind Henning Mankell 1997 Swedish Swedish
8220 Rumpole Of The Bailey John Mortimer 1978 British English
8240 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British English
8251 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
8289 Night They Missed The Horror Show Joe R. Lansdale 1988 American English
8305 The Ghost Riders Of Ordebec Fred Vargas 2011 French French
8306 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8315 The Bottoms Joe R. Lansdale 2000 American English
8315 Last Seen In Massilia Steven Saylor 2000 American English
8324 American Buffalo David Mamet 1975 American English
8326 Lush Life Richard Price 2008 American English
8334 The Brotherhood Of The Rose David Morrell 1984 American English
8434 A Running Duck Paula Gosling 1978 American English
8440 Fade Away Harlan Coben 1996 American English
8442 Faithful Place Tana French 2010 Irish English
8466 Griftopia Matt Taibbi 2010 American English
8466 The Poisoner's Handbook Deborah Blum 2010 American English
8490 The Dry Jane Harper 2016 Australian English
8505 The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest Stieg Larsson 2007 Swedish Swedish
8510 The Broken Shore Peter Temple 2005 Australian English
8529 Sanctum Denise Mina 2002 Scottish English
8538 Lady Joker Kaoru Takamura 1997 Japanese Japanese
8538 Morituri Yasmina Khadra 1997 Algerian French
8548 Monster Walter Dean Myers 1999 American English
8550 The Hunter Kerrigan Byrne 2016 Unknown English
8559 A Thread Of Violence Mark O'Connell 2023 Unknown English
8560 Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer 2003 American English
8592 The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais 1987 American English
8603 A Fever In The Heartland Timothy Egan 2023 American English
8667 Liliana's Invincible Summer Cristina Rivera Garza 2023 Mexican Spanish
8698 Inner City Blues Paula L. Woods 1999 American English
8697 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English
8701 Silence Of The Grave Arnaldur Indriðason 2003 Icelandic Icelandic
8701 Blacklist Sara Paretsky 2003 American English
8710 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
8719 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
8721 Rules Of Prey John Sandford 1989 American English
8724 King Of Ashes S. A. Cosby 2025 Unknown English
8748 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English
8746 All The Sinners Bleed S. A. Cosby 2023 American English
8801 The Trail Of Fu Manchu Sax Rohmer 1934 British English
8839 A Coleira Do Cão Rubem Fonseca 1965 Brazilian Portuguese
8850 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
8882 Hard Revolution George P. Pelecanos 2004 American English
8907 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
8961 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
8955 Money To Burn Ricardo Piglia 1997 Argentinian Spanish
8970 The Shack William P. Young 2007 American English
8980 Crook Manifesto Colson Whitehead 2023 American English
9001 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
9007 August Heat Andrea Camilleri 2006 Italian Italian
9007 Little Face Sophie Hannah 2006 British English
9030 The Hunter Tana French 2024 Irish English
9042 All The Colours Of The Dark Chris Whitaker 2024 Unknown English
9074 Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow 1989 American English
9095 Prizzi's Honor Richard Condon 1982 American English
9098 Eifel Liebe Jacques Berndorf 2003 German German
9106 The Art Thief Michael Finkel 2023 Unknown English
9113 Cruddy Lynda Barry 1999 American English
9116 The Wine Dark Sea Leonardo Sciascia 1968 Italian Italian
9141 Bangkok 8 John Burdett 2003 British English
9151 Mercy Jussi Adler-Olsen 2007 Danish Danish
9164 The Betrayer Michael Hennessey 2003 Canadian English
9218 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9221 The Danger Dick Francis 1983 British English
9237 Primal Fear William Diehl 1993 American English
9250 Deadheads Reginald Hill 1983 British English
9258 The Great Swindle Pierre Lemaitre 2013 French French
9276 Angels Denis Johnson 1983 American English
9301 The Client John Grisham 1993 American English
9303 Bleeding Heart Square Andrew Taylor 2008 British English
9314 White Man Falling Mike Stocks 2006 British English
9322 Red Lights Georges Simenon 1953 Belgian French
9351 Eileen Ottessa Moshfegh 2015 American English
9365 Night Watch Terry Pratchett 2002 British English
9358 Equal Danger Leonardo Sciascia 1971 Italian Italian
9358 True Confessions John Gregory Dunne 1977 American English
9367 Rosario Tijeras Jorge Franco 1999 Colombian Spanish
9377 The Notting Hill Mystery Charles Felix 1862 British English
9528 King Suckerman George P. Pelecanos 1997 American English
9531 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English
9533 City Of Veils Zoë Ferraris 2009 Saudi Arabian English
9533 Black Water Rising Attica Locke 2009 American English
9613 The Tin Roof Blowdown James Lee Burke 2007 American English
9613 A Quiet Belief In Angels R. J. Ellory 2007 British English
9613 Exit Music Ian Rankin 2007 British English
9628 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
9655 The Dinner Herman Koch 2009 Dutch Dutch
9673 Frozen Moment Camilla Ceder 2010 Swedish Swedish
9673 Blue Lightning Ann Cleeves 2010 British English
9673 Strange Shores Arnaldur Indriðason 2010 Icelandic Icelandic
9673 Heartstone C. J. Sansom 2010 British English
9660 The Unlucky Murderer Håkan Nesser Swedish Swedish
9680 Gone Baby Gone Dennis Lehane 1998 American English
9697 When Red Is Black Qiu Xiaolong 2004 Chinese English
9722 The Sunday Woman Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1972 Italian Italian
9733 The Hard Way Lee Child 2006 British English
9742 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9784 Partners In Crime Alisha Rai 2022 Unknown English
9824 Alex Pierre Lemaitre 2011 French French
9824 The Frozen Dead Bernard Minier 2011 French French
9824 The Collini Case Ferdinand Von Schirach 2011 German German
9858 Wife Of The Gods Kwei Quartey 2009 Ghanaian English
9915 Miracle Creek Angie Kim 2019 American English
9915 Your House Will Pay Steph Cha 2019 American English
9931 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English
9942 Blue Smoke Chris Bourk New Zealand Unknown
9965 Prairie Gothic J. M. Hayes 2003 American English
10002 Bertie And The Tin Man Peter Lovesey 1987 British English
10037 Death Takes Me Cristina Rivera Garza 2007 Mexican English
10058 Diablo Guardián Xavier Velasco 2003 Mexican Spanish
10067 The Killings At Badger's Drift Caroline Graham 1987 British English
10070 What Bloody Man Is That? Simon Brett 1987 British English
10073 Shot In The Heart Mikal Gilmore 1994 American English
10091 Blood Sport Robert F. Jones 1974 American English
10103 A Flower Traveled In My Blood Haley Cohen Gilliland 2025 Unknown English
10108 The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 1999 British English