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.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10114 | Tokyo Year Zero | David Peace | 2007 | British | English | |
| 10123 | Dogstar Rising | Parker Bilal | 2013 | Egyptian | English | |
| 10123 | The Cuckoo’s Calling | J. K. Rowling | 2013 | British | English | |
| 10123 | Ghostman | Roger Hobbs | 2013 | American | English | |
| 10140 | Running Dog | Don DeLillo | 1978 | American | English | |
| 10162 | The Confession; Liberation Movements | Olen Steinhauer | 2004 | American | English | |
| 10181 | The Kill Artist | Daniel Silva | 2000 | American | English | |
| 10205 | From Hell | Alan Moore | 1991 | British | English | |
| 10220 | Underworld | Reginald Hill | 1988 | British | English | |
| 10227 | I Have Some Questions For You | Rebecca Makkai | 2023 | American | English | |
| 10229 | The Trees | Percival Everett | 2021 | American | English | |
| 10239 | Burning Down The House | Russell Wangersky | 2008 | Canadian | English | |
| 10276 | The Wicked Boy | Kate Summerscale | 2016 | British | English | |
| 10299 | Murderland | Caroline Fraser | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 10304 | Death Notice | Zhou Haohui | 2014 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 10363 | El Rastro | Jorge Gómez Jiménez | 2005 | Venezuelan | Unknown | |
| 10406 | Drama City | George P. Pelecanos | 2005 | American | English | |
| 10412 | The Harder They Come | Michael Thelwell | 1980 | American | English | |
| 10438 | Gomorrah | Roberto Saviano | 2006 | Italian | Italian | |
| 10454 | The North Water | Ian McGuire | 2016 | British | English | |
| 10518 | The Cabinet Of Curiosities | Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child | 2002 | American | English | |
| 10552 | The Darkness | Ragnar Jonasson | 2015 | Icelandic | Icelandic | |
| 10552 | A Book Of Scars | William Shaw | 2015 | British | English | |
| 10557 | The Suspicions of Mr Whicher | Kate Summerscale | 2008 | British | English | |
| 10572 | Land Of Shadows | Rachel Howzell Hall | 2014 | American | English | |
| 10584 | Some People Need Killing | Patricia Evangelista | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 10601 | Firekeeper's Daughter | Angeline Boulley | 2021 | American | English | |
| 10631 | Fair Play | Louise Hegarty | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 10685 | Unscripted | James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 10696 | The Tragedy Of True Crime | John J. Lennon | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 10727 | Rampart Street | David Fulmer | 2006 | American | English | |
| 10752 | Ballad Of Dogs' Beach | José Cardoso Pires | 1982 | Portuguese | Portuguese | |
| 10816 | Dodgers | Bill Beverly | 2016 | American | English | |
| 10822 | An Untamed State | Roxane Gay | 2014 | American | English | |
| 10823 | Skeleton Key | Anthony Horowitz | 2002 | British | English | |
| 10840 | Bleeding Edge | Thomas Pynchon | 2013 | American | English | |
| 10842 | I, Alex Cross | James Patterson | 2009 | American | English | |
| 10856 | The Albany Cycle | William Kennedy | 1983 | American | English | |
| 10856 | Berlin Noir | Philip Kerr | 1989 | British | English | |
| 10896 | Lola In The Mirror | Trent Dalton | 2023 | Australian | English | |
| 10917 | La Casa Del Padre | Justo Navarro | 2015 | Spanish | Spanish | |
| 10935 | Consent To Kill | Vince Flynn | 2005 | American | English | |
| 10937 | Blowback | Brad Thor | 2005 | American | English | |
| 10989 | The Eighth Day | Thornton Wilder | 1967 | American | English | |
| 11018 | Camino de Perdición | Luis Mateo Díez | 2007 | Spanish | Spanish | |
| 11077 | The Lost Man | Jane Harper | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 11077 | London Rules | Mick Herron | 2018 | British | English | |
| 11077 | Smoke And Ashes | Abir Mukherjee | 2018 | British | English | |
| 11093 | Die Mördergrube | Werner Steinberg | 1960 | German | German | |
| 11135 | The Widows Of Malabar Hill | Sujata Massey | 2018 | American | English | |
| 11166 | The Destroyers | Christopher Bollen | 2017 | American | English | |
| 11217 | A Sight for Sore Eyes | Ruth Rendell | 1999 | British | English | |
| 11232 | The Real Lolita | Sarah Weinman | 2018 | Unknown | English | |
| 11249 | The Peepshow | Kate Summerscale | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 11291 | Heartsick | Chelsea Cain | 2007 | American | English | |
| 11278 | Shella | Andrew Vachss | 1993 | American | English | |
| 11299 | No Way Out | Cara Hunter | 2019 | British | English | |
| 11299 | The Border | Don Winslow | 2019 | American | English | |
| 11320 | The Little Friend | Donna Tartt | 2002 | American | English | |
| 11323 | The Neighborhood | Mario Vargas Llosa | 2016 | Peruvian | English | |
| 11358 | The Girl In The Green Dress | Jeni Haynes | 2019 | Unknown | English | |
| 11419 | Winter Counts | David Heska Wanbli Weiden | 2020 | American | English | |
| 11422 | The Onion Field | Joseph Wambaugh | 1973 | American | English | |
| 11525 | 206 Bones | Kathy Reichs | 2009 | American | English | |
| 11524 | Dial A For Aunties | Jesse Q. Sutanto | 2021 | Indonesian | English | |
| 11570 | Ghostwritten | David Mitchell | 1999 | British | English | |
| 11579 | Dirty Snow | Georges Simenon | 1948 | Belgian | French | |
| 11796 | The Bride Collector | Ted Dekker | 2010 | American | English | |
| 11663 | Macbeth | Jo Nesbø | 2018 | Norwegian | English | |
| 11663 | Cherry | Nico Walker | 2018 | American | English | |
| 11663 | Only To Sleep | Lawrence Osborne | 2018 | British | English | |
| 11663 | The Witch Elm | Tana French | 2018 | Irish | English | |
| 11804 | Point Blanc | Anthony Horowitz | 2001 | British | English | |
| 11833 | 61 Hours | Lee Child | 2010 | British | English | |
| 11922 | Skeleton Man | Tony Hillerman | 2004 | American | English | |
| 11941 | Lindbergh | A. Scott Berg | 1998 | American | English | |
| 11941 | G Man | Beverly Gage | 2022 | American | English | |
| 12050 | Survivor’s Guilt | Robyn Gigl | 2023 | American | English | |
| 12050 | Red April | Santiago Roncagliolo | 2002 | Peruvian | Spanish | |
| 12084 | The Potter's Field | Ellis Peters | 1989 | British | English | |
| 12125 | The Zorg | Siddharth Kara | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12146 | The Book Of Evidence | John Banville | 1989 | Irish | English | |
| 12165 | Little Bosses Everywhere | Bridget Read | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12188 | Allegedly | Tiffany D. Jackson | 2017 | American | English | |
| 12210 | Girls Play Dead | Jen Percy | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12234 | The Killing Fields Of East New York | Stacy Horn | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12259 | Because It Is Bitter, And Because It Is My Heart | Joyce Carol Oates | 1990 | American | English | |
| 12259 | G Is For Gumshoe | Sue Grafton | 1990 | American | English | |
| 12289 | The Librarians | Sherry Thomas | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12296 | The Payback | Kashana Cauley | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12429 | The Good Liar | Denise Mina | 2025 | Scottish | English | |
| 12431 | Born In Flames | Bench Ansfield | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12460 | Marble Hall Murders | Anthony Horowitz | 2025 | British | English | |
| 12461 | This Book Will Bury Me | Ashley Winstead | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12463 | The Inheritance | Trisha Sakhlecha | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12464 | El Dorado Drive | Megan Abbott | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12469 | The Note | Alafair Burke | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12499 | No More Tears | Gardiner Harris | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12503 | The Savage, Noble Death Of Babs Dionne | Ron Currie Jr. | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12549 | Picks And Shovels | Cory Doctorow | 2025 | Canadian | English | |
| 12561 | The Stalker | Paula Bomer | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12601 | The Winter Warriors | Olivier Norek | 2024 | French | French | |
| 12631 | The Impossible Fortune | Richard Osman | 2025 | British | English | |
| 12641 | Murder Ballads | Katy Horan | Unknown | English | ||
| 12657 | The Barbary Coast | Herbert Asbury | 2009 | American | English | |
| 12680 | The Secret History Of The Rape Kit | Pagan Kennedy | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12715 | The Feather Detective | Chris Sweeney | British | English | ||
| 12751 | The Naming Of The Birds | Paraic O'Donnell | 2025 | Irish | English | |
| 12788 | The Jailhouse Lawyer | Calvin Duncan, Sophie Cull | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12792 | The True Happiness Company | Veena Dinavahi | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12803 | Captain's Dinner | Adam Cohen | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12818 | The Fort Bragg Cartel | Seth Harp | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12834 | Killing Color | Charlotte W. Sherman | 1992 | American | English | |
| 12862 | The Doorman | Chris Pavone | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12867 | Hollow Spaces | Victor Suthammanont | 2025 | Unknown | English | |
| 12863 | The Bleeding Season | Greg F. Gifune | 2003 | American | English | |
| 12906 | Sister, Sinner | Claire Hoffman | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12914 | Bone Valley | Gilbert King | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12926 | They Poisoned The World | Mariah Blake | 2025 | American | English | |
| 12951 | The Gossip Columnist's Daughter | Peter Orner | 2025 | American | English |