The Greatest Crime Books Since 1927

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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
109 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
142 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
191 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
205 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
242 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
279 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
310 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
419 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
423 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
495 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
497 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
509 Sanctuary William Faulkner 1931 American English
536 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
587 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
660 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
698 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
763 The Case of Comrade Tulayev Victor Serge 1949 French French
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
916 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
920 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
948 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1001 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1105 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1183 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1214 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1275 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1317 To Each His Own Leonardo Sciascia 1966 Italian Italian
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1324 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
1390 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1445 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1491 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1500 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1503 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
1512 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1639 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
1640 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1690 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1695 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1847 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1899 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1929 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
2068 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2090 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
2099 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2105 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
2135 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2142 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
2157 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2189 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
2214 The Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht 1928 German German
2255 Busman’s Honeymoon Dorothy L. Sayers 1937 British English
2291 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2297 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
2400 Last Seen Wearing Colin Dexter 1976 British English
2440 A Rage In Harlem Chester Himes 1957 American English
2460 The League Of Frightened Men Rex Stout 1935 American English
2483 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2515 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2531 Day Of The Owl Leonardo Sciascia 1961 Italian Italian
2568 In Matto's Realm Friedrich Glauser 1936 Swiss German
2644 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
2645 The Nero Wolfe Series Rex Stout 1934 American English
2662 Early Autumn Robert B. Parker 1980 American English
2683 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
2793 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2908 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
2920 Maigret And The Headless Corpse Georges Simenon 1955 Belgian French
2953 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
2983 Blind Man with a Pistol Chester Himes 1969 American English
3012 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3014 Friday Night Lights H. G. Bissinger 1990 American English
3021 The Murder At The Vicarage Agatha Christie 1930 British English
3020 The Ministry Of Fear Graham Greene 1943 British English
3021 The Madman Of Bergerac Georges Simenon 1932 Belgian French
3057 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3060 Ratking Michael Dibdin 1988 British English
3124 Cover Her Face P. D. James 1962 British English
3138 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
3146 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3148 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
3218 Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil John Berendt 1994 American English
3227 Millennium Trilogy Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
3250 Death On The Nile Agatha Christie 1937 British English
3271 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
3319 Shantaram Gregory David Roberts 2003 Australian English
3320 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
3322 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
3325 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
3390 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3462 The First Deadly Sin Lawrence Sanders 1973 American English
3471 Little Caesar W. R. Burnett 1929 American English
3494 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3504 The Big Blowdown George P. Pelecanos 1996 American English
3508 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English