The Greatest Crime Books Since 1990

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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
279 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1390 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1445 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1930 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2189 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
2297 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
2484 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2516 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
3015 Friday Night Lights H. G. Bissinger 1990 American English
3146 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3218 Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil John Berendt 1994 American English
3227 Millennium Trilogy Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
3271 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
3318 Shantaram Gregory David Roberts 2003 Australian English
3389 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3503 The Big Blowdown George P. Pelecanos 1996 American English
3507 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English
3519 Sidetracked Henning Mankell 1995 Swedish Swedish
3609 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
3873 The Alienist Caleb Carr 1994 American English
3926 In The Woods Tana French 2007 Irish English
4150 The Devotion Of Suspect X Keigo Higashino 2005 Japanese Japanese
4172 The Bone Collector Jeffery Deaver 1997 American English
4291 Mystic River Dennis Lehane 2001 American English
4615 The Fifth Woman Henning Mankell 1996 Swedish Swedish
4754 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
4767 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
4814 Dreamland Sam Quinones 2015 American English
4942 Ghettoside Jill Leovy 2015 American English
5226 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
5322 The Remorseful Day Colin Dexter 1999 British English
5335 Vendetta Michael Dibdin 1990 British English
5335 Bones And Silence Reginald Hill 1990 British English
5347 The Last Coyote Michael Connelly 1995 American English
5353 Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 1999 American English
5368 White Jazz James Ellroy 1992 American English
5382 All She Was Worth Miyuki Miyabe 1992 Japanese Japanese
5413 Nineteen Seventy Four David Peace 1999 British English
5438 The Black Echo Michael Connelly 1992 American English
5465 Child 44 Tom Rob Smith 2008 Russian English
5491 Along Came A Spider James Patterson 1993 American English
5585 One For The Money Janet Evanovich 1994 American English
5602 Jar City Arnaldur Indriðason 2000 Icelandic Icelandic
5644 Naked In Death J.D. Robb 1995 American English
5661 Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke 2017 American English
5686 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5693 Night Boat To Tangier Kevin Barry 2019 Irish English
5738 Only Forward Michael Marshall Smith 1994 British English
5949 Inherent Vice Thomas Pynchon 2009 American English
6080 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English
6083 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6084 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
6137 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6153 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline George Saunders 1996 American English
6275 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6307 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6439 The Snowman Jo Nesbø 2007 Norwegian Norwegian
6583 Hardball Sara Paretsky 2009 American English
6662 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6681 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby 2020 American English
6737 The Wimbledon Poisoner Nigel Williams 1990 British English
6748 De Advocaat Van De Hanen A. F. Th. van der Heijden 1990 Dutch Dutch
6846 King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine 1991 British English
6873 The Late-night News Petros Markaris 1995 Greek Greek
6898 A City Possessed Lynley Hood 2001 New Zealand 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
7022 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
7180 The Blue Tango Eoin McNamee 2001 Irish English
7194 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7198 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7204 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7206 The Shape Of Water Andrea Camilleri 1994 Italian Italian
7206 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7212 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7630 Marks No Yama Kaoru Takamura 1993 Japanese Japanese
7692 Opernball Josef Haslinger 1995 Austrian German
7741 The Ice Princess Camilla Läckberg 2003 Swedish Swedish
7779 The Cold Moon Jeffrey Deaver 2006 American English
7843 Black And Blue Ian Rankin 1997 British English
7881 13 Hours Deon Meyer 2008 South African Afrikaans
7909 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7920 Mr. Mercedes Stephen King 2014 American English
7922 Small Mercies Dennis Lehane 2023 American English
7937 Absolute Power David Baldacci 1996 American English
7937 Acqua Alta Donna Leon 1996 Italian English
7937 The Keys To The Street Ruth Rendell 1996 British English
7945 The Hanging Garden Ian Rankin 1998 British English
7949 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
7961 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
7988 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7998 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
8163 The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson 2006 Swedish Swedish
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
8240 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British 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
8326 Lush Life Richard Price 2008 American English