The Greatest Books of All Time on Deception

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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
1494 Eye Of The Needle Ken Follett 1978 British English
1500 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1511 The Strange Case of Peter the Lett Georges Simenon 1931 Belgian French
1512 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1516 The People of Hemsö August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
1523 Guzmán de Alfarache Mateo Alemán 1599 Spanish Spanish
1527 The Confidence Man Herman Melville 1857 American English
1542 The Devil In The White City Erik Larson 2003 American English
1547 What Maisie Knew Henry James 1897 American English
1555 Troilus And Criseyde Geoffrey Chaucer 1385 British Middle english
1584 A Severed Head Iris Murdoch 1961 British English
1594 The Imaginary Invalid Molière 1673 French French
1600 The Unfortunate Traveller Thomas Nashe 1594 British English
1674 London Fields Martin Amis 1989 British English
1678 A Time To Be Born Dawn Powell 1942 American English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1695 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1699 That Awful Mess On Via Merulana Carlo Emilio Gadda 1957 Italian Italian
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1731 The Government Inspector Nikolai Gogol 1836 Russian Russian
1732 A Harlot High And Low Honoré de Balzac 1839 French French
1739 A Fatal Inversion Barbara Vine 1987 British English
1768 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1791 Confessions Of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Thomas Mann 1954 German German
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1815 The Ring And The Book Robert Browning 1868 British English
1831 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
1847 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1899 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1900 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1921 Anglo Saxon Attitudes Angus Wilson 1956 British English
1927 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1948 The Cadaver Of Gideon Wyck Alexander Laing 1934 American English
1957 The Spanish Brabanter G. A. Bredero 1617 Dutch Dutch
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
1990 Le Mariage De Figaro Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais 1784 French French
1993 The Queen Of Spades Alexander Pushkin 1834 Russian Russian
2069 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2092 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2103 Collected Short Stories of Saki Saki 1930 British English
2105 Someone Like You Roald Dahl 1953 British English
2117 Siebenkäs Jean Paul 1796 German German
2153 Fool's Gold Máro Doýka 1979 Hungarian Unknown
2155 Don Juan Molière 1665 French French
2158 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2171 My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier 1951 British English
2211 Exemplary Stories Miguel de Cervantes 1613 Spanish Spanish
2227 Operation Shylock Philip Roth 1993 American English
2241 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 1969 British English
2282 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2285 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2374 Roxana Daniel Defoe 1724 British English
2374 The Vatican Cellars André Gide 1914 French French
2394 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2405 The City Of Marvels Eduardo Mendoza 1986 Spanish Spanish
2414 Loitering With Intent Muriel Spark 1981 British English
2431 The Physicists Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1962 Swiss German
2435 The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1905 British English
2442 A Rage In Harlem Chester Himes 1957 American English
2445 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2468 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Alice Munro 2001 Canadian English
2477 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
2485 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2517 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2534 Young Goodman Brown & Other Short Stories Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835 American English
2581 Trial And Error Anthony Berkeley 1937 British English
2583 Good Behaviour Molly Keane 1981 Irish English
2617 The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman Andrzej Szczypiorski 1986 Polish Polish
2621 The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain 1881 American English
2676 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
2684 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
2685 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2785 Märchenalmanach Auf Das Jahr 1828 Wilhelm Hauff 1827 German German
2795 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2806 Fates and Furies Lauren Groff 2015 American English
2817 The Belkin Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2827 Lottie And Lisa Erich Kästner 1949 German German
2842 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
2867 Gimpel the Fool Isaac Bashevis Singer 1953 Polish Yiddish
2886 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2921 Maigret And The Headless Corpse Georges Simenon 1955 Belgian French
2952 Nevsky Prospekt Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
2965 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
3004 The Tragedy Of X Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3022 The Murder At The Vicarage Agatha Christie 1930 British English
3022 The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon William Makepeace Thackeray 1844 British English
3021 The Ministry Of Fear Graham Greene 1943 British English
3042 The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 British English
3058 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3060 Trust Hernan Díaz 2022 Argentinian English
3083 Under the Skin Michel Faber 2000 British English
3115 Affinity Sarah Waters 1999 British English
3124 Cover Her Face P. D. James 1962 British English
3132 The Man Who Loved Dogs Leonardo Padura 2009 Cuban Spanish
3138 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
3146 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3151 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
3189 The Judas Window Carter Dickson 1938 British English
3203 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3226 Much Ado about Nothing William Shakespeare 1600 British English
3250 Death On The Nile Agatha Christie 1937 British English
3272 The Luminaries Eleanor Catton 2013 New Zealand English
3287 The Aspern Papers Henry James 1888 American English
3324 Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry Eliza Haywood 1719 British English
3324 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
3397 King Rat James Clavell 1962 British English
3449 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
3458 Hamlet, Revenge! Michael Innes 1937 British English
3497 Devil's Cub Georgette Heyer 1932 British English
3523 Bad Blood John Carreyrou 2018 American English
3534 The Birthday Party Harold Pinter 1958 British English
3585 The Would-Be Gentleman Molière 1670 French French
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3612 Redgauntlet Sir Walter Scott 1824 Scottish English
3613 The Life Of Marianne Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux 1731 French French
3615 The Eyes Of The Overworld Jack Vance 1966 American English
3631 The Happy Island Dawn Powell 1938 American English