The Greatest Books of All Time on Investigation

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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
142 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
251 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
423 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
497 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
660 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
801 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
861 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
862 Smilla's Sense of Snow Peter Høeg 1992 Danish Danish
948 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
953 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1001 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1061 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1105 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 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
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1366 The Adversary Emmanuel Carrère 2000 French French
1445 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1496 The Sleeping And The Dead August Derleth 1947 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
1551 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1627 Dora Bruder Patrick Modiano 1997 French French
1645 The Pledge Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1958 Swiss German
1676 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
1699 That Awful Mess On Via Merulana Carlo Emilio Gadda 1957 Italian Italian
1709 The Club Dumas Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1993 Spanish Spanish
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1785 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
1812 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon 2003 British English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1880 The Complete John Silence Stories Algernon Blackwood 1908 British 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
1948 The Cadaver Of Gideon Wyck Alexander Laing 1934 American English
1995 Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe 2018 American English
2068 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2090 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
2135 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2142 Home Sweet Homicide Craig Rice 1944 American English
2255 Busman’s Honeymoon Dorothy L. Sayers 1937 British English
2284 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2291 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2400 Last Seen Wearing Colin Dexter 1976 British English
2453 The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle 1890 British English
2460 The League Of Frightened Men Rex Stout 1935 American English
2529 The Mystery Of The Yellow Room Gaston Leroux 1907 French French
2531 Day Of The Owl Leonardo Sciascia 1961 Italian Italian
2566 The Caves Of Steel Isaac Asimov 1954 American English
2580 Trial And Error Anthony Berkeley 1937 British English
2638 Fatherland Robert Harris 1992 British English
2644 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
2683 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
2734 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2834 The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
2850 A Bullet In The Ballet Caryl Brahms &S. J. Simon 1937 British English
2884 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2907 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
2919 Maigret And The Headless Corpse Georges Simenon 1955 Belgian French
2963 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
3002 The Tragedy Of X Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3019 The Murder At The Vicarage Agatha Christie 1930 British English
3019 The Madman Of Bergerac Georges Simenon 1932 Belgian French
3032 The Crab With The Golden Claws Hergé 1941 Belgian French
3039 Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers 1923 British English
3059 Ratking Michael Dibdin 1988 British English
3123 Cover Her Face P. D. James 1962 British English
3137 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
3142 The Cask Freeman Wills Crofts 1920 British English
3147 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
3155 The Castafiore Emerald Hergé 1963 Belgian French
3188 The Judas Window Carter Dickson 1938 British English
3257 Killers Of The Flower Moon David Grann 2017 American English
3270 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
3389 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3403 Wobble To Death Peter Lovesey 1970 British English
3448 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
3457 Hamlet, Revenge! Michael Innes 1937 British English
3462 The First Deadly Sin Lawrence Sanders 1973 American English
3494 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3520 Sidetracked Henning Mankell 1995 Swedish Swedish
3523 Bad Blood John Carreyrou 2018 American English
3549 The Wolfen Whitley Strieber 1978 American English
3556 Tragedy At Law Cyril Hare 1942 British English
3629 Green For Danger Christianna Brand 1944 British English
3635 The Totem David Morrell 1979 American English
3638 The Raging Reporter Egon Erwin Kisch 1924 Czech German
3874 The Alienist Caleb Carr 1994 American English
3913 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3927 In The Woods Tana French 2007 Irish English
3938 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
4070 Phantom Lady Cornell Woolrich 1942 American English
4118 The Honjin Murders Seishi Yokomizo 1946 Japanese Japanese
4124 A Very Long Engagement Sebastien Japrisot 1991 French French
4150 The Devotion Of Suspect X Keigo Higashino 2005 Japanese Japanese
4160 The Burning Court John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
4172 The Bone Collector Jeffery Deaver 1997 American English
4261 A Morbid Taste For Bones Ellis Peters 1977 British English
4270 Eight Million Ways To Die Lawrence Block 1982 American English
4291 Mystic River Dennis Lehane 2001 American English
4309 The Case Of The Gilded Fly Edmund Crispin 1944 British English
4309 The Secret Adversary Agatha Christie 1922 British English
4309 Death At The President's Lodging Michael Innes 1936 British English
4390 The Bishop Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1929 American English
4420 Trifles Susan Glaspell 1916 American English
4447 The Greek Coffin Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
4457 Death Of Jezebel Christianna Brand 1948 British English