The Greatest Books of All Time on Murder

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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
5411 Nineteen Seventy Four David Peace 1999 British English
5438 The Pendragon Legend Antal Szerb 1934 Hungarian Hungarian
5465 Six Days Of The Condor James Grady 1974 American English
5483 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014 Australian English
5515 Dolores Claiborne Stephen King 1992 American English
5600 Jar City Arnaldur Indriðason 2000 Icelandic Icelandic
5643 Pop. 1280 Jim Thompson 1964 American English
5657 March Violets Philip Kerr 1989 British English
5659 Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke 2017 American English
5661 Invisible Green John Sladek 1977 American English
5684 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5716 Anatomy Of A Murder Robert Traver 1958 American English
5760 The Deadly Percheron John Franklin Bardin 1946 American English
5760 Sparkling Cyanide Agatha Christie 1945 British English
5760 With A Bare Bodkin Cyril Hare 1946 British English
5760 Unnatural Causes P. D. James 1967 British English
5767 The Businessman Thomas M. Disch 1984 American English
5836 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
5860 The Changeling Thomas, William Rowley Middleton 1622 British English
5858 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
5891 The Power Of Darkness Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
5915 The Valley Of Fear Arthur Conan Doyle 1915 British English
5958 The Hog Murders William L. Deandrea 1979 American English
5966 The Perfect Nanny Leïla Slimani 2016 French French
5977 Chiefs Stuart Woods 1981 American English
6073 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6081 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6082 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
6093 True Betrayals Nora Roberts 1995 American English
6148 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6168 I Spit On Your Graves Boris Vian 1946 French French
6173 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
6191 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
6231 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
6237 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6271 Frost At Christmas R. D. Wingfield 1984 British English
6284 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
6349 My Brother Michael Mary Stewart 1959 British English
6377 Jumpers Tom Stoppard 1972 British English
6398 The Fencing Master Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1988 Spanish Spanish
6409 A Rich Full Death Michael Dibdin 1986 British English
6437 The Snowman Jo Nesbø 2007 Norwegian Norwegian
6470 The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987 American English
6475 Case Histories Kate Atkinson 2004 British English
6546 A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George 1988 American English
6567 Toxic Shock Sara Paretsky 1988 American English
6581 Hardball Sara Paretsky 2009 American English
6590 A Touch Of Frost R. D. Wingfield 1987 British English
6607 Nos4 A2 Joe Hill 2013 American English
6644 Exquisite Corpse Poppy Z. Brite 1996 American English
6660 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6716 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
6716 A Man Lay Dead Ngaio Marsh 1934 New Zealander English
6716 Beat Not The Bones Charlotte Jay 1952 Australian English
6727 The Relic Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child 1995 American English
6736 The Wimbledon Poisoner Nigel Williams 1990 British English
6818 Koko Peter Straub 1988 American English
6833 The Doorbell Rang Rex Stout 1965 American English
6846 Dirty Tricks Michael Dibdin 1991 British English
6873 The Late-night News Petros Markaris 1995 Greek Greek
6889 Frisk Dennis Cooper 1991 American English
6933 The Tell Tale Heart And Other Writings Edgar Allan Poe 1843 American English
6934 Shooting Script Gavin Lyall 1966 British English
6944 Elizabeth Ken Greenhall 1976 American English
7021 The Girl On The Train Paula Hawkins 2015 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
7146 Dead Lagoon Michael Dibdin 1994 British English
7197 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7203 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7215 The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd 1587 British English
7215 'Tis Pity She's A Whore John Ford 1633 British English
7215 The Revenger's Tragedy Cyril Tourneur 1607 British English
7215 Athaliah Jean Racine 1691 French French
7215 Phineas Redux Anthony Trollope 1874 British English
7215 Lulu Plays Frank Wedekind 1895 German German
7615 Crossfire Miyuki Miyabe 1998 Japanese Japanese
7630 A Is For Alibi Sue Grafton 1982 American English
7684 A Master of Djinn P. Djèlí Clark 2021 American English
7714 Shroud For A Nightingale P. D. James 1971 British English
7732 Despair Vladimir Nabokov 1934 Russian Russian
7739 The Ice Princess Camilla Läckberg 2003 Swedish Swedish
7777 The Cold Moon Jeffrey Deaver 2006 American English
7787 Chatham School Affair Thomas Cook 1996 American English
7802 Anno Dracula Kim Newman 1992 British English
7842 Black And Blue Ian Rankin 1997 British English
7860 World Enough And Time Robert Penn Warren 1950 American English
7880 13 Hours Deon Meyer 2008 South African Afrikaans
7908 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7931 The Judas Child Carol O'Connell 1998 American English
7936 Absolute Power David Baldacci 1996 American English
7936 Acqua Alta Donna Leon 1996 Italian English
7936 The Keys To The Street Ruth Rendell 1996 British English
7987 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7997 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
8002 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
8173 A Demon In My View Ruth Rendell 1976 British English
8181 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
8184 One Step Behind Henning Mankell 1997 Swedish Swedish
8238 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British English
8303 The Ghost Riders Of Ordebec Fred Vargas 2011 French French
8304 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8313 The Bottoms Joe R. Lansdale 2000 American English
8324 The Night Sessions Ken MacLeod 2008 Scottish English
8402 Wyrd Sisters Terry Pratchett 1988 British English
8438 Faithful Place Tana French 2010 Irish English
8461 The Successor Ismail Kadare 2003 Albanian Albanian
8461 La Dama Número Trece José Carlos Somoza 2003 Spanish Spanish
8525 Sanctum Denise Mina 2002 Scottish English
8534 Morituri Yasmina Khadra 1997 Algerian French
8556 Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer 2003 American English
8588 The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais 1987 American English
8697 Silence Of The Grave Arnaldur Indriðason 2003 Icelandic Icelandic
8697 Blacklist Sara Paretsky 2003 American English
8706 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
8715 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
8717 Rules Of Prey John Sandford 1989 American English
8743 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English