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
5414 Nineteen Seventy Four David Peace 1999 British English
5441 The Pendragon Legend Antal Szerb 1934 Hungarian Hungarian
5468 Six Days Of The Condor James Grady 1974 American English
5486 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014 Australian English
5518 Dolores Claiborne Stephen King 1992 American English
5603 Jar City Arnaldur Indriðason 2000 Icelandic Icelandic
5646 Pop. 1280 Jim Thompson 1964 American English
5660 March Violets Philip Kerr 1989 British English
5662 Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke 2017 American English
5664 Invisible Green John Sladek 1977 American English
5687 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5719 Anatomy Of A Murder Robert Traver 1958 American English
5763 The Deadly Percheron John Franklin Bardin 1946 American English
5763 Sparkling Cyanide Agatha Christie 1945 British English
5763 With A Bare Bodkin Cyril Hare 1946 British English
5763 Unnatural Causes P. D. James 1967 British English
5770 The Businessman Thomas M. Disch 1984 American English
5840 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
5863 The Changeling Thomas, William Rowley Middleton 1622 British English
5861 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
5894 The Power Of Darkness Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
5918 The Valley Of Fear Arthur Conan Doyle 1915 British English
5962 The Hog Murders William L. Deandrea 1979 American English
5970 The Perfect Nanny Leïla Slimani 2016 French French
5981 Chiefs Stuart Woods 1981 American English
6076 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6084 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6085 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
6096 True Betrayals Nora Roberts 1995 American English
6151 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6171 I Spit On Your Graves Boris Vian 1946 French French
6176 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
6195 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
6235 Sadie When She Died Ed McBain 1972 American English
6241 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6274 Frost At Christmas R. D. Wingfield 1984 British English
6287 The Colour Of Murder Julian Symons 1957 British English
6352 My Brother Michael Mary Stewart 1959 British English
6380 Jumpers Tom Stoppard 1972 British English
6401 The Fencing Master Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1988 Spanish Spanish
6412 A Rich Full Death Michael Dibdin 1986 British English
6440 The Snowman Jo Nesbø 2007 Norwegian Norwegian
6472 The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987 American English
6477 Case Histories Kate Atkinson 2004 British English
6548 A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George 1988 American English
6569 Toxic Shock Sara Paretsky 1988 American English
6583 Hardball Sara Paretsky 2009 American English
6592 A Touch Of Frost R. D. Wingfield 1987 British English
6609 Nos4 A2 Joe Hill 2013 American English
6646 Exquisite Corpse Poppy Z. Brite 1996 American English
6662 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6717 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
6717 A Man Lay Dead Ngaio Marsh 1934 New Zealander English
6717 Beat Not The Bones Charlotte Jay 1952 Australian English
6728 The Relic Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child 1995 American English
6737 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
7022 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
7198 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7204 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7216 The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd 1587 British English
7216 'Tis Pity She's A Whore John Ford 1633 British English
7216 The Revenger's Tragedy Cyril Tourneur 1607 British English
7216 Athaliah Jean Racine 1691 French French
7216 Phineas Redux Anthony Trollope 1874 British English
7216 Lulu Plays Frank Wedekind 1895 German German
7616 Crossfire Miyuki Miyabe 1998 Japanese Japanese
7631 A Is For Alibi Sue Grafton 1982 American English
7685 A Master of Djinn P. Djèlí Clark 2021 American English
7716 Shroud For A Nightingale P. D. James 1971 British English
7734 Despair Vladimir Nabokov 1934 Russian Russian
7741 The Ice Princess Camilla Läckberg 2003 Swedish Swedish
7779 The Cold Moon Jeffrey Deaver 2006 American English
7789 Chatham School Affair Thomas Cook 1996 American English
7804 Anno Dracula Kim Newman 1992 British English
7843 Black And Blue Ian Rankin 1997 British English
7861 World Enough And Time Robert Penn Warren 1950 American English
7881 13 Hours Deon Meyer 2008 South African Afrikaans
7909 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7932 The Judas Child Carol O'Connell 1998 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
7988 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7998 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
8003 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
8175 A Demon In My View Ruth Rendell 1976 British English
8183 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American 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
8326 The Night Sessions Ken MacLeod 2008 Scottish English
8405 Wyrd Sisters Terry Pratchett 1988 British English
8442 Faithful Place Tana French 2010 Irish English
8466 The Successor Ismail Kadare 2003 Albanian Albanian
8466 La Dama Número Trece José Carlos Somoza 2003 Spanish Spanish
8529 Sanctum Denise Mina 2002 Scottish English
8538 Morituri Yasmina Khadra 1997 Algerian French
8560 Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer 2003 American English
8592 The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais 1987 American English
8701 Silence Of The Grave Arnaldur Indriðason 2003 Icelandic Icelandic
8701 Blacklist Sara Paretsky 2003 American English
8710 The Dead Of Jericho Colin Dexter 1981 British English
8719 Innocent Blood P. D. James 1980 British English
8721 Rules Of Prey John Sandford 1989 American English
8748 The Murder Of The Maharajah H. R. F. Keating 1980 British English