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
8746 The Leper Of Saint Giles Ellis Peters 1981 British English
8821 Plenilunio Antonio Muñoz Molina 1997 Spanish Spanish
8834 The Axeman's Carnival Catherine Chidgey 2023 New Zealander English
8846 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
8903 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
8957 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
9003 August Heat Andrea Camilleri 2006 Italian Italian
9136 Bangkok 8 John Burdett 2003 British English
9233 Primal Fear William Diehl 1993 American English
9246 Deadheads Reginald Hill 1983 British English
9270 The Butcher's Wife And Other Stories Li Ang 1983 Taiwanese Chinese
9296 The Client John Grisham 1993 American English
9298 The Bellini Card Jason Goodwin 2008 British English
9298 Bleeding Heart Square Andrew Taylor 2008 British English
9350 Penny Black Susan Moody 1984 British English
9353 Equal Danger Leonardo Sciascia 1971 Italian Italian
9372 Edgar Huntly Charles Brockden Brown 1799 American English
9526 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English
9528 City Of Veils Zoë Ferraris 2009 Saudi Arabian English
9609 A Quiet Belief In Angels R. J. Ellory 2007 British English
9609 Exit Music Ian Rankin 2007 British English
9669 Frozen Moment Camilla Ceder 2010 Swedish Swedish
9669 Blue Lightning Ann Cleeves 2010 British English
9680 The Shortest Way To Hades Sarah Caudwell 1985 British English
9719 The Terminal Experiment Robert J. Sawyer 1995 Canadian English
9718 The Sunday Woman Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1972 Italian Italian
9725 The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski 2008 American English
9820 Alex Pierre Lemaitre 2011 French French
9820 The Frozen Dead Bernard Minier 2011 French French
9820 The Collini Case Ferdinand Von Schirach 2011 German German
9854 Wife Of The Gods Kwei Quartey 2009 Ghanaian English
9956 Asylum Patrick McGrath 1996 British English
9960 Prairie Gothic J. M. Hayes 2003 American English
10061 The Killings At Badger's Drift Caroline Graham 1987 British English
10064 What Bloody Man Is That? Simon Brett 1987 British English
10118 Dogstar Rising Parker Bilal 2013 Egyptian English
10118 The Cuckoo’s Calling J. K. Rowling 2013 British English
10157 The Confession; Liberation Movements Olen Steinhauer 2004 American English
10202 Tell No One Harlan Coben 2001 American English
10213 Underworld Reginald Hill 1988 British English
10222 The Trees Percival Everett 2021 American English
10298 Death Notice Zhou Haohui 2014 Chinese Chinese
10298 The Weight Of Blood Laura McHugh 2014 American English
10357 El Rastro Jorge Gómez Jiménez 2005 Venezuelan Unknown
10432 Gomorrah Roberto Saviano 2006 Italian Italian
10489 The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair Joël Dicker 2012 French French
10512 The Cabinet Of Curiosities Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child 2002 American English
10519 Montana 1948 Larry Watson 1993 American English
10545 The Darkness Ragnar Jonasson 2015 Icelandic Icelandic
10545 A Book Of Scars William Shaw 2015 British English
10550 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale 2008 British English
10565 Land Of Shadows Rachel Howzell Hall 2014 American English
10720 Rampart Street David Fulmer 2006 American English
10745 Ballad Of Dogs' Beach José Cardoso Pires 1982 Portuguese Portuguese
10836 I, Alex Cross James Patterson 2009 American English
10869 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2004 American English
11009 La Sexta Lámpara Pablo de Santis 2008 Argentinian Spanish
11070 Smoke And Ashes Abir Mukherjee 2018 British English
11128 The Widows Of Malabar Hill Sujata Massey 2018 American English
11130 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester 1953 American English
11210 A Sight for Sore Eyes Ruth Rendell 1999 British English
11223 Carter Beats The Devil Glen David Gold 2001 American English
11267 The Turn Of The Key Ruth Ware 2019 British English
11292 No Way Out Cara Hunter 2019 British English
11416 The Onion Field Joseph Wambaugh 1973 American English
11493 The Black Prophet William Carleton 1847 Irish English
11522 206 Bones Kathy Reichs 2009 American English
11606 Elatsoe Darcie Little Badger 2020 American English
11793 Felicia's Journey William Trevor 1994 British English
11794 The Bride Collector Ted Dekker 2010 American English
11804 The Doll Who Ate His Mother Ramsey Campbell 1976 British English
11831 61 Hours Lee Child 2010 British English
11858 The Return Of The Dancing Master Henning Mankell 2000 Swedish Swedish
11893 The Bird Artist Howard Norman 1994 Canadian English
12048 Survivor’s Guilt Robyn Gigl 2023 American English
12083 The Potter's Field Ellis Peters 1989 British English
12145 The Book Of Evidence John Banville 1989 Irish English
12187 Allegedly Tiffany D. Jackson 2017 American English
12258 G Is For Gumshoe Sue Grafton 1990 American English
13509 Machinal Sophie Treadwell 1928 American English
13771 City Of Blades Robert Jackson Bennett 2016 American English
13802 Les Racines Du Mal Maurice G. Dantec 1995 French French
13930 The White Lioness Henning Mankell 1993 Swedish Swedish
13941 Ninth House Leigh Bardugo 2019 American English
14006 The Five Hallie Rubenhold 2019 British English
14138 The Echo Wife Sarah Gailey 2021 American English
14132 Death Of My Aunt C. H. B. Kitchin 1929 British English
14195 Barnaby Rudge Charles Dickens 1841 British English
14200 Roseanna Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1965 Swedish Swedish
14232 Knots and Crosses Ian Rankin 1987 British English
14232 Rivers Of London Ben Aaronovitch 2011 British English
14232 Bag Of Bones Stephen King 1998 American English
14232 Lost Boy Lost Girl Peter Straub 2003 American English
14322 Grey Souls Philippe Claudel 2003 French French
14334 An Error Of Judgement Pamela Hansford Johnson 1962 British English
14347 Shadow Country Peter Matthiessen 2008 American English
14718 Monsieur Lecoq Émile Gaboriau 1869 French French
14728 The Naked Sun Isaac Asimov 1957 American English
14772 My Friend Maigret Georges Simenon, Shaun Whiteside 1949 French French
14781 Return Of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1905 British English
14890 The Deceivers John Masters 1952 British English
14896 Fer De Lance Rex Stout 1934 American English
14959 Helter Skelter Vincent Bugliosi 1974 American English
14983 The Ghost Robert Harris 2007 British English
14983 The Infatuations Javier Marias 2011 Spanish Spanish
14983 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking T. Kingfisher 2020 American English
14983 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 1 Emil Ferris 2017 American English
14983 The Silent Patient Alex Michaelides 2019 British English
14983 The Robots Of Dawn Isaac Asimov 1983 American English
14983 Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen 1987 American English
14983 The Appeal Janice Hallett 2021 British English
14983 The Pillowman Martin McDonagh 2003 Irish English
14983 People Who Eat Darkness Richard Lloyd Parry 2010 British English
14983 Anita Blake Laurell K. Hamilton 1993 American English
14983 Doctor Sleep Stephen King 2013 American English
14983 Long Bright River Liz Moore 2020 American English
14983 Skin Tight Carl Hiaasen 1989 American English
15721 Edward Ii Christopher Marlowe 1594 British English
15897 A Murder Is Announced Agatha Christie 1950 British English
15897 Classic Crimes William Roughead 1951 Scottish English