The Greatest Mystery and Thrillers of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 '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
14 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
66 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
68 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
70 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
88 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 1844 French French
101 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
115 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
116 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
124 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
134 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
147 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
150 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
182 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
193 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
227 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
238 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
243 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
295 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
321 The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey 1951 British English
337 The Quiet American Graham Greene 1955 British English
368 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
393 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
443 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
537 Gaudy Night Dorothy L. Sayers 1935 British English
539 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
544 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
592 The Magus John Fowles 1965 British English
621 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
627 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
646 The Adventures of Caleb Williams William Godwin 1794 British English
649 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
655 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
708 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
712 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012 American English
745 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
753 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
759 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
800 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
808 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
816 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
838 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
869 Smilla's Sense of Snow Peter Høeg 1992 Danish Danish
889 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
896 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
916 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
986 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1045 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1135 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
1146 A Perfect Spy John le Carré 1986 British English
1176 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
1195 The Round House Louise Erdrich 2012 American English
1198 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown 2003 American English
1305 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
1309 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
1329 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1398 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
1411 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk 2009 Polish Polish
1443 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1466 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1471 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
1499 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
1548 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
1550 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1590 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
1597 The Club Dumas Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1993 Spanish Spanish
1627 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1665 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
1686 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
1693 The Honjin Murders Seishi Yokomizo 1946 Japanese Japanese
1698 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
1760 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon 2001 Spanish Spanish
1786 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1846 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
1872 If He Hollers Let Him Go Chester Himes 1945 American English
1924 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
1952 Daisy Miller Henry James 1878 American English
1953 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
1987 Mean Spirit Linda Hogan 1990 American English
1997 The Leavenworth Case Anna Katharine Green 1878 American English
1997 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
1997 The Patient In Room 18 Mignon G. Eberhart 1929 American English
1997 The Conjure Man Dies Rudolph Fisher 1932 American English
1997 A Man Lay Dead Ngaio Marsh 1934 New Zealander English
1997 Beat Not The Bones Charlotte Jay 1952 Australian English
2160 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2235 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
2254 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
2282 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
2422 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
2454 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2490 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
2535 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
2568 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
2585 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
2628 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
2649 The Pledge Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1958 Swiss German
2670 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
2678 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
2690 Cutter and Bone Newton Thornburg 1976 American English
2736 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
2760 Phantom Lady Cornell Woolrich 1942 American English
2861 Eye Of The Needle Ken Follett 1978 British English
2878 The Greek Coffin Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2879 Southern Seas Manuel Vázquez Montalbán 1979 Spanish Spanish
2897 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2900 Case Histories Kate Atkinson 2004 British English
2916 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
2936 The Sound Of Things Falling Juan Gabriel Vásquez 2011 Colombian Spanish
2956 The Bone is Pointed Arthur William Upfield 1938 Australian English
2976 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2979 The Egyptian Cross Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2982 All Souls Javier Marias 1989 Spanish Spanish
3000 The Keep F. Paul Wilson 1981 American English
3009 Along Came A Spider James Patterson 1993 American English
3010 Woman Of Straw Catherine Arley 1956 French French
3012 Midnight Plus One Gavin Lyall 1965 British English
3021 The Second Shot Anthony Berkeley 1930 British English
3045 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
3051 Fatherland Robert Harris 1992 British English
3062 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English