The Greatest Noir Books 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 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
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
142 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
457 The Hollow Man John Dickson Carr 1935 British English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
495 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
536 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett 1929 American English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
660 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
698 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1105 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1153 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
1183 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1193 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
1240 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
1268 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1334 Hangover Square Patrick Hamilton 1941 British English
1503 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 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
1639 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
1640 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1695 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1847 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1899 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1954 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Horace McCoy 1935 American English
2069 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2073 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
2189 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2292 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2298 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
2442 A Rage In Harlem Chester Himes 1957 American English
2517 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2676 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
2886 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2984 Blind Man with a Pistol Chester Himes 1969 American English
3004 The Tragedy Of X Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3013 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3058 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3138 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
3146 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3203 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3407 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3449 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
3471 Little Caesar W. R. Burnett 1929 American English
3494 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3545 I, The Jury Mickey Spillane 1947 American English
3912 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3939 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
4071 Phantom Lady Cornell Woolrich 1942 American English
4310 Epitaph For A Spy Eric Ambler 1938 British English
4310 Journey Into Fear Eric Ambler 1940 British English
4310 A Gun For Sale Graham Greene 1936 British English
4310 The Getaway Jim Thompson 1958 American English
4609 One Lonely Night Mickey Spillane 1951 American English
4617 The Emperor's Snuff Box John Dickson Carr 1942 American English
4751 The Wycherly Woman Ross Macdonald 1961 American English
4830 Cutter and Bone Newton Thornburg 1976 American English
4957 Creeps By Night Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
5100 Three To Kill Jean-Patrick Manchette 1976 French French
5293 The Terrorists Maj Sjöwall 1975 Swedish Swedish
5319 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
5357 52 Pick Up Elmore Leonard 1974 American English
5369 White Jazz James Ellroy 1992 American English
5660 March Violets Philip Kerr 1989 British English
5763 Cotton Comes To Harlem Chester Himes 1965 American English
5861 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
6081 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English
6151 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6171 I Spit On Your Graves Boris Vian 1946 French French
6241 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6276 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6681 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby 2020 American English
6717 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
7056 Write To Kill Daniel Pennac 1990 French Unknown
7216 Lonely Crusade Chester Himes 1947 American English
7216 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Horace McCoy 1948 American English
7708 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7841 Stick Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
7861 The Barbarous Coast Ross Macdonald 1956 American English
8161 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8755 Breakfast At Midnight Louis Armand 2012 Unknown English
8801 House Of Flesh Bruno Fischer 1950 American English
9322 Red Lights Georges Simenon 1953 Belgian French
9358 True Confessions John Gregory Dunne 1977 American English
9528 King Suckerman George P. Pelecanos 1997 American English
9628 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
10113 Tokyo Year Zero David Peace 2007 British English
10831 The Lime Twig John Hawkes 1961 American English
10856 Berlin Noir Philip Kerr 1989 British English
11278 Shella Andrew Vachss 1993 American English
11579 Dirty Snow Georges Simenon 1948 Belgian French
12050 Red April Santiago Roncagliolo 2002 Peruvian Spanish
12588 Diamond Dogs Alan Watt 2000 Unknown English
12601 The Winter Warriors Olivier Norek 2024 French French
13362 The Seersucker Whipsaw Ross Thomas 1967 American English
13362 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13600 A Father's Love Jacques Chessex 1973 Swiss French
13600 Un Grand Pas Vers Le Bon Dieu Jean Vautrin 1989 French French
14212 Trouble Is My Business Raymond Chandler 1950 American English
14435 Train Pete Dexter 2003 American English
14899 Before The Fact Francis Iles 1932 British English
14959 The High Window Raymond Chandler 1942 American English
14985 The Horizontal Man Helen Eustis 1945 American English
14985 The Blue Hammer Ross Macdonald 1976 American English
14985 La Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
15616 The New Centurions Joseph Wambaugh 1970 American English
15834 Laughter In The Dark Vladimir Nabokov 1932 Russian Russian
15854 Hard Rain Falling Don Carpenter 1966 American English
15876 No Beast So Fierce Edward Bunker 1973 American English