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
2068 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2072 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2291 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2297 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
2440 A Rage In Harlem Chester Himes 1957 American English
2515 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2675 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
2884 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2982 Blind Man with a Pistol Chester Himes 1969 American English
3002 The Tragedy Of X Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3010 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3056 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3137 The False Inspector Dew Peter Lovesey 1982 British English
3145 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3202 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3407 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3448 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
3913 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3938 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
4070 Phantom Lady Cornell Woolrich 1942 American English
4309 Epitaph For A Spy Eric Ambler 1938 British English
4309 Journey Into Fear Eric Ambler 1940 British English
4309 A Gun For Sale Graham Greene 1936 British English
4309 The Getaway Jim Thompson 1958 American English
4607 One Lonely Night Mickey Spillane 1951 American English
4615 The Emperor's Snuff Box John Dickson Carr 1942 American English
4749 The Wycherly Woman Ross Macdonald 1961 American English
4828 Cutter and Bone Newton Thornburg 1976 American English
4954 Creeps By Night Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
5097 Three To Kill Jean-Patrick Manchette 1976 French French
5291 The Terrorists Maj Sjöwall 1975 Swedish Swedish
5317 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
5355 52 Pick Up Elmore Leonard 1974 American English
5367 White Jazz James Ellroy 1992 American English
5657 March Violets Philip Kerr 1989 British English
5760 Cotton Comes To Harlem Chester Himes 1965 American English
5858 Jack’s Return Home Ted Lewis 1970 British English
6078 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English
6148 The Steam Pig James McClure 1971 South African English
6168 I Spit On Your Graves Boris Vian 1946 French French
6237 The Decagon House Murders Yukito Ayatsuji 1987 Japanese Japanese
6273 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6680 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby 2020 American English
6716 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
7056 Write To Kill Daniel Pennac 1990 French Unknown
7215 Lonely Crusade Chester Himes 1947 American English
7215 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Horace McCoy 1948 American English
7705 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7840 Stick Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
7860 The Barbarous Coast Ross Macdonald 1956 American English
8159 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8750 Breakfast At Midnight Louis Armand 2012 Unknown English
8796 House Of Flesh Bruno Fischer 1950 American English
9317 Red Lights Georges Simenon 1953 Belgian French
9353 True Confessions John Gregory Dunne 1977 American English
9523 King Suckerman George P. Pelecanos 1997 American English
9624 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
10108 Tokyo Year Zero David Peace 2007 British English
10825 The Lime Twig John Hawkes 1961 American English
10849 Berlin Noir Philip Kerr 1989 British English
11271 Shella Andrew Vachss 1993 American English
11576 Dirty Snow Georges Simenon 1948 Belgian French
12048 Red April Santiago Roncagliolo 2002 Peruvian Spanish
12586 Diamond Dogs Alan Watt 2000 Unknown English
12599 The Winter Warriors Olivier Norek 2024 French French
13359 The Seersucker Whipsaw Ross Thomas 1967 American English
13359 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13599 A Father's Love Jacques Chessex 1973 Swiss French
13599 Un Grand Pas Vers Le Bon Dieu Jean Vautrin 1989 French French
14212 Trouble Is My Business Raymond Chandler 1950 American English
14434 Train Pete Dexter 2003 American English
14896 Before The Fact Francis Iles 1932 British English
14956 The High Window Raymond Chandler 1942 American English
14983 The Horizontal Man Helen Eustis 1945 American English
14983 The Blue Hammer Ross Macdonald 1976 American English
14983 La Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
15608 The New Centurions Joseph Wambaugh 1970 American English
15821 Laughter In The Dark Vladimir Nabokov 1932 Russian Russian
15842 Hard Rain Falling Don Carpenter 1966 American English
15866 No Beast So Fierce Edward Bunker 1973 American English