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
15897 The Big Clock Kenneth Fearing 1946 American English
15897 The Engagement Georges Simenon 1933 Belgian French
15897 The Man In The Net Patrick Quentin 1956 American English
17117 Sleeping Beauty Ross Macdonald 1973 American English
17117 The Devil All The Time Donald Ray Pollock 2011 American English
17117 Sacrifice Andrew Vachss 1991 American English
17117 The Canary Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1927 American English
17117 A Drink Before The War Dennis Lehane 1994 American English
17117 The Moving Target Ross Macdonald 1950 American English
17117 Deadlock Sara Paretsky 1984 American English
17117 The So Blue Marble Dorothy B. Hughes 1940 American English
17117 The Adventures Of Sam Spade Dashiell Hammett 1944 American English
17117 Wisteria Cottage Robert M. Coates 1948 American English
17117 Mischief Charlotte Armstrong 1950 American English
17117 High Art Rubem Fonseca 1983 Brazilian Portuguese
17117 The Bird Tribunal Agnes Ravatn 2013 Norwegian Norwegian
17117 The Fabulous Clipjoint Frederick Brown 1947 American English
17117 Post Mortem Guy Cullingford 1953 British English
17117 Gun Before Butter Nicolas Freeling 1963 British English
17117 The Expendable Man Dorothy B. Hughes 1963 American English
17117 The Last Best Friend George Sims 1967 British English
17117 The Tremor Of Forgery Patricia Highsmith 1969 American English
17117 Young Man, I Think You're Dying Joan Fleming 1970 British English
17117 Beyond This Point Are Monsters Margaret Millar 1970 Canadian English
17117 The Players And The Game Julian Symons 1972 British English
17117 The Naked Nuns Colin Watson 1975 British English
17117 A Death In The Life Dorothy Salisbury Davis 1976 American English
17117 The Investigation Dorothy Uhnak 1977 American English
17117 Nobody's Perfect Donald E. Westlake 1977 American English
17117 A Pinch Of Snuff Reginald Hill 1978 British English
17117 Skinflick Joseph Hansen 1979 American English
17117 The Green Ripper John D. MacDonald 1979 American English
17117 The Glitter Dome Joseph Wambaugh 1981 American English
17117 To Make A Killing June Thomson 1982 British English
17117 The Artful Egg James McClure 1984 South African English
17117 Pulp Charles Bukowski 1994 American English
17117 Dead Street Mickey Spillane 2007 American English
17117 End Games Michael Dibdin 2007 British English
17117 Tokyo Express Taiyō Matsumoto Unknown Unknown
17117 Velvet Was The Night Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2021 Mexican English
16751 The Talented Mr. Ripley / Ripley Under Ground / Ripley's Game Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
17117 The Stolen Coast Dwyer Murphy 2023 Unknown English
17117 Small Mercies Dennis Lehane 2023 American English
17117 Fixit Joe Ide 2023 American English
17117 The Lock Up John Banville 2023 Irish English
17117 Up With The Sun Thomas Mallon 2023 American English
17117 The Escape Room Megan Goldin 2019 Australian English
17117 The Lesser Dead Christopher Buehlman 2014 American English
17117 How Like An Angel Margaret Millar 1962 Canadian English
17117 A Red Death Walter Mosley 1991 American English
17117 Víctimas En Fals Sebastien Japrisot French French
17117 The Yiddish Policeman's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
17117 November Road Lou Berney 2018 American English
17117 The Wife, The Maid, And The Mistress Ariel Lawhon 2014 American English
17117 The Long Take Robin Robertson 2018 British English
17117 One Shot Harry Gary Phillips 2022 Unknown English
17117 The Twenty Year Death Ariel S. Winter 2012 American English
17117 One Way Or Another Leonardo Sciascia 1974 Italian Italian
17117 Eu Receberia As Piores Noticias Dos Seus Lindos La Marcal Aquino 2005 Brazilian Portuguese
17117 The Blade Artist Irvine Welsh 2016 British English
17117 The Whites Richard Price 2015 American English
17117 Under The Bright Lights Daniel Woodrell 1986 American English
17117 Muscle For The Wing Daniel Woodrell 1988 American English
17117 The Ones You Do Daniel Woodrell 1988 American English
17117 The Way Home George P. Pelecanos 2009 American English
17117 Animal Factory Edward Bunker 1977 American English
17117 Certain Dark Things Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2016 Canadian English
17117 Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library Frank Miller 2005 American English
17117 Sweet Dream Baby Sterling Watson 2002 American English
17117 Nothing Can Go Wrong John D. MacDonald, John H. Kilpatrick American English