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
15916 The Big Clock Kenneth Fearing 1946 American English
15916 The Engagement Georges Simenon 1933 Belgian French
15916 The Man In The Net Patrick Quentin 1956 American English
16780 The Talented Mr. Ripley / Ripley Under Ground / Ripley's Game Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
17164 Sleeping Beauty Ross Macdonald 1973 American English
17164 The Devil All The Time Donald Ray Pollock 2011 American English
17164 Sacrifice Andrew Vachss 1991 American English
17164 The Canary Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1927 American English
17164 A Drink Before The War Dennis Lehane 1994 American English
17164 The Moving Target Ross Macdonald 1950 American English
17164 Deadlock Sara Paretsky 1984 American English
17164 The So Blue Marble Dorothy B. Hughes 1940 American English
17164 The Adventures Of Sam Spade Dashiell Hammett 1944 American English
17164 Wisteria Cottage Robert M. Coates 1948 American English
17164 Mischief Charlotte Armstrong 1950 American English
17164 High Art Rubem Fonseca 1983 Brazilian Portuguese
17164 The Bird Tribunal Agnes Ravatn 2013 Norwegian Norwegian
17164 The Fabulous Clipjoint Frederick Brown 1947 American English
17164 Post Mortem Guy Cullingford 1953 British English
17164 Gun Before Butter Nicolas Freeling 1963 British English
17164 The Expendable Man Dorothy B. Hughes 1963 American English
17164 The Last Best Friend George Sims 1967 British English
17164 The Tremor Of Forgery Patricia Highsmith 1969 American English
17164 Young Man, I Think You're Dying Joan Fleming 1970 British English
17164 Beyond This Point Are Monsters Margaret Millar 1970 Canadian English
17164 The Players And The Game Julian Symons 1972 British English
17164 The Naked Nuns Colin Watson 1975 British English
17164 A Death In The Life Dorothy Salisbury Davis 1976 American English
17164 The Investigation Dorothy Uhnak 1977 American English
17164 Nobody's Perfect Donald E. Westlake 1977 American English
17164 A Pinch Of Snuff Reginald Hill 1978 British English
17164 Skinflick Joseph Hansen 1979 American English
17164 The Green Ripper John D. MacDonald 1979 American English
17164 The Glitter Dome Joseph Wambaugh 1981 American English
17164 To Make A Killing June Thomson 1982 British English
17164 The Artful Egg James McClure 1984 South African English
Tales Of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1909 American English
17164 Pulp Charles Bukowski 1994 American English
17164 Dead Street Mickey Spillane 2007 American English
17164 End Games Michael Dibdin 2007 British English
17164 Tokyo Express Taiyō Matsumoto Unknown Unknown
17164 Velvet Was The Night Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2021 Mexican English
17164 The Stolen Coast Dwyer Murphy 2023 Unknown English
17164 Small Mercies Dennis Lehane 2023 American English
17164 Fixit Joe Ide 2023 American English
17164 The Lock Up John Banville 2023 Irish English
17164 Up With The Sun Thomas Mallon 2023 American English
17164 The Escape Room Megan Goldin 2019 Australian English
17164 The Lesser Dead Christopher Buehlman 2014 American English
17164 How Like An Angel Margaret Millar 1962 Canadian English
17164 A Red Death Walter Mosley 1991 American English
17164 Víctimas En Fals Sebastien Japrisot French French
17164 The Yiddish Policeman's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
17164 November Road Lou Berney 2018 American English
17164 The Wife, The Maid, And The Mistress Ariel Lawhon 2014 American English
17164 The Long Take Robin Robertson 2018 British English
17164 One Shot Harry Gary Phillips 2022 Unknown English
17164 The Twenty Year Death Ariel S. Winter 2012 American English
17164 One Way Or Another Leonardo Sciascia 1974 Italian Italian
17164 Eu Receberia As Piores Noticias Dos Seus Lindos La Marcal Aquino 2005 Brazilian Portuguese
17164 The Blade Artist Irvine Welsh 2016 British English
17164 The Whites Richard Price 2015 American English
17164 Under The Bright Lights Daniel Woodrell 1986 American English
17164 Muscle For The Wing Daniel Woodrell 1988 American English
17164 The Ones You Do Daniel Woodrell 1988 American English
17164 The Way Home George P. Pelecanos 2009 American English
17164 Animal Factory Edward Bunker 1977 American English
17164 Certain Dark Things Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2016 Canadian English
17164 Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library Frank Miller 2005 American English
17164 Sweet Dream Baby Sterling Watson 2002 American English
17164 Nothing Can Go Wrong John D. MacDonald, John H. Kilpatrick American English