Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time (from The Hatchards Crime Companion)

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In 1990 the members of the Crime Writers Association (of Great Britain) voted for their five favorite crime novels in each of ten categories ("The Founding Fathers", "The Golden Age (1914-1939)", "Police Procedural", "Psychological Suspense", "The Whodunnit", "History Mystery", "Romantic Suspense", "Thrillers", "Espionage" and "Hard-Boiled". The following 100 books (including some story collections as well as novels) are the top vote-getters from all categories, listed below in descending order.

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  1. 51.
    A Fatal Inversion (Plume Fiction)
    by Barbara Vine

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  2. 52.
    The Journeying Boy
    by Michael Innes

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  3. 53.
    A Taste for Death
    by P.D. James

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  4. 54.
    The Eagle Has Landed
    by Jack Higgins

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  5. 55.
    My Brother Michael
    by Mary Stewart

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  6. 56.
    ?
    Bertie And The Tin Man A Vict
    by Peter Lovesey

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  7. 57.
    Penny Black
    by Susan Moody

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  8. 58.
    ?
    Game, Set & Match (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match)
    by Len Deighton

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  9. 59.
    ?
    Danger (The Dick Francis Library)
    by Dick Francis

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  10. 60.
    Devices and Desires
    by P.D. James

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  11. 61.
    ?
    Underworld
    by Reginald Hill

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  12. 62.
    Nine Coaches Waiting
    by Mary Stewart

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  13. 63.
    ?
    A Running Duck
    by Paula Gosling

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  14. 64.
    ?
    Smallbone Deceased (Penguin Crime Fiction)
    by Michael Francis Gilbert

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  15. 65.
    The Rose of Tibet
    by Lionel Davidson

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  16. 66.
    Innocent Blood
    by P.D. James

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  17. 67.
    Strong Poison
    by Dorothy L. Sayers

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  18. 68.
    Hamlet, Revenge! (Inspector Appleby Mystery)
    by Michael Innes

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  19. 69.
    A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels)
    by Tony Hillerman

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  20. 70.
    ?
    A Bullet in the Ballet (Black Dagger Crime S.)
    by Caryl Brahms

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  21. 71.
    Deadheads (Dalziel & Pascoe Novel)
    by Reginald Hill

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  22. 72.
    The Third Man
    by Graham Greene

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  23. 73.
    The Labyrinth Makers (David Audley Mysteries)
    by Anthony Price

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  24. 74.
    The Quiller Memorandum (Otto Penzler Presents...)
    by Adam Hall

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  25. 75.
    Beast in View
    by Margaret Millar

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  26. 76.
    The Shortest Way to Hades
    by Sarah L. Caudwell

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  27. 77.
    Running Blind
    by Desmond Bagley

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  28. 78.
    Twice Shy
    by Dick Francis

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  29. 79.
    The Manchurian Candidate
    by Richard Condon

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  30. 80.
    The Killings at Badger's Drift (Inspector Barnaby Mysteries)
    by Caroline Graham

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  31. 81.
    The Beast Must Die (Dell Great Mystery LIbrary, 15)
    by Nicholas Blake

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  32. 82.
    Gorky Park
    by Martin Cruz Smith

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  33. 83.
    Death Comes As the End
    by Agatha Christie

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  34. 84.
    Green for Danger (Brand, Christianna)
    by Christianna Brand

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  35. 85.
    ?
    Tragedy at Law
    by Cyril Hare

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  36. 86.
    The Collector (Back Bay Books)
    by John Fowles

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  37. 87.
    Gideon's Day
    by J. J. Marric

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  38. 88.
    The Sun Chemist
    by Lionel Davidson

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  39. 89.
    Guns of Navarone
    by Alistair Maclean

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  40. 90.
    The Colour of Murder
    by Julian Symons

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  41. 91.
    Greenmantle (Clear Print)
    by John Buchan

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  42. 92.
    The Riddle of the Sands (Modern Library Classics)
    by Erskine Childers

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  43. 93.
    Wobble to Death
    by Peter Lovesey

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  44. 94.
    Red Harvest
    by Dashiell Hammett

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  45. 95.
    ?
    The Key to Rebecca
    by Ken Follett

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  46. 96.

  47. 97.
    The Murder of the Maharajah
    by H. R. F. Keating

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  48. 98.
    What Bloody Man Is That?
    by Simon Brett

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  49. 99.
    ?
    Shooting Script
    by Gavin Lyall

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  50. 100.
    The Four Just Men [EasyRead Edition]
    by Edgar Wallace

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Created by RobT2 on Nov 25, 2006.
 

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