The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

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This list was originally published by the Crime Writers’ Association (UK) and the Mystery Writers’ Association (US).

Pages: 1 3

  1. 1.
    The Big Sleep
    by Raymond Chandler

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  2. 2.
    The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
    by John le Carre

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  3. 3.
    Farewell, My Lovely
    by Raymond Chandler

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  4. 4.
    The Maltese Falcon
    by Dashiell Hammett

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  5. 5.
    The Ipcress File
    by Len Deighton

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  6. 6.
    Last Seen Wearing (Pan Classic Crime)
    by Hillary Waugh

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  7. 7.
    The Name of the Rose

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  8. 8.
    Rogue Male (Crime Masterworks)
    by Geoffrey Household

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  9. 9.
    The Long Goodbye
    by Raymond Chandler

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  10. 10.
    Malice Aforethought
    by Francis Iles

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  11. 11.
    The Day of the Jackal
    by Frederick Forsyth

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  12. 12.
    The Thirty-Nine Steps (Penguin Classics)
    by John Buchan

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  13. 13.
    ?
    The Mask of Dimitrios
    by Eric Ambler

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  14. 14.
    The Tiger in the Smoke
    by Margery Allingham

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  15. 15.
    The False Inspector Dew
    by Peter Lovesey

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  16. 16.
    The Postman Always Rings Twice
    by James Mallahan Cain

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  17. 17.
    The Glass Key
    by Dashiell Hammett

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  18. 18.
    The Hound of the Baskervilles
    by Arthur Conan, Sir Doyle

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  19. 19.
    Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
    by John le Carre

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  20. 20.
    ?
    Trent's Last Case
    by E. Clerihew Bentley

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  21. 21.
    From Russia with Love (James Bond Novels)
    by Ian Fleming

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  22. 22.
    Cop Hater (87th Precinct Mysteries (Paperback))
    by Ed McBain

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  23. 23.
    Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse Mysteries (Paperback))
    by Colin Dexter

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  24. 24.
    A Judgement in Stone
    by Ruth Rendell

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  25. 25.
    The Three Coffins
    by John Dickson Carr

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  26. 27.
    The Leper of St. Giles (Cadfael Chronicles)
    by Peters

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  27. 28.
    A Kiss Before Dying
    by Ira, Levin

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  28. 29.
    The Talented Mr.Ripley
    by Patricia Highsmith

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  29. 31.
    The Lady in the Lake
    by Raymond Chandler

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  30. 32.
    Presumed Innocent
    by Scott Turow

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  31. 33.
    A Demon in My View
    by Ruth Rendell

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  32. 34.
    The Devil in Velvet
    by John Dickson Carr

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  33. 35.
    A Fatal Inversion
    by Barbara Vine

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  34. 36.
    The Journeying Boy
    by Michael Innes

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  35. 37.
    A Taste for Death
    by P.D. James

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  36. 38.
    The Eagle Has Landed
    by Jack Higgins

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  37. 39.
    My Brother Michael
    by Mary Stewart

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  38. 40.
    ?
    Bertie and the Tin Man
    by Peter Lovesey

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  39. 41.
    Penny Black
    by Susan Moody

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  40. 42.
    ?
    Len Deighton's Game, Set, Match
    by Len Deighton

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  41. 43.
    The Danger
    by Dick Francis

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  42. 44.
    Under World (Dalziel and Pascoe)
    by Reginald Hill

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  43. 45.
    Nine Coaches Waiting
    by Mary Stewart

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  44. 46.
    ?
    A Running Duck
    by Paula Gosling

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  45. 47.
    ?
    Smallbone Deceased
    by Michael Gilbert

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  46. 48.
    The Rose of Tibet
    by Lionel Davidson

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  47. 49.
    Innocent Blood
    by P.D. James

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  48. 50.
    Strong Poison
    by Dorothy L. Sayers

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This is a community list. You can contribute, edit, or help maintain it by adding it to your lists.
Created by mushhead on May 30, 2006.
 

Comments

Fixes... — 2 years ago

I’m not sure what’s going on with this list, but a couple of books seem to have switched to the wrong ones. I changed A Demon in My View back to the Ruth Rendell book and The Postman Always Rings Twice to the book itself (and not a collection of Cain’s work, which isn’t what’s on the source list.)


Mask of Dimitrios/Coffin for Dimitrios — 2 years ago

Just noticed these are the same book, so took off the US version (Coffin for Dimitrios).


"The Hollow Man" and "The Three Coffins" are the same book! — 2 years ago

Just published in the U.K. and the U.S.A. under different titles. I moved “Three Coffins” to the proper place in the British section and deleted Dan Simmons’s “Hollow Man” novel. (A fine book, but it shouldn’t have been on this list.)

I’m currently posting the British and American lists separately, working from copies of the books in question (“The Hatchards Crime Companion” for Britain, “The Crown Crime Companion” for the U.S.).


Done and Done! — 2 years ago

Finished adding on the US choices (not that I particularly agree with a lot of them)...but now the title of the list doesn’t really work.


Done! — 2 years ago

I’ve finished off the British version of the list.


mushhead
Sydney

Feel free to help! — 3 years ago

I’ve just added the first half of the books, and will finish the rest as soon as I can.

Feel free to help add the rest – I am taking information directly from the Wiki.

Also, I am hoping to finish off the Brit list first and then add the titles from the US that are not mentioned in the UK version after the main 100.