← Crime & Mystery
Reading List

The Crime & Mystery Top 100 — Best Crime & Mystery Books

The greatest crime and mystery novels — from golden age whodunits to modern noir and detective fiction.

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And Then There Were None
1
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie
1939
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
2
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle
1902
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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
3
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie
1926
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The Maltese Falcon
4
The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett
1930
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Murder on the Orient Express
5
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie
1934
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The Big Sleep
6
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
1939
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In Cold Blood
7
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote
1966
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson
2005
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Farewell My Lovely
9
Farewell My Lovely
Raymond Chandler
1940
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The Long Goodbye
10
The Long Goodbye
Raymond Chandler
1953
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Rebecca
11
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
1938
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The Name of the Rose
12
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco
1980
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
13
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John le Carre
1974
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
14
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John le Carre
1963
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Gone Girl
15
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn
2012
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The Silence of the Lambs
16
The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris
1988
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Red Dragon
17
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris
1981
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The Talented Mr. Ripley
18
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Patricia Highsmith
1955
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Strangers on a Train
19
Strangers on a Train
Patricia Highsmith
1950
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The Woman in White
20
The Woman in White
Wilkie Collins
1859
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The Moonstone
21
The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins
1868
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A Study in Scarlet
22
A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
1887
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Death on the Nile
23
Death on the Nile
Agatha Christie
1937
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Evil Under the Sun
24
Evil Under the Sun
Agatha Christie
1941
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The ABC Murders
25
The ABC Murders
Agatha Christie
1936
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In the Woods
26
In the Woods
Tana French
2007
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The Likeness
27
The Likeness
Tana French
2008
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Still Life
28
Still Life
Louise Penny
2005
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The Lincoln Lawyer
29
The Lincoln Lawyer
Michael Connelly
2005
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The Black Echo
30
The Black Echo
Michael Connelly
1992
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Mystic River
31
Mystic River
Dennis Lehane
2001
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Shutter Island
32
Shutter Island
Dennis Lehane
2003
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The Dry
33
The Dry
Jane Harper
2016
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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
34
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Stuart Turton
2018
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Magpie Murders
35
Magpie Murders
Anthony Horowitz
2016
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The Devotion of Suspect X
36
The Devotion of Suspect X
Keigo Higashino
2005
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Out
37
Out
Natsuo Kirino
1997
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The Snowman
38
The Snowman
Jo Nesbo
2007
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The Secret History
39
The Secret History
Donna Tartt
1992
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The Da Vinci Code
40
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
2003
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The Alienist
41
The Alienist
Caleb Carr
1994
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A Great Deliverance
42
A Great Deliverance
Elizabeth George
1988
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Bluebird Bluebird
43
Bluebird Bluebird
Attica Locke
2017
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Crooked House
44
Crooked House
Agatha Christie
1949
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Five Little Pigs
45
Five Little Pigs
Agatha Christie
1942
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles
46
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie
1920
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
47
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
1892
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Presumed Innocent
48
Presumed Innocent
Scott Turow
1987
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The Firm
49
The Firm
John Grisham
1991
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A Time to Kill
50
A Time to Kill
John Grisham
1989
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Along Came a Spider
51
Along Came a Spider
James Patterson
1993
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The Daughter of Time
52
The Daughter of Time
Josephine Tey
1951
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Gaudy Night
53
Gaudy Night
Dorothy L. Sayers
1935
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The Nine Tailors
54
The Nine Tailors
Dorothy L. Sayers
1934
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Strong Poison
55
Strong Poison
Dorothy L. Sayers
1930
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A Morbid Taste for Bones
56
A Morbid Taste for Bones
Ellis Peters
1977
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Before I Go to Sleep
57
Before I Go to Sleep
S.J. Watson
2011
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The Silent Patient
58
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides
2019
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Where the Crawdads Sing
59
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
2018
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The Maid
60
The Maid
Nita Prose
2022
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The Thursday Murder Club
61
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman
2020
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The Man Who Died Twice
62
The Man Who Died Twice
Richard Osman
2021
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Verity
63
Verity
Colleen Hoover
2018
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The Paris Apartment
64
The Paris Apartment
Lucy Foley
2022
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The Guest List
65
The Guest List
Lucy Foley
2020
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A Caribbean Mystery
66
A Caribbean Mystery
Agatha Christie
1964
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Confessions
67
Confessions
Kanae Minato
2008
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Faithful Place
68
Faithful Place
Tana French
2010
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The Brutal Telling
69
The Brutal Telling
Louise Penny
2009
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Bury Your Dead
70
Bury Your Dead
Louise Penny
2010
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The Cruelest Month
71
The Cruelest Month
Louise Penny
2007
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Force of Nature
72
Force of Nature
Jane Harper
2017
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Gone Baby Gone
73
Gone Baby Gone
Dennis Lehane
1998
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The Word is Murder
74
The Word is Murder
Anthony Horowitz
2017
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The Bat
75
The Bat
Jo Nesbo
1997
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One of Us is Lying
76
One of Us is Lying
Karen M. McManus
2017
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The Inheritance Games
77
The Inheritance Games
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
2020
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The Circular Staircase
78
The Circular Staircase
Mary Roberts Rinehart
1908
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The Father Brown Stories
79
The Father Brown Stories
G.K. Chesterton
1911
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An Inspector Calls
80
An Inspector Calls
J.B. Priestley
1945
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I Am Pilgrim
81
I Am Pilgrim
Terry Hayes
2013
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Sadie
82
Sadie
Courtney Summers
2018
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A Gentleman in Moscow
83
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
2016
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The Bullet That Missed
84
The Bullet That Missed
Richard Osman
2022
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The Hunting Party
85
The Hunting Party
Lucy Foley
2019
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Behind Closed Doors
86
Behind Closed Doors
B.A. Paris
2016
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The Woman in Cabin 10
87
The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware
2016
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The Poet
88
The Poet
Michael Connelly
1996
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The Reversal
89
The Reversal
Michael Connelly
2010
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The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window
90
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window
Jonas Jonasson
2009
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The Push
91
The Push
Ashley Audrain
2021
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The Nanny
92
The Nanny
Gilly Macmillan
2019
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Tell No One
93
Tell No One
Harlan Coben
2001
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The Secret Place
94
The Secret Place
Tana French
2014
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Then She Was Gone
95
Then She Was Gone
Lisa Jewell
2017
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The Family Upstairs
96
The Family Upstairs
Lisa Jewell
2019
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Dial A for Aunties
97
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto
2021
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The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
98
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
Jonas Jonasson
2012
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
99
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith
1998
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Broken Harbour
100
Broken Harbour
Tana French
2012
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