The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time, by Category

(from The Crown Crime Companion)

	1.	The Complete Sherlock Holmes. The master detective and his assistant, Dr. Watson, solve mystery puzzles by logic and deduction. Sherlock Holmes is probably the most loved fictional detective of all times.	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
	2.	Tales of Mystery and Imagination. This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterize his work. As well as the Gothic horror of "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Premature Burial" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", all of Poe's Auguste Dupin stories are included.	Edgar Allan Poe
	3.	The Moonstone (Modern Library Classics) (1868). T S Eliot described "The Moonstone" as "the first, the longest, and the best of Modern English detective novels". Sergeant Cuff leads the chase to the solution of the mystery. This may well be the best crime novel of all time.	Wilkie Collins
	4.	The Woman in White (Penguin Classics) (1869). The story, told by the characters, starts with a midnight encounter on a lonely road with a mysterious and agitated woman dressed entirely in white, whom the main character helps to escape from pursuers.	Wilkie Collins
	5.	Crime and Punishment (Penguin Classics) (1866). The novel is concerned with the psychology of a crime and the processes of guilt. The Grand Master Dostoyevsky makes us love and hate his hero.	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
	6.	Trent's Last Case. (1913, filmed three times).Two immediate matters confound amateur detective Philip Trent when an American capitalist is found dead: why is the dead man not wearing his false teeth, and why is his young widow seemingly relieved at his death?	E. Clerihew Bentley
	7.	The Circular Staircase (1908). A middle-aged spinster rents a country house for the summer and finds herself plunged into a scenario of bank defaults, stolen securities and murder. Intrigue, villainy and suspense!.	Mary Roberts Rinehart
	8.	The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Penguin Classics)(1870, filmed twice). This novel was left unfinished by Dickens. The novel is named after Edwin Drood. The tale, however, is mostly about his strange, Jekyll & Hyde-like uncle. It's a great and interesting read.	Charles Dickens
	9.	The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). This is the first book in a series of five featuring the strange but capable Roman Catholic priest Father Brown. Most people underestimate Father Brown, but he has a surprising ability to uncover the truth behind the mystery. An interesting classical crime hero indeed!	G. K. Chesterton
	10.	Dracula (Norton Critical Editions)(1897). This is an awesome tale of a bloodthirsty vampire. An extremely famous book, written by an interesting author. The books has later been filmed, in a movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola.	Bram Stoker
	11.	Rebecca (1938). The heroine, who remains nameless, lives in Europe with her husband,Maxim de Winter, traveling from hotel to hotel. She has memories of a beautiful home called Manderley, which has been destroyed by fire. The story begins with her memories of how she and Maxim first met, in Monte Carlo, years before.	Daphne du Maurier
	12.	Silence of the Lambs (1988). This is the second novel by Thomas Harris to feature the sociopathic psychiatrist and cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In the novel, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is sent to see the imprisoned Lecter in order to ask his expert advice on catching a serial killer given the name Buffalo Bill, who is abducting women and skinning them. The book has been filmed.	Thomas Harris
	13.	Red Dragon (1993). This is the first book about Hannibal Lecter. "Red Dragon" is a wonderfully intense psychological thriller, with plenty of obscene violence and "typical" Thomas Harris plot twists. The story of the ex-FBI agent stalking the "Tooth Fairy" or "Red Dragon" is extremely interesting and detailed, right down to forensic and crime scene evidence. This book, too, has been filmed.	Thomas Harris
	14.	Where Are the Children? (1975) This book is very fascinating. The plot is about a woman named Nancy whose children were kidnapped and murdered on her birthday. Everyone pointed their fingers at Nancy, but she left the courtroom on a technicality. Seven years later, Nancy is remarried and has two more children. However, one morning Nancy goes outside where her children were supposed to be playing and finds them gone.. A must read!	Higgins Clark
	15.	Laura (Femmes Fatales: Women Write Pulp) (1942, filmed 1944). Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms. As a tough cop probes the mystery of Laura's death, he becomes obsessed with her strange power. Soon he realizes he's been seduced by a dead woman.	Vera Caspary
	16.	Beast in View(1945). A chain of events starting with a crank call from an old school chum sets the lonely, aloof, financially comfortable Miss Helen Clarvoe on a path as predictable only as madness. Lured from her rooms in a second-rate residential Hollywood hotel, she finds herself stranded in the more perilous terrain of extortion, pornography, vengeance, and ultimately murder.	Margareth Millar
	17.	A Judgment in Stone (1977). This novel is famous in the world of crime fiction for its opening line: "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write". It has been acclaimed as a keen social examination of the differences between British classes in the 1970s, as well being remarkable in its levels of suspense, despite the reader knowing from the first line what is going to happen.	Ruth Rendell
	18.	Rosemary's Baby (1967). The book centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young pregnant woman, who begins to suspect her elderly neighbors are not the kindly souls they appear to be. Gradually she discovers they are the leaders of a coven of witches. Her husband, a struggling actor, allowed the devil to impregnate her in exchange for a successful career, but she is unable to convince anyone to believe her. A movie based on the novel was filmed by Roman Polanski. Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes starred in the movie.	Ira Levin
	19.	The Big Clock (New York Review Books Classics)(1946) . George Stroud is a hard-drinking, tough-talking writer for a New York media conglomerate. One day, before heading home to his wife, Stroud has a drink with Pauline, the girlfriend of his boss. Things happen. The next day Stroud escorts Pauline home. The day after that, Pauline is found murdered in her apartment. This novel was the basis for the feature films The Big Clock (1948) and No Way Out (1987).	Kenneth Fearing
	20.	Brighton Rock (Penguin Classic Deluxe Edition)(1938). Although this is an underworld thriller, the book is also a very powerful exploration of the nature of sin and the basis of morality (Pinkie and Rose, two of the main characters, are Roman Catholics, as was Greene, and their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility). This book was filmed in 1947.	Graham Greene
	21.	The Maltese Falcon (1930). Some reviewers hold the opinion that this is the best American crime novel ever. It is a hard boiled, tough, and direct book about a detective and a smart damsel in distress. See review of this book (in Norwegian) here. This book has been filmed no less than three times!	Dashiell Hammett
	22.	The Big Sleep (Penguin Fiction)(1939). Detective Philip Marlowe's tries to protect the wealthy Sternwood family from blackmail. This is the starting point for a complicated chain of events. The plot breaks apart into a series of loose ends and improbabilities from which it doesn't recover until the last fifty pages. A classic must read, not least for Chandler's unique style.	Raymond Chandler
	23.	The Long Goodbye (1953). This book is notable for using hard-boiled detective fiction as a vehicle for social criticism. It again features Chandler's hard boiled detective figure, Philip Marlowe. The plot starts with Marlowe driving a friend to the Tijuana airport, and being arrested for suspicion of murder.	Raymond Chandler
	24.	Farewell, My Lovely (1940). Philip Marlowe meets ex-con Moose Malloy on Los Angeles' Central Avenue. The meeting gets Marlowe into all kinds of trouble. Malloy is looking for his one-time girlfriend, red-haired Velma. Malloy accidentally kills the black boss of the club where Velma used to work, and Marlowe, the only white witness to it. The widow tells him, unconvincingly, that Velma Valento is dead. Marlowe looks for Velma, but is beaten, threatened, and lied to. He is told Velma dead, but in reality she manipulates him. A great crime noir! See review of this book (in Norwegian) here.	Raymond Chandler
	25.	The Thin Man (1934). The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City. The main characters are a former private detective, Nick Charles, and his clever young wife, Nora. Nick has given up his career since marrying Nora, a wealthy socialite, and he now spends most of his time cheerfully getting drunk. The book has been filmed.	Dashiell Hammet