Ranking

Title

Wish

Truman Capote (1994) In Cold Blood.

A masterpiece. Capote invented a new genre.

Agatha Christie (2001) And Then There Were None: A Novel. (First published in 1939)

Agatha Christie's version of the nursery rhyme is often considered the best mystery novel ever written. 10 strangers are trapped in an Indian island, where the sinister Mr. Owen is accusing them of murder. One by one is found dead, until ... (the resolution of the novel is very different from that of the movie versions).

Dashiell Hammett (1989) The Maltese Falcon. (Reprint Ed.)

Archetypal tough guy, detective Sam Spade, risks his reputation by trying to help a beautiful young lady. As his partner gets killed Spade is suspected for murder. The story is a complex web of betrayal and deception, in which everyone tries to get the gold statuette of a falcon. Sam's masculine strength is refreshing in today's world of male insecurity. Also an excellent movie with Humphrey Bogart - but the book is better.

Patricia Highsmith (2001) Strangers on a Train. (First published 1950)

In her first novel published in 1950, Patricia Highsmith introduced the character of a subtle, murderous, sociopath who lives unsuspected for years. Highsmith's psycho-thriller was the source of a famous Alfred Hitchcock film in 1953. The book is one of the great classics of psychological crime fiction.

Patricia Highsmith (1992) The Talented Mr. Ripley. (First published 1955)

Patricia Highsmith wrote stories in which you almost physically feel the coming of a catastrophe. It is so unnerving that you might just want to throw away the book, because you can no longer stand the tension. But then you read on through the night. Don't get confused by the silly title or lousy cover. This is one of the best psycho-thrillers - ever!

Harper Lee (1988) To Kill a Mocking Bird.

First published in 1960, the novel is a classic. It is set in Maycomb, a fictional representation of Monroeville, Alabama. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and within two years sold more than five million copies in 13 countries. Shame on you, if you have not read "the best novel of the century" (Library Journal).

James M. Cain (1989) The Postman Always Rings Twice. (Reprint Ed.)

Cain's book started a new genre in 1934: American noir fiction. It may be full of despair, sweltering greed, dark violence, and raw sex, but the no-nonsense description of human drama heading towards destruction is impossible to resist. With his unique laconic style Cain tells the story of Frank, a tramp, who his attracted to Cora, the young wife of brutally violent Nick. When Frank and Cora start an affair behind her older man's back, the story is heading for disaster.

Arthur Conan Doyle (2005) The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels. Includes: A Study in Scarlet (1887), The Sign of Four (1889), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901), The Valley of Fear (1914).

Many illustrations, some from the novels' original appearances. A must-have for any serious mystery fan.

Graham Greene (1991) Our Man in Havana: An Entertainment. (First published in 1958)

Mr. Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman in a city of power brokers becomes a spy to earn extra income. This crisply written novel will drag you down with unbearable tension, while at the same time make you giggle with its satirical parodies and absurd plot. A masterpiece!

Ross Macdonald (1996) The Drowning Pool. (First published in 1950)

Hard-boiled novel noir filled with sex, blackmail, deceit and murder. This is the second novel in Macdonalds Lew Archer series. Complex plot, combined with psychological depth, in economic prose.

Henning Mankell (2004) The Fifth Woman.

In one of the best thrillers of the Kurt Wallander series the Swedish detective is trying to cope with the death of his father, while he struggles to make sense of a series of seemingly unrelated, brutal killings in southern Sweden. He uncovers the ties that bind these murders to killings in Algeria, many years ago.

Edgar Alan Poe (2002) Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems.

This Collection of 73 short stories and 48 poems includes such masterpieces as The Fall of the House of Usher, The Purloined Letter, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and Murders in the Rue Morgue. A MUST for classical mystery fans.

Ruth Rendell (2001) The Lake of Darkness. (First published in 1976)

Martin Urban, a quiet bachelor, wins a large fortune at the football pools. Financially comfortable, he decides to share his newfound wealth with those in need. And the disaster begins to unfold. The seemingly normal benefactors of Martin's altruistic impulses are vicious nut cases. His good intentions become fatally distorted. One of Rendell's best novels.

Raymond Chandler (1988) The Long Goodbye.

This is probably the best of Chandler's novels. His hero, P.I. Philip Marlowe, tries to help war veteran Terry Lennox, whose sex-obsessed wealthy wife has been murdered. This quickly gets Marlowe into trouble with cops and crazy gangsters. When Terry is also murdered, Marlowe becomes entangled in his friend's dirty family secrets. In his cynical and crisp prose Chandler delivered a gripping tale of moral corruption.

Patricia Cornwell (2003) Postmortem.

Patricia Cronwell's first book in the Kay Scarpetta series is about a brilliant serial killer who is strangling young women. Kay is applying latest forensic techniques to identify the killer, but someone is sabotaging the investigation.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1984) Crime and Punishment.

Dostoevsky's rendering of the student Raskolnikov in 18th-century Russia is a true classic. In a process of moral decline, the impoverished intellectual robs and kills his pawnbroker. As he is hunted down for his crime Dostoevsky tells a surprisingly fast-paced story, full of moral dilemmas and psychological thrill. A masterpiece.

D. H. Dublin (2007) Blood Poison. A C.S.U. Investigation.

In a Philadelphia Police Department, the Crime Scene Unit takes blood, sweat, tears-and other DNA samples.

Patricia Highsmith (1993) Ripley's Game. (First published 1974)

Dashing murderer Tom Ripley is playing a nasty game of manipulation on an inconspicuous man, leading to murder and revenge. The resulting chain of events drags the reader into a most unsettling mental state - frozen in fascination, but also terrified by the looming disaster. A dark tale.

Mario Puzo (1969) The Godfather.

Puzo's epic novel redefined the public image of the Italian mafia. With Don Vito Corleone's violent struggle to control the underworld of New York we glimpse into an ancient world of honor and vendetta, Italian family tradition, friendship and loyalty were betrayal is punished with merciless vengeance. While this novel has romanticized organized crime, it added a human dimension to those evil and violent thugs. In Puzo's prose Don Vito appears as a genial family man, almost kind and reasonable.

Ann Rule (2001) The Stranger Beside Me.

Ted Bundy, a most violent sociopath, murderer, and mutilator of women, is the subject of this true-crime book. Ann Rule's chilling account, from the time she unsuspectingly met and worked with the savage slayer to the moment of his death by electrocution in Florida, is one of the greatest books in the true crime genre.

Ann Rule (2007) Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal.

Idyllic life in Atlanta's wealthy suburbs turned into jealous rage. Perhaps Ann Rule's best book so far with detailed descriptions of cutting-edge forensic techniques.

Paul Schrader (1990) Taxi Driver.

Vietnam veteran Travis Bickler is a lonely man - disgusted with the street-scum of pimps, drug dealers, Mafiosi, and prostitutes in New York City. As a taxi driver on night shift he is longing for true love and beauty, which he thinks he has found in Betsy. But their relationship is doomed. In a state of psychotic rage, Travis goes on a murdering rampage.

Scott Turow (1989) Presumed Innocent.

Turow's first courtroom thriller is one of the best legal fiction novels. As a former U.S. prosecutor, Turow has intimate knowledge of legal procedures and can draw the reader into the grittily realistic drama of a murder trial. A dark twist of events transforms prosecutor Susty Sabich from the accuser to the accused.

Arthur W. Upfield (1998) Murder Down Under.

This is one of Upfield's best murder mysteries. His protégée, Napoleon (Bony) Bonaparte investigates a murder while on vacation in the wheat town of Burracoppin of Western Australia. In the fascinating scenery of the Australian Outback quirky characters will drag you into a complex puzzle.

Arthur W. Upfield (1998) The Bachelors of Broken Hill.

Set in a remote mining town, Upfield's murder mystery brings to life a long-ago forgotten world.

Barbara Vine (1993) A Dark-adapted Eye. (First published 1987)

Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine.

Eric Ambler (2001) The Mask for Dimitrios / A Coffin for Dimitrios. (First published 1939)

Ambler's story of a mystery writer in Istanbul, who gets himself involved with the criminal and spy Dimitrios, is a true classic. Dimitrios' corpse has just been fished out of the Bosporus by the police. As the writer sets out to discover Dimitrios' past, someone is stalking him on his trail from Smyrna to Athens to Sofia.

Robert Bloch (1991) Psycho.

Psycho all came from Robert Bloch's book (Alfred Hitchcock). The novel, originally published in 1959, describes the events surrounding the profoundly disturbed motel proprietor Norman Bates.

Raymond Chandler (1988) The Big Sleep. (Originally published in 1939)

First published in 1939, Chandler's book created the archetypal character of street-smart private investigator Philip Marlow. He works a case of blackmail in the underbelly of San Francisco, populated by con men, weird ladies, mobsters, cheap sluts, pornographers, gamblers, drunks, and other despicable characters. In this tough world, Marlow is the straight and loyal guy.

Richard Condon (2003) The Manchurian Candidate. (Reprint Ed.)

In Condon's 1959 Cold War thriller Sgt. Raymond Shaw is brainwashed during his captivity in North Korea. He returns to America programmed to assassinate a U.S. presidential nominee. The 1962 movie with Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra is considered one of the 100 top thriller movies of all times.

Frederick Forsyth (1999) The Day of the Jackal. (Reprint Ed.)

First published in 1971, the Jackal created a new genre: realistic spy fiction. Forsyth didn't bother with fantasy espionage (a la James Bond), but depicted a brutal and nasty world of evildoers. The plot is about an attempt to murder General DeGaulle of France. Most reviewers consider the novel as the gold standard of spy fiction.

John Grisham (1992) The Firm.

About a law firm controlled by the Mafia. Fast-paced, smart, with believable characters. One of the best legal thrillers on the market.

John Le Carré (2005) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

In Le Carré's first masterpiece Alec Leamas, a British agent in early Cold War Berlin, is responsible for keeping the double agents under his care undercover and alive. When the East Germans start killing them, Leamas is sent deep into Communist territory to find out why. But nothing is quite what it seems. "The finest spy story ever written" (Graham Green).

Henning Mankell (2006) Before the Frost.

Atmospheric thriller about a religious fanatic on a murder spree. In his latest Kurt Wallander crime novel, Henning Mankell describes a secret world of religious extremists in peaceful southern Sweden, who are bent on punishing the world's sinners.

Henning Mankell (2004) The Dogs of Riga.

Kurt Wallander, the stoic Swedish detective is investigating the murders of two unidentified men washed up on the Swedish coast in an inflatable dinghy. It leads him into the dangerous underworld of government corruption characteristic of Soviet-style totalitarian regimes. Scandinavian police work at the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapse.

Robin Moore (2003) The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy.

Detectives Edward Egan and Salvatore Grosso almost stumble into a case of heroin smuggling that ultimately leads to the seizure of the largest cache of heroin ever picked up in New York. Crime syndicate heads in Canada and France are involved. First published in 1969. Also a top movie with 5 Academy Awards.

Richard North Patterson (2007) Exile.

Rare combination of a thrilling story with an intelligent political analysis of the ongoing tragedy between Israelis and Palestinians. A courtroom drama, a love story, and a political thriller on a most complex and controversial subject. There is not one page that is boring!

Ruth Rendell (2000) A Judgement in Stone. (First published 1977)

Dorothy L. Sayers (1995) Gaudy Nights. (First published in 1935)

This Lord Peter Wimsey mystery unfolds at the all-female Shrewsbury College at Oxford. Harriet Vane, mystery writer and alumna of the College, comes back for the annual Gaudy night, where she receives a note full of hatred. Some time later she is called back by the Dean because the unpleasant events have intensified. Academic life, mixed with vitriolic hate.

Georges Simenon (2003) Dirty Snow. (First published in 1950)

Set in occupied France during WWII, Simenon's bleak masterpiece is a dispassionate description of human cruelty. No other writer has achieved the psychological intensity of Simenon. “What many regard as the finest of all noir novels…"--Tim Rutten, The Los Angeles Times

Jim Thompson (1991) The Killer Inside Me.

Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered. (Stanley Kubrick)

Robert Traver (2005) Anatomy of a Murder. (First published in 1958)

Traver's book tells a story of deceit and murder that ends in a sensational trial. Army Lt. Manion has obviously killed tavern owner Barney Quil, the man who allegedly raped his wife. A cunning prosecutor and a determined defense attorney are battling out the convoluted case, with a surprising end. Also a classic Otto Preminger film.

Edgar Wallace (2001) Dark Eyes Of London. (First published in 1924)

Inspector Holt and his valet Sunny are relaxing in Monte Carlo when they are called back to Scotland Yard. Mr. Gordon Stuart has been found drowned in suspicious circumstances. The investigation leads Holt into a string of exciting adventures and romance. From the creator of King Kong.

John Buchan (1994) The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay: The Thirty-Nine Steps / Greenmantle / Mr. Standfast / The Three Hostages.

From the father of spy fiction, who was, as recently revealed, the head of the British domestic intelligence agency, MI-5. First published in 1915, the Thirty-Nine Steps is the story of an ordinary fellow who gets caught up in a dramatic and dangerous plot. The book was made into a popular thriller by Alfred Hitchcock.

Ann Cleeves (2007) Raven Black.

Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez investigates the murder of teenage Catherine Ross, found strangled on a snowy hillside at the remote Scottish Shetland Islands. Scottish Novel Noir.

Patricia Cornwell (1994) Body Farm.

When it was written in the mid-nineties the Body Farm was a shocking and authentical glimpse into the work of a forensic lab. It hasn't lost its morbid fascination.

Jean-Jacques Fiechter (1998) A Masterpiece of Revenge.

If you like the high art scene this thriller is for you. In Fiechter's masterpiece of revenge, Charles Vermeille, a world-renowned art appraiser is receiving photographs of his beloved only son. The subtle threats of the anonymous sender quickly turn the elegant world of this civilized man into a diabolic nightmare. The fast-paced, wicked plot has more twists and turns than a Swiss mountain road.

John Grisham (1996) The Rainmaker.

The Rainmaker is about a rooky lawyer named Rudy Baylor who just graduated from law school. Not as fast as "The Firm", but much funnier. Grisham's cynical portrayal of big firm lawyers is an excellent look into the real world of law. Also an excellent film by Francis Ford Coppola.

John Grisham (2004) The Last Juror.

More than a courtroom drama, the Last Juror is the portrait of a small town in Mississippi and its people - including the renegade Padgitt family who is terrorizing the region. Willie Traynor, a long-haired college dropout, launches a crusade in the local newspaper to bring a murderer from the Padgitt family to justice.

John Grisham (1993) The Pelican Brief. (Reprint Ed.)

Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated. Darby Shaw, a second year law student, finds out why. In a brief she points out a possible suspect to her professor. As he gets killed with a car bomb that was obviously intended for her, Darby is on the run. Mighty men want to suppress the information with all means.

Patricia Highsmith (1988) Those Who Walk Away. (First published 1967)

Gloomy wintertime Venice: Ray, an American traveling in Europe, has lost his wife to suicide. Ed, his father-in-law, blames Ray for his daughter's death and tries to kill him. But Ray survives and follows Ed to places all over Venice trying to explain his wife's suicide to the outraged father - seemingly unaware of Ed's unforgiving hate.

John Le Carré (2004) Absolute Friends.

LeCarré is mad about what he sees as a fraudulent and unnecessary war in Iraq. The hero in his up-to-date novel, Ted Mundy, is an idealistic out-of-business spy from the Cold War era. He is hired by a mysterious benefactor to counter the widespread propaganda on behalf of an Iraqi war. Even if you don't like LeCarré's political slant, his writing is first class.

Henning Mankell (2003) Firewall.

The book starts with random, seemingly unrelated acts of violence in the town of Ystad, southern Sweden. But slowly Wallander detects that these small-town murders are part of a conspiracy in cyber terrorism targeted to collapse the world's financial system.

Henning Mankell (2007) The Man Who Smiled.

Kurt Wallander of the Ystad Police Force reluctantly investigates the death of an aging attorney on a desolate road, initially considered an accident. Depressed and in danger of becoming an alcoholic, Walander, stoically battles through the complexities of the crime and his own life. A realistic alternative to the smooth action thrillers, this dark tale slowly turns into a horrific nightmare.

Val McDermid (2001) A Place of Excecution.

Defines the category of village mysteries. Superb thriller with complex characters with a plot in the 1960s. A truly haunting tale from rural England.

Joseph D. Pistone (1997) Donnie Brasco.

A thrilling account of FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone working undercover in the Mafia for six years. Contrary to social fiction, such as "Goodfather", the book reveals that nothing is honorable or glamorous in the mob. Pistone's extremely dangerous undercover work resulted in over 100 convictions. Amazing that he survived his assignment!

Lisa Scottoline (2005) Devil's Corner.

Scottoline's 12th novel was inspired by a real-life drug trafficking case. While Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Allegretti is interviewing an informant, he and her partner are shot. Vicki's gutsy investigation of the two deaths leads her to "Devil's Corner", a drug-riddled neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Maj Sjowall / Per Wahloo (1993) Roseanna.

The first book in the Martin Beck series of crime novels by the Swedish writer couple Sjowall / Wahloo. Written from a left-wing political perspective, the novel portrays the social and political climate of Sweden in the late 1960s and 1970s. Fortunately, the political propaganda is packaged in intelligent suspense and a plot populated by authentic characters.

Maj Sjowall / Per Wahloo (1992) The Locked Room.

Smart, well trained and tough policemen, who competently investigate crime scenes may be the personnel of CSI TV series. In this crime novel the police force is understaffed, incompetent and poorly motivated. Their investigation of a series of bank burglaries ends in a pathetic disaster, typical for the social condition in Sweden during the late 1960s.

Scott Smith (2007) A Simple Plan.

Three men accidentally stumble upon a plane that has crashed with millions of dollars in cash on board in a rural area. They decide to keep the money, but hide it for one year and live a normal live to make sure no one else is looking for it. A simple plan, but then things get horribly wrong as greed turns into deceit, treachery, and murder. Excellent psycho thriller!

Arthur W. Upfield (1998) The Bone is Pointed.

This novel is from a different time (the mid-1950s) and an entirely different place (a remote town in Australia's ranch country). Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte investigates in a world defined by social and cultural tensions between white ranchers and aborigines.

Barbara Vine (1989) The House of Stairs. (First published 1988)

Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine.

Markus Zusak (2006) The Book Thief.

You may be put off reading this exceptional book because Death himself tells the story. But as a narrator, Death is all but frightening. In a sardonic but gentle tone, with great humor, Death conveys the life of Liesel Meminger, a child of 9 years, living in a foster family with her sarcastic step mother and loving step father. Set in Nazi Germany Liesel is saved by the books she is stealing - and, ultimately, by the one she is writing herself.

Boris Akunin (2006) The Death of Achilles.

Special agent "Petrovich Fandorin", a Russian version of Sherlock Holmes, not only speaks Japanese and English, but is also a martial arts fighter and lady-killer in a historical plot set in 1882. Time Magazine compares best-selling author Boris Akunin with Gogol and Chekhov.

A. C. Baantjer (2007) DeKok and Murder on Blood Mountain.

With the experience of a thirty-eight-year career in law enforcement, Baantjer has created fictional characters of unique personality and depth. His Detective Inspector DeKok is a veteran policeman who has seen it all. In this novel, DeKok investigates "Bloedberg", a neighborhood in the Belgium city of Antwerp, where a man was fished from the river Scheldt.

A. C. Baantjer (2003)