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Top-100 Crime Fiction Books of All Time

These are the Top-100 Crime Fiction Books of all time - as selected by AddictiveBooks.com. Here you will find only the best of the best! Great Classics, such as Agatha Cristie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd or Dashiell Mammett's The Maltese Falcon- but also more recent masterpieces like Patricia Highsmith's Stranger on a Train or Stieg Larson's Swedish thriller trilogy featuring The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
This is not a fixed list! We will update it frequently, as new exceptional crime fiction books become available.
One of the first Top 100 List of Crime Novels of All Time was published in 1990 by the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) of America. See here!

The following book reviews are all linked to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I will earn from qualifying purchases.


1
Truman Capote
In Cold Blood
1994 (First published: 1966)
In Cold Blood
A masterpiece from the author of "Breakfast at Tiffanies". With this thriller Capote invented a new genre. It reconstructs the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote describes the...
343 Pages
5/5
10
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2
Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon
1989 (First published: 1930)
The Maltese Falcon
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...
217 Pages
5/5
7
Buy on Amazon
3
Patricia Highsmith
Strangers on a Train
2021 (First published: 1950)
Strangers on a Train
In her first novel, 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...
288 Pages
5/5
3
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4
Josephine Tey
The Daughter of Time
1995 (First published: 1951)
The Daughter of Time
Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one...
206 Pages
5/5
6
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5
Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr. Ripley
2008 (First published: 1955)
The Talented Mr. Ripley
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...
288 Pages
5
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6
James M. Cain
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1989 (First published: 1934)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Cain started a new genre: American noir fiction. It may be full of despair, sweltering greed, dark violence and raw sex, but the no-nonsense description of humanity heading towards destruction is impossible to resist. In his laconic style Cain tells...
116 Pages
5/5
8
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7
Scott Turow!
Presumed Innocent
2017 (First published: 1987)
Presumed Innocent
Turow's first courtroom thriller is one of the best legal fiction ever. As a former U.S. prosecutor, Turow had intimate knowledge of legal procedures and could drag the reader into the gritty drama of a murder trial. A dark twist...
496 Pages
5/5
7
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8
Daphne Du Maurier
Rebecca
2006 (First published: 1938)
Rebecca
A shy young woman meets wealthy widow, Maxim de Winter, and falls in love with him. On his grand English estate, Manderley, she is immediately haunted by the powerful presence of the former mistress of Manderley, Maxim's flamboyant late wife...
416 Pages
5/5
5
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9
Raymond Chandler
The Big Sleep
Philip Marlowe - Book 1
1988 (First published: 1939)
The Big Sleep
A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the...
231 Pages
5/5
5
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10
Raymond Chandler
Farewell, My Lovely
Philip Marlowe - Book 2
1992 (First published: 1940)
Farewell, My Lovely
Philip Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder...
292 Pages
3/5
5
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11
Graham Grene
Our Man in Havana
2007 (First published: 1958)
Our Man in Havana
Mr. Wormold, salesman of vacuum cleaners in a city of power brokers becomes a spy for the British MI6 to earn some extra income. This crisply written spy novel will drag you down with almost unbearable tension, while at the...
256 Pages
4/5
4
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12
Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone
2018
The Moonstone
Lady Verinder’s uncle gives her the Moonstone – a magnificent diamond as large as an egg – for her eighteenth birthday, but it is not quite the generous gift it first seems. For he obtained it through bloody and nefarious...
528 Pages
5/5
7
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13
Stieg Larson
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Part 1 of the Millennium Trilogy.
2011 (First published: 2005)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The story is based on an actual crime which author and journalist Stieg Larson experienced at age 16: The gang rape of a girl named Lisbeth. His sensational thriller features a Lisbeth Salander, an agry punk heroine, who helps Mikael...
672 Pages
5/5
6
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14
Stieg Larson
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Part 2 of the Millennium Trilogy.
2011 (First published: 2005)
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Blomkvist has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to...
752 Pages
5/5
6
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15
Stieg Larson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Part 3 of the Millennium Trilogy.
2012 (First published: 2005)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
In Larson's third part of his Millennium Trillogy Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition in a Swedish hospital, a bullet in her head. But she's fighting for her life and when she recovers, she'll stand trial for three murders.
832 Pages
5/5
9
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16
John Le Carré
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Georg Smiley Novels - Book 3
2013 (First published: 1963)
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...
240 Pages
3
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17
Joseph Finder
Buried Secrets
Book 2 of Nick Heller Novels
2011 (First published: 2011)
Buried Secrets
Hedge fund titan Marshall Marcus desperately needs Nick’s help. His teenaged daughter, Alexa, has just been kidnapped. Nick Heller, a private spy who finds out things powerful people want to keep hidden. Clearly one of the best action thrillers of...
400 Pages
4/5
8
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18
Dorothy L. Sayers
Gaudy Night
Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries
2012 (First published: 1935)
Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night takes Harriet and her paramour, Lord Peter, to Oxford University, Harriet’s alma mater, for a reunion, only to find themselves the targets of a nightmare of harassment and mysterious, murderous threats. A nightmare of romance and...
544 Pages
5/5
7
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19
Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird
2015 (First published: 1960)
To Kill a Mockingbird
One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country....
336 Pages
5/5
7
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20
Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Hercule Poirot
2022 (First published: 1926)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The villagers of King’s Abbot are shocked when a wealthy local widow commits suicide and the very next day her fiancé, Roger Ackroyd, is stabbed to death. Dr. James Sheppard, the local physician, discovers the body of his friend and...
288 Pages
5/5
9
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21
Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men
2006 (First published: 2005)
No Country for Old Men
Mixture of action thriller, Western and psychological drama. Starting with an antelope hunt near the Rio Grande the story proceeds into a man-on-the-run thriller, populated by a psychopatic killer and an elderly Sheriff, who is smarter than most...
309 Pages
5/5
11
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22
Frederick Forsyth
The Day of the Jackal
2007 (First published: 1971)
The Day of the Jackal
The Jackal: A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill one of the world's most...
380 Pages
5/5
6
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23
William Goldman
Marathon Man: A Novel
2001 (First published: 1974)
Marathon Man: A Novel
An epic, fast-paced thriller with just enough humor to prevent you from getting overwhelmed by the violence, evil and sadism. Made into a movie with Dustin Hoffman with the most harrowing visit to the dentist in cinematic history.
336 Pages
4/5
3
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24
Ann Rule
Too Late to Say Goodbye
A True Story of Murder and Betrayal
2007 (First published: 2007)
Too Late to Say Goodbye
Idyllic life in Atlanta's wealthy suburbs turned into jealous rage, as the murders of two beautiful, successful women were made to look like suicides. Perhaps Ann Rule's best book so far with detailed descriptions of cutting-edge forensic techniques.
480 Pages
4/5
6
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25
Patricia Cornwell
Postmortem
Kay Scarpetta Series 1
2021 (First published: 1991)
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.
448 Pages
5/5
9
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26
Patricia Cornwell
Body of Evidence
Kay Scarpetta Series 2
2011 (First published: 1991)
Body of Evidence
Kay Scarpetta gets involved in the case of a brutal stabbing death: romance writer Beryl Madison. Madison's greedy lawyer accuses Scarpetta of losing his client's latest manuscript, an autobiographical expose of Beryl's early life as protégé of a...
448 Pages
4/5
8
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27
Patricia Cornwell
All That Remains
Kay Scarpetta Series 3
2009 (First published: 1992)
All That Remains
In Richmond, Virginia, young lovers are dying. So far, four couples in the area have disappeared, only to be found months later as mutilated corpses. When the daughter of the president's newest drug czar vanishes along with her boyfriend, Dr....
480 Pages
4/5
4
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28
Patricia Cornwell
Cruel And Unusual
Kay Scarpetta Series 4
2010 (First published: 1993)
Cruel And Unusual
Convicted murderer Ronnie Joe Waddell is pronounced dead in the electric chair and Scarpetta prepares for his post mortem. But then the grotesquely wounded body of a young boy is found propped against a rubbish skip. The two cases seem...
416 Pages
4/5
9
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29
Mario Puzo
The Godfather
2002 (First published: 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...
448 Pages
5/5
6
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30
John Grisham
The Firm
2009 (First published: 1991)
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. Made into a movie directed by Sydney Pollack - starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman.  
544 Pages
5/5
5
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31
Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None
2001 (First published: 1939)
And Then There Were None
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...
300 Pages
5/5
6
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32
Dennis Lehane
Mystic River
2021 (First published: 2001)
Mystic River
When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened. Twenty-five years later, Sean...
496 Pages
5/5
5
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33
Vincent Bugliosi 
Helter Skelter
1995 (First published: 1974)
Helter Skelter
Helter Skelter is the true Story of The Manson Murders. Bugliosi had served as the prosecutor in the 1970 trial of Charles Manson. The book presents his firsthand account of the notorious 1969 murder of Sharon Tate, Rosemary La Bianca...
736 Pages
5/5
4
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34
Dennis Lehane
Shutter Island
2009 (First published: 2003)
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is an army facility turned hospital for the criminally insane. When a patient escapes, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, are called in to investigate. This is one of the best psychological thrillers of all...
400 Pages
4/5
5
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35
Jim Tompson
The Killer Inside Me
2014 (First published: 1952)
The Killer Inside Me
Everyone in the small town of Central City, Texas loves Lou Ford, the deputy sheriff. He may not be the brightest or the most interesting man in town, but nevertheless, he's the kind of officer you're happy to have keeping...
256 Pages
5/5
4
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36
Louise Penny
Still Life
Inspector Gamache novel - Book 1
2008 (First published: 2005)
Still Life
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. One of the beloved residents, Miss Jane Neal, art...
312 Pages
5/5
3
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37
Robert Traver
Anatomy of a Murder
1983 (First published: 1958)
Anatomy of a Murder
Anatomy of a Murder immediately became a number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the now classic Otto Preminger film of the same name, starring Jimmy Stewart and Duke Ellington. A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a...
448 Pages
5/5
8
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38
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider
Alex Cross Thriller - Book 1
2017 (First published: 1993)
Along Came a Spider
Alex Cross, a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology, works in the ghettos of D.C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. But he also has two adorable kids of his own. Mysterious Jezzie Flanagan is the first...
480 Pages
5/5
3
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39
Ann Rule
The Stranger Beside Me
2022 (First published: 1980)
The Stranger Beside Me
In 1971, while working the late-shift at a Seattle crisis clinic, true-crime writer Ann Rule struck up a friendship with a sensitive, charismatic young coworker: Ted Bundy. Three years later, eight young women disappeared in seven months. But she had...
640 Pages
5/5
5
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40
John Le Carré
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spie
George Smiley Novel - Book 5
2000 (First published: 1974)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spie
George Smiley, former senior official in Britain's Secret Intelligence Service is living unhappily in forced retirement - following the failure of an operation codenamed Testify in Czechoslovakia which ended in the capture and torture of agent Jim...
416 Pages
5/5
4
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41
Thomas Harris
The Silence of the Lambs
Hanibal Lecter - Book 2
Read third
1991 (First published: 1988)
The Silence of the Lambs
As part of the search for a serial murderer nicknames "Buffalo Bill," FBI trainee Clarice Starling is given an assignment. She must visit a man confined to a high-security facility for the criminally insane and interview him. That man, Dr....
384 Pages
5/5
1
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42
Len Deighton
The IPCRESS File
Harry Palmer Novels - Book 1
2021 (First published: 1962)
The IPCRESS File
A high-ranking scientist has been kidnapped. A secret British intelligence agency must find out why. What seemed a straightforward mission turns into something far more sinister. With its sardonic, cool, working-class hero, Len Deighton's sensational...
279 Pages
5/5
2
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43
John Le Carré
Smiley's People
George Smiley Novel - Book 7
2020 (First published: 1979)
Smiley's People
A Soviet defector has been assassinated on English soil, and George Smiley is called back to the 'Circus' to cover up the mess. But what he discovers sends him delving into the past, on a trail through Hamburg and Paris...
464 Pages
5/5
2
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44
John Le Carré
Call for the Dead
George Smiley Novel - Book 1
2020 (First published: 1961)
Call for the Dead
After a routine security check by George Smiley, civil servant Samuel Fennan apparently kills himself. When Smiley finds 'Circus' head Maston is trying to blame him for the man's death, he begins his own investigation, meeting with Fennan's widow to...
160 Pages
5/5
6
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45
John Grisham
The Boys from Biloxi
2022 (First published: 2022)
The Boys from Biloxi
Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi and were childhood friends. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.” Hugh’s father became...
464 Pages
5/5
3
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46
Raymond Chandler
The Long Good-bye
Philip Marlowe - Book 6
1988 (First published: 1953)
The Long Good-bye
Marlowe befriends a down on his luck war veteran with the scars to prove it. Then he finds out that Terry Lennox has a very wealthy nymphomaniac wife, whom he divorced and remarried and who ends up dead. And now...
379 Pages
3/5
5
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47
Frederick Forsyth
The Deceiver
1992 (First published: 1991)
The Deceiver
Sam McCready serves Britain as Chief of Deception & Disinformationfor the British Secret Intelligence Service. He's competent, dedicated, in his prime. Why then this push to get him out? The options are painful -- early retirement or an...
496 Pages
4/5
5
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48
Val McDermid
The Torment of Others
Dr. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan - Book 4
2010 (First published: 2004)
The Torment of Others
In a small grim room, the body of a woman is discovered, panic and pain etched in her face. The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the...
400 Pages
5/5
5
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49
Norman Mailer
The Executioner's Song
2012 (First published: 1979)
The Executioner's Song
The Executioner's Song is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. He robbed two men in 1976 and killed them in cold blood....
1126 Pages
5/5
6
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50
Richard Condon
The Manchurian Candidate
2013 (First published: 1959)
The Manchurian Candidate
Sgt Raymond Shaw is a hero of the first order. He's an ex-prisoner of war, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, stepson of an influential senator...and the perfect assassin. Brainwashed during his time as a POW he is a...
368 Pages
4/5
4
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51
Jimmy Breslin
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
1997 (First published: 1969)
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
Kid Sally Palumbo, a master in the art of murder and a moron at just about everything else wants to be a boos in the Brooklyn Mafia. To prove himself worthy he tries to organize a six-day bicycle race and...
249 Pages
5/5
6
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52
Val McDermid
The Last Temptation
Dr. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan - Book 3
2010 (First published: 2002)
The Last Temptation
Mapping the minds of murderers is what Dr. Tony Hill does better than anyone. So when a twisted killer starts targeting psychologists across Northern Europe, Hill is the obvious choice to track the executioner's mental and physical journey. Except...
431 Pages
3/5
7
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53
S.J. Watson
Before I Go To Sleep
2012 (First published: 2011)
Before I Go To Sleep
Every morning, she awakens beside a stranger in an unfamiliar bed. She sees a middle-aged face in the bathroom mirror that she does not recognize. And every morning, the man patiently explains that he is Ben, her husband, that she...
368 Pages
5/5
3
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54
Ross Macdonald
The Drowning Pool
Lew Archer Series - Book 2
1996 (First published: 1950)
The Drowning Pool
The Drowning Pool opens in classic hard-boiled fashion, with a well-dressed woman hesitantly engaging Archer's services at his L.A. office. Soon he's digging up secrets in her oil-rich hometown: tormented families, buried secrets that fester through...
256 Pages
5/5
2
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55
Louise Penny
All the Devils Are Here
Inspector Gamache novel - Book 16
2021 (First published: 2020)
All the Devils Are Here
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is in Paris. On their first night the Gamaches have dinner with the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured. It was...
464 Pages
4/5
12
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56
Harlan Coben
Tell No One
2021 (First published: 2001)
Tell No One
Dr. David Beck's world shattered when his wife vanished years ago. Haunted by her loss, a mysterious message suggests she might still be alive. With danger lurking, Beck embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the truth. The past resurfaces...
400 Pages
5/5
5
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57
Jeffrey Deaver
Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1936
2004 (First published: 2004)
Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1936
Deaver thrills with a captivating narrative set in 1936 Nazi Berlin. Amidst a backdrop of espionage and danger, mob hitman Paul Schumann's undercover mission to assassinate a top Nazi architect is fraught with twists and turns. Deaver's masterful...
416 Pages
5/5
12
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58
Ken Follett
The Pillars of the Earth
Book 1 of Kingsbridge
2007 (First published: 1989)
The Pillars of the Earth
This story of intrigue, power, revenge and betrayal chronicles the ups and downs in the life of a prior, his master builder as they struggle to build a Gothic cathedral in 12th century England. Follett weaves human brutality, steamy sex...
973 Pages
5/5
5
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59
Jeneva Rose
The Perfect Marriage
2020
The Perfect Marriage
Sarah Morgan is a successful defense attorney and her life is going exactly how she planned. The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. Out in...
342 Pages
5/5
7
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60
Dennis Lehane
Gone, Baby, Gone
Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro Series - Book 4
2010 (First published: 1998)
Gone, Baby, Gone
The tough neighborhood of Dorchester is no place for the innocent or the weak. Its territory is defined by hard heads and even harder luck; its streets are littered with the detritus of broken families, hearts, dreams. Now, one of...
560 Pages
5/5
2
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61
Barbara Baraldi
The Girl with the Crystal Eyes
2010 (First published: 2008)
The Girl with the Crystal Eyes
A seductive serial killer is stalking the streets of Bologna. A cop determined to unravel an enigmatic trail of bloody butchery. A young medium fleeing her past, troubled dreams of murder. A perverse game of life and death unfolds between...
268 Pages
5/5
5
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62
Henning Mankell
Faceless Killers
Kurt Wallander Series - Book 1
2003 (First published: 1991)
Faceless Killers
An old man has been bludgeoned to death, and his tortured wife lies dying before the farmer’s eyes. The only clue is the single word she utters before she dies: “foreign.” Inspector Kurt Wallander, a local detective whose personal life...
279 Pages
4/5
5
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63
Val McDermid
The Wire In The Blood
Dr. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan - Book 2
2021 (First published: 1997)
The Wire In The Blood
Young girls are disappearing around the country, and there is nothing to connect them to one another, let alone the killer whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind. Dr Tony Hill sets his team an exercise: they are...
372 Pages
3/5
3
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64
Henning Mankell
The Dogs of Riga
Kurt Wallander Series - Book 2
2004 (First published: 1992)
The Dogs of Riga
On the Swedish coastline, two bodies, victims of grisly torture and cold execution, are discovered in a life raft. With no witnesses, no motives, and no crime scene, Detective Kurt Wallander is frustrated and uncertain he has the ability to...
336 Pages
4/5
9
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65
Henning Mankell
The White Lioness
Kurt Wallander Series - Book 3
2003 (First published: 1993)
The White Lioness
The execution-style murder of a Swedish housewife looks like a simple case even though there is no obvious suspect. But then Wallander finds a determined stalker, and soon enough, the cops catch up with him. But when his alibi turns...
448 Pages
4/5
9
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66
Lisa Gardner
One Step Too Far
Frankie Elkin Novel - Book 2
2022 (First published: 2022)
One Step Too Far
Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of...
416 Pages
5/5
3
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67
Lisa Scottoline
What Happened to the Bennetts
2022 (First published: 2022)
What Happened to the Bennetts
Jason Bennett is a suburban dad who owns a court-reporting business, but one night, his life takes a horrific turn. He is driving his family home after his daughter’s field hockey game when a pickup truck begins tailgating them, on...
400 Pages
5/5
1
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68
Nelson DeMille
Plum Island
John Corey - Book 1
1998 (First published: 1997)
Plum Island
NYPD homicide detective John Corey has moved into Long Island, restlessly recuperating from wounds received in the line of duty when he's hired to consult on the double murder of Tom and Judy Gordon, biologists who worked on Plum Island....
574 Pages
4/5
7
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69
Val McDermid
The Mermaids Singing
Dr. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan - Book 1
2002 (First published: 1995)
The Mermaids Singing
Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one’s different – this one’s on the loose. Four men have been found mutilated and tortured. As fear grips the city, the police turn...
400 Pages
4/5
9
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70
David Tod Roy
The Plum in the Golden Vase
Jin Ping Mei: Vol. 1, The Gathering
1997
The Plum in the Golden Vase
Jin Ping Mei — translated into English as The Plum in the Golden Vase — is a Chinese novel of manners composed in vernacular Chinese during the latter half of the sixteenth century during the late Ming dynasty. The explicit...
520 Pages
5/5
5
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71
Georges Simenon
Dirty Snow 
2003 (First published: 1950)
Dirty Snow 
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...
272 Pages
3/5
5
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72
Tom Clancy
The Hunt for Red October
A Jack Ryan Novel Book 1
2018 (First published: 1984)
The Hunt for Red October
Somewhere under the freezing Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. Made into a spectacular film directed by John McTiernan and...
656 Pages
5/5
8
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73
John Dickson Carr
The Hollow Man
2013 (First published: 1935)
The Hollow Man
The murderer of Dr Grimauld walked through a locked door, shot his victim and vanished. He killed his second victim in the middle of an empty street, with watchers at each end, yet nobody saw him, and he left no...
303 Pages
4/5
9
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74
Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White
2003
The Woman in White
Walter Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his "charming" friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. This...
720 Pages
5/5
5
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75
Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl
2014 (First published: 2012)
Gone Girl
Nick Dunne comes home one day to find his beautiful wife Amy missing and all signs point to something sinister had happened while he was away. Passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on...
560 Pages
5/5
7
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76
Peter Hoeg
Smilla's Sense of Snow
1994
Smilla's Sense of Snow
One snowy day in Copenhagen, six-year-old Isaiah falls to his death from a city rooftop. The police pronounce it an accident. But Isaiah's neighbour, Smilla, a half-Inuit, suspects murder. She embarks on a dangerous quest to find the truth, wandering...
512 Pages
3/5
8
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77
Freida McFadden
The Housemaid
Book 1
2022
The Housemaid
“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But...
336 Pages
3/5
3
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78
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
The Legacy
Children's House - Book 1
2019 (First published: 2014)
The Legacy
A baby goes missing on a cold day in Reykjavik. Years later, detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are on the same team working on a case involving a dismembered body found in a deserted car. Their past relationship and...
480 Pages
3/5
5
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79
James Patterson
Pop Goes the Weasel
Alex Cross Thriller - Book 5
2021 (First published: 1999)
Pop Goes the Weasel
Alex Cross happiness is threatened by a series of chilling murders with a pattern so twisted, it leaves investigators reeling. Cross's ingenious pursuit of the killer produces a suspect: a British diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer. But proving that...
464 Pages
5/5
11
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80
Seishi Yokomizo
Death on Gokumon Island
Detective Kindaichi Series - Book 2
2020 (First published: 1948)
Death on Gokumon Island
Detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news—his friend and fellow soldier, the son of one of the island's most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second...
320 Pages
5/5
2
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81
Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Hercule Poirot Novel
2022 (First published: 1921)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactress, the elderly Emily Ingle­thorp. When Emily is poisoned, Poirot puts his sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s...
115 Pages
5/5
9
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82
Dick Francis
Twice Shy
2004 (First published: 1981)
Twice Shy
A computerized horse-betting system falls into the hands of the young physicist Jonathan Derry. But unless he returns this nearly perfect handicapping system to the rightful owners, the odds of Jonathan's survival are slim to none, as a cunning...
304 Pages
5/5
6
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83
Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express
Hercule Poirot Novel
2017 (First published: 1934)
Murder on the Orient Express
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred...
288 Pages
5/5
3
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84
Lee Child
Killing Floor
Jack Reacher - Book 1
2012 (First published: 1997)
Killing Floor
Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is a drifter. He’s just passing through Margrave, Georgia, and in less than an hour, he’s arrested for murder. Not much of a welcome. All Reacher knows is that he didn’t kill anybody. At least not...
576 Pages
5/5
6
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85
Jack Carr
The Terminal List
Book 1 of Terminal List
2022 (First published: 2018)
The Terminal List
On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of...
496 Pages
5/5
5
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86
Ian Rankin
Black and Blue
Inspector Rebus Novels - Book 8
2016 (First published: 1997)
Black and Blue
Detective Inspector John Rebus is working on four cases at once trying to catch a killer he suspects of being the infamous Bible John. He has to do it while under an internal inquiry led by a man he has...
352 Pages
5/5
5
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87
Stephen King
The Green Mile
The Complete Serial Novel
2017 (First published: 2000)
The Green Mile
Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk “the Green Mile,” the lime-colored linoleum corridor leading to a final meeting with Old Sparky, Cold...
512 Pages
5/5
8
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88
Christianna Brand
Green for Danger
Inspector Cockrill Mysteries - Book 2
2023 (First published: 1944)
Green for Danger
When postman Higgins returns to Heron's Park hospital with injuries from a bombing raid in 1943, his inexplicable death by asphyxiation in the operating theatre casts four nurses and three doctors under suspicion. A second death in quick succession...
284 Pages
5/5
7
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89
Ed McBain
Cop Hater
87th Precinct Mysteries - Book 1
2012 (First published: 1956)
Cop Hater
The murder of three detectives in quick succession in the 87th Precinct leads Detective Steve Carella on a grim search that takes him into the city's underworld - from a notorious brothel to the lair of a beautiful, dangerous widow...
224 Pages
4/5
9
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90
Peter Papathanasiou
The Bolthole
Book 2 of 3: DS George Manolis
2026 (First published: 2025)
The Bolthole
DS Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow on Kangaroo Island, off South Australia: sharks, shipwrecks, and rich mainlanders building cliff mansions. A wealthy newcomer vanishes on a dawn swim; a shark is blamed; the detectives are unwelcome. Richard...
346 Pages
4/5
9
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91
Chris Chibnall
Death at the White Hart: A Novel
Book 1 of 2: Detective Nicola Bridge
2025
Death at the White Hart: A Novel
A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag’s antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart...
352 Pages
4/5
8
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92
Chris Chibnall
The Parkwood Murders: A Novel
Book 2 of 2: Detective Nicola Bridge
0000 (First published: 2026)
The Parkwood Murders: A Novel
Parkwood Holiday Village is a serene haven: idyllic woodland, a sparkling lake, customer service on tap around the clock. It’s the kind of place families return to year after year. But for Detective Nicola Bridge, it’s a crime scene. Early...
368 Pages
5/5
8
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93
Ann Cleeves
The Killing Stones
A detective Jimmy Perez novel
2026
The Killing Stones
Detective Jimmy Perez, now on Orkney, investigates a storm-revealed murder. The weapon is a Neolithic stone with old inscriptions, but the case is a police procedural about island secrets, heritage, and human motives. “This novel is more than worth...
400 Pages
5/5
9
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