TOP 100 MYSTERY NOVELS OF ALL TIME

Selected by Active MWA Members

1. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, 20. The Day of the Jackal, Frederick
Arthur Conan Doyle. Including Forsyth
these individual high vote-getters: 21. Farewell, My Lovely, Raymond
• The Hound of the Baskervilles Chandler
• A Study in Scarlet 22. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John
• The Adventures of Sherlock Buchan
Holmes 23. The Name of the Rose, Umberto
• The Sign of Four Eco
2. The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell 24. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor
Hammett Dostoevski
3. Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 25. Eye of the Needle, Ken Follett
Edgar Allan Poe. Including these 26. Rumpole of the Bailey, John
individual high vote-getters: Mortimer
• The Gold Bug 27. Red Dragon, Thomas Harris
• The Murders in the Rue 28. The Nine Tailors, Dorothy L.
Morgue Sayers
4. The Daughter of Time, Josephine 29. Fletch, Gregory Mcdonald
Tey 30. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, John
5. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow le Carré
6. The Spy Who Came in from the 31. The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett
Cold, John le Carré 32. The Woman in White, Wilkie
7. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins Collins
8. The Big Sleep, Raymond 33. Trent’s Last Case, E.C. Bentley
Chandler 34. Double Indemnity, James M. Cain
9. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier 35. Gorky Park, Martin Cruz Smith
10. An Then There Were None, 36. Strong Poison, Dorothy L. Sayers
Agatha Christie 37. Dance Hall of the Dead, Tony
11. Anatomy of a Murder, Robert Hillerman
Traver 38. The Hot Rock, Donald E.
12. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Westlake
Agatha Christie 39. Red Harvest, Dashiell Hammett
13. The Long Goodbye, Raymond 40. The Circular Staircase, Mary
Chandler Roberts Rinehart
14. The Postman Always Rings 41. Murder on the Orient Express,
Twice, James M. Cain Agatha Christie
15. The Godfather, Mario Puzo 42. The Firm, John Grisham
16. The Silence of the Lambs, 43. The Ipcress File, Len Deighton
Thomas Harris 44. Laura, Vera Caspary
17. A Coffin for Dimitrios, Eric Ambler 45. I, The Jury, Mickey Spillane
18. Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers 46. The Laughing Policeman, Maj
19. Witness for the Prosecution, Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Agatha Christie 47. Bank Shot, Donald E. Westlake
48. The Third Man, Graham Greene 78. From Russia, With Love, Ian
49. The Killer Inside Me, Jim Fleming
Thompson 79. Beast in View, Margaret Millar
50. Where Are The Children?, Mary 80. Smallbone Deceased, Michael
Higgins Clark Gilbert
51. “A” is for Alibi, Sue Grafton 81. The Franchise Affair, Josephine
52. The First Deadly Sin, Lawrence Tey
Sanders 82. Crocodile on the Sandbank,
53. A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman Elizabeth Peters
54. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote 83. Shroud for a Nightingale, P.D.
55. Rogue Male, Geoffrey Household James
56. Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy L. 84. The Hunt for Red October, Tom
Sayers Clancy
57. The Innocence of Father Brown, 85. Chinaman’s Chance, Ross
G.K. Chesterton Thomas
58. Smiley’s People, John le Carré 86. The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad
59. The Lady in the Lake, Raymond 87. The Dreadful Lemon Sky, John D.
Chandler MacDonald
60. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 88. The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett
61. Our Man in Havana, Graham 89. Judgment in Stone, Ruth Rendell
Greene 90. Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey
62. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 91. The Chill, Ross Macdonald
Charles Dickens 92. Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter
63. Wobble to Death, Peter Lovesey Mosley
64. Ashenden, W. Somerset 93. The Choirboys, Joseph
Maugham Wambaugh
65. The Seven Per-Cent Solution, 94. God Save the Mark, Donald E.
Nicholas Meyer Westlake
66. The Doorbell Rang, Rex Stout 95. Home Sweet Homicide, Craig
67. Stick, Elmore Leonard Rice
68. The Little Drummer Girl, John le 96. The Three Coffins
Carré 97. Prizzi’s Honor, Richard Condon
69. Brighton Rock, Graham Greene 98. The Steam Pig, James McClure
70. Dracula, Bram Stoker 99. Time and Again, Jack Finney
71. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia 100. A Morbid Taste for Bones, Ellis
Highsmith Peters, and Rosemary’s Baby, Ira
72. The Moving Toyshop, Edmund Levin (tie)
Crispin
73. A Time to Kill, John Grisham
74. Last Seen Wearing, Hillary Waugh
75. Little Caesar, W.R. Burnett printed from
76. The Friends of Eddie Coyle,
George V. Higgins www.mysterywriters.org
77. Clouds of Witness, Dorothy L.
Sayers