Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time

Historical Literary

Chosen by the Mystery Writers of America in 1995 * Tie for 100 * Missing: Josephine Tey (4,81,90); Robert Traver (11); James M. Cain (14,34); Eric Ambler (17); Frederick Forsyth (20); Ken Follett (25); Gregory McDonald (29); E.C. Bentley (33); Martin Cruz Smith (35); Tony Hillerman (37,53); Donald E. Westlake (38,47,94); Mary Roberts Rinehart (40); Len Deighton (43); Vera Caspary (44); Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (46); Jim Thompson (49); Lawrence Sanders (52); Geoffrey Household (55); Peter Lovesey (63); Nicholas Meyer (65); Edmund Crispin (72); Hillary Waugh (74); W.R. Burnett (75); George V. Higgins (76); Margaret Millar (79); Michael Gilbert (80); Elizabeth Peters (82); P.D. James (83); Ross Thomas (85); Ruth Rendell (89); Ross Macdonald (91); Craig Rice (95); John Dickson Carr (96); Richard Condon (97); James McClure (98); Jack Finney (99); Ellis Peters (100)

This Category is Ranked. Sort by Ranking Based on Votes by clicking on Vote Ranking. Sort by the Collection's Ranking by clicking on List Ranking.

Vote RankingList Ranking  

19

1

Arthur Conan Doyle

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

20

2

Dashiell Hammett

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

13

3

Edgar Allan Poe

Poet

16.67% (1 of 6 votes)

26

4

Josephine Tey

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

14

5

Scott Turow

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

15

6

John Le Carre

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

16

7

Wilkie Collins

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

17

8

Raymond Chandler

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

9

9

Daphne Du Maurier

Author

75.00% (3 of 4 votes)

29

10

Agatha Christie

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

30

12

Agatha Christie

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

31

13

Raymond Chandler

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

6

14

James M. Cain

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

32

15

Mario Puzo

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

33

16

Thomas Harris

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

34

18

Dorothy L. Sayers

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

35

19

Agatha Christie

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

24

20

Frederick Forsyth

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

36

21

Raymond Chandler

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

37

22

John Buchan

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

38

23

Umberto Eco

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

39

24

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

2

25

Ken Follett

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

40

26

John Mortimer

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

41

27

Thomas Harris

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

42

28

Dorothy L. Sayers

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

43

30

John Le Carre

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

44

31

Dashiell Hammett

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

45

32

Wilkie Collins

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

25

33

Edmund Clerihew Bentley

Poet

0% (0 of 0 votes)

7

34

James M. Cain

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

46

36

Dorothy L. Sayers

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

55

37

Tony Hillerman

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

21

38

Donald E. Westlake

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

47

39

Dashiell Hammett

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

59

40

Mary Roberts Rinehart

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

48

41

Agatha Christie

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

49

42

John Grisham

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

57

43

Len Deighton

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

50

45

Mickey Spillane

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

22

47

Donald E. Westlake

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

51

48

Graham Greene (Writer)

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

11

49

Jim Thompson (Author)

Author

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

52

50

Mary Higgins Clark

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

53

51

Sue Grafton

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

56

53

Tony Hillerman

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

12

54

Truman Capote

Author

38.89% (7 of 18 votes)

18

56

Dorothy L. Sayers

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

4

57

G.K. Chesterton

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

60

58

John Le Carre

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

61

59

Raymond Chandler

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

62

60

Harper Lee

Author

0% (0 of 2 votes)

63

61

Graham Greene (Writer)

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

64

62

Charles Dickens

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

65

64

W. Somerset Maugham

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

8

65

Nicholas Meyer

Author

100% (2 of 2 votes)

66

66

Rex Stout

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

67

67

Elmore Leonard

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

68

68

John Le Carre

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

69

69

Graham Greene (Writer)

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

70

70

Bram Stoker

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

71

71

Patricia Highsmith

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

72

73

John Grisham

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

73

77

Dorothy L. Sayers

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

74

78

Ian Fleming

Author

0% (0 of 2 votes)

27

81

Josephine Tey

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

54

83

P.D. James

Author

0% (0 of 2 votes)

75

84

Tom Clancy

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

76

86

Joseph Conrad

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

77

87

John Macdonald

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

78

88

Dashiell Hammett

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

1

89

Ruth Rendell

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

28

90

Josephine Tey

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

3

91

Ross Macdonald

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

79

92

Walter Mosley

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

80

93

Joseph Wambaugh

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

23

94

Donald E. Westlake

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

10

96

John Dickson Carr

Author

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

58

97

Richard Condon

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

5

100

Ira Levin

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)