The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time

In 1995 the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) selected the top 100 mystery novels of all time.  I'm sure I've linked to this in the past, but I thought I would post the complete list here.  The Crime Writers' Association, which is British-based also came up with their top 100.  You can see their list here.  I've crossed off those I've read. 

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

For as many mysteries as I read, I would have thought I'd have done better than this.  I guess I have a little work ahead of me, though some of these titles I will have to pass on.  Of course the list is almost fifteen years old now.  I wonder what it would look like if they made a new list with all the excellent crime fiction that has been published in the interim!

Comments

[iliana]

I've only read 11. I guess I have to turn in my mystery lover member card :)

You know, I'd be so curious to see if a new list would still include all of these books or what new books would be added. Certainly there's a ton of "new" crime fiction that's really made a mark on the genre.

[Margaret Powling]

I am currently enjoying the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell novel, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. It has captured my imagination from page 1. Fanciful, but thoroughly enjoyable. However (where's always a 'however' with me!) I really don't think that the word 'teenager' had been coined in the period in which the novel is set (this word used by Mary Russell, then aged 15) and also the word 'cringe'. Did people 'cringe' in the Victorian/Edwardian period?

[Pam Furry]

I've only read 32....and I've magaged a mystery book group for over 12 years...we'll have to get back to reading some of these classics! Right now we're having too much fun reading mysteries set in foreign places...this month Mongolia, last month the Shetland Islands...different cultures and a good mystery...doesn't get much better than that!

[Danielle]

Iliana--I've only read a very few more than you. I think there's been some really great mysteries published since that list. Besides I notice they have multiple titles by a few authors, which always seems like it's cheating a little to me.
Margaret--Glad you're enjoyin the Mary Russell book. The second is even better. I think you may be right about teenager--that does seem like a modern word. I'm not sure about cringe, though. I wonder if the Oxford English Dictionary tells when a word was introduced into the language--that could be really interesting!
Pam--You've done really well I think. Have you kept lists of the books you've read in your group? I bet you've read some really good mysteries! I've been reading more international mysteries as well. I love hearing about other places. Which books set on the Shetland Islands? I read a suspense novel set there last year, which I really enjoyed, though it freaked me out a little bit. Still, I'd love to visit there.

[Sherry Early]

25 or 26. I can't remember if I've read The Maltese Falcon or just seen the movie. It seems as if I read it a long, long time ago.

I think it's a pretty good list.

[Kitty]

I've read 25... but I think some of these are more thriller than mystery!

Also, you MUST read "The Daughter of Time". It is so very, very good.

[sassymonkey]

Don't you hate it when they include "The Complete ..." on these lists? I mean, I've read Sherlock Holmes but all of them? Nope. The same thing happens with Shakespeare. It just seems so...daunting.

[jenclair]

Great list and reference! I've read at least 26, but I read several of these authors years ago and can't remember the titles.

Thanks, Danielle; I see some good possibilities here!

[litlove]

As ever, I score terribly - I'd read 20, and at least a quarter were in fact audio books! So many titles I haven't read, and some surprise me by being in the mystery/thriller category. Also, what about Margery Allingham, Sara Paretsky, Ngaio Marsh, Val McDermid, Colin Dexter, Iain Pears, Susan Hill, John Dunning, etc, etc. Ah well, that's the fun of lists, thinking of all the things I might put on my own! :-)

[LindaY]

I've read fifteen (I think that's what I counted), including all the Sayers. I've never considered The Godfather a "mystery" book--it was a bore anyway; I'm Italian and loathe books about the Mafia--and is To Kill a Mockingbird really a mystery? Or Rosemary's Baby?

[Lisa]

I've only read three of these -- To Kill a Mockingbird, Rebecca, and The Name of the Rose. I have Woman in White and In Cold Blood waiting in the stacks. This is kind of a strange list. I never would have thought To Kill a Mockingbird would be included.

[Stefanie]

How fun though to know you have so many good books to look forward to!

[Grad]

I've read 21. I would not classify The Godfather or To Kill A Mockingbird as mysteries. I would also think In Cold Blood was more of a psychological thriller than a murder mystery (although there were murders, there wasn't much mystery about who committed them). Great list, though. Glad to see Wilkie Collins made the cut! Love him.

[Margaret Powling]

I think the books set on the Shetland Islands are by Ann Cleeves (first in the series is Raven Black). I know you addressed this query to Pam, but I thought I'd pitch in anyway, so forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn.

[Pam Furry]

The book I read set in the Shetland Islands is part 1 of a quartet by Ann Cleeves "Raven Black'...the 2nd is 'White Nights' and I enjoyed that as well. What was the suspense novel you read that was set there?

[Danielle]

Sherry--Between this one and the CWA list (which I linked to) there are lots of good mystery/crime ideas on them! I should have read more and need to note some of these titles (in some cases I've read the author just not that particular book).
Kitty--Some of them are indeed odd fits! And I have a couple of Tey books on my pile, which (like every other book) I keep meaning to get to!
Sassymonkey--I think it's sort of cheating. I've read a little bit of Conan Doyle, but not all! Same with Shakespeare. I think they're just being lazy not to choose the best of the best! :)
Jenclair--In some ways even with a new list, the classics are the classics. There is lots of explore there and I need to read more of these!
Litlove--It's is always interesting to see what they left out. I did pretty sadly considering I read a lot of mysteries. I always think it's sort of cheating to list one author but multiple works! I think my list would be very different as well!
Linda--I read one of Mario Puzo's novels, but not the Godfather--I've never been into book on the Mafia either. I think some of these are most definitely not traditional mysteries!
Lisa--Strangely I have seen To Kill a Mockingbird on other mystery lists. Maybe because of the courtroon scenes? Definitely read A Woman in White--it's one of my favorites! And I need to read In Cold Blood, too!
Stefanie--That's an optimistic way to look at things actually! Now I have an excuse for not having read so many of them! :)
Grad--There are some oddities on the list (considering some classic authors they left out). I think the MWA members nominated authors/books and then voted on them (if I remember correctly). And I agree--Wilkie Collins is great! He's one of my favorite authors!
Margaret--Feel free to add to others comments (you're not talking out of turn). I really should set my comment area like Cornflower--so people can chat more easily with others! And I have one of Ann Cleeves books--have you read it? I'm getting in the mood to read something set on an island!
Pam--I read Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton, which was sort of creepy. Not really highbrow, but it was really entertaining. She's coming out with a new one later this spring. I don't think it's set in the Shetlands--different story, but still suspense from what I understand.

[Dorothy W.]

Once again a very useful list! I should keep a copy of this one to use when it's my turn to pick a book for my mystery book club. We're reading P.D. James's first Dalgliesh novel next, by the way -- Cover Her Face I think it's called.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--How funny--I set aside three mysteries to choose from for my next book and Cover Her Face was on the pile! I've been wanting to start with the Dalgliesh mysteries from the beginning. Great choice!

[Simon T]

Only five for me! Oh dear.
And Then There Were None is my favourite (and probably the best...?) of Agatha Christie's novels - very easy to read. I'd especially encourage you to read it if you don't know the ending yet. (Somehow one does pick up the endings to Christie novels without having read them, or is that just me?)

[Danielle]

Simon--I do know what you mean by Agatha Christie's plots being known. Some authors have just become part of social culture I think. You know about a book without having ever read it (like Shakespeare plays!). I only know the storylines to a few of her novels and happily not And Then There Were None. I have that one on hand and now may have to dig it out! I'm in the mood for a cozy mystery, and would like to read her bio as well!

[Tara]

I've only read two of these, not really surprising. Though, I just did purchase number 40 - didn't know a thing about it and it's nice to see it here.

[Danielle]

Tara--I've wanted to pick up some of Mary Roberts Rineharts books for a while, but I always forget when I'm ordering new books. I have a feeling I would like her. I look forward to hearing what you think of her!