The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time is a list published in 1990 by the Crime Writers' Association (CWA).

Five years later, the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) published a similar list named The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time. Many titles can be found in both lists.

The CWA Top 100

No.	Title	Author	Country	Year
1	The Daughter of Time	Josephine Tey	Scotland	1951
2	The Big Sleep	Raymond Chandler	USA	1939
3	The Spy Who Came In From the Cold	John le Carré	England	1963
4	Gaudy Night	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1935
5	The Murder of Roger Ackroyd	Agatha Christie	England	1926
6	Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier	England	1938
7	Farewell My Lovely	Raymond Chandler	USA	1940
8	The Moonstone	Wilkie Collins	England	1868
9	The IPCRESS File	Len Deighton	England	1962
10	The Maltese Falcon	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1930
11	The Franchise Affair	Josephine Tey	Scotland	1948
12	Last Seen Wearing ...	Hillary Waugh	USA	1952
13	The Name of the Rose	Umberto Eco	Italy	1980
14	Rogue Male	Geoffrey Household	England	1939
15	The Long Goodbye	Raymond Chandler	USA	1953
16	Malice Aforethought	Francis Iles	England	1931
17	The Day of the Jackal	Frederick Forsyth	England	1971
18	The Nine Tailors	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1934
19	Ten Little Niggers (UK) Ten Little Indians (USA) And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie	England	1939
20	The Thirty-Nine Steps	John Buchan	Scotland	1915
21	The Collected Sherlock Holmes Short Stories (stories)	Arthur Conan Doyle	Scotland	1892–1927
22	Murder Must Advertise	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1933
23	Tales of Mystery & Imagination (stories)	Edgar Allan Poe	USA	1852
24	The Mask of Dimitrios A Coffin for Dimitrios	Eric Ambler	England	1939
25	The Moving Toyshop	Edmund Crispin	England	1946
26	The Tiger in the Smoke	Margery Allingham	England	1952
27	The False Inspector Dew	Peter Lovesey	England	1982
28	The Woman in White	Wilkie Collins	England	1860
29	A Dark-Adapted Eye	Barbara Vine	England	1986
30	The Postman Always Rings Twice	James M. Cain	USA	1934
31	The Glass Key	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1931
32	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Arthur Conan Doyle	Scotland	1901–1902
33	Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy	John le Carré	England	1974
34	Trent's Last Case	E. C. Bentley	England	1913
35	From Russia, with Love	Ian Fleming	England	1957
36	Cop Hater	Ed McBain	USA	1956
37	The Dead of Jericho	Colin Dexter	England	1981
38	Strangers on a Train	Patricia Highsmith	USA	1950
39	A Judgement in Stone	Ruth Rendell	England	1977
40	The Hollow Man (UK) The Three Coffins (USA)	John Dickson Carr	USA	1935
41	The Poisoned Chocolates Case	Anthony Berkeley	England	1929
42	A Morbid Taste for Bones	Ellis Peters	England	1977
43	The Leper of Saint Giles	Ellis Peters	England	1981
44	A Kiss Before Dying	Ira Levin	USA	1953
45	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Patricia Highsmith	USA	1955
46	Brighton Rock	Graham Greene	England	1938
47	The Lady in the Lake	Raymond Chandler	USA	1943
48	Presumed Innocent	Scott Turow	USA	1987
49	A Demon in My View	Ruth Rendell	England	1976
50	The Devil in Velvet	John Dickson Carr	USA	1951
51	A Fatal Inversion	Barbara Vine	England	1987
52	The Journeying Boy (UK) The Case of the Journeying Boy (USA)	Michael Innes	Scotland	1949
53	A Taste for Death	P. D. James	England	1986
54	The Eagle Has Landed	Jack Higgins	England Northern Ireland	1975
55	My Brother Michael	Mary Stewart	England	1960
56	Bertie and the Tin Man	Peter Lovesey	England	1987
57	Penny Black	Susan Moody	England	1984
58	Game, Set & Match (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match)	Len Deighton	England	1984–1986
59	The Danger	Dick Francis	Wales England	1983
60	Devices and Desires	P. D. James	England	1989
61	Under World (UK) Underworld (USA)	Reginald Hill	England	1988
62	Nine Coaches Waiting	Mary Stewart	England	1958
63	A Running Duck	Paula Gosling	USA UK	1978
64	Smallbone Deceased	Michael Gilbert	England	1950
65	The Rose of Tibet	Lionel Davidson	England	1962
66	Innocent Blood	P. D. James	England	1980
67	Strong Poison	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1930
68	Hamlet, Revenge!	Michael Innes	Scotland	1937
69	A Thief of Time	Tony Hillerman	USA	1989
70	A Bullet in the Ballet	Caryl Brahms & S. J. Simon	England & England	1937
71	Deadheads	Reginald Hill	England	1983
72	The Third Man	Graham Greene	England	1950
73	The Labyrinth Makers	Anthony Price	England	1974
74	The Berlin Memorandum (UK) The Quiller Memorandum (USA)	Adam Hall	England	1965
75	Beast in View	Margaret Millar	Canada USA	1955
76	The Shortest Way to Hades	Sarah Caudwell	England	1984
77	Running Blind	Desmond Bagley	England	1970
78	Twice Shy	Dick Francis	Wales England	1981
79	The Manchurian Candidate	Richard Condon	USA	1959
80	Killings at Badger's Drift (UK) The Killings at Badger's Drift (USA)	Caroline Graham	England	1987
81	The Beast Must Die	Nicholas Blake	Ireland (UK) UK	1963
82	Gorky Park	Martin Cruz Smith	USA	1981
83	Death Comes as the End	Agatha Christie	England	1945
84	Green for Danger	Christianna Brand	Malaysia England	1945
85	Tragedy at Law	Cyril Hare	England	1942
86	The Collector	John Fowles	England	1963
87	Gideon's Day (UK) Gideon of Scotland Yard (USA)	J. J. Marric	England	1955
88	The Sun Chemist	Lionel Davidson	England	1976
89	The Guns of Navarone	Alistair MacLean	Scotland	1957
90	The Colour of Murder	Julian Symons	England	1957
91	Greenmantle	John Buchan	Scotland	1916
92	The Riddle of the Sands	Erskine Childers	England Ireland (UK)	1903
93	Wobble to Death	Peter Lovesey	England	1970
94	Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1929
95	The Key to Rebecca	Ken Follett	Wales	1980
96	Sadie When She Died	Ed McBain	USA	1972
97	The Murder of the Maharajah	H. R. F. Keating	England	1980
98	What Bloody Man Is That?	Simon Brett	England	1987
99	Shooting Script	Gavin Lyall	England	1966
100	The Four Just Men	Edgar Wallace	England	1906

The MWA Top 100

No.	Title	Author	Country	Year	CWA	Rank
1	The Complete Sherlock Holmes (stories and 4 novels)	Arthur Conan Doyle	Scotland	1887–1927	YN	21, 32
2	The Maltese Falcon	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1930	Y	10
3	Tales of Mystery & Imagination (stories)	Edgar Allan Poe	USA	1852	Y	23
4	The Daughter of Time	Josephine Tey	Scotland	1951	Y	1
5	Presumed Innocent	Scott Turow	USA	1987	Y	48
6	The Spy Who Came In From the Cold	John le Carré	England	1963	Y	3
7	The Moonstone	Wilkie Collins	England	1868	Y	8
8	The Big Sleep	Raymond Chandler	USA	1939	Y	2
9	Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier	England	1938	Y	6
10	Ten Little Niggers (UK) Ten Little Indians (USA) And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie	England	1939	Y	19
11	Anatomy of a Murder	Robert Traver	USA	1958	N
12	The Murder of Roger Ackroyd	Agatha Christie	England	1926	Y	5
13	The Long Goodbye	Raymond Chandler	USA	1953	Y	15
14	The Postman Always Rings Twice	James M. Cain	USA	1934	Y	30
15	The Godfather (film)	Mario Puzo	USA	1969	N
16	The Silence of the Lambs (film)	Thomas Harris	USA	1988	N
17	The Mask of Dimitrios A Coffin for Dimitrios	Eric Ambler	England	1939	Y	24
18	Gaudy Night	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1935	Y	4
19	Witness for the Prosecution (play)	Agatha Christie	England	1948	N
20	The Day of the Jackal	Frederick Forsyth	England	1971	Y	17
21	Farewell My Lovely	Raymond Chandler	USA	1940	Y	7
22	The Thirty-Nine Steps	John Buchan	Scotland	1915	Y	20
23	Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose)	Umberto Eco	Italy	1980	Y	13
24	«Преступление и наказание» (Crime and Punishment)	Fyodor Dostoyevsky	Russia	1866	N
25	Storm Island (UK) Eye of the Needle	Ken Follett	Wales	1978	N
26	Rumpole of the Bailey	John Mortimer	England	1978	N
27	Red Dragon	Thomas Harris	USA	1981	N
28	The Nine Tailors	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1934	Y	18
29	Fletch	Gregory Mcdonald	USA	1974	N
30	Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy	John le Carré	England	1974	Y	33
31	The Thin Man	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1934	N
32	The Woman in White	Wilkie Collins	England	1860	Y	28
33	Trent's Last Case	E. C. Bentley	England	1913	Y	34
34	Double Indemnity	James M. Cain	USA	1943	N
35	Gorky Park	Martin Cruz Smith	USA	1981	Y	82
36	Strong Poison	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1930	Y	67
37	Dance Hall of the Dead	Tony Hillerman	USA	1973	N
38	The Hot Rock	Donald E. Westlake	USA	1970	N
39	Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1929	Y	94
40	The Circular Staircase	Mary Roberts Rinehart	USA	1908	N
41	Murder on the Orient Express	Agatha Christie	England	1934	N
42	The Firm	John Grisham	USA	1991	N
43	The IPCRESS File	Len Deighton	England	1962	Y	9
44	Laura	Vera Caspary	USA	1942	N
45	I, the Jury	Mickey Spillane	USA	1947	N
46	Den skrattande polisen (The Laughing Policeman)	Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö	Sweden	1968	N
47	Bank Shot	Donald E. Westlake	USA	1972	N
48	The Third Man	Graham Greene	England	1950	Y	72
49	The Killer Inside Me (film)	Jim Thompson	USA	1952	N
50	Where Are the Children?	Mary Higgins Clark	USA	1975	N
51	"A" is for Alibi	Sue Grafton	USA	1982	N
52	The First Deadly Sin	Lawrence Sanders	USA	1973	N
53	A Thief of Time	Tony Hillerman	USA	1989	Y	69
54	In Cold Blood	Truman Capote	USA	1966	N
55	Rogue Male	Geoffrey Household	England	1939	Y	14
56	Murder Must Advertise	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1933	Y	22
57	The Innocence of Father Brown (stories)	G. K. Chesterton	England	1911	N
58	Smiley's People	John le Carré	England	1979	N
59	The Lady in the Lake	Raymond Chandler	USA	1943	Y	47
60	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	USA	1960	N
61	Our Man in Havana	Graham Greene	England	1958	N
62	The Mystery of Edwin Drood	Charles Dickens	England	1870	N
63	Wobble to Death	Peter Lovesey	England	1970	Y	93
64	Ashenden (stories)	W. Somerset Maugham	England	1928	N
65	The Seven Per-Cent Solution	Nicholas Meyer	USA	1974	N
66	The Doorbell Rang	Rex Stout	USA	1965	N
67	Stick	Elmore Leonard	USA	1983	N
68	The Little Drummer Girl	John le Carré	England	1983	N
69	Brighton Rock	Graham Greene	England	1938	Y	46
70	Dracula	Bram Stoker	Ireland (UK)	1897	N
71	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Patricia Highsmith	USA	1955	Y	45
72	The Moving Toyshop	Edmund Crispin	England	1946	Y	25
73	A Time to Kill	John Grisham	USA	1989	N
74	Last Seen Wearing ...	Hillary Waugh	USA	1952	Y	12
75	Little Caesar	W. R. Burnett	USA	1929	N
76	The Friends of Eddie Coyle	George V. Higgins	USA	1972	N
77	Clouds of Witness	Dorothy L. Sayers	England	1927	N
78	From Russia, with Love	Ian Fleming	England	1957	Y	35
79	Beast in View	Margaret Millar	Canada USA	1955	Y	75
80	Smallbone Deceased	Michael Gilbert	England	1950	Y	64
81	The Franchise Affair	Josephine Tey	Scotland	1948	Y	11
82	Crocodile on the Sandbank	Elizabeth Peters	USA	1975	N
83	Shroud for a Nightingale	P. D. James	England	1971	N
84	The Hunt for Red October	Tom Clancy	USA	1984	N
85	Chinaman's Chance	Ross Thomas	USA	1978	N
86	The Secret Agent	Joseph Conrad	Ukraine (Russian Empire) UK	1907	N
87	The Dreadful Lemon Sky	John D. MacDonald	USA	1975	N
88	The Glass Key	Dashiell Hammett	USA	1931	Y	31
89	A Judgement in Stone	Ruth Rendell	England	1977	Y	39
90	Brat Farrar Come and Kill Me	Josephine Tey	Scotland	1950	N
91	The Chill	Ross Macdonald	USA Canada	1963	N
92	Devil in a Blue Dress	Walter Mosley	USA	1990	N
93	The Choirboys	Joseph Wambaugh	USA	1975	N
94	God Save the Mark	Donald E. Westlake	USA	1967	N
95	Home Sweet Homicide	Craig Rice	USA	1944	N
96	The Hollow Man (UK) The Three Coffins (USA)	John Dickson Carr	USA	1935	Y	40
97	Prizzi's Honour (UK) Prizzi's Honor (USA)	Richard Condon	USA	1982	N
98	The Steam Pig	James McClure	South Africa UK	1974	N
99	Time and Again	Jack Finney	USA	1970	N
100	A Morbid Taste for Bones	Ellis Peters	England	1977	Y	42
	Rosemary's Baby	Ira Levin	USA	1967	N

Related pages

• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction – Lee

Other websites

• The CWA Top 100, Past Offences: classic crime reviews and news