The 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers Since 1945
The 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers Since 1945
Our team pick their favourite crime and spy novels, from Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon to today’s edgy Scandi and Japanese masters
Marlon Brando in The Godfather, based on the novel by Mario Puzo
Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Everyone assumes a missing politician is long dead, but they’re wrong, and the truth involves one of the most original plots in crime fiction. The first in the brilliant Department Q series, featuring an idiosyncratic team of cold-case detectives in Copenhagen. (2011)
Everyone assumes a missing politician is long dead, but they’re wrong, and the truth involves one of the most original plots in crime fiction. The first in the brilliant Department Q series, featuring an idiosyncratic team of cold-case detectives in Copenhagen. (2011)
The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
The award-winning story of a petty criminal and drummer in 1940s Chicago, left addicted to morphine by treatment for war injuries. (1949)
The award-winning story of a petty criminal and drummer in 1940s Chicago, left addicted to morphine by treatment for war injuries. (1949)
Absolute Power by David Baldacci
A burglar witnesses the US president with his lover, then the mistress being killed by Secret Service agents. (1996)
A burglar witnesses the US president with his lover, then the mistress being killed by Secret Service agents. (1996)
The Deadly Percheron by John Franklin Bardin
In this classic of psychological suspense, a psychiatrist’s patient tells him the most unlikely story... which starts turning out to be true. (1946)
In this classic of psychological suspense, a psychiatrist’s patient tells him the most unlikely story... which starts turning out to be true. (1946)
Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
An Exmoor boy writes letters to his uncle’s jailed abuser and killer, in a cat-and-mouse game praised for its 12-year-old protagonist. (2010)
An Exmoor boy writes letters to his uncle’s jailed abuser and killer, in a cat-and-mouse game praised for its 12-year-old protagonist. (2010)
Dodgers by Bill Beverly
Viewed through the watchful sensibility of street kid East, four young foot soldiers from an LA drugs gang take a road trip to Wisconsin — “white America” — to assassinate a witness. (2016)
Viewed through the watchful sensibility of street kid East, four young foot soldiers from an LA drugs gang take a road trip to Wisconsin — “white America” — to assassinate a witness. (2016)
Dogstar Rising by Parker Bilal
The second in Bilal’s brilliant series is set in a vividly realised Cairo, where a Sudanese police officer, who has become a refugee after the murder of his family back home, plumbs the depths of corruption in Mubarak’s Egypt. (2013)
The second in Bilal’s brilliant series is set in a vividly realised Cairo, where a Sudanese police officer, who has become a refugee after the murder of his family back home, plumbs the depths of corruption in Mubarak’s Egypt. (2013)
The Asphalt Jungle by WR Burnett
A menacing urban wasteland is the backdrop for a jewellery-store heist that falls apart as the gang’s individual flaws emerge. (1949)
A menacing urban wasteland is the backdrop for a jewellery-store heist that falls apart as the gang’s individual flaws emerge. (1949)
August Heat by Andrea CamilleriIn the blistering summer heat of Sicily, Inspector Montalbano’s friends rent a villa that seems to be under an almost biblical curse. Camilleri portrays Montalbano’s dry wit, gourmet appetite and distaste for corrupt Italian politics in loving detail. (2009)
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell
The first of four novels written under a pseudonym by a barrister, Sarah Cockburn, who ingeniously avoided ever revealing the sex of her detective. A lawyer flees to Venice to avoid a tax bill, only to become the prime suspect in a murder investigation. (1981)
The first of four novels written under a pseudonym by a barrister, Sarah Cockburn, who ingeniously avoided ever revealing the sex of her detective. A lawyer flees to Venice to avoid a tax bill, only to become the prime suspect in a murder investigation. (1981)
Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder
A body is discovered at an isolated car-repair shop in the chilly landscape around Gothenburg. The dead man has been shot and run over, a method that is soon used on another victim. Ceder’s detective, Christian Tell, is a lonely, sensitive figure. (2010)
A body is discovered at an isolated car-repair shop in the chilly landscape around Gothenburg. The dead man has been shot and run over, a method that is soon used on another victim. Ceder’s detective, Christian Tell, is a lonely, sensitive figure. (2010)
The Long Goodbye by Raymond ChandlerThe sixth of the eight Philip Marlowe novels has the epigram-spitting LA gumshoe thrust into a typically opaque plot of alcoholism, double-cross and murder, with a deadly dame at the heart of it. The prose defined noir fiction for the rest of the century. (1953)
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Jack Reacher’s first outing — the blonde giant announces his arrival with trademark violence, uncovering a cash-forgery conspiracy piece by piece. (1997)
Jack Reacher’s first outing — the blonde giant announces his arrival with trademark violence, uncovering a cash-forgery conspiracy piece by piece. (1997)
Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie
The final appearance of Colonel Race, who has not one but two murders to solve: a married couple killed a year apart, with a customarily satisfying twist. (1945)
The final appearance of Colonel Race, who has not one but two murders to solve: a married couple killed a year apart, with a customarily satisfying twist. (1945)
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Spying and submarine warfare combine in the first outing of Jack Ryan — here a CIA analyst, later national security adviser and president. (1984)
Spying and submarine warfare combine in the first outing of Jack Ryan — here a CIA analyst, later national security adviser and president. (1984)
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves
The most memorable and affecting novel in Cleeves’s Shetland series. Trapped on Fair Isle by stormy weather, DI Jimmy Perez struggles to investigate a chillingly planned murder at a bird observatory, with devastating consequences for his family. (2010)
The most memorable and affecting novel in Cleeves’s Shetland series. Trapped on Fair Isle by stormy weather, DI Jimmy Perez struggles to investigate a chillingly planned murder at a bird observatory, with devastating consequences for his family. (2010)
About the Author by John Colapinto
A brilliant literary-themed murder story that’s also sizzlingly entertaining about the Manhattan publishing world. (2001)
A brilliant literary-themed murder story that’s also sizzlingly entertaining about the Manhattan publishing world. (2001)
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
A classic Cold War paranoid yarn centred on a KGB sleeper agent — ultimate mission, getting a Russian-controlled US president elected. (1959)
A classic Cold War paranoid yarn centred on a KGB sleeper agent — ultimate mission, getting a Russian-controlled US president elected. (1959)
The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly
Fourth outing for the brooding, maverick LA detective Harry Bosch, pulled into dark memories as he starts to investigate his mother’s murder. (1995)
Fourth outing for the brooding, maverick LA detective Harry Bosch, pulled into dark memories as he starts to investigate his mother’s murder. (1995)
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
A lethal micro-organism invades Earth in the first SF novel to make the bestseller list — by the super-smart medic who later wrote Jurassic Park. (1969)
A lethal micro-organism invades Earth in the first SF novel to make the bestseller list — by the super-smart medic who later wrote Jurassic Park. (1969)
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
On a visit to Oxford, a poet is drawn into a toyshop and discovers a woman’s body in the flat upstairs. When he returns with the police, the toyshop has gone, replaced by a grocer’s store. Crispin’s amateur detective, Gervase Fen, is an Oxford don who brings humour, eccentricity and erudition to his investigations. (1970)
On a visit to Oxford, a poet is drawn into a toyshop and discovers a woman’s body in the flat upstairs. When he returns with the police, the toyshop has gone, replaced by a grocer’s store. Crispin’s amateur detective, Gervase Fen, is an Oxford don who brings humour, eccentricity and erudition to his investigations. (1970)
olymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
Davidson’s hero, a Native American anthropologist, travels to Siberia to receive a scientist’s deathbed message — but has to get past the Russian military. (1994)
Davidson’s hero, a Native American anthropologist, travels to Siberia to receive a scientist’s deathbed message — but has to get past the Russian military. (1994)
The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
The anti-James Bond: not a globetrotting playboy, but an unnamed bloke (“Harry Palmer” in the film) for whom spying is largely a humdrum office job. (1962)
The anti-James Bond: not a globetrotting playboy, but an unnamed bloke (“Harry Palmer” in the film) for whom spying is largely a humdrum office job. (1962)
Ratking by Michael Dibdin
The first and best novel in the accomplished Inspector Aurelio Zen series is set in Perugia, where the head of an influential family has been kidnapped. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Italy, Dibdin created a morally complex character. (1988)
The first and best novel in the accomplished Inspector Aurelio Zen series is set in Perugia, where the head of an influential family has been kidnapped. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Italy, Dibdin created a morally complex character. (1988)
The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
A classic novella by the acclaimed Swiss writer, in which a detective becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a young girl. Powerful and compelling, with a devastating twist. (1958)
A classic novella by the acclaimed Swiss writer, in which a detective becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a young girl. Powerful and compelling, with a devastating twist. (1958)
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The suspicious death of a young monk, a talented illuminator of manuscripts, sets in motion a complex series of events involving cryptic symbols, a hidden library, ancient Greek philosophers and the threat of the Inquisition. (1983)
The suspicious death of a young monk, a talented illuminator of manuscripts, sets in motion a complex series of events involving cryptic symbols, a hidden library, ancient Greek philosophers and the threat of the Inquisition. (1983)
LA Confidential by James Ellroy
Organised crime, political corruption, porn, prostitution, drug running: Los Angeles in the early 1950s has it all, and three flawed LAPD officers must fight to uncover a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels. (1990)
Organised crime, political corruption, porn, prostitution, drug running: Los Angeles in the early 1950s has it all, and three flawed LAPD officers must fight to uncover a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels. (1990)
City of Veils by Zoë FerrarisAn Arab woman is killed and an American security specialist disappears — Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, is the unusual setting for this engrossing and morally nuanced mystery. (2010)
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
James Bond makes his first appearance, playing high-stakes baccarat against Soviet agent Le Chiffre. (1953)
James Bond makes his first appearance, playing high-stakes baccarat against Soviet agent Le Chiffre. (1953)
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
When Amy disappears, her husband, Nick, is the prime suspect in a switchback mystery that inspired scores of unreliable narrators and “girl” titles. (2012)
When Amy disappears, her husband, Nick, is the prime suspect in a switchback mystery that inspired scores of unreliable narrators and “girl” titles. (2012)
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
Shady French paramilitaries hire a shady Brit to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. Tension mounts as he evades pursuers from both countries, arrives in Paris and gets the target in his sights. Mounting tension and a cunning twist on the very last page. (1971)
Shady French paramilitaries hire a shady Brit to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. Tension mounts as he evades pursuers from both countries, arrives in Paris and gets the target in his sights. Mounting tension and a cunning twist on the very last page. (1971)
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
JK Rowling’s nom de plume produced a memorably flawed hero in Cormoran Strike, and a chilling glance into the upper-class morass of London. (2013)
JK Rowling’s nom de plume produced a memorably flawed hero in Cormoran Strike, and a chilling glance into the upper-class morass of London. (2013)
The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin
Venice in 1840 provides the evocative background against which Goodwin’s detective, Yashim, must unravel the violent world of art theft to recover a priceless Bellini. (2008)
Venice in 1840 provides the evocative background against which Goodwin’s detective, Yashim, must unravel the violent world of art theft to recover a priceless Bellini. (2008)
The Third Man by Graham Greene
Learning of his friend Harry Lime’s death in postwar Vienna, a writer uncovers Lime’s links to a black-market medicine racket. (1949)
Learning of his friend Harry Lime’s death in postwar Vienna, a writer uncovers Lime’s links to a black-market medicine racket. (1949)
A Time to Kill by John Grisham
In a debut with Harper Lee echoes, Grisham’s hero represents a black man who killed his daughter’s white-supremacist rapists in revenge. (1988)
In a debut with Harper Lee echoes, Grisham’s hero represents a black man who killed his daughter’s white-supremacist rapists in revenge. (1988)
Little Face by Sophie Hannah
Hannah launches her distinctive blend of psychological suspense and offbeat police mystery with a missing-baby story with a difference. (2006)
Hannah launches her distinctive blend of psychological suspense and offbeat police mystery with a missing-baby story with a difference. (2006)
Death Notice by Zhou Haohui
A dormant serial killer becomes active again in Chengdu, inviting the public to nominate victims online. Still smarting from the decades-old murders of two colleagues, a squad of provincial detectives try to stop him, but turn on each other in this extraordinary international bestseller. (2018)
A dormant serial killer becomes active again in Chengdu, inviting the public to nominate victims online. Still smarting from the decades-old murders of two colleagues, a squad of provincial detectives try to stop him, but turn on each other in this extraordinary international bestseller. (2018)
With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare
A joking game of murder planning turns real in Hare’s entertaining mystery, set during evacuations in the Blitz. (1946)
A joking game of murder planning turns real in Hare’s entertaining mystery, set during evacuations in the Blitz. (1946)
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
The initial mystery — how did a rancher come to meet his strange death? — endures almost to the end of this powerful family saga set in the unforgiving Australian outback. (2018)
The initial mystery — how did a rancher come to meet his strange death? — endures almost to the end of this powerful family saga set in the unforgiving Australian outback. (2018)
Fatherland by Robert Harris
In a brilliantly imagined alternative 1960s Germany — Hitler won the war and rules Europe — a detective examines a Nazi official’s death. (1992)
In a brilliantly imagined alternative 1960s Germany — Hitler won the war and rules Europe — a detective examines a Nazi official’s death. (1992)
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Banged up for life in his second outing, cerebral slayer Hannibal Lecter helps FBI trainee Clarice Starling track down a rival serial killer. (1988)
Banged up for life in his second outing, cerebral slayer Hannibal Lecter helps FBI trainee Clarice Starling track down a rival serial killer. (1988)
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Over 15m copies have been sold of this story of a dipso amateur detective who sees an incident that might explain a woman’s disappearance. (2015)
Over 15m copies have been sold of this story of a dipso amateur detective who sees an incident that might explain a woman’s disappearance. (2015)
London Rules by Mick Herron
A terrorist incident kicks off the best of Herron’s seriocomic tales of wily, boozy Jackson Lamb and his hapless team of MI5 misfits. (2018)
A terrorist incident kicks off the best of Herron’s seriocomic tales of wily, boozy Jackson Lamb and his hapless team of MI5 misfits. (2018)
Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
Eco-terrorists cause mayhem to deter tourists from visiting Florida — the first of Hiaasen’s distinctive comic thrillers set in the Sunshine State. (1986)
Eco-terrorists cause mayhem to deter tourists from visiting Florida — the first of Hiaasen’s distinctive comic thrillers set in the Sunshine State. (1986)
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Introducing the irresistible chameleon psychopath Tom Ripley in a tale of amoral badness — up to and including murder — that goes audaciously unpunished. (1955)
Introducing the irresistible chameleon psychopath Tom Ripley in a tale of amoral badness — up to and including murder — that goes audaciously unpunished. (1955)
Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes
A con trick selling families a new life in Africa for $1,000 unravels, with double-crosses, sex and violence meted out by “the two baddest detectives ever to wear a badge in Harlem”. (1965)
A con trick selling families a new life in Africa for $1,000 unravels, with double-crosses, sex and violence meted out by “the two baddest detectives ever to wear a badge in Harlem”. (1965)
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
A 25-year-old author’s dazzling debut, narrated by a criminal fixer who cleans up after jobs go wrong — now hunting for the missing loot from a casino heist. (2013)
A 25-year-old author’s dazzling debut, narrated by a criminal fixer who cleans up after jobs go wrong — now hunting for the missing loot from a casino heist. (2013)
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
The Copenhagen police believe a child slipped accidentally to his death, but Smilla thinks the snow tells a different story in one of the first Scandi thrillers to reach us. (1992)
The Copenhagen police believe a child slipped accidentally to his death, but Smilla thinks the snow tells a different story in one of the first Scandi thrillers to reach us. (1992)
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
A novel within a novel is the hook for an intricate country-house twister, smartly updating classic tropes. (2016)
A novel within a novel is the hook for an intricate country-house twister, smartly updating classic tropes. (2016)
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy HughesSimply one of the best novels about a serial killer, set in a moody postwar Los Angeles and getting inside the mind of a superficially charming psychopath who hates women. (1947)
No Way Out by Cara Hunter
A fatal house fire rips away the respectable facade of a university family in north Oxford. Superbly plotted, with believable characters and Hunter’s trademark compassion for victims. (2019)
A fatal house fire rips away the respectable facade of a university family in north Oxford. Superbly plotted, with believable characters and Hunter’s trademark compassion for victims. (2019)
Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason
The chilling final novel featuring a Reykjavik detective, Erlendur Sveinsson, by one of the greatest contemporary crime writers. Erlendur is haunted by the disappearance of his brother in a snowstorm years before, and his curiosity about a woman missing in similar conditions takes him to the edge of a breakdown. (2013)
The chilling final novel featuring a Reykjavik detective, Erlendur Sveinsson, by one of the greatest contemporary crime writers. Erlendur is haunted by the disappearance of his brother in a snowstorm years before, and his curiosity about a woman missing in similar conditions takes him to the edge of a breakdown. (2013)
Unnatural Causes by PD James
Adam Dalgliesh’s hopes of a quiet holiday are upended by the murder of a crime writer in this engaging and enjoyably suspect-laden novel. (1967)
Adam Dalgliesh’s hopes of a quiet holiday are upended by the murder of a crime writer in this engaging and enjoyably suspect-laden novel. (1967)
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun by Sébastien Japrisot
As Dany drives south from Paris, strange things start to happen. Classic suspenseful noir from “the French Graham Greene”. (1966)
As Dany drives south from Paris, strange things start to happen. Classic suspenseful noir from “the French Graham Greene”. (1966)
The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson
Jonasson’s superb Hidden Iceland trilogy tells the tragic story of a detective, Hulda Hermannsdottir, in reverse chronological order. This first volume covers her final years, revealing both her dogged persistence as an investigator and the slights she suffered throughout her career. (2018)
Jonasson’s superb Hidden Iceland trilogy tells the tragic story of a detective, Hulda Hermannsdottir, in reverse chronological order. This first volume covers her final years, revealing both her dogged persistence as an investigator and the slights she suffered throughout her career. (2018)
March Violets by Philip Kerr
Unashamedly modelled on Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, German policeman Bernie Gunther, in the first of 14 books, is a good man in a bad world — Nazi Germany. (1989)
Unashamedly modelled on Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, German policeman Bernie Gunther, in the first of 14 books, is a good man in a bad world — Nazi Germany. (1989)
Out by Natsuo Kirino
A shocking and unflinching novel about poverty, domestic violence and desperation. When a woman kills her abusive husband, her friends at a bento factory in the suburbs of Tokyo help her to dispose of the body. (2004)
A shocking and unflinching novel about poverty, domestic violence and desperation. When a woman kills her abusive husband, her friends at a bento factory in the suburbs of Tokyo help her to dispose of the body. (2004)
The Bottoms by Joe R Lansdale
A killer on the loose in Depression-era Texas stirs up racial tensions in a crime novel with echoes of William Faulkner. (2000)
A killer on the loose in Depression-era Texas stirs up racial tensions in a crime novel with echoes of William Faulkner. (2000)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The first volume in the Millennium trilogy, introducing the investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the super-hacker Lisbeth Salander. Hired to investigate the disappearance of an industrialist’s niece 40 years ago, Blomkvist discovers a terrible secret at the heart of the family. (2005)
The first volume in the Millennium trilogy, introducing the investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the super-hacker Lisbeth Salander. Hired to investigate the disappearance of an industrialist’s niece 40 years ago, Blomkvist discovers a terrible secret at the heart of the family. (2005)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
Where Ian Fleming glamorised spying, le Carré showed it as ethically murky — as here, when Smiley sends an agent into East Germany. (1963)
Where Ian Fleming glamorised spying, le Carré showed it as ethically murky — as here, when Smiley sends an agent into East Germany. (1963)
Alex by Pierre Lemaitre
A young woman undergoes a horrifying ordeal at the hands of a kidnapper as diminutive Paris detective Camille does his agonised best to find her. Disturbing and riveting. (2013)
A young woman undergoes a horrifying ordeal at the hands of a kidnapper as diminutive Paris detective Camille does his agonised best to find her. Disturbing and riveting. (2013)
Acqua Alta by Donna Leon
One of Leon’s slices of persuasively authentic Venetian life, as detective Guido Brunetti unmasks more illegal goings-on among the city’s high and mighty. (1996)
One of Leon’s slices of persuasively authentic Venetian life, as detective Guido Brunetti unmasks more illegal goings-on among the city’s high and mighty. (1996)
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
The Miami underworld meets the Hollywood dream machine in this craftily plotted sting caper — prime American noir with the author’s trademark sharp dialogue. (1990)
The Miami underworld meets the Hollywood dream machine in this craftily plotted sting caper — prime American noir with the author’s trademark sharp dialogue. (1990)
Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis
Gritty northern noir, in which a London mob enforcer, Jack, stirs up trouble in his grim home town when he tries to find out how his brother died. Michael Caine played Jack in the 1971 film adaptation, Get Carter. (1970)
Gritty northern noir, in which a London mob enforcer, Jack, stirs up trouble in his grim home town when he tries to find out how his brother died. Michael Caine played Jack in the 1971 film adaptation, Get Carter. (1970)
The Company by Robert Littell
Fifty years of the CIA struggling with enemies abroad and within, in a Cold War saga that is superbly structured and researched. (2002)
Fifty years of the CIA struggling with enemies abroad and within, in a Cold War saga that is superbly structured and researched. (2002)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
An African-American lawyer stumbles on a scandal about the oil industry’s impact on the environment. A classic tale of an individual taking on the system, with themes of racial tension and green politics giving the novel an added edge. (2009)
An African-American lawyer stumbles on a scandal about the oil industry’s impact on the environment. A classic tale of an individual taking on the system, with themes of racial tension and green politics giving the novel an added edge. (2009)
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
Introducing the CIA-trained assassin with amnesia about his identity — played (after the author’s death in 2001) by Matt Damon on screen. (1980)
Introducing the CIA-trained assassin with amnesia about his identity — played (after the author’s death in 2001) by Matt Damon on screen. (1980)
The Zebra-Striped Hearse by Ross Macdonald
Macdonald’s influential Lew Archer faces his 10th mystery, chasing a missing girl around America, shadowed by the titular hearse. (1962)
Macdonald’s influential Lew Archer faces his 10th mystery, chasing a missing girl around America, shadowed by the titular hearse. (1962)
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
The first volume in Mankell’s gripping Inspector Wallander series, introducing his perpetually gloomy detective. The torture and murder of an elderly couple in an isolated farmhouse lead to attacks on immigrants, highlighting Mankell’s concern about what lies behind Sweden’s apparently liberal attitude to foreigners. (1997)
The first volume in Mankell’s gripping Inspector Wallander series, introducing his perpetually gloomy detective. The torture and murder of an elderly couple in an isolated farmhouse lead to attacks on immigrants, highlighting Mankell’s concern about what lies behind Sweden’s apparently liberal attitude to foreigners. (1997)
The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
The Ozarks are an area where some of America’s most isolated communities live, and this outstanding first novel is set in a town similar to the one where McHugh spent her childhood. Her protagonist, Lucy, knows that her mother arrived in search of work on a farm, married a local man, then disappeared. When one of Lucy’s friends is murdered, she begins to wonder about this community where bad things happen to women. (2014)
The Ozarks are an area where some of America’s most isolated communities live, and this outstanding first novel is set in a town similar to the one where McHugh spent her childhood. Her protagonist, Lucy, knows that her mother arrived in search of work on a farm, married a local man, then disappeared. When one of Lucy’s friends is murdered, she begins to wonder about this community where bad things happen to women. (2014)
13 Hours by Deon Meyer
Fast-paced action as an Afrikaans Cape Town cop, Benny Griessel, tries to find a young woman on the run and adapt to colleagues who represent his new rainbow nation. (2011)
Fast-paced action as an Afrikaans Cape Town cop, Benny Griessel, tries to find a young woman on the run and adapt to colleagues who represent his new rainbow nation. (2011)
Beast in View by Margaret Millar
A wealthy young woman living alone in a hotel is drawn into extortion, pornography, vengeance and murder by a quiet, compelling stranger in this classic whodunnit. (1955)
A wealthy young woman living alone in a hotel is drawn into extortion, pornography, vengeance and murder by a quiet, compelling stranger in this classic whodunnit. (1955)
Sanctum by Denise Mina
Mina shows her versatility with her first male lead: a forensic psychiatrist’s husband trying to clear his wife of murdering a serial killer. (2003)
Mina shows her versatility with her first male lead: a forensic psychiatrist’s husband trying to clear his wife of murdering a serial killer. (2003)
The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier
The debut outing for the Toulouse detective Servaz has all Minier’s trademark gifts: a vivid sense of place — a Pyrenean valley in winter, a puzzle that almost defeats his intellectually bold hero, starting with a dead horse —and a lurking sense of evil that is never entirely banished. (2013)
The debut outing for the Toulouse detective Servaz has all Minier’s trademark gifts: a vivid sense of place — a Pyrenean valley in winter, a puzzle that almost defeats his intellectually bold hero, starting with a dead horse —and a lurking sense of evil that is never entirely banished. (2013)
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
This is where the iconic black private eye Easy Rawlins’s career began: 1948 Los Angeles, looking for a devastating femme fatale who’s made off with the cash. A brilliant thriller, with the black American experience as its heart and soul. (1990)
This is where the iconic black private eye Easy Rawlins’s career began: 1948 Los Angeles, looking for a devastating femme fatale who’s made off with the cash. A brilliant thriller, with the black American experience as its heart and soul. (1990)
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee
Now a police captain in atmospheric 1920s Calcutta, traumatised First World War veteran Captain Sam Wyndham self-medicates with opium while solving mysterious murders and witnessing the swelling cause of Indian independence. Compelling detective fiction in the twilight of the Raj. (2018)
Now a police captain in atmospheric 1920s Calcutta, traumatised First World War veteran Captain Sam Wyndham self-medicates with opium while solving mysterious murders and witnessing the swelling cause of Indian independence. Compelling detective fiction in the twilight of the Raj. (2018)
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
Oslo detective Harry Hole tracks a serial killer in the gripping novel that established Nesbo as a writer of rare ingenuity and total confidence. (2010)
Oslo detective Harry Hole tracks a serial killer in the gripping novel that established Nesbo as a writer of rare ingenuity and total confidence. (2010)
Hardball by Sara Paretsky
The Chicago PI VI (Vic) Warshawski had been kicking butt with a vigorous social conscience for more than a quarter of a century when this novel appeared, but her energy is undimmed as a search for a missing man takes her towards dark truths about her own family. Feisty and fearless. (2009)
The Chicago PI VI (Vic) Warshawski had been kicking butt with a vigorous social conscience for more than a quarter of a century when this novel appeared, but her energy is undimmed as a search for a missing man takes her towards dark truths about her own family. Feisty and fearless. (2009)
Metzger’s Dog by Thomas Perry
A burglar after cocaine instead steals secret plans compiled for the CIA to throw a city into chaos in this comic thriller. (1983)
A burglar after cocaine instead steals secret plans compiled for the CIA to throw a city into chaos in this comic thriller. (1983)
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Don Corleone’s mafia clan battle other families for supremacy in postwar New York — a bestseller adapted into a superb movie. (1969)
Don Corleone’s mafia clan battle other families for supremacy in postwar New York — a bestseller adapted into a superb movie. (1969)
Hide and Seek by Ian RankinThe second in the Rebus series reinforces the key elements of the grumpy, boozy detective’s appeal: his mordant observations, his taste in dad rock and old-man pubs, and the way he unmasks Edinburgh’s sordid, corrupt underbelly. (1991)
The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo
The first volume in a hugely atmospheric trilogy set in the Baztan Valley, in northeast Spain. When a child is murdered and the body is displayed in a ritual manner, people start muttering about the Basajaun, a creature from Basque myth. Inspector Amaia Salazar is sceptical, but understands the power of legend — and suspects that the killing has a link with the troubled history of her own family. (2015)
The first volume in a hugely atmospheric trilogy set in the Baztan Valley, in northeast Spain. When a child is murdered and the body is displayed in a ritual manner, people start muttering about the Basajaun, a creature from Basque myth. Inspector Amaia Salazar is sceptical, but understands the power of legend — and suspects that the killing has a link with the troubled history of her own family. (2015)
The Keys to the Street by Ruth Rendell
A wide cast of characters revolve around a series of murders in London, with homeless people the victims. Rendell’s plotting is masterful and her control total. (1996)
A wide cast of characters revolve around a series of murders in London, with homeless people the victims. Rendell’s plotting is masterful and her control total. (1996)
Heartstone by CJ Sansom
Sansom’s Shardlake series, set in Tudor times, is excellent. Here, an old servant of Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, is the prompt for the unpredictable investigation of a wronged young man. (2010)
Sansom’s Shardlake series, set in Tudor times, is excellent. Here, an old servant of Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, is the prompt for the unpredictable investigation of a wronged young man. (2010)
Last Seen in Massilia by Steven Saylor
Ancient Rome is a ripe setting for intrigue, and Saylor’s Gordianus a worthy protagonist. This entry sees him solving a murder and finding his lost son in a besieged Gallic city. (2000)
Ancient Rome is a ripe setting for intrigue, and Saylor’s Gordianus a worthy protagonist. This entry sees him solving a murder and finding his lost son in a besieged Gallic city. (2000)
Harry’s Game by Gerald Seymour
The former ITN journalist’s debut remains the best thriller about the Northern Irish Troubles. (1975)
The former ITN journalist’s debut remains the best thriller about the Northern Irish Troubles. (1975)
A Book of Scars by William Shaw
This novel about the hunt for a serial killer in 1969 combines period detail with an emotional intensity found only in the finest crime fiction. (2015)
This novel about the hunt for a serial killer in 1969 combines period detail with an emotional intensity found only in the finest crime fiction. (2015)
The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
A luxury yacht turns up in Reykjavik with nobody on board. What happened to the people who were on it when it sailed out of Lisbon? The sixth of the acclaimed series featuring Thora Gudmundsdottir. (2015)
A luxury yacht turns up in Reykjavik with nobody on board. What happened to the people who were on it when it sailed out of Lisbon? The sixth of the acclaimed series featuring Thora Gudmundsdottir. (2015)
Maigret and the Headless Corpse by Georges Simenon
After a decapitated body is found in a Paris canal, this becomes one of those Maigrets in which the detective teases apart the tensions of a small community. (1955)
After a decapitated body is found in a Paris canal, this becomes one of those Maigrets in which the detective teases apart the tensions of a small community. (1955)
Point Blank by Richard Stark
Originally published as The Hunter, it was renamed after the movie starring Lee Marvin as Parker, America’s deadliest, darkest, most brutal antihero. A simple plot — his partner and his wife robbed him and left him for dead, and he’s after them — unleashes almost unbearable levels of threat, in prose pared down with a razor. (1962)
Originally published as The Hunter, it was renamed after the movie starring Lee Marvin as Parker, America’s deadliest, darkest, most brutal antihero. A simple plot — his partner and his wife robbed him and left him for dead, and he’s after them — unleashes almost unbearable levels of threat, in prose pared down with a razor. (1962)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A back-to-front mystery whose narrator confesses upfront to involvement in a fellow student’s murder: but why, and who else took part? (1992)
A back-to-front mystery whose narrator confesses upfront to involvement in a fellow student’s murder: but why, and who else took part? (1992)
Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
A lonely woman in London is unable to resist a dashing major who sweeps her off her feet — and off the face of the earth. There are echoes of Agatha Christie in the complex plot set in 1934, but Taylor’s portrait of desperate lives is infused with a sharp sense of class and politics as British society fractures under the threat of a world war. (2008)
A lonely woman in London is unable to resist a dashing major who sweeps her off her feet — and off the face of the earth. There are echoes of Agatha Christie in the complex plot set in 1934, but Taylor’s portrait of desperate lives is infused with a sharp sense of class and politics as British society fractures under the threat of a world war. (2008)
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
One of the most celebrated British crime novels, The Franchise Affair is a terrifying account of mob justice in an English village. A 15-year-old girl accuses a mother and daughter of abducting and imprisoning her, with only a local solicitor and a mechanic prepared to believe they are innocent. (1948)
One of the most celebrated British crime novels, The Franchise Affair is a terrifying account of mob justice in an English village. A 15-year-old girl accuses a mother and daughter of abducting and imprisoning her, with only a local solicitor and a mechanic prepared to believe they are innocent. (1948)
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
The self-narrated life of a psychopathic Texas sheriff, by a hard-living pulp fiction writer who was rediscovered in the 1980s. (1952)
The self-narrated life of a psychopathic Texas sheriff, by a hard-living pulp fiction writer who was rediscovered in the 1980s. (1952)
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
A prosecutor accused of murder recounts his ordeal. Two years before John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, Turow’s debut rebooted the legal thriller genre. (1987)
A prosecutor accused of murder recounts his ordeal. Two years before John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, Turow’s debut rebooted the legal thriller genre. (1987)
The Ghost Riders of Ordebec by Fred Vargas
The eighth in Vargas’s Commissaire Adamsberg series is an outstanding read. In rural Normandy, superstitious locals link a series of murders to a mythical troop of riders. But Adamsberg, intuitive as ever, understands that the apparitions are projections of the community’s desire for vengeance. (2013)
The eighth in Vargas’s Commissaire Adamsberg series is an outstanding read. In rural Normandy, superstitious locals link a series of murders to a mythical troop of riders. But Adamsberg, intuitive as ever, understands that the apparitions are projections of the community’s desire for vengeance. (2013)
A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine
Written under a pseudonym, this won Ruth Rendell the CWA gold dagger. In the sweltering summer of 1976, a group of friends camped out in a country house in Suffolk. Ten years later, when the body of a woman and a child are found in the grounds, guilt finally catches up with them. (1987)
Written under a pseudonym, this won Ruth Rendell the CWA gold dagger. In the sweltering summer of 1976, a group of friends camped out in a country house in Suffolk. Ten years later, when the body of a woman and a child are found in the grounds, guilt finally catches up with them. (1987)
The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach
A killer refuses to say why he shot dead a German industrialist, leaving his inexperienced defence lawyer little to work with. A chance discovery just before the trial, however, sets the lawyer on the trail of a series of atrocities committed by German troops in Italy during the Second World War. An extraordinary novel by an author whose grandfather was tried for war crimes at Nuremberg. (2011)
A killer refuses to say why he shot dead a German industrialist, leaving his inexperienced defence lawyer little to work with. A chance discovery just before the trial, however, sets the lawyer on the trail of a series of atrocities committed by German troops in Italy during the Second World War. An extraordinary novel by an author whose grandfather was tried for war crimes at Nuremberg. (2011)
The Border by Don Winslow
Sprawling and intricate, this is a novel that pinpoints the futility of America’s “war on drugs” on both sides of the US-Mexican border, with its cast list — from top politicians to street dealers — inextricably linked. The fluid, muscular prose delivers a powerful message. (2019)
Sprawling and intricate, this is a novel that pinpoints the futility of America’s “war on drugs” on both sides of the US-Mexican border, with its cast list — from top politicians to street dealers — inextricably linked. The fluid, muscular prose delivers a powerful message. (2019)
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
An intense crime novel about grief, uncertainty and a father’s single-minded determination to find the man who abducted and murdered his daughter 14 years earlier. (2012)
An intense crime novel about grief, uncertainty and a father’s single-minded determination to find the man who abducted and murdered his daughter 14 years earlier. (2012)
Comments