TOP 100 MYSTERIES - 1995 - Mystery Writers of America

1. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle (Included in this are The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Sign of Four, each of which garned a lot of votes on its own.)
2. The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
3. Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Edgar Allen Poe (Includes "The Gold Bug" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue," which also received a lot of individual votes.)
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 (aka Ten Little Indians), 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

The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time -1990- by the British-based Crime Writers' Association.

  1. Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)
  2. Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)
  3. John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)
  4. Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)
  5. Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
  6. Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)
  7. Raymond Chandler: Farewell My Lovely (1940)
  8. Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)
  9. Len Deighton: The IPCRESS File (1962)
  10. Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)
  11. Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)
  12. Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing ... (1952)
  13. Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980)
  14. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)
  15. Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)
  16. Francis Iles: Malice Aforethought (1931)1
  17. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)
  18. Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)
  19. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)
  20. John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
  21. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Collected Sherlock Holmes Short Stories (1892-1927)1
  22. Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)
  23. Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)
  24. Eric Ambler: The Mask of Dimitrios (1939)
  25. Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)
  26. Margery Allingham: The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)1
  27. Peter Lovesey: The False Inspector Dew (1982)1
  28. Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)
  29. Barbara Vine: A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)1
  30. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
  31. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)
  32. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)1
  33. John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
  34. E. C. Bentley: Trent's Last Case (1913)
  35. Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)
  36. Ed McBain: Cop Hater (1956)1
  37. Colin Dexter: The Dead of Jericho (1981)1 (tie)
  38. Patricia Highsmith: Strangers on a Train (1950)1
  39. Ruth Rendell: A Judgement in Stone (1977)
  40. John Dickson Carr: The Hollow Man (1935)
  41. Anthony Berkeley: The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929)1
  42. Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)
  43. Ellis Peters: The Leper of St. Giles (1981)1 (tie)
  44. Ira Levin: A Kiss Before Dying (1953)1
  45. Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
  46. Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)
  47. Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)
  48. Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)
  49. Ruth Rendell: A Demon in My View (1976)1
  50. John Dickson Carr: The Devil in Velvet (1951)1
  51. Barbara Vine: A Fatal Inversion (1987)1
  52. Michael Innes: The Journeying Boy (1949)1
  53. P. D. James: A Taste for Death (1986)1
  54. Jack Higgins: The Eagle Has Landed (1975)1
  55. Mary Stewart: My Brother Michael (1960)1
  56. Peter Lovesey: Bertie and the Tin Man (1987)1
  57. Susan Moody: Penny Black (1984)1 (tie)
  58. Len Deighton: Game, Set & Match (1984-1986)1
  59. Dick Francis: The Danger (1983)1
  60. P. D. James: Devices and Desires (1989)1
  61. Reginald Hill: Underworld (1988)1
  62. Mary Stewart: Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)1
  63. Paula Gosling: A Running Duck (1978)1
  64. Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)
  65. Lionel Davidson: The Rose of Tibet (1962)1
  66. P. D. James: Innocent Blood (1980)1
  67. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)
  68. Michael Innes: Hamlet, Revenge! (1937)1
  69. Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)1
  70. Caryl BrahmsS. J. Simon: A Bullet in the Ballet (1937)1
  71. Reginald Hill: Dead Heads (1983)1
  72. Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)
  73. Anthony Price: The Labyrinth Makers (1974)1
  74. Adam Hall: The Quiller Memorandum (1965)1
  75. Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)
  76. Sarah Caudwell: The Shortest Way to Hades (1984)1
  77. Desmond Bagley: Running Blind (1970)1
  78. Dick Francis: Twice Shy (1981)1
  79. Richard Condon: The Manchurian Candidate (1959)1
  80. Caroline Graham: The Killings at Badger's Drift (1987)1
  81. Nicholas Blake: The Beast Must Die (1938)1
  82. Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981) (tie)
  83. Agatha Christie: Death Comes as the End (1945)1
  84. Christianna Brand: Green for Danger (1945)1
  85. Cyril Hare: Tragedy at Law (1942)1
  86. John Fowles: The Collector (1963)1
  87. J. J. Marric: Gideon's Day (1955)1
  88. Lionel Davidson: The Sun Chemist (1976)1
  89. Alistair MacLean: The Guns of Navarone (1957)1
  90. Julian Symons: The Colour of Murder (1957)1
  91. John Buchan: Greenmantle (1916)1
  92. Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands (1903)1
  93. Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)
  94. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
  95. Ken Follett: The Key to Rebecca (1980)1
  96. Ed McBain: Sadie When She Died (1972)1
  97. H. R. F. Keating: The Murder of the Maharajah (1980)1
  98. Simon Brett: What Bloody Man Is That? (1987)1
  99. Gavin Lyall: Shooting Script (1966)

100. Edgar Wallace: The Four Just Men (1906)