In 2009 The Guardian printed a list of the 1,000 novels which everyone should read, you can read the original article here and the list below is of the books which come under the category of crime. Oh dear – I have an awful lot of books to get around to reading. I’ve marked in bold the ones which I have already read – not many as you will see. I make it just 30 out of 150, I think, and I haven’t even heard of an awful lot of them.
Crime:
The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
Fantomas by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Trent’s Last Case by EC Bentley
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary E Braddon
The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Greenmantle by John Buchan
The Asphalt Jungle by WR Burnett
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain
Double Indemnity by James M Cain
True History of the Ned Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Poetic Justice by Amanda Cross
The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter
The Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter
Ratking by Michael Dibdin
Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin
Dirty Tricks by Michael Dibdin
A Rich Full Death by Michael Dibdin
Vendetta by Michael Dibdin
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Pledge by Friedrich Durrenmatt
The Crime of Father Amado by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
LA Confidential by James Ellroy
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy
A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
The Third Man by Graham Greene
A Time to Kill by John Grisham
The King of Torts by John Grisham
Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Fatherland by Robert Harris
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V Higgins
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Bones and Silence by Reginald Hill
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles
Silence of the Grave by Arnadur Indridason
Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes
Cover Her Face by PD James
A Taste for Death by PD James
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
Misery by Stephen King
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Constant Gardener by John le Carre
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
52 Pick-up by Elmore Leonard
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
Cop Hater by Ed McBain
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim
The Strange Borders of Palace Crescent by E Phillips Oppenheim
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Toxic Shock by Sara Paretsky
Blacklist by Sara Paretsky
Nineteen Seventy Four by David Peace
Nineteen Seventy Seven by David Peace
The Big Blowdown by George Pelecanos
Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos
Lush Life by Richard Price
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
V by Thomas Pynchon
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
The Hanging Gardens by Ian Rankin
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell
Live Flesh by Ruth Rendell
Dissolution by CJ Sansom
Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Le Sayers
The Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon
The Blue Room by Georges Simenon
The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
A Fatal inversion by Barbara Vine
King Solomon’s Carpet by Barbara Vine
The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Native Son by Richard Wright
Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
How well did you do?
Found I’d read 16 on that list – by Buchan, Christie, A.C.Doyle, Fleming, Sayers – plus “The Riddle of the Sands” which is one of the best books ever written in my opinion! [I’ve watched films made of The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Third Man, and Maltese Falcon.] I think I read “Monte Cristo” as a child; may have read “Pudd’nhead Wilson”, must read “Kim”.
Valerie,
I’ve seen the 1970s film of The Riddle of the Sands a couple of times and enjoyed that and the other films you mentioned. I must try to get the book.
I count 17 as read, although were 40 years ago and I hardly remember them. You’ve done really well with 30!
Debbie,
These lists just make you realise how few ‘good’ books you’ve actually read over the years. I’m going to try to read some more on the list, at least the ones I already have in the house anyway!
I’ve read 18 of those, so I obviously have a lot of books to get around to as well! I’m impressed that you’ve read 30.
Hellen,
Thanks, and I was so unimpressed with myself! It’s the usual – must do better feeling!
I’ve read 30 as well! Primarily the American & British authors. I’m really pleased to see Harry Kemelman on there, I love his novels about a quiet scholarly American rabbi. I’d vote for more Sayers & Tey, and better ones (Whose Body rather than The Nine Tailors?) less Hammett & Fleming in my humble opinion.
Lisa,
I’ll have to look out for Kemelman, I read quite a lot of Jewish fiction years ago, Chaim Potok and Chaim Bermant(set in the west of Scotland) spring to mind. I always liked Gaudy Night but I’m long overdue re-reads.
Well, I haven’t heard of a lot of these either. The list reads suspiciously like a merging of a dozen people’s favorite authors lists, without much thought as to why “most people should read them.”
I can’t imagine that more than one Ian Fleming should really be on anyone’s list, though I read the all when I was a teenager! Likewise, Agatha Christie–she’s fun but more than one on a must read list seems excessive 🙂
Sometimes I think an ideal job would be creating reading lists for schools…I could pepper it with all my own “must reads.”
Jane GS,
I agree, I don’t think it was explained how they came up with the lists but there are too many Christies and as you say – her books are fun, but there were better crime writers around, although some people think it’s sacrilegious to say so!
Well choosing the reading lists would be a lot better than marking all the papers about the same books, that must drive teachers nuts.
I didn’t do to well on this list, 4. I did pick up 4 of the Rabbi series by Kemelman last fall at a library book sale. And I have quite a few on my shelf just not read yet:(
Thanks, Katrina for the page insert about Carr’s Scottish ancestry!
Peggy Ann,
I thought you would have read quite a lot of them too.
Feel free to stick the insert on one of your Dickson Carr posts if you think anyone would be interested in it.
I think I’ve read about 32, not sure about all the Christies. There are some odd choices on the list — I wouldn’t have listed Jurassic Park or To Kill a Mockingbird as a crime novel, not in the traditional sense.
Karen,
That was exactly what I thought. They obviously have a very loose idea of what constitutes a crime novel.