100 Best crime novels and thrillers since 1945



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Interesting list. Some I love, some I think are rubbish and some I've never heard of. Couple of slightly obscure ones that I like in there as well. Pleased to see Joe Lansdale get a bit of recognition, a very underrated writer.
The 100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945

is it in any particular order ? if so.. copy n paste the top 10 on here :lol:
 
They’ve got Agatha Christie in there ffs. She wrote detective novels not crime novels. Anyway if detective novels are included then:

Elmore Leonard. Swag.
Elmore Leonard. Pagan Babies.
Elmore Leonard. Bandits.
George V Higgins. The Friends Of Eddie Coyle.
Ross MacDonald. The Blue Hammer.
Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep.
James Crumley. The Last Good Kiss.
Dashiel Hammet. The Maltese Falcon.
James Lee Burke. Black Cherry Blues.
Mine........when it gets written.

Bollocks to 1945

Got to have a bit John Le Carre in there
Nivver knew he wrote crime novels.
 
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They’ve got Agatha Christie in there ffs. She wrote detective novels not crime novels. Anyway if detective novels are included then:

Elmore Leonard. Swag.
Elmore Leonard. Pagan Babies.
Elmore Leonard. Bandits.
George V Higgins. The Friends Of Eddie Coyle.
Ross MacDonald. The Blue Hammer.
Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep.
James Crumley. The Last Good Kiss.
Dashiel Hammet. The Maltese Falcon.
James Lee Burke. Black Cherry Blues.
Mine........when it gets written.

Bollocks to 1945


Nivver knew he wrote crime novels.
Crime and thriller is the category. Le Carre would be classed as thriller wouldn't it? Spy stuff.

And what's the difference between a crime and detective novel? It would be a f***ing shite detective novel if there was nee crime in it :D
 
They’ve got Agatha Christie in there ffs. She wrote detective novels not crime novels. Anyway if detective novels are included then:

Elmore Leonard. Swag.
Elmore Leonard. Pagan Babies.
Elmore Leonard. Bandits.
George V Higgins. The Friends Of Eddie Coyle.
Ross MacDonald. The Blue Hammer.
Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep.
James Crumley. The Last Good Kiss.
Dashiel Hammet. The Maltese Falcon.
James Lee Burke. Black Cherry Blues.
Mine........when it gets written.

Bollocks to 1945


Nivver knew he wrote crime novels.
Detective novels are crime novels
 
They’ve got Agatha Christie in there ffs. She wrote detective novels not crime novels. Anyway if detective novels are included then:

Elmore Leonard. Swag.
Elmore Leonard. Pagan Babies.
Elmore Leonard. Bandits.
George V Higgins. The Friends Of Eddie Coyle.
Ross MacDonald. The Blue Hammer.
Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep.
James Crumley. The Last Good Kiss.
Dashiel Hammet. The Maltese Falcon.
James Lee Burke. Black Cherry Blues.
Mine........when it gets written.

Bollocks to 1945


Nivver knew he wrote crime novels.
What's the detectives doing if they're not solving crimes? Travel writing?
 
Be interested to know what the Japanese ones are. If it's Sixty Four, well, that novel was just abysmal.
 
I stupidly left it too late to sort books for holiday a few years ago and ended up buying this at the airport.

Not terrible by any means, but at best an average page turner. And I'm starting to think I'm actually being a bit kind.
Gone Girl is in there and I think that is dreadful. More twists than a bowl of spaghetti and not a single character you give a shit about. You don't have to like a character to care what happens to them but I would have been happy if the whole place had been bombed halfway through and the rest of the book was blank pages.
 
Gone Girl is in there and I think that is dreadful. More twists than a bowl of spaghetti and not a single character you give a shit about. You don't have to like a character to care what happens to them but I would have been happy if the whole place had been bombed halfway through and the rest of the book was blank pages.
Not read it but seen the film - ISTR there's an utterly ridiculous twist in the film about half-way through that is so diabolical it ruins the remainder, so that rings true.
 

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