Best Crime Books

What is loudly heralded as the final case for Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus sees Ian Rankin returning to the form that established his name as one of Britain’s keenest crime writers back in the mid-1990s. Although the most recent outings lacked the vigour and richness that elevated the series’ undoubted highlight, Black and Blue, [...]

[Read more →]

In 1995 the Mystery Writers of America complied their ‘Top 100 Mysteries of All Time’, compiled by their ‘active members’. It contains a few surprises, including Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent at number 5, Rumpole of the Bailey by John Mortimer at 26 and the Swedish modern classic The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per [...]

[Read more →]

In 1987, HRF (Henry Raymond Fitzwarren) Keating (1926- ) compiled his list of the ’100 Best Crime & Mystery Books’ for the London Times, for whom he reviewed crime fiction for 15 years. 1845: Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1868: Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone 1870: Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood [...]

[Read more →]

Julian Gustave Symons (1912-1994) was a British writer and critic, best known for his crime fiction. In 1958 he completed a list of the 100 Best Crime Stories for the London ‘Sunday Times’ newspaper. Here it is: 1794: William Godwin, Caleb Williams 1845: Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1860: Wilkie Collins, The [...]

[Read more →]

Death Message Mark Billingham, Little Brown The latest outing for overworked London Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, kicks off when our very likeable hero receives a grisly, blurred photograph via his cellphone. It shows what looks very much to the DI (who’s become something of an expert in such matters) like a dead man. But there’s [...]

[Read more →]