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4.28 avg rating — 1,359,166 ratings
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3

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3.94 avg rating — 3,173,919 ratings
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4.13 avg rating — 3,096,036 ratings
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10

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4.12 avg rating — 195,228 ratings
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11

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4.06 avg rating — 624,889 ratings
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4.17 avg rating — 145,257 ratings
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13

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14

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3.95 avg rating — 155,596 ratings
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15

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4.06 avg rating — 173,228 ratings
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16

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4.05 avg rating — 551,431 ratings
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17

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3.79 avg rating — 400,385 ratings
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18

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3.88 avg rating — 107,141 ratings
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19

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4.06 avg rating — 333,739 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 115,739 ratings
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21

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4.11 avg rating — 801,585 ratings
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22

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3.92 avg rating — 270,675 ratings
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23

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3.83 avg rating — 581,764 ratings
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24

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3.98 avg rating — 313,278 ratings
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25

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4.39 avg rating — 249,901 ratings
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26

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 424,419 ratings
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27

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4.14 avg rating — 445,236 ratings
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28

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4.30 avg rating — 914,864 ratings
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29

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4.01 avg rating — 154,553 ratings
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30

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31

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3.86 avg rating — 184,524 ratings
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32

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4.04 avg rating — 469,521 ratings
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33

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4.10 avg rating — 339,135 ratings
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34

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4.21 avg rating — 236,022 ratings
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35

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4.20 avg rating — 179,789 ratings
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36

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4.20 avg rating — 623,657 ratings
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37

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4.05 avg rating — 429,090 ratings
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38

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3.89 avg rating — 1,480,521 ratings
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39

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4.08 avg rating — 319,126 ratings
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40

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4.27 avg rating — 905,910 ratings
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41

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3.80 avg rating — 265,680 ratings
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42

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4.27 avg rating — 134,338 ratings
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43

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4.22 avg rating — 100,945 ratings
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44

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4.13 avg rating — 192,936 ratings
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45

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3.81 avg rating — 265,325 ratings
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46

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3.91 avg rating — 93,201 ratings
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47

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48

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50

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3.94 avg rating — 91,192 ratings
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51

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52

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4.20 avg rating — 156,815 ratings
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53

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54

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4.06 avg rating — 94,683 ratings
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55

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4.16 avg rating — 200,729 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 432,335 ratings
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58

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4.13 avg rating — 346,358 ratings
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59

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4.13 avg rating — 458,924 ratings
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60

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3.82 avg rating — 18,977 ratings
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61

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3.77 avg rating — 91,130 ratings
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62

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4.13 avg rating — 198,296 ratings
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63

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3.91 avg rating — 35,315 ratings
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64

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4.35 avg rating — 205,491 ratings
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65

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4.10 avg rating — 161,965 ratings
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66

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3.81 avg rating — 107,589 ratings
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67

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 74,162 ratings
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68

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3.75 avg rating — 668,633 ratings
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69

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4.17 avg rating — 745,528 ratings
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70

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3.86 avg rating — 187,121 ratings
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71

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3.82 avg rating — 169,044 ratings
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72

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3.95 avg rating — 752,607 ratings
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73

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4.08 avg rating — 161,848 ratings
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74

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4.11 avg rating — 87,641 ratings
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3.98 avg rating — 78,168 ratings
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77

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4.15 avg rating — 9,229 ratings
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78

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4.10 avg rating — 85,429 ratings
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79

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3.97 avg rating — 540,528 ratings
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80

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4.06 avg rating — 26,247 ratings
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81

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3.81 avg rating — 314,720 ratings
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82

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3.84 avg rating — 56,172 ratings
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83

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4.06 avg rating — 100,537 ratings
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84

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4.11 avg rating — 64,049 ratings
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85

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3.98 avg rating — 351,792 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 74,839 ratings
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87

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3.94 avg rating — 17,572 ratings
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88

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4.60 avg rating — 13,056 ratings
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89

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4.06 avg rating — 4,390 ratings
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90

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4.06 avg rating — 146,029 ratings
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91

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4.04 avg rating — 55,742 ratings
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92

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3.96 avg rating — 23,600 ratings
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93

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3.86 avg rating — 23,267 ratings
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94

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3.91 avg rating — 70,120 ratings
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95

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4.14 avg rating — 17,260 ratings
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96

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3.87 avg rating — 27,056 ratings
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97

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4.20 avg rating — 733,099 ratings
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98

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3.95 avg rating — 51,720 ratings
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99

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3.89 avg rating — 582,290 ratings
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100

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4.26 avg rating — 6,133,508 ratings
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7,029 books · 15,707 voters · list created June 10th, 2008 by deleted user.
39 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


rivka 3119 books
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MBP 7219 books
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Laura 1260 books
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Otis 1546 books
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Ali 1371 books
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Koeeoaddi 2977 books
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Julie 4193 books
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Cindy 10113 books
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 154 (154 new)


message 1: by Andrew (new)

Andrew Hecht An interesting list, but really notable for it's absences. Henning Mankell doesn't make an appearance until #412 (as of Oct 17th, 2008), but his fellow Scandinavians, Indriadson, Nesser, Fossum, Ericksson, et. al. don't make an appearance at all. It's safe to say that, for one example, every of Nesser's books is superior to John MacDonald, just to name one author. I'd say he's better than Chandler, Christie, Stout, Hammett and many others. Also, the fact that anything by Dan Brown is listed as number 2 is just disturbing to me.


message 2: by Beth (new)

Beth Can't find alot of Caleb Carr or Kathy Reichs


message 3: by Harlequin (new)

Harlequin Historical I read a few Crime and Mystery books but not enough to be a good judge on who writes the best. I would end up voting for Christie, Poe or Koontz just because I recognize their name and have read some of the books, not because I truly knew they were the best.


message 4: by Catherine (last edited Jan 15, 2009 03:19PM) (new)

Catherine Chillwater Cove by Thomas Lakeman Chillwater Cove Lakeman has the pacing of Dan Brown, but with literary chops as well! I believe I have stumbled upon the next James Lee Burke. I look forward to reading Lakeman's next novel in this series, BROKEN WING.


message 5: by Mohammed (new)

Mohammed  Abdikhader  Firdhiye Andrew : Mankell might be good but Chandler is one of the most literary talented american writers of the last century. To compare him is too much imo....

John D. Macdonald is great too.

You must hate Hardboiled fiction....


message 6: by Ikra (new)

Ikra Amesta I like Motherless Brooklyn, so funny and entertaining!


message 7: by Marty (last edited Nov 25, 2009 11:54AM) (new)

Marty This is a great list, but there are some pretty stark omissions, IMO. First, nothing by Ross Thomas? Really? Could he have been forgotten already? He was one of the best satirical/political mystery writers ever. And the list is a bit skimpy on the the Donald Westlake/Richard Stark oeuvre. I would put his relatively recent book The Ax, about a downsized chemist who conspires to kill all of his potential rivals in the job market, in the top 5 best all-time mystery books. Also, many of James Lee Burke's excellent early books did not make the list. Surely anything he has written outshines most of what passes for good mystery writing these days. He's at least as good as, say, Dennis Lehane (who I also love.) Also Michael Dibdin deserves much more of a presence. Finally, where's Robert Wilson? He's written at least three really excellent mystery novels this decade.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Why don't you add them? The form is at the right hand side of the page.


message 9: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn In Cold Blood and Fatal Vision are both TRUE CRIME non-fiction works.....IF we put True Crime on this list, then clearly Anne Rule and Doc Olsen should listed.


message 10: by Marty (new)

Marty Susanna wrote: "Why don't you add them? The form is at the right hand side of the page."

Thanks - I will.


message 11: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Mc I cannot find anything by Harlan Coben on this list, maybe I did not look far enough, but he is too good of a suspense writer NOT to be included


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Why don't you add him?


message 13: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I'm not an Isaac Asimov reader, but isn't he sci-fi rather than crime/mystery?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Isaac Asimov wrote several novel-length mysteries (albeit often ones with a science fiction setting): The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and Murder at the ABA, are the ones I can think of. From what I recall of reading my grandfather's Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines while I was growing up, he was a pretty frequent contributor. I remember the "Black Widower" stories in particular.


message 15: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Did not know that.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads He was pretty prolific, Asimov, and wrote in a number of genres.


message 17: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Lobstergirl wrote: "Did not know that."

Susanna wrote: "Isaac Asimov wrote several novel-length mysteries (albeit often ones with a science fiction setting): The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and [book:Murder at the ABA|470356..."

Murder at the ABA is a readable non-SF mystery....If I remember rightly, ABA is the American BOOKSELLERS Assoc.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It's been years since I've read it, but I think you're right, Thom.


message 19: by [deleted user] (last edited Oct 13, 2010 05:18PM) (new)

Thom wrote: "In Cold Blood and Fatal Vision are both TRUE CRIME non-fiction works.....IF we put True Crime on this list, then clearly Anne Rule and Doc Olsen should listed."

I found In Cold Blood but not any by Ann Rule and was wondering. There is nothing so terrifying as The Stranger Beside Me!..... and it took them so long to catch him!


message 20: by [deleted user] (new)

I went to 781 or so and NEVER found Ann Rule! Did overlook her? She should be number ONE!


message 21: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn As wrote: "I went to 781 or so and NEVER found Ann Rule! Did overlook her? She should be number ONE!"

Ann Rule is probably listed under TRUE CRIME


message 22: by [deleted user] (new)

Think I created a list like that last night but will double check in case I duplicated lists.

falling asleep,
Alice


message 23: by [deleted user] (new)

Yes, I did a dup list. How can I delete it?


message 24: by Flashdawg (new)

Flashdawg totally cool book, THO


message 25: by Doug (new)

Doug Where in the world is John Sandford? He is arguably among the top five active American mystery writers.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You could vote for him.


message 27: by John (new)

John Really sad that Crime and Punishment is hundreds of spaces below Dan Brown. And what the hell is Interview with the Vampire doing here?


message 28: by Luis (new)

Luis Gutierrez-Poucel I am a little surprised that (1) Robert B. Parker's Looking for Rachel Wallace, Mortal Stakes, Small Vices, etc. and (2) Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, or The Janson Directive... are not here.
Well, I'll vote for them!


message 29: by Doug (new)

Doug I agree with Luis, Robert B. Parker belongs on the list on the basis of his great body of work.


message 30: by Louie (new)

Louie bergman haha..never thought interview with the vampire was a book.LOL.i recommend you guys to read list of 7 by mark frost,,,,best book i've ever read...better than the lost symbol,though it's also satisfactory.:))


message 31: by Bob (new)

Bob M. Doug wrote: "Where in the world is John Sandford? He is arguably among the top five active American mystery writers."

Agreed. His 'Prey' series with Davenport is excellent.


message 33: by Claudia (new)

Claudia Mcgarry Great debut novel. Could hardly put it down.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You add books to the list up at the top, next to "all votes."


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You add books to the list up at the top, next to "all votes."


message 37: by Senordaffy (new)

Senordaffy Andrew wrote: "An interesting list, but really notable for it's absences. Henning Mankell doesn't make an appearance until #412 (as of Oct 17th, 2008), but his fellow Scandinavians, Indriadson, Nesser, Fossum, Er..."


message 38: by Senordaffy (new)

Senordaffy to andrew:
will try more scandinavians. list is not by quality
of writing, obviously. where are martha grimes, len
deighton, le carre, steinhauer, and many others ?
agree with dan brown observation. so illiterate that he used 'from vinci' rather than leonardo in his title, as in 'the from vinci code'. not even a writer. popular only because his 'sacred feminine' gimmick appealed to u.s. women's vanity.
larsson not so good, either. pubishing these days
is getting to be like a hollywood insider called the
movie business - 'all hype'.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Senordaffy wrote: "where are martha grimes, len
deighton, le carre, steinhauer, and many others ?"



You could try voting for them.


message 40: by [deleted user] (new)

Im normally into historic fiction


message 41: by Abbey (new)

Abbey I'd love to have a list with just the title/author for all of 'em - yeah, I'm quite mad, but I love lists! (and mysteries...) Anybody know how I might arrange for that? The only way I've thought of is extremely cumbersome - going through, one-by-one and adding them to a new shelf! ick. Please, please tell me that *somewhere* there's an actual list (no covers or blurbs, etc.) just the titles and authors???


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You can add books to the list at the top of the page, next to where it says "all votes."


message 43: by Lane (new)

Lane Abbey wrote: "I'd love to have a list with just the title/author for all of 'em - yeah, I'm quite mad, but I love lists! (and mysteries...) Anybody know how I might arrange for that? The only way I've thought o..."

I would like a downloadable list of this kind as well. and/or the ability to "select all" of the books and add them to a category like "For consideration."


message 45: by Kim (new)

Kim Horner I managed to get a quarter of the way through this list before deciding it was a) too long and b) incoherent. Why is Diary of Anne Frank on here? Or Lolita? For a list to be meaningful, its entries should conform to the definition. Since the list was created by a "deleted user," has it gone feral?


message 46: by Aini (new)

Aini This is my favourite genre! My favourites are The Three Investigators (because they introduced me to the genre) and Agatha Christie because her use of psychology and human nature to solve mysteries.


message 47: by Yehia (new)

Yehia Shehata So I was thinking of reading either is Dark materials or The Millennium trilogy. I already read materials 1 & 2, and Millennium 1. Any recommendations?


message 48: by Mr. Twinkie (new)

Mr. Twinkie This list is laughable. It is full of books that shouldn't be there and books that are basically horrible written.


message 49: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix The "only vote for the first volume of a series" instruction wasn't originally on this list. I believe it is wrong to change it now and start deleting books.

Furthermore, especially in mystery series, the books are often stand alone, even if they are part of a series. It makes perfect sense, therefore, to vote for each volume separately.


message 50: by Mike (new)

Mike Anyone know of a mystery series set in Germany, preferably Frankfurt, that they can recommend?


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