In this article, we look at some of the best crime stories. The Telegraph, The Guardian, and Goodreads are some of the most well-known websites that we looked at to make our list. All time, these are the best crime books. They aren't ranked in any way.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Who can stop Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from taking on one of the most unusual cases they have ever taken on? A legendary hound is said to haunt the Baskerville family, so they ask Holmes and Watson to protect Sir Charles Baskerville's only son. When they go out on the moors near the Baskerville mansion, they come across a terrifying evil.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

When Agatha Christie wrote the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, she became a best-selling author of whodunits that people liked. Widow Roger Ackroyd had a secret affair with rich Roger Ackroyd. She killed herself because she didn't want to tell anyone. Poirot is called in to solve the case when Ackroyd is found dead in his locked study. This is how it works: And he has a lot of people who are guilty of crimes all over the place.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

When The Godfather was made, the Corleones were the first mafia family in the United States. It tells the story of their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. Every decision is made because of the family's allegiance as well as greed and power, which make them want to make more money and be more powerful. This book is an epic story of crime and betrayal. It reveals the dark side of the mafia's violent subculture and puts the reader right in the middle of it all.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

It's not clear why Harriet Vanger, the daughter of a wealthy Swedish family, has gone missing. For forty years later, her uncle hires Michael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander to find out the truth. An investigative reporter and hacker genius, Salander, 24, find a line of wickedness that runs through the Vanger family and an amazing amount of corruption in Swedish industrialism while investigating the Vanger family and their business.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

As soon as the young lady's maid sees Maxim de Winter and falls in love with him, he takes her home to his huge country estate. It is at the estate that she realizes how much his late wife still has a role in the way things work at the house. She is a bad person who is still around and wants to ruin the couple's new marriage from the other side of the grave.

The Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold

Susie Salmon, the teenage victim of a gruesome murder, talks about what happened the day she was killed, but she's in heaven watching her family deal with not knowing what happened to her. It's a tense book because what the readers know, the family doesn't, which makes it even more gripping to read.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Big Sleep is the first book in the Philip Marlowe series. It introduces Marlowe, a private eye who is also an educated, heroic, streetwise, rugged individualist who is the archetype of the hard-boiled detective. To deal with the person who blackmailed General Sternwood's young daughter, Marlowe is hired by him. This is just the tip of the iceberg that Marlowe found while he was looking into the case.

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

Introduces two people on the same train: Guy Haines, an architect who is going through a divorce, and Charles Anthony Bruno, a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into killing people with him. There should also be a death sentence for Haines' wife. Bruno wants his father to die. People like your wife and my father are better off dead, he says.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Brother William is called in to look into the monks of a wealthy Italian abbey who are thought to be heretics. Seven strange deaths happen, and Brother William starts to look into a murder. "The most interesting things happen at night."

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

First in the Hannibal Lecter series, Red Dragon introduces Will Graham, the best FBI profiler ever. He still has physical and mental scars from capturing Hannibal Lecter, which forced him to retire early. This book is called Red Dragon. He comes out of retirement to help the FBI find the serial killer of the Tooth Fairy. He turns to Hannibal Lector for help, and Lector helps him.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

One of three young friends died twenty-five years ago. Now, the boys are men. Sean is a homicide detective, Jimmy is a former convict who owns a corner store, and Dave is trying to keep his marriage together and keep his demons from getting the better of him. Sean is in charge of the investigation when Jimmy's daughter is killed. Jimmy wants to go back to his old ways in order to solve the case. Dave comes home with blood all over him the night Jimmy's daughter died.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

It was Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary when Amy, the beautiful and perfect wife, went away, and Nick was very sad. Nick, who is good at being a husband of the year, is now skittish. It turns out that no one you thought you knew about Amy's disappearance is who they say they are. Is someone, in fact, a killer?

Killing Floor by Lee Child

Too good to pass up: The Goodreads description is too good to pass up.

"He used to work for the military police, but now Jack Reacher is a drifter. This happened in less than an hour when he was just passing through Margrave, Georgia. He was charged with murder in less than an hour. Welcome: Not so much. Jack knows that he didn't kill anyone. At least not right now. Not in a while. That's not going to happen. There is not a Margrave, Georgia, in this case. Not a chance."

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Walter Hartright comes across a mysterious woman dressed in white on a moonlit London street. He gets caught up in the sinister plans of Sir Percival Glyde and his "charming" friend, Count Fosco. During the show, the Woman In White asks about identity and insanity. It shows up in the hallways of English country homes and the madhouse.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The best crime book list can't have any Agatha Christie books on it. We couldn't do it. An eccentric millionaire has asked ten strangers to come to a private island off the coast of Devon. They don't know each other. One by one, they are all killed, but who could be the killer?

What Do All of These Books Have In Common?

They all hold you in. The writing keeps you reading as you try to figure out who did it or wait for the bad guy to get punished.

People who write good stories have good plots, but it's not always easy to figure out why writing is good.

It's more than just spelling and grammar. Think about the books you didn't like. A lot of them were hard to read because they used vague or overly complex language, sticky sentences, a lot of slow-moving parts, and many other mistakes that can cause someone to give up on a book.

If you want to connect with your readers, ProWritingAid's 25 writing reports will help you improve in every area. You'll get scores for each report, which will help you figure out where to spend your time. When you're ready to make changes, ProWritingAid's suggestions in the text will help you make quick changes that have a big impact on your writing.

You can even compare your writing to that of other authors in your genre on things like dialogue tags, sentence lengths, and more:

Everything you need to know about good writing is in one place with ProWritingAid. It has actionable reports and real-time editing progress tracking, as well as author comparisons and detailed writing guides.

To find an editing tool that's made for people who write, look no further.

Back to the list.

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

He is Carolyn Polhemus's chief deputy prosecuting attorney, and he is in charge of the Carolyn Polhemus's murder case. As soon as a new prosecuting attorney is elected, he finds out that Rusty and Carolyn were having an affair. Rusty is charged with murder and faces a long court battle.

During the journey, Presumed Innocent finds out about corruption, deceit, depravity, incompetence, and more.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré

Le Carré used his time working for British Intelligence to write a book about a British agent who wants to retire, but takes on one last assignment. He wants to come out of the cold for good. Instead, he is sent to bring down East German Intelligence and bring down its head.

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

There was a triple murder at a Moscow amusement park. The bodies were frozen in the snow and had their faces and fingers missing. For Arkady Renko to find out what happened and who did it, he has to take on the KGB, FBI and New York police.

Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indrioason

Inspector Erlendur has to look into a skeleton that was found half-buried in a construction site outside of Reykjavik. He gets caught up in a crime scene and an archaeological dig. With each bone they find, Erlendur learns more and more about the family who lived nearby. No, this skeleton was not a person. He or she was either a victim or a killer.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

A drifter walks into a truck stop looking for food or work and meets his soulmate, the wife of the owner of a cafe. They start having an affair that is cruel and careless, which leads to a plan to kill her husband. "The Postman Always Rings Twice" moves away from pulp noir because of what happens to the couple when they keep their word to each other.

---