{"id":290051,"date":"2025-10-09T19:50:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290051\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T19:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:50:30","slug":"the-top-25-classic-murder-mystery-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290051\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 25 Classic Murder Mystery Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery<\/p>\n

\"Murder<\/a><\/p>\n

No classic murder mystery book list is complete without the queen herself, Agatha Christie. While there’s much debate over the best Agatha Christie <\/a>book<\/a> (here’s what Christie herself has to say on the matter<\/a>), Murder on the Orient Express is a classic\u2014and one of her best known\u2014for a reason. A murder takes place on a train one snowy night, and detective Hercule Poirot has to solve the mystery.<\/p>\n

Whose Body?<\/p>\n

\"Whose<\/a><\/p>\n

Dorothy L. Sayers’s debut novel, Whose Body?, was published in 1923, and introduced readers to Lord Peter Wimsey, a nobleman who investigates crimes on the side. Sayers is a deeply influential crime writer, and her books with Wimsey as a main character all feature him solving crimes during the interwar period. <\/p>\n

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The Honjin Murders (Detective Kindaichi Mysteries)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Classic murder mysteries aren’t just by British writers! First serialized in Japanese in 1948, but not translated into English until 2019, this classic Japanese crime novel is the first in a series that follows detective Kosuke Kindaichi, who solves locked-room mysteries. The first takes place at a rural village in Okamura, where newlyweds are killed with a samurai sword.<\/p>\n

The Conjure-Man Dies: A Harlem Mystery (Detective Club Crime Classics)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

This 1932 novel is believed to be the first detective novel published by a Black author. In The Conjure-Man Dies, the body of N’Gana Frimbo is discovered, and one of Harlem’s ten Black detectives, Perry Dart, is called to investigate. Rudolph Fisher, a Harlem Renaissance writer, would tragically die just two years later, but as the publisher notes, “Fisher\u2019s witty novel is a genuine crime classic from one of the most exciting eras in the history of Black fiction.” <\/p>\n

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The Red House Mystery<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

A.A. Milne, best known for his Winnie the Pooh books, authored this whodunnit set at an English country house. The Red House Mystery was his only detective novel, and had a twisty plot surrounding the murder of the host’s brother. <\/p>\n

A Study in Scarlet <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

In A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle introduces Sherlock Holmes<\/a> and John Watson\u2014and changes detective fiction forever. The first crime they solve is when an American tourist to London is killed in an empty house. <\/p>\n

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The Daughter of Time<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Josephine Tey’s 1951 novel features Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, who decides to investigate King Richard III and his alleged crimes. It’s an interesting, unique take on a murder mystery as it features a modern protagonist looking into historic crimes.<\/p>\n

The Moonstone (Collector’s Library Classics)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone was one of the first detective novels ever written, and is considered a precursor to the modern mystery novel. The plot begins when Lady Rachel Verinder’s uncle gives her the Moonstone, a diamond as large as an egg, for her 18th birthday. However, it’s not a generous gift\u2014it was acquired by nefarious means, and the Moonstone disappears the night of her party.<\/p>\n

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Hollow Man<\/p>\n

\"Hollow<\/a><\/p>\n

The classic locked room mystery, John Dickson Carr’s Hollow Man features murders committed with no possible answer. <\/p>\n

A Man Lay Dead: Inspector Roderick Alleyn #1<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Another Golden Age classic author is Ngaio Marsh, and this is the first of her novels to feature gentleman detective Roderick Alleyn. (She wrote 32 Alleyn novels!) A Man Lay Dead is the tale of a murder committed during a detective game of murder during a weekend party.<\/p>\n

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Devil in a Blue Dress (30th Anniversary Edition): An Easy Rawlins Novel <\/p>\n

\"Devil<\/a><\/p>\n

Classics don’t need to be centuries old: Walter Mosley, an American novelist best known for his crime work, began his Easy Rawlins series in 1990 with Devil in a Blue Dress, a mystery set in 1948 Los Angeles. Easy is a Black war veteran, and takes a job to find a missing woman, not knowing it’ll change his life forever.<\/p>\n

The Leavenworth Case (Penguin Classics)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Leavenworth Case was published nine years before the debut of Sherlock Holmes, and introduced the first American series detective: Ebenezer Gryce. The story begins with the shocking murder of wealthy New Yorker Horatio Leavenworth; his favorite niece, Mary, is set to inherit his fortune, and all of the evidence implicates her or her sister. But did they kill their uncle?<\/p>\n

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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The British Crime Writers Association voted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the “Best Crime Novel of all Time,” so another Hercule Poirot mystery from Christie was necessary to add. It’s a classic for a reason!<\/p>\n

The Maltese Falcon<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Sam Spade, a private detective, takes on a case where he inadvertently ends up with three criminals. No more spoilers, as this detective novel is better the less you know about the plot. And, after you read: turn on the 1941 film<\/a> stars Humphrey Bogard and Mary Astor.<\/p>\n

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The Decagon House Murders<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

This classic Japanese murder mystery by Yukito Ayatsuji\u2014who was a founding member of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan\u2014is a play on Christie’s And Then There Were None. In it, seven university students travel to a remote island, and events soon turn deadly. <\/p>\n

Malice Aforethought: The Story of a Commonplace Crime<\/p>\n

\"Malice<\/a><\/p>\n

The titular malice aforethought is a legal term that describes having the intent to kill or harm; this 1931 novel by Anthony Berkeley Cox (under the penname Francis Illes), reveals the murderer on page one\u2014making this more of a “howcatchem” or an inverted detective story.<\/p>\n

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The Tiger in the Smoke<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Margery Allingham’s The Tiger in the Smoke follows Meg Elginbrodde, a young war widow. Meg’s husband was presumed dead in D-Day, but she starts receiving photographs suggesting that he may be alive. Her cousin, detective Albert Campion, helps her figure out the truth. (It’s the 14th novel in Allingham’s Campion series.) <\/p>\n

The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Hercule Poirot isn’t Christie’s only famous detective: the elderly Miss Marple featured in many of her stories, beginning with The Murder at the Vicarage, where a local magistrate is found dead in the small village of St. Mary Mead.<\/p>\n

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The Big Sleep (A Philip Marlowe Novel)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Raymond Chandler’s 1939 detective novel features a dying millionaire, who hires Philip Marlowe to deal with a blackmailer who is threatening one of his daughters. As the publisher writes, “Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in…”<\/p>\n

The Talented Mr. Ripley<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley tells the story of Tom Ripley, who hopes to leave his past behind. It’s been adapted for the screen numerous times<\/a> (most recently on Netflix in 2024), and while it leans more crime novel than classic murder mystery, it’s still well worth your time. As Sarah Weinman writes, “The Talented Mr. Ripley is a standard-bearer, indelibly woven into the fabric of contemporary crime fiction.”<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Emily Burack (she\/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.<\/p>\n

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