Looking for mysteries first published between Jan 1st 1900 and Dec 31st 1999.

Only add books with at least 1000 ratings. Books with less than 1000 ratings or published before Jan 1st 1999 or after Dec 31st 1999 can be removed without comment.

For purposes of this list it doesn't matter if the book is a cozy mystery or a crime mystery or a historical mystery or a literary mystery or a general mystery. When in doubt, check the shelves for the book - if it is shelved more than a 100 times as mystery and you want to, put it on this list.

See also:
100 Mysteries and Thrillers to Read in a Lifetime Readers Picks
Best Mysteries of the 21st Century
Best Mysteries of the 20th Century
Popular Highly Rated Mystery

Best Mysteries by Subgenre
Best Cozy Mystery Series
Best Crime Mystery Books
Best Historical Mystery
Best Literary Mysteries
Best Thrillers

Edgar Awards:
Edgar Award Winners
Edgar Award Winners for Best First Novel
Edgar Award Winners for Fact Crime
Edgar Award Winners for Best Young Adult Fiction

Best Mysteries By Decade
1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020

Best Mysteries By Ratings
100,000 or more
50,000 to 99,999
25,000 to 49,999
10,000 to 24,999
1

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4.27 avg rating — 1,598,142 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 342,088 ratings
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3

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4.20 avg rating — 725,023 ratings
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4

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4.51 avg rating — 216,343 ratings
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5

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4.12 avg rating — 303,751 ratings
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6

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4.13 avg rating — 385,813 ratings
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7

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4.88 avg rating — 188 ratings
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8

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4.25 avg rating — 714,669 ratings
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9

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3.87 avg rating — 115,024 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,600 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 126,531 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 167,792 ratings
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13

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3.59 avg rating — 46,173 ratings
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14

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4.14 avg rating — 393,871 ratings
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15

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4.27 avg rating — 70,026 ratings
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16

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4.15 avg rating — 1,012,990 ratings
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17

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3.98 avg rating — 87,778 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 198,515 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 577,680 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 233,925 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 725,158 ratings
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22

by
4.12 avg rating — 825,035 ratings
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23

by
3.89 avg rating — 38,441 ratings
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24

by
4.04 avg rating — 212,157 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 82,015 ratings
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26

by
3.56 avg rating — 104,247 ratings
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27

by
4.14 avg rating — 215,555 ratings
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28

by
4.08 avg rating — 349,681 ratings
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29

by
3.98 avg rating — 83,656 ratings
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30

by
3.73 avg rating — 51,938 ratings
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31

by
3.91 avg rating — 292,296 ratings
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32

by
3.81 avg rating — 275,328 ratings
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32

by
3.74 avg rating — 7,729 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 27,925 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,543 ratings
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36

by
4.27 avg rating — 145,348 ratings
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37

by
3.99 avg rating — 52,330 ratings
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38

by
4.09 avg rating — 42,657 ratings
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39

by
4.13 avg rating — 486,154 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 85,217 ratings
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41

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3.92 avg rating — 294,128 ratings
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42

by
3.97 avg rating — 75,867 ratings
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43

by
3.96 avg rating — 71,738 ratings
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44

by
4.03 avg rating — 255,180 ratings
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45

by
3.94 avg rating — 69,724 ratings
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46

by
4.03 avg rating — 51,802 ratings
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46

by
4.26 avg rating — 586,445 ratings
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48

by
4.20 avg rating — 195,081 ratings
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49

by
4.06 avg rating — 446,128 ratings
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50

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,858 ratings
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51

by
3.90 avg rating — 38,100 ratings
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52

by
4.21 avg rating — 169,006 ratings
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53

by
3.88 avg rating — 155,513 ratings
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54

by
4.03 avg rating — 21,358 ratings
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55

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 78,820 ratings
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55

by
3.87 avg rating — 33,537 ratings
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57

by
4.10 avg rating — 49,714 ratings
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57

by
4.09 avg rating — 125,760 ratings
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59

by
3.51 avg rating — 3,574 ratings
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60

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,099 ratings
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61

by
3.80 avg rating — 359,620 ratings
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62

by
4.04 avg rating — 25,290 ratings
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63

by
4.15 avg rating — 162,441 ratings
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64

by
3.95 avg rating — 115,889 ratings
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65

by
3.87 avg rating — 117,634 ratings
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66

by
3.86 avg rating — 191,632 ratings
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67

by
4.17 avg rating — 150,561 ratings
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68

by
4.18 avg rating — 136,097 ratings
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69

by
3.71 avg rating — 663,496 ratings
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70

by
3.85 avg rating — 57,314 ratings
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71

by
3.84 avg rating — 70,605 ratings
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72

by
3.94 avg rating — 55,619 ratings
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73

by
3.90 avg rating — 41,837 ratings
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74

by
4.01 avg rating — 352,757 ratings
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75

by
3.96 avg rating — 55,130 ratings
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76

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4.07 avg rating — 80,172 ratings
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76

by
4.01 avg rating — 68,725 ratings
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78

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4.04 avg rating — 85,034 ratings
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79

by
4.29 avg rating — 41,894 ratings
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80

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3.78 avg rating — 2,448 ratings
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81

by
3.98 avg rating — 18,769 ratings
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82

by
4.13 avg rating — 203,609 ratings
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83

by
4.06 avg rating — 461,881 ratings
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84

by
4.04 avg rating — 69,749 ratings
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85

by
4.40 avg rating — 461,776 ratings
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85

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,536 ratings
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85

by
3.86 avg rating — 193,918 ratings
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88

by
4.23 avg rating — 108,964 ratings
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89

by
4.22 avg rating — 76,946 ratings
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90

by
3.80 avg rating — 16,762 ratings
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91

by
4.10 avg rating — 178,639 ratings
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92

by
3.98 avg rating — 104,620 ratings
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92

by
3.91 avg rating — 17,886 ratings
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94

by
4.19 avg rating — 31,989 ratings
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95

by
3.84 avg rating — 29,142 ratings
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95

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,324 ratings
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95

by
4.26 avg rating — 112,880 ratings
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98

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,406 ratings
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99

by
4.13 avg rating — 33,308 ratings
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100

by
3.89 avg rating — 60,472 ratings
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171 books · 82 voters · list created December 23rd, 2019 by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .
31 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mitchell 11518 books
168 friends
Phillip 5179 books
139 friends
nellie evelina 983 books
81 friends
RetroHound 474 books
2 friends
Maria 1651 books
665 friends
Judy 5555 books
406 friends
Saturday's 2248 books
67 friends
Gabrielle 1475 books
20 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by [deleted user] (new)

TheRemorseful Day/Colin Dexter
Arists in Crime/Ngaio Marsh
Tana French/Faithful Place
Thursday's Child / Nicci French


message 2: by Stella (new)

Stella Wright Hell At The Breech by Tom Franklin should not appear on this list as it was published in 2003.


message 3: by Stella (new)

Stella Wright Rebecca Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier appears twice - 14 and 45 !!


message 4: by Stella (new)

Stella Wright The Lady Who Stole Christmas, (Rakes on the Run #0.5) by Sydney Jane Baily should not be on this list as it was published in 2020.


message 5: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Stella wrote: "The Lady Who Stole Christmas, (Rakes on the Run #0.5) by Sydney Jane Baily should not be on this list as it was published in 2020."

thanks for the call outs. this book and hell at the breech have been removed. and duplicates should be cleared


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