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 — 1,598,303 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 342,134 ratings
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3

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4.20 avg rating — 725,114 ratings
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4

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4.51 avg rating — 216,354 ratings
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5

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4.12 avg rating — 303,789 ratings
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6

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4.13 avg rating — 385,849 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 — 714,721 ratings
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9

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3.87 avg rating — 115,033 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,662 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 126,550 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 167,796 ratings
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13

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3.59 avg rating — 46,175 ratings
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14

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4.14 avg rating — 393,887 ratings
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15

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4.27 avg rating — 70,030 ratings
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16

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4.15 avg rating — 1,013,149 ratings
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17

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3.98 avg rating — 87,787 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 198,544 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 577,694 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 233,935 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 725,205 ratings
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22

by
4.12 avg rating — 825,049 ratings
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23

by
3.89 avg rating — 38,445 ratings
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24

by
4.04 avg rating — 212,180 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 82,023 ratings
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26

by
3.56 avg rating — 104,262 ratings
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27

by
4.14 avg rating — 215,560 ratings
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28

by
4.08 avg rating — 349,702 ratings
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29

by
3.98 avg rating — 83,657 ratings
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30

by
3.73 avg rating — 51,944 ratings
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31

by
3.91 avg rating — 292,325 ratings
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32

by
3.81 avg rating — 275,331 ratings
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32

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3.74 avg rating — 7,730 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 27,928 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,542 ratings
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36

by
4.27 avg rating — 145,354 ratings
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37

by
3.99 avg rating — 52,338 ratings
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38

by
4.09 avg rating — 42,659 ratings
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39

by
4.13 avg rating — 486,177 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 85,231 ratings
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41

by
3.92 avg rating — 294,135 ratings
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42

by
3.97 avg rating — 75,879 ratings
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43

by
3.96 avg rating — 71,743 ratings
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44

by
4.03 avg rating — 255,190 ratings
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45

by
3.94 avg rating — 69,735 ratings
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46

by
4.03 avg rating — 51,803 ratings
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46

by
4.26 avg rating — 586,464 ratings
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48

by
4.20 avg rating — 195,090 ratings
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49

by
4.06 avg rating — 446,135 ratings
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50

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,858 ratings
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51

by
3.90 avg rating — 38,102 ratings
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52

by
4.21 avg rating — 169,016 ratings
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53

by
3.88 avg rating — 155,516 ratings
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54

by
4.03 avg rating — 21,360 ratings
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55

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 78,821 ratings
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55

by
3.87 avg rating — 33,539 ratings
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57

by
4.10 avg rating — 49,719 ratings
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57

by
4.09 avg rating — 125,761 ratings
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59

by
3.51 avg rating — 3,574 ratings
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60

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,100 ratings
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61

by
3.80 avg rating — 359,646 ratings
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62

by
4.04 avg rating — 25,292 ratings
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63

by
4.15 avg rating — 162,447 ratings
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64

by
3.95 avg rating — 115,914 ratings
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65

by
3.87 avg rating — 117,651 ratings
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66

by
3.86 avg rating — 191,635 ratings
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67

by
4.17 avg rating — 150,566 ratings
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68

by
4.18 avg rating — 136,102 ratings
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69

by
3.71 avg rating — 663,505 ratings
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70

by
3.85 avg rating — 57,322 ratings
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71

by
3.84 avg rating — 70,611 ratings
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72

by
3.94 avg rating — 55,622 ratings
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73

by
3.90 avg rating — 41,839 ratings
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74

by
4.01 avg rating — 352,763 ratings
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75

by
3.96 avg rating — 55,140 ratings
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76

by
4.07 avg rating — 80,178 ratings
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76

by
4.01 avg rating — 68,727 ratings
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78

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4.04 avg rating — 85,040 ratings
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79

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4.29 avg rating — 41,899 ratings
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80

by
3.78 avg rating — 2,448 ratings
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81

by
3.98 avg rating — 18,770 ratings
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82

by
4.13 avg rating — 203,612 ratings
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83

by
4.06 avg rating — 461,887 ratings
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84

by
4.04 avg rating — 69,749 ratings
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85

by
4.40 avg rating — 461,799 ratings
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85

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,536 ratings
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85

by
3.86 avg rating — 193,922 ratings
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88

by
4.23 avg rating — 108,977 ratings
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89

by
4.22 avg rating — 76,947 ratings
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90

by
3.80 avg rating — 16,764 ratings
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91

by
4.10 avg rating — 178,647 ratings
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92

by
3.98 avg rating — 104,752 ratings
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92

by
3.91 avg rating — 17,887 ratings
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94

by
4.19 avg rating — 31,992 ratings
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95

by
3.84 avg rating — 29,143 ratings
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95

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,324 ratings
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95

by
4.26 avg rating — 112,891 ratings
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98

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,407 ratings
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99

by
4.13 avg rating — 33,308 ratings
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100

by
3.89 avg rating — 60,473 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 5559 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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