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 — 1,598,396 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 342,156 ratings
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3

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4.20 avg rating — 725,151 ratings
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4

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4.51 avg rating — 216,356 ratings
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5

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4.12 avg rating — 303,801 ratings
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6

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4.13 avg rating — 385,859 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 — 714,767 ratings
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9

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3.87 avg rating — 115,037 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,686 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 126,557 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 167,802 ratings
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13

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3.59 avg rating — 46,176 ratings
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14

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4.14 avg rating — 393,894 ratings
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15

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4.27 avg rating — 70,031 ratings
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16

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4.15 avg rating — 1,013,244 ratings
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17

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3.98 avg rating — 87,790 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 198,555 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 577,699 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 233,936 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 725,223 ratings
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22

by
4.12 avg rating — 825,055 ratings
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23

by
3.89 avg rating — 38,448 ratings
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24

by
4.04 avg rating — 212,191 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 82,028 ratings
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26

by
3.56 avg rating — 104,264 ratings
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27

by
4.14 avg rating — 215,562 ratings
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28

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4.08 avg rating — 349,711 ratings
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29

by
3.98 avg rating — 83,662 ratings
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30

by
3.73 avg rating — 51,945 ratings
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31

by
3.91 avg rating — 292,345 ratings
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32

by
3.81 avg rating — 275,333 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 — 27,927 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,544 ratings
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36

by
4.27 avg rating — 145,357 ratings
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37

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3.99 avg rating — 52,342 ratings
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38

by
4.09 avg rating — 42,661 ratings
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39

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4.13 avg rating — 486,189 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 85,238 ratings
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41

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3.92 avg rating — 294,136 ratings
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42

by
3.97 avg rating — 75,883 ratings
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43

by
3.96 avg rating — 71,744 ratings
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44

by
4.03 avg rating — 255,192 ratings
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45

by
3.94 avg rating — 69,737 ratings
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46

by
4.03 avg rating — 51,803 ratings
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46

by
4.26 avg rating — 586,473 ratings
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48

by
4.20 avg rating — 195,092 ratings
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49

by
4.06 avg rating — 446,141 ratings
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50

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,859 ratings
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51

by
3.90 avg rating — 38,103 ratings
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52

by
4.21 avg rating — 169,018 ratings
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53

by
3.88 avg rating — 155,518 ratings
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54

by
4.03 avg rating — 21,363 ratings
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55

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 78,822 ratings
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55

by
3.87 avg rating — 33,540 ratings
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57

by
4.10 avg rating — 49,724 ratings
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57

by
4.09 avg rating — 125,763 ratings
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59

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3.51 avg rating — 3,574 ratings
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60

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,103 ratings
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61

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3.80 avg rating — 359,660 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

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3.95 avg rating — 115,920 ratings
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65

by
3.87 avg rating — 117,655 ratings
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66

by
3.86 avg rating — 191,638 ratings
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67

by
4.17 avg rating — 150,568 ratings
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68

by
4.18 avg rating — 136,104 ratings
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69

by
3.71 avg rating — 663,510 ratings
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70

by
3.85 avg rating — 57,323 ratings
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71

by
3.84 avg rating — 70,616 ratings
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72

by
3.94 avg rating — 55,623 ratings
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73

by
3.90 avg rating — 41,840 ratings
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74

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4.01 avg rating — 352,766 ratings
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75

by
3.96 avg rating — 55,143 ratings
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76

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4.07 avg rating — 80,180 ratings
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76

by
4.01 avg rating — 68,730 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 — 41,901 ratings
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80

by
3.78 avg rating — 2,448 ratings
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81

by
3.98 avg rating — 18,772 ratings
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82

by
4.13 avg rating — 203,613 ratings
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83

by
4.06 avg rating — 461,890 ratings
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84

by
4.04 avg rating — 69,751 ratings
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85

by
4.40 avg rating — 461,812 ratings
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85

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,536 ratings
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85

by
3.86 avg rating — 193,926 ratings
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88

by
4.23 avg rating — 108,981 ratings
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89

by
4.22 avg rating — 76,947 ratings
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90

by
3.80 avg rating — 16,765 ratings
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91

by
4.10 avg rating — 178,650 ratings
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92

by
3.98 avg rating — 104,835 ratings
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92

by
3.91 avg rating — 17,888 ratings
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94

by
4.19 avg rating — 31,992 ratings
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95

by
3.84 avg rating — 29,146 ratings
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95

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,325 ratings
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95

by
4.26 avg rating — 112,897 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 — 33,309 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 11519 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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