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 — 1,598,505 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 342,179 ratings
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3

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4.20 avg rating — 725,194 ratings
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4

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4.51 avg rating — 216,358 ratings
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5

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4.12 avg rating — 303,814 ratings
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6

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4.13 avg rating — 385,877 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 — 714,797 ratings
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9

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3.87 avg rating — 115,038 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,710 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 126,564 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 167,803 ratings
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13

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3.59 avg rating — 46,177 ratings
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14

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4.14 avg rating — 393,897 ratings
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15

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4.27 avg rating — 70,035 ratings
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16

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4.15 avg rating — 1,013,347 ratings
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17

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3.98 avg rating — 87,794 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 198,562 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 577,701 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 233,941 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 725,247 ratings
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22

by
4.12 avg rating — 825,062 ratings
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23

by
3.89 avg rating — 38,449 ratings
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24

by
4.04 avg rating — 212,204 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 82,032 ratings
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26

by
3.56 avg rating — 104,273 ratings
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27

by
4.14 avg rating — 215,563 ratings
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28

by
4.08 avg rating — 349,722 ratings
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29

by
3.98 avg rating — 83,665 ratings
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30

by
3.73 avg rating — 51,945 ratings
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31

by
3.91 avg rating — 292,368 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 — 27,928 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,543 ratings
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36

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4.27 avg rating — 145,361 ratings
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37

by
3.99 avg rating — 52,344 ratings
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38

by
4.09 avg rating — 42,662 ratings
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39

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4.13 avg rating — 486,202 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 85,245 ratings
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41

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3.92 avg rating — 294,141 ratings
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42

by
3.97 avg rating — 75,885 ratings
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43

by
3.96 avg rating — 71,747 ratings
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44

by
4.03 avg rating — 255,196 ratings
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45

by
3.94 avg rating — 69,739 ratings
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46

by
4.03 avg rating — 51,804 ratings
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46

by
4.26 avg rating — 586,481 ratings
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48

by
4.20 avg rating — 195,095 ratings
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49

by
4.06 avg rating — 446,147 ratings
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50

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,863 ratings
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51

by
3.90 avg rating — 38,104 ratings
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52

by
4.21 avg rating — 169,021 ratings
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53

by
3.88 avg rating — 155,522 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 — 78,821 ratings
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55

by
3.87 avg rating — 33,540 ratings
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57

by
4.10 avg rating — 49,726 ratings
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57

by
4.09 avg rating — 125,765 ratings
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59

by
3.51 avg rating — 3,574 ratings
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60

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,105 ratings
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61

by
3.80 avg rating — 359,681 ratings
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62

by
4.04 avg rating — 25,292 ratings
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63

by
4.15 avg rating — 162,448 ratings
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64

by
3.95 avg rating — 115,926 ratings
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65

by
3.87 avg rating — 117,659 ratings
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66

by
3.86 avg rating — 191,642 ratings
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67

by
4.17 avg rating — 150,570 ratings
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68

by
4.18 avg rating — 136,106 ratings
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69

by
3.71 avg rating — 663,517 ratings
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70

by
3.85 avg rating — 57,327 ratings
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71

by
3.84 avg rating — 70,617 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 — 352,771 ratings
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75

by
3.96 avg rating — 55,149 ratings
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76

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4.07 avg rating — 80,181 ratings
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76

by
4.01 avg rating — 68,733 ratings
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78

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4.04 avg rating — 85,041 ratings
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79

by
4.29 avg rating — 41,903 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 — 203,617 ratings
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83

by
4.06 avg rating — 461,894 ratings
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84

by
4.04 avg rating — 69,751 ratings
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85

by
4.40 avg rating — 461,823 ratings
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85

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,536 ratings
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85

by
3.86 avg rating — 193,929 ratings
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88

by
4.23 avg rating — 108,981 ratings
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89

by
4.22 avg rating — 76,946 ratings
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90

by
3.80 avg rating — 16,768 ratings
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91

by
4.10 avg rating — 178,650 ratings
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92

by
3.98 avg rating — 104,879 ratings
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92

by
3.91 avg rating — 17,888 ratings
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94

by
4.19 avg rating — 31,993 ratings
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95

by
3.84 avg rating — 29,147 ratings
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95

by
3.96 avg rating — 44,325 ratings
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95

by
4.26 avg rating — 112,905 ratings
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98

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,408 ratings
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99

by
4.13 avg rating — 33,310 ratings
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100

by
3.89 avg rating — 60,476 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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