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 — 1,649,597 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 357,187 ratings
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3

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4.20 avg rating — 746,254 ratings
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4

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4.12 avg rating — 312,267 ratings
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5

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4.51 avg rating — 218,183 ratings
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6

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4.14 avg rating — 393,674 ratings
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7

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4.78 avg rating — 193 ratings
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8

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4.25 avg rating — 736,519 ratings
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9

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3.86 avg rating — 116,847 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 517,857 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 131,052 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 170,385 ratings
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13

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3.59 avg rating — 47,210 ratings
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14

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4.03 avg rating — 206,388 ratings
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15

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4.14 avg rating — 399,389 ratings
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16

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4.27 avg rating — 71,487 ratings
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17

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4.15 avg rating — 1,062,148 ratings
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18

by
3.98 avg rating — 90,056 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 581,248 ratings
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19

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3.99 avg rating — 237,416 ratings
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21

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4.09 avg rating — 739,465 ratings
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22

by
4.12 avg rating — 829,190 ratings
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23

by
3.89 avg rating — 39,426 ratings
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24

by
4.04 avg rating — 217,485 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 85,324 ratings
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26

by
3.56 avg rating — 106,781 ratings
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27

by
4.14 avg rating — 218,504 ratings
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28

by
4.08 avg rating — 354,783 ratings
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29

by
3.97 avg rating — 85,026 ratings
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30

by
3.73 avg rating — 52,781 ratings
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31

by
3.91 avg rating — 303,639 ratings
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32

by
3.81 avg rating — 277,238 ratings
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32

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3.74 avg rating — 7,831 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 28,556 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 88,534 ratings
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36

by
4.27 avg rating — 147,217 ratings
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37

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 53,783 ratings
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38

by
4.09 avg rating — 43,373 ratings
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39

by
4.13 avg rating — 492,698 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 87,743 ratings
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41

by
3.87 avg rating — 122,104 ratings
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42

by
3.92 avg rating — 298,489 ratings
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43

by
3.97 avg rating — 77,872 ratings
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44

by
3.96 avg rating — 74,133 ratings
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45

by
4.03 avg rating — 261,603 ratings
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46

by
3.94 avg rating — 71,661 ratings
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47

by
4.03 avg rating — 52,476 ratings
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47

by
4.26 avg rating — 592,835 ratings
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49

by
4.20 avg rating — 197,105 ratings
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50

by
4.06 avg rating — 449,363 ratings
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51

by
3.96 avg rating — 45,599 ratings
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52

by
3.89 avg rating — 38,765 ratings
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53

by
4.22 avg rating — 171,348 ratings
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54

by
3.88 avg rating — 156,441 ratings
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55

by
4.03 avg rating — 21,663 ratings
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56

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 79,716 ratings
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56

by
3.87 avg rating — 33,892 ratings
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58

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4.10 avg rating — 50,886 ratings
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58

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4.09 avg rating — 127,082 ratings
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60

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3.50 avg rating — 3,612 ratings
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61

by
4.06 avg rating — 182,434 ratings
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62

by
3.80 avg rating — 369,623 ratings
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63

by
4.04 avg rating — 25,890 ratings
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64

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4.15 avg rating — 163,919 ratings
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65

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3.95 avg rating — 121,499 ratings
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66

by
3.86 avg rating — 192,973 ratings
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67

by
4.17 avg rating — 151,957 ratings
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68

by
4.18 avg rating — 137,572 ratings
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69

by
3.96 avg rating — 45,007 ratings
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70

by
3.71 avg rating — 668,392 ratings
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71

by
3.85 avg rating — 59,403 ratings
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72

by
3.84 avg rating — 72,296 ratings
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73

by
3.94 avg rating — 56,489 ratings
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74

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3.90 avg rating — 42,495 ratings
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75

by
4.01 avg rating — 355,995 ratings
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76

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3.96 avg rating — 56,451 ratings
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77

by
4.07 avg rating — 81,627 ratings
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77

by
4.01 avg rating — 70,916 ratings
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79

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,366 ratings
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80

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4.29 avg rating — 42,475 ratings
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81

by
3.78 avg rating — 2,469 ratings
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82

by
3.98 avg rating — 19,181 ratings
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83

by
4.13 avg rating — 205,694 ratings
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84

by
4.06 avg rating — 464,882 ratings
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85

by
4.04 avg rating — 70,257 ratings
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86

by
4.40 avg rating — 469,381 ratings
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86

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,657 ratings
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86

by
3.86 avg rating — 195,422 ratings
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89

by
4.23 avg rating — 110,511 ratings
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90

by
4.22 avg rating — 78,291 ratings
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91

by
3.79 avg rating — 17,110 ratings
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92

by
4.10 avg rating — 180,369 ratings
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93

by
3.98 avg rating — 110,754 ratings
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93

by
3.91 avg rating — 18,128 ratings
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95

by
4.19 avg rating — 32,532 ratings
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96

by
3.84 avg rating — 29,721 ratings
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96

by
4.26 avg rating — 117,159 ratings
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98

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,789 ratings
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99

by
4.13 avg rating — 33,819 ratings
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100

by
3.89 avg rating — 61,348 ratings
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171 books · 84 voters · list created December 23rd, 2019 by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .
31 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mitchell 11075 books
172 friends
Phillip 5248 books
138 friends
nellie evelina 1004 books
80 friends
RetroHound 488 books
2 friends
Maria 1696 books
657 friends
Judy 5634 books
405 friends
Saturday's 2275 books
66 friends
Gabrielle 1341 books
21 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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