The 15 Greatest Mystery Writers of All Time

Golden Age puzzle-setters face hardboiled stylists and the writers keeping the genre alive today.

1. 1
   Agatha Christie

   Creator of Poirot and Miss Marple and the best-selling novelist of all time.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Dashiell Hammett

   Former Pinkerton agent who wrote The Maltese Falcon.
   700pts
3. 3
   Michael Connelly

   Former crime reporter behind Harry Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer.
   667pts
4. 4
   Ngaio Marsh

   New Zealand Golden Age author of the Roderick Alleyn novels.
   642pts
5. 5
   Arthur Conan Doyle

   Scottish author who created Sherlock Holmes.
   577pts
6. 6
   Edgar Allan Poe

   Wrote The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841; the Edgar Awards carry his name.
   576pts
7. 7
   Ross Macdonald

   Californian author of the Lew Archer private-eye novels.
   500pts
8. 8
   Tana French

   Author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels, starting with In the Woods.
   409pts
9. 9
   Dorothy L. Sayers

   Golden Age author of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
   409pts
10. 10
    Ruth Rendell

    British author of the Inspector Wexford series.
    300pts
11. 11
    Rex Stout

    Creator of the orchid-growing armchair detective Nero Wolfe.
    300pts
12. 12
    Walter Mosley

    Author of the Easy Rawlins novels, starting with Devil in a Blue Dress.
    300pts
13. 13
    Wilkie Collins

    Victorian author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White.
    0pts
14. 14
    Georges Simenon

    Belgian creator of Inspector Maigret, with 75 Maigret novels.
    0pts
15. 15
    G. K. Chesterton

    English author of the Father Brown stories.
    0pts

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