5 Most Popular Crime Novels to Read Before You Die
If you have been an avid crime fiction reader all your life, then here you will get the list of most popular crime fiction novels. This list is entirely subjective and most inspiring given the fact there is no attention paid to its influence or the importance of the best crime fiction writers.
1. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? By Horace McCoy:
This novel is the best example of American noir ever written, set during the Great Depression where barbarity, desperation, and pathos existed everywhere. It has every bit of shocking and moving elements even today as it has been for the original readers. The narrator is condemned to death for an unknown crime. The story is about two losers who stumbled around the Hollywood ballroom and finally proved futile in their struggle for survival.
2. Laidlaw by William McIlvanney:
In this book, the teen daughter of a local hardman is found murdered in Glasgow Park, and D.I Jack Laidlaw is assigned the case for investigation. The investigator is intellectual, bloody-minded, and a maverick that completely immerses himself in this case. This is a classic of the genre, which describes the maelstrom of gangland violence, sectarianism, and brutal sentimentality in rich gothic prose.
3. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie:
This is one of the most popular Christie novels. Hercule Poirot is assigned to investigate artist Amyas Crale’s murder by poisoning him 16 years earlier. Amyas’s daughter assigns this task as her mother Caroline was convicted for her father’s murder. Although Caroline has a diet in prison, Poirot interviews five potential suspects. With the superb and brilliant plot, satisfying last-minute reveal, and an ingenious sleight of hand with complexity and psychological depth, this novel is considered the Queen of the Crime Fiction for finest work.
4. A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell:
This novel grips the readers from the most famous opening line. Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read and write. In this story, Eunice and a woman Joan Smith shot four members of this peculiarly literate family on St. Valentine’s Day when they were watching an opera on the television. The author excels with the merciless vivisection of the British class system and delivers a top-class mystery.
5. Night and the City by Gerald Kersh:
Kersh is one of the pantheons of the forgotten writers in British noir. Night and the city is one of the best-renowned works which recites the story of a Soho denizen. The story also has a pimp, would-be gangster Harry Fabian, a small-time flash with a head full of Hollywood but fools nobody. He attempts blackmail but fails. Although he’s not admirable, he’s oddly likable, at least, until he betrays Zoe’s trust, which ends badly for him. This is a sure unforgettable read with an incredibly vivid tale.
