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This is an admittedly opinionated and curmudgeonly site that adheres to pretty strict rules about what a mystery novel is: (a) it has to have a puzzling plot, where the clues are hidden but the reader has a chance to find them and figure out the solution, (b) the solution must be arrived at by logical deduction (by implication, then, a mystery story must have a detective), (c) it should not agonize over characters' emotional hang-ups except when they provide some motivation for the crime, (d) it should not provide a cop-out solution (i.e., the murderer is some person who never even appeared in the book, or it was all a plot
by evil oriental gangs using secret passages and unknown poisons). Gangster thrillers do not apply either (although there is nothing intrinsically wrong about having gangsters in a mystery). Given those provisos, please enjoy this site, but don't complain because Mickey Spillane or Charlie Chan is left out. Click here for a further definition, or here for the basic rules.
For a shortened, printable version of the Top 50 list, which was my initial MysteryList effort started on AOL, please go here.
 
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