In the Appendix to his Detective Fiction, A Collection of Critical Essays, Robin W. Winks includes "A Personal List of Favorites." He writes that “the following list of titles is provided … as a point of entry; authors are limited to no more than three titles. The editor regards all of the books as good, although for a variety of reasons. Not all have contributed to the history of the field and not all are written with equal grace, but each has substantial merit, whether for plot, well-realized setting, characterization, detection, or even trickery. For the most part, books from the early classic period (pre-1930) are omitted.”
| Aldyne, Nathan |
Cobalt. 1982 |
| Allbeury, Ted |
A Choice of Enemies. 1973 |
| Allingham, Margery |
The Crime at Black Dudley. 1929 |
| Allingham, Margery |
Dancers in Mourning. 1937 |
| Allingham, Margery |
The Tiger in the Smoke. 1952 |
| Alverson, Charles |
Godey's Last Stand. 1975 |
| Ambler, Eric |
Background to Danger. 1937 |
| Ambler, Eric |
A Coffin for Demetrious. 1939 디미트리오스의 관 |
| Ambler, Eric |
Journey into Fear. 1940 |
| Anderson, James |
Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy.1975 |
| Angus, Sylvia |
Death of a Hittite. 1969 |
| Asimov, Isaac |
Murder at the ABA. 1976 |
| Bagley, Desmond |
High Citadel. 1965 |
| Bagley, Desmond |
Running Blind. 1970 |
| Bagley, Desmond |
The Enemy. 1976 |
| Ball, John |
In the Heat of the Night. 1965 밤의 열기속으로 |
| Banks, Oliver |
The Rembrandt Panel. 1980 |
| Barnard, Robert |
Death of an Old Goat. 1977 |
| Barnard, Robert |
Death of a Literary Widow. 1979 |
| Behn, Noel |
The Kremlin Letter. 1966 |
| Benson, Ben |
The Running Man. 1957 |
| Bentley, E.C. |
Trent's Last Case. 1912 트렌트 마지막 사건 |
| Bergman, Andrew |
The Big Kiss Off of 1944. 1974 |
| Berkeley, Andrew |
Trial and Error. 1937 시행착오 |
| Beste, R. Vernon |
Repeat the Instructions. 1967 |
| Blake, Nicholas |
The Abominable Snowman. 1940 |
| Blake, Nicholas |
Minute for Murder. 1947 |
| Block, Lawrence |
The Sins of the Fathers. 1976 |
| Borges, Jorge Luis |
Ficciones. 1962 |
| Boucher, Anthony |
The Case of the Seven of Calvary. 1937 |
| Box, Edgar |
Death in the Fifth Position. 1952 |
| Brand, Christianna |
Green for Danger. 1945 |
| Brean, Herbert |
Wilders Walk Away. 1948 |
| Brown, Frederic |
The Fabulous Clipjoint. 1947 |
| Brown, Frederic |
The Lenient Beast. 1956 |
| Buchan, John |
The Thirty-Nine Steps. 1915 |
| Buchan, John |
John Macnab. 1925 |
| Buchan, John |
Mountain Meadow. 1941 |
| Buckley, William F. |
Saving the Queen. 1976 |
| Buckley, John F. |
Mongoose R.I.P. 1987 |
| Buell, John |
The Pyx. 1959 |
| Burgess, Anthony |
Tremor of Intent. 1966 |
| Burns, Rex |
Angle of Attack. 1979 |
| Burns, Rex |
Ground Money. 1986 |
| Byrom, James |
Or Be He Dead. 1958 |
| Cain, James M. |
The Postman Always Rings Twice. 1934 우편배달부는 벨을 두번 울린다 |
| Cain, James M. |
Double Indemnity. 1936 이중 배상 |
| Carr, A.H.Z. |
Finding Maubee. 1971 모비를 찾아라 |
| Carr, John Dickson |
The Three Coffins. 1935 세 개의 관 |
| Carr, John Dickson |
The Case of the Constant Suicides. 1941 |
| Caudwell, Sara |
Thus Was Adonis Murdered. 1981 |
| Chandler, Raymond |
The Big Sleep. 1939 빅슬립 |
| Chandler, Raymond |
Farewell, My Lovely. 1940 안녕, 내 사랑 |
| Chandler, Raymond |
The Lady in the Lake. 1953 |
| Chesterton, G.K. |
The Innocence of Father Brown. 1911 브라운 신부의 동심 |
| Childers, Erskine |
The Riddle of the Sands. 1903 |
| Christie, Agatha |
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. 1926 애크로이드 살인 사건 |
| Christie, Agatha |
The Little Niggers. 1939 그리고 아무도 없었다 |
| Christie, Agatha |
The Patriotic Murders. 1940 애국 살인 |
| Clancy, Tom |
The Hunt for Red October. 1985 |
| Clifford, Francis |
The Third Side of the Coin. 1965 |
| Clifford, Francis |
All Men Are Lonely Now. 1967 |
| Coates, Robert M. |
Wisteria Cottage, 1948 |
| Cody, Liza |
Bad Company. 1982 |
| Coles, Manning |
Drink to Yesterday. 1940 |
| Coles, Manning |
A Toast to Tomorrow. 1941 |
| Constantine, K.C. |
The Blank Page. 1974 |
| Constantine, K.C. |
The Man Who Likes Slow Tomatoes. 1982 |
| Courtier, S.H. |
Murder's Burning. 1967 |
| Creed, David |
The Trial of Lobo Icheka. 1971 |
| Crispin, Edmund |
The Moving Toy Shop. 1946 |
| Crofts, Freeman Wills |
The Cheyne Mystery. 1926 |
| Crofts, Freeman Wills |
Death of a Train. 1946 |
| Cross, Amanda |
Poetic Justice. 1970 |
| Cross, Amanda |
Death in a Tenured Position. 1981 |
| Crumley, James |
The Last Good Kiss. 1978 |
| Cunningham, E.V. |
Sylvia. 1960 |
| Curtiss, Ursula |
Out of the Dark. 1964 |
| Davidson, Lionel |
Night of Wenceslas. 1960 |
| Davidson, Lionel |
The Rose of Tibet. 1962 |
| DeAndrea, William L. |
Killed in the Ratings. 1978 |
| Deighton, Len |
The Ipcress File. 1962 |
| Deighton, Len |
SS-GB. 1978 |
| Derby, Mark |
The Sunlit Ambush. 1955 |
| Dexter, Colin |
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn. 1977 |
| Dickinson, Peter |
The Glass-Sided Ant's Nest. 1968 |
| Dickinson, Pater |
One Foot in the Grave. 1980 |
| Dickinson, Peter |
Hindsight. 1983 |
| Dodge, David |
The Long Escape. 1950 |
| Douglass, Donald McNutt |
Rebecca's Pride. 1957 |
| Duncan, Robert |
The Q Document. 1964 |
| Eco, Umberto |
The Name of the Rose. 1983 장미의 이름 |
| Ellin, Stanley |
The Eighth Circle. 1958 제 8의 지옥 |
| Ellin, Stanley |
Very Old Money. 1985 |
| Estleman, Loren D. |
The Glass Highway. 1983 |
| Eustis, Helen |
The Horizontal. 1946 |
| Fearing, Kenneth |
The Big Clock. 1946 |
| Fish, Robert L. |
Pursuit. 1979 |
| Fisher, Steve |
I Wake Up Screaming. 1941 |
| Fleming, Ian |
From Russia with Love. 1957 |
| Follett, Ken |
Eye of the Needle. 1978 |
| Forester, C.S. |
Payment Deferred. 1926 |
| Forsyth, Frederick |
The Day of the Jackal. 1971 |
| Francis, Dick |
Dead Cert. 1962 |
| Francis, Dick |
Blood Sport. 1967 |
| Francis, Dick |
Forfeit. 1969 |
| Freeling, Nicholas |
Love in Amsterdam. 1962 |
| Freeling, Nicholas |
Apres de ma Blonde. 1972 |
| Gardner, Erle Stanley |
The Case of the Caretaker's Cat |
| Gardner, Erle Stanley |
The D.A. Draws a Circle. 1939 |
| Gardner, Erle Stanley |
The Case of the Crooked Candle. 1944 |
| Gardner, John |
The Liquidator. 1964 |
| Garve, Andrew |
The Cuckoo-Line Affair. 1953 |
| Garve, Andrew |
The Galloway Case. 1958 |
| Garve, Andrew |
The Ascent of D-13. 1968 |
| Gash, Jonathan |
The Judas Pair. 1977 |
| Gault, William Campbell |
The Day of the Ram. 1956 |
| Gifford, Thomas |
The Wind Chill Factor. 1975 |
| Gilbert, Michael |
Death Has Deep Roots. 1951 |
| Gilbert, Michael |
Death in Captivity. 1952 |
| Gill, B.M. |
Death Drop. 1979 |
| Goldman, William |
Marathon Man. 1974 |
| Gordon, R.L. |
The River Gets Wider. 1974 |
| Greene, Graham |
Stamboul Train. 1932 |
| Greene, Graham |
Brighton Rock. 1938 |
| Greene, Graham |
The Ministry of Fear. 1943 |
| Greenleaf, Stephen |
Fatal Obsession. 1983 |
| Grimes, Martha |
The Dirty Duck. 1984 |
| Grubb, Davis |
The Night of the Hunter. 1953 |
| Guthrie, A.B. |
Wild Pitch. 1973 |
| Haggard, William |
The Telemann Touch. 1958 |
| Haggard, William |
Venetian Blind. 1959 |
| Haggard, William |
The Scorpion's Tail. 1975 |
| Hall, Adam |
The Quiller Memorandum. 1965 |
| Hall, Adam |
The Tango Briefing. 1973 |
| Hall, Adam |
The Mandarin Cypher. 1975 |
| Hall, Robert Lee |
Exit Sherlock Holmes. 1977 |
| Hallahan, William |
The Search for Joseph Tully. 1975 |
| Hamilton, Donald |
Death of a Citizen. 1960 |
| Hamilton, Donald |
The Ravengers. 1964 |
| Hammett, Dashiell |
Red Harvest. 1929 |
| Hammett, Dashiell |
The Maltese Falcon. 1930 |
| Hansen, Joseph |
Early Graves. 1987 |
| Hare, Cyril |
An English Murder. 1951 |
| Hart, Frances Noyes |
The Bellamy Trial. 1927 |
| Haymon, S.T. |
Ritual Murder. 1982 |
| Healy, Jeremiah |
The Staked Goat. 1986 |
| Heard, H.F.A. |
A Taste for Honey. 1941 |
| Herron, Shaun |
Through the Dark and Hairy Wood. 1973 |
| Heyer, Georgette |
A Blunt Instrument. 1938 |
| Higgins, George V. |
The Friends of Eddie Coyle. 1972 |
| Hill, Reginald |
Ruling Passion. 1973 |
| Hill, Reginald |
Deadheads. 1984 |
| Hillerman, Tony |
The Blessing Way. 1970 |
| Hillerman, Tony |
The Ghostway. 1984 고스트어웨이 |
| Himes, Chester |
Cotton Goes to Harlem. 1964 |
| Hirschberg, Cornelius |
Florentine Finish. 1963 |
| Household, Geoffrey |
Rogue Male. 1939 |
| Household, Geoffrey |
A Rough Shoot. 1951 |
| Household, Geoffrey |
Dance of the Dwarfs. 1968 |
| Hoyle, Fred |
Ossian's Ride. 1959 |
| Hoyt, Richard |
Trotsky's Run. 1982 |
| Hughes, Dorothy B. |
Ride the Pink Horse. 1946 |
| Hunt, E. Howard |
From Cuba, With Love. 1964 |
| Huxley, Elspeth |
Murder on Safari. 1938 |
| Iles, Francis |
Before the Fact. 1932 |
| Innes, Hammond |
The Wreck of the Mary Deare. 1956 |
| Innes, Michael |
Hamlet Revenge! 1937 |
| James, P.D. |
Cover Her Face. 1962 |
| James, P.D. |
Shroud for a Nightingale. 1971 |
| James, P.D. |
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. 1972 여자에게 어울리지 않는 직업 |
| Jay, Charlotte |
Beat Not the Bones. 1954 |
| Jay, Charlotte |
The Yellow Turban. 1955 |
| Keating, H.R.F. |
A Rush on the Ultimate. 1961 |
| Keating, H.R.F. |
The Perfect Murder. 1964 |
| Kelly, Mary |
The Spoilt Kill. 1961 |
| Kemmelman, Harry |
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late. 1964 |
| Knowlton, Robert A. |
Court of Crows. 1961 |
| Koenig, Joseph |
Floater. 1986 |
| Langton, Jane |
Emily Dickinson is Dead. 1984 |
| Lathen, Emma |
Death Shall Overcome. 1966 |
| Lathen, Emma |
Murder Against the Grain. 1967 |
| Leasor, James |
Passport to Oblivion. 1965 |
| LeCarre, John |
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. 1963 추운 나라에서 온 스파이 |
| LeCarre, John |
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. 1974 |
| Leonard, Elmore |
Swag. 1976 |
| Leonard, Elmore |
La Brava. 1983 |
| Lewin, Michael |
Night Cover. 1976 |
| Lewis, Norman |
The Man in the Middle. 1984 |
| Littell, Robert |
The Defection of A.J. Lewinter. 1973 |
| Littell, Robert |
The Debriefing. 1979 |
| Littell, Robert |
The Amateur. 1981 |
| Lovesey, Peter |
Wobble to Death. 1970 |
| Lovesey, Peter |
The False Inspector Dew. 1982 가짜 경감 듀 |
| Lustgarten, Edgar |
One More Unfortunate. 1947 |
| Lyall, Gavin |
The Most Dangerous Game. 1964 |
| Lyall, Gavin |
Midnight Plus One. 1965 |
| Lyons, Arthur |
Castles Burning. 1980 |
| McBain, Ed |
Hail to the Chief. 1973 |
| McBain, Ed |
Ice. 1983 |
| McCarry, Charles |
The Miernik Dossier. 1973 |
| McClure, James |
The Steam Pig. 1971 |
| McClure, James |
The Artful Egg. 1985 |
| McDonald, Gregory |
Fletch's Fortune. 1978 |
| MacDonald, John D. |
Dead Low Tide. 1953 |
| MacDonald, John D. |
The Drowner. 1963 |
| MacDonald, John D. |
The Quick Red Fox. 1964 |
| Macdonald, Philip |
The List of Adrian Messenger. 1959 |
| Macdonald, Ross |
The Galton Case. 1959 |
| Macdonald, Ross |
The Far Side of the Dollar. 1964 |
| Macdonald, Ross |
The Goodbye Look. 1969 |
| McGinley, Patrick |
Bogmail. 1981 |
| McIlvanney, William |
Laidlaw. 1977 |
| MacInnes, Helen |
Above Suspicion. 1941 |
| MacInnes, Helen |
The Venetian Affair. 1963 |
| MacLean, Alistair |
South by Java Head. 1958 |
| MacLean, Alistair |
The Satan Bug (As Ian Stuart), 1962 |
| Marric, J.J. |
Gideon's Week. 1956 |
| Marric, J.J. |
Gideon's River. 1968 |
| Marsh, Ngaio |
Enter a Murderer. 1935 |
| Marshall, William |
Thin Air. 1977 |
| Masterman, J.C. |
An Oxford Tragedy. 1933 |
| Mather, Berkely |
The Pass Beyond Kashmir. 1960 |
| Maugham, W. Somerset |
Ashenden, the British Agent. 1927 |
| Meyer, Nicholas |
The Seven Percent Solution. 1974 |
| Millar, Margaret |
Beast in View. 1955 |
| Millar, Margaret |
The Soft Talkers. 1957 |
| Milne, A.A. |
The Red House Mystery. 1922 빨강 집의 수수께끼 |
| O'Brien, Flann |
The Third Policeman. 1967 |
| Oppenheim, E. Phillips |
The Great Impersonation. 1920 |
| Paretsky, Sara |
Indemnity Only. 1982 |
| Parker, Robert B. |
God Save the Child. 1974 |
| Parker, Robert B. |
Mortal Stakes. 1975 최후의 도박 |
| Parker, Robert B. |
Looking for Rachel Wallace. 1980 |
| Patterson, Richard North |
The Outside Man. 1981 |
| Peck, Richard |
Dreamland Lake. 1973 |
| Perry, Thomas |
The Butcher's Boy. 1982 프로페셔널 킬러 |
| Peters, Ellis |
One Corpse Too Many. 1980 |
| Postgate, Raymond |
Verdict of Twelve. 1940 |
| Price, Enthony |
Other Paths to Glory. 1975 |
| Proctor, Maurice |
The Pub Crawler. 1956 |
| Pronzini, Bill |
The Stalker. 1971 |
| Queen, Ellery |
The Roman Hat Mystery. 1929 로마 모자의 비밀 |
| Queen, Ellery |
The Tragedy of X. 1932 X의 비극 |
| Queen, Ellery |
Calamity Town. 1942 |
| Radley, Sheila |
Death in the Morning. 1978 |
| Rathbone, Julian |
The Euro-Killers. 1980 |
| Rendell, Ruth |
A Demon in my View. 1976 내 눈에 비친 악마 |
| Rinehart, Mary Robert |
The Bat. 1926 |
| Rogers, Joel Townsley |
The Red Right Hand. 1945 |
| Ryck, Francis |
Sacrificial Pawn. 1973 |
| Sanders, Lawrence |
The First Deadly Sin. 1973 블랙 로맨스 |
| Sayers, Dorothy |
Strong Poison. 1930 |
| Sayers, Dorothy |
The Nine Tailors. 1934 |
| Sayers, Dorothy |
Gaudy Night. 1935 |
| Seely, Mabel |
The Listening House. 1938 |
| Simenon, Georges |
The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By. 1946 |
| Simon, Roger L. |
The Big Fix. 1973 |
| Sjowall, Wahloo |
Roseanna. 1967 |
| Sjowall, Wahloo |
The Fire Engine that Disappeared. 1970 |
| Smith, Shelley |
The Ballad of the Running Man. 1961 |
| Spicer, Bart |
The Day of the Dead. 1955 |
| Stout, Rex |
Too Many Cooks. 1938 |
| Stout, Rex |
And Be a Villain. 1948 |
| Stout, Rex |
Plot it Yourself. 1959 |
| Symons, Julian |
The 31st of November. 1950 |
| Symons, Julian |
The Man Who Killed Himself. 1967 |
| Symons, Julian |
A Criminal Comedy. 1986 |
| Tapply, William G. |
The Dutch Blue Error. 1985 |
| Tapply, William G. |
The Marine Corpse. 1986 |
| Tey, Josephine |
A Shilling for Candles. 1936 |
| Tey, Josephine |
The Daughter of Time. 1951 시간의 딸 |
| Theroux, Paul |
The Family Arsenal. 1976 |
| Thomas, Ross |
The Cold War Swap. 1966 |
| Thomas, Ross |
The Seersucker Whipsaw. 1967 |
| Thomas, Ross |
Brass Go-Between. (As Oliver Bleek). 1969 |
| Thompson, Jim |
The Killer Insude Me. 1952 |
| Thomson, June |
Death Cap. 1977 |
| Trevanian |
The Eiger Sanction. 1972 |
| Turnbull, Peter |
Deep and Crisp and Even. 1981 |
| Upfield, Arthur |
The New Shoe. 1951 |
| Upfield, Arthur |
The Bachelors of Broken Hill. 1958 |
| Valin, Jonathan |
Life's Work. 1986 |
| Valin, Jonathan |
Fire Lake. 1987 |
| Van de Wetering, Janwillem |
The Mind Murders. 1981 |
| Van der Zee, John |
Stateline. 1976 |
| Van Dine, S.S. |
The Benson Murder Case. 1926 벤슨 살인 사건 |
| Van Gulik, Robert |
The Chinese Bell Murders. 1961 |
| Van Gulik, Robert |
The Chinese Nail Murders. 1961 |
| Vickers, Roy |
The Department of Dead Ends. 1949 |
| Wallace, Edgar |
The Four Just Men. 1911 |
| Waugh, Hillary |
Last Seen Wearing. 1952 |
| Waugh, Hillary |
Death and Circumstance. 1963 |
| Westlake, Donald E. |
The Hot Rock. 1970 |
| Wilcox, Colin |
Victims. 1984 |
| Willeford, Charles |
New Hope for the Dead. 1985 |
| Williams, Charles |
The Catfish Tangle. 1963 |
| Woolrich, Cornell |
The Bride Wore Black. 1940 |
| Woodhouse, Martin |
Tree Frog. 1966 |
| Wright, Eric |
Smoke Detector. 1984 |
| Wright, Eric |
Death in the Old Country. 1985 |
| Wright, L.R. |
The Suspect. 1985 |
| Young, Edward |
The Fifth Passenger. 1963 |
| Yuill, P.B. |
Hazell Plays Solomon. 1974 |