Some strange inclusions in your list.
I notice that (by my count), just over half of the authors listed are still alive and active! In a genre which has been popular for around a century, do you not think it suspicious that we are 'blessed' to have a majority of 'the greatest' still with us?

RobertH, Birmingham,

I think that some of your panel of experts have restricted their reading to contemporary fiction and have never delved into the classics of the past.
I would have included: John D MacDonald, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout, Fredric Brown,Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake/ Richard Stark, Michael Connelly..

RobertH, Birmingham,

I enjoyed the list but I have to say James Crumley is a name that I thought would be there!! The Wrong Case, The Last Good Kiss and Dancing Bear - fabulous - he doesn't put a foot wrong and he is referenced by other more well-known American crime-writers.

rm, Kent, England

What about Michael Connelly? I started reading the reverse countdown confidently expecting him to be at least in the top 30, but he is nowhere to be seen!

WPW, London,

Obviously there are lots of authors who could be included: I think you did a pretty good job on the whole. Arnaldur Indridason is the most egregious omission. Harlan Coben is good, but his inclusion makes the omission of Robert Crais and Michael Connelly strange. Of the older writers, Ngaio Marsh could have been included, I think. There are many newer writers who have yet to become fully established but two who show great promise are Gianrico Carofiglio and Brian McGilloway. I was sad not to see Mary Higgins Clark and Sue Grafton included, given that you have included Sara Paretsky. I could go on...but, all in all, a pretty reasonable list, even if the order is at times a little strange (especially your number one).

Maxine , Kingston upon Thames, UK

Have any of you read anything by Michael Connelly?
He was a journalist prior to writing fiction.
He should be in the last five in terms of decent narrative, psychological reality and bloody good writing.
Peter James was not even on the list.
John Harvey only 23!
Harlan Coben before Patricia Cornwell!!
Nicci-French only as reviewers?
Patricia Highsmith top of the list!!!!!!!!!
James Ellroy only 20!
"50 Greatest Crime Writers" - a crime in itself

Patricia, Belfast, Ireland

Great fun and how dull if we had all agreed
Here are 6 more names who should be on any fan’s bookshelf
G.K.Chesterton – what no Father Brown?? One of the great detective creations and are any crime stories better written?
Stanley Ellin – a master of the crime short story (vis The Speciality of the House). Championed by Julian Symons in his classic “Bloody Murder”
Nicholas Freeling – any writer recommended by Highsmith and Crispin deserves a place. For 40 years Freeling challenged his readers with an idiosycratic, sometimes discursive, but never dull continental slant on the crime story
Chester Himes – entertaining 1960s New York mayhem – superficially; but for many Himes was one of the top black authors writing at a crucial time in the USA
Margaret Millar – perhaps more original than her husband Ross MacDonald and at times distinctly disturbing
Hillary Waugh – for Julian Symons Waugh’s “Last Seen Wearing” 1952, which predated later police proceedural masters such as Ed McBain, was the best single example of that genre

Robert Quiney, Cheltenham, England

Surely Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must be number 1? Any other ranking is perverse. I agree with the previous comments about Michael Innes and Michael Gilbert. What about Nicholas Freeling and his detective Van der Valk? And most lamented omission for me is R Austin Freeman and the immortal Dr John Thorndyke.

Mike Fowle, Felixstowe, UK

Quickly... I have not read widely in this genre, my favorites being Patricia Highsmith, Raymond Chandler, and PD James. In the past, I've also hugely enjoyed the pulp fiction genre and in this vein Jim Thompson's crime fiction is unparalleled.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (Highsmith) I've read several times and admire this book more than most for her portrait of Ripley... The most fascinating sociopath ever to walk in to the pages of fiction unless that would be Raskolnikov...

So I'd also nominate Crime and Punishment, as it manages to be great Literature and the prototypical blue print for other novelists exploring the crime genre after him.

Elan Durham, Santa Monica, CA/US

I'm not happy. Where is Lawrence Block? This is a guy who produces beautifully-crafted, witty, clever, dark, edgy, quietly profound work with an ease of style that many contemporary writers can only envy. No Block? Grrrrr....

Robert Knight, Leamington Spa,

simply criminal to omit Peter Robinson and a mystery why Julian Symons is not listed

ken brown, Darwin , NT Australia

And wherever is Michael Innes? - surely an equal of Margery Allingham & Ngaio Marsh.

Richard Thomas, Sedbergh, UK

An interesting list, missing some of my favourite crime writers of course but, in thinking about those that I feel are missing, one has to try and define the difference between crime and mystery. I immediately said, but where is Robert Goddard? Crime certainly comes into his novels which are variable in quality but possibly lean more towards mystery and adventure. So you are forgiven for that omission but not for Ngaio Marsh or Evelyn Anthony. The others on my list are: Erskine Calders, Cathy Reichs, John Grisham, Patricia Wentworth, Ellis Peters, Karin Slaughter and Erle Stanley Gardner, in no particular order. Perhaps we need to see your list of runners up. Or perhaps we just need a fuller definition of 'crime'. I don't totally agree with your selection or the order in which they are put but thank you for stimulating a good family discussion!

Carolyn Murphy, London,

I think it is a good list. Of course not everyone is going to agree on the chosen authors or the order in which they are ranked. Most of your selection seems pretty good to me: Arnaldur Indridason is the most egregious omission. I think Ngaio Marsh is as good as some of your historical choices.
It seems odd to include Harlan Coben (whom I like) but omit Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and Peter Temple, who are more "crime fiction" than Coben, who is more thriller. And if you include Coben, what about Lee Child and John Sandford?

Maxine , Kingston upon Thames, UK

What about the master himself - Michael Connelly? He's certainly No 1 on my list.


Jillian Holliday, N Yorks

Jillian Holliday, Nunthorpe, UK

What about Michael Gilbert? He's my No. 1. I agree that Ngaio Marsh should also be on the list. OTOH, there are authors there I've never tried and will now. Food for thought and reading for months....

Barbara Bailey, London, UK

If the list was intended as a who's who of crime writing, where was Simon Brett? He is one of the best crime writers around. He deserves better.

TJ Waters, Havant, Portsmouth,

Surely Rex Stout should be in there with Nero Wolfe. I would also suggest inclusion for the great David Goodis.

Paul Webb, Deal, Kent

I'm not a big friend of crime novels myself but a lot of Scandinavian crime authours convinced me of their talent. Some of those I miss on your list: Liza Marklund, Ã…ke Edvardsson, HÃ¥kan Nesser and the former Norwegian Ministre of Justice Anne Holt. At least Liza Marklund was a groundbreaker for female crime literature.

Heidi, Munich, Germany

Well of course my list would be different, but I imagine every person who reads this would say the same thing.

I do think all the people on the list are deserving and have contributed to the genre. I've actually read books by all of them.

I am also grateful I don't have to supply such a list!

Jon Jordan, Milwaukee, WI US

It's a bit hard to believe that Dame Ngaio Marsh is not on this list, and it seems a shame that historical detective fiction is neglected. In terms of genre shapers, although perhaps he falls under the "great books" exclusionary rule, Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum" are hard to ignore -- ask Dan Brown.

For a list said to be international, some timid gestures, but not really now, is it?

Still in all, a pretty useful list.

Randall Holdridge, Tucson, Arizona USA

Where's Edgar Wallace?

Bob Swan, Lexington , Kentucky

sorry, any list that ranks Dashiell Hammett as low as 14 can't be taken seriously.

Dave Zeltserman, Needham, MA, USA

The late,great Patricia Highsmith. The Ripley character unparalelled in my own humble opinion.Why the other day I was talking to this stranger on a train..... I hope someone looked after all the cats when she passed on..
John D McDonald's Travis McGee character ...pre -Dirty Harry and Hieronymous Bosch...:)

Carleton Twitchell, Maine, USA