Conquering the Classics: Finished H.R.F. Keating’s The 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books

It took me nearly two years, but I’ve finally completed my next reading challenge: H.R.F. Keating’s The 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books. I started this journey after finishing my Top 100+ Crime and Mystery Novels list.

The key distinctions between H.R.F. Keating’s The 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books and my previous Top 100+ Crime and Mystery Novels list are as follows:

1. Selection Process: Keating’s list reflects the personal preferences of a single individual—H.R.F. Keating, a respected crime writer and critic. In contrast, my Top 100+ Crime and Mystery Novels list combines two influential sources: The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time (compiled by the British Crime Writers Association and published in Hatchards Crime Companion in 1990) and The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (created by the Mystery Writers of America and published in The Crown Crime Companion in 1995). These lists were compiled through the input of numerous individuals, offering a broader consensus on the genre.
2. Time Periods Covered: Keating’s list, published in 1987, includes books released between 1845 and 1986. My previous list, drawing from the 1990 and 1995 publications, covers a slightly later period, with books published between 1860 and 1991.
3. Criteria for Inclusion: Keating focused specifically on books he defined as “Crime and Mystery,” excluding thrillers, espionage, horror, and pure suspense. My previous list, on the other hand, embraces a wider variety of works. Both the Crime Writers Association and the Mystery Writers of America asked participants to nominate their five favorite books in ten different categories, and the novels with the most votes, regardless of category, formed the final lists.

The table below compares the categories used by the British Crime Writers Association and the Mystery Writers of America.

H.R.F. Keating’s The 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books

H.R.F. Keating’s list is published in his book The 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books which I brought because I was eager to read his reasons for including specific books and authors. His selections are arranged chronologically, from oldest to most recent, with each accompanied by a two-page review offering his insights and analysis.

H.R.F. Keating’s reviews are significantly more detailed than those found in the Hatchards Crime Companion (1990) and The Crown Crime Companion (1995), which I referenced for my previous Top 100+ Crime and Mystery Novels list.

Below is H.R.F. Keating’s review of Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time.

Which you can compare with the reviews of the same book shown below in Hatchards Crime Companion (1990) and The Crown Crime Companion (1995). The reviews in each companion book are brief, typically less than half a page per title.

I was also pleased that he listed his selections in chronological order, from oldest to most recent, as I found this to be the best approach my previous reading list. It offers valuable insight into how the genre evolved over time.

Here is H.R.F Keating’s “The 100 Best Crime & Mystery books” for those wanting a copy of his list.

In the introduction to his book, Keating describes it as “a sort of history of crime writing from Edgar Allan Poe to P.D. James,” which is an accurate characterization. His list introduced me to approximately 68 books I hadn’t read before, as about 32 of the titles were already included in my previous reading list. Like the books on my previous list there was titles I really enjoyed and ones I struggled to read.

Sourcing the Books I Read

I ended up accessing most of the books for free as eBooks or eAudiobooks because physical copies were hard to find. I used the following online resources through my local library:

• Libby
• Hoopla
• Borrowbox

Among these, Libby is my go-to for ebooks and eMagazines while I tend to prefer Hoopla or Borrowbox for eAudiobooks, which I enjoy listening to during my walks.

Harder to find ebooks, I turned to the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library offering free access to a vast collection of digitized materials, including websites, books, audio, video, software, and other digital content. By signing up for a free account, you can borrow books for one hour at a time, with the option to renew as needed until you’ve finished.

What’s Next?

I’ve already started my next reading challenge – The Time Magazine’s The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Their list features books that came out as long ago as 1860 and as recently as 2022, were originally published in 15 different countries, and are written by 100 distinct authors.