The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

With a panel of celebrated authors—Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey—TIME presents the most gripping, twist-filled, satisfying, and influential mystery and thriller books, in chronological order beginning in the 1800s

How We Made the List
Illustration by Michelle Urra for TIME
Illustration by Michelle Urra for TIME

This project is led by Lucy Feldman, Annabel Gutterman, Megan McCluskey, and Meg Zukin, with writing, reporting, and additional editing by Eliza Berman, Tessa Berenson Rogers, Kelly Conniff, Leslie Dickstein, Eliana Dockterman, Mahita Gajanan, Cady Lang, Lily Rothman, Rachel Sonis, Armani Syed, Karl Vick, Elijah Wolfson, Lucas Wittmann, and Laura Zornosa; photography editing by Whitney Matewe; art direction by Katie Kalupson and Victor Williams; video by Brian Braganza, Andrew Johnson, Jeannie Kopstein, and Sam McPeak; production by Nadia Suleman; illustrations by Michelle Urra for TIME.