Welcome to Elysium

The Challenge

• To read (and review) as many classic mystery/crime novels as possible.

I'm hoping to install a countdown clock onto the webpage, so look forward to that soon. I'll be reading other (as in current) books as well, so expect to see a running tally of the books I've read this year. The Time Frame

• 01 Jan 2010 - 31 Dec 2010

The Rules:

• I'm counting any books I more-or-less know by heart as read.
• Seeing the film does not count (though I may also review those along the way).
• Books do not have to be read through to be excluded -- if I find it awful (doubtful, but possible), I reserve the right to drop it, though I will indicate those I did not finish.

The Source:

• Crime Writers' Association (CWA) 100 Best Crime Novels of All Time (1990)
• Mystery Writers of America (MWA) 100 Best Mystery Novels of All Time (1995)

The lists are unwieldy and contain several common titles. I've whittled the list down to a more manageable 154 titles, alpha by author. The Books (spelling errors to be corrected):

1. Margery Allingham, The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
2. Eric Ambler, Mask of Dimitirios (1939)
3. Desmond Bagley, Running Blind (1970)
4. E. C. Bentley, Trent's Last Case (1913)
5. Anthony Berkeley, The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929)
6. Nicholas Blake, Beast Must Die (1938)
7. Caryl Brahms & SJ Simon, A Bullet in the Ballet (1937)
8. Christianna Brand, Green for Danger (1945)
9. Simon Brett, What Bloody Man is That? (1987)
10. John Buchan, The 39 Steps (1915)
11. John Buchan, Greenmantle (1916)
12. W. R. Burnett, Little Cesar (1929)
13. James M Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
14. James M Cain, Double Indemnity (1943)
15. Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (1966)
16. John Dickson Carr, The Hollow Man (1935)
17. John Dickson Carr, The Devil in Velvet (1951)
18. Vera Caspary, Laura (1942)
19. Sarah Caudwell, The Shortest Way to Hades (1984)
20. Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1939)
21. Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely (1940)
22. Raymond Chandler, The Lady in the Lake (1943)
23. Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (1953)
24. GK Chesterton, The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)
25. Erskine Childers, The Riddle of the Sande (1903)
26. Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
27. Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1936)
28. Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None (1939)
29. Agatha Christie, Death Comes at the End (1945)
30. Agatha Christie, Witness for the Prosecution (1948)
31. Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October (1984)
32. Mary Higgins Clark, Where Are The Children? (1975)
33. Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860)
34. Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (1868)
35. Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate (1959)
36. Richard Condon, Prizzi's Honor (1982)
37. Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (1907)
38. Edmund Crispin, The Moving Toyshop (1946)
39. Lionel Davidson, The Rose of Tibet (1962)
40. Lionel Davidson, The Sun Chemist (1976)
41. Len Deighton, The IPCRESS File (1962)
42. Len Deighton, Game, Set, & Match (1984 - 1986)
43. Colin Dexer, Dead of Jericho (1981)
44. Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)
45. Fyodor Dostoyevski, Crime & Punishment (1866)
46. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of The Baskervilles (1902)*
47. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1887 - 1927)*
48. Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca (1938)
49. Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose (1980)
50. Jack Finney, Time and Again (1970)
51. Ian Fleming, From Russia With Love (1957)
52. Ken Follett, Eye of the Needle (1978)
53. Ken Follett, The Key to Rebecca (1980)
54. Frederick Forsyth, Day of the Jackal (1978)
55. John Fowles, The Collector (1963)
56. Dick Francis, Twice Shy (1981)
57. Dick Francis, The Danger (1983)
58. Michael Golbert, Smallbone Deceased (1950)
59. Paula Gosling, A Running Duck (1978)
60. Sue Grafton, A is for Alibi (1982)
61. Caroline Graham, Killings at Badger's Drift (1987)
62. Graham Greene, Brighton Rock (1938)
63. Graham Greene, The Third Man (1950)
64. Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana (1959)
65. John Grisham, A Time to Kill (1989)
66. John Grisham, The Firm (1991)
67. Adam Hall, The Quiller Memorandum (1965)
68. Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest (1929)
69. Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
70. Dashiell Hammett, The Glass Key (1931)
71. Cyril Hare, Tragedy at Law (1942)
72. Thomas Harris, Red Dragon (1981)
73. Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs (1988)
74. George V Higgins, The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972)
75. Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Landed (1975)
76. Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train (1950)
77. Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
78. Reginald Hill, Dead Heads (1983)
79. Reginald Hill, Underworld (1988)
80. Tony Hillerman, Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
81. Tony Hillerman, A Thief of Time (1989)
82. Geoffrey Household, Rouge Male (1939)
83. Francis Iles, Malice Aforethought (1931)
84. Michael Innes, The Journeying Boy (1949)
85. Michael Innes, Hamlet, Revenge! (1937)
86. P. D. James, Innocent Blood (1980)
87. P. D. James, Devices and Desires (1983)
88. P. D. James, A Taste for Death (1986)
89. P. D. James, Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
90. H. R. F. Keating, The Murder of the Maharajah (1980)
91. John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1963)
92. John le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
93. John le Carré, Smiley's People (1979)
94. John le Carré, The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
95. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
96. Elmore Leonard, Stick (1983)
97. Ira Levin, A Kiss Before Dying (1953)
98. Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby (1967)
99. Peter Lovesey, Wobble to Death (1970)
100. Peter Lovesey, The False inspector Dew (1982)
101. Peter Lovesey, Bertie and the Tin Man (1987)
102. Gavin Lyall, Shooting Script (1966)
103. John D MacDonald, Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)
104. Ross MacDonald, The Chill (1963)
105. Alistair MacLean, The Guns of Navarone (1957)
106. J. J. Marric, Gideon's Day (1955)
107. W Somerset Maugham, Ashenden (1928)
108. Ed McBain, Cop Hater (1956)
109. Ed McBain, Sadie When She Died (1972)
110. Manes McClure, The Steam Pig (1974)
111. Gregory McDonald, Fletch (1974)
112. Nicholas Meyer, The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1974)
113. Margaret Millar, Beast in View (1955)
114. Susan Moody, Penny Black (1984)
115. John Mortimer, Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)
116. Walter Mosley, Devin in a Blue Dress (1990)
117. Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandback (1975)
118. Ellis Peters, A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)
119. Ellis Peters, The Leper of St. Giles (1981)
120. Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)
121. Anthony Price, The Labyrinth Makers (1974)
122. Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969)
123. Ruth Rendell, A Demon in My View (1976)
124. Ruth Rendell, Judgment in Stone (1977)
125. Craig Rice, Home Sweet Homicide (1944)
126. Mary Roberts Rineheart , Circular Staircase (1908)
127. Lawrence Sanders, The First Deadly Sin (1973)
128. Dorothy L Sayers, Strong Poison (1930)
129. Dorothy L Sayers, Murder Must Advertise (1933)
130. Dorothy L Sayers, The Nine Tailors (1934)
131. Dorothy L Sayers, Gaudy Night (1935)
132. Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo, The Laughing Policeman (1968)
133. Martin Cruz Smith, Gorky Park (1981)
134. Mickey Spillane, I, the Jury (1970)
135. Mary Stewart, Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)
136. Mary Stewart, My Brother Michael (1960)
137. Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897)
138. Rex Stout, The Doorbell Rang (1965)
139. Julian Symons, The Colour of Murder (1957)
140. Josephine Tey, The Franchise Affair (1948)
141. Josephine Tey, Brat Farrar (1950)
142. Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time (1951)
143. Ross Thomas, Chinaman's Chance (1978)
144. Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me (1952)
145. Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Murder (1958)
146. Scott Turrow, Presumed Innocent (1987)
147. Barbara Vine, A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)
148. Barbara Vine, A Fatal Inversion (1987)
149. Edgar Wallace, Four Just Men (1906)
150. Joseph Wambaugh, The Choirboys (1975)
151. Hillary Waugh, Last Seen Wearing (1952)
152. Donald E Westlake, God Save the Mark (1967)
153. Donald E Westlake, The Hot Rock (1970)
154. Donald E Westlake, Bank Shot (1972)

*I am aware that The Hounds of Baskervilles is a part of the Sherlock Holmes collection. However, it is listed in several places as a force in its own right, beyond the rest of the amazing collection. I separate it here, but will probably discuss it and each of the novels separately. ----- I'm aware that a number of these are probably out of print, but I figure it's worth a try. If I run out of titles (doubtful), I'm looking to also tap the Independent Mystery Bookseller's 100 Best Mystery Novels of the Century (2000). Wish me luck!