Book expert names 5 best 20th century detective novels | Books | Entertainment

As we are in the depths of summer, you may be thinking about the books you want to add to your holiday reading list and beyond. Look no further; Five Books has you covered – and this time we’re talking detective novels.

Crime novels account for a huge proportion of the book industry, and they are widely considered to be the most popular genre. From authors such as Paul Auster and Rex Stout, here are the top five 20th-century detective novels of all time as selected by Five Books.

A synopsis of the book reads: “The New York Review of Books has called Paul Auster’s work “one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature.” Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylised trilogy of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply layered than anything he might have written himself. In Ghosts, Blue, a mentee of Brown, is hired by White to spy on Black from a window on Orange Street. Once Blue starts stalking Black, he finds his subject on a similar mission, as well. In The Locked Room, Fanshawe has disappeared, leaving behind his wife and baby and nothing but a cache of novels, plays, and poems.”

The novel’s synopsis states: “In The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet. What ensues is a detective novel of nerve-racking suspense, desperately believable characters, and one of the most intricate plots ever spun by an American crime writer.”

The book’s blurb reads: “When a Balkan beauty gets in trouble over some missing diamonds, who else can she turn to but the world-famous Nero Wolfe? Especially since she claims to be Wolfe’s long lost daughter!

“The stakes are suddenly raised when a student at this woman’s fencing school ends up dead after a pointed lesson.

“As Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie, thrust and parry into a tangle of documents, identities and international intrigue, another student body turns up, expertly skewered through the heart. Here’s a question for you: ‘Is Wolfe’s daughter, the black sheep of the family, [also] a hot-blooded mistress of murder?'”

A synopsis of the book states: “One missing girl, a cult, an entombed body, and a private detective pushed with his back against the wall. Throw in a dash of raw lust and a pinch of sadomasochistic hatred. Stir violently until boil and serve cold. SOLOMON’S VINEYARD, the totally unexpurgated version of Jonathan Latimer’s THE FIFTH GRAVE. Eat. Pure Pulped CLASSIX is a garishly named effort on the part of Resurrectionary Press to provide works of pulp fiction in editions that are cleanly designed and properly typeset.”

The book’s blurb reads: “This story first came out as The Cleansing of Poisonville.

“When the last honest citizen of Poisonville was murdered, the Continental Op stayed on to punish the guilty—even if that meant taking on an entire town.

“The Op was in Personville, its derogatory nickname aside, as the result of a letter to the Continental Detective Agency in San Francisco from Donald Willsson, publisher of the local paper, asking for an agent to visit. No other information. As soon as the OP arrives, the body count begins, and it starts with his client!”