10 Forgotten Mystery Masterpieces

Carr was the acknowledged master of “impossible crime” stories and its primary sub-genre, the “locked room” puzzle–murders committed under apparently impossible situations. In this novel, his most famous, there are two impossible murders and a lecture in which the detective mentions dozens of ways in which these seemingly impossible crimes may be achieved. Pure detection.

Conceived as a parody of the best-selling detective novels of S.S. Van Dine, the readership loved the hilarious novel so much that the author found himself writing further exploits of the Paris-based sleuth. His best-known book was the autobiographical The Last Time I Saw Paris.

A young American stranger in London overhears a conversation which may be a murder plot. Attempting to track down the intended victim to warn her, he becomes entangled himself. It was filmed with Van Heflin as 23 Paces to Baker Street. The author was a successful screenwriter for a quarter of a century, including the film adaptation of Rebecca.

A funny but still tough hard-boiled novel set in Hollywood. The style is a cross between James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and Nathaniel West, a remarkable achievement especially because the author is a Welshman better known under his real name, Eric Knight, the author of Lassie Come Home.

Walsh’s finest novel of a prolific output of police novels, this title won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel of 1951. A taught suspense novel in which all the action takes place during a 48-hour period, it was filmed in 1950 as Union Station, starring William Holden.

An outstanding hard-boiled novel in which a detective relentlessly pursues the corrupt politicians and gangsters who caused the death of his wife and his best friend. Many of the author’s works inspired good films (Rogue Cop, Hell on Frisco Bay, Odds Against Tomorrow) but none better than the 1953 film noir classic  based on this book, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Glenn Ford).

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author wrote six novels about the diminutive Japanese Secret Service agent, spawning a series of popular films starring Peter Lorre. In this adventure, he comes across a plot to steal priceless Chinese scrolls while creating an anti-American incident in the days before World War II.

The author of Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Lost Horizon (which gave the name “Shangri-La” to the language) wrote one mystery and it is a splendid one, bringing humor to the “isn’t this fun?” school of detection.

Arguably the finest novel by the famous author, this is one of the earliest examples of serial killer mystery fiction, presenting an unforgettable portrait of New York City paralyzed by the worst heat wave in the city’s history, the threat of World War III, and a mad strangler who seems to pick his victims at random.

A stunning mixture of gangsters, fantasy fiction (though without supernatural elements), an enigmatic stranger and omnipresent references to the work of Lewis Carroll in a remarkable novel of suspense.