I composed this list by counting how many times individual mystery novels appeared on multiple best-of lists. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd appeared on five best-of lists, more than any other novel. The novels without a number listed in the fifth column appeared on a single best-of list.
| First name | Last name | Title | Year | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christie | Agatha | The Murder of Roger Ackroyd | 1926 | 5 |
| Doyle | Arthur Conan | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1902 | 4 |
| Hammett | Dashiell | The Maltese Falcon | 1930 | 4 |
| Crispin | Edmund | The Moving Toyshop | 1946 | 4 |
| Highsmith | Patricia | The Talented Mr. Ripley | 1957 | 4 |
| Collins | Wilkie | The Moonstone | 1868 | 3 |
| Bentley | E.C. | Trent's Last Case | 1912 | 3 |
| Hammett | Dashiell | Red Harvest | 1929 | 3 |
| Sayers | Dorothy | Strong Poison | 1930 | 3 |
| Cain | James M. | The Postman Always Rings Twice | 1934 | 3 |
| Christie | Agatha | Murder in the Orient Express | 1934 | 3 |
| Carr | John Dickson | The Three Coffins | 1935 | 3 |
| Innes | Michael | Hamlet, Revenge! | 1937 | 3 |
| Marsh | Ngaio | Surfeit of Lampreys or Death of a Peer | 1940 | 3 |
| Fearing | Kenneth | The Big Clock | 1946 | 3 |
| Gilbert | Michael | Smallbone Deceased | 1950 | 3 |
| Tey | Josephine | The Daughter of Time | 1951 | 3 |
| Allingham | Margery | The Tiger in the Smoke | 1952 | 3 |
| Poe | Edgar Allan | Tales | 1845 | 2 |
| Doyle | Arthur Conan | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1892 | 2 |
| Futrelle | Jacques | The Thinking Machine | 1907 | 2 |
| Chesterton | Gilbert Keith | The Man Who Was Thursday | 1908 | 2 |
| Rinehart | Mary Roberts | The Circular Staircase | 1908 | 2 |
| Chesterton | Gilbert Keith | The Innocence of Father Brown | 1911 | 2 |
| Chesterton | Gilbert Keith | The Wisdom of Father Brown | 1914 | 2 |
| Milne | A.A. | The Red House Mystery | 1922 | 2 |
| Berkeley | Anthony | The Poisoned Chocolates Case | 1929 | 2 |
| Snow | C.P. | Death Under Sail | 1932 | 2 |
| Sayers | Dorothy | Murder Must Advertise | 1933 | 2 |
| Queen | Ellery | The Chinese Orange Mystery | 1934 | 2 |
| Sayers | Dorothy | The Nine Tailors | 1934 | 2 |
| Stout | Rex | The League of Frightened Men | 1935 | 2 |
| Blake | Nicholas | Thou Shell of Death | 1936 | 2 |
| Christie | Agatha | The ABC Murders | 1936 | 2 |
| Blake | Nicholas | The Beast Must Die | 1938 | 2 |
| DuMaurier | Daphne | Rebecca | 1938 | 2 |
| Ambler | Eric | A Coffin for Demetrios | 1939 | 2 |
| Chandler | Raymond | The Big Sleep | 1939 | 2 |
| Woolrich | Cornell | The Bride Wore Black | 1940 | 2 |
| Chandler | Raymond | The High Window | 1942 | 2 |
| Queen | Ellery | Calamity Town | 1942 | 2 |
| Chandler | Raymond | The Lady in the Lake | 1943 | 2 |
| Brand | Christianna | Green for Danger | 1944 | 2 |
| Eustis | Helen | The Horizontal Man | 1946 | 2 |
| Blake | Nicholas | Minute for Murder | 1947 | 2 |
| Brown | Frederick | The Fabulous Clipjoint | 1947 | 2 |
| Bardin | John Franklin | Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly | 1948 | 2 |
| Chrispin | Edmund | Buried for Pleasure | 1949 | 2 |
| Queen | Ellery | Cat of Many Tails | 1949 | 2 |
| Thompson | Jim | The Killer Inside Me | 1952 | 2 |
| Levin | Ira | A Kiss Before Dying | 1953 | 2 |
| Chandler | Raymond | The Long Good-bye | 1954 | 2 |
| Millar | Margaret | Beast in View | 1955 | 2 |
| Ellin | Stanley | Mystery Stories | 1956 | 2 |
| McDonald | Philip | The List of Adrian Messenger | 1959 | 2 |
| Le Carre | John | The Spy Who Came in From the Cold | 1963 | 2 |
| MacDonald | Ross | The Chill | 1964 | 2 |
| Thompson | Jim | Pop. 1280 | 1964 | 2 |
| Ball | John | In the Heat of the Night | 1965 | 2 |
| Sjowall & Wahloo | Sjowall & Wahloo | The Laughing Policeman | 1968 | 2 |
| MacDonald | Ross | The Underground Man | 1971 | 2 |
| Smith | Mark | The Death of the Detective | 1974 | 2 |
| Crumley | James | The Last Good Kiss | 1978 | 2 |
| Rosen | Richard | Strike Three, You're Dead | 1984 | 2 |
| James | P.D. | A Taste for Death | 1986 | 2 |
| Wilkie | Collins | The Woman in White | 1860 | |
| Anna Katharine | Green | The Leavenworth Case | 1878 | |
| Fergus | Hume | The Mystery of a Hansom Cab | 1886 | |
| Arthur Conan | Doyle | A Study in Scarlet | 1887 | |
| Arthur Conan | Doyle | The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | 1894 | |
| Mark | Twain | Pudd'nhead Wilson | 1894 | |
| Anna Katharine | Green | The Circular Study | 1900 | |
| Baroness Orczy | The Scarlet Pimpernell | 1905 | ||
| Freeman | Austin | The Red Thumb Mark | 1907 | |
| C.K. | Chesterton | The Innocence of Father Brown | 1911 | |
| Marie | Belloc Lowndes | The Lodger | 1913 | |
| Oliver | Onion | In Accordance With the Evidence | 1915 | |
| John | Buchan | The Thirty-Nine Steps | 1915 | |
| Christopher | Morley | The Haunted Bookshop | 1919 | |
| E. Phillips | Oppenheimer | The Great Impersonation | 1920 | |
| Agatha | Christie | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | 1920 | |
| Agatha | Christie | The Mousetrap | 1925 | |
| John | Buchan | John McNab | 1925 | |
| Earl Derr | Biggers | The Chinese Parrot | 1926 | |
| G.D.H. Cole & R. Postgate | The Murder at Crome House | 1927 | ||
| S.S. | Van Dine | The Canary Murder Case | 1927 | |
| P.G. | Wodehouse | Meet Mr. Mulliner | 1927 | |
| S.S. | Van Dine | The Greene Murder Case | 1928 | |
| Ronald A. | Knox | The Footsteps at the Lock | 1928 | |
| Freeman Wills | Crofts | The Purple Sickle Murders (or The Box Office Murders) | 1929 | |
| Thomas | Kindon | Murder in the Moor | 1929 | |
| Elery | Queen | The Roman Hat Murder | 1929 | |
| Kenneth | Roberts | Arundel | 1930 | |
| R. Austin | Freeman | Mr. Pottermack's Oversight | 1930 | |
| Raoul | Whitfield | Green Ice | 1930 | |
| Miles | Burton | The Secret of High Eldersham | 1930 | |
| Hammett | Dashiell | The Glass Key | 1931 | |
| Francis | Iles | Malice Aforethought | 1931 | |
| Maxwell | Grant | The Living Shadow | 1931 | |
| Francis | Beeding | Death Walks in Eastrepps | 1931 | |
| Maxwell | Grant | The Shadow Laughs | 1931 | |
| Eden | Phillpotts | Found Drowned | 1931 | |
| Henry K. | Webster | Who Is the Next? | 1931 | |
| Dorothy | Sayers | Five Red Herrings | 1931 | |
| Earl Derr | Biggers | Keeper of the Keys | 1932 | |
| T.H. | White | Darkness at Pemberly | 1932 | |
| Ellen | Wilkinson | The Division Bell Mystery | 1932 | |
| Dermot | Morrah | The Mummy Case Mystery (or The Mummy Case) | 1933 | |
| James | Hilton | Was it Murder? | 1933 | |
| Kenneth | Roberts | Rabble in Arms | 1933 | |
| J.C. | Masterman | An Oxford Tragedy | 1933 | |
| Phoebe | Atwood Taylor | The Mystery of Cape Cod Tavern | 1934 | |
| P.G. | Wodehouse | Thank You, Jeeves | 1934 | |
| Rex | Stout | Fer-de-Lance | 1934 | |
| Gilbert Keith | Chesterton | The Club of Queer Trades | 1935 | |
| Ethel Lina | White | Wax | 1935 | |
| Ngaio | Marsh | Enter a Murderer | 1935 | |
| James | Hilton | Was It Murder? | 1935 | |
| Gerald | Bullett | The Jury | 1935 | |
| Blake | Nicholas | The Beast Must Die | 1936 | |
| Cain | James M. | Double Indemnity | 1936 | |
| Marsh | Ngaio | Overture to Death | 1936 | |
| Kenneth | Roberts | Northwest Passage | 1936 | |
| Ethel Lina | White | The Lady Vanishes | 1936 | |
| Graham | Greene | This Gun for Hire | 1936 | |
| John Dickson | Carr | The Burning Court | 1937 | |
| Margery | Allingham | Dancers in Mourning | 1937 | |
| Allingham | Margery | The Fashion in Shrouds | 1938 | |
| Carr | John Dickson | The Crooked Hinge | 1938 | |
| Dickson | Carter | The Judas Window | 1938 | |
| Michael Innes | Lament for a Maker | 1938 | ||
| R. Austin Freeman | The Stoneware Monkey | 1938 | ||
| Clayton Rawson | Death from a Top Hat | 1938 | ||
| P.G. Wodehouse | The Code of the Woosters | 1938 | ||
| Georgette Heyer | A Blunt Instrument | 1938 | ||
| Rex Stout | Too Many Cooks | 1938 | ||
| Paul | McGuire | A Funeral in Eden (or Burial Service) | 1938 | |
| C.S. | Forester | Ship of the Line | 1938 | |
| Arthur | Upfield | The Bone Is Pointed | 1938 | |
| Dickson | Carter | The Reader Is Warned | 1939 | |
| Agatha | Christie | And Then There Were None | 1939 | |
| Clayton | Rawson | Footprints on the Ceiling | 1939 | |
| Eliot | Paul | The Mysterious Mickey Finn | 1939 | |
| James Hadley | Chase | No Orchards for Miss Blandish | 1939 | |
| Geoffrey | Household | Rogue Male | 1939 | |
| Elspeth | Huxley | The African Poison Murders | 1939 | |
| Chandler | Raymond | Farewell, My Lovely | 1940 | |
| Christie | Agatha | And Then There Were None | 1940 | |
| Postgate | Raymond | Verdict of Twelve | 1940 | |
| Kenneth Roberts | Oliver Wiswell | 1940 | ||
| C.W. Grafton | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt | 1940 | ||
| Blake | Nicholas | The Corpse in the Snowman | 1941 | |
| James M. Cain | Mildred Pierce | 1941 | ||
| Cornrll Woolrich | The Black Curtain | 1941 | ||
| Richard & Francis Lockridge | A Pinch of Poison | 1941 | ||
| C.S. Forester | Payment Deferred | 1942 | ||
| Vera Gaspary | Laura | 1942 | ||
| Helen McCloy | Cue for Murder | 1942 | ||
| Cornell Woolrich | The Black Angel | 1942 | ||
| Michael Innes | The Daffodil Affair | 1942 | ||
| Graham Greene | The Ministry of Fear | 1943 | ||
| Virginia Perdue | Alarum and Excursion | 1944 | ||
| Erle Stanley Gardner | The Case of the Crooked Candle | 1944 | ||
| Joel Townley Rogers | The Red Right Hand | 1945 | ||
| Gladys Mitchell | The Rising of the Moon | 1945 | ||
| Clifford Witting | Measure for Murder | 1945 | ||
| Lewis Lange | The Birthday Murder | 1945 | ||
| Edmund Crispin | Holy Disorders | 1945 | ||
| Marco Page | The Shadowy Third | 1946 | ||
| Hilda Lawrence | The Pavilion | 1946 | ||
| Roy Huggins | The Double Take | 1946 | ||
| Patricia McGerr | Pick Your Victim | 1946 | ||
| Dorothy B. Hughes | Ride the Pink Horse | 1946 | ||
| Stout | Rex | Too Many Women | 1947 | |
| Stout | Rex | And Be a Villain | 1948 | |
| Edna Sherry | Sudden Fear | 1948 | ||
| Carter Dickson | The Skeleton in the Clock | 1948 | ||
| Mickey Spillane | I, the Jury | 1948 | ||
| Thomas Kyd | Blood on the Bosom Divine | 1948 | ||
| Cornell Woolrich | Rendezvous in Black | 1948 | ||
| Highsmith | Patricia | Strangers on a Train | 1949 | |
| Stout | Rex | The Second Confession | 1949 | |
| Philip Clark | The Dark River | 1949 | ||
| M. Heberden | Engaged to Murder | 1949 | ||
| Ngaio Marsh | A Wreath for Rivera | 1949 | ||
| Cyril Hare | When the Wind Blows | 1949 | ||
| Raymond Chandler | The Little Sister | 1949 | ||
| Norman Longmate | Strip Death Naked | 1949 | ||
| Ross Macdonald | The Drowning Pool | 1950 | ||
| Dorothy B. Hughes | In a Lonely Place | 1950 | ||
| Mickey Spillane | My Gun Is Quick | 1950 | ||
| Josephine Tey | To Love and Be Wise | 1950 | ||
| Graham Greene | The Third Man | 1950 | ||
| Elizabeth Daly | Death and Letters | 1950 | ||
| Patricia Highsmith | Strangers on a Train | 1950 | ||
| Matthew Head | The Congo Venus | 1950 | ||
| Andrew Garve | No Tears for Hilda | 1950 | ||
| Symons | Julian | The 31st of February | 1951 | |
| John & Emery Bonett | A Banner for Pegasus (or Not in the Script) | 1951 | ||
| Rocc Macdonald | The Ivory Green | 1952 | ||
| Stanley Ellin | The Key to Nicholas Street | 1952 | ||
| Joanna Cannan | The Body in the Beck | 1952 | ||
| Michael Innes | One-Man Show | 1952 | ||
| Frederick Brown | The Deep End | 1952 | ||
| Frederick Brown | Meatball | 1953 | ||
| John D. MacDonald | Dead Low Tide | 1953 | ||
| Josephine Tey | The Singing Sands | 1953 | ||
| Davis Grubb | The Night of the Hunter | 1953 | ||
| Raymond Chandler | The Long Goodbye | 1953 | ||
| Hillary Waugh | The Missing Man | 1954 | ||
| Jim Thompson | A Hell of a Woman | 1954 | ||
| Julian Symons | The Narrowing Circle | 1954 | ||
| Rex Stout | The Black Mountain | 1954 | ||
| Walter Tyrer | Such Friends Are Dangerous | 1954 | ||
| Herbert Brean | Wilders Walk Away | 1955 | ||
| William Mole | The Hammersmith Maggot (or Small Venom) | 1955 | ||
| Alex H. Atkinson | Exit Charlie | 1955 | ||
| Christopher Landon | Stone Cold Dead in the Market | 1955 | ||
| Robert Robinson | Landscape for Dead Dons | 1956 | ||
| Maurice Proctor | The Pub Crawler | 1956 | ||
| Edward Grierson | The Second Man | 1956 | ||
| Ellin | Stanley | The Eighth Circle | 1958 | |
| Henry Kuttner | Murder of a Wife | 1958 | ||
| Nigel Fitzgerald | Suffer a Witch | 1958 | ||
| Graham Greene | Our Man in Havana | 1958 | ||
| Bruce Hamilton | Too Much of Water | 1958 | ||
| Robert Traver | Anatomy of a Murder | 1958 | ||
| Blake | Nicholas | The Widow's Cruise | 1959 | |
| Thompson | Jim | The Getaway | 1959 | |
| Robert Bloch | Psycho | 1959 | ||
| Helen Robertson | Swan Song (or The Chinese Goose) | 1960 | ||
| Leo Bruce | Furious Old Women | 1960 | ||
| Geoffrey Household | Watcher in the Shadows | 1960 | ||
| Jean Scholey | The Dead Past | 1961 | ||
| Glun Carr | Death Finds a Foothold | 1961 | ||
| Arthur W. Upfield | The Will of the Tribe | 1962 | ||
| Lionel Davidson | The Rose of Tibet | 1962 | ||
| Ross Macdonald | The Zebra-Striped Hearse | 1962 | ||
| P.D. James | Cover her Face | 1962 | ||
| Dick Francis | Dead Cert | 1962 | ||
| Margaret Millar | How Like an Angel | 1962 | ||
| Fletcher & Bailey | Seven Days in May | 1962 | ||
| Simon Nash | Killed by Scandal | 1962 | ||
| Len Deighton | The Ipcress File | 1962 | ||
| S.B. Hough | The Bronze Perseus (or The Tender Killer) | 1962 | ||
| McBain | Ed | Ten Plus One | 1963 | |
| Nash | Simon | Death Over Deep Water | 1963 | |
| Thomas Blanchard Dewey | A sad Song Singing | 1963 | ||
| Alistair MacLean | Ice Station Zebra | 1963 | ||
| Robert Van Gulik | The Emperor's Pearl | 1963 | ||
| Kemelman | Harry | Friday the Rabbi Slept Late | 1964 | |
| John Garner | The Liquidator | 1964 | ||
| David Walker | Winter of Madness | 1964 | ||
| Amanda Cross | In the Last Analysis | 1964 | ||
| Jane Langton | The Minuteman Murder | 1964 | ||
| Len Deighton | Funeral in Berlin | 1964 | ||
| Hans Helmut Kirst | The Night of the Generals | 1964 | ||
| Mary Stewart | This Rough Magic | 1964 | ||
| Rex Stout | The Doorbell Rang | 1965 | ||
| L.P. Davies | Who Is Lewis Pinder? | 1965 | ||
| Adam Hall | The Quiller Memorandum | 1965 | ||
| Patricia Moyes | Johnny Under Ground | 1965 | ||
| Carlton Keith | The Crayfish Dinner (or The Elusive Epicure) | 1966 | ||
| J.B. Priestley | Salt Is Leaving | 1966 | ||
| Emma Lathen | Murder Makes the Wheels Go 'Round | 1966 | ||
| Helen MacInnes | The Double Image | 1966 | ||
| Stanley Hyland | Green Grow the Tresses-O | 1967 | ||
| Ross Thomas | The Seersucker Whipsaw | 1967 | ||
| Robert van Gulik | Necklace and Calabash | 1967 | ||
| J.J. Marric | Gideon's River | 1968 | ||
| MacDonald | Ross | The Good-bye Look | 1969 | |
| Simon Troy | Swift to Its Close | 1969 | ||
| George MacDonald Fraser | Flashman | 1969 | ||
| Sjowall & Wahloo | The Fire Engine that Disappeared | 1969 | ||
| Mario Puzo | The Godfather | 1969 | ||
| Colin Watson | Just What the Doctor Ordered | 1969 | ||
| Alistair MacLean | Puppet on a Chain | 1969 | ||
| Frank Swinnerton | On the Shady Side | 1970 | ||
| Jack Finney | Time and Time Again | 1970 | ||
| P.M. Hubbard | High Tide | 1970 | ||
| Candy | Edward | Words for Murder Perhaps | 1971 | |
| George V. Higgins | The Friends of Eddie Coyle | 1971 | ||
| A.H.Z. Carr | Finding Maubee | 1971 | ||
| Alistair MacLean | Bear Island | 1971 | ||
| Frederick Forsyth | The Day of the Jackal | 1971 | ||
| Tony Hillerman | The Fly on the Wall | 1971 | ||
| Frederick Forsyth | The Odessa File | 1972 | ||
| David Anthony | Blood on a Harvest Moon | 1972 | ||
| Trevanian | The Eiger Sanction | 1972 | ||
| Victor Canning | The Rainbird Pattern | 1972 | ||
| John Miles | The Night Hunters | 1973 | ||
| Trevanian | The Loo Sanction | 1973 | ||
| Lawrence Sanders | The First Deadly Sin | 1973 | ||
| Julian Symons | The Plot Against Roger Ryder | 1973 | ||
| Ross Thomas | If You Can't Be Good | 1973 | ||
| K.C. Constantine | The Man Who Liked to Look at Himself | 1973 | ||
| Robert Littell | The Defection of A.J. Lewinter | 1973 | ||
| Bergman | Andrew | The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 | 1974 | |
| Simon | Roger | The Big Fix | 1974 | |
| Peter Benchley | Jaws | 1974 | ||
| Anthony Price | Other Paths to Glory | 1974 | ||
| Joseph Wambaugh | The Onion Field | 1974 | ||
| Frederick Forsyth | The Dogs of War | 1974 | ||
| John D. MacDonald | The Dreadful Lemon Sky | 1974 | ||
| John Le Carre | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | 1974 | ||
| Christie | Agatha | Curtain | 1975 | |
| William Gardner | A Big Enough Wreath | 1975 | ||
| Tony Kenrick | Stealing Lilian | 1975 | ||
| Wilbur Smith | The Eye of the Tiger | 1975 | ||
| Jack Higgins | The Eagle Has Landed | 1975 | ||
| Thomas Gifford | The Cavanaugh Quest | 1976 | ||
| Arthur Morrison | Best Martin Hewitt Detective Stories | 1976 | ||
| Ira Levin | The Boys from Brazil | 1976 | ||
| Ellis Peters | Never Pick Up Hitch Hikers | 1976 | ||
| Wilbur Smith | Cry Wolf | 1976 | ||
| Nan & Ivan Lyons | Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe | 1976 | ||
| Hjortsberg | William | Falling Angel | 1977 | |
| James | P.D. | Death of an Expert Witness | 1977 | |
| McBain | Ed | Long Time No See | 1977 | |
| Rendell | Ruth | Means of Evil | 1977 | |
| George MacDonald Fraser | Flashman's Lady | 1977 | ||
| Ruth Rendell | A Judgement in Stone | 1977 | ||
| George Hart | The Punch and Judy Murders | 1977 | ||
| Brian Freemantle | Charlie M. | 1977 | ||
| Ken Follett | The Eye of the Needle | 1978 | ||
| La Rosa & Tannenbaum | The Random Factor | 1978 | ||
| Irving & Bukholz | The Death Freak | 1978 | ||
| Desmond Bagley | Flyaway | 1978 | ||
| Trevanian | Shibumi | 1979 | ||
| William Gardner | The Mobius Strip | 1979 | ||
| Collins & LaPierre | The Fifth Horseman | 1980 | ||
| George MacDonald Fraser | Mr. American | 1980 | ||
| Michael Crichton | Congo | 1980 | ||
| Peter Fox | Mantis | 1980 | ||
| Lyons | Arthur | Hard Trade | 1981 | |
| Thomas Harris | Red Dragon | 1981 | ||
| Ann Perry | Paragon Walk | 1981 | ||
| David Gurr | A Woman Called Scylla | 1981 | ||
| Dick Francis | Twice Shy | 1982 | ||
| Duff Hart-Davis | The Heights of Rimring | 1982 | ||
| W. R. Duncan | The Queen's Messenger | 1982 | ||
| Eco | Umberto | The Name of the Rose | 1983 | |
| McBain | Ed | Ice | 1983 | |
| Joe McGinniss | Fatal Vision | 1983 | ||
| Dorothy Dunnett | Dolly and the Bird of Paradise | 1984 | ||
| Raymond Paul | The Tragedy at Tiverton | 1984 | ||
| Ross Thomas | Briarpatch | 1984 | ||
| Duncan Kyle | The King's Commissar | 1984 | ||
| Auster | Paul | The New York Trilogy | 1985 | |
| Crumley | James | Dancing Bear | 1985 | |
| Leonard | Elmore | Glitz | 1985 | |
| Rendell | Ruth | The Killing Doll | 1985 | |
| Maxwell | Thomas | Kiss Me Once | 1986 | |
| Potter | Dennis | The Singing Detective | 1986 | |
| Paretsky | Sara | Bitter Medicine | 1987 | |
| Vine | Barbara | A Fatal Inversion | 1987 | |
| Grafton | Sue | "C" is for Corpse | ||
| Wade | Henry | Heir Presumptive |