LEHMAN'S RECOMMENDED DETECTIVE NOVELS AND STORIES
In his book, The Perfect Murder: A study in Detection (1989), David Lehman provides a list of recommended titles. They "were chosen for their importance in the evolution of the mystery genre or simply for the pleasure they reliably give; in many cases, both reasons apply."
 The Fashion in Shrouds | Margery Allingham | 1938 |
| The New York Trilogy | Paul Auster | 1985 |
| Trent's Last Case | E.C. Bentley | 1912 |
| The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 | Andrew Bergman | 1974 |
| The Poisoned Chocolates Case | Anthony Berkeley | 1929 |
| Thou Shell of Death | Nicholas Blake | 1936 |
| The Beast Must Die | Nicholas Blake | 1938 |
| The Corpse in the Snowman | Nicholas Blake | 1941 |
| Minute for Murder | Nicholas Blake | 1947 |
| The Widow's Cruise | Nicholas Blake | 1959 |
| Double Indemnity | James M. Cain | 1936 |
| Words for Murder Perhaps | Edward Candy | 1971 |
| The Three Coffins | John Dickson Carr | 1935 |
| The Burning Court | John Dickson Carr | 1937 |
| The Crooked Hinge | John Dickson Carr | 1938 |
| The Big Sleep | Raymond Chandler | 1939 |
| Farewell, My Lovely | Raymond Chandler | 1940 |
| The High Window | Raymond Chandler | 1942 |
| The Long Good-bye | Raymond Chandler | 1954 |
| The Club of Queer Trades | Gilbert Keith Chesterton | 1935 |
| The Man Who Was Thursday | Gilbert Keith Chesterton | 1908 |
| The Innocence of Father Brown | Gilbert Keith Chesterton | 1911 |
| The Wisdom of Father Brown | Gilbert Keith Chesterton | 1914 |
| The Murder of Roger Ackroyd | Agatha Christie | 1926 |
| Murder in the Orient Express | Agatha Christie | 1934 |
| The ABC Murders | Agatha Christie | 1936 |
| And Then There Were None | Agatha Christie | 1940 |
| Curtain | Agatha Christie | 1975 |
| The Moonstone | Wilkie Collins | 1868 |
| The Moving Toyshop | Edmund Crispin | 1946 |
| Dancing Bear | James Crumley | 1985 |
| The Judas Window | Carter Dickson | 1938 |
| The Reader Is Warned | Carter Dickson | 1939 |
| A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1887 |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1892 |
| The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1894 |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1902 |
| The Name of the Rose | Umberto Eco | 1983 |
| Mystery Stories | Stanley Ellin | 1956 |
| The Eighth Circle | Stanley Ellin | 1958 |
| The Big Clock | Kenneth Fearing | 1946 |
| The Red Thumb Mark | R. Austin Freeman | 1907 |
| "C" is for Corpse | Sue Grafton | |
| Red Harvest | Dashiell Hammett | 1929 |
| The Maltese Falcon | Dashiell Hammett | 1930 |
| The Glass Key | Dashiell Hammett | 1931 |
| Strangers on a Train | Patricia Highsmith | 1949 |
| The Talented Mr | Patricia Highsmith | |
| Falling Angel | William Hjortsberg | 1977 |
| Hamlet, Revenge! | Michael Innes | |
| Death of an Expert Witness | P. D. James | 1977 |
| A Taste for Death | P. D. James | 1986 |
| Friday the Rabbi Slept Late | Harry Kemelman | 1964 |
| Glitz | Elmore Leonard | 1985 |
| A Kiss Before Dying | Ira Levin | 1953 |
| Hard Trade | Arthur Lyons | 1981 |
| Ten Plus One | Ed McBain | 1963 |
| Long Time No See | Ed McBain | 1977 |
| Ice | Ed McBain | 1983 |
| The Chill | Ross MacDonald | 1964 |
| The Good-bye Look | Ross MacDonald | 1969 |
| The Underground Man | Ross MacDonald | 1971 |
| Overture to Death | Ngaio Marsh | 1936 |
| Kiss Me Once | Thomas Maxwell | 1986 |
| Death Over Deep Water | Simon Nash | 1963 |
| Bitter Medicine | Sara Paretsky | 1987 |
| Tales | Edgar Allan Poe | 1845 |
| Verdict of Twelve | Raymond Postgate | 1940 |
| The Singing Detective | Dennis Potter | 1986 |
| The Chinese Orange Mystery | Ellery Queen | 1934 |
| Means of Evil | Ruth Rendell | 1977 |
| The Killing Doll | Ruth Rendell | 1985 |
| Strike Three, You're Dead | Richard Rosen | 1984 |
| Strong Poison | Dorothy Sayers | 1930 |
| Murder Must Advertise | Dorothy Sayers | 1933 |
| The Big Fix | Roger Simon | 1974 |
| The Death of the Detective | Mark Smith | 1974 |
| Too Many Women | Rex Stout | 1947 |
| And Be a Villain | Rex Stout | 1948 |
| The Second Confession | Rex Stout | 1949 |
| The 31st of February | Julian Symons | 1951 |
| The Daughter of Time | Josephine Tey | 1951 |
| The Killer Inside Me | Jim Thompson | 1952 |
| The Getaway | Jim Thompson | 1959 |
| A Fatal Inversion | Barbara Vine | 1987 |