Quais du Polar and Babelio have joined forces for the 20th edition of the festival and have asked you a question full of responsibility: which novel deserves the title of best crime novel of the last 20 years?
Nearly 14,000 readers answered us despite the difficulty of the question and the profusion of great novels to choose from. You had to choose from the crime novels, noir novels and thrillers most appreciated by the 1.7 million members of the Babelio site between 2005 and 2023.
With the poll having ended at the end of January 2024, it is now time to discover the best crime novel of the last 20 years in your opinion, but also the 9 other novels that have obtained the most votes. A special top 10 crime novel that can enrich your pile of books to read if you don’t already know these authors from France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden or Quebec!
The best thriller of the last 20 years according to you
Millennium, Volume 1: The Men Who Didn’t Like Women by Stieg Larsson
Published in 2005 in Sweden, the first volume of the trilogy by committed journalist Stieg Larsson was so successful that it made Northern Europe the hub of crime fiction. In France, it was a success and readers discovered with a pleasure mixed with horror the adventures of two characters who have become emblematic: the hacker Lisbeth Salander with a traumatic past and the journalist Mikael Blomkvist, a sort of literary double of the author.
Still a must-see almost 20 years after its release, the trilogy has had several sequels by two Swedish authors: David Lagercrantz signed three novels before handing over to Karin Smirnoff, invited at our 20th edition of the festival.
Other books acclaimed by readers
- Joel Dicker, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Case – Rosie & Wolfe
- Piergiorgio Pulixi, The Illusion of Evil – Gallmeister, translated from the Italian by Anatole Pons-Reumaux
- Roxanne Bouchard, We Were the Salt of the Sea – Black Dawn
- Franck Thilliez, 1991 – Black River
- Michel Bussi, Black Water Lilies – Presses de la Cité
- Olivier Norek, Surface – Michel Lafon
- Donato Carrisi, The Whisperer – Calmann-Lévy, translated from the Italian by Anaïs Bokobza
- Henri Loevenbruck, I’ll Kill for You – Flammarion
- R.J. Ellory, Only Silence – Sonatine, translated from the English by Fabrice Pointeau
Find more details on the article available on the Babelio website
