# Who is the Greatest Mystery Writer of All Time? - the Final Five!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time-the-final-five/564468 "2010-12-17T03:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time-the-final-five/564468/21 "2010-12-17T18:58:45Z")
I voted for Christie. Her books kept me entertained during my teenage and young adult years. I read so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time-the-final-five/564468/22 "2010-12-19T15:42:15Z")
Here’s an interesting thing - in the runoff poll, there were - 18 votes for Arthur Conan Doyle 17 votes for Agatha Christie 9 votes for Raymond Chandler 8 votes Dorothy L. Sayers and 7 votes for Rex Stout. In the Final Five poll, there are - 22 votes for Arthur Conan Doyle 13 votes for Agatha Christie 13 votes for Dorothy L. Sayers 11 votes for Rex Stout and 8 votes for Raymond Chandler. At 67 votes, I’m thinking the Agatha Christie fans just haven’t noticed the new poll, so I’ll give it a wee bump. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time-the-final-five/564468/23 "2010-12-20T05:38:43Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > I voted for Sayers because hers are the books that I have chosen to re-read the most often. Me, too. I love all these writers, but Sayers is the one whose works I’ve re-read the most. I had to replace a Lord Peter Wimsey collection because it literally fell apart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-mystery-writer-of-all-time-the-final-five/564468.md?page=1)