Books
Most gripping first lines in crime fiction
You can often tell if a novel is worth reading from the pace of its first page: it’s how we separate the slow-burners from the addictive page-turners. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the crime novels with the most gripping first lines, to give you some inspiration for your next read…
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell
“Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.”
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell.
Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.”
Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent.
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
“It is cold at six-forty in the morning on a March day in Paris, and seems even colder when a man is about to be executed by firing squad.”
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
“Dying is not as easy as it looks in the movies.”
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.”
The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Persuader by Lee Child
“The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot.”
Persuader by Lee Child.
Read Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books in order.
Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen
“An hour before her shift started, an hour before she was even supposed to be there, they rolled the first corpse through the door.”
Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen.
Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs
“Following an Easter dinner of ham, peas, and creamed potatoes, Charles “Le Cowboy” Bellemare pinched a twenty from his sister, drove to a crack house in Verdun, and vanished.”
Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs.
The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendell
“The winter before he was sixteen, Pup sold his soul to the devil.”
The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendell.
Tripwire by Lee Child
“Hook Hobie owed the whole of his life to a secret nearly thirty years old.”
Tripwire by Lee Child.
Read Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books in order.
On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill
“The day they drowned Dendale I were seven years old.”
On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill.
The Outsider by Stephen King
“It was an unmarked car, just some nondescript American sedan a few years old, but the blackwall tires and the three men inside gave it away for what it was.”
The Outsider by Stephen King.
Read Stephen King’s books in order.
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