The Guardian newspaper picked "The 100 greatest novels of all time" recently. There were half a dozen crime novels on the list:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (23), The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (44), The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (56), The Quiet American by Graham Greene (67), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre (78), and L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy (95).

Not a bad selection, I suppose, although not the ones I'd pick. For one thing, where is Hammett's Maltese Falcon?