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LISTS CLAIMING TO PLACE, in order, the best this or the greatest that can sometimes be seen as exercises in provocation. They excite, anger and irritate readers, but perhaps they can never completely satisfy them. Now it is my task to serve as the fall guy for such an exercise, to be the butt of your dissatisfaction.

My brief was to list who I regarded as the greatest crime fiction writers of any era, and of all nationalities. It is specifically not a compilation of my own favourites. It contains writers I don't particularly enjoy reading, but whose influence on the genre has been significant, by way of their innovativeness, popularity or pioneering of new avenues.

The final choice was entirely mine, but I was given a great deal of helpful advice. We asked a panel of four experts to furnish their own 50 names - though not in order of preference. The crime writers Natasha Cooper and Val McDermid, Barry Forshaw, editor of the Rough Guide to Crime Fiction, and Peter Millar, reviewer of thrillers for The Times, produced lists of great interest, variety and surprises.

McDermid offered, as a member of the panel, to withdraw from being considered for the top 50. I declined her invitation; she's on my list. In addition, dozens of writers and other enthusiasts were asked to tell us their five. I am extremely grateful to all the contributors.

There were, of course, issues of definition and boundaries. Who qualifies as a crime writer? This is also known as the Dostoevsky Dilemma. Crime and Punishment is arguably the greatest work of crime fiction yet. But its author is not on my list. I'm in danger of suggesting that great novelists who happen to have a crime at the centre of their narrative are too lofty to be regarded as mere toilers in the field of crime fiction. I'm not saying that, but I know, instinctively, that I don't regard Dostoevsky, Graham Greene, or many other eminent novelists as primarily crime writers.

What about the spy thriller? Should John le Carré and Eric Ambler be entitled to a place in my 50? On merit certainly, but I decided against them. I eliminated, too, the likes of John Buchan and Ian Fleming. All I can say is that I felt that they belonged more appropriately in a different fictional category.

The controversies began a few microseconds after my list was distributed to a small number of people who needed to know its contents. Please reconsider your decision (the adjective absurd was implied) to place A lower than B, one expert panellist pleaded. Too many Americans, another sniffed. I welcomed such criticism and disagreement. I hope it will continue animatedly by way of your reactions.

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