The Guardian’s Best Crime and Thrillers of 2020
By Laura Wilson

THE MAN IN THE STREET by Trevor Wood
TRUE STORY by Kate Reed Petty
DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE by Deepa Anappara
BLACK RAIN FALLING by Jacob Ross
THREE-FIFTHS by John Vercher (2019 in U.S. and a Barry Award Nomination)
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman
YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY by Steph Cha (2019 in U.S. and a Barry Award Nomination)
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyssa Cole
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S. A. Cosby
REMAIN SILENT by Susie Steiner
BROKEN (six novellas) by Don Winslow
MAGPIE LANE by Lucy Atkins
OUR FATHERS by Rebecca Wait
SUMMER OF RECKONING by Marion Brunet
WE BEGIN AT THE END by Chris Whitaker
THE SEARCHER by Tana French
THE LAST PROTECTOR by Andrew Taylor
THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton
BENT by Joe Thomas
CRY BABY by Mark Billingham

Click here to read the entire article by Laura Wilson, on of the U.K.’s top mystery reviewers and an accomplished crime fiction author herself.

Editor’s Note: I greatly enjoyed four of the novels listed above: THE MAN IN THE STREET by Trevor Wood (winner of the John Creasey Dagger), THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman, REMAIN SILENT by Susie Steiner, and BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S. A. Cosby. THE SEARCHER by Tana French didn’t do anything for me, but I’m in a minority because it is cropping up on most of the Best of 2020 lists. I hope to read THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton by year’s end so I can evaluate it for a possible Barry Award nomination.