Less Contention Than Consensus

With just six weeks to go now before the end of this sad, tumultuous year, selections of the “best books” of the last 12 months are growing in number. The New York Times today released its “100 Notable Books of 2020” collection, including two drawn inarguably from the crime/mystery/thriller category: Riku Onda’s The Aosawa Murders and S. A. Cosby’ Blacktop Wasteland.

Meanwhile, Kirkus Reviews has named its picks of the 11 “Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2020.” Among that unsurprising bunch are Michael Connelly’s Fair Warning, Camilla Läckberg’s The Golden Cage, Jo Nesbø’s The Kingdom, and Ruth Ware’s One by One.

Finally, editors are the gigantic retail site Amazon have chosen their 20 favorite mysteries and thrillers. Tana French’s The Searcher, Stuart Turton’s The Devil and the Dark Water, Liz Moore’s Long Bright River, Rachel Howzell Hall ‘s And Now She’s Gone, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s Winter Counts all made the cut.