Jockeying for the Barrys

Which book and author should receive the 2020 Barry Award for Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade? That’s one of the knotty questions facing the readers of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, who will be asked later this year to determine the victors in that prize category and five others. Below is the full roster of 2020 nominees.

Best Mystery/Crime Novel:
• The Lost Man, by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
• If She Wakes, by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown)
• Metropolis, by Philip Kerr (Putnam)
• The Border, by Don Winslow (HarperCollins)
• Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha (Ecco)
• Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh (Flatiron)

Best First Mystery/Crime Novel:
• The Chestnut Man, by Søren Sveistrup (Harper)
• The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon)
• American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)
• Save Me from Dangerous Men, by S.A. Lelchuk (Flatiron)
• Scrublands, Chris Hammer (Atria)
• To the Lions, Holly Watt (Dutton)

Best Paperback Original Mystery/Crime Novel:
• The Godmother, by Hannelore Cayre (ECW)
• Winner Kills All, by R.J. Bailey (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Killing Quarry, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
• Fate, by Ian Hamilton (Spiderline)
• Missing Daughter, by Rick Mofina (Mira)
• No Good Deed, by James Swain (Thomas & Mercer)

Best Thriller:
• Mission Critical, by Mark Greaney (Berkley)
• Backlash, by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bester)
• The Chain, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)
• The Burglar, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)
• True Believer, by Jack Carr (Atria/Emily Bester)
• White Hot Silence, by Henry Porter (Mysterious Press)

Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade:
• Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
• November Road, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• Suspect, by Robert Crais (Putnam)
• The Dry, by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
• The Blackhouse, by Peter May (Quercus)
• The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Although “best of the decade” honors are sure to be hotly contested (as was the case back in 2010, when Deadly Pleasures mounted a similar effort), all of this year’s prize rivals are expected to have their ardent supporters. The winners will be announced on Thursday, October 15, during festive opening-night ceremonies at the Bouchercon convention in Sacramento, California.

(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)