Top 10 Thriller Books of 2020

 Hello, hello!

Today I will be sharing my favourite crime/ mystery/ thriller books of 2020! 

This year we (sister and I) read a lot of Thrillers and a fair amount of Horror too. I guess this year was a horror it felt nice and oddly comforting to visit and for a brief period of time be immersed in the world of someone else's horror and worry. It makes for a perfect escape. My sister, especially, read a lot of thrillers and read them in quick succession. So this list is mostly her top reads of 2020. 

This a collection of books that range from the classic murder mystery to a few nice little experiments and departures from the classic formats of the genre. All of these will, however, keep you engaged, engrossed and guessing!

Let's get into it, then! 

1. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling): Full review can be found here. This was the first cold case for Cormoran Strike and Robin and, boy, was it a complicated one! 40 years ago, a young GP leaves her practice for home on a rainy London evening. She vanishes without a trace. The police investigation leads nowhere and the family is left without any answers. At 888 pages, this book is a chunky one, but it is gripping and very engaging. Robin and Cormoran, literally, leave no stone unturned to find out what became of Margot and the whole investigation was nicely done as well. 

2. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz: This is the third book in the Susan Ryeland series by Anthony Horowitz and like most of the books in this series there is a book within a book! I don't know about you but I love the book-within-a-book format! Both the cases in the book- the one solved by Atticus Pund (the fictional detective) and the case set in the real world are both interesting, full of twists and very gripping. We reviewed it here. 

3. The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Agatha Christie, Sophie Hannah: This is the fourth book in the Poirot series by Sophie Hannah written for Agatha Christie's estate. The other books in this series have been a little disappointing, but this one was slightly better! A series of mysterious events plague Poirot as he travels by bus to a housing estate to meet with a new client. The journey to solve a murder ends with another murder and Poirot ends up solving a very complex murder case. The motive for the two murders in this book is a bit different from the very obvious ones and some may be let down by it, but I didn't hate it at all. The full review can be found here. 

4. One by One by Ruth Ware: An office retreat to a Swiss chalet ends in tragedy when, during an avalanche, one by one, the team members start getting murdered. There is a killer in the chalet and he or she is out to kill everyone for some unknown reason. A good slasher style book and even though the killer was very obvious, the motive is interesting. Full review can be found here. 

5. The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda: Leah leaves Boston under a cloud, her career as a journalist over. She moves with an old friend, one she hasn't kept in touch with for a few years, to a little town in rural Pennsylvania. One day her friend- Emmy- vanishes and Leah realises that everything she thought she knew about her friend was a lie. The Perfect Stranger is a quick and pacy thriller with an interesting premise and full of secrets and secret identities. A quick read if you feel like you are stuck or going through a reading funk! Full review here. 

6. The Patient by Jasper Dewitt: A psych ward and a patient that belies any kind of diagnosis and is one that terrorises the doctors and patients alike. Dark, creepy and wholly immersive. Full review can be found here. 

7. The Murder Game by Rachel Abbott: Four childhood best friends and their significant others gather at a beautiful island off the Welsh coast for a wedding. Before the ceremony, the groom's sister is found murdered. One year later, the friends and plus ones return, but this time it is to expose one of them as the killer. A pacy and not-very-easy to guess murder mystery. Full review here.

8. The Guest List by Lucy Foley: Another book set on an island during a wedding and a storm! A very gripping and atmospheric book, which keeps you hooked right up until the end. A detailed review can be read here. 

9. Rules for Perfect Murder by Peter Swanson: This book just made me giddily happy. A book about books, more specifically a book about a bookshop that sells thriller books! I mean, come on, what's not to love? Plus, I do enjoy most of Peter Swanson's books and this one full of references and hat tips to classic thriller fiction was an absolute delight to read. 

10. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager: This book is a homage of sorts to the infamous Amityville case and is about a young woman trying to make sense of a story that has been a part of her life for far too long and she would like some answers and some closure. I did a full review for it too, you can find it here.