The Best Books of 2020: Mysteries!

Murder mysteries have always been a strange kind of escapism, since their principle building blocks are dead bodies, and yet this is one of the most reliable of all the escapist genres, even in a year preoccupied with death and misfortune. Certainly there were swaths of 2020 during which I myself couldn’t get enough murder mysteries, and scattered around in all that reading were some genuine gems. These were the best of them:

10 The Mitford Scandal by Jessica Fellowes (Minotaur)

As I’ve mentioned many times since this strangely delightful series started, the once-famous Mitford sisters are just about the least likely sleuthing crime-solvers imaginable, and yet here there are in yet another outing that once again managed to be one of year’s most bubbly experiences.

9 In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander (Minotaur)

Novelists have been drawn to the inherent drama of the the first-century eruption of Mt. Vesuvius for over a century, and in this narratively ambitious novel, Vesuvius forms the backdrop at two very different periods in its colorful history, which allows Tasha Alexander to work a marvelous tension between two eras.

8 Trouble Is What I Do by Walter Mosley (Mulholland)

Walter Mosley returns to his terrific character PI Leonid McGill in this racially-charged narrative that races to its climax with scarcely a word wasted along the way. 

7 The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

This ninth novel in Susan Elia MacNeal’s very enjoyable Maggie Hope series centers around a series of murders happening in the middle of wartime London, but the real fascination this time is with our heroine’s battered inner struggle.

6 Salt River by Randy Wayne White (Putnam)

Randy Wayne White’s adventures of his main character marine biologist Doc Ford have been going on for so long that pretty much anybody would expect the books to be pure zombie-shufflers - and yet, this series of taut Florida narratives remains as genuinely gripping as it was when it started, 30 years ago.

5 The Decent Inn of Death by Rennie Airth (Penguin)

Rennie Airth’s latest John Madden mystery takes place in a snowbound country house and gets kicked off by the death of - you guessed it - the village organist. Intensely programmatic, in other words, but as usual, Airth raises the whole affair into memorable territory.

4 The King’s Beast by Elliot Pattinson (Counterpoint)

This latest American Revolution-era adventure of passionate naturalist Duncan McCallum is the sixth and best installment in this tense and chatty series that really ought to be much better known. 

3 Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews (Soho Crime)

The twenty-year gap between Francine Mathews’ Merry Folger mysteries - Death in a Cold Hard Light appeared in 1998 and Death on Nantucket not until 2017 - did nothing to stale this great character, and Death on Tuckernuck continues the series’ wonderful blend of personality and local island color.

2 Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty (Minotaur Books)

The previous installments in this series about tough young Savannah reporter Harper McClain struck me - once I got to them - as fairly pedestrian, but this story a dead singer and a mysterious stalker is superbly done, one of the most memorable mysteries I read this year. 

1 What Is Time To a Pig? By John Straley (Soho Crime)

This, the best mystery novel of 2020, not only has the best title of any book this year but is also the finest, funniest, and strangest entry in John Straley’s fantastic series of offbeat crime stories set in Cold Storage, Alaska, this one featuring a possible rogue nuclear warhead and a redemption arc that works perfectly.