What's the standard word count for a crime-thriller novel? And do word counts really matter?

[Guest]

I'm at 25k words. I experience writer's block here and there and I'm no where near the middle of the story. I'm thinking of just writing for now and worrying about the word count later

[Jeff]

Word counts absolutely matter because reader expectations matter. You don't have to hit some exact number, but staying within an expected range is fairly important for marketing purposes.

[Maihri]

That happens to me sometimes then I get really good days and everything flows quite well. I don’t worry about the word count in the early stages because the final story will more than likely be different with editing etc. my motto is just write the story and the rest will follow.

[Amy]

Crime sits between 80k and 90k. They're expected to be quick reads.