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23 best psychological thriller books that will mess with your head.

Here’s an experiment: pick the name of a New York Times bestseller, HBO limited series, or Ben Affleck-starring blockbuster out of a hat. Chances are, it’ll be a psychological thriller book. If there’s one genre having its moment in 2018, it’s this one. And aside from capturing the attention of the cultural zeitgeist, this genre is affectionately called “horror lite” (or “grip lit,” or “horror except it’s too good for the genre”) for a reason.

Be it a backwoods murder mystery, a gothic period piece, or a prestigious drama that just happens to be about an arsonist, these are the best psychological thriller books that dive into the brain of the bad guy… and make you question your own brain along the way.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great psychological thrillers to read, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized thriller recommendation  😉

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1. I Know Where She Is by S.B. Caves

A lot of people here are probably just looking for the next Gone Girl . Well, look no further. Ten years after her daughter's disappearance, Francine receives a mysterious note bearing just five words: I know where she is. With her life once again turned upside down, she goes back on the hunt for the truth behind the abduction. Things get dark, and you might find yourself calling in sick just so you can stay home and finish this heart-stopping debut novel from British author S.B. Caves.

2. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Or, you might simply be looking for the next title from Gone Girl ’s author, Gillian Flynn. Whether that’s the case or not, Sharp Objects is a must-read for any fan of the tightly-structured thriller. It was recently adapted into an HBO Limited Series, but if you haven’t yet caught Amy Adams’ award-worthy performance as a traumatized investigative journalist hunting down a murderer in her hometown, do yourself a favor: hold off until you’ve read the book first.

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3.  Big Little Lies  by Liane Moriarty

Speaking of HBO adaptations, Liane Moriarty’s story of a group of Monterey housewives banding together made waves when Reese Witherspoon turned it into a rousing feminist miniseries. Five women in a picturesque coastal town realize that their Instagram-perfect lives are not all they appear to be as they uncover the undercurrents of domestic abuse and assault running through their community. Given Moriarty’s knack for believable characters and compelling prose, this thrill-filled take on First Wives Club is a must-read.

4. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

If Netflix is more your speed, this book has spurred a TV adaptation, too. But with an author like Margaret Atwood at the helm, refusing to read the book first is inexcusable. Alias Grace tells the true story of mild-mannered servant Grace Marks and the double murder she’s been accused of. It’s told through the eyes of a doctor struggling to understand criminal behavior — and to reconcile Grace’s nature with the nature of her crime. In other words, it's like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in a meticulous period setting that will delight fans of historical fiction.

5. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Just like Alias Grace, this is another thrilling period piece by an all-time great female author that's resurfaced thanks to Netflix. But that's where the similarities end. Aspiring ghostbuster Dr Montague rents an infamous haunted house for the summer, along with three other guests who’ve experienced the supernatural. Predictably, things get scary.

Published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s masterpiece harks back to the gothic horror of the nineteenth century, but ultimately settles into psychological thriller territory as Jackson creates ghosts that mirror the trauma of her troubled protagonists.  

6. The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

Norway’s first serial killer has a very specific modus operandi: he only hunts married mothers, and he always leaves a snowman at the scene of the crime. Fans of Thomas Harris will be eager to join Nesbø’s Detective Harry Hole as he unravels this bizarre mystery to stop the killer in his tracks.

The Snowman was recently adapted into a critical and commercial flop starring Michael Fassbender but don’t let that put you off. There’s a good reason why Nesbø has sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

7. Misery by Stephen King

Thanks to this hit novel (and its film adaptation), “I’m your number-one fan” is now officially the creepiest thing you can say to any author. Blame Annie Wilkes, the nurse who tends her favorite author Paul Sheldon back to health after a car crash in rural Colorado. She’s obsessed with his character Misery Chastain — so how will she react when she realizes that he’s killed Chastain off in his latest novel?

Stephen King is undoubtedly best known for his horror novels, and let’s be clear — this seminal work about the dark side of fandom, is pretty darn horrifying. But at its core, Misery is a tale of obsession, madness, and isolation: the perfect mix for a good dose of thrills.

8. Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

Psych thriller buffs might already be familiar with The Girl On The Train , but Paula Hawkins’ sophomore effort (and highly anticipated follow-up to her first New York Times bestseller) weaves a mind-warping tale told by 11 (yes, 11) different characters. Jules Abbott returns to her hometown after the mysterious death of her sister to care for her newly orphaned niece.

Fans of Hawkins’ cinematic prose and Hitchcock-esque influences will find this novel just as gripping as her smash-hit debut.

9. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

When your novel’s been out for only a year and is already being optioned for a motion picture, you know you’re doing something right.

The Woman in the Window stars Anna Fox, an agoraphobe living alone in Manhattan. She has two best friends: her wine and her window. As she gets to know (i.e. starts spying on) her neighbors, she witnesses a violent undercurrent to their happy facade… but who will believe a homebody wino? Both a riveting spin on the psych thriller craze and a meditation on mental illness and agoraphobia, there’s no question that the time is right for this contemporary take on Rear Window .

The gripping international bestseller about motherhood gone awry.

Eva never really wanted to be a mother and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.

10.  We Need to Talk About Kevin  by Lionel Shriver

A genre that deals exclusively in themes of murder and mental illness can get pretty heavy, but it doesn’t get much heavier than We Need to Talk About Kevin . When her son is arrested for killing nine classmates, Eva Khatchadourian looks back on his childhood for warning signs she might have missed. Published in 2003, this story about a fictional school shooting has taken on a new poignancy as these tragedies become increasingly commonplace. There’s nothing common, however, about this vivid portrait of the psyche of a sociopath and a shattered mother trying to come to terms with it.

11. Room by Emma Donoghue

In fact, like Lionel Shriver’s book, many great psychological thriller books find traction in pulling their plots straight from headlines. This is certainly the case with Room , a mind-blowing take on the Fritzl abduction case. Trapped for seven years in her captor's basement, life has been hell for the character we know as 'Ma'. But for her son, Jack (from whose perspective the story is told), the room is all he's ever known. This thriller doubles as a heartbreaking coming-of-age saga about learning to see the world in a different way (and is now an Academy Award-winning movie to boot).

12. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

Amber Patterson’s plain upbringing renders her invisible in the upscale community of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut. She watches her neighbor, Daphne Parrish, with her perfect marriage and life of luxury — and decides that she wants in on it. Did you ever wish to read The Talented Mr. Ripley , only newer, timelier, and scarier? If so, this posh, feminist homage to the 1955 classic is the thriller for you.

13. Sin by Josephine Hart

Psych thrillers are certainly having a moment today, but they were inescapable in the ‘90s. While the late Josephine Hart might be best known for the 1992 film adaptation of her debut novel Damage , her Sin is the quintessential ‘90s thriller: when her family dies in a car accident, Elizabeth is adopted by her aunt and uncle — but her cousin Ruth has other plans.

Lust, envy, and just about every other sin take the forefront in this novel that’s perfect for fans of… well, any movie Sharon Stone ever starred in.

14. Sunburn by Laura Lippman

Sentenced (and then pardoned) for the murder of her husband, Polly abandons her family for a waitressing job in small-town Delaware. There, she meets the charming traveling salesman Adam, who also decides to take a job at the restaurant with her. But why did he decide to hang up his hat in the middle of nowhere?

A modern east coast spin on the private detective genre, this 2018 pageturner is one part psychological thriller, one part classic noir, and the perfect read for the flight back to your parents’ place this Thanksgiving.

15. The Elizas by Sara Shepard

This novel by Sara Shepard ( Pretty Little Liars ) doesn’t have a long-running TV show on Freeform, but maybe it should.

Eliza Fontaine nearly drowns for the fifth time. The first four were suicide attempts, so who could blame her parent for not believing her when she tells them she was pushed. Not to mention that Eliza is a novelist who's working on her debut novel, which gives this alluring tale of memory loss and attempted murder a wickedly meta layer. For any aspiring psych thriller writer, this is the place to start.

16. Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill

Jean Mason leads a pretty normal life right up to the point when she's alerted to a doppelgänger roaming about the city park. And to make things worse, the two strangers who inform her then turn up dead. This 2017 release sticks to the “grip lit” script at first before flipping the audience’s expectations upside down and turning into a beast all unto its own.

Saying any more would spoil it, but this is a must-read for fans of mistaken identity, murder writers, and (okay, fine) the supernatural.

17. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Family buys home. Home lights on fire. Family blames daughter? When the Richardson family’s house burns down, the people of Shaker Heights suspect an inside job, and all eyes are on Izzy, the black sheep of the family. But the next door neighbors are so close they might as well be family, too…

This is the aforementioned arson-mystery-meets-family-drama, and you’d be hard-pressed these days to find a library without a copy of Little Fires Everywhere on the hold shelf. But its popularity is anything but unearned, and if you’re a thriller lover who hasn’t yet plunged into Celeste Ng’s fiery novel, it’s high time you did.

18. The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

This is not your mother’s Secret Garden . In the courtyard of a remote mansion, a man known as “The Gardener” keeps flowers, trees, and a group of kidnapped women he calls his “butterflies.” This one comes with ample social proof: at the time of writing, The Butterfly Garden is the #1 bestselling psychological thriller on Amazon. This is for a good reason: it’s simply original . In a market oversaturated with cookie cutter thrillers, there’s just nothing else out there about a man who treats his imprisoned women like specimens in a bug collection.

19. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

Spinning a true story into a captivating thriller is easier said than done…  especially when that story occurred in Protestant New England in the late 19th century.

Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were murdered in Massachusetts in 1892, in what was eventually dubbed The Fall River Axe Murders. Lizzie was the primary suspect but was eventually acquitted. Since then, the murders have been the subject of countless books but none strike quite so chilling a tone as Sarah Schmidt’s powerful work of historical fiction .

20. Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

Perhaps the most surreal (in the true sense of the word) psychological thriller on the market, Fever Dream distances itself from the pack in almost every way. It’s a slim, play-like novel with magical realist undertones, crisply translated from the Argentinian original.

Still, at its heart it is a thriller, and an excellent one: a woman wakes up in a hospital bed, and a mysterious boy (not hers) kneeling beside her unravels how she got there. This mind-bending novel is perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Gabriel Garcia Marquez alike.

21. The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

Science fiction and thrillers don’t always go hand-in-hand, but when synthesized correctly, the results are stunning. Such is the case with The Gone World , in which Shannon Moss, a time travelling NCIS agent, uncovers a conspiracy across multiple decades. Think Michael Crichton meets Stieg Larsson in this fusion of classic noir, dystopian fiction, and pure psychological thrills.

22. Idaho: A Novel by Emily Ruskovich

Idaho is another decade-spanning thriller, though this one is much more grounded in reality. Because of her savior complex, Ann is drawn to a shattered and broken man named Ward, who she quickly marries. But Ward’s trauma stemming from his first marriage runs deeper than usual — his first wife Jenny murdered their 6-year-old daughter.

It’s more literary than your average thriller, but check this one out if you want an unapologetic look at a family crumbling under the weight of dementia, distance, and, of course, murder. It is a thriller, after all.

The World's Bestselling Mystery \'Ten . . .\' Ten strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious \'U.N. Owen.\' \'Nine . . .\' At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guests is dead. \'Eight . . .\' Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by a nursery rhyme counting down one by one . . . one by one they begin to die. \'Seven . . .\' Who among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

23. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is known for popularizing the murder mystery, but there’s an argument to be made that she invented the psychological thriller, too — and with her best selling novel, no less.

Ten people, all guilty of crimes they were never punished for, find themselves on an island under mysterious circumstances… and then start to die one by one. Though its structure resembles a classic whodunnit, the meat of And Then There Were None is pure psychology: a collection of criminals grappling with the guilt of their crimes, the motivations behind them, and the knowledge that their pasts are about to catch up to them.

24. In the Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In a dark, dark wood

There was a dark, dark house

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room

And in the dark, dark room....

Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out the rest.

25. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

From the outside, Alicia Berenson's life looks perfect. She lives in a big house in London with her famous painter-husband. But when Alicia murders her husband late on evening when he comes home from work, all illusions of perfection are gruesomely shattered.

Years after the crime, Alicia hasn't spoken a single word. She now lives in a secure forensic unit in North London, hidden away from the world that's hungry to know the truth behind this domestic tragedy. Especially eager is criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber, who is finally getting his chance to talk to Alicia after years of trying to unravel her mysterious case. Why did she do it? Why won't she talk? As Theo delves deeper and deeper into the Berenson file, his own motivations begin to warp, and his search for the truth threatens to consume him.

26. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The morning of Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing, and Nick becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. The ensuing investigation reveals cracks in the seemingly gleaming foundation of the Dunne's marriage: Nick seems to be obsessed with the shape of Amy's head, and Amy's journals reveal a level of perfectionism that could drive any partner to the edge.

Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel is about all the lies beneath the underbelly of a marriage, asking the question: how well do we really know the ones we love?

27. My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

As with most domestic thrillers, My Lovely Wife features what appears to be a normal couple who've gone down the path of convention: they got married and moved to the suburbs, where they raised their children. All was well. Until they got bored.

After fifteen years of marriage, the nameless narrator and his titular wife are looking for ways to inject some excitement into their relationship. While some couples might go on a trip or decide to learn a new skill together, Downing's protagonists have opted for something decidedly more sinister . As they embark on a murderous new hobby, one question begins to loom: can they get away with it?

28. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Everyone deals with grief differently. After Julia goes missing her mother goes on to create a new life for herself. The father becomes obsessed with looking for clues about Julia's disappearance, only to turn up perennially empty-handed. Her two sisters, Claire and Lydia also become estranged from their family.

Now, twenty years later, another young girl has gone missing, and her case contains haunting echoes of Julia's. The connections between this new disappearance and their sisters' causes Claire and Lydia to reunite, and they soon embark down a chilling path as they discover secrets that change everything they thought they knew about their sister, and the past.

29. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

When Maggie Holt was a child, her parents packed her up and fled from their home, Baneberry Hall, in the dead of night. Their reason for fleeing was eventually document in a book by Maggie's father, called House of Horrors — a recount of the ghostly encounters with malevolent spirits at Baneberry Hall.

While the book is nonfiction, Maggie doesn't believe a word of it, and, frankly, she's tired of being asked about it. She's also not phased in the slightest when, 25 years after their escape, Maggie returns to Baneberry Hall to restore it. Of course, the secrets of Baneberry Hall don't wait too long before beginning to reveal themselves to Maggie, and she starts to realize that maybe House of Horrors really was more fact than fiction.

30. Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

If you were morbidly captivated by the Netflix series You , you'll likely enjoy Hidden Bodies : it's the sequel to Kepnes' debut book that the TV show was adapted from.

Joe Goldberg is now thirty-something and has been hiding his murdered victims in New York City for the past ten years. But he's determined to put his sinister past behind him and get a new fresh start in Los Angeles. And things seem to be off to a good start in the city of angels: Joe gets a job in a bookstore and spends his spare time eating guacamole and flirting with his journalist neighbor.

Finally, it seems like Joe might get was he's always wanted: to be in love, and be loved in return. The thing about love, Joe learns, is that it has a way of shining a light onto the parts of yourself you'd rather keep hidden — in Joe's case, hidden at all costs .

Hungry for more? Check out the 43 best true crime books of all time to discover how truth really can be stranger than fiction.

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50 Best Psychological Thrillers of All Time (By Year)

I love a good mystery-thriller novel and psychological thrillers books are probably my favorite within that genre. There’s just something uniquely delightful about those twisty plotlines and the multitude of suspicious characters that populate this genre. Psychological thrillers are also the perfect pairing for a full-bodied glass of red wine.

This list of the Best Psychological Thriller Books of All Time is ordered reverse chronologically by publication year.

This list is based on a combination of a) my opinion, b) my friends’ opinions, c) reviews I’ve read, d) online ratings.

Hope you find something to read here that will keep you on your toes! And please don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you’d like to suggest a book to add to this list!

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Great list!

thank you! :)

The 35 Best Psychological Thriller Books to Scare Yourself Silly

Don't turn out the lights — these thriller books will haunt your dreams.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

While giants like Stephen King and Agatha Christie usually come to mind when we reach for a suspenseful book, they're definitely not the only ones mastering the genre. Writers like Ruth Ware, Liane Moriarty, Gillian Flynn and Riley Sager are all putting out the kind of thrilling reads that may keep us from being able to sleep through the night ever again. And if ghost stories aren't for you, there's plenty of variation within the thriller category. Whether you like realistic stories about friends or family members gone bad or things that go bump in the night, we bet you can find your next favorite spine-tingling read on this list. Oh, and don't forget to browse our guide to the best books of 2020 , if you need a lighter come-down to help get to sleep.

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52 Bone-Chilling Psychological Thriller Books

If you love a suspenseful story, these page-turning psychological thriller books will keep you up all night long.

Who doesn’t love a good mystery?

There’s something fun about trying to work out the solution to an impossible problem. You get to play detective, searching for clues throughout the story.

Yet, there is something unique about psychological thriller books. You get the intrigue of a good mystery while at the same time, the author completely messes with your head.

Who can you trust if you can’t even trust the narrator? How can you find the truth when everyone is lying or misperceiving reality?

If you are ready to jump into a suspenseful story, you can’t go wrong with these top-notch psychological thriller books.

Best Selling Thriller Books

Gillian Glynn

Gone Girl took the book world by storm with its look at a marriage gone terribly wrong. On her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne mysteriously disappears. At the top of the suspect list – her seemingly perfect husband Nick. Both husband and wife aren’t who they seem to be, so expect plenty of twists and turns (and lots of language) in this hit thriller. You might not end up loving the story or the characters, but I promise you, you’ll find them memorable enough to land it among the best thriller books of all time.

Publication Date: 24 May 2012 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Girl on the Train

Paula hawkins.

Taking the same train to work every day, Rachel is fascinated by a woman who lives along her route. Every day, Rachel gets a glimpse into this woman’s “perfect” life. Until one day, when Rachel witnesses something shocking. Unreliable narrators like Rachel make for the best page-turners because you can never figure out what is true and what is not. Love it or hate it, The Girl on the Train is one of the most talked-about psychological thriller books of the last decade.

Publication Date: 6 January 2015 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Guest List

On a remote island, the perfect wedding turns deadly in this thrilling mystery. The high-profile wedding between a television star and a magazine publisher is supposed to be the perfect event. Set off the coast of Ireland, all the stops have been pulled out. Yet once the guests arrive, past conflicts come into play and someone turns up dead. Was it the bride? The best man? The wedding planner? Foley keeps you guessing until the end, giving each suspect a firm motive to want to commit murder.

Publication Date: 20 February 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Silent Patient

Alex michaelides.

One night, famous painter Alicia Berenson shoots her husband in the face 5 times, and then never utters another word again. Now criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber is determined to get the truth from this silent patient while his own life is falling apart. Even though I will admit the twist was well-done, I thought this was an overrated bestseller. Yet, with over fifty weeks on the bestseller list, most readers tend to disagree.

Publication Date: 5 February 2019 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Woman in the Window

One of the top thriller books soon becoming a movie, this psychological thriller peeks into the life of Anna Fox, a New York City recluse. While spying on the family across the street, Anna witnesses a shocking event, but no one will believe her. With its unreliable narrator and layers of secrets, The Woman in the Window will keep you guessing to the end.

Publication Date: 2 January 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Big Little Lies

Liane moriarty.

A tale of secrets and lies among perfectly respectable parents, powerful Maddie, gorgeous Celeste, and timid Jane. The three women’s lives cross ending in an (accidental?) death. Discussing serious topics like domestic abuse, Big Little Lies perfectly balances humor and suspense to keep you coming back for more.

Publication Date: July 2014 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg larsson.

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist takes on the investigation into the 40-year-old disappearance of Harriet Vanger, the teenage daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden. He teams up with Lisbeth Slander, a pierced and tattooed hacker whose troubled past has left her with a capacity for ruthlessness. It is a thrilling read, but, be warned, there is quite a lot of violence and language.

Publication Date: August 2005 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Woman in Cabin 10

Lo Blacklock is a travel writer sent to cover a luxury cruise through Norway’s fjords. When she thinks she witnesses a murder, Lo becomes enthralled in figuring out what happened to the woman in Cabin 10. This psychological thriller is a quick fun read that will keep you wanting more. Good thing Ruth Ware is a great author to binge read with plenty of exciting titles to choose from.

Publication Date: 30 June 2016 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Stephen King

After a car accident, bestselling author Paul Sheldon finds himself lovingly nursed back to health by Annie Wilkins. She is Paul’s biggest fan and has no intention of ever letting him leave. Instead, she insists that he write a new book bringing her favorite character in his Victorian romance series back from the dead.

Publication Date: 8 June 1987 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Save for Later

Best New Psychological Thriller Books

Listen for the Lie

Amy tintera.

For Lucy, the night five years ago still remains a blank though their entire Texas town knows that Lucy killed her best friend Savvy. When a popular true crime podcaster chooses to investigate Savvy’s murder, Lucy finally returns home at her grandmother’s insistence. Now Lucy must face her ex-husband and her distrust family while trying to find out the truth about Savvy’s death, even if it ends up pointing to herself. Lucy’s cynical sarcasm will make you laugh and the podcast chapters sounded so realistic in the audiobook version that you will be gripped from the start.

Publication Date: 5 March 2024 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

First Lie Wins

Ashley elston.

Every time an assignment comes in from the mysterious Mr. Smith, Evie takes a new identity and learns everything she can about the town and its people. Her newest mark: Ryan Sumner. But Evie connects with Ryan in a way she hasn’t in a long time. When a woman shows up using Evie’s real name, Evie must do everything she can to stay one step ahead of her boss and complete her mission. Especially after what happened last time. With relatable characters and a delicious cat-and-mouse game, First Lie Wins keeps you on your toes from the very first page to its clever ending. 

Publication Date: 2 January 2024 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph |  More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Darling Girls

Sally hepworth.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are the luckiest girls, or so they are told. After family tragedies, each was given a second chance at a happy family, living on a peaceful farm with a loving foster mom. Yet, the foster sisters’ childhood was far from idyllic. When a body is found buried on the farm, they soon find themselves prime witnesses and possibly prime suspects.

Publication Date: 23 April 2024 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Last Word

Taylor adams.

House sitter Emma Carpenter lives a secluded life at a beach house on the Washington coast. After leaving a one-star review on a poorly-written horror novel, Emma finds herself in an online argument with the author. When strange things begin to happen at night, Emma begins to suspect that the author might be stalking her. With a winning premise and non-stop twists and turns, The Last Word  is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that is just pure fun to read.

Publication Date: 25 April 2023 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

None of This is True

Lisa jewell.

On her forty-fifth birthday, Alix Summers runs into Josie Fair, who happens to also be celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. Soon Alix runs into Josie again, and the two become friends. Josie thinks her interesting life would be a great subject for Alix’s true crime podcast. Josie manipulates her way into Josie’s life and home before vanishing. Suddenly, Alix unexpectedly finds herself the subject of her own podcast and must uncover Josie’s dark secrets to protect her family. Jewell does an excellent job mixing after-the-fact documentary and podcast interviews into the plotline to keep you wondering how much of Josie’s story is true.

Publication Date: 8 August 2023 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Everyone Here is Lying

Shari lapena.

The safe community of Stanhope is shocked when nine-year-old Avery Wooler goes missing. Hours before her disappearance, Avery’s dad unexpectedly found her home early from school and blew up at her, already angry because he just ended his longstanding affair. Now Avery’s neighbors want to spill the beans, but it seems that everyone here is lying.

Publication Date: 25 July 2023 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

See all of The Best New Thrillers !

Page Turning Psychological Thriller Books

The Wife Between Us

Greer hendricks and sarah pekkanen.

From the beginning, you will assume you are reading a book about a jealous ex-wife obsessed with her replacement. But appearances can be deceiving. Considered one of the best thriller audiobooks of recent years, The Wife Between Us will keep you glued to your seat with unreliable narration and plenty of plot twists.

All Good People Here

Ashley flowers.

When she was six years old, Margot’s next-door neighbor and best friend, January, was murdered in their small hometown. Now a big-city journalist, Margot returns home to help care for her uncle when another girl disappears. Determined to find the missing girl and solve January’s murder, Margot begins to wonder how well she knows her neighbors.

Publication Date: 16 August 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Rock Paper Scissors

Alice feeney.

After winning a trip to a remote Scotland getaway for the weekend, Adam and Amelia try one last-ditch effort to save their marriage. Amelia is tired of Adam putting his work as a screenwriter before her and Adam is just tired of Amelia. As things start to unravel and their past is revealed through secret anniversary letters Adam has never read, you find that someone is lying and someone doesn’t want them to end happily ever after.

Publication Date: 7 September 2021 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Couple Next Door

When their babysitter bails at the last minute, new parents Anne and Marco Conti decide they can still attend a dinner party at their next-door neighbor’s house. Despite checking on baby Cora every half hour, when they return home, she is gone. Suspicion immediately falls on the panicked couple because they are both hiding secrets.

Publication Date: 14 July 2016 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books 

What Lies in the Woods

Kate alice marshall.

At age eleven, best friends Naomi, Cassidy, and Olivia spent the summer roaming the woods. Until Naomi was attacked, surviving 17 stab wounds, and the girls’ testimonies put a serial killer in prison for the death of six other women. Except, they lied. Now Olivia wants to tell and Naomi must discover the dangerous truth of what really happened in the woods that summer. If you are looking for a solid thriller to curl up with this winter,  What Lies in the Woods  delivers a fun quick read.

Publication Date: 17 January 2023 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Emma Donoghue

Five-year-old Jack has lived his whole life in Room. It’s his whole world where he lives with his Ma all day long. At night, Ma shuts him up in the wardrobe for protection when Old Nick visits. What Jack doesn’t realize is that his mother doesn’t view Room as home, but as a prison where she is being held captive. Narrated from Jack’s perspective, Room haunts you with unimaginable horrors witnessed through the innocence of a child.

Publication Date: 6 August 2010 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Woman Outside My Door

Rachel ryan.

All children have imaginary friends, but Georgina begins to wonder when her seven-year-old son tells her he met a new friend, New Granny, at the park. Is Georgina just overreacting with the death of her mother still so painful? What if his imaginary friend isn’t imaginary? A great psychological thriller book with an unreliable narrator to read, Ryan does an excellent job throwing in plenty of red herrings, keeping you on your toes the whole time.

Publication Date: 5 January 2021 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

We Were Never Here

Andrea bartz.

On their annual girls’ trip, Emily and Kristen are having the time of their lives in Chile. On the last night, Emily comes back to the hotel to find Kristen with a dead body. Kristen claims she killed him in self-defense. Except, the same thing happened last year to Emily. As Emily’s guilt over the cover-ups reaches a boiling point, Kristen makes a surprise trip to visit her and Emily has serious doubts about their friendship.

Publication Date: 3 August 2021 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Behind Closed Doors

B. a. paris.

If you love psychological thriller books about seemingly perfect couples, B. A. Paris has a great book for you. You’d think Jack and Grace are the perfect couple, so in love that they are never apart. Until you realize that Grace never answers the phone, can never meet for coffee even though she doesn’t work. And why are there bars on the windows?

Publication Date: 11 February 2016 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Classic Psychological Fiction Books

And Then There Were None

Agatha christie.

If you want a quick classic mystery, Agatha Christie is the way to go. You’ll have fun trying to figure out whodunit on an isolated island mansion where the suspects start dying off one by one. I’ll be impressed if you figure it out. I never do. A classic for a reason, this novel is surprisingly short, leaving you plenty to read even more psychological thriller books.

Publication Date: 6 November 1939 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Daphne du Maurier

Daphne Du Maurier’s classic story is by far one of the best thriller books you can read. Working as a lady’s maid in Monte Carlo, the narrator is swept off her feet by the handsome widower Maxim de Winter. After a rushed courtship and impulsive marriage, she returns as his wife to his beautiful estate, Manderley. Yet, she quickly learns she is not the true mistress of the estate, as the household will not let her forget the memory of Rebecca, de Winter’s first wife who drowned the year before.

Publication Date: 1938 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Strangers on a Train

Patricia highsmith.

When two strangers meet on a train, everyday life becomes anything but ordinary. A successful architect in the middle of a divorce, Guy Haines happens to sit next to Charles Anthony Bruno on the train. Bruno, a total psychopath, manages to convince Haines to “swap murders” so they can each get away scot-free in this psychological thriller that was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchock’s film of the same name.

Publication Date: 1950 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Dark Psychological Thriller Books

The Family Upstairs

Shortly after her 25th birthday, Libby Jones learns that she has inherited an abandoned London mansion from her biological parents. Adopted as a baby, Libby is excited to learn about her birth family. But her family history is much more than she anticipates when she finds out her parents committed suicide as part of a cult, and her siblings vanished. As scary as that is, the truth is even darker. A dark and disturbing tale, you can’t look away as the truth of what happened so long ago gets more and more twisted. For those who love dark psychological books, you won’t be able to put down this top pick from the best thriller books of 2019.

Publication Date: 6 August 2019 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Butcher and The Wren

Alaina urquhart.

This debut novel from the cohost of the true-crime podcast Morbid gives a dual-perspective thriller told from the viewpoints of a serial killer and the medical examiner hot on his trail. In the Louisiana bayou, forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller gets drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a brutal serial killer with a taste for medical experimentation.

Publication Date: 13 September 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Colleen Hoover

Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh receives the chance of a lifetime when Jeremy Crawford hires her to complete the bestselling book series written by his wife, Verity. Just months after their daughters’ deaths, Verity was left in a catatonic state after a car accident. Going through Verity’s study, Lowen stumbles upon an unpublished autobiography full of erotic obsessions and dark confessions. Now Lowen can’t stop thinking about how Verity’s sexy husband deserves better, debating whether to show him Verity’s writings.

Publication Date: 7 December 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph |  More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Housemaid

Freida mcfadden.

After ten years in prison, Millie can’t be picky about the jobs she takes so she feels extremely grateful to land a position as a housemaid to the Winchesters. At first Nina Winchester seems grateful to have Millie clean up her disastrously messy house. Quickly, Nina’s erratic mood changes have Millie on edge. Worse is watching Nina’s perfect (and sexy) husband forced to live with such a wife, which has Millie imagining what it would be like to be in Nina’s place.

Publication Date: 26 April 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph |  More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Daisy Darker

For their Nana’s 80th birthday party, the entire Darker family reunites for the first time in years at Nana’s house on a remote island. At midnight, Nana is found dead. When another body follows and the tide traps them on the island, the family realizes they must confront their darkest secrets or risk all being killed off one by one.

Publication Date: 30 August 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Top Psychological Thriller From Repeat Authors

In a Dark, Dark Wood

Ruth Ware writes some of the best psychological thriller books, and her debut novel is no exception. Ten years since they last spoke, Nora is unexpectedly invited to her old friend Clare’s bachelorette party. Nora hopes it will be the chance to put the past behind her, but when she gathers with six strangers at the isolated Glass House, you can tell that something is off.

Publication Date: 2015 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

At an exclusive French ski resort, the shareholders for the up-and-coming social media company Snoop must decide on an offer of a billion-dollar sale. One person doesn’t make it back to the lodge after skiing, and things go from bad to worse when an avalanche hits threatening them all. Would someone be willing to resort to murder to get their way? Among the new thriller books, Ruth Ware’s latest is the perfect thriller to read right now.

Publication Date: 8 September 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Struggling to make ends meet, Hal Westaway is startled to receive a letter saying she is a beneficiary to the estate of her grandmother. Although she knows it’s a case of mistaken identity, Hal decides to try to use her greatest asset – her ability to read people – in a desperate attempt to claim some of the money.

Publication Date: 29 May 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Girl From Widow Hills

Megan miranda.

As a child, Olivia disappeared one night while sleepwalking, only to be found safe days later. After years of enduring fame, Olivia moved away and changed her name. With the 20th anniversary of her miracle rescue coming up, she starts sleepwalking again, only to wake up to the dead body of someone she used to know. An edge-of-your-seat thriller, I couldn’t get enough of this mystery. With well-rounded characters and surprises that just keep coming, it’s earned its place among the recent psychological thriller books.

Publication Date: 23 June 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Last House Guest

In a Maine resort town, Avery Greer and Sadie Loman strike up an unlikely friendship. Avery is a local while Sadie belongs to one of the wealthy families who vacation on the coast. Inseparable for almost a decade, Avery is rocked when Sadie commits suicide. Suspecting that others blame her for Sadie’s death, Avery Greer is determined to clear her name and discover the truth.

Publication Date: 18 June 2019 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Home Before Dark

Riley sager.

Maggie Holt has always lived in the shadow of her father’s bestselling horror book – a “true” story of their twenty days living in a haunted house when she was five. Having inherited the infamous house from her father, she is determined to fix it up. Ghosts aren’t real, so there’s nothing to worry about, right? Jumping between her father’s novel and Maggie’s return to the house, Sager keeps you on edge the whole time.

Publication Date: 30 June 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Survive the Night

When her roommate is murdered on campus, Charlie is desperate to get away. She posts a notice on her college rideshare board and snags a ride back to Ohio from a handsome stranger. However, Charlie quickly realizes that Josh isn’t who he seems. Charlie’s fragile state of mind will keep you gripped to this cat-and-mouse game.

Publication Date: 29 June 2021 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Final Girls

Ten years ago as a college student, Quincy Carpenter and her friends went on a vacation and the group was slaughtered, with only Quincy surviving. Although dubbed by the media as one of the “Final Girls,” the sole survivors of mass killings, Quincy, Lisa, and Sam have never met. When Lisa dies by suicide and Sam seeks her out, Quincy questions Sam’s motives. Now Quincy must finally dive into her missing memories of the past to keep it from repeating. Perfect for readers who want scary books that aren’t too scary, Final Girls is a solid thriller with slasher vibes throughout, but Sager saves the full-on action sequence for a big bang at the end.

Publication Date: 11 July 2017 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Psychological Thrillers: Books You Might Have Missed

A Flicker in the Dark

Stacy willingham.

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls disappeared from her small Louisiana town and she was the crucial witness that convicted her father as a serial killer. As her wedding approaches, Chloe fears the past is repeating when teen girls start vanishing. Is she imagining the parallels to her past or is the past truly coming back to haunt her? Willingham times the revelations to heighten the tension, leaving you with plenty of twists and turns to give you a fast-paced read.

Publication Date: 11 January 2022 Learn More: Goodreads |  StoryGraph |  More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Personal Assistant

Kimberly belle.

Alex’s unexpected rise as a social media influencer would never have been possible without the help of her personal assistant AC. Just as a controversial post she swear she didn’t write turns her audience against her, Alex’s assistant disappears. As things keep getting worse for Alex’s family, she digs into the identity of the woman who knew everything about her life. But when a woman is found murdered, Alex and her husband find themselves the prime suspects.

Publication Date: 29 November 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Last Mrs. Parrish

Liv constantine.

Coveting the life of elite socialite Daphne and her husband Jackson, Amber Patterson sets out on a mission to insinuate herself into the Parrish family. Quickly she becomes Daphne’s most trustest confidante and companion, and Amber is determined to take the life she knows should be hers. Until she learns that the Parrishes have a secret of their own.

Publication Date: 17 October 2017 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Romy Hausmann

The creepiest award from the best new thrillers goes to Romy Hausmann’s German bestseller which builds to an incredibly thrilling ending. Kept locked in the woods in a windowless shack, Lena and her two children live as virtual prisoners to her “husband.” When Lena escapes, the nightmare should be over. Yet things don’t seem to be adding up, and Lena isn’t who she claims to be.

Publication Date: 14 May 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Pretty Little Wife

In an idyllic college town, a beloved high school teacher goes missing. It’s the third unexplained disappearance in three years and police are scrambling to figure out where he went. The whole town is in an uproar about his disappearance … everyone except his wife. She knows he’s dead because she killed him. She just doesn’t know where the body went. This twisted domestic thriller is a quick and extra-creepy read featuring a tough-as-nails heroine who you can’t help root for and a premise that hooks you from the start.

Publication Date: 29 December 2020 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Other Woman

Sandie jones.

Emily has found the perfect man in Adam and is ready to tie the knot. Yet one thing stands in the way of their union – Adam’s mother. Pammie is determined to be the only woman in her son’s life, and you’ll be shocked to discover how far she is willing to go to eliminate the competition.

Publication Date: 21 August 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Discover More Books You Can’t Put Down !

A Few More Good Thriller Books

The Lies I Tell

Julie clark.

Meg. Maggie. Melody. Whatever name she’s using at the moment, she’s a con artist who slides into your life and takes everything when she leaves. Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years to expose the con artist who upended her life. Yet, when Meg returns, Kat finds matters much more complicated than she realized. Julie Clark has penned a surprisingly good con artist book where you can easily sympathize with both Kat and Meg. With a quick pace and relatable characters, The Lies I Tell was a fun thriller that leaves you with a satisfying ending.

Publication Date: 5 July 2022 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

My Sister, The Serial Killer

Oyinkan braithwaite.

How far would you be willing to go for someone you love? Koreda has the routine down pat when her little sister calls in a panic. This is the third time Ayoola has killed her boyfriend in “self-defense” and Koreda knows equally what to do. When Ayoola begins dating Koreda’s boss and long-time love interest, Koreda must decide where her loyalties lie in this darkly comic psychological thriller book.

Publication Date: 20 November 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

My Lovely Wife

Samantha downing.

After fifteen years of marriage, domestic life doesn’t suit Millicent and her husband any longer. They have the kids and the house in the suburbs, but life has become rather dull. That is, until the couple decides that getting away with murder will be the perfect way to keep their marriage alive.

Publication Date: 26 March 2019 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Cross Her Heart

Sarah pinborough.

Lisa’s loving overprotectiveness of her sixteen-year-old daughter Ava chafes at the burgeoning independence of Ava’s teenage years. When she meets a handsome client at work, Lisa wonders if now is the time to open up a little more and allow someone new into her life. But when her daughter makes it on the front pages, Lisa realizes that her past is catching up to her and someone wants to make her pay.

Publication Date: 23 April 2018 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Good Daughter

Karin slaughter.

After killing their mother, an attacker drags two young sisters into the woods. One runs for her life and the other does not. Twenty-eight years later, defense attorney Charlotte is the first person on the scene of a school shooting in their hometown. Now, Charlotte and Samantha are forced to relive that horrible moment and confront the truth they have never shared.

Publication Date: 8 August 2017 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

The Disappearing Act

Catherine steadman.

Up-and-coming British actress Mia Eliot heads to Hollywood to get her mind off her recent shocking breakup. While auditioning, Mia does a favor for another actress which turns into much more of a hassle than she expected. Yet, the next time they meet, Mia swears that Emily is a completely different woman, and no one believes her.

Publication Date: 8 June 2021 Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

What Do You Think Are the Best Psychological Thriller Books of All Time?

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my list of psychological thriller books? What thrillers did I forget to add to my list? Which psychological thrillers on my list did you find overrated? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Thriller Books Reading Lists:

• The Best New Thriller Books
• The Best Thriller Books of 2023
• 43 Scary Books to Frighten You This Month
• 42 Books with a Twist You Won’t See Coming
• 31 Books You Can’t Put Down Once You Begin
• 62 Page-Turners That Will Hook You
• Riveting Books with Unreliable Narrators

Recommended

Reader Interactions

Melanie says

October 12, 2020 at 10:11 pm

Some great looking books on here!!

Jessie says

March 24, 2021 at 1:37 pm

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough is great too! Really good read. I’ve read a few on this list. Definitely just wrote down the rest to check out! Thanks!

Rachael says

March 29, 2021 at 12:11 pm

I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

A.G.R. Goff says

November 19, 2020 at 5:55 am

The other woman by Sandie Jones is great. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favourites, but it’s definitely worth reading.

Leah Schmaltz says

March 1, 2021 at 3:59 pm

I would also recommend Lock Every Door by Riley Sager….surprised it isn’t on this list!

March 2, 2021 at 2:59 pm

Oh, that’s on my TBR! I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes it on next time I update this list!

Carolyn says

June 1, 2021 at 7:58 am

I would like to recommend Playing Nice by JP Delaney

Monika says

July 24, 2021 at 11:44 pm

I’d recommend Defending Jacob, Luckiest Girl Alive, and We Need to Talk About Kevin. All three of these left me reeling a bit.

Linda O'Donnell says

April 23, 2024 at 12:26 pm

Defending Jacob was a surprise, although we were given hints. I haven’t read We need to talk about Kevin, but it’s in my stack. Now I’m moving it up.

Steph N. says

December 29, 2021 at 11:48 pm

Behind Closed Doors was a good read!

February 5, 2022 at 8:42 pm

Yes, Behind Closed Doors was great! The Wives is also very good.

Kathy s Vern says

January 11, 2022 at 7:54 am

I loved this book also!!

January 19, 2022 at 6:54 am

Great list! I’ve read several on it and will add others to my TBR list!! I would recommend Karin Slaughter- Pretty Girls!!

May 15, 2022 at 11:09 pm

Just discovered your website/ blog last night and I love all the books you have suggested so far . Bern downloading them I can’t wait to start reading all of them. Thank you for all your hard work and honest options.

Anonymous says

July 29, 2022 at 7:22 pm

Rock paper scissors was an amazing book!

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16 best psychological thriller books that will keep you in suspense

From cult classics to bone-chilling debuts, dive in to novels by stephen king, patricia highsmith and more, article bookmarked.

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Nothing makes you turn the page faster than a bit of suspense, which is something psychological thrillers have in abundance. The best ones leave you off-kilter, wanting more and pondering the plot long beyond the final page.

Although not a recorded term until 1925, the themes of contemporary psychological thrillers have their roots in gothic Victorian fiction. Whether exploring the psychology of a sociopath, narrating a mystery or crime, or just dissolving the reader’s sense of reality, the genre offers a deep dive into human minds and behaviour.

Much of the genre’s popularity is down to how the books chime with our own reality. Whereas in horror fiction the enemy might be a supernatural figure, in psychological fiction the baddie is much more likely to be someone a bit closer to home.

This means the genre often explores domestic relationships, family ties, small communities or friendships, with most psychological thrillers having common themes of unreliable narrators, morality and multiple narratives or realities.

While giants of the genre Stephen King and Patricia Highsmith helped make psychological thrillers mainstream, the more recent international success of books such as Gone Girl (£9.99, Waterstones.com ) and The Girl On The Train (£8.95, Amazon.co.uk ) has only increased the popularity of psychological fiction.

Related stories

How we tested the best psychological thriller books.

We read these tomes while keeping the characteristics of psychological thrillers in mind – we looked for character development, satisfying twists and intriguing plots, as well as their ability to keep the reader guessing. From 20th-century classics to deliciously haunting debuts, these are some of the best psychological thrillers that will keep you in suspense.

The best psychological thrillers for 2024 are:

• Best psychological thriller overall – Misery by Stephen King: £10.99, Waterstones.com
• Best psychological thriller with a twist – Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: From £3.99, Amazon.co.uk
• Best domestic tragedy – We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver: £9.99, Waterstones.com
• Best classic thriller – The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith: £8.54, Bookshop.org
• Best mind-bender – Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: From £4.99, Amazon.co.uk

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‘Misery' by Stephen King, published by Hodder & Stoughton

• Best : Psychological thriller book overall
• Release date : 1987

Often cited as one of the greatest literary thrillers, lauded author Stephen King’s tome is the horror story of a writer’s imprisonment by a demented fan. After killing off his most famous protagonist, Misery, in his latest novel, author Paul Sheldon is involved in a horrible car crash.

When he wakes up in agony, he’s in the bed of Annie Wilkes who pulled him from the wreckage and brought him back to her isolated mountain home. Bedbound with broken legs, he soon discovers former nurse Annie is his number one fan and intends to hold him hostage until he writes Misery back into existence. Gruesome, terrifying and bleak, this is King at his darkest.

‘Fight Club' by Chuck Palahniuk, published by Vintage

• Best : Twisty pyschological thriller
• Release date : 1996

You may have seen the classic David Fincher 1999 movie, but have you read the book? If not, get ready for a cynical, darkly satirical and very confusing ride – all in a good way. Palahniuk’s novel follows the experience of an unnamed insomniac protagonist who finds relief from his own suffering by impersonating seriously ill people at support groups.

After meeting a mysterious man named Tyler Durden, he becomes involved in an underground fight club as a form of radical therapy for disaffected men. Whether you know that twist or not, the intrigue is in the way the novel gets there and its exploration of masculinity, dissatisfaction and isolation.

‘We Need To Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver, published by Serpent’s Tail classics

• Best : Domestic tragedy
• Release date : 2003

A modern classic that took home the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2010, Shriver’s dark thriller is a chilling and provocative narrative of a mother struggling to come to terms with her son’s murderous spree at his high school. Compelling and often devastating, it follows a woman trying to decide if she was in any way responsible for turning him into a monster, or if he was one all along.

‘The Talented Mr Ripley' by Patricia Highsmith, published by Vintage

• Best : Classic psychological thriller
• Release date : 1955

An all-time classic of the genre, Highsmith’s tome follows Tom Ripley – a well-versed scammer – during a trip to Italy to persuade a New York businessman’s prodigal son to return to the US. Once there, the two grow close, with Ripley becoming so infatuated with Dickie Greenleaf that he wants to become him. As tensions rise between the two men and Dickie’s girlfriend Marge, Ripley’s talent for murder and self-invention becomes all too clear.

‘Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn, published by Orion Publishing Co

• Best : Unreliable narrator
• Release date : 2012

Flynn’s psychological thriller took the world by storm when it was published in 2012. It has since become a blockbuster film and spawned many similar novels. One of the best examples of an unreliable narrator in recent years, the novel is artful in sending the reader in the wrong direction. The story alternates between the past diary entries of Amy – a woman who inexplicably disappeared – and the present-day narrative of her husband, Nick, who becomes a prime suspect in the case.

‘The Girl On The Train' by Paula Hawkins, published by Doubleday

• Best : Memory loss psychological thriller
• Release date : 2015

Hitting bestseller lists around the world, Hawkins’s thriller details three women’s respective problems with binge drinking. With a Gone Girl -esque use of unreliable narrators, we begin with commuter Rachel, who, from the window of a train, catches daily glimpses of a seemingly perfect couple.

Then, one day, Rachel witnesses something shocking and, after informing the police, she learns that a woman has gone missing. Hesitant to trust her own blurry memories, she begins her own investigation, while the police increasingly believe she’s a prime suspect.

‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' By Stieg Larsson, published by MacLehose Press

• Best : For memorable characters
• Release date : 2011

The first book in an internationally bestselling trilogy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo begins with the hiring of disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist by a wealthy Swedish industrialist to investigate the 40-year-old murder of his niece, Harriet, believing that she was killed by a member of his own family.

He soon teams up with private investigator and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, whose own past is just as mysterious. Together, they begin to uncover corruption, financial intrigue and a dark family history. The complex, gripping and fast-paced plot is matched by two intriguing main characters who keep the reader guessing.

‘The Secret History' by Donna Tartt, published by Penguin Books

• Best : Campus psychological thriller
• Release date : 1992

Part psychological thriller and part story of disaffected university students, Tartt’s tome follows a group of clever misfits at an elite New England college and the chain of events that led to the death of a classmate. Although from a lower-class family, newbie Richard is accepted into the clique of students who are all under the cult-like influence of their charismatic Greek classics professor.

When one member of the group threatens to reveal the group’s role in the murder, tensions rise and the second half of the novel explores the psychological consequences of hiding such a terrible secret.

‘Rebecca' by Daphne Du Maurier, published by Virago

• Best : Gothic pyschological thriller
• Release date : 1938

A classic of the genre, Rebecca follows an unnamed young woman to the south of France, where she falls for the handsome widower Maxim de Winter. They soon marry and she moves into his grand home, prompting a profound change in her husband. Isolated and alone, the ghostly presence of Maxim’s first wife Rebecca begins to haunt the new Mrs de Winter.

When ship wreckage is discovered with Rebecca’s body inside, secrets unravel and suspense builds as the narrator becomes increasingly obsessed with her predecessor.

‘Shutter Island' by Dennis Lehane, published by Bantam

• Best : Mind-bending pyschological thriller

Set in 1954, Lehane’s psychological thriller follows widower US Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule to Shutter Island, home to a hospital for the clinically insane. Sent there to investigate the disappearance of a patient who was incarcerated for drowning her three children, a storm immediately traps them there for four days.

We soon learn of Teddy’s own mental state and the deep-seated trauma he has, following his wife’s death in an apartment fire. Throughout the novel, dream sequences reveal hidden truths that Teddy refuses to admit, while the reader is kept guessing about which narrative to believe.

‘Magpie’ by Elizabeth Day, published by Fourth Estate

• Best : Domestic noir
• Release date : 2021

How to Fail podcast host Elizabeth Day is also an acclaimed author, and her latest novel Magpie might be her best yet. Exploring motherhood, infertility, greed and jealousy, the novel follows Marisa and Jake, a couple trying for a baby. Their happy relationship is tested by the arrival of new lodger Kate, a woman who has no personal boundries (she puts her toothbrush in the master bedroom) and develops an uneasy interest in Jake, as well as the baby they’re trying for.

With Jake oblivious to Marisa’s concerns, the domestic noir turns into a psychologically intense drama. Unpredictable and uncomfortable, with plenty of twists, Day’s stylish writing keeps you guessing until the very end.

‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things' by Iain Reid, published by Text Publishing Company

• Best : Suspenseful psychological thriller
• Release date : 2016

This intriguing novel is as ambiguous as its title suggests. Despite the nameless narrator’s apparent doubts about her relationship, the story begins with her journeying alongside new boyfriend Jake to visit his parents at their remote farm. The creepy atmosphere is established from the off, with the couple arriving at a pitch-black house.

All seems well until after dinner, when both the parents and the boyfriend begin to act off kilter. Throughout, Reid signposts that something sinister is just round the corner, with the reader kept guessing until the novel’s crescendo. It’s also been made into a great film that’s available to stream on Netflix.

‘Bright Young Women’ by Jessica Knoll

• Best : Serial killer thriller
• Release date : 2023

A bestseller upon its release last year, Jessica Knoll’s Ted Bundy-inspired novel shifts the attention away from the serial killer and onto the victims (a breath of fresh air after that recent Netflix show). Based on Bundy’s heinous crimes, it follows two women who are searching for justice in the wake of a murder spree.

In Tallahassee in 1978, sorority president Pamela comes face to face with the serial killer on the night he murders two of her sorority sisters. With the police struggling to track down the killer, she joins forces with Tina, a woman from Seattle who connects her best friend’s disappearence to the Tallahassee tragedy. Disturbing but thought provoking in its exploration of society’s obsession with serial killers, it puts a contemporary spin on the page-turning genre.

‘The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris, published by Arrow

• Best : Fictional serial killer thriller
• Release date : 1988

A classic brought to life by Jodie Foster in the 1991 film, Harris’s novel follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling who is attempting to understand the mind of serial killer Buffalo Bill, in a bid to hunt him down before he abducts more women. To do so, she presents a questionnaire to forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter, who is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a mental institution. The novel’s deep dive into the inner workings of a psychopath and the chain of events retold will haunt you beyond the final page.

‘Eileen' by Ottessa Moshfegh, published by Penguin

• Best : Comedy psychological thriller

Reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith, Moshfegh’s novel follows a lonely and damaged woman whose dark fantasies and toxic behaviour culminate in a terrible crime. Eileen Dunlop works in a juvenile correctional facility for boys, and lives with her alcoholic father, filling her weekends shoplifting and stalking a handsome prison guard while filled with resentment.

When a charming new counsellor arrives at work, Eileen becomes infatuated with her and is ultimately pulled into complicity with the novel’s climactic crime. Although utterly repellent, nasty and mercilessly observant, Eileen is also somewhat sympathetic and often very funny.

‘The Silent Patient' by Alex Michaelides, published by Orion

• Best : Mystery
• Release date : 2019

An international bestseller in 2019, this thriller tells the story of Alicia Berenson, a famous painter who seemingly lived an idyllic life married to an in-demand fashion photographer. That is until she shot her husband in the head five times and, six years later, still hasn’t spoken a word since.

When the domestic tragedy captures the public’s imagination and Alice becomes famous, a criminal psychotherapist latches onto the case, becoming obsessed with discovering Alice’s motive.

The verdict: Psychological thriller books

For a classic thriller that will terrify and grip you until the final page, pick up Stephen King’s Misery . King expertly narrates an author’s tormented psyche at the hands of his psychopathic captor, keeping the reader in suspense throughout. Delve deeper into the genre with 20th-century classics Rebecca and The Talented Mr Ripley , or explore contemporary thrillers such as Bright Young Women , Gone Girl and We Need To Talk About Kevin .

Unsure what to read next? Take inspiration from our round-up of the best new releases

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Best Psychological Thriller Books

Delve into the most gripping psychological thrillers, selected from leading blogs and publications for their frequent mentions and high praise..

16 Thriller Books That'll Give You Instant Goosebumps

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We’re still a few months out—at least—from being able to get our thrills at amusement parks, sporting events, and escape rooms, but adrenaline junkies still have one place to turn to get their fix: the bookshelf. For fans of heart-pounding stories of crime and suspense, nothing makes for a better escape from reality than a good thriller novel. Fortunately for such people, we’ve kept track of the very best. Read on for a list of our top 16 thrillers from the 21st century and beyond.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

There’s a reason Gillian Flynn is a household name: She is the queen of the 21st-century suspense novel, her prose compulsively readable, her troubled heroines—and villainesses—cultural icons in themselves. Whichever of her books is your favorite, there’s no denying that Gone Girl , the zeitgeist-shaping story of a missing woman and the husband under suspicion for her disappearance, is a post-recession classic.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

If Gillian Flynn is the queen of modern suspense, Ruth Ware is the knight presiding over the Round Table. Oft likened to a modern-day Agatha Christie, Ware excels at thrillers set within the confines of close spaces—such as  The Woman in Cabin 10 ,  set aboard a cruise ship where a travel journalist witnesses a murder. When she can find no evidence that the victim was ever aboard, writer Lo begins to question her own sanity.

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Relative newcomer Lucy Foley has honed her unique brand of reverse-whodunit suspense down to a science—and thank goodness for that. As in The Hunting Party , Foley’s breakout thriller from 2018, The Guest List —set at a ritzy wedding-gone-wrong on a remote Scottish isle—starts with a murder, and then plays a game of keep-away with the victim’s identity until the very last pages.

You, Volume 1 by Caroline Kepnes

We all owe Caroline Kepnes a debt for penning the source material that gave us Penn Badgley’s terrifying performance as Joe Goldberg on the hit Netflix serial-killer show You— but the original book is nothing to sneeze at either. The first in a series (Books 3 and 4 are on the way, according to Kepnes), this pitch-perfect thriller bucks genre conventions by taking us inside the mind of the killer himself.

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

God is a woman, but make it “the original master of the psychological thriller.” Though Patricia Highsmith may be best known today as the author of the classic lesbian romance Carol , she actually made a name for herself in the mid-20th century as the author of gripping suspense novels like Strangers on a Train (yes, as in the Hitchcock film) and Deep Water . Not to mention, she is the pen behind the fantastic  Ripliad series, which traces the footsteps of a brilliant—and dangerous—con artist.

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

You already know Attica Locke’s work, whether or not you realize it: The author is also an accomplished screenwriter who counts Empire, When They See Us, and  Little Fires Everywhere among her TV credits. But it’s her acclaimed debut novel, set in 1980s Texas and following a down-on-his-luck lawyer who gets in over his head after saving a woman from drowning, that you should know now.

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist , this is not. Released the same year as her breakout essay collection, Roxane Gay’s debut novel tells the story of a Haitian-American woman who is kidnapped and subjected to brutal torture when her wealthy Haitian developer father refuses to pay her ransom.

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani

Remember The Nanny Diaries ? Well, this is like if someone brushed the pages of that book with arsenic. Inspired by a real-life event that took place on the Upper West Side in 2012, Leïla Slimani’s first book to be published in the United States starts with the unthinkable: A nanny murders the two children in her charge, then attempts to kill herself. The story then jumps back in time several months, inviting readers to try and figure out how—and why—this terrible thing happened.

They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall

Who doesn’t love a good “strangers united by a horrifying secret” thriller? In one-time James Patterson collaborator Rachel Howzell Hall’s heart-pumping standalone novel, seven people are invited to travel to a remote private island, only to find that they have been summoned there under false pretenses—and their mysterious host has a deadly agenda.

Misery by Stephen King

When it comes to books that thrill and terrify, Stephen King is the GOAT. Newcomers to his work could do worse than to start with Misery , which follows popular writer Paul Sheldon as he gets rescued from a snowy car accident by superfan and former nurse Annie Wilkes—only to discover that he is now in even greater danger.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Part domestic thriller, part Kafka-esque allegory, Han Kang’s Man Booker International Prize–winning three-part novel centers on a woman who decides to become a vegetarian after waking from an awful, blood-drenched nightmare. Sounds innocuous, right? It’s not: The Vegetarian is brutal and unrelenting, following its main character through sexual assault, eating disorders, and psychological torment.

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

Ah, the unreliable narrator—a staple trope of the suspense genre. When 25-year-old Yu-jin wakes to the discovery of his mother’s dead body at the bottom of the stairs of their sleek apartment, he realizes that he has no recollection of the night before other than the vague memory of his mom calling his name. As he desperately searches for the truth of what happened that night, Yu-jin unearths some family secrets that can’t be reburied.

Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara

Toni Cade Bambara’s These Bones Are Not My Child  isn’t just a gripping thriller; it’s a masterwork of American literature. (Just ask Toni Morrison—she was Bambara’s editor and longtime friend.) Published posthumously and set against the backdrop of the Atlanta child murders of 1979-1981, Bambara’s last novel follows a mother whose worst nightmare is realized when her teenage son goes missing.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Released in Stieg Larsson’s native Swedish in 2005 and in English in 2008, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduced the world to hacker-vigilante Lisbeth Salander—and became a near-instant literary phenomenon in the process. The first novel of Larsson’s posthumously published Millennium  series sets Lisbeth and her co-protagonist Mikael Blomkvist on the trail of a woman from a wealthy family who mysteriously disappeared 40 years prior.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Megan Abbott’s name may not be as widely known as that of Gillian Flynn, but she is equally as essential a writer for fans of suspense and thriller fiction, and You Will Know Me showcases the author at her best. Abbott’s novel follows Katie and Eric Knox, the intense stage parents of a 15-year-old gymnastics star, as news of a violent death disrupts the community of Olympic gymnastics hopefuls to which the Knoxes belong.

Keely Weiss is a writer and filmmaker. She has lived in Los Angeles, New York, and Virginia and has a cat named after Perry Mason.

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The 23 best thriller books of the year, according to the Goodreads Choice Awards

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• Thrillers are suspenseful mystery stories filled with twists and turns.
• We turned to Goodreads reviewers to rank the most popular thrillers from 2021.
• Reader's favorites included "Apples Never Fall" and "Razorblade Tears."

It's almost impossible to resist a great thriller . Thrillers are some of the most exciting novels you can read, made enticing with suspenseful storylines, unique characters, and the staple plot twists that leave readers reeling. The best ones remind readers how much fun reading can be. 

To make this list, we turned to reviewers on Goodreads . Goodreads is a book reviewing platform where over 125 million readers rate, review, and share their favorite book recommendations with friends and the book community. From stunning debuts to gripping psychological mysteries, here are the most popular thrillers from 2021, according to Goodreads reviewers. 

The 23 best thriller books from 2021, according to Goodreads:  

"apples never fall" by liane moriarty.

"Apples Never Fall" by Liane Moriarty, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $18.41

This bestselling thriller follows the four adult siblings of the notable Delaney family as their mother goes missing, leaving their father as the only suspect. Torn between protecting him and turning against him, the siblings square off and begin to re-examine their shared family history with a new lens. 

"Razorblade Tears" by S.A. Cosby

"Razorblade Tears" by S.A. Cosby, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.19

When Derek and his husband Isiah are found murdered, their fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, come together over their shared pasts and deep desires for revenge. Each an ex-con and struggling with their own deeply held prejudices, the fathers set off on a fast-paced journey for retribution and redemption. 

"The Push" by Ashley Audrain

"The Push" by Ashley Audrain, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $19.69

In this book that I, like countless others, read in a single day (or single sitting), Blythe Connor is a new mom and determined to be the loving mother she never had. When her connection with her daughter isn't what she hoped it would be, she finds an inseparable bond with her second child — until a terrible incident leaves Blythe convinced there is something truly wrong with her firstborn. 

"Every Last Secret" by A.R. Torre

"Every Last Secret" by A.R. Torre, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $11.95

Neena Ryder and her lackluster husband have just moved into a beautiful new neighborhood with seemingly perfect neighbors Cat and William Winthorpe. Anxious to move up in the world, Neena develops an infatuation for Cat's incredible husband, which quickly turns into a dangerous obsession in this domestic thriller about Neena's desperate and toxic drive for the life she's always wanted. 

"All Her Little Secrets" by Wanda M. Morris

"All Her Little Secrets "by Wanda M. Morris, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.08

Ellice is a respected attorney in midtown Atlanta with a "for fun" relationship with her boss, Michael. When Ellice goes to meet Michael one morning, she finds him dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Needing to avoid the spotlight with a murder investigation, she walks away from the scene but finds she can't outrun her past, her secrets, or the strange conspiracies swirling around her for long. 

"Not a Happy Family" by Shari Lapena

"Not a Happy Family" by Shari Lapena, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $17.97

As wealthy Fred and Sheila Merton convene for Sunday family dinner with their three adult children, they have no idea it will be their last. When the couple is found brutally murdered, the children appear devastated. But with their inheritance on the line and countless hidden secrets, this gripping thriller proves nearly impossible to put down. 

"We Begin at the End" by Chris Whitaker

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, available at Amazon and Bookshop , $16.79

"We Begin at the End" is a character-driven thriller about police chief Walk and 13-year-old Duchess, who don't seem to have a lot in common but are inexplicably entwined over a murder from decades prior. When an old friend and convicted murderer Vincent King is released from prison, the two are brought together over their drives for self-preservation.

"The Wife Upstairs" by Rachel Hawkins

"The Wife Upstairs" by Rachel Hawkins, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.99

This modern-day Southern retelling of the classic "Jane Eyre" is about Jane, a dog-walker who has only recently moved into her impressive new gated community when she meets Eddie Rochester, a recent widow. Believing Eddie could offer Jane the life she's always wanted, the two fall in love — until Jane's past and the legends of Eddie's previous wife begin to haunt her new life. 

"Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead

"Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $17.75

Ray Carney is an upstanding furniture salesman in 1960s Harlem whose cousin occasionally helps him out with shady business dealings that keep his family's financial concerns at bay. When Ray's cousin gets drawn into a complicated and dangerous heist, Ray finds himself torn between his salesman persona and a growing identity as a crook. 

"A Slow Fire Burning" by Paula Hawkins

"A Slow Fire Burning" by Paula Hawkins, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.80

When a man is found murdered, the police begin to question three women from his life — a one-night stand, a grief-stricken aunt, and a nosy neighbor — each holding their own resentment towards the man. With unreliable and unlikeable characters, this complex thriller begins as a slow burn but takes off with plenty of satisfying twists and turns. 

"The Good Sister" by Sally Hepworth

"The Good Sister" by Sally Hepworth, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.79

This captivating thriller is about Fern, who struggles with a sensory processing disorder but enjoys spending time with her protective twin sister, Rose. When Rose finds out she can't have a baby, Fern sees it as an opportunity to pay her sister back for everything she's done in this family drama thriller with dark secrets desperate to be revealed. 

"The Survivors" by Jane Harper

"The Survivors" by Jane Harper, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $18.20

This dark and tense thriller links a past tragedy to a new one when a woman is found dead on the beach and police inadvertently find a connection to an accident 12 years prior. Set in an eerie coastal town, this thriller is full of lies, injustice, and guilt. 

"Billy Summers" by Stephen King

"Billy Summers" by Stephen King, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15

Billy Summers is a killer-for-hire but only if the target is a bad person who needs to be taken down. Looking to retire into oblivion after one final job, Billy goes undercover for weeks as an author writing a book and finds himself writing his own story. 

"The Last Thing He Told Me" by Laura Dave

"The Last Thing He Told Me" by Laura Dave, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14

Before her new husband mysteriously disappeared, he left Hannah a note reading "Protect her," clearly about his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey. When the FBI arrests Owen's boss and shows up at their house, Hannah and Bailey must come together to figure out Owen's true identity, his deceitful past, and the future they'll both need to survive. 

"The Plot" by Jean Hanff Korelitz

"The Plot" by Jean Hanff Korelitz, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.30

While teaching at a third-rate MFA program after his own writing dreams didn't pan out, Jacob Finch Bonner is approached by a student who claims he doesn't need his class and explains the incredible plot of his sure-to-be-published future novel. When Jacob finds out the student passed away, he steals the plot of the novel for his own publishing success — until a cryptic email threatens to unravel his success and the story's history. 

"Local Woman Missing" by Mary Kubica

"Local Woman Missing" by Mary Kubica, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $10.74

When two women and a six-year-old girl named Delilah go missing just blocks from each other, their small community is shaken and left searching for answers. 11 years later, Delilah returns just as mysteriously as she disappeared and everyone wants to know what happened to her in this outstanding thriller that can be read in a single sitting. 

"Arsenic and Adobo" by Mia P. Manansala

"Arsenic and Adobo" by Mia P. Manansala, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.40

Lila Macapagal decides to move home to recover from a terrible breakup and is swiftly recruited to help save her aunt's restaurant. When Lila's food critic ex-boyfriend suddenly drops dead, the police treat Lila like she's the only suspect, leaving her to conduct her own investigation and clear her name in this delicious new thriller. 

"The Night She Disappeared" by Lisa Jewell

"The Night She Disappeared" by Lisa Jewell, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.76

In 2017, Tallulah left her daughter with her mother to enjoy a night out with her boyfriend, a night from which she never returned. When detective novelist Sophie inadvertently stumbles upon a clue to Tallulah's mysterious disappearance, the case slowly unravels in this haunting thriller. 

"Rock Paper Scissors" by Alice Feeney

"Rock Paper Scissors" by Alice Feeney, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15.29

10 years into their marriage, Adam and Amelia know things haven't been great for a long time. So when they win a trip to Scotland — a trip could make or break their marriage. On their anniversary, a decade of secrets and lies threaten to ruin them in this gripping domestic thriller. 

"The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides

"The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.78

At Cambridge University, a secret society of women students called The Maidens is devastated when one of their own is killed. Convinced the adored Greek Tragedy professor is a killer, therapist Mariana becomes obsessed with proving his guilt and willing to stop at nothing to prevent another murder. 

"Finlay Donovan Is Killing It" by Elle Cosimano

"Finlay Donovan Is Killing It" by Elle Cosimano, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.99

When Finlay Donovan is overheard discussing her new murder novel with her literary agent, a stranger mistakes her for a killer-for-hire and offers her a huge sum of money to kill her problem husband. Finlay swiftly finds herself entangled in a real-life murder investigation in this thriller that is equal parts hilarious and suspenseful. 

"The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman

"The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $16.30

"The Man Who Died Twice" is the second novel in the "Thursday Murder Club" thriller series about a group of four retired friends who meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. In this sequel, Elizabeth receives a cryptic letter from an old colleague, asking for help. She recruits her fellow Murder Club members to hunt for a murderer, recover stolen diamonds, and save her friend's life. 

"Win" by Harlan Coben

"Win" by Harlan Coben, available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.99

When a man is found murdered beside two objects that link the crime to a cold case and a kidnapping from over 20 years ago, the FBI begins to look into Windsor "Win" Horne Lockwood III, who has no idea how these items of his and his family ended up with the murdered man. With a personal connection and an untapped fortune, Win subscribes to his own brand of vigilante justice to solve the case. 

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Beyond the Bookends

A Book Blog for Women and Moms who Love to Read

Best Psychological Thriller Books: 22 Popular Picks

Have you ever wondered what makes a psychological thriller such a compelling read? The best psychological thriller books will have your heart pounding from the beginning of the book until the end.

We have found that a lot of books that are psychological thrillers often have unreliable narrators as well. When you don’t know what to believe, you will feel the tension of the story.

Psychological thrillers will usually have complex plots that twist and turn with no clear ending. These are the books that are the most fun to read. There may or may not be a mystery component to the book. We believe that a book can be a psychological thriller and a mystery simultaneously. These are often our favorite thrillers.

These are the best psychological thriller books we have personally read. Do you agree? Did we include your favorite psychological thriller books?

*Best Psychological Thriller Books Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.

Table of Contents

Best Psychological Thriller Books

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Rachel takes the same train every day and peers out the window watching people. She watched two people in particular as they led what appeared to be a perfect life until one day she saw something terrible while watching them. 

She reports it to the police but, can they trust a dysfunctional alcoholic? This is a domestic thriller story that will have you questioning who is telling the truth from the beginning until the end. Unreliable narrators like Rachel make the best page-turners! You’ll never know what to believe!

Find this book in Books with Stalkers / Domestic Thrillers / Unreliable Narrators / Psychological Thriller Books

The Woman in the Window: A Novel by AJ Finn

If you love old movies, you will adore this book. It is a spin on Hitchcock’s Rear Window and features an agoraphobic narrator who is often unreliable.

Anna Fox lives alone in her house. She is agoraphobic and cannot leave, so she sits at her window and watches everyone in the neighborhood. 

When she sees something across the street, she is sure there has been a crime but, what is real and what is imagined? Amy Adams stars in the Netflix adaptation of this book.

Find this book in Unreliable Narrator Books / Psychological Thriller Books / Books About Mental Illness

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This is a psychological thriller book that almost everyone had heard of when it became a hit movie. It is the perfect example of what happens when a marriage goes terribly wrong. You will be questioning this book from the first page to the last.

On her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne mysteriously disappears. At the top of the suspect list is her husband Nick who seems perfect to the outside world. But, Nick and Amy are not who they appear to be.

There are so many twists and turns in this book that is the epitome of a domestic thriller and, if you love unreliable narrator books, this one is right up your alley. You may end up hating the characters, but this is one of the most popular thriller books ever written.

Find this book in Domestic Thriller Books / Best Mystery Books / Unreliable Narrator / Popular Thriller Books

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This popular thriller book was Michaelides’s debut novel and sold over 65 million copies for good reason. This psychological thriller sucked me in immediately – a woman murders her husband and then doesn’t say a word for 10 years.

Convinced he can help, a psychologist named Theo transfers to the facility where Alice is staying to try to get the real story behind the fateful night of the murder.

Soon, he will become obsessed with Alice and finding out the truth behind the murders.

Find this book in Unreliable Narrator Books / Best Mystery Books of All Time / Best Psychological Thriller Books

Best Psychological Suspense Thriller Books

The Push by Ashley Audrain

January 2021 gma book club pick.

This is a domestic noir that will scare the pants off most mothers. It’s compulsively readable.

Blythe Conner comes from a long line of bad mothers, but she’s determined not to be one. When she has Violet, she struggles to connect with her.

The reader is left wondering if Blythe is a mother who sees the worst in her child or if there is actually something off with Violet; something that even her husband can’t see. There is a reason this domestic thriller was chosen by GMA, it is a crazy good read and will have you on the edge of your seat.

Warning: the topic is disturbing and may be triggering for some people

Find this book in Books About Mothers and Motherhood / Psychological Thriller Books / Domestic Noir Books

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Shortly after being burglarized, a travel journalist boards a small luxury cruise liner to cover its inaugural voyage. When she thinks she sees a passenger thrown overboard – but everyone is still accounted for – she has to decide if what she saw was real or only in her head.

This book wasn’t as creepy as some of Ware’s others, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat. This book has an unreliable narrator which also makes a perfect psychological thriller. You just might want to wait until you are off a boat to read this one! If you love thriller novels, this book is a must-read.

Find this book in Sailing Novels / Isolation Books / Psychological Thriller Books / Unreliable Narrator Books

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

To me, this is by far the creepiest of all of Lisa Jewell’s books. While I did have some idea of what the ending was going to be, I was not prepared for how creepy this thriller book would be. 

I think the point of this was to take the fear factor up a few notches. This book left me wanting to keep my kids a little closer to home. If you are looking for books that are psychological thrillers, this is a creepy and heart-pounding pick.

Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter with her whole life ahead of her until she disappeared without a trace. Now, after ten years, her mother cannot stop looking for answers. When she sees a girl who looks just like Ellie, her unanswered questions begin to haunt her.

Find this book in Lisa Jewell Books / Psychological Thriller Books

Dark Psychological Thriller Books

The Therapist by B. A. Paris

I listened to this book and I have to say that I think it added so much to the suspense! I love the way the narrators added to the story.

Alice and Leo move into a house on “The Circle”, an exclusive gated community. When Alice discovers a hidden drawer containing letters from a woman named Nina, who was a patient of the previous owner—a therapist, she decides to find out more about the therapist who lived there before.

As Alice becomes obsessed with the past, she is met with lies and confusion until she is unsure what is true. It’s the perfect Halloween thriller book !

Find this book in Halloween Thrillers / Psychological Thriller Books

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Don’t let the gorgeous cover of this book fool you. Darling Rose Gold is a dark and sinister look at a dysfunctional, abusive mother-daughter relationship.

For 18 years, Rose Gold thought that she was always one step away from death but no tests could ever find anything wrong with her. Her mother, Patty Watts goes to jail for 5 years for child abuse and when she gets out, Rose Gold lets Patty move in with her.

I couldn’t put this book down and I can’t give much about the story away without ruining it. If you are a thriller lover, this one is for you.

Content Warning : Child Abuse Find this book in Best Psychological Thriller Books / Best Thriller Books / Books with Colors in the Title

Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney

Delaney did it again with this heart-racing domestic thriller about newborns that were switched at birth. There were times when my heart was beating so quickly I had to ask people what would happen next.

I was on the edge of my seat for the entire last half of the book and found myself wishing I had medication to calm me down! It was thrilling up until the very last page. A perfect book to read or add to your list and one of the best psychological thriller books we have read!

Find this book in Best Domestic Thriller Books / Ultimate List of Best Thriller Books

The Perfect Daughter by DJ Palmer

When police come to Grace’s door, she is terrified that something has happened to her teenage daughter, Penny. Instead, she finds out her daughter has been arrested for murder. ⁣

⁣What follows is a year and a half in a psychiatric facility while Penny awaits her trial and experts try to determine if the multiple personalities are real or a made-up ruse to get away with murder. Because Eve, the protector, has kept Penny and the other personalities away. ⁣

⁣This thriller is brilliantly crafted and had me guessing until the very end. ⁣Thank you to Macmillian Audio for my ALC of this book. It was amazing to listen to as each personality had a distinct voice. If you are looking for books that are psychological thrillers, this is one that I couldn’t put down!

Psychological Mystery Books

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh 

This domestic thriller grabbed me, shook me, and then gently put me down.  I was given a ride and wasn’t sure what hit me.  This book had a few things that I was not expecting and I loved it. 

The book begins with a mother’s worst nightmare. Her son slips out of her grip and into the street where he is struck and killed by a car. This happens almost immediately.  This was important to me so that it would not be too heart-wrenching.  This is one of the best psychological thriller books I have ever read.

Find this book in British Mystery Books / Popular Thriller Books

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

June 2020 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

I’ve just read THE thriller of Summer 2020 and it’s soooooo good.⁣ A murder at a wedding. On an isolated island. In the middle of a power outage.⁣ Yaaaaaaaaas. ⁣This is an unputdownable psychological thriller book and a vacation I would NOT want to be on.

The murder sets the scene and then we get the story in flashbacks without knowing who is murdered until the end. ⁣

Why I Love it: I’ve become very picky about thrillers recently and this one is hands down my favorite of the year so far.⁣ It also made our Best of 2020 list !

Find this book in Locked Room Mysteries / Books Like People We Meet on Vacation / Best British Mysteries / Books Becoming Movies in 2024 / Hulu Book Adaptations / Best Beach Reads

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This book is Liane Moriarty at her finest. It’s all about a group of mothers in a community who share some big lies. Their friendships take center stage, but there is a fair amount of family drama as well in this domestic noir. This is one of the most popular thriller books around.

This novel was recently turned into a show on HBO starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, and more. This book has a little bit of everything from ex-husbands and scandals. Sometimes little lies are so much more.

Find this book in Books About Motherhood / Domestic Thriller Books / Best Mystery Books /Psychological Thriller Books

Psychological Thriller Books for Adults

His and Hers by Alice Feeney

His and Hers is the best psychological thriller I have read this year.⁣ There are two sides to every story and this one had me guessing until the last page. I had to go back and re-read.⁣

Anna Andrews works at the BBC and has her dream job as an anchor until she doesn’t and she will do anything to get it back. When she has to return to her hometown to cover murders that are centered around her, nothing could complicate the situation more…..until her ex-husband is the lead investigator.

Oh, and he knows the first victim as well. ⁣This book is a puzzle that isn’t complete until the last page. It’s one of our best books of 2020 picks.

Find this book in Best Psychological Thriller Books

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Everything that you think you know in this book is just an assumption. You can assume that you are wrong. I cannot say much about this book because I do not want to spoil anything but, it is such a perfect domestic thriller.

Warning: do not start it if you don’t have time to finish it. Nellie is so excited about her upcoming wedding that is just days away. She cannot shake the feeling that someone is following her. This is a psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat and question what you think you know!

Find this book in Unreliable Narrator Books / Popular Thriller Books

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

The OG psychological thriller book, Rebecca is a book set in Cornwall that will leave you checking behind you when you walk down a dark hallway. 

The new Mrs. de Winter is haunted by her husband’s first wife, Rebecca.  The deceit will have you second-guessing everything you read while you yell at the pages.

One of the most acclaimed psychological thriller authors, this novel is Daphne Du Maurier at her best. It is a chilling novel about a naive second wife discovering the truth behind the wife who came before her.

The Netflix book adaptation stars Lily James – and it reignited this popular thriller book’s success. If you have not read this book, it is a perfect book for fall.

Find this book in Best Mystery Novels / Popular Thriller Books / Unreliable Narrator Books / Best Classic Books

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

December 2017 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

I read this popular thriller book because it was a Reese Witherspoon pick AND because I heard wonderful things about it. Unfortunately, I read The Wife Between Us back in January so I completely predicted what was going to happen in this book.

As with all thrillers, especially domestic thrillers, when the element of surprise is missing, it’s not as good a read. Still, I found this stalker book to be enjoyable if only because of the plotting of Amber Patterson. I adored being in the head of the villain. If you are looking for a very readable psychological thriller book, this is a great pick.

Psychological Thriller Books for Young Adults

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Hello Dark Academia . Centered around Devon and Chiamaka, the only black students at an elite private school, this is one wild thriller.

After being chosen by prefects on the first day of their senior year, Devon and Chiamaka quickly become the targets of the mysterious Aces – a dangerous gossip girl-type character out to ruin their lives.

I was on pins and needles as this thriller unraveled, addressing systemic racism in private institutions in the process.

Find this book in Books Set in High School / Dark Academia Novel / Stalker Books / Psychological Thriller Books

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

This YA locked room mystery is one of my favorites on the list. It is the breakfast club meets murder and I am obsessed. The Brain, the Beauty, the Criminal, The Athlete, and the Outcast are all in detention together. Only, Simon, the outcast is dead before he can leave the room.

With everyone holding onto secrets and everyone with a motive, can you figure out who did it? if you are looking for the best mystery books, this YA psychological thriller book is one where you will not guess the ending.

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman

At a prestigious private school in New England, a group of kids known as “The Players” rule the school. They get top grades, get into the best schools, and rule the social scene. This is one of the books set in high school that makes me glad I never have to go back.

But when one of the girls in the group is murdered, her best friend Jill begins to investigate who the real murderer is and just how dark their privileged world is. This is a book that will make you think about what privilege means and the lengths people will take to get what they want.

Find this book in Books About Secret Societies / Best Mystery Books / Best Psychological Thriller Books

What is a Psychological Thriller Book?

The best psychological thriller books will usually have complex plots that twist and turn with no clear ending. These are the books that are the most fun to read. There may or may not be a mystery component to the book. We believe that a book can be a psychological thriller and a mystery simultaneously. These are often our favorite thrillers.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins & 16 Popular Thriller Books

If you love psychological thriller books, you will find more in this list of popular thrillers

20 Books with Unreliable Narrators to Read Now

If you love this list of the best psychological thriller books, you will love this list of unreliable narrator books.

Love thrillers? You’ll probably love this swag too!

Co-founder and Editorial Director

Jackie is the mother of three children and a Speech-Language Pathologist who uses her love of books to create language-based learning opportunities in her speech therapy practice and with her own children. Her 20+ years of experience in regular and special education classrooms ensures the website content is relevant and informative. She started this website with Kirsten to share their passion for literacy with other moms and kids.

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The best psychological thrillers, recommended by j.s. monroe.

OUT THIS WEEK

No Place to Hide by J.S. Monroe

The best psychological thrillers are books that draw you into the lives of seemingly ordinary people, keep you turning the pages and then (often) floor you with an unexpected twist. British thriller writer JS Monroe, author of No Place to Hide , recommends some of the best ones out there, including the 1955 book that inspired the modern genre.

Interview by Sophie Roell , Editor

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

The Magus by John Fowles

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

1 I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

2 the magus by john fowles, 3 three hours by rosamund lupton, 4 the talented mr ripley by patricia highsmith, 5 gone girl by gillian flynn.

B efore we get to the specific psychological thrillers you’re recommending, can you give us a bit of an overview of the genre? What’s it about, why do you write in it?

There’s also a requirement of the genre to do a lot of twists. That’s one of the hardest things about writing psychological thrillers: there is an appetite or an expectation for twists. I like doing twists, so that attracted me as well.

The other thing I would say is that the genre is shifting all the time. When I first started writing psychological thrillers, an element of police procedural was creeping in. You get a hybrid: from pure psychological thrillers you get a police element. Now it’s moving more and more into other territories. We had domestic noir—the couple upstairs or the second wife—those sorts of stories have come in as well.

Now—maybe as a result of lockdown—we are seeing more emphasis on slightly comforting, cozy crime. We’ve got a bit fed up with being shocked and tortured and horrified by awful narratives. So we’re seeing The Thursday Murder Club -type books coming in which are more on the crime end of the spectrum, but in some sense it’s all related.

Thinking about the psychological thriller genre, one thing that strikes me is that it’s about ordinary people in everyday situations. It could well be that I’d got very drunk at a party as a student and can’t quite remember what I did, or acted in a play at university and met all sorts of people I was in awe of—as happens in your book, No Place to Hide . It’s not about baddies threatening to blow up the world with a nuclear bomb. What’s attractive is that we could imagine it happening to ourselves. Would you say that’s part of it?

Absolutely. That’s perhaps one of the reasons why I moved on from spy thrillers. There’s that great divide in spy fiction between your Len Deighton everyman person, who you can relate to, and the Jason Bourne , superhero-type spy. I had a series with Daniel Marchant as my main character, who was working for intelligence services and wasn’t an everyman person.

Let’s go through the books, the psychological thrillers you’ve picked out for us. First on your list is I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh, which starts with something very relatable as a mom: you let go of your child’s hand for a second and something terrible happens. Tell me about this book and why you like it.

What I love about I Let You Go is the twist. The book came out in 2015 and it was just such an impressive debut for Clare Mackintosh. There’s the difference between part one and part two and it all hangs on this twist. It’s one of those moments where I just sat up. It was like a gut punch. As a writer, I actually stopped reading the book, and went back and reread the first half. From a technical point of view, I wanted to check the wiring and the plumbing of the book to see whether it all hung together because what she was doing was so brave. Did it all work out? As a reader, do you feel cheated? Or do you feel ‘Wow!’ and have your breath taken away? I was completely misled. The misdirection was so convincing. The twist checked out perfectly from a technical point of view. It was really bold and it worked really well.

As you say, Jenna, the mother and the main character, was very relatable and it’s every parent’s worst nightmare. The book also saw the beginning of the hybrid psychological thriller/police procedural. There was a detective element to it as well.

I should say that Clare Mackintosh was very kind and gave me a nice plug for Find Me , my first psychological thriller. Her comments, and her quote, helped me enormously. I Let You Go was her debut and I think it’s probably still her best book.

Has she written quite a few since?

Yes. I haven’t read them all, but I’ve read quite a few. They’re good, but she just set such a high standard with this one.

Do you read a lot of thrillers yourself?

I do at certain times. When I’m writing a thriller, I tend to switch off and read other genres. I try and write books which are slightly different, and I feel that if I read too many in the genre, my books are in danger of becoming like everyone else’s. So I try not to get too embedded. I try and keep my eye on the best, on the books that are breaking new ground and who’s doing really well. I’m a big fan of JP Delaney who I think is very interesting as a writer.

“When you’re in this game, you live or die by a book’s readability”

Let’s go on to your next recommendation, The Magus by John Fowles. This was first published in 1965. Tell me more.

Yes, and he revised it in 1977. This is a classic from my year off between school and university. I went interrailing and ended up on a Greek island with a battered copy of The Magus in my backpack—which I think everyone of a certain age should probably do—and I read it there.  It’s the story of Nicholas Urfe, who’s a university graduate from Oxford and gets a job teaching English on a Greek island.

There are problems with the first part of the book. I’m not sure revisions are a good idea, but he could have addressed the misogyny at the beginning when Nicholas is still in the UK and he’s at parties with his Australian girlfriend. That made me a bit uncomfortable. But once you get onto the island, and he starts playing these mind games with Conchis—who is this mysterious, wealthy recluse living on the far side of the island—I just loved it.

In terms of storytelling, it has a sort of Tales of 1001 Nights /Scheherazade  quality about it, tales within tales. The layers are peeled back: every time you think you’ve understood what’s going on, another layer of falsehood is peeled back to reveal that what you thought was a truth is anything but.

SPOILER ALERT

It’s been branded a ‘psychosexual’ thriller. There is that element with this beautiful woman who he falls in love with. Then she has a twin. And then you realize they’re actors. Then you meet them and they’re not actors. Conchis calls it the ‘godgame’ that he’s playing, and it is in danger of being a bit pretentious, certainly toward the end.  But I just loved it. I reread it again a couple of years ago, back on holiday in Greece, this time with the family in tow, and felt it withstood a second reading.

I guess that principally it’s the mind games—the godgame—that I love. The Magus has also been described as a Jungian psychological thriller—and it does play with the unconscious and the conscious. But you can get out of it what you want. There are loads of metaphors in it and allusions to Greek mythology . You can let those wash over you if you like, or you can embrace them all. But the basic tenet is of a young person going to have this dream job teaching English at a school and then getting drawn into this weird, weird game which you just don’t know where it’s going. I love that.

Let’s move on to Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton, which is about gunmen entering a school.

Yes. It’s quite unusual for her. Her books defy easy categorization. They don’t fall easily into particular genres. Three Hours is set in a private school in the depths of Somerset. In terms of storytelling, the ticking clock is a great trope, this sense of three hours or 180 minutes. It’s played out in real time, which is a great feat of writing. If you really cracked on and read it, at pace, you could probably read it in three hours. So she’s using the well-known device of a time limit—in this case, a bomb that’s going to go off creates enormous tension—but she does something very clever with it.

Again, it’s multiple stories, which appeals to me. We have the stories of lots of different students within the school, as well as the head teacher, who is very badly injured right at the beginning. One group is in the middle of a Macbeth rehearsal when they get the alert, and the school is locked down. They don’t know where the gunmen are, and where the bomb might be. They’ve barricaded themselves in, and the drama teacher tries to keep people going, rehearsing Macbeth . There are some subtle allusions between the story of Macbeth and what’s playing out in the school. It might sound heavy-handed, but it’s not.

It’s also very contemporary. One really powerful storyline is about a 16-year-old refugee from Syria called Rafi. He hears this small explosion in the wood, recognises the sound of a bomb, and he’s the one who informs the head. Rafi is inside the school and his younger brother Basi, who’s very, very fragile, is somewhere out in the grounds. It has this extraordinary effect—it makes me feel slightly tingly just talking about it now—that love of a brother for his younger sibling. When refugees arrive in this country from Syria, it must feel like a real disconnect. And yet here was this person suddenly in a war situation with this ticking bomb in the ground of the school. The story of Rafi is just very, very believable.

The head teacher, Matthew, is also extraordinary. At one point, as they try and keep each other going, he says, “In the end it is all about love, it is all that matters.” It sounds like a Love Actually -type movie, but it isn’t. It’s done without any sentimentality, it’s just a stark statement of the facts. Ultimately in that situation, you’re just looking after each other.

Three Hours is very exciting as well. It’s really, really tense. It’s a fabulous book. It’s certainly one of my favorite books of recent years.

Given it’s a thriller, is one of the measurements of whether it’s a good book that you can’t put it down? That you feel compelled to read it in one sitting?

It is. When you’re in this game, you live or die by a book’s readability. When I’m writing a book, I have in mind a reader at two o’clock in the morning who’s just finished a chapter, and thinks, ‘Just one more!’ I’m shameless, I’m afraid. I make sure that the end of each chapter has something in there to make them want to read on, a driver of some sort to make them turn the page and see what happens next.

It’s quite fun. I spend maybe a year writing a book, and then someone will come up to me and say, ‘I read your book in an afternoon!’ Part of me thinks, ‘God! Do you know how long it took me to write the damn thing?’ And one part of me is thinking, ‘That’s fantastic, I couldn’t ask for more.’ It is just one of those things, that you spend all that time doing something and then it’s read that quickly.

I remember when Ian McEwan wrote Sweet Tooth , I was a journalist and I interviewed him about the paperback. Sweet Tooth was his stab at a spy thriller, and it has a lot of unreliability in it. It’s a really good book. But I remember him saying that he was slightly worried people weren’t going to be savoring the nuances of every sentence he wrote. I said, ‘Yes, you are going to be having people speed reading your prose.’ I think he found that difficult because he takes so much care over how he crafts sentences. The idea that someone might just be flicking through the pages, not really observing how he balanced two clauses in a sentence and included internal rhymes…I had to say to him, ‘You’re probably going to have to let that go, because people are going to be reading this for the story.’

For those who don’t already know it, The Talented Mr Ripley is by the American writer Patricia Highsmith and was published in 1955. It’s the oldest psychological thriller on your list, but when I last read it, it didn’t feel dated.

It’s described as the godfather of the modern psychological thriller. Everyone who writes psychological thrillers must acknowledge Patricia Highsmith at some point. She gave the genre legitimacy in that she was quite a highbrow writer writing popular fiction, so we all quote this book and mention it, hoping some of it rubs off on our own books.

What appealed to me most about this book is that Tom Ripley is the ultimate sociopath, and yet we’re rooting for him. In my first book, back in 1997, I had an antihero, an anarchist called Dutchie, who had lost his girlfriend in an IRA bomb. It was very difficult to do as a first book, but I was trying to get people to root for him: not necessarily like him but be on his side. It was a challenge.

With Tom Ripley, he’s very charming, but we know what he’s doing is not right. He has to go and find Dickie Greenleaf and convince him to come back to America. He’s on a mission from Dickie’s dad, Herbert. The other big takeaway I had from this book—and I still feel like I haven’t done this yet, but I want to—is that I love books where someone impersonates someone else. I just love the idea of someone taking on someone else’s identity. Identity, I should say, is a crucial part of the psychological thriller, and certainly the psychological thrillers I write. Identity is a big part of memory, and what makes someone who they are and how you would impersonate them.

The Talented Mr Ripley is also interesting because it doesn’t have a happy ending, really. You feel Highsmith has endorsed this sociopath, doing this bad thing, impersonating someone else and taking on their life but there isn’t that classic happy ending. It’s a reminder that her moral compass is still intact. You’ve been on a bit of a journey, you are siding with the bad boy. It’s an interesting play on the morality, which is a really big issue in my books, if I may very briefly mention No Place to Hide .

Yes! I stayed up late into the night reading No Place to Hide . I started in the afternoon and finished it at about 3 am.

That’s very kind though, again, mixed feelings: do you know how long it took me to write it?! In it, the issues of good and evil are much more overt. It’s a very loose retelling of Christopher Marlowe’s play, Dr. Faustus . Marlowe’s play is brutal, Faustus is dragged kicking and screaming down to hell, there is no redemption. There is no forgiveness, he just messes up big time. There are two versions of the play and in one of them he appeals slightly more for forgiveness. The answer is, ‘Absolutely not, you made a deal, signed it in blood with the devil, the 24 years are up, you’re out of here’. I toyed with that.  If No Place to Hide is a loose retelling of Faustus should my main character suffer the same brutal fate?

Which side I fell on that in the end was perhaps more a reflection of the fact that, ultimately, I like books in which, in a slightly corny way, good ultimately prevails. Because if you do enter this dark world of psychological thrillers—and my books are quite dark—you take readers with you. It was particularly the case with Find Me , which was probably my darkest book, my first JS Monroe. Somehow, at the end, you do have to come up for air so you’re not drowning. You don’t have to have a saccharine-sweet, happy ending, but there’s got to be a sense of hope. I would just feel too uncomfortable taking people to a dark place and just saying, ‘That’s it, I’m going to leave you here.’

No Place to Hide is a lot about surveillance. That’s quite a rich seam for psychological thrillers right now, isn’t it?

It is. I’ve done it twice now in the five books I’ve written. The Other You had quite a lot about facial recognition and facial recognition software. In the UK, we are one of the most surveilled societies in the world. There are action groups, people who monitor how much things are being recorded, but when there’s an awful news story, we’re all waiting for the CCTV footage. We think, ‘They won’t have been able to do that without being caught somewhere on CCTV. There’ll be a traffic camera somewhere. There’ll be a security camera on the front of an office, there’ll be dashcam footage, there’ll be something.’ When that comes out, we don’t all say, ‘That’s outrageous. I didn’t realize that we were being filmed!’ We go, ‘Thank goodness that they’ll catch the bad person.’ So we have this ambivalent attitude to surveillance culture in the UK. We are very watched. But I don’t hear people jumping up and down in their millions saying, ‘Turn off all the cameras!’ It makes us feel safer. It’s a weird dichotomy.

I find the mobile phone particularly intriguing. We do carry around these things which have the capacity to listen in on our daily lives. There’s just been the news that TikTok is not going to be allowed on government-issued mobile phones because they’re convinced the Chinese are listening in through it.

Yes, at home we don’t have Amazon Echo because my husband doesn’t want anyone listening to us.

You can do a test. If the microphone on your computer or your phone hasn’t been disabled, you can say, ‘I like red dog biscuits.’ And you will see adverts coming up for red dog biscuits. The algorithms are kicking in and you’ll get Google ads tailored to what you’ve been saying. Turn off the microphones is all you have to do. It is quite easy to disable everything. My kids are all in their 20s now, but they always have a plaster across the camera on their laptops because you never know what software you might accidentally have downloaded. If you want to go on FaceTime to talk to someone, peel the thing off, talk, and then put it back on again.

Have you read a good nonfiction book about surveillance for people who are worried about it?

Okay, we’d better get to your last psychological thriller. This is Gone Girl , a page-turner by Gillian Flynn. Tell me why you like this one.

The two big ones of the last 15 years are Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train . Gone Girl came out first and it influenced a whole generation of writers in the UK. What particularly appealed to me is what we talked about earlier.

It’s one of the best examples of bold writing with two unreliable narrators. That’s really good. You’ve got the split point of view, and you’ve got two time zones. Nick and Amy are married, and the first half is written as her diary from previously. Nick is in present time and he’s trying to work out where his wife has gone. The diary entries are sufficiently disturbing to make us think that he’s disposed of Amy, and that’s how the police begin to think.

This has influenced so many of my books. I often do multiple points of view, sometimes two, sometimes three. In No Place to Hide , I’ve done a first-person diary, and a third person in the past. In my first book, Find Me I also had a diary which turned out to be unreliable. What’s interesting about Gone Girl is that everything is unreliable. I really like that.

The other thing I liked in Gone Girl was the authenticity of Nick’s male voice. I thought that was particularly well done. I thought Nick was incredibly convincing as a character. It gave me the confidence to not worry about writing male or female characters because you’re dealing with people, ultimately. There’s no reason why a man can’t write in a female character and vice versa, but it is potentially going to get more contentious as an issue, whose stories we’re allowed to tell.

I felt it started brilliantly but got a little bit less convincing as it went on. Towards the end, I was getting a bit like, ‘What’s going on here?’

Yes, I know what you mean. Still, the overall feeling I had when I finished the book outweighed any misgivings. Endings are hard. The other thing that stands out for me in Gone Girl is the writing. It is a thriller and you’ll probably pass it on to someone, but she’s a good writer. The style, her use of words is really smart. It’s a cut above.

I read it at a time when I was devouring all these books before I started writing psychological thrillers. I was looking at all the best ones. In The Girl on the Train, you have three points of view, you’re moving the camera around. That’s something which I’ve always done. No Place to Hide is the first one I’ve done with just one point of view, although it’s past and present. Usually, I have three characters telling the story. I’ve moved away from police procedure as well. No Place to Hide is just a standalone, psychological thriller without any police in it at all. There is no washed-up, drunken and divorced detective.

You’re right about endings being hard. I remember when I was about 21, I stayed up all night reading The Firm by John Grisham . It has this brilliant set-up, it was really engrossing. Then, towards the end, I thought, ‘Oh well. Fine, but not as great as the beginning.’

I often get accused of rushing endings, so now I pace myself. I allow myself enough time. I start the ending earlier so I’ve got enough energy to write it properly and can give it a big bang. Have you been to the Minack theatre in Cornwall?

No, but I want to after reading No Place to Hide !

It’s a really, really dramatic cliff-front theater. It’s quite extraordinary. I thought, if I can’t end a book there, with a literal cliffhanger…

April 11, 2023

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J.S. Monroe

J. S. Monroe , the pseudonym of British author and journalist Jon Stock, is the author of five psychological thrillers: Find Me , Forget My Name , The Other You , The Man on Hackpen Hill and No Place To Hide . Writing as Jon Stock, he is also the author of six spy novels. Before becoming a full-time writer he worked as a foreign correspondent in Delhi, and was weekend editor of the Daily Telegraph in London. He is currently the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford, as well as on the committee of the Marlborough LitFest.

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The Doctor's Child: An incredibly gripping and page-turning psychological thriller (The Doctor's Wife Book 4) Kindle Edition

• Book 4 of 4 The Doctor's Wife
• Print length 248 pages
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• Publication date May 1, 2024
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CP9X4BM3
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (May 1, 2024)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2024
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1531 KB
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• #19 in Murder Thrillers
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Daniel hurst.

Daniel Hurst is an Amazon #1 bestselling author of fast paced psychological thrillers. His most popular titles include Til Death Do Us Part, The Passenger and The Doctor's Wife, the latter title reaching #1 on the Amazon UK Kindle store in February 2023. A regular KDP Select All Star since he became a full-time author in 2021, Daniel prides himself on writing fast, releasing stories often and engaging with his readers.

You can visit him at www.danielhurstbooks.com, where you can also download a copy of his FREE thriller 'Just One Second.'

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15 thriller books with twist endings that didn't disappoint.

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25 Amazing Standalone Fantasy Books To Read

10 sci-fi thriller books too twisted to be made into films, 10 incredible horror books that still need movies.

• To stand out in the thriller genre, a book must deliver a jaw-dropping twist that keeps readers hooked till the end.
• Skilled authors like Agatha Christie and William Diehl expertly manipulate reader expectations to deliver shocking and satisfying twists.
• From psychological thrillers to crime dramas, these captivating novels use intense suspense and endless twists to keep readers on edge.

There's nothing more frustrating than a thriller book that leaves readers disappointed with its final twist, but that only makes the stories that get it right stand out all the more. Mysteries, psychological thrillers , unsettling crime dramas, and more have been a key feature of fiction for centuries, going back to James Fenimore Cooper's The Spy in 1821. Of course, the longer this genre has been popular, the harder it is to take avid readers by surprise .

Standard thriller tropes can be a double-edged sword, and so often, a book falls flat when it can't deliver on its promise to make readers' jaws drop in the final third. However, a skilled writer can find their way around reader expectations. Authors like Agatha Christie, William Diehl, Natsuo Kirino, Fiona Barton, and more have prepared thriller novels that will shock even the most experienced readers.

Authors including Neil Gaiman, V. E. Schwab, Marissa Meyer, and R. F. Kuang have written riveting standalone novels that all fantasy fans should read.

15 The Kind Worth Killing By Peter Swanson

4/5 stars on goodreads.

Peter Swanson's The Kind Worth Killing is a dangerously indulgent book following a man who drunkenly confesses to a strange woman that he wants to murder his unfaithful wife, and she surprisingly promises to help him do it. Of course, it doesn't end there, and as the duo continues with their plan and The Kind Worth Killing shifts between the two character's perspectives, things slowly become more chilling.

Swanson didn't need to reach too far for suspense in this book since the intense pact between the book's two characters does all the work for him. However, the themes of morality guide readers uneasily through the psychological thriller as they are hit with endless twists and turns that won't disappoint.

14 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd By Agatha Christie

4.27/5 on goodreads.

It's no big news that Agatha Christie has delivered some excellent plot twists, but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd breaks all the rules to ensure readers are left gaping. The 1926 Hercule Poirot novel is set in the aesthetic and peaceful English countryside and follows the shocking investigation of a woman's sudden overdose and the mysterious murder of the man she was meant to marry, Roger Ackroyd.

Old whodunits are often predictable by today's standards, and even now, the genre has taken a harsh turn as aggressive red herrings make the final resolution unsatisfying.

Old whodunits are often predictable by today's standards, and even now, the genre has taken a harsh turn as aggressive red herrings make the final resolution unsatisfying. However, Christie was a master of her craft , and the way The Murder of Roger Ackroyd uses readers' expectations against them was entirely before its time.

13 Stay Awake By Megan Goldin

3.82/5 on goodreads.

Megan Goldin takes a common concept and makes it extraordinary in Stay Awake . The novel follows Liv Reese, who wakes up in a cab with no idea how she got there or where she has been. It isn't until she discovers a bloody knife on her person and the messages saying "stay awake!" scrawled over her skin that she realizes that if she falls asleep, her memory will be reset, and she will forget everything .

Of course, this isn't 50 First Dates —it quickly becomes apparent that Liv must go on the run for a murder that she doesn't remember committing. The strain of needing to stay awake adds a thrilling tension to Stay Awake, and the resulting suspense perfectly accompanies the big twist that makes it all worth it.

Science-fiction books are rich with great potential film adaptations, but some sci-fi books are just too bizarre or twisted to be made into movies.

12 Primal Fear By William Diehl

4.23/5 on goodreads.

William Diehl's 1992 legal thriller Primal Fear is among his best-constructed novels. It follows attorney Martin Vail as he takes on a pro bono client who is sure to lose—a 19-year-old boy found holding a knife over the bloodied corpse of a bishop. Together with his team, Vail is determined to get the kid off, but shocking twists and shocking turns make this case far darker than he had imagined.

The final twist of Primal Fear comes with the verdict , full of courtroom drama and flair that will keep readers at the very edge of their seats. This thriller once again uses readers' expectations against them, delivering that final and thrillingly disturbing bombshell.

11 Here Lies Daniel Tate By Cristin Terrill

4.06/5 on goodreads.

Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill is another novel with an age-old idea handled in just the right way. The story picks up with the surprise return of Daniel Tate, a boy who had gone missing six years before when he was 10 years old. His wealthy family is overjoyed to finally find him and bring him home, but what they don't realize is that this isn't Daniel; it's a con artist ready to take the family for all they have.

Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill is another novel with an age-old idea handled in just the right way.

However, the Tates also have some secrets, and as the fake Daniel gets tangled up in them, it becomes clear that he is in genuine danger. The premise of Here Lies Daniel Tate is already a twist within a twist, but Terill uses the central character's dishonesty to push readers to their own mental limits .

10 Confessions By Kanae Minato

3.79/5 on goodreads.

Confessions is Kanae Minato's debut novel, and she held nothing back. Originally published in Japan in 2008, the book follows Yuko Moriguchi, a single mother turned vigilante after her daughter's murder. It sounds like a Marvel origin story, but one of the initial twists of Confessions is that the murderers at whom Yuko's revenge is aimed are only 13 years old . However, this doesn't stop the grieving mother's violence.

The English translation of Confessions was published in the United States in 2014.

Confessions pushes the boundaries of morality, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable questions from start to finish. Still, that's not all Kanae has in store for her readers, and the final twist of this brutal thriller forces the unsettling questions about morality past their breaking point.

9 The Darkest Corners By Kara Thomas

3.8/5 on goodreads.

The Darkest Corners is a young adult thriller, but that isn't to say that author Kara Thomas shied away from the dark and disturbing. The 2016 book revolves around two childhood friends who have been holding on to a secret since they were nine. However, one of these girls, Tessa, decides years later that she wants to put together the missing pieces of that horrible night, but the truth has a tight grip that she might not be able to escape.

The Darkest Corners requires its readers to pay meticulous attention to several diverting plot points , but there is a valuable reward for those who do. After sifting through some artfully constructed red herrings, the YA novel will pull the true answer out of right field with a profoundly satisfying reveal.

8 The Night Shift By Alex Finlay

3.91/5 on goodreads.

Alex Finlay combines '90s nostalgia with excruciating thrills in The Night Shift . The 2022 novel picks up after a group of teens are murdered at a Blockbuster on New Year's Eve of 1999, so it wastes no time getting to the excitement. From there, The Night Shift zips ahead 15 years to a similar murder at an ice cream shop, and there are still no answers in sight.

Finlay's mystery thriller is phenomenally paced, with minimal downtime that would cause readers to lose interest. There are new clues, reveals, and massive shocks unveiled on every page , but this does nothing to prepare readers for the final twist.

7 Verity By Colleen Hoover

4.32/5 on goodreads.

Colleen Hoover is best known for her romance novels, and she brought this to her 2018 thriller Verity . It follows writer Lowen Ashleigh, who is hired by the husband of bestselling author Verity to finish his wife's books while she is recovering from an accident. As Lowen carries out her work, she begins to uncover some of Verity's darkest secrets, and this places her in a haunting predicament.

Verity is several things all at once, making it the perfect book for someone looking for an exciting thriller who enjoys spicy bedroom scenes (and lots of them). Still, there is more to the novel than just this, as the central mystery is sure to keep readers guessing until they are confronted with the final, satisfying twist.

6 Out By Natsuo Kirino

3.95/5 on goodreads.

Natsuo Kirino uses gore and violence in Out to set readers on edge, with desperate, unhappy characters that naturally create the tone of this crime drama thriller. The story follows a group of four women struggling to make it through while working at a lunchbox factory. Things are hard, but when one murders her husband and the other three help to cover it up, their desperation evolves into something else entirely.

Natsuo Kirino uses gore and violence in Out to set readers on edge, with desperate, unhappy characters that naturally create the tone of this crime drama thriller.

Out goes beyond these four central characters, exploring how misery can spread, leaving rot and waste in its wake . Natsuo spends much time building up these stories, so Out has a more inconsistent pace. However, it's still a page-turner, and learning about these characters and their miserable lives has an excellent payoff in the end.

5 Rebecca By Daphne Du Maurier

4.42/5 on goodreads.

A must-read classic within the genre, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is a gothic novel following an unnamed young woman swept away in a romance with an older, wealthy widower. When they are married, the narrator is taken to his home of Manderly Manor, but while there, she is tormented by the haunting memory of his previous wife, Rebecca , who died only the year before.

The setting of Manderly Monor is everything a thrilling gothic needs. The home is centuries old, and the halls are steeped in painful nostalgia. As Rebecca progresses, it eventually becomes difficult to tell what is real and what isn't, but each scene is packed with symbolism and hints that will only really make sense once that big twist blows readers away.

4 The Last House On Needless Street By Catriona Ward

3.86/5 on goodreads.

The Last House on Needless Street takes the unreliable narrator trope to the extreme, shifting between the perspective of a lonely bachelor named Ted, his cat, and his new neighbor. From chapter to chapter, Ted is trying desperately to keep his life in order, but he keeps losing time, and a far more sinister story begins to play out between the lines .

Catriona Ward's psychological thriller is mind-bending at the very least, with Ted's life growing more unsettling with every page. Readers begin to want answers just as badly as his neighbor, Dee, but The Last House on Needless Street keeps them frustratingly out of reach. Ultimately, the series of satisfying twists in the last third provides some answers, but they aren't what you would expect.

From tales that venture into the unknown to familial dramas that unfold in the backdrop of grim secrets, many horror novels deserve movie adaptations.

3 Shutter Island By Dennis Lehane

4.12/5 on goodreads.

Shutter Island is another must-read classic. Set in the 1950s, Dennis places his characters on the titular island, which is the location of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The detective and his partner must solve a missing person case while a known murderer is loose on the island, and a deadly hurricane bears down on them. It's page-turning suspense at its finest.

Shutter Island was adapted into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo in 2010.

Dennis Lehane's novel is full of all the standard tropes—the asylum is hiding secrets regarding experimentation and cruelty, and these conspiracies will surely get these snooping detectives into trouble. Still, this isn't to say that Shutter Island is predictable. It's worth a read, even for those who have seen the 2010 movie.

2 The Silent Patient By Alex Michaelides

4.18/5 on goodreads.

Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient follows criminal psychotherapist Theo Farber as he is faced with the case of his career—a famous and wealthy painter shoots her fashion photographer husband for seemingly no reason and then never speaks a word again. The completely silent artist becomes an egg that Faber simply must crack , even at the expense of his own sanity.

The Silent Patient switches between Faber's narration and that of the titular silent ward, whose vague story is outlined through a series of journal entries. Between the two, it seems as if the murder would quickly begin to make sense, but the story only grows more unhinged as readers head toward that final, unexpected reveal.

1 'The Child' By Fiona Barton

3.94/5 on goodreads.

Unsurprisingly, The Child delivers on being a great thriller with an impactful twist since Fiona Barton has already proven herself in this regard. The story centers around the discovery of a tiny skeleton beneath an old house and a journalist, Kate, who hopes to uncover the story here. Her investigation takes her through the surrounding neighborhood, and the tale only becomes more heartbreaking the deeper she dives.

Despite being a psychological thriller , Barton tells the story of The Child fairly neatly, and readers can likely solve the mystery themselves if they are paying attention. The plot isn't muddled up by too many red herrings, but this makes the nature of the thriller book 's final plot twist even more satisfying.

Stansted author and mum-of-three AJ Campbell’s latest thriller is a ‘rollercoaster’ of a read

The latest literary offering from psychological thriller writer AJ Campbell is described as her “twistiest” novel to date.

The 55-year-old author from Bentfield Green, who has just secured a two-book publishing deal after launching her own writing career during lockdown, says Did I Kill My Husband? has so far received positive reviews.

Amanda, who goes by the pen name of AJ Campbell, has self-published six novels in the crime/thriller genre. Last month she released My Perfect Marriage, which topped the Amazon new releases chart for psychological thrillers , and now her second book deal title is out today (Wednesday May 29).

The mum-of-three told the Indie : “I personally think it’s my twistiest story to date, and the reviews have been fantastic.”

Did I Kill My Husband? is described as a “rollercoaster of a novel” and ”aheart-racing thriller that you won’t be able to put down!”

It starts with a phone call from a police officer to a wife whose husband is in a life-threatening condition in hospital. Everybody thinks they are the perfect couple, but everybody is wrong, said Amanda.

She explained how having been cleared of any wrongdoing following a scandal at the school where the husband teaches, his wife, Christina, who at first believed him, now fears he may not have been telling the truth.

But she can’t tell the police as he isn’t the only one hiding secrets. “In the end, the choice is easy. I know what I have to do…I’ll tell the police that I would never, ever hurt my husband. But will they believe me?” the book synopsis teases.

Amanda said the idea for the book had been brewing for a while – she keeps a long list of story ideas that eventually turn into books. “[It] is an idea that has been with me for a while after reading an online news article about a hit-and-run. I started writing it, and the story developed from there.”

Publisher Bookouture approached the author following her initial success and is in discussions for a further two-book deal.

The 20 Best Psychological Thriller TV Shows to Disturb You

Prepare to be unsettled.

The psychological thriller is an exceptional subgenre that dissolves any sense of reality and, instead of relying on physical action, it builds up the suspense through a character's misconstrued perspective and complex mental state. Movies such as Rear Window , Cape Fear , and The Silence of the Lambs popularized the subgenre, paving the way for producing the best psychological thriller series, including Bates Motel , True Detective , and David Fincher 's Mindhunter .

Through the years, there have been dozens of popular psychological thriller shows that earned praise from both critics and audiences, but only a few, such as The Following and Mare of Easttown , can leave viewers on edge. These spine-chilling psychological thrillers are expertly crafted, with well-written plots to complement stunning performances against gritty realities. Which are the most disturbing psychological thriller series worth watching as soon as possible?

20 'The Following' (2013 - 2015)

Created by kevin williamson.

When a sadistic serial killer, Joe Caroll ( James Purefoy ), escapes the death penalty, he enlists the help of his large following of fans to continue his work and commit a series of brutal murders. The FBI calls in the former agent who originally apprehended Caroll, Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon ), and asks for his help to track down the madman's extensive list of followers and stop them before they can claim more victims.

The Following is a twisted tale about a murderer who is determined to continue his reign of terror and manages to do so even behind bars, making each movement incredibly unpredictable and full of intensity. Caroll is also inspired by the iconic Edgar Allen Poe , and his crimes reflect the stories of the Gothic horror author, adding another layer to the complex mystery . Bacon delivers an emotional but defiant performance as Hardy who, despite his best efforts, is deep down a broken man struggling to heal mentally and physically from his work as a federal agent. The Following earned positive reviews from audiences and critics and, making it a must-see in the genre.

The Following

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19 'The Sinner' (2017 - 2021)

Created by derek simonds.

Bill Pullman stars in Netflix's series, The Sinner , as a homicide detective, Detective Harry Ambrose, who, unlike most detectives, has a sense of empathy and an unusual set of skills that sometimes leads him into dangerous territory. His checkered past drives his determination to solve each homicide and as he gets to know every major player in each case, he sometimes develops powerful bonds with them that force him to toe the line between professionalism and his personal feelings.

Each season of The Sinner features Ambrose investigating a different murder case, which allows the series to feel fresh while also maintaining a familiar formula for viewers. Pullman has never been more captivating and emotionally engaging as the enigmatic Ambrose, who is faced with the challenge of keeping an unbiased eye on the clues and never allowing his personal feelings towards a suspect or situation to prevent him from solving the case. The Sinner is a perfect balance of the classic thrills of murder investigations paired with in-depth character drama , making it an essential psychological thriller series for any diehard fan of the subgenre.

18 'Behind Her Eyes' (2021)

Created by steve lightfoot.

Louise Barnsley ( Simona Brown ) is a single mother who, shortly after meeting her new boss, Dr. David Ferguson ( Tom Bateman ), the two begin having a secret affair. As Barnsley tries to keep her scandalous affair separate from her everyday life, her world is thrown completely off when she develops a friendship with Ferguson's wife, Adele (Eve Hewson). Initially, Barnsley takes the scenario as an unexpected love triangle, but she soon discovers that she's caught in a web of secrets, lies, and unforgivable deception.

The British noir series, Behind Her Eyes , gives a whole new meaning to an office romance and features a rabbit hole of thrills and unexpected turns. While the series isn't praised for its character development, it does follow an enticing series of events that are guaranteed to entertain audiences to a certain degree of shock and awe. Behind Her Eyes stands out for continuing to keep viewers guessing and as soon as they believe they have figured it all out, they're thrown into another turn of events and information that leaves them utterly puzzled.

Behind Her Eyes

17 'the woman in the wall' (2023 - 2024), created by joe murtagh.

When an Irish woman, Lorna Brady ( Ruth Wilson ), wakes up one morning, she's horrified to discover a dead woman but even more frightened as she doesn't know who or how the person ended up in her home. Since Brady suffers from sleepwalking, she is confused if she is responsible for the dead body or not, and, after meeting Detective Colman Akande, ( Daryl McCormack ), she becomes the investigator's prime suspect in a completely different case.

The six-part dramatic thriller series The Woman in the Wall follows a confounding mystery complicated by Brady's traumatic past and bouts of sleepwalking, presenting the age-old question in any mystery: did she or did she not commit murder? As the show immerses audiences in a game of tug-of-war over Brady's innocence or guilt, Akande holds dark secrets of his own close to his chest which eventually slowly begin to unravel and become entangled in his investigation. The Woman in the Wall plays endless mind games with audiences while still moving the plot along , and as Brady and Akande form an unlikely alliance in their search for the truth, it also leads to a rather unexpected result most would have never imagined.

The Woman in the Wall

Watch on Hulu

16 'Mare of Easttown' (2021)

Created by brad ingelsby.

In a small rural town in Pennsylvania, a local police officer, Mare Sheehan ( Kate Winslet ), investigates the brutal murder of a young girl while she is trying to keep the pieces of her life together. Since murder rarely happens in the tight-knit community, residents are put on edge and as Sheehan relentlessly works the case, she discovers damning secrets about those closest to her, leading her to an unexpected suspect right in her backyard.

HBO's miniseries Mare of Easttown is hands down one of the best psychological thrillers in recent years and features an outstanding cast including Evan Peters , Guy Pierce , and Hacks star, Jean Smart . While the murder is at the center of this show, Winslet's character has a mystery of her own that keeps audiences tuning in to each episode to not only learn who the killer is but also what exactly happened to Winslet that set her on a path of self-destruction. The series does an excellent job of conveying the positives and negatives of a small town as well as the social dynamics that come with almost every one of them. Unlike other murder mysteries, Mare of Easttown doesn't involve a killer in a big city or large town and while that's still terrifying, the idea of a potential neighbor being a crazed murderer presents a whole other level of fear and uncertainty in this psychological thriller.

Mare of Easttown

15 'the patient' (2022), created by joel fields and joe weisberg.

Therapist, Alan Strauss ( Steve Carell ) is held captive by his patient, Sam ( Domhall Gleeson ) who reveals that he's a serial killer. If Strauss wants to live, he must unravel Sam's mind and find a way to stop him from killing anyone else. The unnerving situation causes Strauss to reflect on his broken life, especially as it seems like it may be cut short. In the process, he uncovers the depths of Sam's compulsions, and he realizes he must fix the rifts within his own family.

Hulu's The Patient is a limited series starring a refreshingly dramatic Carell in his first major television role that puts audiences on pins and needles the entire time. The series dives into the psyche of a murderer but also explores the seemingly ordinary mind of Strauss, presenting the extreme possibility that there isn't much that separates Strauss from his patient.

The Patient (2022)

14 'swarm' (2023), created by janine nabers and donald glover.

Creators Janine Nabers and Donald Glover weave a cautionary tale about fandoms in the limited series, Swarm . The critically acclaimed show follows Dre ( Dominique Fishback ), a woman part of a fanbase called "The Swarm," where she's particularly known for her love for a pop star. Unlike her fellow fans, Dre's admiration of the celebrity is deeper and darker, inspiring her to go to some strange places for the sake of her love.

Swarm is a great show about obsession , using the perspective of fans to tell a genuinely original and darkly comedic story that takes some shocking and unexpected turns. As Dre falls deeper into the engrossing world of the fandom dedicated to a celebrity who is clearly a pastiche of Beyoncé , her desire leads to real consequences. – Hannah Saab

13 'The Undoing' (2020)

Created by david e. kelley.

Manhattan psychologist, Grace Fraser ( Nicole Kidman ) lives a more than comfortable life with her husband and oncologist, Jonathan ( Hugh Grant ), and their son, Henry. When the mother of one of Henry's classmates is found brutally murdered, Grace's perfect world is turned upside down when she and her family become the center of the investigation.

Max's The Undoing is a twist on a classic "whodunit" that keeps audiences second-guessing about who is responsible for the senseless crime. Kidman is fantastic as the magnetic Grace Fraser, whose mysterious vibe fits the story perfectly. With many unassuming characters like Jonathan and Grace's father ( Donald Sutherland ) plus just as many plausible suspects, The Undoing strategically muddies the waters to set the stage for an unsuspected, jaw-dropping finale.

Watch on Max

12 'The Devil's Hour' (2022 - )

Created by tom moran.

Lucy Chambers ( Jessica Raine ) is a single mother and social worker who wakes up every night exactly at 3:33, which is known as the Devil's hour. As she tries to figure out the meaning behind the reoccurrence, she struggles to connect with her son, Isaac, who appears to have an emotional disorder. This is further complicated when a mysterious criminal, Gideon ( Peter Capaldi ) seeks her out, which leads to her finally learning the unbelievable truth behind her life (and her nightly terror).

The Devil's Hour is a British science-fiction and psychological crime TV series with fractured storytelling similar to Christopher Nolan 's film, Memento . The Devil's Hour is a haunting blend of murder and time traveling that jumps between two different timelines that come to full fruition once Lucy is face to face with Gideon, whose mere presence sends chills down the spine.

The Devil's Hour (2022)

11 'you' (2018 - 2024), developed by greg berlanti and sera gamble.

A psychological thriller based on the novels by Caroline Kepnes , You is a series that has evolved over the years. It starts out as a story about Joe Goldberg ( Penn Badgley ), a seemingly harmless bookstore manager who falls in love – and then becomes obsessed – with aspiring writer Guinevere Beck ( Elizabeth Lail ). When the stalker with a toxic obsession turns into a killer, he moves to the next town (and another season).

While You was initially about Joe and his wild actions and delusions, the series has slowly but surely introduced other characters that can match or even outdo the protagonist. From wealthy socialites to a woman who's very similar to himself, he has had a lot to contend with in recent episodes, which have proven that the familiar world Joe lives in is full of sick and twisted individuals. Will the fifth and final season finally reveal if Joe has met his match? – Hannah Saab

Watch on Netflix

10 'Yellowjackets' (2021 - )

Created by ashley lyle and bart nickerson.

Featuring a wildly talented ensemble cast that includes Sophie Nélisse , Melanie Lynskey , Tawny Cypress , Christina Ricci , and more, Showtime's Yellowjackets is a wholly original and riveting thriller series. It tells the story of a group of high school soccer players, a team of girls about to go to the national competition, but soon find themselves stranded in a mysterious forest after a plane crash.

The show alternates between the time the girls spent in the wilderness and the lives of the adult versions of the Yellowjackets characters who survived, set 25 years later. It never gives too much away, teasing important plot points so that the reveal is that much more satisfying. Yellowjackets is a fantastic blend of the psychological thriller, drama, and supernatural genres , as it often doesn't reveal which parts are hallucinations and which parts are from the "darkness" in the wilderness. It keeps viewers guessing on the unsettling journey, with its latest season leaving fans with more questions than answers. – Hannah Saab

Yellowjackets

9 'the fall' (2013 - 2016), created by allan cubitt.

A London detective, Stella Gibson ( Gillian Anderson ) is on the hunt for a dangerous serial killer who has been preying on his potential victims in Northern Ireland. As Gibson's search intensifies, she looks for an obvious suspect but never expects the murderer to be the soft-spoken husband and father, Paul Spector ( Jamie Dornan ). As she's organizing the case against him, bureaucracy and politics get in the way of justice, making the already terrible situation worse.

The Fall is a terrifying reminder that most of the genuine monsters in the world don't appear to be like the ones children imagine hiding under their beds. Spector's established home life and family adds a different kind of suspense to this intense game of cat and mouse as well as a misplaced empathy for the serial killer as he tries to keep the charade going.

8 'Bates Motel' (2013 - 2017)

Developed by carlton cuse, kerry ehrin, and anthony cipriano.

After the death of her husband, Norma Bates ( Vera Farmiga ) purchases a motel in a coastal town, White Pine Bay, as an opportunity for a new start for both her and her shy teen son, Norman ( Freddie Highmore ) who has an intense bond with his mother. As Norman starts to open up, he manages to make some friends but he and his mother soon realize that the small town isn't as picturesque as they thought.

Bates Motel is a prequel series to the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, Psycho and follows a young Norman Bates and the crucial events that led to him becoming an unsuspecting murderer. The series' suspense relies on fear tactics and mental manipulation and is topped off with sharp performances from both Highmore and Farmiga. Hitchcock fans shouldn't expect the same level of novelty and finesse, but there's something there for anyone looking for a decently entertaining psychological thriller.

Bates Motel

7 'sharp objects' (2018), created by marti noxon.

Camille Preaker ( Amy Adams ) is an investigative journalist who returns to her hometown to report on a series of unsolved crimes involving two local girls. While digging for clues, she tries to reconnect with her overbearing mother ( Patricia Clarkson ) and her half-sister, Amma ( Eliza Crellin ) but as traumatic memories begin to surface, Camille's investigation starts to hit too close to home for her.

Max's Sharp Objects is a miniseries based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn and one of the best book-to-television adaptions in recent years. An award-winning eight-episode limited thriller series , Sharp Objects immediately gets under the skin with the jarring brutality of the crimes in a clearly corrupt town full of secrets. Adams also delivers a phenomenal performance in her first major lead television role, portraying the troubled Camille Preaker in an unforgettable way.

Sharp Objects

6 'the haunting of hill house' (2018), created by mike flanagan.

In 1992, Hugh ( Timothy Hutton/ Henry Thomas ) and Olivia ( Carla Gugino ) Crain move into a mansion in the country with their five children who grow up in what would be known as the famous haunted house, Hill House. Now adults, the unusual occurrences, and ghosts of Hill House have continued to follow them while others remain hidden in the corner of their minds.

Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House is the latest adaption of Shirley Jackson 's 1959 horror novel created and directed by Mike Flanagan . The Haunting of Hill House embraces haunted house tropes and executes them in fresh and terrifying ways. This blend of horror and psychological thriller is full of hidden clues and Easter eggs that make the series worth watching at least more than once, but definitely not right before bed.

The Haunting of Hill House

5 'mindhunter' (2017 - 2019), created by joe penhall.

In the 1970s, F.B.I. agents, Holden Ford ( Jonathan Groff ) and Bill Tench ( Holt McCallany ) are assigned to expand the department's behavioral unit and travel across the country interviewing serial killers. As they sit down with notorious killers, the agents start to uncover certain mental traits and childhood experiences that lead them the agents to develop the modern technique known as criminal profiling.

Netflix's Mindhunter is based on the best-selling novel by former F.B.I. agent, John E. Douglas who assisted in developing the agency's behavioral unit and is considered to be one of the greatest criminal profilers. The acclaimed Netflix original series digs into the disturbed psyches of some of the most brutal serial killers in history including The Co-Ed Killer, Edward Kemper , and Son of Sam, David Berkowitz .

4 'Dexter' (2006 - 2013)

Developed by james manos jr..

Dexter Morgan ( Michael C. Hall ) is a blood-splatter expert in Miami who leads an unsuspected double life as a serial killer. Dexter justifies his "work" by only killing people who are guilty and manages to rationalize his brutal behavior. No one knows about Dexter's secret except his father ( James Remar ) who helps his son carry out his grisly misdeeds. Over time, though, small slip-ups and unexpected situations lead to the protagonist having to make some tough decisions to keep his secret safe.

Showtime's Dexter is a dark comedy as well as a suspenseful psychological thriller that blurs the lines of vigilante justice . The series produced one of television's most popular anti-heroes and audiences can't help but root for and hope to continue to successfully get away with his crimes. Dexter lightens the dark content with hilarious moments that sometimes cause viewers to forget that it's also a partial bloodbath.

3 'Severance' (2022 - )

Created by dan erickson.

Severance has quickly become one of Apple TV+'s best and highest-rated shows thanks to its original premise, intriguing plot, and suspenseful atmosphere. The sci-fi psychological thriller is set in a world where – in a supposed effort to promote work-life balance – employees' brains can be "severed" to separate their work selves (innies) and outside selves (outties). One of these employees, Mark ( Adam Scott ), begins to notice something sinister about this arrangement.

With more and more fans discussing what possible secrets Lumon Industries is hiding about the severance procedure (and goats), it's never too late to join in the fun – and horror – of discovering the truth behind the corporate program. At the same time, Severance provides biting commentary about the world of work today , and just how twisted it could look a few years from now. – Hannah Saab

2 'Hannibal' (2013 - 2015)

Developed by bryan fuller.

Developed by Bryan Fuller , Hannibal is one of the best versions of the famous story centered on the cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter. In the NBC series, criminal profiler Will Graham ( Hugh Dancy ) forms an unlikely relationship with Dr. Hannibal Lecter ( Mads Mikkelsen ) in the hopes of catching an elusive serial killer. Soon, Lecter's dark secrets complicate this connection.

Mikkelsen's portrayal of the legendary killer is incredible, imbuing Dr. Hannibal Lecter with the charm and terror that makes his character so intriguing. Indeed, the series features the best depiction of the popular character on the small screen, being a worthy successor to its iconic big-screen counterpart. The psychological horror-thriller series also wasn't afraid of particularly gruesome depictions, especially towards the end, which still holds up well today and makes the show worth rewatching. – Hannah Saab

1 'True Detective' (2014 - )

Created by nic pizzolatto and issa lópez.

In the show's most popular season set in 1995, Louisiana homicide detectives, Rust Cohle ( Matthew McConaughey ) and Marty Hart ( Woody Harelson ) investigate the brutal murder of a young woman. Seventeen years later, the detectives must revisit the unsolved case along with several other unsolved murder that forces the two detectives to cope with their rocky past.

Nic Pizzolatto's anthology crime series, True Detective , immerses audiences into a sinister series of crimes as well as the complicated relationship between Cohle and Hart that demonstrates the destructive domino effect and irreparable damage the investigation has had on their personal lives. Since the legendary first season, True Detective has told stories about the murder of a corrupt politician and a crime involving two missing children, all of which are framed as riveting procedurals. Its latest offering, True Detective: Night Country , stars Jodie Foster in its lead role, who is a protagonist investigating the mysterious disappearance of six men.

True Detective

NEXT: The Most Underrated Psychological Thrillers of the 2010s, Ranked

The 20 Best Psychological Thriller Movies of All Time — And Where to Watch Them

Psychological thrillers are filled with diversity. These captivating, mesmerizing, and enthralling films keep us on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what happens next. In some psychological thrillers, we see the disturbing undercurrent of seemingly happy relationships that are anything but exposed in their toxic dynamics. This opens up avenues for suspense and mystery as viewers wait with bated breath to learn the secrets of pathological characters with dark personality traits and their victims. Memory gaps, hallucinations, and the effects of trauma are also often illuminated in such plots. Some thrillers contain elements of the supernatural or advanced technology, showcasing inventions or even spirits that affect the human psyche in terrifying ways, while others capture the attention of viewers in seemingly ordinary circumstances  with continuous plot twists that play mind games with audiences. Whatever your favorite brand of psychological thriller is, this list covers them all and you are sure to find one that suits your unique needs. Here are the twenty best psychological thriller movies throughout film history that will keep you on your toes, and where to watch them.

What if you could enter people’s dreams and uncover the secrets of their subconscious? In Inception , infiltrating other people’s minds becomes a form of corporate espionage as characters Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur use “dream-sharing” technology to extract information from their targets. Apart from the beautifully masterful “world-building” scenes in the film to depict the process of dream infiltration, DiCaprio’s character Cobb is dealing with a past trauma regarding his wife locked in his own subconscious that “leaks out” throughout the film, allowing viewers to only piece together the horrifying truth at the end. This is what makes it such a suspenseful psychological thriller as well as a cinematic masterpiece, penetrating the depths of the human psyche. Inception is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

The Invitation

In a slow-burn psychological thriller for the ages, The Invitation (2015) is one of the most subtly gripping psychological thriller movies in film history. Will and his wife Kira are invited by his ex-wife to a dinner party. But what seems like a casual dinner party gradually escalates into a living nightmare as he and his wife are thrust into the creepy, cult-like antics of the dinner guests, and tension builds in chilling ways. The Invitation will make you question what you’re seeing on screen until the very end. The Invitation is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Invisible Man

Part science fiction horror film and part psychological thriller, Invisible Man is a disturbing movie about a woman who is stalked by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Elizabeth Moss plays Cecilia Kass, a woman entangled in a relationship with optics engineer Adrian Griffith. Adrian manages a human-computer augmentation company and keeps her trapped in his high-security house. She escapes with the help of her sister, but when Adrian seemingly commits suicide, she suspects he’s not really dead and may still be tracking her every move using an invisible bodysuit he’s invented. Cecilia has to outsmart her abuser if she wants to survive. Invisible Man is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

David Kim, a father (played by John Cho) looks for his missing daughter, Margot, in a movie that primarily uses smartphones, computers, and social media as the primary mode of investigation. David discovers that Margot belongs to a streaming site known as YouCast and was friends with a mysterious young woman, Hannah, who lives in a different state – the only problem is, Hannah is just a persona and she is not truly the person behind the online mask, and those who are responsible for Margot’s disappearance may be closer to him than he thinks. Searching is one of the most suspenseful mystery psychological thrillers of all time, and to add to its uniqueness, it is a cyber-thriller that will grip you and leave you on the edge of your seat at every part of the film. Searching is available to watch on Hulu.

What if there was another version of “you” that strolled into your life and made you question your entire existence? In the black comedy psychological thriller The Double , Jesse Eisenberg stars as Simon James, a meek employee who is often overlooked by his colleagues, and he experiences exactly that when a confident new co-worker, James Simon, is hired. However, there’s one problem: James Simon looks exactly like him . Whereas Simon is more withdrawn, however, James is respected and gains the attention of his colleagues and even the woman Simon has a crush on. As James tries to coach Simon to become more assertive, it remains unclear to viewers whether James is real – or if it’s all in Simon’s head. The Double is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

In another movie that seems to touch on the topic of creepy doppelgangers, Natalie Portman stars as New York City Ballet ballerina Nina Sayers in Black Swan , as she competes with her opponent, Lily (played by Mila Kunis), for the part of Odile in Swan Lake. Both look similar to one another, but Lily is more carefree and bold in contrast to Nina, and more fitting for the “black swan” role than Nina is. Throughout the film, Nina begins to experience seeming hallucinations that warp her sense of reality as she delves deeper into her distraught obsessiveness and the pressure to perform. Black Swan is an Academy-Award nominated film that is both darkly provocative and meaningful, holding a poignant message about the price of perfection. You can watch Black Swan on Hulu.

Shutter Island

Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a U.S. Marshall who is asked to go with his partner Chuck Aule, on a ferry boat to Shutter Island, so they can investigate the disappearance of a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. The patient is Rachel Solando, a mother imprisoned for drowning her three children. Teddy also wants to find the man who killed his wife while at the hospital, a man named Andrew Laeddis. The storyline is rich with twists and turns and is a true psychological thriller in every sense of the word. When I first watched Shutter Island in theaters, I am proud to say I figured out the plot twist near the beginning of the film. However, it’s still a very unsettling plot twist and one that is sure to enthrall viewers upon first watch. Shutter Island is available to watch on Pluto TV.

What Lies Beneath

Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer star in What Lies Beneath , a supernatural thriller about toxic relationships that takes viewers on an eerie emotional rollercoaster and down to the depths of truth. Claire and her husband Norman discover what appears to be a ghost haunting their house – but this is a haunting that holds the power to expose darker secrets about Claire’s husband. In the film, one victim helps the other come to the truth about what lies beneath the surface through a series of unsettling paranormal events. This is a powerfully moving gesture – even if that help does come from beyond the grave. This movie is exquisitely crafted to creatively portray the subtle ways manipulation tactics like gaslighting can be used to pathologize victims of deception, distort their reality and keep the wool over their eyes. What Lies Beneath is available on Amazon Prime.

Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a budding FBI agent in training, assigned to interview the infamous Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist turned cannibal who may have insights into a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill.” After Buffalo Bill abducts the daughter of a U.S. senator, information about his true identity to track his whereabouts are urgently needed, and Hannibal agrees to exchange clues about the serial killer in exchange for personal details about Clarice. This begins a hauntingly morbid yet memorable “partnership” that will be remembered throughout film history. Silence of the Lambs is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

In  Gone Girl , a wife goes missing and a husband comes under public scrutiny for her alleged murder. But is she really dead or was the victim the villain all along? Rosamund Pike delivers a chillingly stellar performance in Gone Girl , playing scorned wife Amy Dunne, as she crafts her own “whodunnit” to make her husband pay for his actions. The film makes viewers question what is real and what has been fabricated as it uncovers the horrifying truths about a toxic marriage between a psychopath and their victim, while still offering nuance and a much-needed commentary on gender roles in modern relationships. You can watch Gone Girl on Apple TV .

In Christopher Nolan’s Memento , a man named Leonard Shelby suffers from anterograde amnesia which causes him to be unable to retain recent memories as he solves the mystery of his wife’s murder using a series of Polaroids, tattoos, and his own notes to himself as he continually “forgets” the clues he uncovers.  Memento is a neo-noir film with two different sequences: one is in black and white seemingly in chronological order while the scenes in color appear to be in reverse chronological order, which creatively suspends the viewer from coherently understanding what is occurring, mirroring the protagonist’s own loss of memory and his attempts to put together a narrative of the events that occurred. Memento will make you become deeply immersed in a “whodunnit” mystery that messes with your mind. You can watch Memento on Amazon Prime.

In Intrusion , therapist Meera and her architect husband Henry Parsons seem to have a happy life. But when they buy a new dream home and experience a dangerous home invasion, it’s clear not all is what it seems. Meera begins to experience strange events that make her question her perception of reality and the motives and character of her own husband. If you like movies about charming predators being exposed in a slow-burn psychological thriller where both you and the main character feel like you’re going mad, this one’s for you. This movie validates the experience of gaslighting and gives viewers a shocking and unexpected plot twist they could not have foreseen. You can view Intrusion on Netflix.

In the horror psychological thriller film Get Out , photographer Chris Washington travels to upstate New York to meet his girlfriend Rose’s wealthy white family. However, during his time there, he experiences bizarre racist comments and is pushed to experience hypnosis to uncover subconscious traumas. He starts to notice that another man at the annual family get-together, Logan King, seems oddly familiar. Strangely terrifying events begin to transpire, and viewers become both horrified and entranced by the twisted ways the Armitage family hold on to their “legacy.” You can stream Get Out on Peacock.

The Sixth Sense

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is a classic riveting psychological thriller that never gets old, no matter how many times you watch it. It’s just that perfectly executed. Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (played by Bruce Willis) is treating young patient Cole Sear (played by Haley Joel Osment) who claims to have the supernatural gift of hearing and seeing dead people. As Malcolm navigates Cole’s unique gift and uses it to help other “ghost” children like Kyra Collins, he discovers chilling truths about his own personal life that culminate in one of the biggest plot twists in movie history. The Sixth Sense is available on Amazon Prime.

The Girl on the Train

Emily Blunt plays Rachel Watson in The Girl on the Train , a recently divorced woman who spends her days drinking and riding the train. During her train rides, she begins noticing and tracking the life of a seemingly happy couple, living next door to her own ex-husband and his new wife. One day, she witnesses something startling in this seemingly ideal relationship that causes her to become entangled in a homicide investigation, unraveling her life and forcing her to confront the truth about what really  happened in her marriage. The Girl on The Train  is a terrific psychological thriller about gaslighting that covers many of the key elements of underhanded manipulation and coercion. The Girl on the Train is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Fear is a classic psychological thriller about 16-year-old Nicole (played by Reese Witherspoon) who becomes ensnared in the manipulation of a narcissistic psychopath named David (played by Mark Wahlberg) who love bombs her into a romantic relationship. As her family tries to protect her from David, Nicole becomes more enmeshed with David, who develops a fixated obsession on Nicole. This obsession continues even after she ends the relationship after witnessing David’s increasingly violent behavior. The movie escalates into a fight for survival as David and his friends plot revenge and stage a home invasion to retaliate against Nicole and her family. Fear  demonstrates how psychopathic predators infiltrates the lives of their victims while isolating them from their loved ones. It highlights the consequences of getting involved with a manipulator who eventually takes over your entire life. Fear is available to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The Weekend Away

In The Weekend Away , two best friends, Beth and Kate, go for a vacation in Croatia, only for her friend Kate to go missing. As Beth (played by  Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester) investigates her best friend’s disappearance, she comes across many different versions of events and struggles to identify what is real and what isn’t – and what really happened that night. As she begins to question the people she loves and trusts the most as well as the strangers that offer her help, the movie twists and turns the mind of the viewer as it makes it seem as if we have the full story – only to uncover even more horrifying revelations. The Weekend Away  is perfect for anyone who’s ever had a toxic, narcissistic friend (or romantic partner) and anyone who just enjoys a suspenseful thriller with many plot twists. You can watch The Weekend Away on Netflix.

Berlin Syndrome

In Berlin Syndrome , tourist Clare and Andi have a one-night stand, and what appears to be an enjoyably steamy night turns into her worst nightmare when she realizes Andi has locked her in his highly secured apartment – with no way out. Berlin Syndrome is a very unsettling thriller that explores what occurs when you trust the wrong person, and the resourcefulness required to escape a malignant narcissist who is invested in controlling your every move. Watch Berlin Syndrome on Netflix.

The Woman In The Window

A psychologist (played by Amy Adams) is plagued by agoraphobia (a fear of going outside) so she confines herself to her Manhattan brownstone. Recently separated from her husband, Anna spends her time observing her neighbors through her window. Anna is quite isolated, and tends to drink heavily with her medications, which paints her as a potentially unreliable narrator to viewers. She starts a friendship with Jane Russell and her son, Ethan who visit her. One evening, Anna witnesses Jane being seemingly murdered through her windows. However, when she contacts the police, no one believes her, and viewers are held in suspense while Anna begins doubting her own reality and what she saw. You can watch The Woman in the Window on Netflix.

Where the Crawdads Sing

If you’re looking for a movie that’s part mystery drama and part slow-paced thriller, Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautiful masterpiece that does a remarkable job of showcasing the resilience and resourcefulness needed to survive exploitative communities.  What gives this movie elements of a psychological thriller is that the audience doesn’t get the full story of what occurred until the film’s final scenes, and the motives of the character remain elusive throughout. This film follows the personal growth of its main character Kya (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones), who is abandoned by her abusive father and her family to raise herself alone as a young woman in the marshes of North Carolina. Labeled and scapegoated by her surrounding toxic community as “Marsh Girl,” Kya is isolated and becomes easy prey to predatory manipulators.  After her lover, Tate Walker teaches her how to read and write and then abandons her, Kya becomes involved in a romance with quarterback Chase Andrews.

Chase is a manipulator and player who charms Kya into sleeping with him by promising her marriage, but Kya discovers he’s already engaged to another young woman. When Kya tries to flee the relationship however, Chase destroys her home and tries to assault her, retaliating as narcissistic people tend to do when they lose control. Days later, Chase is found dead and Kya is accused of murder – but no one actually knows if she did it, and neither does the viewer throughout the film. The ending holds a shocking twist that leaves viewers captivated right up to the movie’s conclusion. Where the Crawdads Sing is available to watch on Hulu.

Shahida Arabi

Shahida is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University. She is a published researcher and author of Power: Surviving and Thriving After Narcissistic Abuse and Breaking Trauma Bonds with Narcissists and Psychopaths . Her books have been translated into 16+ languages all over the world. Her work has been featured on Salon, HuffPost, Inc., Bustle, Psychology Today, Healthline, VICE, NYDaily News and more. For more inspiration and insight on manipulation and red flags, follow her on Instagram here .

Keep up with Shahida on Instagram , Twitter , Amazon and selfcarehaven.wordpress.com

A Book For Those Recovering From Narcissistic Abuse…

Remember— highly manipulative people don’t respond to empathy or compassion. They respond to consequences.

“I rarely write reviews but I’m so impressed by this book , I can’t recommend it enough for anyone who has suffered abuse by a narcissist or is trying to get out of an abusive relationship now. You deserve the best and more… so I strongly encourage you to get this book!” — Michelle Spurling

“This book was life changing. It completely validated everything from my experiences (suicide, anxiety, depression, “neediness”, literally everything). It took every detail from my past struggles and validated and helped make sense of everything. It’s like I was reading my own biography.” — Drew Rod

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Heart-Stopping, Edge-of-Your-Seat Tales

Now that the pandemic feels a little less frightening, our critic writes, she’s ready to submit to the exquisite torture of a terrifying book.

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By Sarah Lyall

Now that the pandemic feels a little less frightening than it did a year ago, I’m ready once more to submit to the exquisite torture of a terrifying book. Alison Gaylin’s chilling psychological thriller THE COLLECTIVE (Morrow, 335 pp., $27.99) fits the bill perfectly. It takes place partly in a far corner of the shadowy dark web where bereaved mothers trade anguished stories about their children’s deaths — and fantasize about poetic justice.

“I don’t just want him killed off,” writes one such mother, Camille Gardener, whose teenage daughter, Emily, was raped by a boy at a frat party and left to freeze to death in the woods. “I want his soul destroyed, his memory ripped to shreds, just like he and his family and their lawyers did to my daughter.”

But this is more than fantasy. The Collective, as the group is called, promises to turn these brutal visions into reality. Eventually, every one of these killers — the drunken driver, the man who carelessly shot a friend on a hunting trip, the dealer whose girlfriend overdosed, the bully who drove a girl to suicide — will themselves be killed by the Collective, always in a manner specific to their crime.

Its rules are strict. Members must remain anonymous. The group must remain secret. “Do not question what you are asked to do — just do it,” the leader, identified only by her alias — 0001 — writes to Camille. “If you repeat any of this conversation to anyone, there will be severe consequences.”

It’s a terrifying notion. But this terrific novel is no ordinary revenge fantasy, nor even a simple modern-day take on Patricia Highsmith’s “ Strangers on a Train ,” with its classic mine-for-yours murder plot. There are larger questions at play, propelled by an iron-tight plot that becomes increasingly tense and claustrophobic.

As Camille is pulled deeper and deeper into this organization of “sisters,” she begins to question the Collective’s pitiless assumptions about guilt, mercy, justice and the worth of a life. Is it right to play God? Is it right to inflict on another family what has been inflicted on yours? And why was that grieving and apparently blameless man mowed down by a pickup truck, right in front of her?

The ending comes as a terrible shock, but it makes perfect sense in the context of Gaylin’s carefully constructed world. As the Collective says, “We’re everywhere, Camille.”

THE DANGERS OF AN ORDINARY NIGHT (Crooked Lane, 272 pp., $26.99), the fourth novel by Lynne Reeves, takes a quieter approach to terror. Two ambitious students at a performing-arts high school in Boston go missing one night; surveillance cameras show them being bundled into a stranger’s car after an audition. A few days later, they are found on a beach — but one is dead and the second, Tali, is traumatized, bruised and disoriented, with no memory of what happened.

At this point you might expect the story to take a lurid turn and the plot to shoot off into violent or complicated or improbable directions. Instead, the novel pauses for an extra-long breath and slows down, becoming almost too discursive. But the clues are there, if you pay attention. The shock of the opening gradually recedes into something else — a sensitive examination of a dysfunctional family and a full-of-secrets community that claims to be seeking the truth.

Somewhat confusingly, the focus shifts away from the girls and onto the adults connected to the case — Tali’s father, whose addiction and gambling problems may or may not be relevant to what happened; her mother, trying to hold the family together; Cynthia Rawlins, a therapist haunted by her husband’s faithlessness; and Fitz Jameson, a detective sick with guilt about his role in a deadly incident from his youth. Our attention is diffused, and it’s hard to know where to look.

A few plot threads fall by the wayside, like the whisper of romance between Tali’s mother and the father of June, the girl who died. Reeves builds her narrative slowly, lulling you into such complacency that when the twist comes, you’re looking the other way.

Is there anything more devastating than losing the person you love most? Sadly, yes, at least in Gus Moreno’s anguished THIS THING BETWEEN US (MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 272 pp., paper, $17), a surreal excursion into heartache and horror narrated by a man undone by grief.

After the sudden, violent death of his wife, Vera, Thiago Alvarez experiences what at first seems to be commonplace bereavement, like anyone else’s — that is, all-encompassing. “We assumed death was a long ways off, or that it would gradually come into our lives and we would face it together,” he writes, addressing Vera. (The book is presented, very effectively, as a long letter to her.)

But someone, or something, is disinclined to let him suffer in peace. Even before Vera died, the supernatural seemed to have seeped into their lives. The couple experienced pockets of icy air in their apartment; they heard strange noises emanating from the walls. Their smarmy Alexa-like digital assistant began inexplicably ordering menacing consumer goods — a book called “How to Contact the Dead,” a samurai sword, dozens of mousetraps, a container of industrial-strength lye — and making strange utterances reminiscent of HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey, ” or Talky Tina, the menacing “Twilight Zone” doll.

The sense that something creepy is out there worsens after Vera’s funeral. Thiago flees across the country, only to find that you can’t escape a malevolent force determined to suck you into its insatiable maw. Along with allusions to Rod Serling and “The Exorcist,” there are shades of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, zombie literature and, at least once, “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

Snatches of knowing humor leaven the story. Characters include an eerie, portent-spouting cook at a deserted diner in the middle of nowhere and a kindly small-town vet who becomes markedly less kindly for upsetting reasons. (Maybe you don’t want to read this book right before bed.)

The chaos occasionally becomes too chaotic to understand completely — there’s a huge burst of horror at the end, or maybe it’s just a hallucination? — but along the way you are made to think about fate, the thin divide between life and death and the always exciting question of what, if anything, awaits beyond the grave. Along with Thiago, we wonder how to go on after devastating loss. As he explains to his wife: “I had no story to follow. My favorite character was gone.”

Ellice Littlejohn, the embattled heroine of Wanda M. Morris’s ALL HER LITTLE SECRETS (Morrow, 371 pp., $27.99) and the only Black lawyer at a large Atlanta transportation company, is having a going-nowhere affair with her boss, a brilliant but married WASP named Michael Sayles. “So many years. So much time wasted,” she sighs en route to his office for an early-morning assignation.

Alas, she finds Michael not sitting seductively on the couch, but lying dead on the floor. She flees the scene and turns into a familiar character: the innocent person who foolishly lies to the cops. No, she wasn’t there. No, she doesn’t know anything. And that grainy security-camera image of her sketchy brother entering the building — she has no idea who that is.

Ellice has good reason to fear the authorities. Her past, blighted by poverty, racism and abuse in a dead-end town in Georgia, is filled with incidents — murder, for starters — that she would very much like to keep to herself. But how can she protect herself after she’s promoted into Michael’s job — presto, she’s now general counsel of Houghton Transportation Company — only to stumble into a vast conspiracy involving corporate fraud, the illegal transport of guns and a white supremacist organization whose members seem to have infiltrated the C-suite?

The flashy, busy, unlikely plot is elevated by Morris’s urgent portrayal of a Black woman trying to navigate a world stacked against her, and the moving flashbacks to her childhood. Outside the office, protesters condemn Houghton’s racist employment practices. Inside, she works for a group of good old boys who regard her, at best, as an incompetent token. “The fact that you’re Black is like brown gravy on a biscuit,” her boss remarks.

The sharply drawn characters include an overweight man who looks like a “hastily made bed with a pillow tossed in the center of it,” a dim chief executive whose massive desk contains not a single scrap of paper and some understandably suspicious detectives. “Tell me, Ms. Littlejohn,” one says, “why is that so many people around you have managed to wind up dead?”

As you begin the British author Anthony Horowitz’s A LINE TO KILL (Harper, 384 pp., $27.99), you wonder if this will finally be the novel in which his fictional alter ego, “Anthony Horowitz,” proves that he is just as clever as Daniel Hawthorne, the infuriating detective whose cases he has been writing about.

Well, no. This is the third in a fiendishly entertaining series by Horowitz (the real one), the prolific inventor of the Alex Ryder series and the creator and writer of the TV show “Foyle’s War,” among other things — and it reveals his fictional protagonist, who shares a name and a résumé with his creator, to be as behind the curve as ever. If there’s anyone who makes him feel like a nitwit, it’s the supercilious Hawthorne, a modern-day Holmes to his Watson.

“A Line to Kill” finds Horowitz and Hawthorne at a literary festival on the tiny and usually peaceful Channel island of Alderney, whose locked-room-style location provides a perfect place for a literary murder. The delicious cast of puffed-up, self-regarding writers includes a male-chauvinist celebrity cook who specializes in traditional high-calorie, high-fat meals; Elizabeth Lovell, an annoying blind psychic who “sees” into the spirit world; and Mäissa Lamar, a tiresome French “performance poet” whose work no one understands. What skeletons are lurking beneath their brittle exteriors?

The murders are elaborate, the clues opaque and the mystery seemingly unsolvable, until Hawthorne steps in with customary aplomb and explains all. As a mystery, this book is immensely satisfying. But as a meta-story — an extravagant, knowing satire of authors, agents, publishers and literary hangers-on; a knowing sendup of the author himself; and a homage to the Golden Age of mystery — it is pure delight.

The most haunting artifacts of 9/11 may be the voice mail messages — of panic, fear, resignation and love — left by the people facing imminent death in the World Trade Center. The excellent notion behind Charlie Donlea’s TWENTY YEARS LATER (Kensington, 357 pp., $27) is this: Imagine that one of those messages was left by the main suspect in a notorious murder, who protested her innocence and pleaded for her name to be cleared.

After a brief flashback, the book jumps to 2021, when a tiny bone fragment from the Trade Center rubble is matched with the DNA of Victoria Ford, who spent the morning of 9/11 in the south tower meeting her lawyer. (This is not a far-fetched scenario; the remains of more than 1,000 victims — about 40 percent of the total — have never been recovered , and efforts are still underway to match bone fragments to people who were killed.)

Victoria was about to be charged with murdering her married lover by strangling him and pushing him over a balcony while making it seem that he had hanged himself. The case was rendered moot by Sept. 11; for two decades, nobody has been much interested in Victoria’s sister’s efforts to clear her name.

But the identification of Victoria’s remains changes everything. The story catches the attention of Avery Mason, the ambitious, duplicitous host of a TV newsmagazine show, who recently raised her public profile by deliberately driving into a swimming pool and demonstrating how to escape from a car submerged in water. (Her pro tip: Kick the lower right-hand corner of the driver’s seat window, very hard.) It also pulls the former F.B.I. agent Walt Jenkins, who worked the original case back in 2001, out of his boozy, personal-demon-plagued retirement in Jamaica.

What happened all those years ago, and why was the murder scene teeming with Victoria’s DNA? Why does Donlea, a veteran best-selling author, devote so much space to Avery’s difficult contract-renewal negotiations with the bosses at her Fox-like network? How relevant is her back story, which features a Bernie Madoff-style scandal and a brother drowned in a freak boating accident? Is there a reason Donlea keeps repeating that New York City is unusually empty over July 4 weekend?

The ingredients — adultery, fake identities, ulterior motives, forgery, plagiarism, rough sex, unusual chapter breaks, a little murder thrown in here and there — are enticing, and Donlea tells a propulsive tale. The novel’s problem is mostly a simple branding error, in that Victoria’s case is just one of many mysteries at play. We’ll figure out in the end what is worth paying most attention to, but not before we negotiate our way through a maze of misdirection, sudden revelations and, yes, contract negotiations.

Antoine Wilson begins his enthralling literary puzzle, MOUTH TO MOUTH (Avid Reader, 178 pp., $26), slowly but irresistibly. A shlumpy, down-on-his-heels writer runs into an old U.C.L.A. classmate from 20 years ago — richer, more successful, better-dressed — at the airport. Both their planes are late.

With offhand condescension, the classmate, Jeff Cook, invites the writer — who narrates the book and whose name, like that of the second Mrs. de Winter, is never revealed — to wait out the delays in an airline first-class lounge. They settle in, and Jeff proceeds to tell him a long and winding story that begins soon after graduation, when he was house-sitting in Los Angeles. He has never told anyone before, he says.

Walking across the beach one day, Jeff relates, he pulled an unconscious man out of the water, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and saved his life. His behavior reinforced his view of himself as a good person, but it also touched off something unexpected in him. He became obsessed with the profundity of the gesture, and was surprised and a little angry when the man — a rich art dealer, Francis Arsenault — failed to seek him out and thank him.

Was his life worth saving? Jeff describes how he surreptitiously followed Francis around, got an entry-level job in his gallery, insinuated himself deeper and deeper into his life — and at every turn failed to reveal who he was. “I never forget a face,” Francis tells him, but does he recognize Jeff, whom he glanced at from his stretcher on the beach? (“What had he been trying to do?” Jeff wonders. “Signal? Beckon? Acknowledge?”)

As with Rachel Cusk’s “Outline,” the narrator exists mostly as negative space, a conduit for someone else’s story. But why is Jeff telling this tale now, and why has he selected this particular audience? Is this actually a justification — or a confession? “As his story proceeded, I felt an increasingly indefinable discomfort,” the narrator says. “Was he painting for me a kind of self-portrait? And what is a self-portrait if not self-serving?”

Wilson is a gorgeous writer, pulling you in and compelling you to keep reading. The story, and the story-within-the-story — the twists and turns, the attention lavished on motivation and emotion, the efforts to rationalize or at least explain strange or unsavory behavior — recall the cool prose of Paul Auster. Possibly we’re dealing with two unreliable narrators. Perhaps we will have to rethink everything we have already heard.

This powerful, intoxicating book’s greatest tension is that we have no idea where it is heading, right up to the shocking final sentence.

Sarah Lyall is a writer at large at The Times.

Sarah Lyall is a writer at large, working for a variety of desks including Sports, Culture, Media and International. Previously she was a correspondent in the London bureau, and a reporter for the Culture and Metro Desks. More about Sarah Lyall

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