One of my favorite things about Instagram is connecting with people over books. I often share what I’m reading and love putting out the call for recommendations from fellow bookworms! I’ve teased this post for so long and it’s finally here!
I enjoy reading all kinds of books, but over the last 4-5 years I’ve discovered that my preferred genre is psychological thrillers…and it’s clear that I’m not alone! Below you’ll find a list of books that I have and haven’t read with a brief synopsis of each so you can refer to this post the next time you’re ISO a good book. PS: there are a few that I didn’t love, but I know others really did, so I wanted to include them all.
Enjoy! XO
BOOKS I’VE ALREADY READ…
The Breakdown, B.A. Paris
A complex Psychological Thriller jam-packed full of twists and turns. The narrative essentially follows Cass Anderson, who is consumed by guilt after she didn’t stop to help a woman in a car who is murdered that same night.
The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware
A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship. A chance for travel journalist Lo Blacklock to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse. Except things don’t go as planned. Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin.
The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
Anna Fox, a former child psychologist, who is agoraphobic as result of post-traumatic stress disorder. When the novel opens, it’s been around a year since she’s left her house, though her husband and daughter are no longer living there
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
Commuter Rachel Watson catches daily glimpses of a seemingly perfect couple, Scott and Megan, from the window of her train. One day, Watson witnesses something shocking unfold in the backyard of the strangers’ home. Rachel tells the authorities what she thinks she saw after learning that Megan is now missing and feared dead. Unable to trust her own memory, the troubled woman begins her own investigation, while police suspect that Rachel may have crossed a dangerous line.
The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.
The Good Girl, Mary Kubica
Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger.
The Pocket Wife, Susan Crawford
Dana Catrell is horrified to learn she was the last person to see her neighbor Celia alive. Suffering from a devastating mania, a result of her bipolar disorder, Dana finds that there are troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of Celia’s death. As evidence starts to point in her direction, Dana struggles to clear her name before her own demons win out.
The Couple Next Door, Shari Lapena
A couple whose baby daughter goes missing while they’re at a dinner party next door strikes at the heart of parenting fears — but falls down as a police procedural.
Behind Closed Doors, B.A. Paris
Grace Angel finds herself married to handsome lawyer, Jack. In the beginning he charmed her with his good looks and devotion to defending battered women, but mostly because of his devotion to her sister Millie, who has Down’s Syndrome. Soon after their wedding Grace finds that Jack is a psychopath.
The Mother-in-Law, Sally Hepworth
A twisty, compelling new novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death… From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, she knew she wasn’t the wife Diana had envisioned for her perfect son.
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
In Carthage, Mo., former New York-based writer Nick Dunne and his glamorous wife Amy present a portrait of a blissful marriage to the public. However, when Amy goes missing on the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary, Nick becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. The resulting police pressure and media frenzy cause the Dunnes’ image of a happy union to crumble, leading to tantalizing questions about who Nick and Amy truly are.
Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can’t truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past. Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned.
Someone We Know, Shari Lapena
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
Bring Me Back, B.A. Paris
Finn and Layla: young and in love, their whole lives ahead of them. Driving back from a holiday in France one night, Finn pulls in to a service station, leaving Layla alone in the car. When he returns, minutes later, Layla has vanished, never to be seen again. That’s the story Finn tells the police. It’s the truth – but not the whole truth.
Verity, Colleen Hoover
Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen Ashleigh to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
BOOKS I HAVEN’T READ (but want to!)…
Girl in the Snow, Danya Kukafka
When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both.
The Silent Patient, Alex Michealides
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him…
All The Missing Girls, Megan Miranda
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.
In A Dark Dark Wood, Ruth Ware
The novel tells the story of unreliable, amnesiac narrator Nora Shaw as she attempts to recall the events of a bachelorette weekend in which a man was murdered that both she and the bride-to-be loved.
Something In The Water, Catherine Steadman
Documentary filmmaker named Erin Locke was reaching a breakthrough in her career and was in love with Mark, an ambitious investment banker. Mark and Erin went on a honeymoon in the dreamy island of Bora Bora. Suddenly their dream vacation became a nightmare. When they went scuba diving, they found something in the water. They were faced with a choice: protect their secret or speak out about it. Either choice is dangerous and whatever they decide on would trigger a chain of disastrous events.
That Night, Chevy Stevens
As a teenager, Toni Murphy had a life full of typical adolescent complications: a boyfriend she adored, a younger sister she couldn’t relate to, a strained relationship with her parents, and classmates who seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable. Things weren’t easy, but Toni could never have predicted how horrific they would become until her younger sister was brutally murdered one summer night.
All Your Perfects, Colleen Hoover (infertility trigger warning)
All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?
The Widowers Wife, Cate Holahan
Ana Bacon, a beautiful young wife and mother, tumbled off a cruise ship into dark and deadly waters. Ana is gone—leaving behind her wealthy husband and adorable daughter—but not everything about her disappearance adds up.
That is it for this roundup! These are the most common suggestions I’ve received. I wanted to rate them all, but after a while the stories begin to blend (and the titles are SO similar). I will tell you, Verity was my most recent read and it was absolutely one of the best books on this entire list!
Let me know if you enjoyed this post and if you have other psychological thrillers to recommend! I will definitely try to share more in the future. Off to dive into my current read (just shared it on IG!)
XOXO
