Books our editors love

  1. I’d like to read the novel everyone is talking about

    This is the cover of “A Violent Masterpiece,” by Jordan Harper.
  2. I want a time-traveling psychological thriller

    This is the cover of “Yesteryear,” by Caro Claire Burke.
  3. I love small-town drama and dark secrets

    The book cover of “The Keeper” by Tana French.
  4. I’m in the mood for a complex riddle

    This is the cover of “A Deadly Episode,” by Anthony Horowitz.
  5. I like thrillers set in the wilderness

    The cover of “Wolvers,” by Taylor Brown.
  6. Give me a brainy, nervy, fingernail-biter

    This is the cover of “Nerve Damage,” by Annakeara Stinson.
  7. How about a stormy, Scottish, literary whodunit?

    The book cover of “The Ending Writes Itself,” by Evelyn Clarke.
  8. I want a border-hopping spy thriller

    This is the cover of “The Cormorant Hunt,” by Michael Idov.
  9. How about a delightful locked-room whodunit?

    This is the cover of “The Murder at World’s End,” by Ross Montgomery
  10. I’d like a slow-burn mystery and coming-of-age tale

    The book cover of “A Bad, Bad Place,” by Frances Crawford.
  11. I’d like to revisit a midcentury classic

    This is the cover of “Tokyo Express,” by Seicho Matsumoto.
  12. Give me a page-turning twist on a literary classic

    book cover for Beth Is Dead
  13. A crime-solving duo with prickly chemistry? Yes, please!

    book cover for Dead in the Frame
  14. I want a big-city mystery with murder, lust and wealth

    The cover of “The Doorman,” by Chris Pavone
  15. How about a mesmerizing psychological thriller?

    The cover of “Your Steps on the Stairs,” by Antonio Muñoz Molina
  16. I like small-town crimes and fraught adventures

    The cover of “At Midnight Comes the Cry,” by Julia Spencer-Fleming.
  17. Give me an elegant mystery set in turn-of-the-century Venice

    This is the cover of “Venetian Vespers,” by John Banville.
  18. I want a cozy mystery with a charming protagonist

    This is the book cover of “Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)”
  19. I love historical thrillers that surprise me in every way

    This is the cover of “The Impossible Thing,” by Belinda Bauer
  20. Who is the most appealing amateur detective around?

    This is the book cover of “Glory Daze”
  21. I’d like an ingenious and charming 1920s mystery

    This is the cover of “Dissolution,” by Nicholas Binge
  22. Give me a great campus crime novel

    This is the book cover of “Notes on Surviving the Fire”
  23. Take me to a New Zealand village with a murky past

    This is the cover of “The Vanishing Place,” by Zoé Rankin.
  24. I’d like a tense, slow-burn story of a vacation gone wrong

    This is the cover of “A Beautiful Family,” by Jennifer Trevelyan.
  25. How about an academic whodunit with satirical bite?

    The book cover of "History Lessons" by Zoe B. Wallbrook.
  26. A forensic scientist in crisis? Sign me up!

    This is the cover of “The Good Liar,” by Denise Mina.
  27. I want a fingernails-bitten-to-the-quick mystery

    book cover for Her One Regret
  28. I love rich tales of historical espionage

    This is the cover of “The Predicament,” by William Boyd
  29. Got any fresh spins on the serial killer narrative?

    This is the book cover of “Death Takes Me”
  30. I’d like to hang out with my favorite senescent detectives

    The book cover of “The Impossible Fortune” by Richard Osman.
  31. Give me a riveting story I’ll blaze through in one sitting

    The book cover of "Heartwood" by Amity Gaige.
  32. A legal thriller flipped on its head sounds like my cup of tea

    This is the cover of “Hollow Spaces,” by Victor Suthammanont.

Find recommendations for other genres you like

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Love Tana French? Read these books next.

  1. The cover of “Cover Her Face,” by P.D. James.

    Cover Her Face
    by P.D. James

  2. The cover of “Bluebird, Bluebird,” by Attica Locke.

    Bluebird, Bluebird
    by Attica Locke

  3. The cover of “The Last Detective,” by Peter Lovesey.

    The Last Detective
    by Peter Lovesey

  4. The book cover of “Garnethill” by Denise Mina.

    Garnethill
    by Denise Mina

  5. The book cover of “The Fatal Touch” by Conor Fitzgerald.

    The Fatal Touch
    by Conor Fitzgerald

  6. The book cover of “The Missing America” by Kwei Quartey.

    The Missing American
    by Kwei Quartey

  7. This is the cover of “Beautiful Animals,” by Lawrence Osborne.

    Beautiful Animals
    by Lawrence Osborne

  8. The book cover of “A Great Deliverance” by Elizabeth George.

    A Great Deliverance
    by Elizabeth George

  9. The cover of “Case Histories” by Kate Atkinson

    Case Histories
    by Kate Atkinson

  10. The cover of “A Place of Execution,” by Val McDermid.

    A Place of Execution
    by Val McDermid

  11. The cover of “Devil in a Blue Dress,” by Walter Mosley.

    Devil in a Blue Dress
    by Walter Mosley

  12. The cover of “Knife,” by Jo Nesbo.

    Knife
    by Jo Nesbo

  13. The cover of “Raven Black,” by Ann Cleeves.

    Raven Black
    by Ann Cleeves

  14. The cover of “The Body Snatcher,” by Patricia Melo.

    The Body Snatcher
    by Patricia Melo

  15. The cover of “Witness the Night,” by Kishwar Desai.

    Witness the Night
    by Kishwar Desai

  16. The cover of “Havoc,” by Christopher Bollen.

    Havoc
    by Christopher Bollen

  17. book cover for The Dry

    The Dry
    by Jane Harper

New and noteworthy

Our latest thriller reviews.

  1. This is the cover of “How to Survive in the Woods,” by Kat Rosenfield.

    How to Survive in the Woods

    by Kat Rosenfield

    Three people travel to a remote part of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Their various goals: a little hiking, a little sightseeing, a little murder.

  2. The book cover of “Five” by Ilona Bannister.

    Five

    by Ilona Bannister

    It is 7:01 a.m., and a handful of people — five, in fact — are waiting at a suburban train station for the 7:06 to London. By the time it arrives, one of them will be dead.

  3. This is the cover of “The Counting Game,” by Sinéad Nolan.

    The Counting Game

    by Sinéad Nolan

    A Dublin psychotherapist is hired by the police to treat a 9-year-old boy who witnessed his sister’s disappearance, but can’t seem to talk about what happened.

  4. This is the cover of “A Murder Most Camp,” by Nicolas DiDomizio

    A Murder Most Camp

    by Nicolas DiDomizio

    Forced to work at a summer camp in order to access his inheritance, a nepo baby — and his crime-obsessed 12-year-old aunt — stumbles upon a murder mystery.

  5. This is the cover of “A Cute Little Murder,” by Molly Harper.

    A Cute Little Murder

    by Molly Harper

    Lainey Piper, a freelance forensic accountant, teams up with her former teenage sleuthing partner to solve the case of a missing starlet in this delightful mystery.

  6. The cover of “This Story Might Save Your Life,” by Tiffany Crum.

    This Story Might Save Your Life

    by Tiffany Crum

    Crum’s cheery romance-mystery mashup follows two BFF podcast hosts who are about to hit a big break when one of them goes missing.

  7. The cover of “Haven,” by Ani Katz.

    Haven

    by Ani Katz

    Reading this deeply unsettling thriller is like ingesting psychedelics, blundering into a dystopian-themed house of mirrors and realizing that someone has locked the door.

  8. This is the cover of “My Grandfather, the Master Detective,” by Masateru Konishi.

    My Grandfather, the Master Detective

    by Masateru Konishi

    Konishi’s English-language debut is a cozy mystery dashed with magical realism and brimming with familial love.

  9. This is the cover of “Still Life,” by Malin Persson Giolito.

    Still Life

    by Malin Persson Gioloto

    Each story in Giolito’s linked collection underscores the ways crime can arrive at anyone’s doorstep.

  10. The book cover of “The Tree of Light and Flowers,” by Thomas Perry.

    The Tree of Light and Flowers

    by Thomas Perry

    Jane Whitefield, who specializes in helping desperate people disappear by creating new identities for them, makes a final, memorable appearance.

  11. book cover for Her Last Breath

    Her Last Breath

    by Taylor Adams

    An aging detective tries to unravel the story of a young woman who went caving with a friend and emerged alone, with strange injuries.

  12. The book cover of “One of Us,” by Elizabeth Day.

    One of Us

    by Elizabeth Day

    Day’s knack for peeling back the vicissitudes of the British upper classes illuminates this novel about an aristocrat, his striving friend and their secrets.

  13. This is the cover of “Warning Signs,” by Tracy Sierra.

    Warning Signs

    by Tracy Sierra

    A 12-year-old boy grieving the recent death of his mother is trapped on a ski trip with his cruel father’s rich friends, which soon turns deadly.

  14. This is the cover of “What Boys Learn,” by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

    What Boys Learn

    by Andromeda Romano-Lax

    When the bodies of two teenage girls turn up in a tony Chicago suburb, a friendless local boy is an obvious suspect. But is he a criminal?

  15. This is the cover of “The Final Problem,” by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

    The Final Problem

    by Arturo Pérez-Reverte; translated by Frances Riddle

    Lovers of old films, locked room mysteries and Sherlock Holmes will revel in the cunning setup and elegant execution of Pérez-Reverte’s novel.

  16. This is the cover of “The Briars,” by Sarah Crouch.

    The Briars

    by Sarah Crouch

    In a sleepy lake town, the newly appointed game warden finds that her job includes not just tracking down cougars but also solving a human murder.

  17. This is the cover of “The Reckoning” by Kelli Stanley.

    The Reckoning

    by Kelli Stanley

    A woman on the run from the F.B.I. lands in a seemingly sleepy Northern California town, which turns out to be laden with explosive secrets.

  18. This is the cover of “A Gift Before Dying,” by Malcolm Kempt.

    A Gift Before Dying

    by Malcolm Kempt

    In an Arctic Canadian town, an investigator and the younger brother of a murdered teenage girl team up to catch her killer.

  19. This is the cover of “Wildwood,” by Amy Pease.

    Wildwood

    by Amy Pease

    Pease’s mother-son law enforcement team returns, this time tackling the disappearance of a young woman from Wisconsin lake country.

  20. This is the cover of “Nothing but Murders and Bloodshed and Hanging,” by Mary Fortune

    Nothing but Murders and Bloodshed and Hanging

    by Mary Fortune

    This collection cements the Australian author’s place as one of the detective story’s earliest, and finest, writers.

  21. book cover for The Writing in the Water

    The Writing in the Water

    by John Ajvide Lindqvist

    This stylish Scandi-noir mystery follows a cop turned mystery novelist who, while researching her new book, finds herself investigating an actual crime.

  22. book cover for The First Time I Saw Him

    The First Time I Saw Him

    by Laura Dave

    In the sequel to Dave’s smash hit “The Last Thing He Told Me,” Hannah’s shady tech exec husband reappears, and she and her stepdaughter hit the road.

  23. This is the cover of “Before the Fact,” by Francis Iles.

    Before the Fact

    by Francis Iles

    A young woman gradually realizes that her husband has murder on his mind — and that she is his intended victim.

  24. This is the cover of “To Catch a Thief,” by David Dodge.

    To Catch a Thief

    by David Dodge

    To read the source material for one of Alfred Hitchcock’s more effervescent films is an absolute blast.

  25. book cover for The Secret of the Saucer

    The Secret of the Saucer

    by Kris Bertin, illustrated by Alexander Forbes

    For the third installment in their Hobtown Mystery Stories series, Bertin and Forbes subject the unlucky town to an alien attack.

  26. The book cover of “Cape Fever” by Nadia Davids.

    Cape Fever

    by Nadia Davids

    A young Muslim maid and her white, British employer tangle in an unnamed colonial town in the 1920s in this Gothic thriller.

  27. The cover of “Lit,” by Tim Sandlin.

    Lit

    by Tim Sandlin

    Sandlin’s novel is bursting with quirky characters, including a divorced writer and a pastor with a penchant for book burning who suddenly turns up dead.

  28. This is the cover of “Murder at the Christmas Emporium,” by Andreina Cordani

    Murder at the Christmas Emporium

    by Andreina Cordani

    In this locked-room mystery, things go very, very wrong at a ritzy London store during a holiday shopping extravaganza.

  29. This is the cover of “Gone Before Goodbye,” by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben

    Gone Before Good-bye

    by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

    In Coben’s 39th novel — his first with Witherspoon — a surgeon who’s lost her license gets an offer to operate on a sketchy oligarch in the Russian countryside.

  30. The cover of “Listen,” by Sacha Bronwasser.

    Listen

    by Sacha Bronwasser; translated by David Colmer

    A Dutch au pair fleeing a dark past gets entangled with a Parisian family with their own web of secrets.

  31. The book cover of “Other People’s Fun” by Harriet Lane.

    Other People’s Fun

    by Harriet Lane

    Ruth — recently divorced, underemployed and facing down a bleak midlife moment — reunites with her #blessed former classmate in this prickly thriller.

  32. book cover for Cry Havoc

    Cry Havoc

    by Jack Carr

    The Navy SEAL Tom Reece continues to kick ass, take names and unravel bloody conspiracies in Carr’s latest military thriller.

  33. The cover of “Midnight in Memphis,” by Thomas Dann.

    Midnight in Memphis

    by Thomas Dann

    Dann’s evocative debut novel catapults readers back to 1950s Memphis, where a detective and his newbie trainee investigate a series of murders.

  34. The book cover of “Boom Town” by Nic Stone.

    Boom Town

    by Nic Stone

    In Stone’s pacey, racy adult debut, a dancer at a strip club in Atlanta must search for her peers who have disappeared.

  35. This is the cover of “Murder in Constantinople,” by A.E. Goldin.

    Murder in Constantinople

    by A.E. Goldin

    This historical mystery stars a Jewish tailor’s son in Victorian London who’s itching to see the world, and finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy.

  36. This is the cover of “Fox and Furious,” by Rita Mae Brown.

    Fox and Furious

    by Rita Mae Brown

    The 16th installment of Brown’s longrunning series finds “Sister” Jane Arnold trying to mediate a violent conflict between her sons, which soon escalates to murder.

  37. This is the cover of “The Dentist,” by Tim Sullivan.

    The Dentist

    by Tim Sullivan

    A crossover from the U.K., where the series is already a hit, this police procedural stars a neurodivergent Bristol detective and his partner.

  38. This is the cover of “Remain,” by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan.

    Remain

    by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan

    Rattled by his sister’s deathbed confession, Tate is living on sunny Cape Cod when he meets a mysterious and alluring young woman who upends his life.

  39. This is the cover of “The Glass Eel,” by J.J. Viertel.

    The Glass Eel

    by J.J. Viertel

    The colorful underworld of the illegal eel trade is at the heart of this unusual mystery, set on a remote Maine island.

  40. This is the cover of “Guilty by Definition,” by Susie Dent.

    Guilty by Definition

    by Susie Dent

    A group of dictionary editors get embroiled in a series of literary puzzles after a letter arrives with clues about the unsolved disappearance of one staffer’s sister.

  41. This is the cover of “Clown Town,” by Mick Herron.

    Clown Town

    by Mick Herron

    In this darkly comic thriller — the ninth in Herron’s Slough House series — an MI5 officer gets caught up in a blackmail scandal and assassination plot.

New in paperback

Tinier, but just as mighty.

  1. book cover for Not Quite Dead Yet

    Not Quite Dead Yet
    by Holly Jackson

  2. book cover for The Bewitching

    The Bewitching
    by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

  3. book cover for Heartwood

    Heartwood
    by Amity Gaige

  4. book cover for What Kind of Paradise

    What Kind of Paradise
    by Janelle Brown

  5. book cover for The Doorman

    The Doorman
    by Chris Pavone

  6. book cover for Fair Play

    Fair Play
    by Louise Hegarty

  7. book cover for Cross My Heart

    Cross My Heart
    by Megan Collins

  8. book cover for Big Bad Wool

    Big Bad Wool
    by Leonie Swann

  9. book cover for Marble Hall Murders

    Marble Hall Murders
    by Anthony Horowitz

  10. book cover for Kills Well With Others

    Kills Well With Others
    by Deanna Raybourn

  11. book cover for I Was a Teenage Slasher

    I Was a Teenage Slasher
    by Stephen Graham Jones

  12. book cover for Vantage Point

    Vantage Point
    by Sara Sligar

  13. book cover for The Human Scale

    The Human Scale
    by Lawrence Wright

  14. The book cover of “The Night Guest” by Hildur Knútsdóttir.

    The Night Guest
    by Hildur Knútsdóttir

  15. book cover for Nobody’s Hero

    Nobody’s Hero
    by M.W. Craven

  16. book cover for The Note

    The Note
    by Alafair Burke

  17. book cover for The Couple Next Door

    The Couple Next Door
    by Shari Lapena

  18. book cover for Vengeance

    Vengeance
    by John Banville

  19. book cover for Havoc

    Havoc
    by Christopher Bollen

  20. book cover for Deadly Animals

    Deadly Animals
    by Marie Tierney

  21. book cover for Bright Objects

    Bright Objects
    by Ruby Todd

  22. book cover for The Bog Wife

    The Bog Wife
    by Kay Chronister

  23. The book cover of “Ring Shout” by P. Djèlí Clark.

    Ring Shout
    by P. Djèlí Clark

  24. book cover for On the Savage Side

    On the Savage Side
    by Tiffany McDaniel

  25. book cover for Blood Test

    Blood Test
    by Charles Baxter

  26. book cover for Model Home

    Model Home
    by Rivers Solomon

  27. book cover for The Sequel

    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz

  28. book cover for The Blue Hour

    The Blue Hour
    by Paula Hawkins

  29. book cover for The Hitchcock Hotel

    The Hitchcock Hotel
    by Stephanie Wrobel

  30. book cover for Tell Me Everything

    Tell Me Everything
    by Elizabeth Strout

  31. book cover for The Nature of Disappearing

    The Nature of Disappearing
    by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Thrilling historical mysteries

  1. This is the cover of “The Murder at World’s End,” by Ross Montgomery

    The Murder at World's End
    by Ross Montgomery

  2. This is the cover of “The Girl in the Green Dress,” by Mariah Fredericks.

    The Girl in the Green Dress
    by Mariah Fredericks

  3. book cover for The Ghosts of Rome

    The Ghosts of Rome
    by Joseph O'Connor

  4. The book cover of “A Bad, Bad Place,” by Frances Crawford.

    A Bad, Bad Place
    by Frances Crawford

  5. This is the cover of “The Predicament,” by William Boyd

    The Predicament
    by William Boyd

  6. book cover for A Grave Robbery

    A Grave Robbery
    by Deanna Raybourn

  7. book cover for A Château Under Siege

    A Château Under Siege
    by Martin Walker

  8. book cover for Truth Be Told

    Truth Be Told
    by Patricia Raybon

  9. book cover for The Drowned

    The Drowned
    by John Banville

  10. book cover for Night in the City

    Night in the City
    by Michael McGarrity

  11. book cover for The Silver Bone

    The Silver Bone
    by Andrey Kurkov

  12. book cover for Rough Trade

    Rough Trade
    by Katrina Carrasco

  13. book cover for Edge of the Grave

    Edge of the Grave
    by Robbie Morrison

4 thriller novels we recommend

Our columnist Sarah Lyall recommends some of her all-time favorites.

  1. book cover for In the Woods

    In the Woods
    by Tana French

  2. book cover for The Anomaly

    The Anomaly
    by Hervé Le Tellier

  3. book cover for Fatherland

    Fatherland
    by Robert Harris

  4. book cover for Presumed Guilty

    Presumed Guilty
    by Scott Turow

Want some delicious tales of housewives’ revenge?

Elizabeth Arnott, the author of “The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives,” recommends tales of domestic vengeance and feminine power.

  1. book cover for Gone Girl

    Gone Girl
    by Gillian Flynn

  2. The book cover of “The Change,” by Kirsten Miller.

    The Change
    by Kirsten Miller

  3. The book cover of “The First Wives Club,” by Olivia Goldsmith.

    The First Wives Club
    by Olivia Goldsmith

  4. book cover for Rebecca

    Rebecca
    by Daphne du Maurier

  5. The book cover of “The Bandit Queens,” by Parini Shroff.

    The Bandit Queens
    by Parini Shroff

  6. The book cover of “The Husbands,” by Chandler Baker.

    The Husbands
    by Chandler Baker

  7. The book cover of “Iron Widow,” by Xiran Jay Zhao.

    Iron Widow
    by Xiran Jay Zhao

Lisa Unger’s favorite dark and stormy thrillers

The author of Served Him Right” and “Close Your Eyes and Count to 10” recommends thrilling tales where Mother Nature ups the stakes.

  1. The book cover of “One Perfect Couple” by Ruth Ware.

    One Perfect Couple
    by Ruth Ware

  2. The book cover of “One of Us Knows” by Alyssa Cole.

    One of Us Knows
    by Alyssa Cole

  3. The book cover of “The Night of the Storm” by Nishita Parekh.

    The Night of the Storm
    by Nishita Parekh

  4. book cover for The Shining

    The Shining
    by Stephen King

  5. The book cover of “City Under One Roof” by Iris Yamashita.

    City Under One Roof
    by Iris Yamashita

  6. The book cover of “Ice Cold” by Tess Gerritsen.

    Ice Cold
    by Tess Gerritsen

  7. The book cover of “Shutter Island” by Dennis Lehane.

    Shutter Island
    by Dennis Lehane

  8. The book cover of “This Is Why We Lied” by Karin Slaughter.

    This Is Why We Lied
    by Karin Slaughter

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For?

Tell us what kind of thrillers you want to read. We may feature them on this page or in an upcoming story.