This year’s most exciting and twisty-looking thriller and mystery books delve into the darkest corners of our collective psyche, from obsessive true-crime subreddits to deadly advice columns to the shadowy corners of our own familiar homes.
In this list we’ve got several new takes on the locked-room thriller—including perhaps the most inventive setting in recent memory at CERN—yet also plenty of murder mysteries in supposedly idyllic getaways. Sisters cope with loss, absentee fathers reappear searching for treasure, postpartum besties discover what secrets they’re keeping from each other, and there’s even one protagonist whose only allies in solving a murder are her own alternate personalities. With a mix of beloved thriller authors (Tana French, Leah Konen, Jesse Q. Sutanto) as well as some exciting debuts (Justine Champine, Sara Koffi, Amy Pease), get ready to be (re)introduced to the minds whose unsettling tales will keep you up at night.
Here are our picks for the mystery and thriller books you can’t miss in 2o24.
Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody
Release Date: January 2 from Soho Crime
Why We’re Excited: As someone who has lost many an evening to scrolling Reddit’s r/UnresolvedMysteries, I love that there’s a true-crime mystery written just for folks like me who can’t get cold cases out of our heads. Twentysomething Teddy Angstrom has long carried around the trauma of her older sister Angie’s disappearance a decade before, but their father’s suicide forces her to confront the past—specifically, the subreddit he was involved in, where strangers proposed conspiracy theories for what really happened to Angie.
Following in her father’s digital footsteps, Teddy meets Mickey, who eerily reminds her of the best parts of Angie… and who may bring out the worst in Teddy, as she excavates old memories yet also doubts her own sense of reality as she goes deeper down the rabbit hole.
One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall
Release Date: January 9 from Gillian Flynn Books
Why We’re Excited: The latest psychological thriller from Zando’s Gillian Flynn imprint certainly seems in conversation with Gone Girl: a multiple-perspective account that reveals just how differently men and women move through the world.
Though the story starts from the point of view of eponymous “rare good guy” Cole, reinventing himself post-divorce as a park ranger in the remote seaside, things quickly get ugly when he is implicated in the disappearance of two feminist activists hiking to raise awareness about violence against women. As the story shifts to Cole’s ex-wife Mel, as well as his new artist friend Leonora, the mystery fragments into commentaries on art, social media, violence, and retribution.
Northwoods by Amy Pease
Release Date: January 9 from Atria Books
Why We’re Excited: A literary midwestern noir drawing comparisons to Mare of Eastown is an excellent hook for Amy Pease’s debut, set in a lakeside resort town in northern Wisconsin. When the body of a teenage boy is discovered in the lake—with a teenage girl also missing—it’s hardly cut-and-dried.
But in a town grappling with both its vacation-versus-locals identity as well as varying levels of substance abuse, the investigation quickly becomes muddied. Eli North, an alcoholic Afghanistan veteran trying to start fresh as deputy sheriff to his mother, discovers that she has covered up details about the dead boy’s mother’s drug use. When the FBI gets involved, they uncover further murky deals involving a local drug rehab center, a pharmaceutical company, and some of the wealthiest vacation people who leave ripples long after they depart their summer homes.
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
Release Date: January 16 from Celadon Books
Why We’re Excited: Alex Michaelides’ thriller about a reclusive movie star and her best friends hiding away on a Greek island is giving excellent Glass Onion vibes: What’s meant to be an Easter getaway instead resurrects ugly old secrets, with one member of the group dead by morning. But how our erstwhile (and unreliable) narrator Elliot Chase tells it, there’s some Agatha Christie business taking place in this secluded paradise—not to mention, we don’t know who, or how many people, possess the fury of the title.
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
Release Date: February 6 from Pamela Dornan Books
Why We’re Excited: Inspired in equal parts by her work as a domestic violence lawyer and by how mothers in particular survived the stress of early covid lockdown, Tracy Sierra’s taut psychological thriller opens with a highly disturbing, highly specific moment: A mother tucking her children into bed glimpses an intruder inside her home.
But it’s not enough to hide her kids in a secret room until he leaves, because it turns out that she knows exactly who he is—and he knows how to coax, and threaten, them out of hiding. Knowing that no one will believe that she is in danger, the mother realizes that the only one who can protect her children is her.
Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen
Release Date: February 20 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons
After really enjoying Leah Konen’s unflinching examination of postpartum anxiety in last year’s You Should Have Told Me, I’m excited for her next work of domestic suspense which also dovetails with every new mom’s next hurdle: making mom friends.
When Mary meets Willa at a Brooklyn playground, it’s a lifeline in the midst of her nasty divorce. But after she reveals the darkest secret about her soon-to-be ex-husband George, Willa vanishes. Two months later in upstate New York, Mary makes another new friend in Annie—or rather, it’s Willa living under a different name, with a new husband and kiddo to match. Then George dies, and it’s pegged on Mary. Who can she turn to but Willa… but what other secrets is Willa keeping from her?
The Hunter by Tana French
Release Date: March 5 from Viking
Tana French didn’t intend to write a sequel to 2020’s The Searcher, in which retired Chicago police officer Cal Hooper moves to the Irish countryside and winds up helping local teen Trey Reddy investigate her brother’s disappearance. But she couldn’t resist shaking things up, which is why The Hunter opens with Trey’s absentee father abruptly showing up with an English millionaire in tow and the harebrained scheme to dig up gold.
Are they the hunters of the title? Or is it Trey, who confides in Cal that she wants revenge? Tana French’s take on a modern Western? I’m in.
Murder Road by Simone St. James
Release Date: March 5 from Berkley Books
If you’re going to go with a supernatural thriller, best to start with one of the eeriest urban legends out there: picking up a female hitchhiker who’s mysteriously bleeding. This young woman doesn’t disappear like a ghost, but she does die in the hospital, which marks her supposed saviors, honeymooners April and Eddie, as the primary suspects in the latest inexplicable death on Murder Road. Not to mention that it’s 1995, which both ups the urban legend mood and makes it that much more difficult to prove their innocence. While they spend their early days of wedded bliss trying to clear their names, they uncover something potentially paranormal about the many lives lost on this dark road.
The Stars Turned Inside Out by Nova Jacobs
Release Date: March 19 from Atria Books
A lot of the thrillers on this list are of the domestic variety, so it’s refreshing to have one with an entirely unique setting: CERN, the famous Swiss lab exploring the limits (or lack thereof) of particle physics.
One of the newest physicists has died of radiation exposure, yet there’s no recorded evidence of him entering the tunnel where his body was found. When private investigator Sabine Leroux enters CERN, she exposes herself to all manner of petty academic rivalries that have degraded into dark secrets and plenty of motives. And what does that mean for the future of nuclear research?
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Release Date: April 16 from William Morrow
Kenetria Nash comes back to herself to discover that she has taken on an unexpected job as the caretaker for a historic home. Having been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, Ken is one of many alternate personalities, and one of her other alters has been controlling her movements for the past while. S
o while learning the ropes on this Hudson River island, Ken is also trying to piece together what happened since her breakdown—and why the man responsible for it is on this Hudson River island with her. When a Nor’easter traps the residents there with no way out, and this man winds up dead, Ken is the primary suspect. The only ones who can help Ken find the real murderer are, of course, her alters.
While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi
Release Date: April 16 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Another psychological thriller inspired by the hopelessness of 2020—but in this case the George Floyd protests that summer—Sara Koffi’s debut is a scorching revenge tale set in Memphis.
At first Elizabeth sounds like the protagonist, reeling from her best friend’s inexplicable death and trying to pick up the pieces by hiring a personal assistant. But as Elizabeth employs the competent and elegant Brianna to help her delve into the mystery behind her loss, the focus shifts to Brianna’s own loss: her son, killed by police, who were called by someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood.
Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett
Release Date: April 30 from Mulholland Books
Kellye Garrett’s murder mystery Missing White Woman explores the voyeurism of the true-crime and influencer spheres when a Black woman is caught in the crosshairs.
On the final morning of what’s supposed to be a luxurious New York City vacation with her workaholic boyfriend Ty, Bree comes downstairs in their Airbnb rowhouse only to find the body of the Internet’s current favorite “missing white woman” on the stairs. Ty is nowhere to be seen, which makes Bree the main suspect in the murder of Janelle Beckett. But instead, she finds herself sympathizing with this woman that these strangers believe they know; and she’ll grapple with the police and influencers alike if it means figuring out what happened to Janelle while clearing her name.
Knife River by Justine Champine
Release Date: May 28 from Dial Press
No Tokens Journal founding member Justine Champine taps into the twisted nostalgia of true-crime in her debut, which focuses on a pair of sisters whose mother disappears during their adolescence, only for her remains to be found after they’ve survived into adulthood.
But while younger sister Jess escaped their hometown of Knife River, albeit with plenty of emotional scars, her sister Liz never made it past their traumatic girlhood: When Jess returns to investigate this new lead in their mother’s disappearance, she finds Liz living in their childhood home and still obsessed with old theories, which only tempts Jess back into coping mechanisms she thought she’d left behind—like getting entangled with her high school girlfriend. I love a thriller that focuses on fraught sister dynamics, and the true-crime angle makes it even more compelling.
Honeycomb by S B Caves
Release Date: July 9 from Datura Books
This high-concept thriller sounds both like a scathing critique of reality TV voyeurism and yet also the kind of series I’m surprised isn’t already on the air: Six strangers live in a house together, all taking one pill each day. But while five of them are popping placebos, one is taking an experimental drug with supposedly no side effects. But where would the fun be in that?
Washed-up popstar Amanda Pearson, who already got her first toxic taste of fame via a reality talent competition, is suspicious of her second chance at relevance, especially as her housemates—who range from a YouTuber to a car salesman—begin acting erratically, with no one interested in making friends or being real.
I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell
Release Date: August 13 from Atria Books
Jessa Maxwell is fast becoming an auto-buy thriller author, after her debut The Golden Spoon cleverly combined The Great British Baking Show with a locked-room murder mystery. This time she’s putting a twist on the modern advice column—here, one Dear Constance written by everyone’s beloved aunt figure Francis Keen—and its new successor when Francis is brutally murdered.
Alex Marks, who has like so many protagonists fled to New York to escape her own secrets, is surprised at how good she is at writing in her childhood hero’s voice and solving people’s problems. But then she starts receiving threatening letters, which may hint at who killed Francis… and who’s next.
You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Release Date: August 20 from Berkley Books
“Single White Influencer” (if I may make a ‘90s reference) is rapidly becoming a popular thriller subgenre, from movies like Ingrid Goes West to novels like Ellery Lloyd’s People Like Her. One of the creepiest aspects is how the boundary-shredding protagonists, compelling in their desperation, manage to worm their way into others’ lives in the most mundane and accessible fashions.
Take Meredith Lee, who feels rejected after she helped show Aspen Palmer the influencer ropes, only for the other woman to leave her behind. But then Mer finds Aspen’s kid’s iPad—so easy to be left behind, and unlocked—and suddenly she has a private view into Aspen’s supposedly insta-perfect life. But when she uses the access to Aspen’s social media accounts to start nixing her sponsorship deals, the perspective shifts, until you don’t know which influencer you’re rooting for more.
Natalie Zutter is a Brooklyn-based playwright and pop culture critic whose work has appeared on Tor.com, NPR Books, Den of Geek, and elsewhere. Find her on Twitter @nataliezutter