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5 min read
Want to be kept on the edge of your seat (or sun lounger) this summer? Here are the best thrillers to pick up now.
Books, by nature, are subjective.
Some of us like romance, while others favour memoirs. Some like it spicy, others opt for mild and digestible. Either way, summer is objectively the best time to get stuck into a new novel and find yourself transported elsewhere – there’s just something about lazy days in the heat that has us yearning for new characters and worlds.
This summer, we’re looking at thrillers: Gone Girl-type reads that keep you on the edge of your seat, keep you guessing, supply a shock to the system and keep you reading at night to find out what will happen next.
Thankfully, a deluge of new releases is here to accompany the warmer days that not only keep the adrenaline pumping, but also activate a part of our brain that isn’t normally stimulated. These books are the highest form of escapism, and we can’t get enough of it.
So whether you want to read about disappearances in America’s deep south or dubious mothers in playgroups, here are 11 of the best thriller novels to read over the next few months.
The Club by Ellery Lloyd
Looking for an upper-class thriller? The Club tells the story of The Home Group, a collection of exclusive private members’ clubs and a global phenomenon. So the opening of its most ambitious project yet – Island Home – is billed as the celebrity event of the decade. But as the first guests arrive, the weekend soon proves deadly.
Shop The Club by Ellery Lloyd (Pan MacMillan) at Bookshop.org, £8.54
The Guest by Emma Cline
From the bestselling author of The Girls, Emma Cline brings us on a new tense summer adventure in The Guest. Summer is coming to a close on Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome at the home of the older man she’s been staying with. Having been dismissed with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city, Alex stays in town. She drifts like a ghost through the gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world, trailing destruction in her wake.
Buy The Guest by Emma Cline (Vintage Publishing) at Bookshop.org, £18.04
Speak Of The Devil by Rose Wilding
Fans of the TV series Bad Sisters are sure to love this. Speak Of The Devil is a debut thriller about love, loyalty and manipulation and sees seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room as a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she didn’t.
Shop Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding (John Murray Press) at Bookshop.org, £14.24
The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner
Journalist Tash is in a post-baby slump and looking for a news story that could boost her freelance career. She’s also been searching for something else: new friends to help her navigate motherhood. She meets them at her son’s new playgroup: the other mothers, the women she wants to be with big houses and impossibly exciting lives. However, she is soon invited into the inner circle and realises not everyone can be trusted. Twisting, unexpected and full of pace, this is a holiday reading delight.
Shop The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner (Bloomsbury) at Bookshop.org, £14.24
Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater
Roach is a bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic. She’s not interested in making friends, but when Laura joins the bookshop, this all changes. Laura is sunny, but Roach can see a darkness within her. Curiosity soon moves into morbid obsession. If you devoured Netflix’s You, you will devour this too.
Shop Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater (Hodder & Stoughton) at Bookshop.org, £14.24
Penance by Eliza Clark
A Granta best young British novelist for 2023, Eliza Clark has penned a novel with mysteries and malice all wound up in adolescent angst. Using witness accounts, interviews and correspondence, the novel delves into the shocking murder of a 16-year-old in a sleepy seaside town. Sure to be a summer hit.
Shop Penance by Eliza Clark (Faber & Faber) at Bookshop.org, £14.24
The Whispers by Ashley Audrain
The Whispers tells the story of a family that lives on Harlow Street, a well-to-do neighbourhood where families often gather for barbecues during summer. However, during one such event, the hostess’s son disobeys her and shockingly falls out of his bedside window. She now sits by his hospital bed, refusing to talk to anyone as his life hangs in the balance. And so, over the course of three days, each woman on the street must grapple with what led to that terrible night.
Shop The Whispers by Ashley Audrain (Penguin Books) at Bookshop.org, £14.24
None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
On her 45th birthday, Alix Summers runs into Josie Fair, who also happens to be celebrating her 45th birthday. Soon, Alix meets Josie again, and the two become friends. Josie believes she would be a good fit for Alix’s true crime podcast and agrees to a trial interview. Josie’s life seems strange, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t stop listening. However, Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and soon she makes her way into Alix’s life and home.
Shop None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone) at Bookshop.org, £19
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
For those who like a historical edge to their thrillers, The Only One Left recalls the events of 1929 when Leonora was the main suspect in the shocking murder of her family. Fifty years later, as Leonora grows frail, her caretaker is determined to uncover the truth.
Shop The Only One Left by Riley Sager (Hodder & Stoughton) at Bookshop.org, £19
The Good Ones by Polly Stewart
Sixteen years on, still haunted by the disappearance of her friend Lauren, Nicola Bennett returns to her hometown. For Nicola, Tyndall County has remained frozen in time. However, Nicola begins to trace over the events of that summer, hoping to discover a clue to Lauren’s fate. And she knows the answers are closer to home.
Shop The Good Ones by Polly Stewart (Little, Brown Book Group) at Bookshop.org, £16.14
You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard
You Can Trust Me follows friends Summer and Leo, who would do anything for each other. Summer is a skilled pickpocket, a small-time thief and a con artist. Leo has learned a trick or two along the way too, becoming involved with a self-made billionaire and philanthropist who invites her to his private island. However, Leo disappears, and it’s up to Summer to find her.
Shop You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard (Random House) at Bookshop.org, £21.85
Images: courtesy of publishers
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