Here’s a collection (in no particular order) of some of the best crime thrillers that will have you hooked from the beginning.
As the days fly by and the stresses of work mount, I repeatedly find myself looking for an outlet. I’ve tried and tested mind-numbing trash tv, but there’s only so much I can consume before my head starts spinning. For me, there’s no better distraction than being sucked into the murky world of a whodunnit.
The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica
This psychological thriller starts with Sadie and Will Foust, along with their two boys, moving from busy Chicago to small-town Maine. The rickety, old house with its creepy attic, is meant to be a fresh start for the Fousts, a step away from the troubles they hope have been left behind in Chicago. But the house Will inherits from his dead sister comes along with a sullen, angry teenager that the Fousts have been given guardianship of. Their worries soon snowball, however, when their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is brutally murdered. As Sadie begins to uncover the mystery shrouding the strange, little island, she puts herself in mounting danger.
The Stalker by Sarah Alderson
Newly-weds Laura and Liam travel to a remote island, off the Scottish coast for their week-long honeymoon. But there is soon trouble in paradise as they suspect they are not alone on this secluded island. When they wake up to a message scratched into their window, this suspicion is confirmed. As their basic supplies are slowly cut off and sabotaged one by one, they realize that they may not leave this island alive.
Dark Waters by G.R Halliday
Annabelle takes her shiny, new BMW for a drive on an isolated mountain road in the Scottish highlands. When a lonely girl wanders onto the road, she is forced to violently swerve. This is the last thing she remembers when she wakes up, disorientated, in a cold, damp room.
Meanwhile, Scott is camping in the Scottish woods when he hears an ear-splitting scream. Scott attempts to flee, but he is never seen again.
Unaware of Scott and Anabelle, DI Monica Kennedy is called back, after a troublesome six-month break. She begins investigating the appearance of a dismembered body in a deserted dam. But will she find the killer before it’s too late?
The Holiday by T.M. Logan
Four university friends reunite in a sprawling French villa, this time bringing their husbands and kids with them. Kate, an ex-police officer, suspects that her husband is having an affair with one of her friends. When Kate puts her detective skills to use, closing in on the culprit, someone is killed, making it apparent that the stakes are much higher than she had anticipated.
The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
This is the first in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series and particularly stands out due to the odd (but lively) writing style. Horowitz, the author, makes himself into a fictional character in the book, becoming Horowitz’s sidekick or the Watson to his Holmes.
On a sunny morning in London, Diana Cowper, the mother of a famous actor, walks into a funeral parlor to arrange her own ceremony. Not long after, she is found strangled to death in her own home.
Daniel Hawthorne, the disgraced yet intelligent ex-police detective turned private investigator, is called onto the case. In the process, he draws the unwilling Horowitz with him to write about the experience. The mismatched pair form an unlikely bond and Hawthorne’s own dark past begins to unravel.
The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz
When Richard Price, a successful celebrity-divorce lawyer, is bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad, the police are left baffled. Price never drank, so why was there a 1982 Chateau Latife worth £3000, at the crime scene? His last words, heard over the phone, were “You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late.” But who did he say this to? And why did the killer write the number 182 on the wall?
The police begrudgingly turn to Hawthorne, once again joined by Horowitz who continues his attempt at coaxing out the secrets of Hawthorne’s mysterious past whilst the detective solves the crime.
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
As Horowitz increasingly finds himself to be a stranger in Hawthorne’s world, he’s glad when their publishing house sends the pair to a literary festival on the small island of Alderney. To Horowitz’s surprise, Hawthorne gamely agrees, but it’s not long before Horowitz finds out the worrying motive for his partner’s enthusiasm. However, a double murder quickly distracts Horowitz as he reluctantly accepts, he has once again, been swept into Hawthorne’s (much more interesting) world.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Four pensioners, living in Coopers Chase, a seemingly normal retirement home, gather every Thursday to investigate cold cases and unsolved murders. Elizabeth, who has a background in secret services, draws on her endless bank of police files without fail. But as the gang finds themselves suddenly facing a real murder on their doorstep, they set out to find the killer.
Photo: Krakenimages.com/shutterstock
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