The Best Thriller Books of 2024

Beware: these best thriller books of 2024 will keep you up all night with edge-of-your-seat action and gripping mysteries. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It’s 1 am, and you know it’s way past your bedtime and you’ll pay for this tomorrow, but you cannot seem to put your book down. You have to know whodunit and if your favorite character will survive until the end of the book.

The best thriller books keep you glued to your seat. What a delicious feeling it is to be full of suspense at the turn of a page.

All year, I’ve been scouting out the best thriller books of 2024, hoping to find great domestic thrillers, gritty mystery books, and edge-of-your-seat thriller books that you’ll be dying to read.

Since you likely don’t have time to read a zillion books a year as I do, let me narrow it down for you. Here are my picks for the best thriller books of 2024. 

For Lucy, the night five years ago still remains a blank though their entire Texas town knows that Lucy killed her best friend Savvy. When a popular true crime podcaster chooses to investigate Savvy’s murder, Lucy finally returns home at her grandmother’s insistence. Now Lucy must face her ex-husband and her distrustful family while trying to find out the truth about Savvy’s death, even if it ends up pointing to herself.

Listen for the Lie had me hooked from the very first page. After ordering a physical copy, I found out I had received a free copy of the audiobook from the publisher which turned out well for me since the audiobook was fantastic. Lucy’s cynical sarcasm kept making me laugh and the podcast chapters sounded so realistic in audio format. Although Lucy’s personality was the highlight of the book for me, I also found myself fully invested in the mystery and was satisfied with Tintera’s many twists.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 5 March 2024
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Every time an assignment comes in from the mysterious Mr. Smith, Evie takes a new identity and learns everything she can about the town and its people. Her newest mark: Ryan Sumner. But Evie connects with Ryan in a way she hasn’t in a long time. When a woman shows up using Evie’s real name, Evie must do everything she can to stay one step ahead of her boss and complete her mission. Especially after what happened last time.

After being mostly disappointed with 2023’s selection of thrillers, First Lie Wins was exactly the great thriller I needed. Elston throws you into a delicious cat-and-mouse game between Evie and Mr. Smith. With relatable characters and plenty of twists, First Lie Wins keeps you on your toes from the very first page to its clever ending. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 2 January 2024
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With her post-doc research going nowhere, Lyla agrees to go on a new reality tv show with her boyfriend Nico, an aspiring actor. On One Perfect Couple, Lyla and Nico must compete against four other couples on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. After the first challenge leaves everyone angry, a storm cuts off the contestants. At first, everyone is grateful when a leader emerges, but they quickly begin to wonder if they made the right choice.

Ruth Ware shines with a fun beach read that mixes the cutthroat survival of Lord of the Flies with an Agatha Christie-style isolation thriller. With Lyla as a narrator, the large cast wasn’t too hard to navigate and I loved that the characters reflected a typical reality tv casting, primed to have grating personalities that place stress on everyone. Lyla’s levelheadedness, realistic plot twists, and page-turning pace keep you glued to the page in this psychological thriller.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 21 May 2024
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Last year, Caseman High School was rocked by a scandal when a beloved math teacher retired after accusations he had an affair with a student. Even though Addie denied the rumors, she is now a pariah among her classmates. Meanwhile, Eve and Nate both teach at Caseman High and their marriage is already not going well so to have Addie assigned to both of their classes might just push them past the breaking point.

Frieda McFadden puts her trademark feel on yet another twisted psychological thriller where you aren’t sure you like any of the characters. The soap opera-level drama of McFadden’s novels are hard to look away from, especially as the twists get darker and darker. Although the writing is far from elegant, The Teacher is a quick and mindlessly fun read.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 6 February 2024
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Nicky Hunter has corresponded with reclusive mystery writer Sebastian Trapp for years but is shocked when he invites her to his mansion to help him write his life story. Twenty years earlier on New Year’s Eve, Sebastian’s first wife and son disappeared from different locations. Did Sebastian commit the perfect crime? Why is he willing to start talking about it now?

A. J. Finn’s follow-up to The Woman in the Window didn’t have the tension I was expecting, leaning more toward cozy mystery than psychological thriller. Although not an edge-of-your-seat read, End of Story kept my interest piqued throughout the slow-burn mystery. If you can make it through the slower narrative, the ending twist was particularly unexpected.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 20 February 2024
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In August 1975, Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her summer camp bed. A tragedy for any child, but Barbara is the daughter of the wealthy owner of the camp and the nearby estate. Fourteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother also went missing without a trace. Tying together the wealthy Van Laar family with the working class community that supports the camp and estate, The God of the Woods is a multi-layered drama about secrets that refuse to be forgotten.

I’d been hearing great things about The God of the Woods since it came out last summer and I immediately snagged a copy. Which proceeded to sit on my shelf for months, intimidated by its large size (almost 500 pages). I’m so glad I finally picked it up because I was completely engrossed staying up way too late to finish it. Moore does the slow build of suspense perfectly, gradually unwinding the past and present in an atmospheric story with rich characters. If you don’t mind the slower pace, you’ll probably agree that The God of the Woods is the best thriller book of 2024.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 2 July 2024
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From the author of We Begin at the End comes a decades-spanning love story filled with mystery. In 1975, girls are disappearing from a small Missouri town. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, she is saved by Patch, a one-eyed local boy. But when Patch disappears, his best friend searches for him and the missing girls.

Publication Date: 25 June 2024
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At the time of his death, bestselling author Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain) was working on a passion project that he never got to finish. Waiting for the right co-author, his wife eventually gave the unfinished manuscript to legendary mystery author James Patterson to finish. In what might be one of the summer’s biggest thrillers, a deadly volcanic eruption is about to burst on the Big Island of Hawaii forcing a terrifying military secret to come to light.

Publication Date: 3 June 2024
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Alaina Urquhart returns to the best new thriller books list with a sequel to her bestselling thriller, The Butcher and the Wren. Having been foiled by forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller, the Bayou killer heads north to escape capture and plot his revenge. On forced medical leave, Wren can’t help but again pursue her nemesis as he leaves a trail of mutilated bodies through Massachusetts, entering a cat-and-mouse game that might force her to risk everything for justice.

Publication Date: 17 September 2024
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In the 19th novel of the series, a phone call shatters the pieces of Inspector Armand Gamache. A random series of events leads Gamache and his team to realize that more is going on than just one murder. Soon, friends seem like enemies and enemies act like friends in a case that will take the inspector throughout Québec.

Publication Date: 29 October 2024
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After her father dies, Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown and is shocked to discover that she, and not her brothers, has inherited their family home. With a drought plaguing the region, the low water level reveals two cars long hidden in the lake – one belonging to her mother who ran away when she was a teenager. As Hazel starts questioning what happened to her mother, her childhood best friend (who is now her brother’s wife) also disappears. With long buried secrets coming to light, Hazel isn’t sure who she can trust anymore.

Megan Miranda has penned yet another atmospheric thriller that will keep you guessing since everyone is covering for someone else. I loved the complicated family dynamic between Hazel and her brothers and the generational secrets inherent in their small town. With plenty of tension and suspense throughout, you’ll be hooked by this domestic thriller.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 9 April 2024
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Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are the luckiest girls, or so they are told. After family tragedies, each was given a second chance at a happy family, living on a peaceful farm with a loving foster mom. Yet, the foster sisters’ childhood was far from idyllic, though no one ever believed them. When a body is found buried on the farm, they soon find themselves prime witnesses and possibly prime suspects.

As usual, Sally Hepworth delivers a well-plotted page turner. Miss Fairchild proved to be a perfectly aggravating villain, fully despicable in her child abuse but clever enough to conceal everything at first glance. I was thrown by several of the revelations and loved the push-and-pull of the then and now timelines. Although the thriller obviously shows the worst scenario of foster care, Hepworth balances that out with a wonderful portrayal of Alicia as a social worker.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 23 April 2024
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Emma has purposely kept her husband in the dark about her past. When Emma announces she is pregnant, he confesses that he was laid off and has lost the down-payment to their house. With nowhere else to turn, Emma and Nathan move into her parent’s estate that she jointly owns with her estranged sisters. Emma just never mentioned that this is the house where her parents were murdered, and she was always seen as the prime suspect. With a baby on the way, Emma finds it’s time she learn what actually happened all those years ago. For Emma has been covering for her sisters without ever really knowing what actually happened that night.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a really satisfying thriller, and No One Can Know was just what I needed. Emma makes for an excellent narrator and Marshall smoothly builds tension as you slowly learn the truth of what actually went on in that house. I loved the complicated relationship between the sisters and Emma’s intense desire to protect them no matter what. With excellent pacing and plenty of unexpected twists, No One Can Know belongs among the best thriller books of 2024.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 23 January 2024
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From the author of Hidden Pictures comes another suspenseful fall thriller. For the first time in three years, Frank Szatowski receives a call from his estranged daughter Maggie inviting him to her wedding. Maggie fails to mention she is marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a tech billionaire, at a swanky private estate. As Frank tries to reconnect with Maggie he becomes alarmed at the local hostility toward Aidan’s family. Can Frank discover the truth without driving Maggie away forever?

Publication Date: 8 October 2024
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Stella Hudson works as an attorney in child custody cases, appointed to look after the rights of the child. Because of her own childhood trauma, she doesn’t take on young clients but makes an exception for Rose Barclay. Amidst her parents’ bitter divorce, Rose witnessed her nanny fall to her death and is the only one who can confirm if it was murder but refuses to speak. As Stella digs into the wealthy Barclay family, she quickly learns they are hiding deep secrets in their house that is surprisingly absent of any glass.

I’ve read all of the thrillers Sarah Pekkanen has written with Greer Hendricks so it was interesting to see what she can do on her own. House of Glass is a domestic thriller that perfectly paints the unsettling feeling of a creepy child like Rose. The plot felt more realistic than many psychological thrillers and ended with plenty of action. Yet, I didn’t love the narrator and felt her backstory and personal life was a distraction, pulling you away from the incredible tension with the Barclay family.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 6 August 2024
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Maya is excited to return to Princeton University for her 10th college reunion and visit with her sister Naomi, who is currently enrolled there. When Naomi is killed in what police deem an accident, Maya suspects foul play. Maya learns Naomi had joined the Sterling Club and was probably initiated into its secret society. As Maya digs into Naomi’s life, she is haunted by her own experiences at Princeton and the secrets she’s been keeping for a decade.

Publication Date: 1 October 2024
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Ellery and Luke were supposed to be celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary at the luxury Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Instead, Ellery is visiting solo after a bitter divorce and, of course, there is a big wedding taking place at the resort the same weekend. After Ellery discovers the groom drowned in the pool, a mudslide closes the resort off from police and Ellery must use her wits as more people start dying.

Publication Date: 4 June 2024
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Off the Scottish coast, Eris is an island only accessible for twelve hours each day. Eris was famously the home of Vanessa Chapman, a renowned artist whose cheating husband disappeared twenty years ago. Now caring for Vanessa until her death, Grace now lives alone on Eris. When a shocking discovery about one of Vanessa’s works is made, an art curator comes to visit Grace, threatening Grace’s content lifestyle.

Publication Date: 29 October 2024
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What Would You Say Are The Best Thriller Books of 2024?

What thrillers did you enjoy most this year? Did I miss any of the Best Thriller Books of 2024 that you loved? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Mystery & Thriller Books:

• The Best Books of 2024
• The Best Thriller Books of 2023
• 43 Frighteningly Scary Books to Read
• Books with a Twist You Won’t See Coming
• 36 Chilling Psychological Thrillers
• 41 Twisted Domestic Thrillers
• 31 Books You Can’t Put Down

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