12 Propulsive Thrillers for True Crime Podcast Fans

Horror maestro Stephen King recommends Amy Tintera’s Listen for the Lie as a “world-class whodunit” — and who are we to argue with the King? At the center of this buzzy new mystery thriller is Lucy Chase. Five years ago, someone murdered Lucy’s best friend, Savvy. Afterward, Lucy was found covered in Savvy’s blood. Lucy can’t remember what happened, but that hasn’t stopped just about everyone she knows from deciding she’s a murderer. When a hit true crime podcast launches a new investigation into Savvy’s case, Lucy is pulled back into the bloody limelight. Now she must return home to find out what went down that night, even if that means revealing herself as the killer. Tintera’s dynamic narrative jumps between Lucy’s whip-smart first-person narration and transcripts from the true crime podcast, creating a thrilling investigation that unfolds in real time.

Bestselling author Megan Goldin has several must-read thrillers under her belt, including The Escape Room and Dark Corners. Her podcast-centric The Night Swim is one of our favorites. The book is the first in a series featuring Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster who hits it big after her show helps free an innocent man from prison. The podcast’s new season focuses on a controversial rape trial, which takes Rachel to a small town with a sordid past. As Rachel delves into the details of the case — the victim is the police chief’s granddaughter and the accused is the town’s star athlete — she also gets reeled into investigating a decades-old murder that may very well be connected to the present-day proceedings.

Lisa Jewell continues to shine with every new psychological thriller she releases, and that’s because she’s a virtuoso storyteller who knows how to keep readers on the edge of their seats. In her newest novel, None of This Is True, the author gets really twisty. Popular true crime podcaster Alix Summer has a chance encounter with Josie Fair, and when they bump into each other again, Josie approaches Alix about being a subject on her show. Alix is wary — Josie’s definitely up to something — but decides to move forward with the podcast anyway. With each new episode, however, Josie creeps closer into Alix’s life, eventually worming her way into Alix’s home. Then Josie disappears, leaving behind catastrophic damage that turns Alix into the subject of her own podcast.

I Killed Zoe Spanos, written by Kit Frick, is a scorching YA thriller brimming with suspense. It centers on Anna Cicconi, a teenager who moves to the Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer job as a nanny. Anna hoped to start anew in Herron Mills, but the community is still reeling from the disappearance of Zoe Spanos — and Anna’s uncanny resemblance to Zoe rattles everyone. As the situation intensifies, Anna becomes convinced that she does share a connection with Zoe, and that she may, in fact, know what really happened. So when Zoe’s remains are found in a lake, Anna’s fixation makes her a prime suspect, and she’s charged with manslaughter. Teenage podcaster Martina Green — whose true crime show centers on Zoe’s case — is shocked by this development. She’s convinced that Anna is innocent and sets out to uncover the truth. But is she prepared for what she’s about to discover?

This is one eerie read you won’t be able to put down. Beneath Devil’s Bridge by Loreth Anne White focuses on Trinity Scott, a true crime podcaster determined to hit it big. She thinks she’s found the perfect case when she scores an exclusive jailhouse interview with Clayton Jay Pelley, a former guidance counselor and family man who confessed to murdering teenage student Leena Rai more than 20 years ago. This time, however, Clayton has a different story to tell: He swears he didn’t do it and offers plenty of shocking disclosures about what really happened that night. As Clayton’s claims reach fresh ears and Trinity’s podcast takes off, Trinity finds herself attracting the scrutiny of Rachel Walczak, the detective who put Clayton away all those years ago.

In The Children on the Hill, New York Times bestselling author Jennifer McMahon summons the spirit of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to craft a haunting new thriller about the monsters that walk among us. The novel employs a dual timeline narrative to unfurl its chilling tale. In 2019, Lizzy Shelley, the host of the podcast Monsters Among Us, travels to Vermont, where a little girl has been abducted and monster sightings have locals in a panic. In 1978, a renowned psychiatrist brings home a mysterious young patient who then befriends her two grandchildren. The children quickly bond over their shared love of riding bikes and hunting monsters through the Vermont woods. We’ll leave things there, because the story is far too juicy to spoil even one more detail.

In If I Disappear, Eliza Jane Brazier delivers “an eerie, twisted thriller sure to shake up the most seasoned true crime die-hard” (Harper’s Bazaar). True crime podcast fanatic Sera is shocked when her favorite host Rachel vanishes. So she channels Rachel’s investigative spirit and launches her own search. Sera tracks the clues hidden in each podcast episode to an isolated ranch near Rachel’s hometown. Soon Sera learns that the story is much bigger than she thought. Other women have vanished from the ranch — and Sera may be next.

Allison Brennan puts a fresh spin on the campus murder mystery concept in The Sorority Murder, weaving modern technology into the narrative. Candace Swain’s unsolved murder is now a cold case, but Lucas Vega becomes obsessed with the college student’s killing after unearthing some fresh information. Not sure how all of his newly discovered snippets and clues fit together, Lucas launches a podcast and encourages listeners to share information about Candace’s final hours. When former U.S. Marshal Regan Merritt comes on the podcast as a guest, she becomes equally intrigued by the case. But the two are thrown a curveball when one of their listeners turns up dead. And when Regan uses her sources to follow up on promising leads, she discovers that Lucas has some secrets of his own.

Sadie by Courtney Summers is an Edgar Award–winning YA thriller that you should not sleep on if you’re a fan of chilling and complex narratives. In the book, radio host West McCray starts a serialized podcast after receiving a mysterious call asking him to find teenage runaway Sadie Hunter. West is further drawn into the mystery when he finds out that Sadie’s disappearance occurred after the gruesome murder of her sister. The book switches between Sadie’s voice, as she seeks vengeance, and the podcast transcripts tracing her path via clues left behind.

Truth Be Told was recently adapted into an Apple TV+ series starring Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul, and since it ran for three seasons, it’s quite likely you saw it. Whether or not you have, the source material is more than worth your time. In Kathleen Barber’s psychological thriller, podcaster Poppy Parnell cracks open a long-closed murder case that may have sent the wrong person to prison. For Josie Burhman, this development is crushing: Not only was the murder victim her father but she’s spent the last decade trying to escape her horrible past. The renewed media interest in the case threatens to disturb Josie’s fragile new life — including her relationship with her partner, Caleb, who knows nothing about her true identity. Then Josie’s long-absent mother passes away, forcing her to return home to finally reckon with her demons.

If you’re on the hunt for an eerie and all-consuming narrative world, check out Matt Wesolowski’s Six Stories, the first in a multibook series that follows podcast investigator Scott King as he delves into dark and grisly crimes. In this book, Scott investigates the 1997 murder of teenager Tom Jeffries, whose body was found at an Outward Bound center in northeast England after a trip with his friends ended in tragedy. Scott conducts six different interviews that point to very different possibilities about what happened to Tom, inviting the reader to sort through the clues and decide who’s lying.

We end our list with Conviction by Dagger Award–winning Scottish crime writer Denise Mina. Mina’s thriller focuses on Anna McDonald, a wife and mother who listens to true crime podcasts to escape the confines of her domestic situation. One day, however, she hears a name she recognizes from a former life — a life she’s done everything in her power to escape. It isn’t long before Anna’s perfect existence unravels and she’s forced to flee. Now, with the podcast directing her, she’s determined to finally face down her dark past. Packed with twists and turns, Conviction is “daredevil storytelling at its finest” (NPR’s Fresh Air).