13 Compelling Domestic Thrillers

The Woman Inside is a fun and captivating new domestic thriller from M. T. Edvardsson, author of 2019’s A Nearly Normal Family. And just like Edvardsson’s previous thriller, The Woman Inside interweaves multiple perspectives to tell its gripping tale. Recently widowed Bill Olsson is grieving the loss of his partner while struggling to stay afloat and provide for his little girl. So he decides to rent out a room in his home to Karla, a law student and aspiring judge. Karla works as a house cleaner to pay her way through school. Her clients are Steven and Regina Rytter, a wealthy couple with a life that’s just too good to be true. As Bill’s desperation intensifies, Karla begins to notice disturbing patterns in Steven’s relationship with his ill, homebound wife. And when the Rytters turn up dead, it soon becomes clear that everyone has secrets to hide. Compulsively readable, The Woman Inside is the perfect beach read thriller to crack open this summer. 

Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is another new thriller that’s sure to make you think twice about how much you know your neighbors. It’s set in Emerson, Massachusetts, an idyllic Boston suburb complete with manicured lawns and picture-perfect homes. But Emerson’s tranquil facade is shattered when a young woman named Eden Perry is found dead on Locust Lane. As the investigation unfolds, families close ranks and neighbors lock their doors. Someone deserves to go down for this crime — but which family will take the hit? “[Amidon’s] richly plotted crime novel is a tour de force that grabs readers’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final page” (Booklist, starred review).

In The Wife Upstairs, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins offers everything you could want from a domestic thriller. The engrossing narrative entwines wealth and romance with a bevy of secrets to present its twisted mystery. Jane is a dog walker with a shadowy past who falls for Eddie Rochester, an enigmatic widower and resident of the posh Thornfield Estates. Eddie’s deceased wife, Bea, drowned while out boating with her best friend. But Bea’s body was never found, and the dark truth about her demise looms over Jane as her relationship with Eddie deepens.

Domestic thriller fans will devour The House Across the Lake, Riley Sager’s instant New York Times bestseller that’s filled with suspense and delicious plot twists. The novel follows Casey Fletcher, a widowed actress who decamps to her family’s lake house in Vermont to clear her head and escape the press. While there, she spends her time sipping bourbon and spying on Tom and Katherine Royce, the impossibly beautiful couple that live in the house across the lake. At first glance, their relationship is perfect. Appearances, of course, can be deceiving. When Katherine vanishes, Casey suspects Tom and spirals into an obsessive search where nothing is as it seems.

No one can be trusted in The Couple Next Door, Shari Lapena’s bestselling domestic thriller from 2016. While attending a dinner party one evening, Anne and Marco Conti’s daughter goes missing. In an instant, the domestic bliss and security of this well-to-do neighborhood is turned on its head. As suspicions swirl and the truth unravels, long-buried betrayals come to light. Not only are Anne and Marco hiding things from their neighbors and the police, they’re also keeping secrets from each other.

In The Family Upstairs, bestselling author Lisa Jewell delivers a chilling example of darkness lurking under your own roof. A single letter transforms Libby Jones’s life: Not only does she finally learn the identity of her birth parents but she also discovers that she’s the sole inheritor of a dilapidated London mansion worth millions. But what Libby doesn’t yet know is that the home played host to a gruesome and baffling crime years ago — and that cracking the case may also unlock the truth about her family and who she really is. 

Sarah Pinborough’s bestselling Behind Her Eyes is a spicy domestic thriller with a plot so good it was recently adapted into a Netflix series. The novel centers on Louise, a single mother who meets a man in a bar one night and is shocked to discover, come Monday morning, that he happens to be her new boss. David, the man from the bar, is also married. As Louise gets to know the couple, she begins to suspect that something is terribly wrong with their marriage. This love-triangle narrative is spring-loaded with surprises and will have you guessing about the true villain’s identity until the last page is turned. 

Laura Dave’s blockbuster domestic thriller The Last Thing He Told Me was recently adapted into an Apple TV+ series starring Jennifer Garner — but we urge you to check out the source material. Hannah Hall’s life is flipped when Owen Michaels, her husband of one year, vanishes without a trace. Before the disappearance, Owen gives Hannah a note with a simple command: Protect her. The subject of the note is Bailey, Owen’s teenage daughter. Hannah has always struggled to connect with her stepdaughter; now, however, she and Bailey must work together to untangle the mystery of Owen’s disappearance and who he really was. 

Rock Paper Scissors is an enthralling dark thriller from Alice Feeney, the bestselling author of Daisy Darker and His & Hers. The novel focuses on Adam and Amelia Wright, a couple whose strained marriage is given a shot at redemption when they win a weekend getaway to Scotland. Every year on their anniversary, Amelia writes a letter to her husband that she never shares. Now she’s finally ready to reveal them. But as matters of the heart are disclosed, another truth comes to light: Someone is lying, and this surprise vacation is anything but random.

Behind Closed Doors, B.A. Paris’s 2016 debut psychological thriller, was an instant New York Times bestseller and won rave reviews from critics and readers alike. It centers on Jack and Grace, newlyweds who appear to have it all, from looks to wealth to charm. But darkness lurks behind the couple’s winning smiles and sumptuous dinner parties, leading some to wonder if their relationship is as perfect as it seems. Spoiler: It isn’t.

Sally Hepworth is a master of the domestic thriller genre, crafting narratives packed with family drama, nuanced characters, and plenty of twists. In The Mother-in-Law, the bestselling author zeroes in on the troubled relationship between Lucy and her husband’s mother. Diana is well-liked, well-connected, and a charitable member of her community. Everyone adores her, except for Lucy, who has always felt frozen out and looked down upon by her mother-in-law. But everything changes when Diana is found dead with a suicide note claiming it was because of cancer. The thing is, the autopsy doesn’t reveal cancer in Diana’s body — though it does find poison and evidence of suffocation.

Mary Kubica’s Local Woman Missing is an “emotionally eviscerating psychological thriller” (Publishers Weekly) that ranks among the author’s best. In it, Kubica dives deep into the domestic secrets that lurk beneath the surface. First, Shelby Tebow goes missing, followed by Meredith Dickey and her 6-year-old daughter, Delilah. The vanishings send shockwaves through this seemingly peaceful community. When Delilah returns 11 years later, there are plenty of questions to be answered and plenty of secrets to be unearthed.

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are the number-one New York Times bestselling authors of domestic thrillers like The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl. With 2022’s The Golden Couple, the writing duo wowed readers yet again. Their novel focuses on Marissa and Matthew Bishop, wealthy Washingtonians whose picture-perfect marriage is likely to collapse. For help, they turn to Avery Chambers, a renegade therapist who demands absolute submission from her clients to her unorthodox methods. As the sessions heat up, it soon becomes clear that Marissa and Matthew’s marriage isn’t the only thing that’s in jeopardy.