16 best psychological thriller books that will keep you in suspense

Often cited as one of the greatest literary thrillers, lauded author Stephen King’s tome is the horror story of a writer’s imprisonment by a demented fan. After killing off his most famous protagonist, Misery, in his latest novel, author Paul Sheldon is involved in a horrible car crash.

When he wakes up in agony, he’s in the bed of Annie Wilkes who pulled him from the wreckage and brought him back to her isolated mountain home. Bedbound with broken legs, he soon discovers former nurse Annie is his number one fan and intends to hold him hostage until he writes Misery back into existence. Gruesome, terrifying and bleak, this is King at his darkest.

You may have seen the classic David Fincher 1999 movie, but have you read the book? If not, get ready for a cynical, darkly satirical and very confusing ride – all in a good way. Palahniuk’s novel follows the experience of an unnamed insomniac protagonist who finds relief from his own suffering by impersonating seriously ill people at support groups.

After meeting a mysterious man named Tyler Durden, he becomes involved in an underground fight club as a form of radical therapy for disaffected men. Whether you know that twist or not, the intrigue is in the way the novel gets there and its exploration of masculinity, dissatisfaction and isolation.

A modern classic that took home the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2010, Shriver’s dark thriller is a chilling and provocative narrative of a mother struggling to come to terms with her son’s murderous spree at his high school. Compelling and often devastating, it follows a woman trying to decide if she was in any way responsible for turning him into a monster, or if he was one all along.

An all-time classic of the genre, Highsmith’s tome follows Tom Ripley – a well-versed scammer – during a trip to Italy to persuade a New York businessman’s prodigal son to return to the US. Once there, the two grow close, with Ripley becoming so infatuated with Dickie Greenleaf that he wants to become him. As tensions rise between the two men and Dickie’s girlfriend Marge, Ripley’s talent for murder and self-invention becomes all too clear.

Flynn’s psychological thriller took the world by storm when it was published in 2012. It has since become a blockbuster film and spawned many similar novels. One of the best examples of an unreliable narrator in recent years, the novel is artful in sending the reader in the wrong direction. The story alternates between the past diary entries of Amy – a woman who inexplicably disappeared – and the present-day narrative of her husband, Nick, who becomes a prime suspect in the case.

Hitting bestseller lists around the world, Hawkins’s thriller details three women’s respective problems with binge drinking. With a Gone Girl-esque use of unreliable narrators, we begin with commuter Rachel, who, from the window of a train, catches daily glimpses of a seemingly perfect couple.

Then, one day, Rachel witnesses something shocking and, after informing the police, she learns that a woman has gone missing. Hesitant to trust her own blurry memories, she begins her own investigation, while the police increasingly believe she’s a prime suspect.

The first book in an internationally bestselling trilogy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo begins with the hiring of disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist by a wealthy Swedish industrialist to investigate the 40-year-old murder of his niece, Harriet, believing that she was killed by a member of his own family.

He soon teams up with private investigator and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, whose own past is just as mysterious. Together, they begin to uncover corruption, financial intrigue and a dark family history. The complex, gripping and fast-paced plot is matched by two intriguing main characters who keep the reader guessing.

Part psychological thriller and part story of disaffected university students, Tartt’s tome follows a group of clever misfits at an elite New England college and the chain of events that led to the death of a classmate. Although from a lower-class family, newbie Richard is accepted into the clique of students who are all under the cult-like influence of their charismatic Greek classics professor.

When one member of the group threatens to reveal the group’s role in the murder, tensions rise and the second half of the novel explores the psychological consequences of hiding such a terrible secret.

A classic of the genre, Rebecca follows an unnamed young woman to the south of France, where she falls for the handsome widower Maxim de Winter. They soon marry and she moves into his grand home, prompting a profound change in her husband. Isolated and alone, the ghostly presence of Maxim’s first wife Rebecca begins to haunt the new Mrs de Winter.

When ship wreckage is discovered with Rebecca’s body inside, secrets unravel and suspense builds as the narrator becomes increasingly obsessed with her predecessor.

Set in 1954, Lehane’s psychological thriller follows widower US Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule to Shutter Island, home to a hospital for the clinically insane. Sent there to investigate the disappearance of a patient who was incarcerated for drowning her three children, a storm immediately traps them there for four days.

We soon learn of Teddy’s own mental state and the deep-seated trauma he has, following his wife’s death in an apartment fire. Throughout the novel, dream sequences reveal hidden truths that Teddy refuses to admit, while the reader is kept guessing about which narrative to believe.

How to Fail podcast host Elizabeth Day is also an acclaimed author, and her latest novel Magpie might be her best yet. Exploring motherhood, infertility, greed and jealousy, the novel follows Marisa and Jake, a couple trying for a baby. Their happy relationship is tested by the arrival of new lodger Kate, a woman who has no personal boundries (she puts her toothbrush in the master bedroom) and develops an uneasy interest in Jake, as well as the baby they’re trying for.

With Jake oblivious to Marisa’s concerns, the domestic noir turns into a psychologically intense drama. Unpredictable and uncomfortable, with plenty of twists, Day’s stylish writing keeps you guessing until the very end.

This intriguing novel is as ambiguous as its title suggests. Despite the nameless narrator’s apparent doubts about her relationship, the story begins with her journeying alongside new boyfriend Jake to visit his parents at their remote farm. The creepy atmosphere is established from the off, with the couple arriving at a pitch-black house.

All seems well until after dinner, when both the parents and the boyfriend begin to act off kilter. Throughout, Reid signposts that something sinister is just round the corner, with the reader kept guessing until the novel’s crescendo. It’s also been made into a great film that’s available to stream on Netflix.

A bestseller upon its release last year, Jessica Knoll’s Ted Bundy-inspired novel shifts the attention away from the serial killer and onto the victims (a breath of fresh air after that recent Netflix show). Based on Bundy’s heinous crimes, it follows two women who are searching for justice in the wake of a murder spree.

In Tallahassee in 1978, sorority president Pamela comes face to face with the serial killer on the night he murders two of her sorority sisters. With the police struggling to track down the killer, she joins forces with Tina, a woman from Seattle who connects her best friend’s disappearence to the Tallahassee tragedy. Disturbing but thought provoking in its exploration of society’s obsession with serial killers, it puts a contemporary spin on the page-turning genre.

A classic brought to life by Jodie Foster in the 1991 film, Harris’s novel follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling who is attempting to understand the mind of serial killer Buffalo Bill, in a bid to hunt him down before he abducts more women. To do so, she presents a questionnaire to forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter, who is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a mental institution. The novel’s deep dive into the inner workings of a psychopath and the chain of events retold will haunt you beyond the final page.

Reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith, Moshfegh’s novel follows a lonely and damaged woman whose dark fantasies and toxic behaviour culminate in a terrible crime. Eileen Dunlop works in a juvenile correctional facility for boys, and lives with her alcoholic father, filling her weekends shoplifting and stalking a handsome prison guard while filled with resentment.

When a charming new counsellor arrives at work, Eileen becomes infatuated with her and is ultimately pulled into complicity with the novel’s climactic crime. Although utterly repellent, nasty and mercilessly observant, Eileen is also somewhat sympathetic and often very funny.

An international bestseller in 2019, this thriller tells the story of Alicia Berenson, a famous painter who seemingly lived an idyllic life married to an in-demand fashion photographer. That is until she shot her husband in the head five times and, six years later, still hasn’t spoken a word since.

When the domestic tragedy captures the public’s imagination and Alice becomes famous, a criminal psychotherapist latches onto the case, becoming obsessed with discovering Alice’s motive.