Thriller Books Perfect for True Crime Podcast Fans

Updated July 23, 2025
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
All that consumes us
Waters, Erica
Paper Book
Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil.  Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.  The students in Corbin College's elite academic society, Magni...
All these bodies
Blake, Kendare
Paper Book
* Indie Next List Pick * Indie Bestseller * Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation. In this edge-of-your-seat mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake, the truth is as hard to believe as it is to find. Summer 1958. A...
All these sunken souls : a black horror anthology
Moskowitz, Circe
Paper Book
Welcome to the Dark.   We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren't sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan...
The Black girl survives in this one : horror stories
Evans, Desiree S.
Paper Book
INSTANT INDIE BESTSELLER! Locus Award Winner Ignyte Award Finalist "This anthology makes a statement: Black women belong in horror...Projects like this -- brave, necessary -- celebrate Black women, and will hopefully inspire the future of the genre." --The New York...
The black queen
Emill, Jumata
Paper Book
Nova Albright was going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High--but now she's dead. Murdered on coronation night. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Other Black Girl will love this unputdownable thriller. Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming...
The cheerleaders
Thomas, Kara
Paper Book
"Sharp, brilliantly plotted, and totally engrossing."--KAREN M. MCMANUS, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying "A crafty, dark, and disturbing story."--KATHLEEN GLASGOW, New York Times bestselling author of Girl...
Clever creatures of the night
Mabry, Samantha
Paper Book
"Eerie, atmospheric, and simmering with dread. Not to be missed."--Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls "A mystery that demands to be read in one setting."--Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders ...
Clown in a cornfield
Cesare, Adam
Paper Book
Bram Stoker Award Winner for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel In Adam Cesare's terrifying young adult debut, Quinn Maybrook finds herself caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress--that just may cost her life. Quinn Maybrook and her...
A good girl's guide to murder
Jackson, Holly
Paper Book
THE MUST-READ MULTIMILLION BESTSELLING MYSTERY SERIES--NOW ON NETFLIX! This is the story about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect. Everyone in Fairview knows the story. Pretty and popular high school...
The good girls
Bartlett, Claire Eliza
Paper Book
One of Us Is Lying meets Sadie in this twisty, feminist thriller for the Me Too era. The troublemaker. The overachiever. The cheer captain. The dead girl. Like every high school in America, Jefferson-Lorne High contains all of the above. After the shocking murder of senior Emma...
Grown : a novel
Jackson, Tiffany D.
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! "Grown exposes the underbelly of a tough conversation, providing a searing examination of misogynoir, rape culture, and the vulnerability of young black girls. Groundbreaking, heart-wrenching, and essential reading for all in the #MeToo era." -...
The Headmaster's List
De la Cruz, Melissa
Paper Book
One of Us Is Lying meets Gossip Girl in The Headmaster's List, an edge-of-your-seat YA thriller about a fatal car crash and the dangerous lengths one teen will go to uncover the truth about what really happened. Friday night. The party of the summer....
Hollow fires
Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer)
Paper Book
This powerful, gripping thriller from a New York Times bestselling author shows the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths--and the undeniable power of hope.   Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one...
The hysterical girls of St. Bernadette's
Hanna Alkaf
Paper Book
An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light. For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette's, with its reputation for shaping only...
Into the light
Oshiro, Mark
Paper Book
When you're like me, you have to lie. It's been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving--and keep him alive. Now, he's taking a chance on a...
The Ivies
Donne, Alexa
Paper Book
Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally. "The Plastics meet the Heathers in this murder mystery about ruthless Ivy League ambition." -Kirkus Reviews  ...
The Naturals
Barnes, Jennifer
Audiobook
Cold cases are about to get hot. Don't miss this exhilarating crime thriller--perfect for fans of Criminal Minds and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder--from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The...
One of us is lying
McManus, Karen M.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * BUZZFEED * POPCRUSH "Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club" (Entertainment Weekly) in this addictive mystery about what happens when five strangers...
Out of body
Davenport, N. E.
Paper Book
A high-stakes, propulsive YA thriller with a body-swap twist thoughtfully exploring themes of friendship and identity, perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson. Seventeen-year-old Megan Allen has been jumping from friend group to friend group in her high school, trying on identities like...
Promise boys
Brooks, Nick
Paper Book
Promise Boys is a blockbuster, dark academia mystery about three teens of color who must investigate their principal's murder to clear their own names. This page-turning thriller is perfect for fans of Karen McManus, Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, and Holly Jackson<...
The reappearance of Rachel Price
Jackson, Holly
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of the multimillion-copy bestselling A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a gripping mystery thriller following one teen's search for the truth about her mother's shocking disappearance--and even more...
The rosewood hunt
Reed, Mackenzie
Paper Book
Irresistible intrigue, captivating suspense, a swoony friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance, and heartbreaking betrayal drive this thrilling debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and Knives Out. Lily Rosewood has lived with her grandmother since her dad...
Sadie
Summers, Courtney
Paper Book
Available now: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller from Courtney Summers, based loosely on The Epstein case and "not for the faint of heart" (The New York Times) "Sadie: a novel for readers of...
Thieves' gambit
Lewis, Kayvion
Paper Book
The Inheritance Games meets Ocean's Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world's best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother's life. At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is...
Two can keep a secret
McManus, Karen M.
Paper Book
The "must-read YA thriller" (Bustle) from #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying about a small town with deadly secrets. "When it comes to YA suspense, Karen M. McManus is in a league of her own..." --Entertainment Weekly
Two sides to every murder
Valentine, Danielle
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · From the author of How to Survive Your Murder comes a propulsive thriller about two teens who return to Camp Lost Lake, site of an infamous murder case that sealed their fates. "A must-read for fans of true crime, dark family...
What stalks among us
Hollowell, Sarah
Paper Book
From Sarah Hollowell, author of A Dark and Starless Forest, comes a spine-tingling, deliriously creepy YA speculative thriller about two best friends trapped in a corn maze with corpses that look just like them. Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan make their first mistake...
Where sleeping girls lie
Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
Paper Book
A girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears, in this "beautifully written coming-of-age mystery that should appeal to fans of Tiffany Jackson, Kara Thomas, and Jumata Emill." (Shelf Awareness, starred review)...
A wicked magic
Laurens, Sasha
Paper Book
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The Craft when modern witches must save teens stolen by an ancient demon in this YA fantasy-thriller debut. Dan and Liss are witches. The Black Book granted them that power. Harnessing that power feels good, especially...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.