Thriller books are great for readers who love twists and turns, and there are plenty of exciting new ones hitting shelves throughout 2024. There’s no one season to pick up new thrillers; they’re great to cuddle up with in the winter, read on the beach during the summer, and dive into around Halloween. While 2024 started strong with releases like First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston and No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall, there are still plenty of highly anticipated thrillers on the horizon.
Some of 2024’s upcoming thrillers are by well-known authors like Riley Sager and Ruth Ware, while others are highly anticipated for their unique premises. There is no shortage of twisted thriller books to pick up during the remainder of the year, and readers should remain on the lookout for even more additions to the genre as the fall season approaches. From twisty missing-persons cases to classic murder mysteries, there’s truly something for every type of thriller reader.
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11Darling Girls By Sally Hepworth
Release Date: April 23, 2024
Sally Hepworth is known for thriller books like The Family Next Door and The Soulmate, and Darling Girls will join the author’s lineup in April 2024. With a cover that screams “beach read,” Darling Girls will unravel the story of three foster sisters — Jessica, Norah, and Alicia — who grew up with a caregiver who wasn’t what she seemed. Miss Fairchild lurks in the back of the girls’ minds well into adulthood, and their complicated childhood gets placed under a spotlight after a body is discovered in the house they were raised in.
Part psychological thriller and part murder mystery, Darling Girls promises to be a fast-paced and fun book to read over the summer.
Thanks to this grim discovery, the three women become witnesses in the investigation surrounding their former home. However, that line gets blurred as time goes on, with the trio becoming potential suspects as well. Part psychological thriller and part murder mystery, Darling Girls promises to be a fast-paced and fun book to read over the summer. It sounds perfect for fans of Hepworth’s prior releases, as well as thriller authors like Meg Miranda.
10Missing White Woman By Kellye Garrett
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Kellye Garrett’s Missing White Woman is getting attention ahead of its April 2024 release, as it’s poised to be a gripping thriller and a poignant commentary on relevant topics like race and media bias. The novel opens with Bree and her new boyfriend, Ty, embarking on a romantic trip to New York City — but their getaway turns out to be anything but charming. When Bree wakes up in their rented townhouse, she discovers that Ty is missing. Even worse, he’s left a dead body in his wake.
Its fascinating look at the media’s obsession with missing-persons cases and murder investigations surrounding white women sets it apart from the other 2024 thrillers hitting shelves, making it a must-read.
The dead woman Bree finds is Janelle Beckett, a missing person the internet has become increasingly obsessed with. With hordes of people demanding answers and justice for Janelle, Bree realizes she’ll have to take the investigation into her own hands if she wants to find Ty and clear their names. Missing White Woman promises to be a thriller readers won’t be able to put down. Its fascinating look at the media’s obsession with missing-persons cases and murder investigations surrounding white women sets it apart from the other 2024 thrillers hitting shelves, making it a must-read.
9The Return Of Ellie Black By Emiko Jean
Release Date: May 7, 2024
Many thriller books focus on people going missing, but Emiko Jean’s The Return of Ellie Black subverts that setup — and doing so lands it among the most-anticipated thriller books of 2024. Jean’s 2024 novel follows Detective Chelsey Calhoun, who has dedicated her life to finding missing girls ever since her own sister vanished. This places Detective Calhoun in the middle of a strange mystery once one of the missing girls — Ellie Black — reappears in the woods two years after she disappeared.
Ellie’s return should be good news, but something about it doesn’t sit right with Detective Calhoun. With Ellie offering no information about where she’s been, Detective Calhoun needs to get creative to unravel what happened to her. If she doesn’t, it could happen to another victim, something The Return of Ellie Black‘s lead wants to avoid. Jean’s latest novel stands to raise interesting questions about the importance of speaking up as a victim, as well as whether that’s truly their responsibility. The mystery and character dynamics surrounding this question are equally compelling, so readers won’t want to miss this release.
8The Midnight Feast By Lucy Foley
Release Date: May 15, 2024
The Hunting Party catapulted Lucy Foley to fame back in 2018, and the author has since proven her chops in the thriller space with releases like The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. Foley returns this May with The Midnight Feast, another atmospheric murder mystery novel. This one takes place during the opening of a place called The Manor, where guests are treated to a luxurious healing experience that includes everything from an infinity pool to carefully crafted CBD cocktails.
The guests don’t realize that those who live near The Manor aren’t thrilled about its existence, and this could put a damper on their stay. In fact, the story behind Foley’s latest culminates with a fire at The Manor, a dead body, and the police showing up. It’s not entirely clear what happened to get to this point, but readers can count on Foley unpacking the mystery in a gripping way — one that will likely keep them invested from cover to cover. Pitched as a locked-room mystery, this one promises high tensions throughout.
7One Perfect Couple By Ruth Ware
Release Date: May 21, 2024
Ruth Ware is a must-read thriller author, and her May 2024 release promises to be unlike any of her previous books. One Perfect Couple will take readers to a remote island, where its characters are competing in a reality TV show called The Perfect Couple. The getaway and potential cash prize seems like a dream for the five couples participating — at least until things start to go sideways for them. A storm makes their situation worse, and their time on the island quickly turns deadly. Needless to say, Ware’s latest sounds even more entertaining than the best reality TV shows.
Its island setting and fun premise make Ware’s One Perfect Couple the perfect beach read — though it’s likely to land any time of year.
Its island setting and fun premise make Ware’s One Perfect Couple the perfect beach read — though it’s likely to land any time of year. Knowing the author’s previous work, there should be lots and twists of turns. In fact, this sounds like a combination of In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and an all-new story. That’s more than enough reason to add it to the list of thriller books to read in 2024.
6The Last Murder At The End Of The World By Stuart Turton
Release Date: May 21, 2024
Stuart Turton knocked it out of the park with The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water, and The Last Murder at the End of the World is shaping up to be just as big. Slated for a May release, Turton’s latest is a high-stakes murder mystery with a premise that stands out from the other new books in the thriller genre. Set in a world destroyed by a deadly fog, The Last Murder at the End of the World follows what remains of humanity: 122 villagers and three scientists residing on an island.
With its outlandish premise, the story behind The Last Murder at the End of the World combines post-apocalyptic fiction with a locked-room murder mystery concept.
When one of the scientists is stabbed to death, it triggers the security system that was keeping the fog out — and the only way to prevent it from seeping in is to solve the murder in a set amount of time. With its outlandish premise, the story behind The Last Murder at the End of the World combines post-apocalyptic fiction with a locked-room murder mystery concept. It’s fresh and interesting, making it one of the most unique thrillers hitting shelves this year.
5A Game Of Lies By Clare Mackintosh
Release Date: May 21, 2024
Clare Mackintosh is the British author behind thrillers like I Let You Go and The Last Party — and her 2024 release, A Game of Lies, serves as a sequel of sorts to the latter. While A Game of Lies kicks off a completely new mystery, it returns to Detective Ffion Morgan, who investigated the deadly New Year’s Eve party in Mackintosh’s 2022 release. In A Game of Lies, the detective will take on a very different case. It involves a reality show that leaves its contestants scrambling in the Welsh mountains.
When one of the contestants goes missing, Detective Ffion Morgan must parse the suspects’ true identities from those they’ve put forth on TV. This investigation gets more pressing when one of the contestants is found dead, tipping the reality show into a full-on murder investigation. It sounds like A Game of Lies will have a cast of characters with secrets and their own objectives, making this a gripping read. It’s another spin on the reality TV thriller story, but its setting is a far cry from the usual beachy backdrops that accompany such tales.
| Books In The DC Morgan Series In Order |
| The Last Party (2022) |
| A Game of Lies (2024) |
4The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden
Release Date: June 11, 2024
Freida McFadden is known for The Housemaid and its sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret. Now she’s back with another addition to her beloved thriller series: The Housemaid Is Watching. The third installment takes place 11 years after Millie’s last adventure, and she’s grown up a bit since. Millie now has a husband and kids, and the book opens with them moving into their new family home. Millie’s still desperate to leave her past behind, but it seems like her neighbors might make that a difficult thing to accomplish. Cue the suspicion on both sides of the fence.
McFadden’s psychological thrillers always manage to surprise — and The Housemaid series, in particular, always does the unexpected.
Anyone who’s read McFadden’s previous novels will know she has a knack for delivering twists that keep the pages turning. If The Housemaid Is Watching is anything like its predecessors, readers can count on an exciting time. McFadden’s psychological thrillers always manage to surprise — and The Housemaid series, in particular, always does the unexpected.
| Books In The Housemaid Series In Order |
| The Housemaid (2022) |
| The Housemaid’s Secret (2023) |
| The Housemaid Is Watching (2024) |
3A Talent For Murder By Peter Swanson
Release Date: June 11, 2024
Peter Swanson has a new thriller book coming out in 2024, and it will expand his Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner Series, which started in 2015 with The Kind Worth Killing. A Talent for Murder takes on a different set of characters and mysteries, but it unpacks similar themes from the previous two installments. The book opens with Martha Ratliff finding a mysterious stain on the back of her husband’s shirt — a discovery that escalates into something bigger. With her husband constantly traveling to conferences for work, Martha begins to look into the places he’s going.
To Martha’s dismay, five women have been killed in the cities her husband has traveled to — and around the time of his visits, too. Convinced there might be a connection, she enlists an old friend named Lily Kintner to investigate her unsettling revelation. They find more than they bargained for, promising another dark look at humanity from Swanson. This series, in particular, raises questions about whether anyone can truly know another person. With extramarital affairs and deadly secrets, Swanson’s characters always surprise. It leads to great twists and turns in his previous work.
| Books In The Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner Series In Order |
| The Kind Worth Killing (2015) |
| The Kind Worth Saving (2023) |
| A Talent for Murder (2024) |
2The Murder After The Night Before By Katy Brent
Release Date: June 11, 2024
The Murder After the Night Before is worth picking up for its vibrant cover alone, but Katy Brent’s 2024 thriller release sounds as fun as it looks. Although its synopsis is on the short side, The Murder After the Night Before promises an entertaining premise that feels a lot like The Hangover meets a murder mystery. It sees a woman with a gnarly hangover and few memories from the evening before attempting to track down the person who killed her friend. Although the police insist Posey’s death was an accident, the book’s lead knows otherwise.
While there’s a serious mystery at its core, The Murder After the Night Before sounds more fun and fast-paced than anything else. It’s the perfect 2024 thriller to pick up for a more lighthearted romp in the genre — if such a thing exists. It also sounds like a solid follow-up to Brent’s How to Kill Men and Get Away With It.
1Middle Of The Night By Riley Sager
Release Date: June 18, 2024
Riley Sager hasn’t gone a year without releasing a new thriller book since 2017, so it’s little surprise the author has a new novel coming out in 2024. Titled Middle of the Night, Sager’s latest hits shelves in June — and it sounds poised to deliver the perfect small-town mystery. Set 30 years after Ethan fell asleep in a tent with his best friend and awoke to find him missing, the story sees him returning to his hometown. There, he is unexpectedly reimmersed in the mystery of Billy’s disappearance, as strange and related occurrences keep following him around.
Needless to say, Ethan sets out to uncover what really happened to his friend 30 years ago, taking him on a wild ride. Middle of the Night promises to deliver the message that nowhere is safe, and it sounds like the perfect read for anyone looking for a book that has twists and the ability to give them the creeps. Sager tends to master that with all his thrillers, so hopefully, Middle of the Night will be the same.