“Nothing like a mask to reveal somebody’s true nature.”
Are you on the hunt for a new mystery novel or material for your book club? From charming to chilling, mystery thrillers continue to be one of the most popular literary genres and one of the most reliable in the book club world. The layered characters, tension of the investigation, red herrings, clues, revelations and final big reveal are all ripe for discussing with your fellow readers. Mystery thrillers can make for a nice change of pace compared to other genres, and there’s always a healthy competition to be had in trying to guess the killer before the rest of the pack successfully. So, from cozy cottagore mysteries to jaw-dropping psychological thrillers, join us today at What We Reading for our favourite mystery book club books!
The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) – Richard Osman
Kickstarting our investigation into the best mystery book club books is Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. In the quintessential new cozy mystery series, we are whisked to a peaceful retirement village in Kent, England and meet the Thursday Murder Club, a gang of four eccentric friends who meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves at the epicentre of their very first live case. Nevertheless, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might all be pushing eighty, but they all have a few tricks of their own up their sleeves. Sprightly and charming, Osman’s books are sure to be a hit with any book club catch-up.
The Other Black Girl – Zakiya Dalila Harris
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the microaggressions and isolation, she is overjoyed when Harlem native Hazel begins working in the cubicle next to hers. The pair only just start getting to know one another, however, before Hazel is elevated to office darling on the back of a number of uncomfortable events. Then a note appears on Nella’s desk: ‘Leave Wagner. Now.’
It’s hard to believe that Hazel is behind the hostile message. But, as Nella spirals further over the sinister forces at play, she realises there is much more in play than just her career. A fast-paced thriller and sly social commentary Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl blends The Stepford Wives with Get Out for a mystery book club pick that will throw up plenty of discussion points, as well as leave you on the edge of your seat.
The 7 1/2 Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton
Nominated for Best Debut Author and Best Mystery & Thriller in the Goodreads Choice Awards, Stuart Turton’s The 7 1/2 Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle is still one of the most popular mystery book club picks.
Evelyn Hardcastle is set to be murdered at 11 pm. Every day, on repeat, until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But, every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of the hosts are more helpful than others when it comes to his investigation. One of the most inventive takes on the mystery genre, Turton’s work is one of the ultimate reads for keeping readers guessing until the very end.
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Magpie Murders (Susan Ryeland #1) – Anthony Horowitz
Alan Conway is a bestselling crime writer. His editor, Susan Ryeland, has worked with him for years. She’s intimately familiar with his lead detective, Atticus Pund, who solves mysteries across sleepy English villages. Alan’s traditional formula pays homage to the queens of British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers and has proven to be extremely lucrative so far.
When Susan receives Alan’s latest manuscript, a story where Atticus investigates a killing at an English manor house named Pye Hall, she has no reason to suspect this story is any different from the ones she’s received before. There will be dead bodies, red herrings, and plenty of intriguing suspects. But, the more she reads, the more Susan realises there’s another story hidden within the pages of the manuscript – one of ambition, jealousy and greed – that may soon lead to murder.
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Before The Ruins – Victoria Gosling
It’s the summer of 1996 and school’s out for Andy, her boyfriend Marcus, her best friend Peter, and Em. When her alcoholic mother predicts the apocalypse, the four teenagers decide to see out the end of the world at an isolated manor house, the eerie site of an unsolved murder. There, they meet David – enigmatic and unreliable, he seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
David presents an allure that neither Andy nor Peter are able to fend off, complicating the dynamics of their lifelong friendship. When the group learns that a diamond necklace, taken fifty years ago, might still be on the manor’s grounds, the Game – half treasure hunt, half friendly deception – begins. But, the Game soon grows to encompass more than a missing necklace. Victoria Gosling’s Before the Ruins is a multilayered mystery about four friends, an empty manor and the years of secrets, lies and betrayal that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Killers Of A Certain Age – Deanna Raybourn
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for over four decades. Nowadays, their talents are considered old-school by their peers, out of touch in a world more reliant on technology than people skills. When the foursome are sent on an all-expenses-paid holiday to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the top-level members of the Museum can authorise the termination of field agents. The women realise they’ve been marked for death.
To make it out alive, the women must turn against their own organisation, and rely on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing full well that working together is the secret to survival. From New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age is an action-packed mystery thriller perfect for any book club.
The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a beautiful mansion in one of London’s most up-market neighbourhoods. One evening, her husband returns home late from work and Alicia shoots him five times in the face. And never speaks another word. The lack of any explanation turns this tragedy into a far grander mystery, capturing the public’s attention and catapulting Alicia into infamy. She is hidden away from the tabloids and placed in the Grove, a forensic unit in North London.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time to work with Alicia. He is determined to get her to speak again. But, his efforts to unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband take him down a dark path into his own motivations, one that threatens to consume him.
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The Mother-In-Law – Sally Hepworth
From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana was impeccably polite and friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what she had envisioned. But who could blame her? Diana had been a pillar of the community, helping female refugees assimilate into their new country. She had been happily married to Tom, locked in wedding bliss for decades. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.
Now, five years into the future, Diana has been found dead. A note on her body claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer. Only, the autopsy finds no cancer, just traces of poison and evidence of suffocation. Who could possibly want Diana dead? Sally Hepworth’s The Mother-in-Law is a twisty and compelling mystery that follows Lucy as she investigates her complicated relationship with Diana, a relationship that only grows more complex as the pages turn.
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In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad #1) – Tana French
Tana French books are always popular picks for mystery book club reads, and her Dublin Murder Squad series kicks off with In the Woods. As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984. But, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they only find one of them. Gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-soaked sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.
Twenty years on this lone survivor, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But, when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and his partner, Detective Cassie Maddox, find themselves investigating a case eerily similar to the unsolved mystery from his childhood.
The Maid (Molly The Maid #1) – Nita Prose
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misinterprets the intentions of others. For years, she had her gran to make sense of the world for her, breaking it down into a series of simple rules she could follow. But, since she died a few months back, Molly has been forced to navigate the complexities of life on her own. She throws herself into her job as a hotel maid, donning her uniform, stocking her cart and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s perfectly ordinary life is upended the day she enters the room of the wealthy and infamous Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead. Before she knows it, the police are targeting her as their lead suspect. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had united with her to help her find the clues to reveal what really happened to Mr Black. One of the best locked-room mystery book club books, Nita Prose’s The Maid is a charming and affirming introduction to Molly the Maid.
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I Found You – Lisa Jewell
In East Yorkshire, single mother Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her home. He has no jacket, no name and no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgment, she invites him into her home.
Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one evening, she is left stranded and isolated in an unfamiliar country where she knows no one. Then the police inform her that her husband never existed. One of the most popular Lisa Jewell books, I Found You is a story of two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can’t remember which shows why she is considered one of the queens of suspense.
Razorblade Tears – S.A. Cosby
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years with not so much as a speeding ticket against him since he’s been free. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son, Isaiah and his white husband, Derek, have been murdered. Ike never fully accepted his son, but his loss still devastates him.
Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of his son as much as Derek was ashamed of his criminal past. He still has contacts in the underworld though, and he is determined to know who killed his boy. In S.A. Cosby’s thriller Razorblade Tears, two ex-cons with nothing in common except a quest for vengeance band together in a desperate desire for revenge. Along the way, they confront their prejudices about their sons and each other as they go after those who get caught in their crossfire.
A Stranger In The House – Shari Lapena
Karen and Tom Krupp are happy. They have a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds and have no children to disrupt their comfortable life together. One day, Tom comes home to find Karen has vanished. Her car is gone, but she’s left behind her phone, ID and purse. Then the police arrive to take Tom to hospital, explaining that Karen has had a car accident.
The accident left Karen with a concussion, a few scrapes, and no recollection of where she was and what she was doing when she crashed. The police think her amnesia is convenient, suspecting that she is up to no good. She returns home and realises that something isn’t right. Someone’s been in her house, and the police won’t stop asking questions. In Shari Lapena’s A Stranger in the House, everyone is a stranger, everyone has something to keep hidden, and some might even kill to keep these things buried.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
