“Maybe you need to stop retracing your footsteps. Maybe you need to try a new path.”
All the Dangerous Things is a bestselling 2023 mystery thriller novel by Stacy Willingham. Nominated for Best Mystery and & Thriller in the Goodreads Choice Awards, the story centres around Isabelle Drake, a mother still reeling from the sudden disappearance of her toddler son, Mason. Suffering from crippling insomnia and desperate for a breakthrough in a case that has gone cold, she agrees to be interviewed for a true crime podcast. However, the interviewer’s obsession with Isabelle’s past begins to make her uncomfortable. On the back of his incessant questioning, she begins to doubt her memory of the night Mason disappeared, as well as start to second guess who she can truly trust. Despite this, she remains determined to uncover the truth, no matter where it leads. If you love slow-burning mysteries and shocking revelations, join us at What We Reading for the best books like All the Dangerous Things!
None Of This Is True – Lisa Jewell
Kicking off our list of the best mystery books like All the Dangerous Things is Lisa Jewell’s None of This Is True. Another Goodreads-nominated 2023 release, None of This Is True opens with podcaster Alix Summers celebrating her birthday at a local pub and running into a woman named Josie Fair. As it turns out, Josie is also celebrating her birthday. The two bump into each other again a few days later, and Josie tells Alix that she has been listening to her podcast and believes she may be an interesting subject for her next feature.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated but, whilst she finds her somewhat unsettling, Alix can’t resist the temptation to keep making the series. Gradually, she learns that Josie has some very dark secrets. Then, as quickly as she arrives, Josie vanishes. Only then does Alix learn that Josie has left behind a terrible and terrifying legacy and that her life and the lives of her family are gravely under threat.
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Beneath Devil’s Bridge – Loreth Anne White
True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial might be the ticket she’s been waiting for. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley. Over twenty years ago, the respectable family man and guidance counsellor confessed to the murder of teenager Leena Rai. In a series of exclusive interviews from prison, Clayton enlightens Trinity on what really happened that night beneath Devil’s Bridge.
But, as her listeners continue to tune in and her ratings start to skyrocket, Trinity realises a vital player is missing from the story: Rachel Walczak, the retired detective who exposed Clayton and put him in jail. And with each of Clayton’s teasing reveals, one thing soon becomes clear: he’s not the only one in Twin Falls with a secret.
First Lie Wins – Ashley Elston
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she has been given a name and a location by her mysterious boss, Mr Smith, she learns all there is to know about the town and residents within its perimeters. Her target for this job is Ryan Summer.
Evie Porter knows that this job is set to be different to the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin. She’s starting to imagine a different sort of life for herself. But she knows she can’t afford any mistakes. Especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she’s strived to keep clean her entire life – her real identity – just strolled right into this town. Similar to All the Dangerous Things, Ashley Elston’s First Lie Wins follows Evie as she attempts to stay ahead of her past to ensure she has a future to look forward to seeing.
Six Stories (Six Stories #1) – Matt Wesolowski
In 1997 in Scarclaw Fell, the body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an Outward Bound centre. The official ruling is that he is the victim of a misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth behind what really happened at the beautiful but dangerous fell is locked up tight in the memories of a close friendship circle who embarked on a fateful trip, and the testimonies of the locals living nearby.
Fast forward to 2017 and elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose concealed identity and podcast of complex crimes being examined have made him a viral sensation, begins his search for the truth behind Jeffries’ death. Told through a series of six interviews, King attempts to understand how the dynamics of a friendship circle collided with local folklore to result in a mysterious death. Like All the Dangerous Things, each interview reveals something new and who is really telling the truth.
The IT Girl – Ruth Ware
April Coutt-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford. Bright, occasionally brutal and the ultimate ‘It girl’, April quickly pulled Hannah into her orbit and they soon formed a tight-knit friendship circle during their first term. By the end of their second term together, April was dead.
Fast forward ten years, Hannah and her university friend Will are expecting their first child and the man convicted of killing April, porter John Neville, has died in prison. Thankful that the past has finally been put behind her, Hannah’s world is soon upended by the arrival of a young journalist at her door with new evidence that suggests Neville may have been innocent. As she reconnects with old friends and investigates deeper into April’s death, Hannah realises they all have something to hide. Including a murder.
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Just Another Missing Person – Gillian McAllister
Twenty-two-year-old Olivia has been missing for a day. She was last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley. And not coming out again. Julia, the detective tasked with heading the search for Olivia, knows what to expect: a desperate family, a ticking clock and arduous amounts of hours away from her own husband and daughter. What she doesn’t know is how close this case is going to come to home for her.
Because the criminal operating at the heart of this case isn’t using a gun or a knife. They’re using a secret. Her worst one. And her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must never find out what happened to Olivia, and she has to frame someone else for her murder. Another one of the best mysteries like All the Dangerous Things, Gillian McAllister’s Just Another Missing Person asks: ‘If finding her means you lose everything, what would you do?’
What Lies In The Woods – Kate Alice Marshall
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia spent their summer in the woods, picturing a world of wonder. They dubbed it the ‘Goddess Game’. However, the summer was brought to a sudden end when Naomi was attacked. By a miracle, she survived the seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the individual who attacked her. The girls’ testimony helped put a serial killer of six women behind bars. They were heroes.
For decades afterwards, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now, Olivia wants to come clean, and Naomi embarks to discover what really happened in the woods all those years ago, regardless of how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena
Anne and Marco are living a picture-perfect life in upstate New York. They are invited to attend a dinner party with their friends living next door but are asked if they can leave their six-month-old daughter, Cora, at home. The pair agree to take their baby monitor with them and take shifts every half an hour to check on their daughter. Nevertheless, when they return home at the end of the evening, Cora has vanished.
Another great psychological mystery thriller similar to All the Dangerous Things, Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door follows the investigation into Cora’s disappearance, revealing plenty of twisted secrets about Anne and Marco, as well as the lies, betrayal and deceit nestled around them in their friends and neighbours.
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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).
