“The mess had never bothered her, but now the room felt disturbingly like the inside of her head.”
The House in the Pines is a 2023 mystery novel by Ana Reyes. The story centres around Maya, a senior whose best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously died in front of a man named Frank, who they had spent the summer with. Seven years later, Maya is attempting to make peace with what happened that summer. That is until she sees another video of another woman dying in front of Frank again, triggering all of her memories to come flooding back to her. Maya returns to her hometown to relieve that fateful summer, the influence Frank wielded on her and the jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey. Tense and atmospheric, The House in the Pines is a story about confronting the past and returning home. If you’re looking for your next great thriller read, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The House in the Pines!
Don’t Look For Me – Wendy Walker
Kicking off our list of mystery thriller books like The House in the Pines is Wendy Walker’s Don’t Look for Me. One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car was abandoned miles from home. The note was found in a room in a nearby hotel. The shattered family was unable to be mended back together. But, what really happened to Molly Clarke?
The night she disappeared, Molly’s car had run out of gas. Desperate to return home and to her family, regardless of how broken it is, she accepts a ride from a strange man. Next to him is a young girl who reminds her strikingly of her own daughter. But, when the doors lock behind her, she realises she’s made a terrible mistake. When a new lead comes through, Mary’s daughter, Nicole, returns to the small town where her mother had been last seen to find the truth.
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 the summer exploring the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They dubbed it the ‘Goddess Game’. That summer was brought to a crashing halt, however, when Naomi was suddenly attacked.
Miraculously, she survived the seventeen stab wounds she sustained and lived to identify the man responsible for her attack. Together, the girls’ testimony helped put a serial killer responsible for the deaths of six women behind bars. But now, decades afterwards, Olivia wants to come clean about a secret they have always kept between them. Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods, no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham
Another book similar to The House in the Pines about grief and told through a protagonist with a fractured memory, All the Dangerous Things begins with Isabelle Drake waking up to find her toddler son, Mason, has been kidnapped while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. Minus the odd blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept for a year since.
Her days revolve around finding Mason, but Isabelle knows she cannot go on like this. In the hopes of uncovering something new and useful to the case, she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster. But his obsessive interest in Isabelle’s past, combined with her severe insomnia, soon begins to make her nervous. Nevertheless, Isabelle is determined to figure out the truth behind Mason’s disappearance, no matter where it leads.
Check Out The Best Thriller Books That Read Like True Crime
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six – Lisa Unger
Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online, with the isolated cabin coming with spectacular views of the woods, a hot tub and a professional chef. But, a deadly storm is brewing on the horizon. The rental host appears to be a little too present. The chef reveals the building has a grim history. And the friends all have their own complicated pasts and secrets that run blood deep.
Before long, Hannah is forced to question how much she really knows her own brother, husband and even best friend. Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend and exact their vengeance for deeds long buried. Like The House in the Pines, Lisa Unger’s Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is an atmospheric mystery thriller set in the woods where confronting the past supplies the suspense.
When The Stars Go Dark – Paula McLain
Anna Hart is a missing persons detective in San Francisco. When tragedy strikes her personal life, she trades the big city for the Northern California village of Mendocino where she grew up to grieve. But, the day she arrives, she learns that a local teenager has vanished. The crime feels eerily similar to an unsolved murder of a young girl from when Anna was a child.
As the past and present collide, Anna realises that she has been led to this moment. But, as she becomes obsessed with the missing girl at present, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in. One of the best books like The House in the Pines, Paula McLain’s When the Stars Go Dark combines real-life cases, trauma theory and a sprinkling of the metaphysical for a propulsive mystery-thriller read.
The Last To Vanish – Megan Miranda
A decade ago, Abigail Lovett fell into a job she adores, managing The Passage Inn, an upscale resort nestled in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter’s Pass. It is a town best known for its abundance of outdoor activities, trails and waterfalls. As well as its mysterious history of unexplained disappearances. Cutter’s Pass soon finds itself thrust into the spotlight again when Landon West, a guest at The Passage Inn investigating this history, suddenly disappears himself.
When Landon’s brother arrives in town looking for answers, Abby can’t help but feel the town closing ranks. When she finds crucial evidence that might hold the key to the truth, she discovers how little she knows about her coworkers, neighbours and the community has she come to call home.
The Long Weekend – Gilly MacMillan
Dark Fell Barn is a ‘perfectly isolated’ retreat. At least, that’s what it says when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A weekend away at a quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they all need. Jayne, Ruth and Emily all arrive at the barn for a girls’ night before their husbands are scheduled to arrive in the morning. However, missing this year is Edie, the glue of the group whose husband has just died suddenly.
But, what the group had hoped would be a relaxing break soon turns to horror. Upon arriving at Dark Fell Barn, the women find a note telling them that one of their husbands has been murdered. With no cell phone service and no means of finding their way back to check on their men, tenuous friendships begin to fracture as the situation spirals wildly out of control. Gilly MacMillan’s The Long Weekend is a pulsating mystery-thriller full of unreliable narrators, long-buried secrets and unexpected twists, perfect for any readers who loved The House in the Pines.
Check Out Our The Long Weekend Book Review
A Touch Of Jen – Beth Morgan
Remy and Alicia, a pair of insecure service workers, are not especially happy with one another. But, they are bound together by a shared obsession with Jen, a former colleague of Jen’s who has become a globe-trotting jewellery designer. In and out of the bedroom, Remy and Alicia’s entire relationship begins to revolve around various fantasies of Jen, whose every Instagram outfit, caption and New Age mantra they are able to recite by heart.
Their wildest dream soon becomes a reality when they run into Jen in the flesh, who invites them on a surfing trip to the Hamptons with her affluent boyfriend and their wider net of friends. However, as Remy and Alicia struggle to fit into Jen’s social circle, violent desire and class resentment soon threaten to upend this pristine beach getaway. As a series of small disruptions spiral into outright horror, the couple find themselves flung into an alternate reality shaped by their darkest and most intoxicating fantasies.
The Lost Night – Andrea Bartz
In 2009, Edie had New York’s social world in the palm of her hands. Enigmatic and beguiling, she was the leader of a group of graduates living in a Brooklyn loft who treated New York City as their personal playground. So when Edie’s body was discovered near a suicide note at the end of a long, alcohol-fueled evening, grief, resentment and shock ripped through the group and brought the era to a sudden end.
Ten years on, Lindsay has come a long way from the drug-addled world of Calhoun Lofts. She owns a cozy apartment, has reliable loving friends and has a successful career as a magazine’s fact-checker. But, when a chance reunion leads to the discovery of an unsettling video from that fateful hazy night, she begins to ponder on what the truth behind Edie’s death really is. Like The House in the Pines, The Lost Night follows Lindsay as she rifles through her patchy memories, case files, and old technology to confront the demons of her violent past to finally bring the truth to light.
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).
