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The Best Psychological Thriller Books and Novels

If there’s one thing thriller lovers know, it’s that danger is lurking around every corner—or at least at the end of every chapter. If you adore twisty thrillers that let you take a peek behind closed doors, we have endless recommendations for you.

Perhaps you enjoy domestic thrillers that prove white picket fences can hide horrendous crimes, or modern thrillers that will make you rethink social media. You can even work your way through the masters of the genre, from Joyce Carol Oates to Jack Higgins.

From psychological thrillers to books with jaw-dropping plot twists, there's nothing like a novel designed to send chills down your spine. Discover books from classic authors like Patricia Highsmith to modern writers like Lucy Foley and Liane Moriarty. And whatever you do, remember that not everything is as it seems.

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The Death of Sweet Mister
The Death of Sweet Mister
by Daniel Woodrell, Dennis Lehane
Psycho
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by Robert Bloch
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The People Next Door
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by Keri Beevis
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A Simple Lie
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by Mary Bush
4 Riverside Close
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by Diana Wilkinson
The Perfect Stranger
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by Wendy Corsi Staub
The Lies He Told
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by Valerie Keogh
Be Afraid
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by Mary Burton
The Perfect Marriage
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The Night Before
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The Lathe of Heaven
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by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Foucault's Pendulum
Foucault's Pendulum
by Umberto Eco
Come Closer
Come Closer
by Sara Gran
The Two Faces of January
The Two Faces of January
by Patricia Highsmith
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment
by Lawrence Sanders
What the Dead Know
What the Dead Know
by Laura Lippman
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Live Flesh
Live Flesh
by Ruth Rendell
The Crocodile Bird
The Crocodile Bird
by Ruth Rendell
Song of Kali
Song of Kali
by Dan Simmons
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
by Benjamin Wood
All the Beautiful Sinners
All the Beautiful Sinners
by Stephen Graham Jones
Comes the Dark Stranger
Comes the Dark Stranger
by Jack Higgins
The Tremor of Forgery
The Tremor of Forgery
by Patricia Highsmith, Francine Prose
Usher's Passing
Usher's Passing
by Robert McCammon
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The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat
by Daphne du Maurier
Almost
Almost
by Elizabeth Benedict
In the Lake of the Woods
In the Lake of the Woods
by Tim O'Brien
Your Republic Is Calling You
Your Republic Is Calling You
by Young-ha Kim
Make No Bones
Make No Bones
by Aaron Elkins
Blind Faith
Blind Faith
by CJ Lyons
The Hole
The Hole
by Hye-young Pyun, Sora Kim-Russell
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An Awfully Big Adventure
An Awfully Big Adventure
by Beryl Bainbridge
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
by Henry Farrell, Mitch Douglas
Sweet Baby
Sweet Baby
by Sharon Sala
Evil Eye
Evil Eye
by Joyce Carol Oates
The Retribution
The Retribution
by Val McDermid
As Long as We Both Shall Live
As Long as We Both Shall Live
by JoAnn Chaney
Asta's Book
Asta's Book
by Ruth Rendell
The Favorite Daughter
The Favorite Daughter
by Kaira Rouda
Mistaken
Mistaken
by Neil Jordan
The Widow's Web
The Widow's Web
by Susan Moore
A Sense of Guilt
A Sense of Guilt
by Andrea Newman
Melmoth
Melmoth
by Sarah Perry
Chosen
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by Chandra Hoffman
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Disturbed
Disturbed
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The Island of Last Truth
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by Flavia Company, Laura McGloughlin
Losing Nicola
Losing Nicola
by Susan Moody
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Some say that Agatha Christie invented the psychological thriller with And Then There Were None while others credit James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy from 1821 with being the earliest example of the genre. Some contemporary writers that have furthered the genre are Dennis Lehane with Shutter Island, Colleen Hoover’s Verity, and a spread of books by Frieda McFadden. 

A thriller in itself is typically an action-packed story emphasizing tension, anxiety, and fear. A psychological thriller is simply a thriller that is more focused on the inner life and thoughts of the protagonist.