Behold, the best psychological thrillers out this February! Here are seven novels full of twists, turns, and shocking reversals; descents into madness, spiraling suspicions, and dark secrets abound, along with plenty of family drama. Thanks, as always, for reading the column.
Emma van Straaten, Creep
(Harper Perennial)
This book is so fucked up!! I’m always on the lookout for ultraviolent thrillers featuring the female gaze and some twisted takes on feminist vengeance, and Creep is a standout of the genre. Emma van Straaten follows a cleaner obsessed with one of her clients, and sure she can win his affection—if, that is, they ever get around to meeting. When she figures out her perfect man has a new girlfriend, all bets are off, and her spiral into madness accelerates rapidly. If she can’t have him, no one can…
Anna Sophia McLoughlin, A Girl Like Us
(Sourcebooks Landmark)
A reality star married into an elite family faces the ultimate test of her relationship when the murder of a relative puts the entire clan on lockdown, trapped in their fabulous mansion and ready to point fingers at any outsider. Maya, McLoughlin’s heroine, is a scrappy social climber whose success and savagery you can’t help but root for, facing off against in-laws as secretive as they are cruel, and as cruel as they are resourceful.
Gillian McAllister, Famous Last Words
(William Morrow)
Gillian McAllister’s latest should be a strong contender for most suspenseful thriller of the year—truly nailbiting levels of tension. As Famous Last Words begins, McAllister’s heroine has just returned to her work as a literary agent after almost a year of maternity leave, but in the worst First Day Back ever, is immediately called away again by her husband’s bizarre actions. He’s taken several people hostage, and no one has any clue as to why, with a jarring note left on the counter his wife’s only clue to interpreting his actions (the titular famous last words).
Heather Levy, This Violent Heart
(Montlake)
I adored Hurt For Me, Heather Levy’s sultry tale of kink and vengeance, and This Violent Heart is just as compelling. In This Violent Heart, a woman returns to the conservative small town she blames for her childhood best friend’s suicide. She’s not happy to be back, but finds herself with a new sense of purpose when she learns her friend’s death may have actually been a murder.
Isa Arsén, The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf
(Putnam)
Arsén’s sophomore effort is equal parts sultry and cultured, featuring two Shakespearian actors in a unusual but emotionally fulfilling marriage of convenience who find themselves in a sticky situation. They’ve been hired for a rather strange gig: an eccentric criminal has built a replica Globe in the middle of the desert, and he’s ready to bring Shakespeare to life for his audience of one. At first, Margaret is merely there to tag along while her husband enjoys a leading role in Titus Andronicus; she’s recovering from a mental breakdown from the last time she starred in the Scottish Play. When she bonds with their benefactor, however, she finds herself reluctantly agreeing to give the lady one more try. When her marriage is threatened, she turns to her character to find the strength to do what needs to be done, in a perfectly-plotted denouement.
Emily J. Smith, Nothing Serious
(William Morrow)
In what reads as a referendum against the role of “female best friend for straight male narcissist”, a tech worker finds herself torn between loyalty and morality when her bestie dude bro is accused of murder, and she’s recruited as a character witness to prove how he’s actually, like, totally feminist. Nothing Serious is brutal, complex, and necessary, and joins the growing number of novels in which Silicon Valley is not an object of admiration, but of disgust.
Christine Murphy, Notes On Surviving the Fire
(Knopf)
In this intriguing noir, a grad student tries to solve the murder of her best friend while processing her traumatic sexual assault by a fellow student (one who has gone unpunished). Christine Murphy has a phd in religious studies, informing her protagonist’s study of violence in Buddhism; her expertise lends her novel a certain philosophical depth that, combined with its furious rage, makes for a fascinating combination.
