Getaway Thrillers

My husband and I were little more than a handful of hours into a fourteen-hour drive …  our destination? Bonnaroo Music Festival. Only one problem: we broke down on the side of the road, finding ourselves stranded for the night in Staunton, Virginia, a town that was quaint, walkable and charming … maybe even a little too charming?

Our getaway turned out great—we enjoyed good food and local beers and made it to the music festival in the end—but it got me thinking: why is there something so inherently creepy about a getaway gone wrong? When you’re all set for a trip you’ve been dreaming of and something—or someone—throws a wrench into your plans?

That experience was the basis for my latest thriller, The Perfect Escape, about a girls’ weekend that turns deadly when new friends Sam, Margaret and Diana leave the city behind for a spa trip to Saratoga Springs but instead find themselves trapped in the small town of Catskill halfway into their trip. When they try to salvage the weekend by heading to a local watering hole, Diana goes missing, and the women start to wonder just how much they can really trust their friends, their exes—and even themselves.

Inspired by The Perfect Escape and other fabulously foiled trips, here are seven getaway thrillers that will have you clamoring for your next flight home.

They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall

Luxurious private island? Surprise invitation? Yes, please. Miriam Macy is blown away by her luck when she’s invited along on the trip of a lifetime, but between spotty cell service, miles of open water and a lonely mansion, she’s about to find out just how terrifying this getaway can be. A modern homage to Agatha Christie that’s packed with suspense, suspicions and all-around thrills.

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

Emily can’t wait for her annual far-flung friends trip with her ride-or-die BFF, Kristen—a chance to make up for their last trip together which took an unexpectedly dark turn—but when Kristen is attacked and kills a fellow traveler in self-defense, Emily has no choice but do what best friends do: help bury a body when in need. After the women return home with suitcases full of secrets, Emily finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about her best friend.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

No getaway list would be complete without a destination wedding. Lucy Foley delivers her second chilling locked-door mystery with a group of friends, lovers and celebrities united for a remote no-expenses-barred wedding off the coast of Ireland. But when one of them dies, it turns out that anyone on the guest list could be the culprit.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

A classic twist on a cabin-in-the-woods story, Ruth Ware’s debut thriller establishes herself as a contemporary Christie. Ware turns a cozy, fun-filled weekend in the English countryside into a thrilling romp full of secrets and lies between friends old and new.

Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums

While Magda Trudell isn’t technically on vacation, she’s surrounded by sea, sand and secrets as the present-day caretaker of Whimbrel Estate in Key West. When an October hurricane rages and two strangers arrive seeking shelter in the estate, Magda must reckon with mysteries both past and present to protect what she holds most dear.

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Cozy mystery author Sophie is looking forward to her escape from London when her boyfriend takes a job as the head teacher at a boarding school in the country, but when she realizes that someone is leaving clues for her regarding the disappearance of two teenagers a year before, her relaxing writing retreat turns into a real-life mystery more twisted than anything she could have imagined.

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

Sylvie flies to the Netherlands for one last visit with her dying grandmother—before vanishing seemingly into thin air—leaving her sister and parents struggling to put the pieces together and understand what happened to her on her trip. Jean Kwok dazzles in this multi-generational story of a Chinese immigrant family that explores secrets, identity and the bonds of sisterhood.

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