Lists
Loved Gone Girl? Try these 8 killer reads…
So you read Gone Girl and loved it – so much that you never wanted it to end.
But what now? Where can you turn in the hope of finding the same thrilling psychological suspense that gripped you from beginning to end?
We’ve come up with some recommendations to help ease your Gone Girl withdrawal symptoms. Here are eight of our top killer thrillers:
Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little
Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little
LA IT girl Janie Jenkins has it all. The looks, the brains, the connections. The criminal record.
Ten years ago, in a trial that transfixed America, Janie was convicted of murdering her mother. Now she’s been released on a technicality she’s determined to unravel the mystery of her mother’s last words. But with the whole of America’s media on her tail, convinced she’s literally got away with murder, she has to do everything she can to throw her pursuers off the scent.
She knows she really didn’t like her mother. Could she have killed her?
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Yvonne Carmichael has worked hard to achieve the life she always wanted: a high-flying career in genetics, a beautiful home, a good relationship with her husband and their two grown-up children.
Then one day she meets a stranger at the Houses of Parliament and, on impulse, begins a passionate affair with him – a decision that will put everything she values at risk.
The Silent Wife by A S A Harrison
The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
Todd and Jodie have been together for more than twenty years. They are both aware their world is in crisis, though neither is willing to admit it.
Todd is living a dual existence, while Jodie is living in denial. But she also likes to settle scores. When it becomes clear their affluent Chicago lifestyle could disintegrate at any moment, Jodie knows everything is at stake. It’s only now she will discover just how much she’s truly capable of…
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Why not try another Gillian Flynn? We recommend Dark Places. Libby Day was just seven years old when her older brother massacred her family while she hid in a cupboard. Her evidence helped put him away. Ever since then she has been drifting – until, that is, she encounters The Kill Club, a group of true-crime obsessives who share information on notorious murders. They think her brother Ben is innocent.
Was Ben capable of murder? Libby must delve into her family’s past to uncover the truth – no matter how painful…
Season to Taste or How To Eat Your Husband by Natalie Young
Season To Taste or How To Eat Your Husband by Natalie Young
Meet Lizzie Prain. Ordinary housewife. Fifty-something. Lives in a cottage in the woods, with her dog Rita. Likes cooking, avoids the neighbours. Runs a little business making cakes.
No one has seen Lizzie’s husband, Jacob, for a few days. That’s because last Monday, on impulse, Lizzie caved in the back of his head with a spade. And if she’s going to embark on the new life she feels she deserves after thirty years in Jacob’s shadow, she needs to dispose of his body. Her method appeals to all her practical instincts, though it’s not for the faint-hearted. Will Lizzie have the strength to follow it through?
Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse
Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse
A whirlwind romance. A perfect marriage. Hannah Reilly has seized her chance at happiness. Until the day her husband fails to come home…
The more questions Hannah asks, the fewer answers she finds. But are the secrets that Mark has been keeping designed to protect him or protect her?
And can you ever really know what happened before you met?
Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller
Notes On A Scandal by Zoë Heller
From the first day that the beguiling Sheba Hart joins the staff of St George’s, history teacher Barbara Covett is convinced she has found a kindred spirit.
Barbara’s loyalty to her new friend is passionate and unstinting – and when Sheba is discovered having an illicit affair with one of her pupils, Barbara quickly elects herself as Sheba’s chief defender.
But all is not as it first seems in this dark story and, as Sheba will soon discover, a friend can be just as treacherous as any lover.
Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly
Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly
Natty and Sean Wainwright’s marriage is rock solid. So when Natty’s oldest friend, Eve Dalladay, appears – just as their daughter collapses on a school trip in France – Natty has no qualms about leaving Eve with Sean to help out at home.
Two weeks later and Natty finds Eve has slotted into family life too well. Sean has fallen in love with Eve. He’s sorry, he tells her, but their marriage is over. With no option but to put a brave face on, Natty embarks on building a new life for herself.
And then she receives the note. Eve has done this before, more than once, and with fatal consequences…
Can you think of any other books like Gone Girl we should try? Let us know in the comments below!
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I have already discovered Dark Places and Keep Your Friends Close – loved them both, especially KYFC, now I can’t wait to get stuck into the rest on this list, they all sound right up my street! I think i’ll start from the top and work down. Thanks for a great list!
Have just finished Apple Tree Yard on the recommendation of DGB. Probably wouldn’t have found it otherwise. Gripping and unputdownable and ansolutely beautifully written. Thanks DGB
Love that we were able to recommend a book you enjoyed. Thanks for letting us know!
Apple Tree Yard and Before We Met are both brilliant. I work as a relief librarian on Isle of Wight and enjoy recommending good books to customers. Dead Good Books should be a ‘must’ for all good librarians.
Loved the Lucie Whitehouse book. Haven’t read the others so would love the chance to win the prize to be introduced to these authors.
Wouldn’t know which one to read first.