You may have noticed it, but lately there’s been a chill in the air. The days are getting shorter. The nights longer. And every morning it seems like there’s more and more pumpkins and skeletons cropping up in people’s yards.
That can mean only one thing:
It’s spooky season.
And with spooky season comes one of my favorite pastimes: cozying up inside with a hot cup of decaf Earl Grey tea, ready to read a new thriller. Inevitably, this almost always keeps me up at night, my head on my pillow with wide eyes, worrying about all the imaginary monsters that lurk in the dark.
It’s a bad habit, especially for someone who is a scaredy cat. But I can’t help it, especially when the book keeps me at the edge of my seat (and bed, apparently.) And if you have the same issue as me — or are just plain fearless — and are looking for your next thriller, here are a couple you can try:
The Coworker (2023) by Freida McFadden
Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone at work thinks so. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.
So when Dawn doesn’t show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell-beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running-is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything…
Now, Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who’s the real victim? But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.
Keep It in the Family (2022) by John Marrs
In this chilling novel from bestselling author John Marrs, a young couple’s house hides terrible secrets – and not all of them are confined to the past. Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant.
But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their dream home was once a house of horrors.
In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband.
Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realizes the danger is terrifyingly present. She is prepared to do anything to protect her family – but is it already too late?
The Violin Conspiracy (2022) by Brendan Slocumb
Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can’t afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world.
And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather’s fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition – the Olympics of classical music – fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen.
Ray is determined to get it back. But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray’s great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again?
Local Woman Missing (2021) by Mary Kubica
Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community.
Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold. Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find
The Girl on the Train (2015) by Paula Hawkins
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple having breakfast on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
*Descriptions provided by the publisher
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