Five Thriller Recommendations Perfect for the Fall

There is no better time of the year to read thrillers (in my humble opinion).

Even so, there are some thrillers that match the mood of the season above the rest. Since we are now comfortably into the fall and the temperatures have dropped (at least here in New England) I have decided to share five thriller recommendations that are perfect to read right now!

---

One Left Alive by Helen Phifer

Genre(s): Crime, Thriller

My rating: 4.75 stars

Description via The Storygraph: “She knelt down by the side of the first girl. She had to force herself to breathe as she lifted the soft white cloth covering the girl's beautiful face...

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch.

But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realises that one of the girls is still breathing. As she holds Bronte's fragile hand in hers, begging her to hold on, she vows to find out who has done this.

Every day Morgan wakes at 4.25 a.m., her old insomnia now mixed with a new fixation on the case. But every clue about the murdered family leads to a dead end. Until, trawling through old files, she discovers a link to a cold case from years ago. Another family was murdered in this house, and the killer was never caught.

When Morgan returns to the scene of the crime to discover more about this forgotten case, she finds another body. With Bronte still unconscious in hospital, Morgan must act fast to solve this case and lay two families to rest, before the killer returns for the girl left alive...

A chilling and gripping crime thriller that will have fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney glued to the page.”

Why I recommend this: I was shocked that I liked this as much as I did!

This was the first indie/self published thriller I had read and it was so good! It was twisty and gory and it is perfect for the fall for all those reasons.

I plan to read the rest of the books in this series. This is part of a detective series, but can absolutely be read as a standalone, as books of this nature usually can.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Trilogy by Holly Jackson

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

My rating: 5 stars

Description of book one via The Storygraph: “The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?”

Why I recommend this: If you want a full review, you can check out the article I wrote over on Write Through the Night last year!

This series is SO GOOD. It absolutely deserves the hype! Each book is equally good, even though I personally loved the third book a little tiny bit better than the rest. I gave each book five stars and recommend this to everyone who asks!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Genre(s): Thriller

My rating: 5 stars

Description via The Storygraph: “Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope

Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife

Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said

But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.”

Why I recommend this: Sager’s writing is NOT for everyone, and it seems most folks either love his books or vehemently detest them, and I am in the group that loves them.

Are his main characters smart? No. Do they make good decisions? Never. Are they compulsively readable and fun? Yes, yes they are.

If you have not liked any of his other books, you would probably also dislike this one. But if you like his writing, this is one of his best!

That Weekend by Kara Thomas

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

My rating: 5 stars

Description via The Storygraph: “A bold and expertly plotted page-turner. --Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie

From the author of The Cheerleaders, comes a thriller about best friends on a weekend getaway that goes horribly, dangerously wrong.

THREE BEST FRIENDS, A LAKE HOUSE, A SECRET TRIP -- WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

It was supposed to be the perfect prom weekend getaway. But it's clear something terrible happened when Claire wakes up alone and bloodied on a hiking trail with no memory of the past forty-eight hours.

Now everyone wants answers--most of all, Claire. She remembers Friday night, but after that . . . nothing. And now Kat and Jesse--her best friends--are missing.

What happened on the mountain? And where are Kat and Jesse? Claire knows the answers are buried somewhere in her memory. But as she's learning, everyone has secrets--even her best friends. And she's pretty sure she's not going to like what she remembers.”

Why I recommend this: I have liked all of Thomas’ young adult books, and having already recommended my favorite, Little Monsters, in an earlier article, this is her second best!

I read this all in one sitting, and it is twisty! It tackles complicated teenage girl relationships, which was my favorite part of Little Monsters, and she did it again here!

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

Genre(s): Thriller

My rating: 5 stars

Description via The Storygraph: “Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.”

Why I recommend this: This has been my favorite of McFadden’s books so far (out of the nine I have read) and I highly recommend this to you for a slightly scary fall thriller read.

This book has a lot going on, and I think McFadden really shined in this one. She tends to write maybe not the most realistic thrillers, but they are fast and slightly trashy and I have loved most of her books so far.

---

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any good fall thriller recommendations of your own? Let me know in the comments!