A great suspense novel makes you stay up far too late. These books are known for their tension, twists and endings that readers still argue about, from golden-age mysteries to modern psychological thrillers.
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Classics of suspense
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Ten strangers on an island are killed one by one. One of the best-selling mysteries ever written, with a famously clever solution.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. A Hercule Poirot novel whose twist changed the rules of detective fiction.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. A young bride lives in the shadow of her husband’s first wife at the estate of Manderley. Gothic suspense at its best.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. You find yourself rooting for a charming con man and murderer.
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Modern thrillers
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. A wife disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, and her husband becomes the suspect. Alternating narrators keep you off balance.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. A painter shoots her husband and never speaks again; a psychotherapist tries to discover why.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. A physics professor is abducted and wakes up in a life that is not his own. Science fiction with thriller pacing.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. (Some editions are titled The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.) A murder mystery in which the narrator relives the same day in different bodies.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. A death at a school fundraiser, revealed slowly through the lives of three mothers.
Literary suspense
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. A murder is revealed in the first pages; the suspense lies in why it happened.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Quiet, devastating suspense as the truth about the students of Hailsham slowly emerges.
Where to start
If you like puzzles, start with Christie. If you like unreliable narrators, try Gone Girl. If you want a twist with ideas, choose Dark Matter. For more immersive reads, see books that transport you to another world, and for lighter fare, the funniest books.
