12 best new thriller books for 2023 that will keep you hooked

On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass

Read On a Quiet Street for… a twisting and gripping thriller in idyllic suburbia from professor and playwright-in-residence at the University of Texas, Seraphina Nova Glass.

Suspecting her husband of infidelity, Cora is determined to catch him in the act. Her neighbor Paige, who tragically lost her son in a hit-and-run accident last year, agrees to help. Meanwhile, their new young neighbor Georgia seems to be concealing something.

Brighton Hills on the coast of Oregon offers an unparalleled blend of luxury and natural beauty. The residents of the community look out for each other, but perhaps a little too attentively… and that means that secrets will never stay hidden for long.

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

Read Twenty Years Later for… a compelling murder thriller about a TV reporter determined to uncover the truth behind a gruesome murder decades after the investigation was abandoned.

TV host Avery Mason knows what grabs an audience’s attention. But her latest story – a murder mystery laced with illicit affairs, tragedy, and betrayal – threatens to take things in a terrifying direction.

As Avery uncovers the twisted puzzle of the victim’s secret past, she realises that there are other players in the game who are interested in her own. And she’s spent her whole career keeping these secrets hidden from the world.

Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft

Read Stone Cold Fox for… a compelling new mystery thriller for 2023 about an ambitious woman who’s ready to cash in on what she’s earned.

Bea’s well-versed in the art of swindling men – her mother made sure of that. Now, she’s ready to escape her shadow and disappear into the quiet bliss of marriage. Her target? Boring and blue-blooded Collin Case, the offspring of one of the country’s wealthiest families.

However, what begins as a straightforward goal turns into a dangerous chase, and the truth of Bea’s past threatens to ruin everything.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

Read Wrong Place Wrong Time for… a genre-bending page-turner that offers gripping suspense, heart-rending family bonds, and time travel.

It’s after midnight, and Jen is waiting up for her funny, happy eighteen-year-old son to come home. As she watches from the window, she sees him. But he’s walking towards a man, and he’s armed. Then, he kills him.

When Jen wakes up, it’s yesterday. When she wakes up again, it’s the day before yesterday. Each day she wakes up a day earlier, and each day she gets closer to the answer – and has another chance to stop it.

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

Read The Quarry Girls for… a nerve-twisting novel inspired by a true crime, about killers hiding in plain sight and small-town secrets.

For the teens of one close-knit town in Minnesta in 1977, summer means late-night swimming at the quarry and the county fair. But this year, girls are going missing.

Best friends Heather and Brenda are terrified that it has something to do with what they saw in the dark. They swore to never tell a soul, but their vow is tested when their friend disappears.

Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman

Read Unnatural History for… a new gripping crime thriller for 2023 from Jonathan Kellerman, bestselling master of suspense. This is (impressively) Book 38 in the Alex Delaware series, but it can easily be read as a standalone.

As soon as Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and Psychologist Alex Delaware discover a photographer shot to death in an LA warehouse, they’re set on the path of a complex and dangerous case.

The victim had just received rave media attention for his latest project showcasing homeless people living out their ‘dreams’, but others saw the work as crass exploitation. Did this have something to do with it? Or was the threat in the victim’s own family?

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Read The Villa for… a gothic suspense at an Italian villa with a dark history, inspired by the deadly summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable, but now they’re in their 30s and they’ve grown apart. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to a high-end holiday home in Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Their villa might be luxurious now, but in 1974, it was rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon – a summer that ended in a brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story. But as secrets come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge and there are now other lives at risk.

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Read The Housemaid for… an addictive psychological thriller about the secrets and danger that lurks beneath the surface in a gorgeous marble-floored home.

Behind the elegant veneer of their beautiful home and lives, the Winchesters have dark and dangerous secrets. But the most overlooked and undervalued presence in their home is also hiding something: their housemaid.

Fun fact: Freida McFadden, the author of The Housemaid (and its sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret) isn’t just a bestselling writer – she’s also a practicing physician specialized in brain injury.

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks

Read The Golden Couple for… a gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us.

Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all in their picture-perfect life in Washington. But beneath a veneer of perfection, their relationship is devoid of intimacy and Marissa has become unfaithful.

Marissa wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son, and Avery Chambers, a therapist who has lost her professional license, comes to their aid. But when Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a dangerous collision course that threatens more than their marriage.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Read What Lies in the Woods for… a twisty psychological thriller with murder and suspense, about friendship, secrets, betrayal, and lies from the past that threaten to resurface.

Twenty-two years ago, best friends Naomi, Cassidy, and Olivia spoke up to put away a serial killer. They were heroes, but they were also liars.

For decades, they’ve kept this secret, but now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi wants to find out what really happened – no matter how dangerous that is.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Read The It Girl for… a gripping murder mystery set in the hallowed halls of academia by the bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10.

April Coutts-Cliveden is vibrant, fiercely intelligent, and the ultimate It Girl. She’s the first person Hannah Jones meets at Oxford, and soon they’re inseparable. But by the end of the second term, April is dead.

In this 2022 bestselling thriller by Ruth Ware, a woman searches for answers a decade after her friend’s murder.

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Read Birnam Wood for… one of the most anticipated books for 2023: a gripping eco-thriller, literary fiction, and satire hybrid from Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries.

Ten years after Booker Prize-winning The Luminaries comes Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton’s new psychological thriller about a sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerilla gardening group: Birnam Wood.

This is a book about activist gardeners (yep) in small-town New Zealand, who sneakily plant crops wherever no one will notice. But when they find a farm that’s seemingly abandoned, they finally have a way to break even and secure their future.

That is, until they find out that an American billionaire is planning to build his end-of-the-world bunker here, and the plot twists in a dramatic new direction.