9 Mystery and Thriller Books I Want To Read In 2023
Entering my reading thrillers era…
I love reading romance books. So much, that I think I have an entire bookshelf (three shelves) filled with romance books. I love contemporary romance, regency romance (hello, Bridgertons!), YA romance, literary fiction romance, fantasy romance … honestly, I’m a huge fan of romance books.
But lately, I’ve felt burnt out on reading romance books. I think I’ve been reading too much contemporary romance that I can almost predict not only the ending, but the mini tropes and scenes that happen in most romance books (one bed, forced proximity, friends to lovers, etc.).
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
This has been on my list FOREVER, and I think I’m finally ready to read it in 2023. When I read the description of this book, I think of this book as the book for fans of true crime podcasts. Pip is in her senior year of high school. During her freshman year, pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who Pip has known since childhood and didn’t think Sal as a murderer. Five years later, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project. This sounds like such a thrill and honestly, it may be one of the first books I read in 2023 because it sounds just that good.
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Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
I saw Haley Pham talk about this on her book YouTube channel and it definitely intrigued me. I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about this one but that just makes it so much more interesting. This is another young adult mystery set at a high school, but this time, at a private school academy. This is another book where the main character, Stevie Bell, who is a freshman at Ellingham Academy, is set to solve a cold case. But in this book, death revisits the academy as Stevie is solving this cold case. I’m definitely intrigued by this one and can’t wait to pick it up.
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The Counselors by Jessica Goodman
I meant to read this in the summer because this is set at summer camp. I read another book by this author, THEY WISH THEY WERE US, and rated it three stars. I wasn’t a huge fan—it was only eh, so that’s why I hesitated picking this up. But this summer camp is filled with rich private school kids. Goldie Easton, the main character, is a “townie” and has always felt at home at this camp, especially with her two best friends, Ava and Imogen. She returns to camp as a counselor. Eventually, someone turns up dead in the lake late one night, and it doesn’t appear to be an accident, at least to Goldie. She also knows that Ava was at the lake that same night. Honestly, this sounds interesting. Maybe I’ll save it for the summer.
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Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
I feel like putting a sequel to another book on this list is speaking too soon, because will I even like this series? Maybe or maybe not. But remember when I said that book was for fans of true crime podcasts? This book follows Pip, again, who just released a true crime podcast about the murder case she solved with Ravi Singh. I feel like this book is for fans of Only Murders In The Building. The podcast has gone viral and Pip is determined to put it behind her, but when someone she knows goes missing, Pip puts it on herself to solve this case. But as she does, she starts to uncover more of her town’s dark secrets along the way. Honestly, I’m VERY intrigued by this one and cannot wait to start the first one in this series.
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First Born by Will Dean
Molly and Kate are twins. Molly lives a quiet life in London where Katie lives in New York and is outgoing, spontaneous, and adventurous. When Molly hears that Katie has died, Molly must find out what happened. When she starts to find more out about her twin’s final movements, cracks begin to emerge and she slowly realizes her sister wasn’t who she thought she was. I received this book in a BOTM box but never read it, so I’m excited to pick this up (and make a dent in my TBR).
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The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
What do you think when you hear the title of this book? Yeah, me too. A heart surgeon (I’m totally picturing Dr. Mark Sloan here) is getting married again, but first, he has to divorce his current wife, who is struggling with dementia. His two daughters, Tully and Rachel, looks at their father’s fiancee, a much younger woman, as a gold digger and interloper. Heather, the fiancee, has some secrets of her own that Tully and Rachel are determined to find out, while they also uncover some of their own family secrets. Honestly, this sounds very intriguing as well.
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The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
I thought I had this book on my shelf already, so I’m definitely interested in reading this one. This features a 26-year-old editorial assistant who works in publishing, Nella Rogers, who is tired of being the only Black employee at this publishing house. But then another Black girl, Harlem-born and bred Hazel, sits next to her and immediately starts bonding with Nella. However, Hazel is quickly well-liked by the entire office, leaving Nella in the dust. The mystery is that there are notes that start to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. This sounds very interesting and I’m excited to add this to my TBR.
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Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner
I saw this recommended by Grace Atwood (blogger at TheStripe.com, one of my favorite lifestyle blogs), and immediately I knew I was interested. This is for anyone who likes the Upper East Side housewives and mysteries that come with the UES families. Helen is a UES housewife with a handsome husband, gorgeous house, and baby on the way. But then she meets Rachel, a single mom to be, at her first prenatal class, and is immediately drawn to her. Rachel is unpredictable: she smokes, she drinks, and professes little interest in parenthood. But when Rachel starts to threaten Helen’s seemingly perfect life with a past crime that could destroy all of their lives, secrets start to unravel. Honestly, this book sounds very intriguing and I may just put this at the top of my list in 2023.
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The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
I saw this all over my bookstagram. This one didn’t sound intriguing based on the cover, but the description sounds good. A couple is going through marital problems due to infidelity. The wife, Marissa Bishop, was unfaithful in their seemingly perfect marriage that was covering up a relationship riven with work and a lack of intimacy. Marissa wants to repair things, so Marissa and Matthew, her husband, go to therapy and meet their therapist, Avery Chambers. Avery lost her license recently, but she is determined to help those in crisis. All three band together to work to save the marriage but there are bigger secrets and it’s no longer a marriage that’s in danger.
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