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Books by Female Authors in Suspense

Women in Psychological thriller, Suspense, Mystery, and Horror that are killing it.

Anyone else have an unhealthy interest in serial killers, psychopaths, and murder?
No life? No kids? Nothing and everything to do?
What ever your reason..
Welcome!

Criminal Minds‘ has nothing on these ladies. Lock your doors, turn on a couple dozen lights, and curl up in your safe space because it’s a race to find the killer.. Before he catches you.


Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects

Publication date: September 2006
Pages: 272
Genre: Psychic thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Standalone

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

Unsettling is the word I would use for Gillian Flynn’s writing. She is completely in her element when it comes to shudder inducing psychological thrillers.


Megan Miranda

All the Missing Girls

Publication date: January 2017
Pages: 400
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense
Standalone

Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.

Megan Miranda is one of my favorite authors for unpredictable plot twists. The twists and turns will have you on the edge of your seat second guessing every move, every intention.


Dot Hutchinson

The Butterfly Garden

Publication date: June 2016
Pages: 288
Genre: Crime fiction, Horror, Thriller
Series: Book 1 of 4: The Collector

Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.

In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.

As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding…

The author did an incredible job with her characters because.. this is one of the most disturbing psychological thrillers I’ve read. An almost uncomfortable read, this book brings to light the effects that long term captivity can have on the psyche.


Iris Johansen

Close Your Eyes

Publication date: July 2012
Pages: 364
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime fiction
Series: Book 1 of 8: Kendra Michaels

In Close Your Eyes, The New York Times bestselling duo Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen are back with a suspenseful novel about a once-blind woman with a talent for tracking serial killers

The FBI doesn’t usually consult with music therapists to solve their cases. But Kendra Michael’s astonishing powers of observation and analysis have made her a favorite of law enforcement agencies all across the country. Blind for the first twenty years of her life, she cares little for investigative work but can’t deny her unique skill, or the results she’s been able to facilitate. Kendra learned at an early age to become hyper-aware of her surroundings, perfecting the art of picking up the most subtle audio, olfactory, and tactile cues in the world around her. Like a secret weapon, she is in high demand.

Former FBI agent Adam Lynch, known as The Puppetmaster, has weapons of his own. He’s a notorious master manipulator, skillfully handling criminals and colleagues alike to get the results he wants. Now he needs Kendra’s special brand of help, but she’s not interested until Lynch reveals that Agent Jeff Stedler—Kendra’s ex—is missing and may have run directly into the path of a serial killer. What began as a heinous murder investigation escalates into something even larger and more frightening: a multi-million dollar conspiracy to hide a secret that’s worth killing for, again and again and again.

I’ll read anything from Iris Johansen. Mostly known for her ‘Eve Duncan‘ series(currently consisting of a whopping 27 books) Johansen is still going strong with intelligent, fully fleshed out characters and deeply absorbing storylines that easily keep your interest throughout.
Five Star author, five star reads.


Lisa Jewell

The Family Upstairs

Publication date: November 2019
Pages
: 349
Genre
: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological fiction
Standalone 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone comes another page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light.

Be careful who you let in.

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.

An author I’ve only recently become aware of, which is hard for me to believe since.. I haven’t found anything by Lisa Jewell that doesn’t sound like it will be amazing. I just finished ‘The Wife Upstairs,’ the first book I’ve had the pleasure of reading by her and I was delightfully surprised with how much I liked it! Will review soon!

It was interesting to see what the story progressed into and how it did so. Some events will haunt you long after reading them, where the characters aren’t who they seem, and the story isn’t what you thought.


Alice Feeney

Sometimes I Lie

Publication date: March 2018
Pages: 264
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological fiction
Standalone

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?

Well, doesn’t that just sound fascinating? It is. The atmosphere the author creates here builds suspense and constantly has you questioning the characters and their motives? Deeply compelling.


Kristen Middleton

Searching for Faith

Publication date: February 2017
Pages: 206
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Crime fiction
Series: Book 1 of 3: Carissa Jones Crime Thriller

A heart-pounding suspense thriller written by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Kristen Middleton.

A young girl goes missing and her kidnapper is about ready to snap… again…

A missing child.
A gifted psychic.
A serial killer on the hunt.

When a seven-year-old girl goes missing near Two Harbors, Minnesota, psychic Carissa Jones offers to help locate her. Desperate to find the child, and with no real leads, the local authorities agree to pull her into the case.

It’s been a while since I read this and, while I really enjoyed it, it’s most likely time to refresh my memory with a rereading session. This author does a magnificent job of dragging you into the story and holding on tight. For fans of suspense, who also enjoy a paranormal element to their books, I would definitely recommend checking out this author.


Anne Frasier

The Body Reader

Publication date: June 2016
Pages: 304
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
Series: Book 1 of 3: Detective Jude Fontaine Mysteries

A Thriller Award winner, Best Paperback Original Novel.

For three years, Detective Jude Fontaine was kept from the outside world. Held in an underground cell, her only contact was with her sadistic captor, and reading his face was her entire existence. Learning his every line, every movement, and every flicker of thought is what kept her alive.

After her experience with isolation and torture, she is left with a fierce desire for justice—and a heightened ability to interpret the body language of both the living and the dead. Despite colleagues’ doubts about her mental state, she resumes her role at Homicide. Her new partner, Detective Uriah Ashby, doesn’t trust her sanity, and he has a story of his own he’d rather keep hidden. But a killer is on the loose, murdering young women, so the detectives have no choice: they must work together to catch the madman before he strikes again. And no one knows madmen like Jude Fontaine.

In this author’s gripping crime thriller her determined(but damaged) characters and their tragic stories will haunt you deep into the night.


Melinda Leigh

Say You’re Sorry

Publication date: May 2017
Pages: 337
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Romantic suspense, Crime fiction
Series: Book 1 of 6: Morgan Dane

In this multimillion-copy bestselling series from #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh, former prosecutor Morgan Dane faces the most personal—and deadly—case of her lifetime.

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

Melinda Leigh will not leave you disappointed. Her flawed, but driven, characters will pull you into their stories as they pit themselves against the devious minds of her cleverly designed killers.


Kendra Elliot

A Merciful Death

Publication date: January 2017
Pages: 353
Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime fiction
Series: Book 1 of 6: Mercy Kilpatrick

Soon to be a TV series by Warner Brothers Television and Ellen Degeneres’s A Very Good Production.

FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event. But the crime scene details are eerily familiar to an unsolved mystery from Mercy’s past.

Sent by the FBI to assist local law enforcement, Mercy returns to Eagle’s Nest to face the family who shunned her while maintaining the facade of a law-abiding citizen. There, she meets police chief Truman Daly, whose uncle was the cave man’s latest victim. He sees the survivalist side of her that she desperately tries to hide, but if she lets him get close enough to learn her secret, she might not survive the fallout
.

If Kendra Elliot isn’t an author on your watch list.. you’re missing out. Author to quite a few action packed, pulse pounding thrillers, it’s not a question of ‘What do I read?’ but.. ‘What do I read first?’


Rachel Caine

Stillhouse Lake

Publication date: July 2017
Pages: 301
Genre: Psychological fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Series: Book 1 of 5: Stillhouse Lake

An Amazon Charts and USA Today bestseller.

Gina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.

With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.

But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.

Also the author of popular young adult series ‘The Morganville Vampires‘, Rachel Caine displays an entirely different side to her writing with her heart-stopping adult suspense novels.


Lucinda Berry

The Perfect Child

Publication date: March 2019
Pages: 364
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological fiction
Standalone

A page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.

Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge

Nothing is creepier than the children in horror. Nothing.
I’m not all too familiar with this author yet but, I can say with certainty, that will change. Lucinda Berry will send shivers down your spine as she spins web after web of horror and intrigue that will consume you long after.


It’s wonderfully exciting, isn’t it? Every day brings the opportunity to find authors we’re unfamiliar with. The best part? There will always be more still who add their voices to the fray.. who give us so many potentially outstanding new reading experiences.

Do you have a favorite genre?

This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    RIP Rachel Caine, I first discovered her with her YA fantasy but then came to be a huge fan of her Stillhouse Lake series. I was so sad when she passed away, a talent lost too soon! I also have to check out a lot of the other authors on this list, I’ve heard of many of them but still need to read them!

    1. Sheri Dye

      I feel like you just kicked my dog because I wasn’t aware she had passed away. That is.. tragic. I’ve been a fan of her books since I was teenager.
      I hope you enjoy the others! Most of them have a pretty good selection to choose from!

      1. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

        Yeah 🙁 Actually her last book was the final Stillhouse Lake book and her author’s note at the end talked about her battle with cancer and it just drove me to tears.

        1. Sheri Dye

          Oh my gosh.. I didn’t know. Now, I’m all emotional! 😭

  2. D. Wallace Peach

    It doesn’t surprise me at all that women are fabulous writers. What is surprising is that it’s taken so long for the world to accept the fact. Wonderful share, Sheri.

    1. Sheri Dye

      I agree! It really has taken quite a bit of time getting here but.. finally women’s voices are being heard.
      Thank you so much for saying so!

      1. D. Wallace Peach

        Only ten years ago, when I was a fledgling writer, women had barely broken into the fantasy genre. That seems like ancient history now. Thankfully.

        1. Sheri Dye

          Absolutely! All they needed was the opportunity.

  3. Wonderful post Sheri! I have started to think that your posts take even longer to create than mine, although mine also take a lot of time, like up to 3 weeks sometimes.
    This is my favorite genre, I prefer it for relaxation. Nothing beats a good thrill before falling asleep, at least for me. I love books which detach me completely from the days problems, chores, anything, and just read, turn pages until I cannot any longer keep my open. It’s a luxury not to have to get up early.
    I will look for a few of these books next time when we reopen in Ontario.
    Good selection!

    1. Sheri Dye

      Thank you so much! I do work pretty hard on my posts, I haven’t been doing it for very long but I’m really enjoying it so far!
      And I have to agree, I love this genre, there’s just something about them that really takes you out of your head and gives you a break from everything.
      I hope you’re able to get more books soon! I would be going crazy without being able to read..
      Thank you! Happy Reading!

  4. Belladonna

    Great options.Mysteries are my favorite!

    1. Sheri Dye

      Thank you, I love Mysteries, too! I blame the Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew books. 😅

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