The 10 best thrillers of 2024
The best thrillers of the year find long-standing series in fine form, as well as newcomers to the genre leaving their chilling mark.
1. ‘All the Colors of the Dark’ by Chris Whitaker
In 1975 Missouri, a cheeky one-eyed boy named Patch saves the daughter of a wealthy family from the grasp of a serial killer. The bleak repercussions of that incident reverberate for decades as one man is wrongfully convicted and Patch’s obsession with tracking down the real murderer threatens to upend the lives of everyone around him.
2. ‘Exposure’ by Ramona Emerson
Before becoming an author, Emerson spent 16 years documenting crime scenes for the police in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She brings a grim verisimilitude to this sequel to “Shutter” about a Native American forensic photographer who sees visions of the dead victims she records. Her work is grisly, especially once a serial killer with a God complex arrives in town with a mission to punish sinners.
3. ‘Farewell, Amethystine’ by Walter Mosley
The 16th installment in the Easy Rawlins series proves Mosley is still at the top of his game almost 35 years after “Devil in a Blue Dress.” The new novel opens in the 1970s as Easy takes what seems to be a straightforward case involving a missing husband. But obstacles abound, including the lingering trauma of the detective’s time fighting in World War II and the racist police officers who target him for crimes he didn’t commit.
4. ‘First Lie Wins’ by Ashley Elston
Working for “Mr. Smith” is dangerous business. Evie Porter’s current assignment involves living under an assumed name and spying on her live-in boyfriend. But when she is introduced to a woman with Evie’s unusual real name – the identity Evie hoped to one day reclaim – she starts to wonder if it’s time to find out more about the mysterious, threatening boss she has never met.
5. ‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore
When 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar disappears from her New England summer camp in 1975, there is an ominous sense that history is repeating itself. Fourteen years earlier, her brother, Bear, vanished from the same woods. Could an escaped serial killer be to blame? Or are the twin mysteries linked by the wealthy and creepily enigmatic Van Laar clan? A rotating cast of singular characters attempts to untangle the truth.
6. ‘Guide Me Home’ by Attica Locke
The third novel in Locke’s Highway 59 series finds Black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews questioning his life’s work. Dispirited by the blatant racism that runs rampant three years into Donald Trump’s first presidency, Darren quits and keeps himself busy with a case about a missing girl who was the only Black member of her sorority. The story that unfolds proves that Locke is one of the rare authors who can call attention to societal injustices without letting it hamper her momentum.
7. ‘Hunted’ by Abir Mukherjee
After a terrorist attack in Los Angeles, a London man and an American woman discover that their children may have been involved in the network that perpetrated the crime. Teaming up, they race across the United States trying to track down their kids, while an insubordinate FBI agent attempts to stop the next attack. Mukherjee is best known for his Wyndham & Banerjee historical mystery series, but his first foray into thriller writing assuredly subverts the tropes of terrorism-related suspense novels.
8. ‘The Hunter’ by Tana French
French brings new meaning to the term “slow-burn thriller” with this sequel to “The Searcher,” which doesn’t produce a body until the novel’s final third. But, as any fan of the Dublin Murder Squad series can tell you, French still manages to keep readers on tenterhooks with the atmospheric dread she seems to effortlessly conjure. “The Hunter” returns to small-town Ireland, where retired American cop Cal Hooper continues to look after his young neighbor Trey. But the task gets more arduous once Trey’s shady estranged dad shows up with a get-rich-quick scheme.
9. ‘Listen for the Lie’ by Amy Tintera
Everyone in Lucy’s small Texas town thinks she killed her best friend, Savvy, and got away with it. After all, Lucy was found wandering around after the crime, covered in Savvy’s blood. In truth, Lucy doesn’t remember a thing, even five years later, after escaping charges and moving to Los Angeles. But when a popular podcast host decides to revisit the murder, Lucy volunteers to help him uncover the truth, even if it means she’s the one to blame.
10. ‘The Winner’ by Teddy Wayne
Wayne’s sixth novel and first thriller takes a cue from Patricia Highsmith with the story of Conor O’Toole, a Yonkers, New York-born law student who embeds himself in a wealthy enclave near Cape Cod. With a summer gig teaching tennis, he catches the eye of divorcée Catherine, who’s interested in more than his backhand. But their dalliance threatens Conor’s fledgling relationship with Emily, who turns out to be Catherine’s daughter. To what lengths will Conor go to keep his secrets? The cover-up may be worse than the crime.