“A thriller should make you look over your shoulder when you walk upstairs in the dark. It plays on universal human instincts.”
Ruth Warbuton, pen name Ruth Ware, an internationally acclaimed thriller books writer of British origin, said these lines to delineate what kind of sensation thrillers produce in the minds of readers. The statement is truly valid for crime thrillers, also. A crime thriller, sometimes even based upon real-life stories and sometimes completely fictional, bestows readers with a story that gets imprinted on their subconscious for perpetuity. The genre of crime thriller books is brimming with innumerable international bestselling novels written by various writers like Agatha Christie, Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, and Patricia Highsmith for classic crime thrillers and Don Winslow, Donna Leone, and Stieg Larsson as modern crime novel writers. In this little piece of writing, we, BooksWagon UAE, have elaborated on the list of the best crime thriller books to read, along with a concise summary thereof to make it easy for you to grasp a brief understanding of these novels and decide which one suits best to quench the thirst of your adventurous imagination.
The Silent Patient
A profoundly thought-out and beautifully presented opus by Alex Michaelides, ‘The Silent Patient’ is a psychological thriller book that narrates the story of Alicia Berenson, who has murdered her fashion-photographer husband, Gabriel, by shooting him five times. Another important character of the narrative is Theo Fabre, the psychotherapist who is obsessed with the thought of uncovering her motive behind the murder.
After the incident, Alicia goes completely silent, giving no explanation for her actions. The jury finds her ‘not guilty’ on the grounds of diminished responsibility and sends her to ‘The Grove, a psychiatric facility, where Theo. The only evident clue in the case is her portrait, titled ‘Alcestis’ – the name of a Greek mythological woman who died for her husband.
Theo joins The Grove purposefully to talk to Alicia and uncover her story. Meanwhile, he also discovers his wife Kathy’s extramarital affair with a person named Gabriel Rose, who is married to Alicia’s former neighbour. Through patience and persistence, Theo successfully breaks the wall built by Alicia, who then offered her personal diary to him.
The twist gets solved when Alicia’s diary reveals the truth: On the night of the murder, a masked man, who is revealed to be Theo, forcefully entered her house, tied her and her husband, and asked who will die? Then Gabriel pointed towards Alicia, a psychologically shocking truth, after which Alicia took the gun and shot Gabriel five times in the face.
The Housemaid
A fast-paced psychological crime thriller novel by the internationally acclaimed crime thriller writer, Freida McFadden, ‘The Housemaid’ delineates the story of Millie Calloway, a former convict of killing a boy who was sexually assaulting her roommate. After spending 10 years behind bars, she is hired by Andrew Winchester to work as a live-in maid in his house. The book can be understood through the following three points:
- Millie and the Winchesters: After coming out of jail, Millie is desperate to find a job that does not violate her parole. During her lookout, she meets Andrew, a handsome and kind man, who hired her as a live-in maid. In the Manchester house, Andrew’s wife Nina and daughter Cicelia bear a hostile attitude towards Millie. Due to Andrew’s kind behaviour, Millie falls for him, which starts their affair.
- The New Perspective: The perspective shifts towards Nina, who is revealed to be a victim, being physically and psychologically abused by Andrew for years. The plot reveals that Nina planned to hire an ex-convict, Millie, as a housemaid and rescue her from her abusive married life, for she already knew Millie possessed survival skills which are required to tackle Andrew.
- Retribution and the Climax: After becoming acquainted with the whole story, Millie joins hands with Nina to turn the tables and locks Andrew in the same attic prison where he used to torture Nina. In the climax, Millie begins to look for another job after rescuing Nina and Cecilia and delivering the necessary justice.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Elucidating the life of a struggling author, Lowen Ashleigh, who accepts a high-paying job as the co-author of the incomplete bestselling books of a series by Verity Crawford, an eminent writer, this book is a must-read crime thriller for any thriller book fan. The story explores another story within itself, an unfinished autobiography of Verity, revealing certain bone-chilling secrets. The whole story can be caricatured through the following two bullets:
- The Job and the First Truth: Verity’s husband, Jeremy, hires Lowen to complete the books of the bestselling series after an accident involving his wife, after which she is left unresponsive. There, Lowen comes across an unfinished autobiography of Verity, titled ‘So Be It’, in which she encounters a terrifying truth: Verity was jealous of her children, Chastin and Harper, and killed them. Lowen showed the confession to Jeremy, who, in rage, pushed Verity from over a balcony, killing her.
- The Final Letter and the Ambiguity: Before the climax, Lowen finds another letter, claiming that it is Jeremy who is the actual culprit of everything, and Verity is just a victim of his abuse. But Lowen, instead of taking any action on these words, burns the letter, thus leaving it up to the reader to guess what happened next.
The Only One Left
Authored by Riley Sager and released in 2023, ‘The Only One Left’ is a good crime thriller novel, taking place in 1983, narrating the story of Kit McDeere, a dishonoured caregiver who accepts the job of taking care of Lenora Hope, an elderly and paralysed woman, accused of killing her entire family in the 1929 Cliffside massacre. The following points can be perused to understand the narrative briefly:
- The Beginning: The story gives a briefing about Kit, a caregiver who is struggling to regain her track as a caregiver after the demise of her mother because of the overdose of a painkiller. Then the book introduces us to Lenore, a 71-year-old woman, paralysed and bedridden, able to move only one finger.
- Lenora’s Confession: As she is unable to move or communicate, Kit gives her a typewriter. Using this, Lenora types, “I want to tell you everything” regarding the 1929 murders. Lenora claims that it was her sister, Virginia, who killed all of her family members and then died on the same night. As she types, Kit feels like she is describing a tale of abuse, isolation, jealousy, and a deranged sibling.
- The Real Monster: As the narrative proceeds, Kit comes to know that the person she is taking care of is Virginia, the actual killer, who escaped in 1929 and then killed her sister Lenora, and has been living as Lenora in this house. In the climax, she also tries to kill Kit by trapping her in the burning cliffside mansion, from which Kit somehow escapes.
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder
A chilling thriller book written by Holly Jackson, ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’, is about an invstigation project, taken up by the 17-year-old Pippa ‘Pip’ Fitz-Amobi. The case is about the murder of a schoolgirl Andie Bell and the apparent suicide of her accused boyfriend, Sal Singh. The overall theme of the narrative can be grasped through the following pointers:
- The ‘Re-investigation’: Around five-years ago, Andie was murdered and her boyfriend Sal was believed to be the murderer. However, Pip believes that Sal was innocent and that the police has ignored some evidence and clues, for example, the mismatched timeline of the story of that night told by Sal’s abali – Max, Jake, and Naomi. In the investigation, Pip has also included Sal’s brother Ravi.
- Uncovering the Secrets: In her investigation, Amobi discovers that Andie was involved in drug trafficking and was dating an older married man. After this, she begins to receive various threats, forcing her to leave the case. However, she continues with her investigation and finds that Becca, Andie’s sister, is hiding something important regarding the night.
- Actual Killer and the Climax: Pip discovers that the actual murderer of Andie is Max Hastings, the same old man Andie was seeing. She also finds out that Max and his friends framed Sal, who, under extreme pressure of police interrogation, committed suicide. In the end, Pip secures the physical evidence of Max’s confession, gives it to the police, and gets Sal’s name legally cleared.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1) What are the 10 best crime thriller books of all time?
Ans) ‘And Then There Were None’; ‘The Silent Patient’; ‘None of This is True’; ‘Verity’; ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’; ‘The Only One Left’; ‘The Silence of the Lamb’; ‘The Housemaid’; ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’; and ‘The Day of the Jackal’ are the top 10 crime thriller books of all time.
Q2) From where can I order crime thriller books online in the UAE?
Ans) You can visit BooksWagon to order crime thriller books online in the UAE. Here, you will get books from different genres like horror and crime fiction, romance and comic books, and so on, on affordable price with the convenience of home delivery.
Q3) Who are the best crime thriller writers?
Ans) ‘Eric Ambler’; ‘Raymond Chandler’; ‘Patricia Highsmith’; ‘Dashiell Hammett’; and ‘James M. Cain’ are some classical crime thriller writers, while ‘Don Winslow’; ‘Karin Slaughter’; ‘Michael Connelly’; ‘Tena French’; and ‘Agatha Christy’ are modern crime thriller writers.