Best thrillers read in 2024

Blogmas 2024

Second week of my top reads of 2024 and today I am talking about my favorite thrillers/crime/mysteries of the year.

First in Young Adult we have/

I think this is the best Holly Jackson so far!

What a roller coaster and twists within twists! Everyone has secrets.

Rachel Price has disappeared sixteen years ago, leaving behind her tow years old daughter Anabel.
When a crew contact Anabel or Bel’s father to make a documentary, the whole family will relive what happened on the day of the disappearance and in the months after.
Bel seems to have found a new normal.
She is a tough cookie as she has been left behind by her mom, not knowing if she had been abducted or if she chose to leave her. But that’s decided her to be prickly, not get attached and push everyone away because they will leave her sooner or later.
So best not getting attached right?

Unexpectedly, Rachel reappears and throws everyone off balance.
Instead of being relieved, Bel’s dad is unsettled, Bel is distrusting because she thinks that her mother’s story, being abducted by a stranger and kept in his cave for sixteen years is hardly believable.
Rachel leaves holes in her story, is erratic and Bel is determined to find the truth.

The truth will be shocking and I never expected all this! I absolutely LOVED it and I think Holly Jackson is a mastermind!

Also if you love audiobooks, Sophie Amoss does an excellent job narrating that mind-blowing story!

6 stars

This is an impressive first work!
I honestly couldn’t stop listening to Sophie Amoss and Robb Moreira narrating this heart pounding thriller/crime/mystery!
The plot is simple: a teen wakes up frightened in the forest with no memories of who she is and how she landed there. Soon after being rescued by a police officer, her father arrives at the police station, frantic and ready to show all the papers to prove she is his daughter.
She is Mary Boone or so he says. Because slowly, things won’t add up and Mary begins to doubt and…fear.
At the same time, Drew is looking for his girlfriend. Lola disappeared after they had an argument and everyone (the sheriff, his friends, the town) is convinced he killed her. So Drew needs to find Lola to prove his innocence and also erase his guilt.

This is one of these gripping mysteries, the one where the clock is ticking and you fear that the boogieman will win! There was a sense of dread that sent my heart racing and I just wanted to cheat and peek at the last pages to know what would happen!
I am already looking for Megan Lally’s next book!

In adult thrillers/crime I chose …

5 stars! Excellent thriller/crime!

And Jessica Clarke was an excellent narrator for that twisted story.

Three foster sisters and one seemingly perfect foster mother. Picture perfect on the surface but dig a little deeper and monsters are lurking in the dark!

That book had me on the hedge of my seat all along! Sally Hepworth did it again: write a gripping mystery that doesn’t let you go till the last word is spoken!

Switching between four POV, the three girls and a woman (anonymous till nearing the end), between past and present, that story slowly unfolds till the biggest twist right at the end! I never saw it coming! You have more than one twiwt but the very last one was genius!

Every character was fascinating, flawed and real. So well written that you can’t help thinking this could happen in real life. I couldn’t stop listening as I just HAD to know whose bones were found under the house and how the bones happened to be there. It’s engrossing, haunting, heart racing and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the girls and what they went through.
This is an excellent mystery/thriller that I warmly recommend to amateurs of the genre (or even if you want to read a new genre)!

And my two favorites in adult …

As the synopsis states, the crux of the story is to discover if Lucy has killed her best friend Savvy or not six years ago.
Lucy had been discovered walking, concussed and covered in Savvy’s blood. Savvy was dead and wore the imprint of Lucy’s fingers on her arm. With no memories to boot, Lucy didn’t know what had happened. And when even her husband and parents believed her guilty, she had moved from her hometown.

Now she is forced to come back for he grandma’s birthday. But at the same time, a star podcaster, Ben , has decided to focus his podcast on Savvy’s murder and is determined to uncover the truth.

Listen for the Lie was a gripping story with the epitome of unreliable narrator because Lucy doesn’t remember anything from the night her friend Savvy was killed!
Lucy should have been hard to like or love, being abrasive and probably a murderer but Amy Tintera built a complex character, fighting with her own demons and yet, wanting to do Savvy’s justice even if it was to discover that Lucy herself had killed her best friend.
I never could decide if Lucy was innocent or not as she kept hearing a voice in her head screaming “Let’s kill!”. One of her “pastimes” being to imagine all the ways she could kill the person she is speaking to (she is very creative using a lamp, a pillow, scissors, her hands etc).

I tried to pierce the mystery aided by Ben’s interviews. It seems everyone in that Texas town has something to say about Savvy (she was a golden child) and Lucy (she had a temper and she didn’t deserve her husband nor her friend).

This was an astute “guessing game” that kept me on my toes till nearly the end when I finally guessed the truth! But by that time it was nearly the end so, bravo Mrs Tintera you did an excellent job!

The narrators were excellent with January Lavoy and Will Damron, both seasoned narrators.

Switching between past and present , we read about two disappearance in the same rich family: the Van Laar.
Fourteen years ago, Bear, their son, disappeared while on a walk with his grandfather. A search party was organized and some would say that the Van Laar didn’t seem very motivated to find their missing boy. Except his mom, Alice, who was devastated.

Present time: Barbara, the thirteen year old daughter vanished from camp. This time, the police has been called early on. A suspect has been taken into custody but Juditha, a young inspector, is not convinced they have the right suspect.

The story is told between past and present and from four point of view.

The plot slowly unfolds and piece by piece the mystery is revealed. I guessed the truth but very late in the story. Liz Moore has a very compelling writing, rich with details that had me visualizing the woods and the characters in technicolor. I was honestly engrossed in that atmospheric story, filled with family secrets, dysfunctional relationships, courageous women and gorgeous nature.
The narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, did once more an amazing job.

And to end this series, a cozy mystery, perfect to read around Christmas!

What a delightful cozy mystery!

I absolutely adored that audiobook and I now want to read more of Josie Lloyd and listen more books narrated by Emily Pennant-Rea.

The plot
Alice Beeton runs the Good Household Agency with her childhood friend and former socialite: Jynx and lovely Elie. The butter of the agency is placing house staff for the wealthy in London.
When a placement in the Messant’s house turns into the murder of newly hired Enya, Alice is shocked.
And when Enya’s friend turns out of the blue, imploring Alice to find the murderer as the police seems unable too, Alice will take matters into her own hands and apply all the knowledge she has garnered reading Agatha Christie’s novels.
But even helped by her adorable dog, Agatha, Alice realizes she might have taken more than she can chew!

If Alice is the main character of the story, the help of many quirky and delightful side characters is essential to solve the mystery. I loved every single one of them:
-Jynx with her flamboyant but faithful personality;
-Jacques the passionate and charming French chef;
-Inspector Rigby whom I would love to read more about in future books;
-Masood the limo chauffeur and probably ex spy or secret services;
-Barney currently a librarian but ex special agent too
And let’s not forget Agatha, that smart and mischievous dog!

The mystery
Honestly the mystery is smartly built! It’s a cross between a cluedo and an Agatha Christie’s novel! I had never guessed who did it, even less how they did it. And kudos to Alice for her power of deduction!

The writing
The writing is straightforward and perfect for the story. With Alice and staff being very polite, Rigby being gruff, the Messant, especially the man, being arrogants and glacials.

I really had a grand time listening to it and the cherry on top was the location: Kensignton! I happen to know Kensington extremely well as I have stayed in that part of London many times. It was so much fun remembering the places and streets mentioned in the story.

I really hope that Josie Lloyd will make a series of Alice Beeton and co’s adventures solving crimes!

If you read thriller/mystery or crime, what were your favorites?

Thanks for reading.

Sophie