My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)

“Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I'd hoped I would never hear those words again."

Fantastic short novel about Korede and her sister Ayoola, the serial killer of the title, who keeps murdering her boyfriends. Korede is left to clean up the messes. When Ayoola starts to date Korede's longtime crush, things get especially complicated and messy. SO readable, engaging, and gripping, and the setting of Lagos is vivid and fascinating. 

Looking forward to Treasure and The Baby Is Mine, out in 2020.

Half Past by Victoria Helen Stone (2017)

A little mystery, a little romance, I'm really loving Stone's novels. Plus, this one is about a doomsday cult! I love a good doomsday cult story! 

Also, I love that she writes about 45-year-old women who are looking for answers about their lives AND maybe get a little action as well. Really well done.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone (2018)

Surprisingly readable novel about Jane, a woman who takes a leave of absence from her job to exact revenge against the man who broke up with her best friend, which led to her suicide. She seduces this man and plots her revenge, but the part that kept me reading was Jane's internal monologues diagnosing her own sociopathy. 

Absolutely fascinating. AND, the author is Victoria Dahl, who writes terrific romances that include older, non-traditional heroines. So fun!

Ooh, there's a sequel! Problem Child (2020).

Social Creature by Tara Isabelle Burton (2018)

Eminently readable contemporary novel about Louise, a nearly 30-year-old struggling writer in NYC who meets manic pixie party girl Lavinia, with whom she becomes fast friends. Lots of wild parties and reckless spending ensues. 

About halfway through the book, the story takes a dark twist. Pretty fun and interesting.

Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda (2017)

A very simple story: a married couple is driving to a romantic weekend getaway to a lake house. And yet ... As they drive, tension between them mounts and we learn they're both harboring secrets. 

Deliciously readable with beautifully unfolding tension and yes, a fascinatingly unreliable narrator. (I'm using ALL my adjectives on this one.)

Safer by Sean Doolittle (2009)

Pretty awesome thriller novel set in a small midwestern college town.

Paul Callaway and his wife Sara have just moved into a neighborhood on a small cul-de-sac. The neighbors are extremely friendly and welcome Paul into their vigilant neighborhood watch. Paul tries to fit in with the neighbors until one day, the neighborhood watch sets its sights on him.

Wonderfully told--the story starts at the end and is unfolded bit by bit in a completely compelling, suspenseful way.

You by Caroline Kepnes (2014)

Well-written thriller about a bookstore clerk who stalks, romances and stalks an attractive female customer. The stakes are high, and the perspective is really interesting. Although I normally loathe book written in the second person--to "you"--writing this narrative to the stalkee works beautifully and is very chilling. 

It's fascinating to read a stalkerish tale that takes place in the contemporary social media landscape. It's a deeply complex and yet very readable story. 

To say more would be spoilery.

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (2014)

The tagline: "How well do you know your neighbours?"

The novel takes place in an apartment building in South London. The tenants, all a bit down on their luck, have a variety of problems, but one of them holds one very nasty secret: he/she is a serial killer. 

Marwood keeps the tension and the suspense at a high level throughout the whole book, even after the killer is unveiled halfway through. The characters are strong, the plot is well done. Quite a bit of suspense, and it dips into horror as well. It's also wonderfully rich in its London setting, and features a fantastic ending.

See also The Wicked Girls. Equally gripping (if a little fat-shaming.)

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (2015)

Engaging novel about a man looking back at his youth and a traumatic event that occurred to his beloved neighbor girl, and how he became a suspect. 

Walsh does a gorgeous job of encapsulating what it's like to be a child and have limited information and also to look back as an adult and see what you missed. 

Lovely, lyrical (but not in love with itself) writing.

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar (2013)

Once again, this is an absolute treasure hidden away in a seemingly innocuous, almost generic-looking trade paperback original. Like this book by Louise Millar, who also wrote The Playdate, which I also enjoyed.

Kate has had a lot of tragedy in her life: Her parents died tragically in a car accident, her husband was killed in a break-in, and she is obsessed with statistics and safety, and making her ten-year-old son very anxious as well, to the point that her in-laws are threatening to take him away. But we quickly and very creepily discover early on that her paranoia is not as unwarranted as it appears. 

Incredibly suspenseful, creepy and delightful, this page-turnerkeeps the suspense going all the way to the last page. Marvelous for fans of Gillian Flynn.  Fabulous.

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw (2012)

A strange, meditative, but quite engaging, novel. 

A group of friends and family are involved in a car accident that results in the death of a young girl. This is not a "I Know What You did Last Summer" sort of novel, but more a novel that takes this crucial act as the springboard for following these friends and the paths their lives take after the incident. Explores their work and artistic lives, and their romantic lives as well.

Lovely, with some wonderful writing on life. I loved this quote, as divorced Carmen rejects a man who hasn't even approached her yet:

"The social road ahead looked like a bleak highway, post-apocalyptic, overblown with dust, gray and lifeless except for mutants popping up here and there." 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012)

I adore Gillian Flynn and I loved this book.  Her third novel, and an immediate bestseller, lived up to all of the hype, and to my fond memories of reading her other two books. 

The story is told by a husband whose wife goes missing, and also through journal entries of the wife previous to the disappearance.  And yet we don't know the whole story.  Chilling and surprising, and includes some really great, insightful and often funny writing.  See below:

"I am not interested in being set up.  I need to be ambushed, caught unawares, like some sort of feral love-jackal.  I'm too self-conscious otherwise.  I feel myself trying to be charming, and then I try to be even more charming to make up for the fake charm, and then I've basically turned into Liza Minnelli: I'm dancing in tights and sequins, begging you to love me.  There's a bowler and jazz hands and lots of teeth."

"Mainly, I will admit, I smile because he's gorgeous.  Distractingly gorgeous, the kind of looks that make your eyes pinwheel, that make you want to just address the elephant--'You know you're gorgeous, right?'--and move on with the conversation.  I bet dudes hate him:  He looks like the rich-boy villain in an 80s teen movie--the one who bullies the sensitive misfit, the one who will end up with a pie in the puss, the whipped cream wilting his upturned collar as everyone in the cafeteria cheers."

 A page-turning novel that absolutely refuses to get off the bestseller lists.  Good for Flynn!  Write more books!