The 15 Best Domestic Thriller Novels of All Time

Unreliable narrators, picture-perfect marriages hiding rot, and twists that detonate on the final page, the slow-burn suspense that takes over every book club. Where do you stand?

1

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins's 2015 bestseller told through an unreliable commuter who witnesses a domestic crime.

1000pts

2

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn's genre-defining 2012 thriller about a marriage unraveling after a wife's disappearance.

861pts

3

Before I Go to Sleep

S.J. Watson's thriller about an amnesiac woman who relearns her life and marriage each day.

799pts

4

Behind Closed Doors

B.A. Paris's debut about a seemingly perfect marriage hiding a chilling reality.

753pts

5

The Couple Next Door

Shari Lapena's bestseller about a child who vanishes during a dinner party next door.

753pts

6

The Woman in the Window

A.J. Finn's Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime.

753pts

7

Sharp Objects

Gillian Flynn's debut about a reporter confronting family trauma in her hometown.

753pts

8

Big Little Lies

Liane Moriarty's novel of suburban mothers whose secrets culminate in a death.

635pts

9

The Silent Patient

Alex Michaelides's 2019 thriller about a woman who shoots her husband and then stops speaking.

635pts

10

The Wife Between Us

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's twisty thriller about jealousy and a new fiancée.

635pts

11

The Last Mrs. Parrish

Liv Constantine's tale of a con artist who targets a wealthy couple's marriage.

559pts

12

Verity

Colleen Hoover's dark thriller about a ghostwriter who discovers a disturbing manuscript.

559pts

13

An Anonymous Girl

Hendricks and Pekkanen's psychological thriller about a manipulative research study.

559pts

14

The Family Upstairs

Lisa Jewell's thriller unraveling the secrets of a house with a dark inheritance.

466pts

15

My Lovely Wife

Samantha Downing's thriller about a married couple who keep their spark alive through murder.

466pts