The Buzz...About Books

"GripLit", a term often used for the recent surge in gripping psychological thrillers, has been the hot trend in publishing for the last number of years. There have been so many of them,  often with similar titles, that it is easy to get them all confused.  

For those who enjoy fast-paced thrillers with unreliable narrators and twists in the story, you are in luck.  There continue to be new books available to keep you up turning the pages into the 'wee' hours of the night. 

 Here a few:

Let Me Lie is the newest book by the popular Claire Mackintosh. Like her previous books, I See You and I Let You Go, not everything is as it seems and there are some good twists along the way.  

Anna is struggling to come to terms with her parents' suicides a couple of years ago. Now with a young baby herself, she is determined to find out what really happened. As Anna digs up the past, she discovers that someone is intent on stopping her as she uncovers the truth about her parents.
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 Then She Was Gone  is Lisa Jewell's latest novel.  Although she has been writing novels for over many years now, her last few books, The Third Wife, The Girls in the Garden and I Found You have been suspenseful and quite successful.

A decade after the disappearance of her teenage daughter, Elle, Laurel Mack meets a charming single father with two daughters, the youngest of whom reminds Laurel of Elle.  As she gets to know the young girl and her father, she becomes obsessed with the unanswered questions about her own child. 
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The Death of Mrs. Westaway is the latest by Ruth Ware, the author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10 and  The Lying Game.  It's scheduled to be published at the end of May, so place your hold now!

When Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance, she quickly realizes that the letter was sent to the wrong person. She also realizes that the cold-reading skills she's honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money anyway.  
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Looking for even more new thrillers, have a look at our list of New Psychological Thrillers in 2018

Some popular GripLit from the last few years:

By Canadian Shari Lapeña:

By Fiona Barton:

By Paula Hawkins:

Of course, psychological thrillers are nothing new. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, published in 1938, is one of the best of the genre. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...."

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• DVD (1940 film. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Oliver and Joan Fontaine)
• DVD (1997 TV movie on PBS. Starring Diana Rigg and Charles Dance)

You may have notice that all the writers listed above are women.  Of course, men write excellent gripping psychological thrillers as well, but it is wonderful to have the opportunity to shine the light on these successful women authors. 

This is certainly not a comprehensive list of all the psychological thrillers published since Gone Girl  revitalized the genre.  Did I leave out one you really enjoyed?  If so, please share in the comments.