Are you still reeling from the twisted turns and shocking revelations of “The Last Mrs. Parrish”? This bestselling novel by Liv Constantine has left many readers hungry for more tales of deception, psychological suspense, and unexpected plot twists. If you’re one of them, you’re in luck! In this post, we dive into a carefully curated list of books that echo the dark charm and gripping narratives similar to “The Last Mrs. Parrish.”
From stories of cunning manipulation to explorations of complex characters and their deep-seated secrets, each book promises to take you on a thrilling ride. So, buckle up and prepare to enter a world where nothing is as it seems, and every page brings a new surprise!
10 Books Like The Last Mrs. Parrish
If you love psychological thrillers, murder, mystery, intrigue, and more, The Last Mrs. Parrish is perfect because it has all those elements. Also, it has many different plot twists, which are purely psychological thrillers. After reading this book, I went through a hangover, and it took four days! I think you also have these feelings. Reading complex thrillers improves your attention to detail and ability to follow intricate plot lines, enhancing reading and comprehension skills.
I recommend ten thriller suspense books similar to The Last Mrs. Parrish to keep your excitement alive. If you love being kept on the edge of your seat, these books are for you. They’re known for their unexpected twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end. Let’s go!
| Name | Key Focus | Tropes |
|---|---|---|
| Written in Blood by Chris Carter | A crime thriller focusing on a complex murder investigation led by a skilled detective. | Serial killer, detective protagonist, forensic details, psychological profiling, suspenseful twists, dark atmosphere, law enforcement challenges, intricate plot, violence, cat-and-mouse game. |
| The Killing Lessons by Saul Black | An intense hunt for a pair of sadistic serial killers by a determined female detective. | Serial killers, female detective, high-stakes investigation, psychological thriller, dark and gritty atmosphere, suspense, multiple viewpoints, intense violence, cat-and-mouse chase, emotional depth. |
| Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge | A psychological thriller about a detective’s pursuit of a twisted serial kidnapper who forces victims to make impossible choices. | Serial kidnapper, moral dilemmas, psychological manipulation, detective lead, high-stakes investigation, suspenseful plot, dark and intense narrative, cat-and-mouse dynamic, emotional trauma, complex characters. |
| The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley | A murder mystery set during a New Year’s gathering in a remote Scottish hunting lodge, where tensions and secrets lead to a deadly outcome. | Closed circle mystery, isolated setting, multiple perspectives, dark secrets, suspenseful atmosphere, group of friends, escalating tension, psychological thriller elements, unexpected twists, character-driven narrative. |
| One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus | A young adult mystery about five high school students who become suspects in a murder investigation after a classmate dies in detention. | High school setting, murder mystery, multiple perspectives, teen drama, secrets and lies, character development, suspense, whodunit, social stereotypes, plot twists. |
| In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware | A psychological thriller about a bachelorette party gone wrong in a secluded glass house in the woods, leading to dark revelations and a deadly turn. | Isolated setting, unreliable narrator, psychological suspense, past secrets, claustrophobic atmosphere, group dynamics, tension-filled reunion, narrative twists, memory and truth, escalating paranoia. |
| Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn | A psychological thriller exploring the complexities and dark sides of marriage, centered around the mysterious disappearance of a woman and the subsequent media frenzy and police investigation. | Unreliable narrators, marriage secrets, media manipulation, plot twists, psychological manipulation, dual perspectives, police investigation, character deconstruction, suspense, societal commentary. |
| The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides | A psychological thriller about a psychotherapist’s obsession with uncovering the truth behind his patient’s sudden silence after she is accused of murdering her husband. | Psychological therapy, silent protagonist, murder mystery, unreliable characters, plot twists, dual timelines, mental health exploration, suspense, revelation of secrets, intricate narrative structure. |
| The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths | A crime novel featuring a forensic archaeologist who becomes involved in a murder investigation linked to ancient sacrificial grounds. | Forensic archaeology, murder mystery, small community, historical ties, strong female protagonist, police collaboration, atmospheric setting, ancient rituals, character-driven story, suspenseful plot. |
| The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson | A psychological thriller about a chance meeting between two strangers on a flight, leading to a deadly plot of deception, betrayal, and murder. | Strangers meeting, plot to commit murder, moral ambiguity, multiple perspectives, suspense, plot twists, betrayal, dark character study, psychological manipulation, unexpected developments. |
1. Written in Blood (Robert Hunter)
This is a dark and gruesome serial killer police procedural novel based on Robert Hunter. He is a detective with the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. There’s no previous context needed to get into this book. The story begins with a young woman called Angela, a pickpocket in L.A., who ends up stealing a bag from the wrong man. Inside the bag is nothing but a leather-bound journal depicting many gruesome crimes.
The man, whoever he was, has written in detail about all these murders that he’s committed, including details about where he buried bodies, how he killed them, and who these people were. Angela sends the book to the police, and the hunt is on for the killer. The killer is also hunting Angela. There are no huge twists or turns, which is unusual for this genre. Like The Last Mrs. Parrish, the storytelling in this book keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Author: Chris Carter
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Gothic Romances
Number Of Pages: 496
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
2. The Killing Lessons (Valerie Hart)
This is a police procedural book with a serial killer storyline similar to The Last Mrs. Parrish. It’s super engaging and is a frightening read. The story opens with two strangers turning up at an isolated country house, and they murder a mother in front of her 10-year-old daughter. Homicide detective Valerie Hart is put on the case, and she follows a trail of victims who are all abducted, tortured, and left with seemingly random objects inside of them.
The key to the answer is held by a 10-year-old girl who witnessed her mother being murdered. You’re removing the main storyline with sidelines about the lead character. Also, you do have a side storyline here about Valerie. I recommend it to everyone, and I’m recommending it to you, who is a fan of crime thrillers.
Author: Saul Black
Average Rating: 4.1/5
Category: Serial Killer Thrillers
Number Of Pages: 416
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
3. Eeny Meeny (Helen Grace)
This is another police procedural that sticks out in my mind for similar reasons. The Killing Lessons is intense, gory, disturbing, dark, and twisted. This one focuses on Detective Inspector Helen Grace, who has a dark past. According to investigating detectives, when a series of couples are abducted, they’re given impossible choices to gain their freedom.
It’s all about disturbing mind games that think very similar. I saw one quote from the book on the fire floor. “You’ll find a gun. It has one bullet in it for Sam. That is the price of your freedom, and you must kill to live. Do you want to live, Amy?” The plot of this book super well is very twisty, as in The Last Mrs. Parrish. You want to get to the end and find out who it was and what happened.
Author: M. J. Arlidge
Average Rating: 4.2/5
Category: Police Procedurals
Number Of Pages: 448
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
4. The Hunting Party
A friendship group goes to a cabin in the woods, and something bad happens. One of the members of the friendship group is found dead. You don’t know who is dead until quite far into the book. So you try to figure out which of the parties killed this person. It’s one of those books where each chapter is written from a different character’s perspective. Moreover, it takes a while to get used to the different voices of each character, but you do get into the swing of it eventually.
It’s also a good read, so I spent much time reading reviews and Goodreads. Someone described it as an Agatha Christie novel. It’s the story you’ve read a million times before, but it brings something fresh to the genre. You can relate the mystery to The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Author: Lucy Foley
Average Rating: 4.1/5
Category: Crime Thrillers
Number Of Pages: 406
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
5. One of Us is Lying
This book is described as The Breakfast Club meets Critical Liars, five high schoolers going to detention after school for misdemeanors. They’re sure they didn’t commit, and only four walk out alive. Each teenager is from a different social group. They’re all very fundamentally different people. Yet they all teamed up to figure out what on Earth happened because they’re all suspects.
Don’t dismiss this because it’s why a book is so well-written. Like The Last Mrs. Parrish, the storyline unravels so nicely, and I read this sitting on a beanbag in my living room for about four hours.
Author: Karen M. McManus
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Mystery & Detective Fiction (Best Seller)
Number Of Pages: 416
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
6. In a Dark, Dark Wood
The main protagonist is invited to a hen party of someone she hasn’t seen in years. She’s not even invited to the wedding, the hen party. So she contacts another old friend who’s also been invited, and they make a pact to go together again. It’s a book with a cast of characters with very little in common. They all have very different stories and backgrounds. None of them know each other.
As you read, you’ve put the puzzle together yourself. The first chapter is about Nora waking up in the hospital without remembering what happened. She’s told that she’s been in a car accident, but she has no memory of it at all. It’s clever how the story slowly unravels through Nora’s memory. The story unfolds as she fades in and out of this morphine haze. There’s always a big twist, which shocked me after The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Author: Ruth Ware
Average Rating: 4.3/5
Category: Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-In Fiction, Horror & Crime Fiction
Number Of Pages: 308
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
7. Gone Girl
If you want a psychological thriller, this is the book for you. It has its hype for a reason, and it’s the reason why I love this genre so much. There’s nothing quite the thrill of a story, as you’re like turning the pages, but this is one of the rare times when a movie does live up to the book, so do both anyway.
The story is about Nick and Amy Dutton. It’s their fifth wedding anniversary when Amy suddenly goes missing. Nick arrives home, and the whole house overturns. We report it to the police, who find that Amy, this ever-doting wife, has left her annual treasure hunt for him, leading to his anniversary present. The police are convinced that Nick has murdered his wife, but he’s insisting on his innocence. The storytelling and plotline match with The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Author: Gillian Flynn
Average Rating: 4.1/5
Category: Mystery Thriller
Number Of Pages: 415
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
8. The Silent Patient
This is the story of Alicia Berenson, a woman with a seemingly perfect life. She’s a famous painter married to this popular photographer, Gabriel. They have a very nice life and lovely friends and are very happy until one evening. Alicia shoots Gabriel in the face five times and then refuses to repeat another word.
Nobody has a clue what happened, and she was shipped off to a psychiatric hospital where therapists of therapists failed to make any progress with her. Criminal psychotherapist Thierry Fabre finds out that a job is opening a hospital, and he makes it his mission to make her speak. It takes over his entire life. It’s a real page-turner again, another one that I read quickly. If you love The Last Mrs. Parrish, you will also love it.
Author: Alex Michaelides
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Crime Suspense
Number Of Pages: 325
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
9. The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway)
This is a suspense book with a difference because it centers around a forensic archaeologist, Dr. Ruth Golway, instead of the usual detective. It adds a different perspective to this country. Ruth happily lives alone in an area near Norfolk, in an area sacred to the people of the Iron Age. She spends her days exploring the area, digging up ancient objects, and occasionally digging up bones. But then, one day, Ruth gets a call for help when remains are found that the police believe may belong to a young girl called Lucy Downey. She went missing a decade beforehand.
It is an area where many ancient bodies are buried. They need Ruth to confirm if the bones are new or Iron Age. But then a second girl goes missing. Not only that, the detective chief inspector has been receiving taunts from Lucy’s abductor for years. Can Ruth help them figure out what happened? It was set in these salt marshes of Norfolk, whose main character was salt marshes. They bring a sense of foreboding to think it says a lot about how well this book was written.
Author: Elly Griffiths
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Literary Fiction, Detective
Number Of Pages: 304
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
10. The Kind Worth Killing
This is about Ted, who meets Lily on a night flight from London to Boston. They get to know each other, with Ted telling Lily about his dead-end marriage with a wife he sure is cheating on him. They eventually come to an agreement that Lily is going to help Ted to kill his wife.
Lily hasn’t shared everything about her dark past, even though some crazy twists in the story wouldn’t quite work in any other book that is always somehow entirely believable through Lily’s eyes. This book is written through the eye of the story’s villain or the anti-hero instead of the actual hero or the victim. The murder suspense and thrilling events, like The Last Mrs. Parrish, make the story more exciting.
Author: Peter Swanson
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Suspense & Crime Thrillers
Number Of Pages: 311
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
Last Words
Each novel offers its unique blend of intrigue, drama, and startling twists, perfect for fans of Liv Constantine’s mesmerizing storytelling. So, grab your favorite, settle in, and get ready to be swept away into worlds filled with secrets, betrayals, and the unexpected turns of the human psyche. Until our next literary adventure, happy reading!
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