The Best Domestic Thriller Books Of The 2020s

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Domestic thrillers have always been around, but these stories have surged in popularity over the past few years. You may be unfamiliar with domestic thrillers, but they're essentially a thriller subgenre that emphasizes interpersonal relationships. These stories often delve into themes of infidelity, domestic abuse, gaslighting, and other toxic tropes you'd find in marriages, familial relationships, and even friendships.

What makes domestic thrillers spellbinding is the simple fact that they mirror reality. When the story isn't too crazy-absurd, it's a narrative that can have the reader asking themselves: What if this were to happen to me? Sometimes, the ones closest to us can be the most dangerous.

Behind wedding vows, friendship bracelets, and the picture-perfect family homes lie dark secrets and betrayals. Domestic thrillers dive into our everyday lives and reveal the tension that lies beneath some of the most intimate relationships humans can have. From a bone-chilling tale about the dark side of motherhood to the mysterious disappearance of a Korean-American father, this list will have something for anyone in search of an edge-of-your-seat read.

Jennifer Hillier's national bestseller "Little Secrets" was a sensation on #BookTok. The book maintains a 4.4-star rating with more than 30,000 ratings from readers on Amazon, and more than half of those readers gave the book five stars. One reviewer shared, "This book was so good. It had me from the first page until the last page. I read this in one day." And, they weren't the only ones. With the most unthinkable plot twists and mind games, "Little Secrets" seemed to be a quick read for many who just couldn't wait to find out what would happen next.

A happy marriage, a loving family, and a successful business — Marin's life is picture-perfect. Until one day, her son, Sebastian, is kidnapped while on a shopping trip to Pike Place Market. A year has passed, and both her son's case and her marriage have gone cold, leaving Marin as a shell of her former herself. When she hires a private investigator to pick up where the police left off on her son's case, he comes bearing news she never wanted to hear: her husband was having an affair with a much younger woman.

She's already lost her son, and Marin just can't bear the thought of losing the love of her life, too. So she channels her grief into rage to fight for her marriage. Will she win this fight, or will the truth destroy the will she has left?

Ashley Audrain might just be a mastermind when it comes to capturing the intimate chaos of our everyday domestic lives. We knew her debut novel, "The Push," earned a spot on our best psychological thriller books from the 2020s. Then we came across the synopsis for her book, "The Whispers," and knew it had to be on our list for domestic thrillers. This story goes beyond fresh; it's something you'd never expect. It shows what envy and societal pressures can do to motherhood and the impact of those things on a tight-knit community.

The New York Times Book Review praised the story, saying "[Audrain's new book] explores the combustibility of secrets and rage among mothers in a small community ... expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered ... [and] she delivers a sucker-punch ending you'll have to read twice to believe." Once again, Audrain does what she does best and explores the darker side of motherhood and marriage, and this time, female friendships as well.

When a child is hospitalized after a tragic accident, the lives of four suburban families are shaken to the core. The story unfolds over a week through the perspectives of each household's matriarch. The choices, tensions, regrets, and sacrifices they've made as mothers, wives, and women bind them together. But as secrets unravel, so do their loyalties to one another. Audrain demonstrates once again her talent for depicting the dark side of motherhood, marriage, and female friendships.

"Happiness Falls" is among the best books of the 2020s by an AAPI author. The book was selected as a Good Morning America Book Club pick, selected by Oprah Daily as the best novel of the year, and was a finalist for the New American Voices Awards. Angie Kim tells the story of a Korean-American family whose world is turned upside down when their father goes missing. Bestselling author Jodi Picoult said, "This is a story with so many twists and turns I was riveted through the last page." And, she's not wrong.

Mia's father has disappeared, and the only witness to his disappearance is her non-verbal brother, Eugene. Mia and her family must search for answers before it's too late. But the more Mia investigates, the more she realizes that the answers to her father's mysterious disappearance just might lie in the walls of her family's home. She'll begin to confront some of her family's darkest secrets, emotional rifts, and the fact that maybe she doesn't know her close-knit family so well after all.

Angie Kim explores the complex dynamics of a Korean-American family, the love, communication, and bonds that often hold them together, amidst the suspense of an ongoing missing persons investigation.

In a YouTube clip shared by Zaffre Books to promote T.M. Logan's new book, "The Dream Home", the author said, even during his days as a journalist, "... I had always really had this ambition that I was going to try and write a book of my own." And while it may have taken longer than he expected, in the end, it was all worth it. Logan's thrillers have sold more than 2 million copies in the U.K. alone, and his stories have been translated into multiple languages. He also shared that his love of thrillers came from reading the works of authors like Stephen King and Scott Smith.

Sometimes, the most ordinary, peaceful backdrop makes for the most disturbing setting. Set in Nottingham, England, the story follows Adam, Jess, and their three children, who move into a sprawling Victorian house. Adam can't help but feel all of his dreams have come true and that life couldn't be better. But one day, he comes across a hidden room sealed behind a wardrobe. Feeling a bit unnerved, he digs into the home in search of its history. Adam will soon discover the disturbing truth and risk having his own secrets exposed, threatening the picture-perfect life he worked so hard for. What's the true price of this dream life?

"Rock Paper Scissors" by Alice Feeney is a thrilling mystery book that Kindle readers can't get enough of. And if you decide to read it, be sure to fasten your seatbelt, as this book has so many unpredictable twists. A goodreads reviewer said, "OH MY GOODNESS WHAT it's 1am and I just finished this book and my brain is still spinning. I can't BELIEVE the amount of twists at the end of this book! I'm so impressed. I LOVED the atmosphere in this book, it was so spooky and creepy." This bestselling domestic thriller is a page-turner that'll have you second-guessing everything.

You think you know someone, but you really don't, even if that someone is your partner. After a decade of marriage, Adam and Amelia Wright's relationship is strained. The two believe a weekend getaway to Scotland just might be their last chance to save this marriage, but is it?

Adam, who suffers from face blindness, can neither recognize his own wife nor the dark secrets that have been lurking between them for years. As the two exchange anniversary gifts and Amelia reveals hidden letters she wrote to her husband, it becomes evident this trip is their last chance to save this marriage or burn it down — which will it be?

As a subgenre of thrillers, domestic thrillers set themselves apart by bringing suspense to the most familiar spaces. To come up with this list, we limited our focus to books released in or after the year 2020, and the stories had to have made an impact on readers. As always, we began our search for something fresh and unexpected, and it didn't matter whether the book was a bestseller or not.

After gathering a good number of titles, we began reading the synopses. With our list being centered on domestic thrillers, when reading the synopses, we looked for plots that didn't feel overly unrealistic. Unlike sci-fi or fantasy, domestic thrillers are exciting and keep you on your toes, because, although very unlikely, they could happen. The connection allows readers to place themselves in the characters' shoes, wondering what they would do in a similar situation.

Once we narrowed down our list, we vetted reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, subreddits, and even #BookTok. As always, we aimed to only introduce books that more than 40% of readers awarded at least a 4-star rating.