Not-your-average thriller: 9 literary puzzles to challenge your mind

‘The week I shot a man clean through the head began like any other . . .’ 

In January 1989, Birdie learns that Jimmy Maguire, the man who killed her sister, has been released. She leaves for London with a plan and a gun. This masterfully crafted thriller from Emma Stonex, author of The Sunday Times bestseller The Lamplighters, transcends your typical revenge narrative. A gripping cat-and-mouse chase that delves into the psychological depths of grief and retribution and explores the corrosive power of secrets – this is a thriller that blurs the line between victim and perpetrator. 

A Guardian Best Thriller Novel of the Year, Other Women by Emma Flint is a devastating story of loneliness and obsession. Set in postwar London, the novel follows Beatrice Cade, one of many women left single after the Great War, clinging to the promise of something more. When she falls for a married man, their affair seems like the beginning of a new life. But Bea is later found dead with her lover in the frame for her murder, leaving his wife Kate to step in, prepared to do anything to protect her family. With a narrative that builds with relentless tension, this book is a must-read for fans of nuanced thrillers.

In the surreal and unsettling cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma, Inspector Tyador Borlúv investigates a murder that defies the very laws of reality. China Miéville's The City & The City is a genre-bending modern classic, seamlessly blending crime noir with speculative fiction to create a profound exploration of identity, borders, and the hidden structures that shape our world. This novel will challenge your assumptions, forcing you to question what you see, and what you choose to ignore.

Cole, a seemingly perfect husband, finds his life unravelling when his wife leaves him. Seeking a fresh start, he moves to the coast and meets Lennie, a reclusive artist. When two young women go missing during a protest against gendered violence near their home, Cole and Lennie find themselves at the centre of the police investigation, realizing they might not know each other as well as they thought. Hall masterfully weaves a web of suspense, drawing you into a taut psychological drama that explores the dark side of seemingly 'good' men with twists and turns until the very last page. 

When a brutal attack shatters the sanctuary of a sorority house in 1978, the world fixates on the charismatic predator responsible. But for Pamela, the chapter president and a survivor of that night, the real story lies elsewhere – in the lives stolen, in the resilience of those left behind, and in the systems that failed them. In Bright Young Women, Jessica Knoll turns true-crime on its head. This razor-sharp thriller moves between timelines and perspectives with a fiercely intelligent, emotionally charged narrative that challenges the way we consume stories of violence and reclaims the voices so often overshadowed in crime lore.

The famed – and reclusive – architect Basit Deniau is dead, but his final creation, Rose House, remains sealed and watchful. The house refuses entry to all but one person: Dr. Selene Gisil, Deniau’s estranged former protégé. When a body appears inside the house – impossible, given its security – Selene is drawn into a mystery as chilling as it is inescapable. Beneath this book’s locked-room mystery beats a deeper meditation on grief, artistic legacy, and the uncanny intimacy between humans and the technology that outlives them. Sinister and elegant, Rose/House is the perfect read for those who like thrillers with a touch of science fiction.

Mr. M is being watched. A once-celebrated author whose best-known book fictionalized a decades-old crime, he is no stranger to the limelight. But as the past M profited from refuses to stay buried, is he being watched with rather darker intentions? Dear Mr. M is a sinisterly compelling psychological thriller that exposes the uneasy relationship between truth and storytelling, power and exploitation. A truly unsettling and irresistible read, Koch leaves us pondering how even the most ordinary lives can conceal extraordinary darkness.

Kit Owens and Diane Fleming were once inseparable – two brilliant young women pushing each other toward greatness. But when Diane revealed a terrible secret, Kit recoiled, and their once firm friendship shattered. Years later, their paths cross again in the high-stakes world of scientific research, and the secret that once bound them threatens to unravel everything. Abbott, known for her incisive portrayals of female ambition and desire, crafts a taut, slow-burning thriller about the lengths to which people will go to achieve their goals. Tense, cerebral, and darkly hypnotic, Give Me Your Hand is a mesmerizing study of rivalry and the fine line between inspiration and destruction. 

In Saint X, Alexis Schaitkin transforms a seemingly familiar mystery into a haunting literary thriller about memory and privilege. When eighteen-year-old Alison vanishes from an exclusive resort, her death is quickly sensationalized, leaving behind more speculation than answers. Years later, her younger sister Claire encounters one of the men suspected in the case and becomes obsessed with unravelling the truth. Schaitkin’s captivating prose and keen psychological insight turn this into more than just the tale of a crime.