Ten Amazing Thriller Authors Like Lisa Jewell

If you love Lisa Jewell, you aren’t alone. This talented thriller author writes books that are like rollercoasters—full of twists, turns, and hair-rising drops.

Can’t get enough? You’re in luck. Today, we bring you ten amazing thriller authors like Lisa Jewell that will keep you awake past your bedtime.

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Who is Lisa Jewell?

Born in London on July 19, 1968, Lisa Jewell grew up a city buzzing with stories. During her young adulthood, she bounced around different jobs and tried her hand at fashion design and marketing.

Then she enrolled in a writing course, and her storytelling fire never stopped burning.

Her first book, “Ralph’s Party,” released in 1999. Readers loved her style. As she published new novels, her plots grew deeper, more mysterious and dark.

Jewell’s big breakthrough came in 2017 with “Then She Was Gone.”

Her stories explore dark secrets and the complexity of human nature. She turns everyday life into gripping, edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Her stories feel real and close to home. That’s why fans can’t stop reading her books.

If you love Lisa Jewell as much as we do, you’ll enjoy these ten authors.

Gillian Flynn: Master of the Mind Game

Gillian Flynn takes readers on wild rides. Her most famous book? “Gone Girl.” It’s a story that flips everything upside down. Think you know what’s happening?

Nope. Flynn loves to surprise her readers.

Gone Girl

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears.

Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior.

Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? 

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Shari Lapena: Queen of Homefront Mystery

When it comes to psychological thrillers that make you squirm, few can equal Shari Lapena.

In “The Couple Next Door,” Lapena takes normal life and adds a twist of fear. Like Lisa Jewell, she knows how to keep you turning pages.

The Couple Next Door

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years. 

What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of  deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.

Ruth Ware: Suspense in Every Shadow

Ruth Ware knows how to keep you hooked. One of her best? “The Woman in Cabin 10.” It’s a story set on a luxury cruise. Sounds nice, right? But then, things get creepy.

The Woman in Cabin 10

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.

At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

Paula Hawkins: A Ride into Mystery

Paula Hawkins hit the jackpot with “The Girl on the Train.” It’s about a woman who sees something shocking from a train. And then everything spirals out of control.

Like Lisa Jewell, Hawkins loves complex female characters. Her women are real, with messy lives and secrets. They’re not perfect, and that’s what makes them interesting. You feel like you know them.

The Girl on the Train

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple having breakfast on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Related Reading: Nine Authors Similar to James Patterson

Tana French: Dublin’s Dark Side

Tana French takes you to Dublin, where mysteries lurk around every corner. In her Dublin Murder Squad series, each book explores a new case.

French’s stories are rich in detail and paint pictures of Dublin and its people. Like Lisa Jewell, French creates characters that feel alive. They have histories, hopes, and fears. You get to know them inside out.

In the Woods

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Megan Miranda: Unraveling Small Towns

Megan Miranda’s stories are all about secrets. In “All the Missing Girls,” she takes you to a small town with a big mystery. Ten years ago, a girl vanished. Now, another is missing.

Miranda loves small-town settings. In these tight-knit communities, everyone knows each other. Or do they?

All the Missing Girls

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Clare Mackintosh: From Cop to Crime Writer

Clare Mackintosh knows crime. Why? She was a police officer. Now, she writes about murder and mystery.

Like Lisa Jewell, Mackintosh packs her books with surprises. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, she flips the script. You feel for her characters. They’re dealing with real, heavy stuff.

I Let You Go

On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street…
 
I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.
 
At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.

Dan Padavona: From Horror to Heart-Pounding Thrillers

Dan Padavona started with horror. Now, he’s all about thrillers. His stories? They grip you and don’t let go.

Padavona’s “Wolf Lake” series is a standout. It’s set in a small town, where dark secrets hide. Like Lisa Jewell, he loves a small-town backdrop. Somehow, he combines cozy and creepy.

Her Last Breath

He’s hunting a psychopath. And now the killer wants him dead.

After he’s shot in the line of duty, Detective Thomas Shepherd returns to Wolf Lake to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Living beside the water, he finds peace…until the body of a missing woman washes up on his shore and the town blames a teenage boy with a history of violence.

Is a killer stalking the sleepy resort village?

Thomas isn’t convinced the teenager committed murder. Challenging a village that wants justice at any cost, he pursues the real killer as evidence mounts against the teenager. If he fails, an innocent boy will go to prison.

Can Thomas clear the boy’s name before he becomes the killer’s next victim?

A.J. Finn: A Window into Twisted Minds

A.J. Finn’s “The Woman in the Window” is a mind-bender. It’s about a woman who sees something she shouldn’t. She’s stuck in her house, watching the world. But what is real, and what’s in her head?

The Woman in the Window

It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother, their teenaged son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

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B.A. Paris: Behind Closed Doors

B.A. Paris burst onto the scene with “Behind Closed Doors.”

Like Jewell, Paris knows how to enter a character’s mind. Her stories follow people in tough, scary situations.

If you’re into thrillers that make your heart race, B.A. Paris is a must-read. Her style is similar to Jewell’s. She makes ordinary life extraordinary and terrifying.

Behind Closed Doors

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance. He’s a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’re hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.

About the Author

Dan Padavona is a thriller writer and coach who teaches authors how to self-publish and market their books. Visit him at selfpubwriter.com.