The best psychological thrillers where women become strong

Stephanie is the mother of twin babies. Fighting a fog of sleep deprivation, she’s unnerved to find the front door open and a fire in her kitchen. Has her mind drifted so far south that she has unwittingly put her precious girls at risk? Then her husband’s old flame accuses him of murdering his first wife. The price of silence is a slice of Stephanie’s large inheritance. Stephanie has to make a choice: who to believe, and who to protect. 

Shari Lapena is one of my go-to writers for a gripping read with believable characters. With this tense, twisting psychological thriller, she gradually unravels secrets while still keeping you guessing. 

Ruth Rendell is famous for her detective stories, but she also wrote exquisitely nuanced and layered psychological thrillers. Exploring love, greed, and selfishness, The Tree of Hands is about two very different women. Benet has achieved success as a writer but is grappling with bereavement. Carol, a goodtime girl, didn’t plan to have two-year-old Jason and is relieved when he goes missing.

Benet is tricked into looking after Jason and falls in love with him before discovering his identity. There is a heart-stopping moment when Benet takes Jason to Carol’s local library, intending to leave him there to be returned to his mother. Benet thinks she is doing the right thing, while the reader knows how hellish Jason’s life will be. Can Benet’s love overcome her scruples?

Linwood Barclay is adept at dreaming up quirky characters. Find You First frequently switches between points of view, but there is no confusion because the characters are distinct and interesting.

On the face of it, this is a tale of two men with too much money. Tech billionaire Miles donated sperm as a student and wishes to trace his natural children. Meanwhile, sleazy Jeremy, a Jeffrey Epstein-style character, is trying to silence his victims. However, the real stars are two sparky young women, Chloe and Nicky. Chloe, suddenly confronted by the father she never knew, joins forces with Miles to find out why his other kids are being killed. Fifteen-year-old Nicky is the victim who fights back. When the disparate strands of the story come together, these ladies kick butt.

Written by an author from the English West Country city of Bristol, this story accurately captures the inequality of life in the 1970s. Fifteen-year-old Carol lives in a council estate on the edge of town. She goes to school with a farmer’s son who will inherit rolling acres. One day, she meets handsome Frankie, who is staying with his aunt in a manor house nearby.

Every reader will know louche Frankie is bad news. Carol, of course, falls for him and finds herself pregnant. So far, so predictable. What is far less predictable is the way Carol herself is sucked into crime, secrets, and lies. Forty years later, how far will she go to evade exposure? Emotional, clever, and exquisitely written, this book is hard to put down. 

Inceptio starts as a psychological thriller, then becomes much more. Karen thinks of herself as an all-American girl. Trying to carve a career in New York’s cutthroat advertising world, she’s on the brink of success when she attracts a stalker. This is where the plot segues into alt-history, military strategy, and politics. It transpires that Karen’s late mother hailed from the technologically advanced state of Roma Nova, and Karen has access to dangerous secrets. Finding herself at the centre of a diplomatic incident, Karen is spirited away to Roma Nova and an uncertain future.

Author Alison Morton writes beautifully and has constructed engaging characters and settings. This is Book 1 of a series and can be read as a standalone, but I feel the others are too good to miss.