94 Books Like Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

I read this book while sitting on a terrace overlooking the beautiful Cornish coast. It is a fantastic holiday read. I literally had to drag myself away from it to avoid spending the entire time with my nose stuck in a book. It might not be the best one for you if you’re thinking of travelling abroad!

A dream holiday turns into a nightmare for sisters Lori and Erin when, after an argument, Lori takes the onward connecting flight to their island resort destination alone. Fasten your seatbelts for a crash landing. A terrified Lori recounts her fight for survival on a remote island while guilt-ridden Erin searches for the answer to the mysterious disappearance of the plane and the whereabouts of her missing sister. 

My brother introduced me to this writer, and I’m so glad he did. This is the thirtieth book in the Stephanie Plum novels—yes, folks, the thirtieth! After reading this one, I immediately bought another. Only twenty-eight to go! 

This book has it all: humour, action, and great characters. I was particularly charmed by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's relationship with her sidekick, the slightly bonkers Lula. Tracking down a bail jumper and a security guard suspected of being his accomplice should be simple, but neither finding the culprits nor Stephanie’s love life is straightforward; everything soon spirals into a vortex of complications.

Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride with slick dialogue and quirky characters, including an orange dog. This book will keep you hooked to the end. 

This is the book that got me hooked on reading. I’ve recommended it to loads of people and they’ve all loved it. It’s a truly addictive read.

When Saffron’s beloved Gran, Rose, moves into a care home because of dementia, a pregnant Saffron and her boyfriend, Tom, go to live at 9 Skeleton Place. Having watched too many house makeover TV programmes and not being too keen on the wallpaper, they decide to renovate the old place. Their hopes of creating a dream home are shattered when they discover two dead bodies buried in the garden.

What has Granny been hiding? Will she be able to remember? Wishing they hadn’t dug up the garden, Saffron and Tom dig up the past before the police incarcerate dear old granny. 

I’ve read a few books by this author and have never been disappointed. I particularly like Our Holiday because it’s not only a cracking yarn, but it has something to say about the impact of holiday homes on local communities.  

During their summer visit to their holiday home in Pine Ridge, a picture-postcard coastal village, Sloane Rangers Charlotte and Perry find they need more than sunscreen for protection. Their not-as-wealthy friends, Amy and Linus, have also recently bought a place there, but this is more of a source of irritation to Charlotte and Perry than a comfort. Simmering tension with the locals builds to a violent and unexpected crescendo, and it takes more than a bucket and spade to dig up the dead body.

I loved this book because Antonia Scott might just be my favorite protagonist of all time.

She’s literally the most intelligent person in the world, with an I.Q. of over 200. She’s plagued by guilt and awkward social skills, but she has more crime-solving abilities than an entire police force. She’s Sherlock Holmes on steroids, with a hyper-intelligent sense of humor!

When I was a kid, my Mum loved Upstairs Downstairs—a TV show about a household in Victorian England and the lives of the gentry upstairs and the servants downstairs. Nobody was allowed to even whisper when it was on. 

Well, the Mrs Jeffries Mysteries would have blown her mind. Because the servants in Detective Witherspoon’s household not only do regular servanting but also solve murders on the fly. 

There are loads of great characters: Mrs Goodge, the surly cook, Smythe, the fierce-looking coachman with a heart of gold, and of course Mrs Jeffries herself, who’s like a sherry-guzzling Sherlock Holmes who can tidy.

I love realistic heroes who are fallible yet, to their core, have a sense of morals. Throw in the verisimilitude of police procedurals (or military), plus a good mystery, and you’ve got me. Author Michael Connelly has juxtaposed an aging main character, retired LA Detective Harry Bosch, with a younger LA detective, Renée Ballard. In the old-school, patriarchal LAPD, Ballard had quite a challenge conducting the detective work she was passionate about.

I’m impressed with the three-dimensional characters of the two generations, each equally dedicated to getting justice in the cases they’re working on. Connelly's Bosch is far from perfect, and Ballard, the rising next-gen, are two characters I am compelled to follow.

I was already a fan of Clare Mackintosh’s standalone thrillers, but when I found out she was launching a police procedural series, I was so excited! Set in Wales, this compelling book stars the complex, courageous character of DC Ffion Morgan as she tries to get to the bottom of who killed Rhys Lloyd during his New Year’s Eve party and dumped his body in the freezing lake.

I won't reveal much about the plot itself because I want you to experience the twists and turns for yourself. I want your heart to pound like it wants to escape your chest. I want you to lose hours of sleep because 'one more chapter' turned into twenty. You'll order the next book faster than I can say 'no comment.'

Edgar Award-winner Bluebird, Bluebird, is the first in the Jay Porter Series. Black Texas Ranger, Jay Porter, tried to escape East Texas and become a lawyer, but his home and people clawed him back. Jay is on the verge of losing his prestigious job, his reputation in tatters, when he heads to a tiny rural town to investigate the death of a visiting Black lawyer from Chicago and the seemingly separate death of a local white woman. Locke deftly reveals how the persistent stain of racism continues to poison many facets of life, while the law enforcement hierarchies and jurisdictional infighting threaten to undo Jay’s best efforts.

I was glued to every page of this book!

It’s a claustrophobic thriller with a startling visual image at its heart: an ultra-modern glass cabin in the middle of a deep, dark wood. At night, the light against the glass means you can’t see out – but anyone outside can see right in. I loved the way Ruth Ware turned the rickety old building cliché on its head, turning light from a source of comfort into a threat.