If you love true crime and unsolved mystery podcasts and shows, but have run out of tiles to binge, fret not! Why not turn your attention to the amazing books of the thriller genre fiction. Here is The Bombay Circle Press’ recommendation of cult thriller books every true crime lover must read.
- A Deadly Faith by Varun Gwalani
In the middle of nowhere, a giant Eye watches over a tiny village.
For generations, no one has left—terrified of the deadly disease that lurks in their blood. Until someone did leave; a lonely boy, ending up dead by his own hand, spurred on by a book.
Now it’s up to Connor White, the guilt-ridden and depressed author of that book, to find the boy’s family, to confess to his sins and perhaps find salvation. But Levion is unlike any other. A secret town hidden from the rest of the world for hundreds of years; rife with death and deceit.
Until there is Victoria, a resident of Levion. Can she be the redemption Connor so desperately seeks?
- Be Mine by Lizzie Barber
Once, Beth was a different person, convinced she was living her dream life with the enigmatic wellness group, Elixir. But when that dream became a nightmare, she had no choice but to run, no matter what – or who – stood in her way.
Ten years later, exhausted and struggling with the pressures of motherhood, she receives a mysterious letter bearing only the infinity symbol, and knows immediately it is from them.
The past she’d run from has finally caught up with her, and the secrets she’s tried so hard to hide will soon be uncovered. Can she finally escape them for good, or will her freedom pay the ultimate price?
- The Cult on Fog Island by Mariette Lindstein
When Sofia meets Franz Oswald, the handsome, charming leader of a mysterious New Age movement, she’s dazzled and intrigued. Visiting his headquarters on Fog Island, Sofia’s struck by the beautiful mansion overlooking the sea, the gardens, the sense of peace and the purposefulness of the people who live there. And she can’t ignore the attraction she feels for Franz.
So she agrees to stay, just for a while. But as summer gives way to winter, and the dense fog from which the island draws its name sets in, it becomes clear that Franz rules the island with an iron fist. No phones or computers are allowed. Contact with the mainland is severed. Electric fences surround the grounds. And Sofia begins to realize how very alone she is and that no one ever leaves Fog Island.
- The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead
While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay’s built a new life in a tiny Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel’s death—delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader—she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever.
Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend’s life, she’s pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shay’s obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened, she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning. But in a world built for men to rule it—both inside the cult and outside of it—is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?
If you like this list of recommendations, check out our blog on crime shows you need to watch.