The best crime fiction books that explore how our brains work

Amnesia is the psychological thriller author’s friend and SJ Watson uses an extreme case to great effect in this darkly compelling and claustrophobic tale. Christine lives her life one day at a time, literally. Every night she loses her memories – her name, her identity, her past. Every morning the stranger in her bed patiently explains he is her loving husband, Ben.  All she has is a handful of pictures, a whiteboard – and a hidden journal, which her neurologist helps her keep without Ben’s knowledge. Inside its pages lie the inconsistencies that help Christine realise all is not as it seems… Before I Go To Sleep was a big inspiration to me, it's so cleverly written and tightly plotted, the pages fly by and you are drawn into Christine’s bewildering world. 

This book completely rocked me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for ages afterwards. I can’t talk about it without giving away a huge twist but it started out being one thing and then became something else entirely as the reality of the situation was slowly revealed. It’s horrifying, beautiful, violent and tender all at the same time. The why is the twist. I want to say more but I can’t…fans of this book need a secret group so we can discuss without giving away spoilers!! The author’s note at the end explains the research she undertook during the writing process, and sheds light on yet another fascinating yet perplexing and troubling aspect of our inner mental life.  

Dementia is one of the most common and cruellest neurological diseases, with someone in the world developing the condition every three seconds. In Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey very deftly uses loss of memory and identity to craft a compelling psychological thriller spanning two timelines. As dementia takes its terrible toll, Maud loses her grip on everyday life and becomes obsessed that her dear friend Elizabeth is in terrible danger. Her memories of the past, however, remain vivid, and the events surrounding the disappearance of her sister Sukey after World War II become increasingly entwined with her present-day search for Elizabeth. The book not only provides a hugely sympathetic look at the bewilderment and loss felt by Maud, but also glimpses of the toll the condition it takes on those who love and care for her. 

Mark Haddon’s 2003 global best-seller took the reader into the mind of Christopher, a 15-year-old boy with what would now be called autistic spectrum disorder. The crime is the murder of a neighbour’s dog, and in seeking to unlock who could have fatally speared Wellington with a garden fork, Christopher embarks on a journey that unlocks many family secrets and helps him make sense of his world. It’s an original, witty, and moving insight into other ways of thinking and seeing the world, and a reminder of why kindness and understanding are so needed in our busy world.   

This isn’t a crime book but it does involve an unravelling of a mystery. The story spans three timelines, childhood recollections of a tragic accident, in which the main character Matt’s brother dies, the aftermath of the incident and then the present day, in which Matt is being treated for schizophrenia in a mental hospital. Too often those suffering with schizophrenia get a hackneyed handling by creatives but author Nathan Flier, a former mental health nurse, paints vivid and insightful observations into this poorly misunderstood condition.