69 books like Rock Paper Scissors

As a reader, I felt deceived. The novel is about a mute female artist who allegedly murdered her beloved husband. 

As a writer, I saw the omission of a date in the timeline that would have robbed the story of its twist ending. 

After personally experiencing five years of life with a sociopath, I finally understood why the novel was written as it was and why readers everywhere swear it’s the best suspense novel ever.

The narrator is a highly educated and deeply sympathetic sociopath.

My first experience reading a book with dual storylines, this novel held me spellbound cover to cover. McMahon has since become an auto-buy author for me, thanks to this fantastical story that puts a magnifying glass on the life of two sisters, a childhood friend, and an unexplained disappearance. The story moves between past and present and revolves around the Tower Motel in Vermont, now a ruined shell that refuses to yield its secrets. Secrets the girls discovered while playing games there as children. 

An unexpected splash of the paranormal and the use of letters from one sister to Mr. Hitchcock (yes, that Hitchcock) add the perfect touch to this disturbing gem.

Sager’s novel Home Before Dark is set in a large Victorian mansion in the Vermont woods. Nicknamed the House of Horrors, the creep factor for this setting is high. Our protagonist, Maggie, returns after twenty-five years away to learn the truth of what drove her family out of the house late one night when she was only a child. Was the house really haunted as her mother and father had told her for all of those years or is there a logical explanation for the horrible things that had happened there? This novel gets my recommendation because it has three of my favourite things, ghosts, an old, abandoned building, and a protagonist returning to learn the truth. 

I’m a huge fan of the board game Clue. The “present” timeline in this story provides an excellent tip of the hat when lead character Sadie, a bit actress, agrees to assume the role of “Miss Lamb” at an old mansion known as Raven Hall. She attends with a collection of others (who take on roles like Miss Mouse, Professor Owl, Colonel Otter, etc.) as part of a trial run for a business that hosts murder mystery parties. Great set-up, right?

Three time periods twine in the plot, one which includes a bizarre game of a different sort that has far-reaching consequences, stretching from past to present. The author does a brilliant job of foreshadowing, planting subtle clues that deliver staggering surprises by the end of the story.

This small-town mystery is the first in a new series. Set in Madeira, New Mexico, newly arrived Tami Montgomery learns the old Victorian home she and her husband purchased has an unsettling history—a number of Madeira’s police chiefs lived in the property, and most met with untimely deaths. Tami’s husband, Jason, is Madeira’s new police chief. 

A former newspaper editor, Tami becomes involved with Madeira’s historical society, a commitment that has her digging into her home’s past and the lives of the people who lived there. Hall weaves elements from the 1800s with the present, sprinkling her plot with lunar legends, dusty history, old grudges, and murder. Though the first in a series, Cold Dark Night delivers a complete story with a satisfying ending.

I love a little horror in my thrillers and this look at a deeply layered dysfunctional family is one of the creepiest I’ve read. Catriona’s writing is disturbing (in the best possible way), her use of metaphors evokes exactly the right image and I’m incredibly jealous of her talent. This book takes you places. Dark places. But it’s worth it. Even Stephen King himself said - “DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK. Authentically terrifying.”

The Plot: Rob is worried about her eldest daughter Callie. She collects bones and oddities and talks to imaginary friends. She decides to take her on a mother and daughter trip to Sundial, her family ranch where she grew up. But Callie begins to worry about her mother's behaviour - digging holes in the garden in the middle of the night and other unhinged behaviour...

I’d not read McKinty before picking this up. It was the first book I read front to back, in a day, since having kids. As I feverishly turned the pages, I felt like I was on the Island – running from the terrifying locals that want the Baxter family dead. It doesn’t let up for a second and although it is more action-packed than my usual choice of psychological thriller, I’m so glad I gave it a chance. 

The Plot: This relentless suspense thriller is set on sweltering Dutch Island, deep in the Australian outback. A shocking incident propels a vacationing family into a horrific game of cat and mouse. 

From the opening sentence I was hooked. What might have started earlier? Why was the protagonist scratching on his forearm rather than using pen and paper? From the first page we are deep inside the head of the lead character, Paul Morris, and it’s not always a pretty place. He is a cynical manipulative liar, a deeply unpleasant man, but I was intrigued by how far he would go and whether he would get caught out.

It’s a slow burn as we watch the deceit unfold. We experience the lead character’s tension as he realises the mess he’s got himself into with his lies, then witness his struggle to backtrack and make things good. By the end I felt quite sorry for him. It had me gripped!

I was gripped from the first page of this propulsive psychologic thriller set on a windswept Scottish island.

Just thinking about it, I can feel myself being transported back to the dreary, rain-lashed shores of Angus. I can feel the claustrophobia and desperation of Sarah’s dilemma. I found myself chained to the story, my understanding of the characters and their situation yanked to and fro with every new twist and turn. I couldn’t stop reading.

But like the best fiction, The Ice Twins stayed with me long after I closed the book. It encapsulates some of my favorite literary elements—a dark brooding atmosphere, characters at odds with their own perceptions of reality, and a suggestion of the supernatural.

I love atmospheric novels that tantalize the reader with a slow, creeping sense of dread.

I love novels with dark, moody, rain-lashed settings, especially Scottish ones. I also love novels that are smart and beautifully written, with a literary style all their own. Madam had all of that for me.

With its boarding-school setting and feminist themes, it reminded me of The Stepford Wives meets The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie—two of my all-time favorite novels.