Welcome to the very first Friday Five post! Every Friday, I plan on sharing 5 book recommendations for a specific theme. Today’s theme: 5 mystery/thrillers with jaw dropping endings. The final chapters/pages/sentences of these books will leave you speechless. I cannot wait to share some of my favorite thrillers with y’all! Let’s get right to it.
Book #1: The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
This was one of the very first mystery/thrillers I read way back when I became interested in the genre (maybe 2014??) The very last page of this book blew me away. There’s also a HUGE twist in the middle that left me speechless, but the ending was just a complete shock.
It’s about a man who discovers his wife is having an affair and when he befriends a stranger on an airplane, they *jokingly* plot to kill her. It is insane! I’m going to be honest- I read so many books, that sometimes I may read a book but then I couldn’t tell you anything about it months later. I can still remember many details from this one and the basic overall plot. It is phenomenal.
Book #2: The Neighbors by Hannah Mary McKinnon
Okay, so I’m bending the rules a little here because technically this isn’t a mystery/thriller. It’s more general fiction, but the ending is absolutely unreal and so shocking that I couldn’t NOT include it. This book was my favorite of 2018 and I know if you’ve been following my reading for a long time, you’re probably sick of me talking about this book. The ending is just completely out of the blue. It took me days to get over it!
It’s about a woman who is involved in a car accident that kills her brother. She feels very guilty over it, so she decides to leave town and move away, leaving behind her boyfriend that she is very much in love with. She marries someone else that lives in another town and they have a child together. Years later, the ex boyfriend and his new wife and son unknowingly move next door. And then things happen. Oh my goodness, just typing this makes me want to reread it. It is SUCH a good story, y’all!
Book #3: The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
This is a fast paced, can’t put down mystery/thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next. The ending will leave you gasping and debating whether or not you agree with what happened!
It’s about a husband who dies in a plane crash-only the plane he was on was heading in the opposite direction of where he told his wife he was going for business. As she is struggling to cope with his death and accept it, she decides to investigate his death and then discovers some shocking details about his life.
Book #4: The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
This is another oldie that was one of my first mystery/thrillers back in 2014. I picked this one up because the main character is a teacher and I love reading books that feature teachers 🙂 The epilogue of this book 100% shocked me. It’s still probably the biggest ending shocker to me.
It’s about a girl who is kidnapped when she’s in her mid twenties. The chapters alternate between when she was kidnapped and when she was rescued. It is a fascinating story to see play out. LOVED!
Book #5: He Started It and My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
Again, I’m slightly bending the rules and including two as my 5th pick, but rarely do you have an author who can write back to back shocking mystery/thrillers. Samantha Downing’s debut novel, My Lovely Wife, was my favorite thriller of 2019, but I was worried that her next book wouldn’t live up to her first because her first was so extraordinary. The last sentence of My Lovely Wife will floor you. He Started It is equally as shocking and the last part will leave you speechless.
He Started It is about a two sisters and their brother recreating a road trip they went on when they were young in order to claim their inheritance from their grandfather. They are each desperate for the money and will stop at nothing to get it.
My Lovely Wife is about a husband and wife who kill women for fun. Yep, it’s definitely not your average thriller. This one is so unique and special and good and fun. Not enough adjectives to describe this delicious wickedness of this debut novel!
Have y’all read any of these mystery/thrillers? Do you have some jaw dropping endings that should be included on this list? I’d love to hear them!
