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Goodreads is the world’s largest platform for readers to rate and review books.
These mysteries and thrillers were the most popular and highest-rated reads of 2022.
They’re also all nominated for the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards.
Mysteries and thrillers are juicy, suspenseful reads that have you guessing murderers, dark secrets, and character’s pasts through gripping plot twists and turns. Readers look to be bamboozled by shocking revelations and offer ratings based on how invested they are in the plot. Over 125 million readers use Goodreads (the world’s largest platform to rate and review books) to track their favorites, leave reviews, and help others pick their next book.
The mysteries and thrillers on this list were all published in 2022 and were ranked by a combination of how many reviews they have and how highly they were rated — any book with less than 3.5 out of five stars was left off the list. Coincidentally, all these reader favorites are also up for Goodreads Choice Awards, which will be announced in December.
From startling sequels to gripping psychological thrillers, here are the best mysteries and thrillers of 2022, according to Goodreads reviewers.
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Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $22.99
Though Liz isn’t thrilled to be going home to her predominately white hometown, she’s returning to Johnstown, Pennsylvania for her best friend’s wedding. But when the bride’s daughter goes missing, Liz is reminded of the Black girl who went missing in high school and fears her friend’s daughter may be facing the same, gruesome fate.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $17.99
This Good Morning America Book Club pick is about true-crime writer Cassie Brown, who is deeply fascinated with Lore Rivera, a woman who was once secretly married to two men until one of them found out and shot the other. As Cassie digs deeper, she finds that Lore is willing to tell her story of an affair that turned deadly — but knows her own secrets lay just beneath the surface.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $21.99
The Family Game” is a psychological thriller about newly engaged Harriet and Edward whose bliss is interrupted when Edward’s old-money family reemerges long after he cut ties. Harriet is easily drawn to Edward’s family, but when someone slips her a cassette that holds a shocking confession that could destroy everything, a deadly game and Harriet’s hunt for the truth begins.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $21.99
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are now 60 years old and ready to retire, having spent 40 years as elite assassins for the Museum. When they’re sent on an inclusive retirement vacation, the four women quickly realized they’ve been marked as targets by the Museum and must turn on their own organization and rely on only each other to survive.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $14.99
Ray McMillian is determined to become a professional musician and when he discovers his fiddle is really a priceless family heirloom, his stardom begins to grow. But as he’s preparing for an international classical music competition, his fiddle is stolen by a man whose family once enslaved the fiddle’s owner, claiming he’s the rightful heir.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $15.99
In this novel, three seemingly unconnected people set out to find the answers to three mysteries: An investigator who finds evidence of a 30-year old case; a wife whose husband is found dead in his cellar; a mother whose brother is determined to dig up their shared past. Though “The Family Remains” is considered a sequel to Jewell’s bestseller “The Family Upstairs,” both books can be read as standalone thrillers.
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Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $15.99
Reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” “Daisy Darker” begins with Daisy’s family — many of whom haven’t spoken to each other in years — gathering at Nana’s island home for her 80th birthday. With the tide in, they’re cut off from the world so when Nana is found dead at midnight and another family member is found an hour later, the family must face their secrets to find the killer before they’re picked off one by one.
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Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $17.99
In this suspenseful, time-travel thriller, Jen is watching from the window, waiting up for her 17-year-old son to come home, when she witnesses him kill a stranger outside her home, now in police custody. Soon, Jen finds that every time she wakes up, it is the day before the last and she has an opportunity to not only piece together what happened and why, but hopefully change the future and stop a murder that’s already happened.
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Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $17.51
Written by one of the hosts of the popular true-crime podcast “Crime Junkie,” “All Good People Here” is the thrilling story of journalist Margot Davies who is still haunted by her hometown’s unsolved murder of January Jacobs, unable to shake the feeling that it could have been her. When Margot returns home and a young girl goes missing in a neighboring town, she knows she must find January’s killer once and for all.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $12.49
Wylie Lark has retreated to an isolated farmhouse to finish writing her new true crime book — and is happily and cozily snowed in — until the feeling of being trapped in a home where two people were murdered begins to haunt her. When she discovers a small child outside in the snow, Wylie realizes she’s not as isolated as she once thought.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $9.98
Millie is down on her luck when she gets hired as a live-in housemaid to a wealthy, elegant family whose dynamics, particularly those of Nina, the wife and mother, are strange. Millie can’t help but imagine herself in Nina’s shoes, but when she tries on one of her dresses and Nina finds out, she learns her attic bedroom only locks from the outside.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $23.49
“The Bullet That Missed” is the third mystery novel in the “Thursday Murder Club” series, which follows a group of four friends who meet up once a week in their retirement village to investigate unsolved murders. In this latest installment, the group is investigating two murders set 10 years apart when Elizabeth is presented with a mission to kill or be killed and needs the help of her friends to save her.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $16.74
When Paris Peralta is arrested for the alleged murder of her celebrity husband, her biggest worry is the media attention bringing about her dark past. And when Ruby Reyes, once convicted of a similar murder, is suddenly released from prison, Paris’s secrets are more in danger of being exposed than ever.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $9.29
15 years apart, four teenagers working night shifts are attacked, leaving only one alive with the memory of a killer saying “Goonight, pretty girl.” Now, a survivor, the brother of the original suspect, and an FBI agent are all determined to find the truth in this twisty, multi-POV thriller.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $14.50
In this creepy, suspenseful thriller, Marissa and Matthew Bishop decide to start marriage counseling for the sake of their son after Marissa’s infidelity. They meet Avery Chambers, a therapist who has lost her license but is still sought after for her rigid and unorthodox counseling methods. From the moment they meet, they’re set on a fast-paced course toward the truth through secrets, revelations, and possibly fatal danger.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $14.79
40 years ago, two men were murdered and the prime suspect, Beth Greer, was acquitted and returned to her isolated mansion. Now, Beth has agreed to do an interview with Shea Collins who runs a true-crime website and whose passion is fueled by her own attempted abduction as a child. As the two meet at Beth’s mansion, Shea’s feelings of unease grow and she begins to suspect there’s something lurking in the home.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $17.99
A decade after April Coutts-Cliveden’s murder, John Neville, the man convicted of her murder, has died in prison. Though she’s hoping to finally put her best friend’s death behind her, Hannah is approached by a young journalist, convinced Neville was innocent. Together, Hannah reconnects with their old friends to dig into the past and find the truth but soon realizes everyone has something to hide — including a murder.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $15.52
20 years ago in Chloe’s small town, six teenage girls went missing and her father was arrested as a serial killer. Now, Chloe is getting ready for her wedding when local teenage girls start to go missing, reminding her of the devastating events that unfolded when she was 12 and leaving her wondering if she’s seeing parallels or just being paranoid.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $17.45
Though he didn’t seem thrilled, Jess’ half-brother, Ben, agrees to let her stay with him in Paris but is strangely absent from his lavish apartment when she arrives. With little to go off of except a strange voicemail, a symbol on a business card, and a few scribbled notes, Jess begins to search for what happened to Ben and soon discovers every neighbor is a suspect.
Amazon
Available at Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble, from $16
With over 218,000 ratings and nearly 150,000 five-star reviews, “The Maid” is the most popular mystery/thriller read amongst Goodreads reviewers in 2022. It follows Molly, a hotel maid who struggles to understand social cues, as her “strange behavior” leaves her pegged as a prime murder suspect when a wealthy man is found dead in his bed. Readers love the story’s “whodunnit” plot as they root for Molly’s justice in this cozy crime read.