My TTT for last week’s genre-related freebie was for my favorite adult mysteries and thrillers. I was inspired, when running through my Goodreads shelves, to take a look at the 140 young adult mystery/thriller books I’ve read and share a similar list. Because I’ve read about double the amount, I thought I would allow myself to exceed 10 books if needed. I also decided to stick to true suspense, mysteries, and thrillers – I’m not including any books that have some paranormal elements alongside the mystery (like THE DIVINERS – as much as I love that series!). I’ve found it to be super common for YA “mysteries” to blur the line a lot more, so I broke it into three semi-distinct categories to include my favorites.
True Mysteries and Thrillers
This category is for the books that are true murder mysteries and thrillers. These ones don’t have a ton of fluff or “contemporary” vibes like others on this list might. The first three books below are my absolute favorites within the genre.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series is the real GOAT when it comes to YA murder mysteries. It just is. And book three? Good lord, she went there. She really did.
Truly Devious is one of my personal favorites and I will read every book following Stevie and the gang… and I don’t feel bad about it. Yes, the romance stuff is annoying, but I just get this FEELING with this series that I don’t get with any other books.
One of Us is Lying is my favorite Karen M. McManus and she’s definitely an auto-buy author at this point for me. Her other books typically hit in the 4-4.5 star range with maybe one exception.
Here Lies Daniel Tate had an absolutely crazy twist that many authors wouldn’t go near. Cristin Terrill is such a talented writer and I always think about this book.
Sadie was another book where I finished it and was like oh my god, I need more books like this! The podcast stuff intermixed with the story and other mixed media elements? Chefs kiss.
Last Girl Lied To is my favorite YA mystery by Flynn (her adult thriller was really good too!).
They’ll Never Catch Us is probably the closest to a sort-of lighter mystery with contemporary elements but it’s also my favorite by Goodman. Her books are all over the map for me but for some reason I’ll always read and request them!
Creepy and/or Mysterious, Mystery-Light
These books bend genres the most but I still wanted to include them, considering all three series are some of my absolute favorites ever. Truly.
Girls with Sharp Sticks series is set in our world but there are some creepier elements about the girls from the boarding school. There’s a mystery and some suspense throughout, but this is a hard genre to pin down. All I know is, if you haven’t read this series yet… please don’t wait any longer.
The Inheritance Games series is perfection and one of the few times I agree with booktok recommendations. Big, big fan of JLB and everything she writes, but these books are on another level. Truly don’t compare to anything else out there that I’ve read or been able to find!
The Program series – oh man. Suzanne Young is the most underrated author ever. This series is probably technically on the dystopia side but it’s definitely creepy, mysterious, and worth the read.
YA Spies and Assassins
I realized this category is 50% Ally Carter because she runs the YA spy/assassin market, y’all. It’s a fun sub-category of mystery-like books that probably are more like suspense novels?
All Fall Down is definitely an underrated book (and series) by Carter. I really enjoyed it!
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You and the rest of the Gallagher Girls series… utter perfection and we all know it.
Not If I Save You First was partially a survival story and partially involved assassins or spies, I think? I remember really enjoying it and wanting more books like it when I finished.
Killing November is another underrated pick on this list. Mather’s duology was super fun to read – I could even see myself rereading them at some point, which is honestly high praise from me. This duo is set at a spy school.
The Fixer is another strong series from Barnes and actually my first introduction to her writing. I’ve read everything by her ever since, but still have to go into her backlist for one other mystery/thriller-ish series.
Pretty Fierce is by one of my nostalgic faves, Kieran Scott (aka Kate Brian for other books/series). I liked this one and remember not being able to put it down while at my hair appointment lol. I believe this one is more about a daughter of assassins?
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