For most of us, thankfully, the worst thing that can happen on holiday is lost luggage that never arrives, or a case of food poisoning from a seafood buffet, or a big fight with our travel companion. For the characters in these mystery and thriller books, however, their vacations take a turn for the worse when someone shows up dead, or an old crime is uncovered… Here are ten vacation mystery thriller books that will make you think twice before booking your next getaway.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
The Sanatorium has a spine-chilling setting: a sanatorium with a sketchy past that has been repurposed as a luxury hotel. Traumatised detective Elin arrives at the hotel at the invitation of her estranged brother, to celebrate his engagement. When his fiance mysteriously disappears, and a sudden storm cuts off all access to the rest of the world, all of Elin’s bad gut feelings are confirmed. And, as the only crime fighting professional on the premises, it falls to Elin to figure out what the heck is going on. Read my full review of The Sanatorium here.
Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath
Kill Your Husbands is a locked-room mystery set over the course of a weekend getaway. Three couples rent an isolated house on a mountaintop, to spend some time reconnecting and relaxing in nature without wifi. Things get spicy when the idea of partner-swapping comes up. The friends concoct a convoluted scheme where, for one night only, they’ll sleep with someone who isn’t their spouse. What could go wrong? Well, one of the husbands turning up dead, for one. And then another. And one of the wives goes missing. Read my full review of Kill Your Husbands here.
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
In Nine Perfect Strangers, nine (you guessed it) perfect strangers drop their literal and emotional baggage at the door of Tranquillum House Health and Wellness. They’ve each booked a spot in the Ten Day Mind and Body Total Transformation Retreat, led by the enigmatic Russian corporate-mogul-turned-wellness-guru Masha, and they’re definitely going to be walking out of Tranquillum House transformed, in one way or another. This one takes a wild left turn you’ll never see coming. Read my full review of Nine Perfect Strangers here.
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
The Writing Retreat might be more of a ‘working holiday’ than a true vacation, but the fact remains that it’s creepy as heck. Struggling writer Alex manages to stumble into a spot at an intensive writers’ workshop run by her idol, Roza Vallo, a queer feminist horror writer who relishes her enigmatic reputation. Unfortunately, Alex’s former-BFF, Wren, will also be in attendance. There’s some bad blood between them, and it all threatens to come to a head at Roza’s remote (haunted?) mansion. Read my full review of The Writing Retreat here.
The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
It’s hard not to feel envious of journalists that get plum assignments – like travel writers who get an all-expenses-paid luxury cruise across the picturesque North Sea. But your jealousy won’t last long when you read The Woman In Cabin 10. Everything on board the Aurora is going swimmingly for Lo Blacklock, until she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard – and, when she tries to raise the alarm, everyone else on board insists that the woman was never there to begin with. With all passengers officially accounted for, the ship sails on, despite Lo’s increasing panic.
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
A movie star invites her friends to join her on a private Greek island… and then there’s a murder. That’s basically the premise of The Fury. It’s a locked room mystery on a private island in a gorgeous location with glamourous characters. When they find themselves trapped in this postcard-perfect holiday, old tensions resurface and a new threat emerges. Michaelides is clearly doing everything he capture the reader’s attention, and there’s a few crazy plot twists in store to keep you interested. Read my full review of The Fury here.
The Note by Alafair Burke
For a certain kind of person (okay, most of us), getting together with old friends for a few drinks is liable to get a little wild – and that goes double when you’re on holidays, away from the rules and responsibilities of real life. In The Note, three such friends in such circumstances play a practical joke on a total stranger – one that ends up having deadly consequences. It makes for an intricate and well-plotted mystery that will keep you turning pages. Read my full review of The Note here.
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
In Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, everyone in Ernie’s family has (as the title suggests) killed someone – including Ernie. He just wishes he’d killed whomever decided to host their family reunion at a ski resort. Surely, in a family of killers, not everyone will make it out of this snowy vacation alive. It’s a modern twist on the classic locked room mystery, where everyone is a perpetrator and the true victim is a mystery. Read my full review of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone here.
The Lake House by Kate Morton
Some people just can’t leave work behind, even on vacation. The Lake House follows Sadie, a police detective on ‘enforced leave’, as she discovers and investigates the decades-old cold case of an infant who went missing from a lakeside mansion during the family’s Midsummer Eve party. Sadie comes across the abandoned house on a run, and can’t help asking questions: what happened to the child? Why was the case unsolved for so long? It turns out, each of the child’s three sisters holds a key that will unlock the answer. Read my full review of The Lake House here.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars is the story of the seemingly-perfect Sinclair family. The Sinclairs appear wealthy, and they certainly have the trappings of wealth – but the irony is that none of them are actually able to support themselves without family money. The wealth, and the power it supposedly affords them, is an illusion. It’s the kids, the teenagers, the protagonists, who see through it all. Only, something happened on their last family vacation, and whatever it was has left Cadence with severe migraines and some kind of trauma-induced amnesia. Why does her mother refuse to tell her what lea to her injury? Read my full review of We Were Liars here.
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