Trouble in Paradise: 10 Darkly Comedic Books like The White Lotus

What happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas. That’s how the Honolulu locals feel when the owner of a Vegas catering company tries to steal customers from a local-owned business.

Joseph’s father Sid sees the move as an invasion—one that must be stopped. As Joseph works to protect the family business and defend their name, he finds himself in a world he never knew existed.

Dysfunctional producers, lap-dance addicts, New Age assistants.

But when the owners from Sin City decide to hire an ecstasy-fueled ex-Marine hitman, the battle between caterers escalates until everything spirals deliriously out of control.

Police Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has never been to America. Why would she? She’s read the books and seen the movies.

But when her brother is implicated in a murder, she has to leave Norway to help him. Sigrid knew America was weird, but she wasn’t prepared for exactly how weird it could be.

Between the political minefields of both the government and academia, police departments that don’t exactly want her help, and difficulty navigating the backwoods of the Adirondacks, she just might be in over her head.

Still, Sigrid will face the weirdness of America until she uncovers the truth—before it’s too late.

Joseph Askern is an English teacher in a village day school.

Only, life is not as tranquil as he would hope. He harbors fantasies of women that would be quite the scandal if they got out.

This is why when the father of his most hopelessly delinquent student obtains career-ending photos of Joseph with a call girl, he has no choice but to submit to the blackmail. At least he can finally put to use his obsession with the estate of Averingerett.

But getting into the home isn’t the problem. It’s getting out free of danger, scandal, and unexpected consequences that might do Joseph once and for all.

Alison Waxman Koff has a good life. At least, she did. But when her husband loses everything in the stock market and decides to go back to his first wife, that life falls apart.

She tries to sell her furs and even goes as far as doing her own nails. Unfortunately, that does little to keep the bank from threatening to take her home.

So, she does the only thing she can: she becomes a maid for a sleazy celebrity biographer. Things just might work out.

Until her only client is murdered and she becomes the prime suspect. Rescued from a manhunt by a hot photographer, Alison has to navigate her growing attraction while staying one step ahead of the killer from a sailboat that might be the only safe haven she’s ever known.

Gascoyne has been known to spend entire weeks in his car. It’s easy to eat and sleep there, and he can run his business on his mobile phone.

But when a business associate is murdered and the killer slithers away in tree-sloth costume, finding them becomes Gascoyne’s new obsession.

Navigating his southern California terrain isn’t as easy as it used to be—especially if you don’t want to get out of your car.

Reporter Mary Llewellyn is recovering from surgery. She embarks on a cruise to boost her rest and relaxation. At first, everything is placid and serene.

Her fellow passengers are pleasant, and there’s always a friendly game of bridge to help pass the time. But when a wealthy businessman drinks a deadly cocktail and dies at the card table, panic ripples through the ship.

Then another passenger is thrown overboard. This is not the vacation Mary signed up for.

And if she wants to see land again, she has to put her investigative skills to use to find the killer.

The “senile squad” is back. This group might seem like they gather at Bar Lume to play cards.

The truth is, they’re busy doing anything but.

After all, there’s analyzing and gossiping and postulating on every coming and going of the residents in their small Tuscan town. When a murder happens, the crew can’t help but insert their two cents on who may have committed the crime.

After all, who better to see through a charade than the old-timers who have perfected their skill playing three-card monte?

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker are Queen Bees of Fire Island.

Every summer, while vacationing with their husbands, who have been visiting Fire Island since they were kids, the women dominate the beach and tennis courts, manipulating anyone and everyone to get what they want.

But when a body is discovered on the boardwalk, all the hidden secrets, backstabbing, and grudges threaten to dismantle the picture-perfect illusions they’ve all worked so hard to create.

None of them are good people. But is someone capable of murder?

Nine strangers check into a remote health resort. The reasons for their visit vary.

Some want to lose weight, others a stress reset. And some can’t quite admit why they checked in—not even to themselves.

And at the head of the retreat is the charismatic owner. Should they submit to her strange remedies? Or should they run screaming? 

By the time any of them discover the answer to those questions, it just might be too late.

The first time Lucie Churchill meets George Zao on the island of Capri, she can’t stand him.

Not when he gives her the room with the better view. Or is interested in Curzio Malaparte. Not even when he kisses her. So, when she runs into him years later in East Hampton, the last thing she needs is to find herself back in his orbit.

Soon, she’s lying to her family, her finance, the board of her Fifth Avenue apartment, and most of all, herself.

She can’t stand George Zao. So, why is he threatening to take over her world and her heart?