You never know what's happening behind closed doors—and domestic thrillers give you a glimpse.

Domestic thrillers often focus on women’s storytelling, either by telling women’s stories or narrating with a woman’s perspective in mind. These thrillers explore interpersonal relationship dynamics, often in the home rather than taking place in unfamiliar or sensationalist settings. The plots often revolve around dark themes such as infidelity, money conflicts, and family secrets to enhance a thrilling story with a dynamic tone. 

Often highly relatable as they take place within relationships that function similarly to many women’s lives, domestic thrillers include themes of spousal conflict and family trouble. This is a fantastic transitional genre for fans of romance and realistic fiction novels who are seeking to explore suspenseful, thrilling realms of fiction. Though these novels are sometimes degraded by the masses as being “chick noir” for their appeal to women, many domestic thrillers are high quality literature with award-winning potential. This subgenre is populated by such well-renowned authors such as Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Shari Lapena, and more. 

If you’re ready to explore the cracks in domestic bliss, here are some good places to start: 

• These domestic thriller books will make you read between the lies
• Revelatory books about family secrets
• Mysteries and thrillers about marriages gone wrong

And when you’re done with those, peruse the stories below for more thrilling intrigue.