Cover of Verity by Colleen Hoover

5 book recommendations

Books Like “Verity” by Colleen Hoover

If you were hooked by the chilling obsession, dark domestic secrets, and shocking twists of Colleen Hoover’s Verity, you are not alone. Readers love its boundary-pushing psychological suspense and deeply unreliable narrators. Dive into our handpicked list of gripping thrillers to discover your next heart-pounding read.

  1. Cover of The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre

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    The Ghostwriter

    by Alessandra Torre

    from a New York Times Bestseller...

    I have three months to write the last book of my life. Three months to confess the details of that day, and how it changed everything for me.

    My name is Helena Ross. I've written fifteen romance novels, ten of which have become international bestsellers. But this one isn't a romance. This novel holds only the truth, which I have run away from for four years. The truth, which I have hidden from the police, from my family, from the world.

    This final book?

    It's my confession.

    Why it's similar

    Both novels revolve around a bestselling female author using a confessional, hidden manuscript to reveal disturbing secrets and family tragedies. Each features a heavy emphasis on unreliable writing, dark deception, and an impending revelation that upends the premise.

    What's different

    Torre's novel leans into emotional catharsis, maternal grief, and redemption rather than explicit gothic romance and escalating domestic danger.

  2. Cover of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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    The Silent Patient

    by Alex Michaelides

    "An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy."
    —Entertainment Weekly

    The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.

    Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

    Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

    Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

    Why it's similar

    Both stories focus on uncovering the truth behind a silent, incapacitated woman accused or suspected of horrific violence through an intimate written account. Both rely heavily on psychological manipulation, shifting perceptions of victimhood, and a climactic twist.

    What's different

    The narrative perspective is clinical and analytical, framed through a male psychotherapist's investigation rather than an erotically charged domestic triangle.

  3. Cover of The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

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    The Wife Upstairs

    by Rachel Hawkins

    The Top 10 New York Times bestseller 'I was completely blown away by The Wife Upstairs. This is a compulsive, irresistible retelling of Jane Eyre with a modern, noir twist - and wow, does it work' Samantha Downing, bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

    Stylist's best paperbacks of 2021 Hello Magazine's best new books released in 2021 A girl looking for love...

    When Jane, a broke dog-walker newly arrived in town, meets Eddie Rochester, she can't believe her luck. Eddie is handsome, rich and lives alone in a beautiful mansion since the tragic death of his beloved wife a year ago.

    A man who seems perfect...

    Eddie can give Jane everything she's always wanted: stability, acceptance, and a picture-perfect life.

    A wife who just won't stay buried...

    But what Jane doesn't know is that Eddie is keeping a secret - a big secret. And when the truth comes out, the consequences are far more deadly than anyone could ever have imagined...

    A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena. 'Really fun update of Jane Eyre that's also deeply satisfying' Stylist

    'A sharp, fresh twist on a classic in this darkly funny, suspenseful story of murder, ambition, and love. Creepy and fast-paced...kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the very last' bestselling author Megan Miranda

    'The Wife Upstairs is everything I'd hoped--sharp, smart, tricky and fast-paced' Kelly Harms, author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

    'Lightening paced, twisty, and great fun' Jessica Knoll, bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive

    What readers are saying about The Wife Upstairs 'I couldn't put this book down! Read it in a day!'

    'The Wife Upstairs has set the standard for this year's thrillers'

    'This was a definite page turner of a novel'

    'Will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page'

    'A must read book full of OMG moments'

    'I felt for sure that I was going to bite my nails off while reading this'

    'Escapism at its finest. A five star read'

    Why it's similar

    Both books feature an outsider woman who enters a secluded, wealthy household, falls for the brooding husband, and gradually uncovers sinister truths regarding his incapacitated or deceased wife. Both explore themes of female competition, dark obsession, and moral ambiguity.

    What's different

    Hawkins incorporates satirical commentary on suburban wealth and class envy, delivering a lighter domestic thriller tone compared to the graphic darkness and visceral shock value of Verity.

  4. Cover of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

    Cover not available

    Behind Closed Doors

    by B.A. Paris

    ***The Million-copy International Bestseller*** 'If you love The Girl on the Train read Behind Closed Doors' Elle

    'Twists our expectations of the entire psychological thriller genre' Guardian

    Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.

    You'd like to get to know Grace better.

    But it's difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.

    Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn't work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

    Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.

    PRAISE FOR BEHIND CLOSED DOORS:

    'If you love The Girl on the Train read Behind Closed Doors' Elle

    'Twists our expectations of the entire psychological thriller genre' Guardian

    'The tension builds almost unbearably' Good Housekeeping

    'This outstanding debut novel will leave you breathless' Bella

    'This one is 2016's answer to Gone Girl. 'Nuff said' Women's Health UK

    'It took me just an afternoon to read this book and by the end, my heart was pounding. If you like fast and frantic stories, you'll love this' The Sun

    'Brilliant, chilling, scary and unputdownable' Lesley Pearse, bestselling author of Without a Trace

    'Behind Closed Doors is an intriguing, sharply gripping debut thriller' Lovereading

    'Behind Closed Doors is both unsettling and addictive, as I raced through the pages to find out Grace's fate. A chilling thriller that will keep you reading long into the night' Mary Kubica, bestselling author of The Good Girl

    Why it's similar

    Both are dark psychological thrillers about seemingly perfect relationships hiding disturbing secrets, featuring claustrophobic domestic settings and escalating tension as the protagonist uncovers a partner’s true nature.

    What's different

    It stays more firmly in the domestic thriller lane without the metafictional manuscript-within-a-book device or the same level of romantic focus found in Verity.

  5. Cover of The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

    Cover not available

    The Turn of the Key

    by Ruth Ware

    “A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.” —Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On

    “This appropriately twisty Turn of the Screw update finds the Woman in Cabin 10 author in her most menacing mode, unfurling a shocking saga of murder and deception.” —Entertainment Weekly

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes this thrilling novel that explores the dark side of technology.

    When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

    What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

    Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman.

    It was everything.

    She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is.

    Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

    Why it's similar

    Both use a confessional, first-person narrative from an isolated woman in a remote house, mixing gothic suspense, secrets from the past, and ambiguity about whether the narrator is trustworthy.

    What's different

    Its suspense hinges more on gothic atmosphere and a classic haunted-house vibe, with less explicit romantic entanglement than Verity, and a more traditional mystery resolution.

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