Thrillers and Mysteries for Winter
The best thing about the days getting shorter, and the weather getting colder, is that you have no choice but to shirk all responsibilities and curl up with a good book and a furry companion. There are some truly magical romance, fantasy, and literary fiction books set in wintertime. However, few things compare to the innate claustrophobia and paranoia that a few days snowed in can engender. Stephen King knows this well.
To keep you company on long dark nights, I compiled a list of spooky, creepy, and suspenseful thrillers and mysteries.
(FYI, all recommendations are completely my own, but I may earn a small commission if you purchase a book through a link in this article. Read about my affiliate link policy here).
Snow by John Banville
Snow is as steeped in atmosphere as a strong cup of Irish breakfast tea. A Catholic priest is murdered in an isolated parish in County Wexford, Ireland, and Protestant investigator St. John Strafford is getting nowhere with the tight-lipped locals. As the snow piles up, so do the questions.
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
A year after a devastating confrontation with her best friend, Alex still has writer’s block. Stuck in a dead-end job at an academic publisher, she jumps at a chance to attend a coveted retreat at the home of her favorite author. Determined to have a good time, despite the presence of her ex-friend, things quickly go sour when another participant goes missing. This snowbound thriller is compulsively readable, a little bit gothic, and the perfect winter read.
The Silent Women by Sara Blaedel
Sara Blaedel goes right for the Internet jugular in this terrifying story of a serial rapist. Someone is attacking young women he meets on a dating site - the problem is, even though they all know what he looks like, no one knows who this man really is. It’ll take all of Detective Louise Rick’s best intellectual work to get the man off of Copenhagen’s streets.
FYI - this is a book in translation.
The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza
Murder is nothing unusual in south London. The murder of a gorgeous socialite on the other hand… As she digs deeper into the woman’s past, DI Erika Foster discovers the woman has more in common with three murdered sex workers than initially met the eye. Now it’s a race against an unknown serial killer - while her own career balances on a knife’s edge.
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
A Christmas thriller turned modern classic. A friend group from Oxford gathers in a post-Christmas glow every year, and this year, they’ve chosen a beautiful, isolated resort in the Scottish Highlands. Their vacation quickly goes awry when one of them is murdered on New Year’s Eve. Now, in a mystery style pioneered by …And Then There Were None, they must face each other (and themselves) to stop a murderer.
White Out by Danielle Girard
We don’t get a lot of lady detectives in conservative small towns, which makes White Out refreshing, fascinating, and Fargo-esque. Lily Baker comes to in rural North Dakota in the winter - clearly a victim of a car crash. The same night, detective Kylie Milliard begins her investigation into a body found in a dumpster. These seemingly unrelated incidents unearth a series of bizarre coincidences with a side of danger.
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
Burden, Iowa has been haunted by the horrible murder of a family and kidnapping of its daughter for over 20 years. The otherwise sleepy town has largely moved on, until true crime writer Wylie Lark moves into an old farmhouse to re-investigate the case. Comfortably ensconced in the warm house, a car accident and a small child left in the snow force Wylie outside in the harsh blizzard - and into a confrontation with the secrets of Burden that refuse to stay buried. Taking place in a single night, this snowbound thriller will keep you entranced from the first page.
These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall
If your local version if winter is more monsoon than blizzard, check out These Toxic Things. Los Angelino Mickie Lambert has a charming job. As a digital chronicler of physical objects, her job is more like a scrapbooker than anything else. But when the objects of a seemingly harmless old woman attract mysterious death threats, Mickie unwittingly finds herself in the path of a serial killer.
FYI - this book is by a BIPOC author.
Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson
Few cultures have nailed the winter thriller as well as the Scandinavians. Icelandic Jonasson spins a tale of a remote fishing village in Northern Iceland besieged by mysterious attacks. The lack of sunlight only heightens the confusion of our protagonist - brand new policeman Ari, as he slowly realizes his secrets refuse to stay buried.
FYI - this is a book in translation.
Dead of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones
Though this book is the third in a series it works well as an introduction to the world of former Detroit PD detective August Snow. Authentico Foods founder Ronaldo Ortega doesn’t have much time left - and is being pressured to sell his beloved business to a shady entity. Ortega calls in Snow to help him out of his predicament, and possibly save the soul of Mexicantown itself.
FYI - this book is by a BIPOC author.
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
Vermont is a classic setting for Hallmark winter romances - why not a winter thriller? The past comes back in this story chronicling a teenager’s search for clues in her sister’s bizarre disappearance. This chilling thriller has some serious ghost overtones and a delightfully mournful edge. If you liked The Dollhouse Murders as a kid, this thriller is for you.
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
I don’t know how Kate Racculia made The Shining playful - but somehow, she did. Minnie Graves is forced to face the hotel where she witnessed a murder 15 years ago - and now, a student at a music competition has gone missing from the same room. Peppered with wry and silly moments, Racculia nonetheless pulls out a compelling, non-cheesy mystery.
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Flavors of Station Eleven and The Only Good Indians permeate this inventive novel. An isolated Anishinaabe community is gearing up for a tough winter, when outsiders begin to trickle in, desperate to escape southern territories descending into chaos. In this delicately wrought thriller, Rice imagines how our communities can be made better by falling apart.
FYI - this book is by a BIPOC author.
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Historical fiction lovers: this one’s for you. Based on the doomed Franklin Expedition, Dan Simmons imagines how the events of the disastrous expedition through the Northwest passage may have played out for the men onboard the eponymous HMS Terror. Now a series on AMC, The Terror is still worth immersing yourself in the written word.
In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Aggrieved gumshoe and unwitting amateur sleuth Clare and Russ unite for the first time in this claustrophobic mystery. Newcomer to small town New York, Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson, already has a rocky road ahead of her. As the parish’s first female priest and a former army pilot, the congregation doesn’t know what to make with her. Suspicion only mounts when Clare finds a baby on her church steps - and its mother is found murdered.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
It’s true, everyone in Ernest Cunningham’s family has killed someone. How? Read to find out. Set in a snowstorm at a ski resort in Australia, this book is wry, funny, twisty, and delightful, especially for anyone with a family that loves and frustrates in equal measure.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Quirky, prickly, and a touch otherworldly, Drive Your Plow is for all the happily curmudgeonly weirdos out there. Semi-recluse Janina is perfectly content to while away her winter days translating William Blake and studying astrology. Until her neighbor winds up dead. This book is fundamentally a charming whodunit - with deeper themes and you-could-pinch-them characters.
FYI - this is a book in translation.
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
This stunning debut is perfect for fans of Stephen Graham Jones. The Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota has fallen through the justice system’s cracks - and Virgil Wounded Horse has taken it upon himself to fill those cracks up. When his nephew becomes addicted to heroin, Virgil is determined to protect his community - at any cost.
FYI - this book is by a BIPOC author.
There are lots more books that qualified for this list (Still Life, The Only Good Indians) that weren’t included because I included them on my list of books to read in Autumn! Get more inspiration there.
