Top 10 Suspense Books for Adults — Latest 2026 List

WELCOME TO BLACKWOOD INSTITUTE.HOME TO THE DANGEROUS AND DISTURBED.Brooklyn West, a convicted murderer and diagnosed Schizophrenic, is given an offer she can't refuse-attend the prestigious Blackwood Institute and complete its three-year experimental program, or rot behind bars for the rest of her life.The deal is simple.Or so she thought.Within the institute's blood-soaked walls lies a harrowing reality, painted as a medical marvel to the outside world.Brooklyn doesn't care what terrors await.She has one mission; to end her own life.Four broken fellow patients are determined to derail her plans. All carrying secrets of their own, Kade, Hudson, Eli and Phoenix will stop at nothing to save Brooklyn from herself.Together, they must fight to survive Blackwood's horrors.Even if it means becoming the monsters themselves.Get all three books in the internationally bestselling Blackwood Institute series for one price, plus three brand new bonus scenes and an exclusive 9,000 word extended epilogue set after BI #3.This is a dark, why choose romance trilogy with morally grey antiheroes, a fierce, scarred heroine embracing her inner darkness and mind-bending plot twists from start to finish.

"Exquisite Corpses combines the elements of a classic mystery with a to-the-death struggle in the vein of The Purge or Hunger Games." --FORBES Every five years on Halloween, the wealthiest families in America play a game. Twelve of the deadliest people in the world are dropped into a small town with just one goal: last killer standing wins. For the citizens of Oak Valley, Maine - this year's unlucky arena - the goal is much simpler. They must survive the night. Experience a comics event like no other from the minds of James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth) & Michael Walsh (The Silver Coin, Universal Monsters: Frankenstein), as they lead a group of the most exciting voices in the industry. In this blood-soaked first volume, James & Michael are joined by Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian), Marianna Ignazzi (Catwoman), and Valentine De Landro (Bitch Planet) to collaborate & compete to determine who wins... and who dies. Collects issues #1-3.About the AuthorJAMES TYNION IV is the writer of Batman, and many other titles for DC Comics, including Detective Comics, Justice League Dark, and the New York Times best selling Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy. He is the co-creator of Wynd, Something is Killing the Children, Memetic, and the GLAAD award winning series, The Woods. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY with his partner and their nice old dog. Michael Walsh is an Eisner Award-winning artist and writer from Southern Ontario, Canada. In 2013, Michael broke into comics with the Image Comics book series COMEBACK. Shortly after, Michael contributed art on a follow-up comic to the hit television series The X-Files for IDW. Then, in the following years, he worked primarily with Marvel Comics on superhero properties such as Spider-Man, The Avengers and the X-Men. He also adapted the Star Wars film The Last Jedi as a comic book mini-series. And created art for the DC/Dark Horse crossover event comic, Black Hammer/Justice League. In 2021, Michael returned to creator-owned comics, creating the hit ongoing Image series THE SILVER COIN and the viral webcomic The Sleep Stories. In 2022, he released his middle-grade fantasy original graphic novel The Oates & The Elphyne, published by Humanoids BIG. Pornsak Pichetshote started his career as a Thai-American rising star editor at DC's Vertigo imprint, his books being nominated for dozens of Eisner awards -- from the award-winning Daytripper to critical darling Sweet Tooth. He left Vertigo to become an executive in DC Entertainment's media team, where he started and oversaw DC's TV department. His critical and commercial horor book INFIDEL marked his first major work as a comics writer. His current work with Image Comics is the Eisner- and Harvey-winning THE GOOD ASIAN, which he's currently adapting for television with James Wan's Atomic Monster. Marianna Ignazzi is an Italian comic artist based in Rome. Ignazzi made her debut in a cartoon strip on the second issue of Mostri from Bugs Comics. This was followed by Fuori la Notte and Malattie D'Amore for I Ragazzi di Pasteur series from Carocci Editore. For Edizioni Star Comics, she illustrated Il ritratto di Dorian Gray in I Maestri del Mistero series. Since 2016 she's been working on the series Julia by Sergio Bonelli Editore. Ignazzi has also illustrated comic book series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated original series An Unkindness of Ravens from BOOM! Studios. Valentine De Landro is a Canadian comic book artist, illustrator, and designer. His credits include titles from Marvel, DC Comics, IDW, Valiant, and Dark Horse. He's known for Marvel Knights: 4 and X-Factor. He is the co-creator of Bitch Planet with Kelly Sue DeConnick.

THE #1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON, WITH MORE THAN 85 MILLION COPIES SOLD "Blockbuster perfection . . . a gleefully erudite suspense novel." --The New York Times "A pulse-quickening, brain-teasing adventure." --People While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci--clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle--while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move--the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever. Robert Langdon returns in The Lost Symbol, Inferno, Origin, and The Secret of Secrets (coming soon)!About the AuthorDan Brown is the author of numerous #1 international bestsellers, including Origin, Inferno, The Lost Symbol, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, and Digital Fortress.

A U.S. Congressman's daughter is murdered in small town Frederick, MD. Jake Addison, an ambitious young Assistant District Attorney desperately wants the case assignment as it will launch his fledgling career into overdrive.His boss, District Attorney Nick Redding, has other ideas. With high ambitions of his own, he assigns the case to a less experienced prosecutor in order to keep his young protégé in check. . Seasoned homicide detective CJ Drennen leads the investigation, and quickly develops several potential suspects. The case takes a dramatic turn when a well-liked police sergeant emerges as the prime suspect after his DNA is found at the crime scene. Seems like an open and shut development for the prosecution... but is it? A tale of power, blind ambition, and intrigue that will keep the reader guessing right up to an ending that no one will see coming.

Sammy Carrara, Jr. has been waiting for twelve agonizing hours to find out if the jury will find him not guilty so he can be set free, or guilty and die in the electric chair. He had moved from Tampa to Anna Maria Island to start a new life as a charter boat captain and get away from the bad influences that landed him in prison. But it is the late Seventies and reefer madness is sweeping across the country. Unable to resist the lure of big money and his thirst for adventure, he gets involved in pot smuggling off the West Coast of Florida. Things go south, and he finds himself charged with the first degree murder of a deputy sheriff. Sammy calls on his old friends, Ybor City private investigators Benjamin Blanc and his partner Chino, to assist his lawyer Mark Hammer to try to save his life. He insists he is being framed. The prosecutors claim they have a mountain of evidence, including the murder weapon, to convict him, and strap him into Old Sparky, Florida's infamous electric chair. Getting ready for trial, Blanc and Chino travel from New Orleans to Key West, searching for witnesses that will prove Sammy's alibi. Along the way they encounter a stunning Bourbon Street stripper, and a collection of shifty, offbeat characters. The journey turns hazardous and eventually deadly, leaving them having to defend themselves from mysterious enemies, bent on doing them harm. The hard-fought trail takes unexpected twists and turns. The tenacious prosecutors present a compelling case that Sammy had the motive, the means, and the opportunity to commit the crime. Fighting against insurmountable odds, Hammer, Blanc and Chino battle to the end trying to save Sammy's life. Now, Sammy's fate is in the hands of the jury, and no one can predict what the jury will decide.

In this 5th installment of the bestselling mystery series, Cleopatra Fox gets entangled in a web of betrayal and blackmail that leaves the high society matchmakers scandalized. When a notorious cad is bludgeoned to death with a candlestick in the library at the most important ball of the London social season, Cleo finds herself in the prime position to solve the crime. After all, she stumbled across the body soon after the victim's demise and is a witness to the evening's events. But when a footman is arrested with a stolen painting in his possession, she finds her services are not required. Yet several things don't add up, and the lead detective is convinced the man he was forced to arrest isn't guilty. With the aid of Harry Armitage and her friends from the Mayfair Hotel, Cleo sets out to uncover the truth. They're soon neck-deep in the scandalous secrets the victim unearthed about members of society. Secrets that could ruin marriages, reputations and futures if exposed. But which secret is worth killing for? And which suspect is hiding the most explosive secret of all?

Scandal, secrets and bawdy photographs are uncovered when the wife of a politician is murdered. Untangle the lies with Cleo and her friends and find the killer. When Harry Armitage passes an investigation to Cleo involving adultery, they both think it will end in divorce. But when the client's wife is found stabbed in her drawing room, it becomes clear that marital problems are only part of the story. Reluctantly joining forces, Cleo and Harry realize the wrong person was targeted, but the police think they have their killer and refuse to look elsewhere. Taking on the investigation themselves, they peel back the lies and expose the sordid details of a marriage in tatters, and see firsthand how gossip and politics fuel the machinations of high society. Meanwhile, at the Mayfair Hotel, expansion plans are on the menu, causing tensions to heat up in the kitchen between the chef and Cleo's uncle. To make matters worse, Cleo's family notices her spending less time at the hotel and more time investigating - and some members don't like it. About the AuthorArcher, C. J.: - Over 2 MILLION books sold!C.J. Archer is the USA Today bestselling author of over 50 historical fantasy and historical mystery novels as well as historical romances set in Elizabethan England.She has loved history and books for as long as she can remember and feels fortunate that she found a way to combine the two. She has at various times worked as a librarian, IT support person and technical writer but in her heart has always been a fiction writer. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband, 2 children and Coco the black and white cat.Subscribe to C.J.'s newsletter to be notified when she releases a new book, as well as get access to exclusive content and subscriber-only giveaways. Join via her website: www.cjarcher.com

It was the most fashionable place to stay in London, until murder made a reservation. Solve the puzzle in this new mystery from USA Today bestselling author of the Glass and Steele series.December 1899. After the death of her beloved grandmother, Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxury hotel owned by her estranged uncle in the hopes of putting hardship and loneliness behind her. But the poisoning of a guest on Christmas eve throws her new life, and the hotel, into chaos.Cleo quickly realizes no one can be trusted, not Scotland Yard and especially not the hotel's charming assistant manager. With the New Year's Eve ball approaching fast and the hotel's reputation hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the ball, and the hotel itself, are ruined. But catching a murderer proves just as difficult as navigating the hotel's hierarchy and the peculiarities of her family.Can Cleo find the killer before the new century begins? Or will someone get away with murder?

As fashion designer to London's elite, she had an eye for detail and a flare for the dramatic. But there's nothing stylish about her cold-blooded murder.With the social season just around the corner, the women in Cleo's family are having new outfits made by the most sought-after designer in the city. Madame Poitiers is bold, self-absorbed and not French, despite her claims.When Cleo stumbles on her dead body in the salon, she is in a unique position to gather clues and speak to witnesses. But she doesn't expect to find Harry Armitage's business card in Madame's possession. What is the alluring private detective's connection to the victim? And why is he avoiding Cleo?As she peeks behind the veil of lies, Cleo uncovers the secrets Madame Poitiers tried to hide. But which secret led to her murder? And which one of the suspects turned the fashion icon into a fashion victim?

Gripping and impossible to put down, The Last Night at Tremore Beach is an atmospheric and chilling psychological thriller sure to appeal to fans of the novels of Stephen King and S.J. Watson.An idyllic summer holiday on the Irish coast becomes a living nightmare with shattering consequences for a world-renowned composer and his loved ones in this "truly haunting page-turner" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Recently divorced and in the middle of a creative crisis, Peter Harper decides to take shelter on the scenic and isolated Tremore Beach in Ireland. But one stormy night he is struck by lightning and, as a result, begins experiencing terrible headaches and strange dreams. As the line between his dreams and reality begin to blur, Peter realizes that his bizarre visions may be a warning of horror still to come...About the AuthorSantiago, Mikel: - Mikel Santiago is the author of several short stories and novellas. His short story Historia de un crimen perfecto became a #1 bestseller on several online platforms. Santiago currently resides in Amsterdam and spends his time writing, developing software, and playing guitar.