If you liked
Books like In the Woods
by Tana French
In the Woods launched Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad and rewrote what a detective novel could do: a cop working a child's murder that echoes his own buried trauma, written like literary fiction with a case attached. If you want more crime that haunts you rather than just clicking shut, these are the picks.
The shortlist
What to read next
Broken Harborby Tana French
“Broken Harbor by Tana French 2012 review. A Dublin family is murdered in their half-finished suburban-development house. Fourth Dublin Murder Squad book and French's structural masterwork.”
The Silent Patientby Alex Michaelides
“The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 2019 review. A forensic psychotherapist works with an artist who has not spoken since the night she shot her husband. The thriller debut that topped the New York Times bestseller list for over a year and became the most-discussed contemporary psychological thriller of its decade.”
The Secret Historyby Donna Tartt
“The Secret History by Donna Tartt 1992 review. A new student at a Vermont college is drawn into an exclusive Greek-studies seminar and the murder that the small clique conceals. The novel that defined the dark-academia register before it had a name.”
Big Little Liesby Liane Moriarty
“Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 2014 review. Three mothers at an Australian elementary school converge on a kindergarten Trivia Night where someone will die. The contemporary domestic-suspense novel that defined the late-2010s book-club shelf.”
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastleby Stuart Turton
“The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 2018 review. Aiden Bishop wakes in eight different bodies at a 1920s country house and must solve a murder. Costa First Novel Award winner.”
The Lincoln Lawyerby Michael Connelly
“The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly 2005 review. Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who works out of the back of a Lincoln Town Car, takes a case that pulls him into something larger. The novel that launched a series and a film franchise.”
FAQ
Common questions about In the Woods read-alikes
- I want more Tana French.
- Broken Harbor is the pick, another Dublin Murder Squad novel where the detective comes apart along with the case, set in a half-built ghost estate after the crash. Same literary crime, same slow psychological dread. French is the whole reason to read on.
- What is the closest literary-crime match?
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It puts a death at the center and cares more about the psychology of the people around it than the mechanics of the crime, exactly French's priority. The Silent Patient is the twistier, more plot-driven option.
- I want a mystery with a community full of secrets.
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty opens with a death and rewinds through a town's worth of lies. Sharper and funnier than French, but it shares the everyone-is-hiding-something engine.
- I want a clever, puzzle-box mystery.
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is an ingenious time-loop whodunit, and The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly is the propulsive procedural pick. Both scratch the solve-it itch from different angles.
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