A key characteristic of psychological suspense novels is that they are full of twists, surprises and uncertainty – we never quite know who is telling the truth or who we can trust. The psychological thriller is part of the broader crime genre, but these novels have a strong focus on the mysteries that lurk in the human mind, and the more sinister side of our closest relationships. The motivations and psychology of the characters take centre stage.
Unlike in police procedurals, in psychological suspense the character who plays ‘detective’ is frequently not an actual police officer. In my latest novel, The Perfect Patient, Tara Black is a psychologist who investigates when a young woman charged with murder claims to have amnesia. As Tara begins to unravel the mind of this troubled teenage girl, she finds herself up against an opponent who will go to any lengths to stop her uncovering the truth, but she also has to deal with the darkness in her own past.
Here are five novels which inspired my love of this genre:
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
With gothic undertones and its domestic setting, this novel was my first introduction to the world of psychological suspense. Much of the action takes place inside Manderley, a remote country house where a new bride – whose name we never learn – becomes increasingly isolated, insecure and concerned about her new husband. The memory of Rebecaa, her husband’s deceased first wife, casts a sinister influence over the present while the forbidding housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, conspires to make the young bride’s life a misery.
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
One of my favourite crime novels, this book is a masterclass in twisted family dynamics. Journalist Camille Preaker reluctantly returns to her hometown to report on the murder of two young girls. She has been estranged from her mother for years and has a precocious 13-year-old half-sister she barely knows. Ultimately, Camille has to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past tragedy to solve the mystery.
- Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
This psychological thriller is packed with unreliable narrators, twists and reveals, and literally nothing is as it seems. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives at Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, tasked with finding an escaped murderer named Rachel Solando. As a killer hurricane bears down on the island, the questions mount. How has a barefoot woman escaped from a locked room? And what really goes on in Ward C? The lead character desperately tries to hang on to his sanity as the book hurtles towards its devastating conclusion.
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
This is a great example of a crime novel where the central character becomes iconic. At the time I first came across this book, which was translated into English in 2008, Lisbeth Salanderwas a female heroine unlike any I had encountered before: socially impaired, spiky inside and out, with heavy make-up, tattoos and piercings. The story centres around Lisbeth’s relationship with journalist Blomkvist to crack open the cold case of a missing girl and together they uncover secrets that have festered in a wealthy family through generations. The novel also grapples with societal issues including the exploitation of women. The original Swedish title was Men who Hate Women. A few years and a trilogy later, Lisbeth has become part of the mainstream culture.
5. Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek
This novel has all the elements of psychological suspense: an isolated location, a disturbed psychiatrist, echoes of mental illness and unreliable narrators – all of which combine to create the effect of the blurring of fantasy and reality. Twelve-year-old Josy, who has an unexplained medical illness, vanishes from her doctor’s office. Four years later her father, psychiatrist Viktor Larenz, has retreated to an isolated North Sea island in order to deal with the tragedy. He is visited by a novelist who suffers from an unusual form of schizophrenia. All the characters she creates for her books become real to her and in her last novel she wrote about a young girl with an unknown illness who disappeared without a trace. Could these delusions hold the key to Josy’s disappearance? Viktor agrees to take on her therapy in a final attempt to uncover the truth behind what happened to his daughter. As a reader I never quite found my bearing right up until the final satisfying series of twists and reveals.
About Luana Lewis
Luana Lewis is a clinical psychologist and writer of crime thrillers. Her fiction is inspired by professional experience. A specialist in anxiety disorders and teacher of advanced psychotherapy, she has worked in the NHS and at a specialist clinic for victims of trauma. She now writes and runs a private practice in the London area.
The Perfect Patient is out with Bookouture 28th September.
