Books
Claire Douglas: 10 of my favourite thrillers
I love an isolated setting for a book, especially in a thriller. I think it adds to the unease and atmosphere and, if done well, the setting can become a character in its own right. It taps into our primal fear of being in danger in a remote place, where nobody can hear you scream. The following are some of my favourite thrillers, and they each have a claustrophobic and isolated setting.
Breathless by Amy McCulloch
Breathless by Amy McCulloch
What can be more frightening than realising there is a killer on top of an 8,000m mountain? Breathless is about a journalist, Cecily Wong, who has been invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains. As Cecily’s team begin to ascend towards the Death Zone, things start going wrong – a theft and an accident – but when she finds the first body it becomes apparent there is a murderer on the mountain. Breathless is such a chilling, exhilarating, and heart-thumping read, and Amy’s mountaineering experience really shines through.
The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan
The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan
I adored the setting for this original, atmospheric thriller: a rural farm in the Northumbrian countryside which is surrounded by ancient burial grounds. Four couples have arranged to stay in the isolated cabin on the farm for the weekend but one of the friends, Edie, doesn’t show up and, for various reasons, the husbands agree to meet their wives at the farm later on in the day. The three women arrive just as a storm is brewing, cutting them off from the outside world. While unpacking their things they discover a note at the cabin from Edie that says she has killed one of their husbands. The Long Weekend is a fast-paced, tension-filled thriller with a brilliant twist.
The Drift by C J Tudor
The Drift by C J Tudor
This is such an atmospheric and clever dystopian thriller. There is Hannah, a student trapped alongside her classmates on a bus that has crashed into a snow drift; Meg, a cop who is stuck on a cable car in mid-air with five other panicking people; and Carter, who is living in a remote ski chalet called The Retreat where something terrifying lurks outside and people inside start disappearing. In all three scenarios, a snowstorm rages, adding to the sense of claustrophobia. C J Tudor cleverly links the three situations together, creating an edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding and unique thriller that I read over a weekend as I couldn’t put it down.
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Alice Feeney has used one of my favourite books, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, as her inspiration, and has taken it to the next level to create Daisy Darker. Not only do we have a remote island where, during certain times of the year, the tide comes in and isolates the area, but a quirky house on a clifftop in Cornwall, a set of well-drawn characters in the Darker family, and a murderer that’s picking them off one by one. Genuinely terrifying and claustrophobic, the plot is set over one night when secrets and the past are slowly revealed through the use of rhymes left at the scene by the killer, and video tapes of Daisy’s childhood. Emotional and ingenious, this is a thriller I’ll never forget.
I Am Missing by Tim Weaver
I Am Missing by Tim Weaver
This is one of my favourite David Raker thrillers. The concept is so original. Missing persons investigator Raker is approached by a man who has lost his memory. He’s the missing person that Raker has to find. Set partly on a remote island with residents who are all too scared to go beyond an isolated area called The Brink, this is a genuinely terrifying and very clever thriller that had my heart hammering with fear.
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Most of the action in The Family Upstairs takes place inside a gothic mansion in Chelsea. Despite its opulent, faded beauty, it quickly becomes dark, shadowy and sinister thanks to a family who inveigle themselves with the owners, The Lambs, gradually taking over the house. Soon The Lambs, including their children Lucy and Henry, find themselves repressed, trapped and isolated from the community around them. Three people end up dead and a 25-year-old mystery is born. This is a disturbing, chilling and unputdownable thriller with Virginia Andrews vibes. I loved it.
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
I Let You Go has the most brilliant mid-way twist that I never saw coming. Jenna is traumatised and grieving when she runs away from her home in Bristol and heads to the rugged, isolated coast of Wales. You can almost hear the wind whistling in this chilling tale, and Clare Mackintosh really uses the setting well to create that feeling of oppression and fear. A read-in-one-sitting emotional and beautifully written thriller.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
This is an inspired location for a thriller: an imposing hotel high up in the Swiss Alps previously used as a sanatorium for tuberculosis. When an off-duty detective, Elin, and her boyfriend go to visit her brother in the recently converted, swanky new hotel that you can only reach by a funicular railway, you can feel the sense of isolation straight away. Especially when, the day after they arrive, a storm causes an avalanche, leaving some of the guests and staff stranded at the hotel. Then a woman is found murdered, with an ugly, old-fashioned breathing mask, used when the building was a sanatorium, strapped to her face. Then another person goes missing. The local police are unable to reach the remote hotel, so Elin is forced to take charge. But which one of the guests or staff is the killer?
Sleep by C L Taylor
Sleep by C L Taylor
Anna suffers from insomnia due to a past accident that she feels responsible for. She decides to take a job on the remote Scottish island of Rum to try and escape her past. But someone blames Anna for what happened and wants her to pay. Soon one of the guests ends up dead. Could someone staying in Anna’s guest house be more than they seem? This is such a claustrophobic read and we really get the sense of Anna’s deterioration and paranoia as she grapples with no sleep and feelings of guilt. It’s hold-your-breath-tense, chilling and totally compelling.
The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
This psychological thriller is so disturbing it leaves you with that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. A storyline ripped from the headlines: two 11-year-old girls charged with murdering a child. The setting is a fictional coastal town with a funfair but I imagine it in the North of England somewhere, like a smaller, less attractive Blackpool. Even though this isn’t a remote place, Alex Marwood captures that claustrophobic small town feeling so well.
Don’t miss Claire Douglas’ latest thriller, The Wrong Sister
Have you read any of Claire Douglas’ favourite crime books? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
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This is a wonderful list! I’ve read 8 of them and loved them all. Daisy darker is one of my favourite books, Alice feeney is a genius
I have read The Family Upstairs and loved it. I also have several of the titles on my e-reader tbr. I look forward to them.
I have also just ordered Claire’s newest book online and am awaiting delivery.