10 Binge-Worthy Thrillers Like First Lie Wins

None Of This Is True, Lisa Jewell 

None Of This Is True is the runner-up for Goodreads Choice Best Mystery & Thriller (2023) – it’s not for the faint of heart. 

On her 45th birthday, popular podcaster Alix Summers meets Josie Fair, an unassuming woman who also happens to be celebrating her birthday. A few days later, Alix runs into Josie again outside Alix’s children’s school, and tells Alix she might be an interesting topic for her podcast. Despite finding her unsettling, Alix is drawn into Josie’s strange and complicated life and can’t help but keep producing her podcast. Until Josie disappears, leaving Alix as the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her and her family’s lives under mortal threat. 

Read this one for book club and use our None of This is True discussion guide.

The Housemaid, Freida McFadden

Like our favorite morally gray character in First Lie Wins, this protagonist is not who she seems to be. Desperate for a fresh start, she takes a job as a housemaid in the Winchester’s home. She spends her days admiring the life the Winchesters lead while ignoring the increasing red flags – until she discovers her room in the attic only locks from the outside. 

But the Winchesters don’t know who she is or what she’s capable of. 

Read this one for book club and use our discussion guide for The Housemaid.

The Teacher, Freida McFadden 

Freida McFadden is so good we had to add her to this list twice. 

The Teacher is a chilling story of dark secrets and long-overdue revenge. Eve lives a good life with her supposedly perfect husband, Nate, a math teacher at the local high school. Everything is right where it should be, except for the scandal involving a teacher and student that rocked Caseham High last year. 

At the center of this scandal is the student Addie, who can’t be trusted. She lies, hurts people, and destroys lives – but Evie knows that all rumors aren’t always true. Addie’s hiding a secret that could destroy her, and she’ll do anything to keep it hidden. 

Homecoming, Kate Morton 

Homecoming by Kate Morton will take you on an adventure that spans generations.

This novel starts with the unsolved murder of the Turner family in 1959 but picks up sixty years later when our main character, Jess, is desperate for answers. Like in First Lie Wins, Homecoming asks how far we’ll go for love, to protect the lies we tell, and if we can ever really go home again. 

We’ve also got a book club guide for Homecoming. In addition, this book is set in Australia. If that’s a setting that appeals to you, we’ve got a gigantic list of books set in Oz.

The Other Mothers, Katherine Faulkner

Freelance journalist Tash is drawn to the mysterious death of a young nanny in the hopes of both a career boost as a journalist and new mom friends. The sleek, sophisticated, and wealthy moms of the neighborhood welcome Tash into their circle, and she’s immediately drawn to their seemingly perfect lives. But when another woman is found dead, it’s clear there’s more going on than she initially thought. The more Tash investigates, the more secrets are revealed. 

Similar to First Lie Wins, The Other Mothers is a page-turner you won’t be able to put down. 

The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave

If you devoured First Lie Wins like I did, your next read should be The Last Thing He Told Me. 

Before Hannah’s husband, Owen, disappeared, he smuggled a note that only said, “Protect her.” Hannah knew “her” was Bailey, Owen’s 16-year-old daughter who wants nothing to do with her new stepmom. After the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, and the FBI and US Marshal arrive at Hannah’s house unannounced, she and Bailey realize Owen isn’t who they thought and set out on their journey for the truth. 

Use our book club guide for The Last Thing He Told Me to discuss the book with your friends.

The Maid by Nita Prose 

This Clue-like mystery is great for anyone who enjoyed First Lie Wins. 

Molly Gray, with her odd but unique perspective on life shaped by her late gran’s simple rules, is trying to navigate the complexities of the world by herself. To cope, she throws herself into her work as a hotel maid, where she thrives thanks to her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette. 

But Molly’s ordinary life is turned upside down when she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find his room a mess and him dead in the bed. Thanks to Molly’s unusual demeanor, she quickly finds herself as the lead suspect in his murder investigation and is caught in a web of deception. Molly and her friends now have to race to find the real killer before it’s too late. 

…and here’s our discussion guide for The Maid.

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn 

If you love thrillers, chances are you’ve come across Gillian Flynn before. Her most famous novel, Gone Girl, is great for readers who loved the constant surprises in First Lie Wins. 

On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick and Amy Dunne’s seemingly perfect marriage takes a dark turn when Amy vanishes. Suspicions quickly mount against Nick, fueled by revelations from Amy’s diary and mysterious clues, as he finds himself questioning their relationship. With pressure building from the police, media, and Amy’s family, Nick’s evasiveness and questionable behavior take him from golden boy husband-of-the-year to prime suspect. Nick might be odd, but is he really a killer?

No One Can Know, Kate Alice Marshall 

Like Evie in First Lie Wins, Emma hasn’t told her husband much about her past – all he knows is that her parents are dead, and she doesn’t speak to her sisters. But when they lose their apartment and source of income, and Emma discovers she’s pregnant, the confessions start. Emma has one more asset: her parent’s house, that she owns jointly with her estranged sisters. They can’t sell the house, but they can live in it. 

But returning home means Emma has to reveal more secrets than she wants, like how her parent’s home is a stately mansion and the place where they were murdered. And how some people say that Emma did it. 

As Emma struggles to reconnect with her old family while holding her new one together, she begins to realize some things are better left unsaid. 

The New Couple in 5B, Lisa Unger 

The final binge-worthy thriller on this list is The New Couple in 5B. 

Rosie and Chad are barely making ends meet in New York City until they get great news: Chad’s late uncle left them his luxury apartment in Murray Hill. Their glamorous new apartment is the epitome of old New York charm. You’d almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade. 

Once Rosie and Chad settle in, they realize their once-welcoming neighbors have more going on than meets the eye. Why is the doorman always present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes been committed in the building over the years?

Everything comes to a head when a neighbor is found dead. Rosie now has to fight for the truth before she, too, falls under that dangerous spell.