Spine-Chilling Lakeside Thriller Books To Read Soon
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Looking for your next pulse-pounding read? If you’re drawn to misty mornings and remote lake houses that promise peace but deliver suspense, you’re in for these book picks.
There’s something deliciously deceptive about lakeside.
Maybe it’s the still water. The illusion of peace. The idea that nothing bad could happen somewhere so beautiful. And that’s exactly what makes it the perfect setting for mystery and psychological suspense.
Whether it’s a body surfacing beneath a boat dock, an anonymous tip that upends a quiet community, or the re-opening of a forgotten lakeside library, these stories will draw you in with their charm—and trap you with their secrets.
Here are my favorite books set near a lake, psychological thrillers readers will love.
Happy Reading!
If you’re looking for all the upcoming books, take a look at
Best Thrillers Set at the Lake
The Lake Escape
by Jamie Day
Publication Date: July 15, 2025
Three lifelong friends return to their Vermont lake houses with teenagers, tension, and secrets. David unveils a flashy renovation and a younger girlfriend, only for her to disappear after a heated fight. As suspicion spreads, the group questions how well they truly know one another. The lake has a dark history of unsolved vanishings, and it may not be done claiming lives.
The Lake of Lost Girls
by Katherine Greene
Publication Date: November 5, 2024
In 1998, Jessica vanishes from her college campus just as her life unravels. Decades later, her sister Lindsey is driven by grief and guilt to uncover the truth behind Jessica’s disappearance. With the help of a hit true crime podcast, she digs into long-buried secrets and reopens wounds the town hoped to forget. As the lake reveals the bodies of other missing women, the mystery spirals into chilling territory.
The House Across the Lake
by Riley Sager
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
Fans of Final Girls won’t miss this terrific thriller by bestselling author Riley Sager about an actress, Casey Fletcher, who is still reeling from her husband’s untimely death and retreats to her family’s lake house for solitude. But when she begins watching the couple across the lake, a harmless distraction turns sinister. After the wife disappears, Casey suspects something darker is hiding beneath the surface. As fishy rumors swirl and paranoia grows, nothing is quite what it seems.
Stranger in the Lake
by Kimberly Belle
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Charlotte thought marrying Paul meant a fresh start, even if their marriage stirred up gossip in their lakeside town. But when a woman’s body surfaces where Paul’s first wife drowned, the whispers grow louder—and more dangerous. Also, Charlotte knows what she saw: Paul speaking to the woman before she died, despite his lies to the police.
The Lake House
by Kate Morton
Publication Date: October 20, 2015
In 1930s Cornwall, sixteen-year-old Alice Edevane dreams of becoming a writer—until her baby brother vanishes during a grand summer party. The tragedy shatters her family, forcing them to abandon their beloved lakeside home. Years later, London detective Sadie Sparrow, on leave in Cornwall, discovers the forgotten estate and is drawn into the mystery. As her investigation reignites Alice’s buried memories and the past surfaces, both must confront the choices that shaped their lives forever.
Leave No Trace
by Mindy Mejia
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
When a boy resurfaces after ten years lost in Minnesota’s remote Boundary Waters, he brings more questions than answers. Locked in a psychiatric facility, he refuses to speak—until Maya Stark, a language therapist with her emotional scars, is assigned to his case. Their fragile connection grows, stirring something dangerous and personal in Maya.
Save for Later
The Last House on Needless Street
by Catriona Ward
Publication Date: September 28, 2021
Tucked beside a haunting lake and a forest full of secrets stands a house like no other—silent, boarded up, and hiding something dark. Inside lives Ted, a man with a broken past, Lauren, his daughter, and Olivia, a sharp-eyed cat. When Dee moves into the house next door, searching for her missing sister, dark secrets begin to stir, and the more she digs, the more twisted the truth becomes.
The Cabin at the End of the World
by Paul Tremblay
Publication Date: June 26, 2018
During a peaceful lakeside getaway, seven-year-old Wen and her dads are confronted by four armed strangers. The intruders insist they aren’t there to hurt anyone, but demand the family make an unthinkable choice. As tension spirals, Eric and Andrew must question reality, each other, and the line between belief and delusion.
The Summer House
by James Patterson & Brendan DuBois
Publication Date: June 8, 2020
When seven people are found murdered at a rundown lake house, suspicion centers on a group of Army Rangers recently returned from combat. Major Jeremiah Cook is sent to investigate, but the case is clouded by misleading evidence and local resistance. As the truth unravels, Cook must confront both deadly secrets and the ghosts of his past.
Lakeside Thrillers Series Debut
The Last Party
by Clare Mackintosh
Publication Date: August 4, 2022
Xavier, a charismatic veterinarian, wins over Samantha despite his knack for saying the wrong things, leading to an unforgettable date. When Samantha reveals her family’s crisis, it threatens their budding relationship, leaving them to ponder if their brief encounter could evolve into something lasting.
The Lakeside Library
by Holly Danvers
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
Rain Wilmot heads home to Lofty Pines after her father’s sudden death and stumbles into running the family’s informal library by the lake. But when the re-opening of the library leads to the discovery of the body of Thornton Hughes, Rain is pulled into a decades-old mystery involving a young boy’s disappearance.
Stillhouse Lake
by Rachel Caine
Publication Date: July 1, 2017
Gwen Proctor thought escaping her past meant starting over at the remote Stillhouse Lake, where no one knew her name. Once known as Gina Royal, the unsuspecting wife of a serial killer, she now lives with constant fear, suspicion, and a loaded gun. When a body surfaces near her new home, Gwen knows it’s no coincidence—and that someone wants her blamed.
Here are some great picks that prove the calm of a lakeside view can be seriously deceiving. From hidden bodies to long-buried dark secrets and unexpected primary suspects, these stories will keep you turning pages long into the night. Got a favorite lakeside mystery? Share your go-to thrillers in the comments—I’m always looking for my next chilling read!