Fall is right around the corner, so it’s time to pull out the lists of cozy fall reads! I have so many fall book recommendations, such as the ones in this post from 2021, but I have yet to pull together a full list of all the fall books I’ve reviewed on the blog. It’s definitely time!
Table of Contents
Fall Thrillers
There’s just something about a thriller set in the fall that makes them particularly satisfying. It’s spooky season, the air is getting cooler, and I just want to curl up with a warm blanket, my dog, and a good thriller. My current favorite book to recommend for spooky season is Hidden Pictures!
Steve Cavanagh | Kill For Me, Kill For You
Spoilers for Kill For Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh ending. How did Kill For Me, Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh end?
Wendy Corsi Staub | The Other Family
The Plot (from Goodreads):The watcher sees who you are…and knows what you did.It’s the perfect home for the perfect family: pretty Nora Howell, her handsome husband, their two teenage daughters, and lovable dog. As California transplants making a fresh start in Brooklyn, they expected to live in a shoebox, but the brownstone has a huge kitchen, lots of light, and a backyard. The catch: its previous residents were victims of a grisly triple homicide that…
David Ellis | LOOK CLOSER Spoilers
The Plot (from Goodreads): Simon and Vicky couldn’t seem more normal: a wealthy Chicago couple, he a respected law professor, she an advocate for domestic violence victims. A stable, if unexciting marriage. But one thing’s for sure … absolutely nothing is what it seems. The pair are far from normal, and one of them just may be a killer. When the body of a beautiful socialite is found hanging in a mansion in a nearby suburb, Simon…
Lauren Nossett | The Resemblance
The Plot (from Goodreads): On a chilly November morning at the University of Georgia, a fraternity brother steps off a busy crosswalk and is struck dead by an oncoming car. More than a dozen witnesses all agree on two things: The driver looked identical to the victim, and he was smiling. Detective Marlitt Kaplan is first on the scene. An Athens native and the daughter of a UGA professor, she knows all its shameful histories,…
Jessica Knoll | Bright Young Women
The Book: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll September 19, 2023 by S&S/ Marysue Rucci BooksDate read: May 23, 2023 The Characters: PamelaRuth Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from Goodreads): An extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America’s first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree. January 1978….
Riley Sager | The Only One Left
The Book: The Only One Left by Riley SagerPublished June 20, 2023 by DuttonDate read: June 25, 2023 The Characters: KitLenora Hope Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from Goodreads): At seventeen, Lenora HopeHung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast…
Laura Dave | The Last Thing He Told Me
The Book: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura DavePublished: May 2021 by Simon & Schuster Torrie’s Rating: ★★★ The Plot (Goodreads): Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her…
Peter Swanson | The Kind Worth Saving
The Book: The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson (Henry Kimball / Lily Kintner #2)Published March 7, 2023 by William Morrow & CompanyDate read: February 16, 2023 The Characters: HenryLilyJoan Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. If you need to jog your memory before starting The Kind Worth Saving, check out my spoiler recap for…
Karin Slaughter | Beyond Reach (Grant County #6)
The Book: Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter (Grant County #6)Published July 31st 2007 by Delacorte PressDate re-read: November 14, 2022 The Characters: Sara Linton, Grant County pediatrician and coroner Jeffrey Tolliver, her ex-husband, chief of police Lena Adams The Plot (from Goodreads): Sara Linton–resident medical examiner/pediatrician in Grant County, Georgia, –has plenty of hardship to deal with, including defending herself in a heartbreaking malpractice suit. So when her husband, Police chief Jeffery Tolliver, learns that…
Stephen Amidon | Locust Lane
The Plot (from Goodreads): On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history….
Megan Collins | The Family Plot
The Plot (from Goodreads): At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse has a lot to learn when it comes to the real world. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past—especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen. With her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the…
Peter Swanson | The Kind Worth Killing
The Plot (from Goodreads): On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the…
Gillian McAllister | Wrong Place Wrong Time
The Plot (from Goodreads): Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened? Late October. After midnight. You’re waiting up for your seventeen-year-old son. He’s late. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn’t alone: he’s walking toward a man, and he’s armed. You can’t believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house….
Jason Rekulak | Hidden Pictures
The Plot (from Goodreads): Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is…
Mandy McHugh | Chloe Cates Is Missing
The Plot (from Goodreads): The disappearance of a young internet celebrity ignites a firestorm of speculation on social media, and to find her a detective will have to extinguish the blaze. Chloe Cates is missing. The 13-year-old star of the hit YouTube series, “CC and Me,” has disappeared, and nobody knows where she’s gone — least of all ruthless momager Jennifer Scarborough, who has spent much of her daughter’s young life crafting a child celebrity…
Stacy Willingham | A Flicker in the Dark
The Plot (from Goodreads): When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in…
Holly Jackson | A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
The Plot (from Goodreads): The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately…
Tara Laskowski | The Mother Next Door
The Plot (from Goodreads): GOOD MOTHERS… Never show their feelings. Never spill their secrets. Never admit to murder. The annual Halloween block party is the pinnacle of the year on idyllic suburban cul-de-sac Ivy Woods Drive. An influential group of neighborhood moms—known as the Ivy Five—plans the event for months. Except the Ivy Five has been four for a long time. When a new mother moves to town, eager to fit in, the moms see…
Caitlin Wahrer | The Damage
The Plot (from Goodreads): Tony has always looked out for his younger brother, Nick. So when he’s called to a hospital bed where Nick is lying battered and bruised after a violent sexual assault, his protective instincts flare, and a white-hot rage begins to build. As a small-town New England lawyer, Tony’s wife, Julia, has cases involving kids all the time. When Detective Rice gets assigned to this one, Julia feels they’re in good hands….
Alex Michaelides | The Maidens
The Plot (from Goodreads): Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is…
Alex North | The Whisper Man
The Plot (from Goodreads): After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town: Featherbank. But Featherbank has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed “The Whisper Man,” for he would lure his victims out by whispering at…
Alex Michaelides | The Silent Patient
The Plot (from Goodreads): Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation,…
Books Set in Autumn
Sometimes you want a cozy fall read, but not one that’s necessarily spooky. This list includes books set in fall that don’t fall under the category of “fall thrillers”. This list isn’t quite up-to-date with all of the autumn books I’ve read, because I prioritize writing blog posts for thrillers. There are so many more wonderful fall romances out there that haven’t yet made it to this blog!
Caro Carver | BAD TOURISTS Spoilers
The Plot (from Goodreads): Best friends Darcy, Camilla, and Kate escape for a post-divorce retreat in the Maldives, the perfect place to relax, reset, and embrace a fresh start in life. Darcy is learning how to be a free woman at forty-two. Camilla has found the perfect calling as a fitness and wellness influencer with a devoted following. And Kate is finally working on the book she was meant to write after years of telling…
Carola Lovering | Bye, Baby
The Plot (from Goodreads): A missing baby. A fraught friendship. A secret that can never be told. On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It’s her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she’s just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is…
Courtney Walsh | Can’t Help Falling
The Book: Can’t Help Falling by Courtney WalshPublished: September 14, 2023 (indie)Date read: September 19, 2023 The Characters: Emmy and Owen Buy it on Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from Goodreads): All it takes to start a fire is one single match. . . Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate. He wasn’t when I confessed my love…
Emma St. Clair | Just Don’t Fall
The Book: Just Don’t Fall by Emma St. ClairPublished: August 23, 2023 (indie)Date read: September 12, 2023 The Characters: Parker and Logan Buy it on Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from Goodreads): All it takes to start a fire is one single match. . . Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate. He wasn’t when I confessed my…
Colleen Hoover | November 9
The Plot (from Goodreads): Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure…
Dylan Newton | How Sweet It Is
The Plot (from Goodreads): Event planner Kate Sweet is famous for creating the perfect happily-ever-after moment for her clients’ dream weddings. So how is it that her best friend has roped her into planning a bestselling horror writer’s book launch extravaganza? But the second Kate meets—or rather, accidentally maims—the drop-dead-hot Drake Matthews, her well-ordered life quickly transforms into an absolute nightmare. Drake Matthews is tired of the spotlight and tired of his reputation as the…
Jennifer Bardsley | Good Catch (Harper Landing #2)
The Plot (from Goodreads): A pair of frenemies navigates the shallow depths of a small-town dating scene only to find the romance they need is right in front of them. Former ballerina Marlo Jonas has all the right moves—except when it comes to men. Her latest boyfriend? A cheater. In the wake of her breakup, her father has a novel idea for her: try dating men for who they are and not how they look….
Carola Lovering | Tell Me Lies
The Plot (from Goodreads): Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco….
More Cozy Reads
For a list of 20 cozy cottagecore books, check out this list from Sarah’s Cozy Life!
Also check out this list of cozy mysteries.
Add to this list!
What’s your favorite book that’s set in autumn? Let us know in the comments.