5 Debut Thrillers with Female Protagonists That’ll Get Your Pulse Racing

Canadian author S. L. McInnis’s debut, Framed, which released February 4, is crime noir at its best. Protagonists Beth Montgomery and Cassie Ogilvy were college roommates whose lives veered in very different directions. When a quadruple murder brings the two women back together, the story, a stunning blend of brilliant psychological suspense and hard-hitting police procedural, breathlessly unfolds page by page. With a taut plot, twists in every chapter, perfectly placed clues, and a shocking, fully satisfying ending, Framed should be on everyone’s to-read list.

Imagine you’re a lonely mother with an empty nest and you find out there’s another mother in your town with your exact same first and last name, and an infant. For Kelly Medina, it’s the start of an obsessive friendship…until the other Kelly disappears. With an incredibly original premise and dark, complex characters, Amber Garza’s debut thriller, When I Was You, packs a wallop. I was completely enthralled by the unpredictable twists and turns, which culminate in an explosive ending. A definite must-read, it releases on August 25, and film rights have been sold to Focus Features and Will Packer Productions.

Cassie Larkin is just driving home in the rain when she sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. Instead of ignoring what is happening, the mother of two gets out to intervene. Her entire life implodes when the man tells her: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.” But she does not let her die. The next day Cassie’s husband disappears. No Bad Deed is a chilling, expertly plotted suspense novel with a breakneck pace. It released February 18, and is going to be on everyone’s radar.

The Lady Upstairs is an astonishing and brilliant debut—a gripping, feminist crime noir that juxtaposes the glittering LA social scene with its gritty underbelly. To pay off a debt, Jo has a unique job: corralling young ladies into seducing powerful, seedy men in Hollywood—then blackmailing them. When one of the men is murdered, Jo is a target of both her boss—the woman only known as the Lady Upstairs—and the LAPD. She has to pull off one more con in order to survive, but it could very well be her last, in this incredibly powerful story of a femme fatale out for revenge. Sutton is a sensational writer, with one of the most intriguing protagonists I've ever come across. She is an author everyone will be talking about when The Lady Upstairs releases on July 14.

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel is one of the most disturbing, chilling, uncomfortable books I’ve ever read—and I loved it. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a frightening yet also fascinating psychological disorder, and Wrobel brilliantly employs it as the springboard for her story about two female characters: mother Patty and daughter Rose Gold. While neither is a protagonist I’d want to have dinner with, Patty’s and Rose Gold’s flaws and darkness captivated me. One is the perpetrator; one, the victim, yet Wrobel turns this thriller on its head by presenting each of them as both hero and villain. The writing is masterful, and the twists are outstanding. Darling Rose Gold, out March 17, is one of the most anticipated reads of 2020 for good reason.

A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away.

A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”

She places her child in your arms. She says your name.

Then she jumps...

In a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother jumps in front of an oncoming train.

Morgan has never seen this woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how this woman knew her name.

The police take Morgan in for questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s just become a murder suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in danger, too.

Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding, propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life.