ISO recent mysteries/thrillers about friend groups haunted by the past

April 16, 2023 11:05 AM

Looking for examples of psychological mysteries/thrillers about groups of friends, in which a shared traumatic experience comes back to haunt them long after they think it's over. I'm particularly interested in books published in the last ten years, but would also appreciate hearing about earlier examples and/or movies, short stories, etc..
posted by rpfields to Media & Arts (27 answers total)

Best answer: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai.
posted by carrienation at 11:07 AM on April 16, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix!
posted by brook horse at 11:15 AM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The current Showtime series Yellowjackets certainly fits the bill...
posted by staggernation at 11:17 AM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

I think The Dry by Jane Harper fits the bill. Long-ago childhood/teen relationships and an old tragedy/trauma are relevant to a present-day mystery/investigation. I have only read that one, but I think the book was extended into a trilogy with similar themes.
posted by Mid at 11:27 AM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

This one is on my TBR pile, so I can't vouch for it, but Meddling Kids works for this trope.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:33 AM on April 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine (pen name of Ruth Rendell) is a classic in this vein.
posted by cpatterson at 11:37 AM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

in anime there's Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. (English title is Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day), which is very much about a friend-group coming to grips with the death of their friend years ago. it's emotional, but it's more on the healing side than the thriller side of things.
posted by glonous keming at 11:55 AM on April 16, 2023

You may enjoy The Cartographers although I will be honest and say I did not. It's structured around not one set of relationships with unresolved issues in their shared history, but two, and that fits your request. Unfortunately there's a poorly executed fantasy element (none of the surprises are surprising), the writing seems poorly edited (overuse of cried when said would have done just fine), and the main characters are supposed to be adults but act (and act out) like angsty teens (cf. "cried"), as if it were initially conceived as a YA book with younger protagonists. I couldn't finish it, but the Washington Post's reviewer loved it, and there are some good reviews on Goodreads.
posted by fedward at 11:57 AM on April 16, 2023

Best answer: There is The Secret History, not super recent but a huge favorite.

And also starring John Early ("starring" in the Secret History because I'd cast him as Bunny Corcoran) (but literally part of the core cast of this series) is Search Party, which is more contemporary but similar and with a plot that spins out in some interesting directions.
posted by knotty knots at 12:10 PM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I really liked Before the Ruins, by Victoria Gosling. That’s the most recent version of this sort of book that I have read, but some older examples are The Likeness, by Tana French, and The Secret History, by Donna Tartt.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:12 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl
posted by Jacen at 12:20 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Along with The Dry, Jane Harper's Survivors has to do with a long ago drowning and how it impacts the families involved.
posted by brookeb at 12:26 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Glory, a k-drama on Netflix, fits the bill. The first episode is a bit discomfiting (at least for me) with scenes of school bullying, but that does not persist in the rest of the series.
posted by dum spiro spero at 12:34 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

The Woods by Harlan Coben
posted by cda at 12:42 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is a video game, so may not really be what you're looking for, however Oxenfree is solidly in this genre. It's sort of a point & click adventure type of game IIRC, depicting a group of teens who get into some spooky stuff that then brings up some shared trauma, and is pretty decent. Apparently it's available thru Netflix, which I think means you can download the mobile version for free if you're a subscriber?
posted by okonomichiyaki at 12:44 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: A few recent ones along these lines:

Alex Finlay - What Have We Done
Laurie Flynn - The Girls Are All So Nice Here
Gilly Macmillan - The Long Weekend
posted by box at 12:52 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Lonely Ones by Håkan Nesser definitely fits.
posted by snusmumrik at 12:53 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones is horror rather than mystery/thriller, but it is very much in this wheelhouse if some gore and supernatural elements are ok with you
posted by the primroses were over at 12:58 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

> I have only read that one, but I think the book was extended into a trilogy with similar themes.

Yes, the latest, Exiles, is also about that. It has a few characters carrying over but it's a standalone. I think The Dry is the best.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:59 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

A movie called The Lesser Evil (1998) fits the bill.
posted by holborne at 2:30 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Only Good Indians is so good. Jones has a knack for making you like the characters and forget that you are reading a horror novel, and, just when you are rooting for them…. well, that shared past comes back.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:19 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

From the nineties, M John Harrison's The Course of the Heart does this (and has a premise very similar to The Secret History, although it came out at almost the same time and takes it in a very different direction).
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:34 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I haven’t read the Grady Hendrix book mentioned above, but We Sold Our Souls by the same author also fits your premise.
posted by ActionPopulated at 8:57 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks very much for all of these. I've marked a few "best answers" where the novels were completely new to me, but the reminders of what's out there and the recommendations for other media are also very useful. If anybody else has anything to add, please keep 'em coming.
posted by rpfields at 9:39 PM on April 16, 2023

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Also adding to the recs for Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero and The Likeness by Tana French.
posted by panther of the pyrenees at 10:13 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Older than your stated preference, but Barbara Vine's A Fatal Inversion is an excellent example. Edit: Duh! It's already been mentioned, and I favourited it! *headdesk*
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:24 PM on April 17, 2023 [3 favorites]

Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon does this very well.
posted by supermedusa at 12:24 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]