Looking for an unforgettable collection of books you’ll devour if you liked First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston? As an award-winning author and veteran blogger, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending intriguing mysteries that combine edge-of-your-seat plots with dark complex and thought-provoking characters.
You’ll find detailed reviews of more than 15 amazing novels in the roundup below. I know you find something fresh and gripping that will capture your interest. Happy reading!
Junior Missing by Khristina Chess
why it’s like First lie wins
Fast-paced and psychologically intense
What It’s about
A seductive and chilling thriller about a runaway teen, drawn into an intoxicating relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go!
Why I Love It - Book Review
“He called me the most willing kidnapping victim in history. I’d invited him to my house, he’d said. I’d climbed into the car. I’d packed a bag. And a parakeet.” ― Khristina Chess from Junior Missing
Wow! Readers who love the mind-blowing deception and manipulation in First Lie Wins won’t be able to put Junior Missing down. What makes Junior Missing so special is the slow-boil portrayal of how Grace’s forbidden attraction turns into a trap.
The story starts as sixteen-year-old Grace Keegan, darling of the child pageant world with a bright future, is missing. At first, police assume she ran away. But when they find her abandoned phone along the highway, the truth becomes far more terrifying.
No one knows about Quentin Brock—the musician she met online. He’s charming, funny, and perfect.
Until he isn’t. Until she’s trapped in another state with no way out.
She doesn’t even have shoes.
This intense, thought-provoking, and morally-complex novel depicts how someone can be so easily manipulated and hurt in a toxic relationship. Junior Missing will stay with you after the final page. Worth the read!
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
why it’s like first lie wins
Unreliable narrators with dark secrets
What It’s about
A hypnotic coming-of-age mystery about an abandoned child and a murdered boy.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Unworthy boys make a lot of noise.” ― Delia Owens from Where the Crawdads Sing
This novel is beautiful, thrilling, sad, surprising, and engrossing. Kya Clark is a resilient child who is abandoned by her mother at six. Her alcoholic father is barely a parent, and he soon leaves her as well. Somehow, she finds a way to survive on her own, even thrive, despite an aching loneliness.
But a beautiful young girl who lives in solitude in the woods is destined for danger. And heartbreak.
The mystery surrounding the death of Chase Andrews is the inciting incident of the novel, and it's soon clear that he was not such a swell guy. Foul play is suspected. Is Kya a murder? Or someone else?
There's plenty to love here, and the pages definitely turned quickly for me. Kya’s character and voice is compelling. If you enjoyed First Lie Wins, you won’t want to miss this coming-of-age mystery about love, nature, and the secrets people keep.
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
why it’s like First lie wins
Psychological thriller with unreliable narrator
What It’s about
An unflinching, painful, searing, riveting, brutal book about rape and sexual assault that will shock you to the core.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"I am vengeance."― Mindy McGinnis from The Female of the Species
I loved this book. Alex Craft is a unique female protagonist, and I had a hard time pinning her down. Sometimes I wanted to label her as a psychopath / sociopath based on her actions and reactions to things, but I don't think that's right.
She is a criminal. It's easy to forget that about her because she makes friends, takes care of kittens, shows compassion to other kids, and falls in love. But she also kills people. So there's that.
This was my third Mindy McGinnis novel, and I'm hooked on her. She writes compelling stories and tough, unflinching characters, and she’s also one of the top authors in my list of the Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited.
For a twisty psychological thriller like First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, be sure to add this one to your TBR pile.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
why it’s like First lie wins
A psychological thriller with an unexpected conclusion
What It’s about
A struggling writer takes an unusual job and discovers disturbing information that puts her in danger.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"Some families are lucky enough to never experience a single tragedy. But then there are those families that see to have tragedies waiting on the back burner. What can go wrong, goes wrong. And then gets worse."—Colleen Hoover from Verity
Colleen Hoover is a mega bestselling author of both adult and young adult fiction. Verity is my personal favorite. The hot (hot, hot) romance was definitely a big part of the appeal, but the spicy sex wasn’t the only part. This is more than a romance novel. I loved the twisty, dark, and disorienting plot that kept me guessing until the very end. In this novel, the characters aren’t who they seem to be, and that multi-dimensional layer was the aspect that made Verity so wonderful for me.
If you’re looking for authors like Ashley Elston that you’ll want to binge, pick this one up. In fact, all Colleen Hoover’s novels are amazing!
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
why it’s like First lie wins
Psychological mystery with dark, unexpected twist
What It’s about
A wildly unpredictable novel about a missing girl, a desperate mother, and the bizarre lengths people will go for the people they love.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"If she could rewind the timeline, untwist it and roll it back the other way like a ball of wool, she'd see the knots in the yarn, the warning signs. Looking at it backward it was obvious all along. But back then, when she knew nothing about anything, she had not seen it coming. She had walked straight into it with her eyes open." ― Lisa Jewell from Then She Was Gone
This is an unputdownable novel. In fact, I was about 20 pages in when I realized I was going too fast and maybe, like the missing girl Ellie, I was overlooking important clues, so I went back and read from the beginning again.
I had to know what happened to Ellie, and then, bit by bit, new mysteries began to emerge. New horrors. The more I learned about Ellie and Noelle, the worse things became. The whole story became very... weird. Scary.
The relationship between Ellie’s mom and the American writer, Floyd, is where things take a turn. Floyd has a daughter who looks just like Ellie. I mean, how weird is that?
The ending was not predictable to me, and the path to reach the conclusion was not straight. I definitely loved this novel and want to read more of Lisa Jewell. Fans of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston will agree that this is a thrilling, twisty read.
Forgotten But Never Gone by Khristina Chess
why it’s like First lie wins
Suspenseful mystery with a dark, unexpected ending
What it’s about
Set in 1980, a girl walks up the road and vanishes from sight, and the town’s apathy proves as terrifying as the darkness that swallowed her.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“I think it was this rebellious quality about her that allowed everyone to write off her disappearance so easily. Kids like Half-pint ran away. This whole generation was full of delinquents. Blah, blah, blah.” – Khristina Chess from Forgotten But Never Gone
If you’re drawn to those cold case shows and unsolved mysteries of the 70s and 80s, those heartbreaking stories of missing girls and unclaimed Jane Does, Forgotten But Never Gone is for you. This compelling mystery transports readers back to a time before AMBER alerts and 24-hour news cycles, when carefree kids roamed neighborhoods with little supervision and always returned home in time for supper.
Except sometimes they didn’t.
The story begins with the disappearance of fifteen-year-old Rosie Fields, affectionately nicknamed “Half-pint.” One of the last to see her was Bobby, a foster kid whose life Rosie once saved. While the police quickly dismiss her case as just another runaway, Bobby refuses to accept this, and in his relentless search for his friend, he follows one lead after another until he makes a shocking discovery.
I highly recommend this layered and unsettling mystery, which exposes some of the reasons why more people seemed to vanish without a trace in the 20th century. What makes this book especially powerful is its dual resonance: it’s both a gripping page-turner and a thoughtful exploration of how society failed these vulnerable youth. Bobby’s determination reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely person can become the keeper of truth, and that refusing to forget is itself an act of justice.
Fans of complex and layered mysteries like First Lie Wins will love Forgotten But Never Gone. The story lingers long after the final page, leaving you haunted not only by Rosie’s fate but by the real-life children who have never been found.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
why it’s like First lie wins
Mystery, danger, and buried secrets
What It’s about
After a girl in summer camp goes missing, dark family secrets become revealed.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“When lost, sit down and yell.”—Liz Moore from God of the Woods
I liked it but struggled with a few "technical" things. In my printed copy, the paragraph breaks were wrong, which doesn't seem like a bad thing, but I was often confused about who was speaking because both speakers were on the same line, or the same speaker broke across two lines. It was very strange and kept knocking me out of the reading magic. Also, there are many, many separate viewpoint characters, and there are dates at the top of each character's chapter that I never figured out. I'm sure they meant something.
From early on, I thought I knew what happened, but I didn't. Not quite. Still, The God of the Woods is a good story and worth hanging on past the first 60 pages. Enjoy!
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
why it’s like First lie wins
Dark & psychological thriller
What It’s about
Three characters share unexpectedly intertwined lives and memories of growing up in a mansion under strange circumstances.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“It's very strange, looking back, how accepting children can be of the oddest scenarios.” ― Lisa Jewell from The Family Upstairs
It took me a while to get into The Family Upstairs because there are multiple viewpoint characters, and two of them start with "L": Libby and Lucy. This kind of thing trips me up, especially when I'm getting to know characters AND time/place is moving around.
After getting past that and delving into the plot, The Family Upstairs is a wild, bizarre, creepy thriller that kept me hooked until the end. I was surprised by several plot twists. This novel is my second Lisa Jewell, and I liked it as much as the first, so I'll be delving more into her backlist. If you love books like First Lie Wins, this one is for you!
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
why it’s like First lie wins
Twisty plot with unreliable characters
What It’s about
An alcoholic divorcee becomes obsessed with a couple and becomes entangled in an investigation.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“There’s nothing so painful, so corrosive, as suspicion.” ― Paula Hawkins from The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train is definitely one of the books you’ll devour if you liked The Housemaid. It has unreliable narrators, as well as a twisty and confusing plot that will keep you guessing. Things definitely aren’t what they seem to be. The mystery keeps the pages turning. What, exactly, did Rachel see that day?
This book was a total roller coaster. I was all over the place with my feelings about it, and that was a good thing.
Pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
why it’s like First lie wins
Twisty plot with unreliable characters
What It’s about
A tense thriller about a woman who takes a housemaid job and gets much more than she bargained for.
Why I Love It - Book Review
What more can I say about The Housemaid than has already been said? Fast-paced, full of surprises, chilling twist ending, compelling and unexpected characters -- this novel has all that and more!
"I'm going to let you out... Just not yet."
Holy cow! Yikes!
The Housemaid kept popping up as recommended reading for me, and since I've been seeing it everywhere, I thought, "Let's see."
I was delighted and entertained. In fact, I will definitely be reading more Freida McFadden novels! Fans of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston will delight in this one.
Layla by Colleen Hoover
why it’s like First lie wins
Psychological manipulation and thriller
What It’s about
A romantic suspense novel that includes a love triangle with a ghost.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Layla is my soul mate in every realm of life.” ― Colleen Hoover from Layla
Okay, I would be remiss if I didn’t include some other Colleen Hoover books in this list because (let’s face it), she’s prolific and wonderful. Every one of them has been totally unique, and Layla is no exception. If you loved The Silent Patient, you must read it immediately.
How do I categorize it? A ghost story? A love story? A psychological thriller? It's hard to put a label on it. What I know for sure is that I sat around all day and turned the pages until the end. I had to know. The twist was not as much of a surprise; I had an inkling about what was happening in the middle of the book. That didn't matter. How? Now what? There were so many pressing questions. Half the time, I wasn't sure I really trusted Leeds to be a reliable narrator.
Buy it. Read it. You won’t be sorry.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
why it’s like First lie wins
More liars keeping dark secrets
What It’s about
A psychological thriller about a wife's disappearance, which exposes the secrets of her marriage and spirals into an unexpected twist of manipulation, media spectacle, and revenge.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Friends see most of each other’s flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit.” ― Gillian Flynn from Gone Girl
It’s hard to say much about this classic without revealing spoilers. A man’s wife disappears, and he’s the main suspect—perhaps with good reason. But is he really the killer?
Fans of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston will love the page-turning plot with shocking revelations and love that turned sour. Characters aren’t who they seem to be in this one, either. Everyone poses and lies.
But do they kill?
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
why it’s like First lie wins
An unraveling mystery that just keeps going
What It’s about
A woman is awakened in the middle of the night, and her life is changed forever.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“But how do you ever know that you know a person?” ― Anita Shreve from The Pilot’s Wife
In this list of books you’ll devour if you liked First Lie Wins, The Pilot’s Wife might seem to be an unusual choice. It’s a quieter mystery. Older. A slow burn. A woman learns that her husband, a pilot, has died. Then, she realizes that he was living a secret life. She pulls on that thread.
What I love about this novel—and other books by Anita Shreve—is the writing. The characters are beautiful. The story unfolds at its own pace, not at breakneck speed, but gripping nonetheless.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
why it’s like first lie wins
Psychological, thrilling plot with jaw-dropping twist
What it’s about
A famous painter accused of murdering her husband quits talking--but why?
Why I Love It - Book Review
“No one is born evil. As Winnicott put it, ‘A baby cannot hate the mother, without the mother first hating the baby.’” ― Alex Michaelides from The Silent Patient
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is one of those novels that refuses to be set aside. These days, it's rare that I spend a weekend with my nose in a book, but I did with The Silent Patient.
The premise is simple enough: a woman killed her husband and is now in a mental institution. She refuses to speak. The protagonist is a therapist who wants to help her regain her voice.
Will he? What will she tell him? The therapist is one part detective, one part analyst, and one part guy with his own demons to overcome. His journey to understand what happened to Alicia that night leads to a jaw-dropping twist.
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick
why it’s like First lie wins
Complex romantic relationships and psychological tension
What It’s about
A darkly compelling story about a teen who participates in an inappropriate relationship with her teacher.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“This is a fairy tale with teeth and claws.” ― Ilsa Bick, quote from Drowning Instinct
And speaking of twisty thrillers with inappropriate relationships, how about Drowning Instinct, with a teen girl and her teacher?
I didn't know what to expect when a friend loaned this book to me, but wow! This book has layers. The way the author wove the "drowning instinct" theme throughout the story was really well done, and I loved the complexity of the characters and the plot twists. The pacing kept getting more intense and compelling as I read further. Addictive.
I don’t want to give too much away. If you’re looking for novels like First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston that keep you up late at night, just read it.
Unquiet Riot by Khristina Chess
why it’s like First lie wins
Psychological manipulation & unreliable narrator
What It’s about
When bullying goes too far, a teenage psychopath and his friend with early-onset schizophrenia spiral into a deadly game of lies, loyalty, and violence in this explosive psychological thriller.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Best friends don’t label each other as crazy or rat each other out to adults.” ― Khristina Chess from Unquiet Riot
What happens when everyone knows something’s wrong but says nothing?
Dark, smart, and unsettling—this brilliant YA thriller will mess with your head and make you question everything! The protagonist is an unreliable narrator named Riley who doesn’t experience emotions like other people—but he’s not a psychopath.
At least, that’s what he says.
Henry is a fascinating new arrival in school. Henry is dangerous. He believes the world is crawling with robot impostors, that shadows escape from electrical wires, that knives beneath his mattress will keep the monsters away. For Riley, stepping into Henry’s world is like visiting a foreign country—thrilling, unpredictable, alive.
Then Henry vanishes. The police come knocking. And Riley lies.
Now it’s a game. If Henry talks, Riley loses.
If First Lie Wins left you breathless and craving more, you’ll love this unique and clever thriller that unravels friendship, deception, and the quiet complicity that allows tragedy to happen.
Never Lie by Freida McFadden
why it’s like First lie wins
Liars keeping dark secrets
What It’s about
Newlyweds trapped in a snowstorm inside the abandoned home of a missing psychiatrist discover hidden tapes that expose murder and deception.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough.” ― Freida McFadden, quote from Never Lie
"Never Lie" is my third Freida McFadden novel, and it didn't disappoint.
After a snowstorm traps newlyweds Tricia and Ethan in a deserted house, Tricia finds herself invested in the mystery surrounding the previous owner's disappearance.
The story is compelling, and I was surprised by the various plot twists. McFadden has a unique writing voice that makes her protagonists, whether the housemaid or Tricia, seem a little "off." The setting seemed a little contrived, but it didn't hurt the novel in the least. Yes, this is how all horror movies begin.
Bring it.
Other Books You’ll Devour If You Liked First Lie Wins by Ashley Elsten
If you are looking for other books like First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, Goodreads also offers a great book list: Readers Who Enjoyed First Lie Wins. You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads.
Author Bio
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of more than a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Her novel about eating disorders, Hollow Beauty, was named a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, dystopian, and adventure.
In a recent interview from her alma mater, she described how her experience in the creative writing program prepared her for success.
