“We only think of the bad things that happen, rather than those that, through fortune, pass us by.”
If you love twisty psychological thrillers that keep you guessing until the final page, Gillian McAllister’s books deserve a spot on your reading list. Known for her clever plots and emotional depth, she’s become one of the most talked-about authors in modern crime fiction. Whether you’re new to her writing or looking to revisit her earlier novels, we here at What We Reading decided to curate some of our favourite Gillian McAllister novels in order. From her breakout debut, Everything but the Truth, to her bestselling hit Wrong Place Wrong Time, each story offers a fresh take on morality, memory, and the mysteries of everyday life. In this guide, we’ll explore the best Gillian McAllister books, ranked and arranged in reading order, so you can discover where to start – and which ones simply can’t be missed.
Wrong Place Wrong Time (2022)
Kicking off our list of the best Gillian McAllister books is undoubtedly the British author’s most famous work, Wrong Place Wrong Time. It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her eighteen-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew morph into something far worse when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches from the window, she sees her seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.
After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up, it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet – and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past. First weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realises that somewhere in the past lie the triggers for Todd’s terrible crime, and it is her mission to find them and prevent them from taking place.
Famous Last Words (2025)
It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally, when she wakes, her husband, Luke, isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note. Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation in London. The police arrive and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband, the eternal optimist, is the gunman.
One of the best new thriller books from 2025, Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note Luke left behind that morning says…
Just Another Missing Person (2023)
Another one of Gillian McAllister’s most famous bestsellers, Just Another Missing Person, opens with twenty-two-year-old Olivia being last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.
Julia is the detective tasked with heading up the case. She knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her children. But Julia has no idea how close to home it’s going to get. Because her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia – and must frame somebody else for her murder.
That Night (2021)
One hot summer’s night in Italy, Joe and Cathy Plant receive a phone call that will change their lives forever. Their sister, Frannie, has killed a man, and she needs their help. They were always close, some might say too close, siblings who worked together, lived next door to each other.
And now they’ve buried a body together. But, when they return to England, Frannie, Joe and Cathy become tangled in lies they’ve been telling to the police, their friends, and one another. But if you can’t trust your family, who can you trust?
The Good Sister (2018)
Martha and Becky Blackwater are more than sisters – they’re each other’s lifelines. When Martha finds herself struggling to balance early motherhood and her growing business, Becky steps in to babysit her niece, Layla, without a second thought, bringing the two women closer than ever. But when Layla is found dead one morning, just eight weeks old, Becky is charged with the unthinkable: the murder of her sister’s child.
Nine months later, Becky is on trial and maintains her innocence – and so does Martha. Unable to shake the feeling that her sister couldn’t possibly be guilty, Martha sets out to uncover exactly what happened that night, and how things could have gone so wrong. As the trial progresses, fault lines between the sisters emerge, revealing cracks deep in their relationship and threatening everything the family has worked so hard to build.
How To Disappear (2020)
Lauren’s daughter, Zara, witnessed a terrible crime. But speaking up comes with a price, and when Zara’s identity is revealed online, it puts a big target on her back. The only choice left is to disappear.
They will vanish from their family, their friends, even from Lauren’s husband. No goodbyes. Just new names, new home, new lives. One mistake – a text, an Instagram like – could bring their old lives crashing into the new. As Lauren will learn, disappearing is easy – staying hidden is so much harder. Pulsating and gripping, How to Disappear is one of the best Gillian McAllister books for anyone wanting a flavour of how the bestselling author is able to blend a suspenseful premise with a surprisingly emotionally resonant look at a family’s strength.
Anything You Do Say (2017)
It’s the end of a night out, and Joanna is walking home alone. Then she hears the sound every woman dreads: footsteps behind her, getting faster. She’s sure it’s him – the man from the bar who wouldn’t leave her alone. So Joanna makes a snap decision. She turns, she pushes. Her pursuer tumbles down the steps and lies motionless, facedown on the ground. Now what?
Addictive and compelling, this Gillian McAllister novel follows the two paths Joanna’s future might take, depending on the choices she makes. If she calls the police right away, she might save the man’s life. Yet doing so puts her own innocence at risk. But if she runs and goes home as if nothing happened, no one will ever know. No one saw her do it, and it’s only up to Joanna to keep it quiet… forever.
Everything But The Truth (2017)
Gillian McAllister’s breakout debut and her first bestseller, Everything but the Truth, started with an email. Rachel didn’t mean to look. She loves Jack, and she’s pregnant with their child. She trusts him.
But now she’s seen it, she can’t undo that moment. Or the chain of events it has set in motion. Why has Jack been lying about his past? Just what exactly is he hiding? And doesn’t Rachel have a right to know the truth, no matter the cost?
The Evidence Against You (2019)
It’s the day her father will be released from jail. Izzy English has every reason to feel conflicted – he’s the man who gave her a childhood filled with happy memories. But he has also just served seventeen years inside for the murder of her mother.
Now, Izzy’s father sends her a letter. He wants to talk, to defend himself against each piece of evidence from his trial. But should she give him the benefit of the doubt? Or is her father guilty as charged, and luring her into a dangerous trap?
Caller Unknown (2026)
There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been very close. With Lucy about to leave home for university, the pair set off for a holiday in Texas. But when Simone awakens on their first morning, Lucy is gone. In her place is a mobile, and a voice on the other end issuing a shocking ransom demand. Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities, she knows she can’t take any chances. That night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.
What she finds changes everything. The kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows in this new Gillian McAllister novel is a pulsating journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, where all of Simone’s courage – and morality – is pushed to the brink as she learns what it really means to be a mother.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
