Thriller Books for Teens

If you're a teen and love the thrill of searching for answers, we have the book recommendations for you!

High-octane murder mysteries. School crimes that need solving. The unravelling of masks and the lies they hide. Secret FBI programmes. The search for answers to horrific epidemics. These are just some of the things that happen in the most addictive thriller series we confidently know you simply will NOT be able to put down (because we couldn't either!)

Each of these stories take place over multiple books in a series, so no need to worry – they'll be sure to sort out your reading schedule and TBR list for long enough! We do recommend all these series for YA readers, as some of the content may be a little mature.

Now, with no further ado, here are the top thriller series for teens that we at Toppsta recommend.

Georgina Atwell

Toppsta

2025-04-10

2025-04-03

Thriller Books for Teens

The Magpie Society Series

The Magpie Society is a nail-biting YA thriller high school thriller is set in a prestigious boarding school where tragedy the body of student Lola Radcliffe is discovered on the beach, and on her back someone has tattooed an elaborate magpie. Next, a mysterious podcast airs with the headline “I KNOW WHO KILLED LOLA. AND ONE OF YOU IS NEXT” and Lola’s roommate Ivy and new girl Audrey are compelled to investigate her death and expose the enigmatic Magpie Society. You’ll need to read the books in order.

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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Series

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a bestselling YA crime thriller series that makes for compulsive reading with addictive murder mysteries, twists, cliffhangers and drama. Seventeen year old Pip turns detective when she chooses to investigate a local cold case for her final project for school. Determined to find schoolgirl Andie Bell's killer, Pip becomes obsessed with finding the truth and in the process uncovers more secrets than she could have ever imagined... There are three mysteries in the series, which concluded with As Good As Dead in 2021. We recommend reading A Good Girl’s Guide in series order.

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One Of Us Is Lying Series

One of Us is Lying is an addictive YA thriller, set at Bayview High, a high school with many dark secrets. When five students are put into detention, only four come out alive. The victim is Simon, creator of the notorious school gossip app, and his death is no accident. All four survivors have a motive for murder. And one of them is definitely lying. After enthralling readers across the world, the book was adapted into the One of Us is Lying TV series for Netflix in 2021. The One of Us is Lying sequel, with a brand new mystery to solve at Bayview High, - One of Us is Next - came out in 2020. One of Us is Back - the third One of Us is Lying book, is due out in 2023.

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Liar's Beach Series

This YA thriller series keeps you on your toes with a splash of dark academia, secrets, lies, privileged teens and parties. It all starts when main character Linden is invited to spend the summer at his best friend's vacation house. Surrounded by all the money and privilege, he's never felt like more of an outsider. But just as his spirits reach rock bottom, a body is discovered in the pool. Not only will Linden have to prove his innocence – he will also put to test his sleuthing skills, which will come in quite handy as another murder is just around the corner, and his ex-girlfriend is believed to be the culprit.

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The Perfectionists Series

From the author of two New York Times bestselling series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, Sara Shepard, comes a brand-new gripping YA murder mystery series. Nolan Hotchkiss may be the king of Beacon Heights High with his charm, wealth and good looks, but he sure has a good number of enemies. It isn't uncalled for that some may wish to get their revenge. Some – namely Mackenzie, Ava, Julie, Caitlin and Parker – even jokingly come up with the perfect plan to make him pay. But then Nolan is actually murdered, and in exactly the way they planned. And he's not the only person they'd plotted revenge upon. They know they're innocent, but they'll have to find the true culprit if they want to walk free.

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Dark Matter Series

From the author of the bestselling and multi award-winning Slated Trilogy, comes another brilliant psychological thriller series that we simply could not put down. We recommend Dark Matter to all readers aged 13+. At the center of the books is an epidemic that's sweeping the country, infecting person after person, with no cure in sight. Anyone infected who manages to survive develops strange new powers and is hunted down and taken into custody of the army, who fear what they may be capable of. Some survivors luckily manage run away and are living in hiding, one of them being Kai's sister Callie. In this series, we join Kai in his search for his sister, and in the process we learn more about the origins of the epidemic, the mysterious scientific cult behind it all and how all may be saved after all...

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The Naturals Series

Written by New York Times-bestselling author of The Inheritance Games series, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, comes this fantastic YA series that has it all: mystery, camaraderie, murder, a secret school and more. Cassie Hobbes has special powers: she can tell who you are, where you're from and how you're likely to behave within moments of meeting you. Because of this, she's enrolled in the FBI's Natural program, an elite school where a small number of teens are trained to hone their exceptional abilities. It's also where she hopes to finally uncover the mystery of her mother's murder. So, while Cassie finally uncovers the truth, she will also be solving other cases together with her classmates. And together they will face powerful, unexpected – and dangerous – forces at play.

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Tory Brennan Series

Murder mysteries, secret experimental labs, remote islands... This series takes you on one incredible adventure after the next with a great cast of friends who call themselves the Virals. Living on a secluded island off Charleston in South Carolina called Loggerhead Island is fourteen-year-old protagonist Tory Brennan. Inspired by her forensic anthropologist aunt Tempe Brennan, she can't help but stick her nose in anything involving a mystery, and luckily she has a group of technophile friends to count on for help. The Virals will dig deeper into the mysteries of their island with each new book, discovering that behind some mysterious deaths is a lab secretly conducting experiments. The friends will solve murders, go on treasure hunts, discover who the evil government agents behind the secret lab are and even develop their own set of superpowers, making for truly unputdownable books that just get better with each new title.

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Georgina Atwell

Toppsta

2025-04-10

2025-04-03

Thriller Books for Teens

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Thriller Books for Teens

The Magpie Society Series

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Series

One Of Us Is Lying Series

Liar's Beach Series

The Perfectionists Series

Dark Matter Series

The Naturals Series

Tory Brennan Series

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