Books like 'The Dinner'
Readers who enjoyed The Dinner by Herman Koch also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological horror thriller crime literary-fiction suspense family drama
-
One Among Us by Paige Dearth
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA kidnapped girl is forced into human sex trafficking Eleven- year-old Maggie Clarke is abducted from her loving family and thrust into the indescribably horrific and largely unknown underworld of human sex trafficking. In captivity, Maggie's life turns into a nightmare most children couldn't imagine... -
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 88 ratingsBoisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her... -
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsSally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister.There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week... -
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsMarin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They're admired in their community and are a loving family—until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken.A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak... -
-
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 101 ratingsHarriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of iniquity and corruption... -
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsIt follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. Inspired by his doctor's exasperated remark that insomnia is not suffering, the protagonist finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups. Then he meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and establishes an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy... -
The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child... -
Wall of Silence by Tracy Buchanan
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHer children have a deadly secret. Can she uncover it before the police do?Melissa Byatt’s life in Forest Grove seems as perfect as can be: a doting husband, three loving children and a beautiful house in a close-knit community. But appearances can be deceiving... -
Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhat if you found out that your family isn't yours at all? How far would you go to protect them? A gripping new psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl Before. . . .Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent's worst nightmare... -
What Lies Between Us by John Marrs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThey say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there... -
Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEdwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews... -
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAn explosive, edge-of-your-seat read about three friends, one murder, and a whole world of secrets... Angela was one of the most popular girls in her high school before she disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever knew what became of her―not Georgina, her best friend, nor Kaiser, who was close with both girls... -
The Elephant Tree by R.D. Ronald
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsMark Fallon is an overworked detective investigating a spate of attacks at a string of high profile city centre nightclubs. Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation... -
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe gripping international bestseller about motherhood gone awry.Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday... -
-
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsA tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had... -
Trespassing by Brandi Reeds
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn a novel of mounting psychological suspense, a young mother follows a dangerous path to find her missing husband.Veronica Cavanaugh’s grasp on the world is slipping. Her latest round of fertility treatments not only failed but left her on edge and unbalanced. And her three-year-old daughter, Elizabella, has a new imaginary friend, who seems much more devilish than playful...Categorized as:
crime domestic-drama drama family literary-fiction suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Blackhouse by Peter May
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA brutal killing takes place on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland: a land of harsh beauty and inhabitants of deep-rooted faith.A MURDERDetective Inspector Fin Macleod is sent from Edinburgh to investigate. For Lewis-born Macleod, the case represents a journey both home and into his past.A SECRETSomething lurks within the close-knit island community. Something sinister... -
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 97 ratingsOn a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears... -
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city... -
Hard Candy by Andrew Vachss
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke—the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children—is up against a soft-spoken messiah, who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for his own hideous purposes... -
You're Family Now by Jack Stainton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratings⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ EPIC!! EPIC!! EPIC!! This book had EVERYTHING I love in a book!! ' Goodreads ReviewerHe only had to do one thing. Love her family…Matt Walker was a chancer; he’d spent his entire profession chasing the next job. His personal life took on a similar mantra; a succession of one-night stands and brief relationships. Life was slowly drifting him by... -
My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMost mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into... -
You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows... -
Because She Loves Me by Mark Edwards
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA gripping tale of jealousy, obsession, and murder, from the #1 bestselling author of The Magpies . When Andrew Sumner meets beautiful, edgy Charlie, he is certain his run of bad luck has finally come to an end. But as the two of them embark on an intense affair, Andrew wonders if his grasp on reality is slipping. Items go missing in his apartment. Somebody appears to be following him... -
-
People Like Them by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display... -
Dear Child: A Novel by Romy Hausmann
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA woman held captive finally escapes—but can she ever really get away?Gone Girl meets Room in this page-turning, #1 internationally bestselling thriller from one of Germany’s hottest new talentsA windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.She says her name is Lena... -
Only the Innocent by Rachel Abbott
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEvery moment of Sir Hugo Fletcher’s life has been chronicled in the British press: his privileged upbringing, his high-profile charity work to end human trafficking, even his two marriages. But when the billionaire philanthropist is discovered murdered in his London home, tied naked to a bed, the scandal is only a shadow of the darkness lurking off-camera... -
The Good Samaritan by John Marrs
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsShe’s a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry... -
Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA double life with a single purpose: revenge.Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven... -
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsThe Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories... -
The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTwo sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York... -
Here To Stay by Mark Edwards
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA beautiful home. A loving wife. And in-laws to die for.Gemma Robinson comes into Elliot’s life like a whirlwind, and they marry and settle into his home. When she asks him if her parents can come to stay for a couple of weeks, he is keen to oblige – he just doesn’t quite know what he’s signing up for... -
Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers...Categorized as:
crime domestic-drama drama family literary-fiction suspense unreliable-narrator thriller -
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!From a global star and International Booker Prize finalist, a razor-sharp, unforgettable novel about a maid who’s seen too much and a family at a breaking pointA young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death... -
-
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsShe's a catwalk model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden motor 'accident' leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she goes from being the beautiful centre of attention to being an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge she exists... -
Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days.“They found the bodies on a Tuesday... -
The Girl Before by Rena Olsen
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this powerful psychological suspense debut, when a woman’s life is shattered, she is faced with a devastating question: What if everything she thought was normal and good and true . . . wasn’t? Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters... -
Robe de marié by Pierre Lemaitre
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSophie is haunted by the things she can't remember - and visions from the past she will never forget.One morning, she wakes to find that the little boy in her care is dead. She has no memory of what happened. And whatever the truth, her side of the story is no match for the evidence piled against her.Her only hiding place is in a new identity. A new life, with a man she has met online... -
Nobody Knows You're Here by Bryn Greenwood
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA desperate woman fights to escape captivity in this gripping thriller from the New York Times -bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. Beatrice is about to lose everything when a kind stranger offers her a cup of coffee and a job. It seems like a promise of a better life . . . until she wakes up under lock and key in an isolated mansion in the woods... -
I Kill by Giorgio Faletti
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe voice on the radio. The writing, red as blood. I kill ...A detective and an FBI agent embark upon the most harrowing case of their careers as they attempt to track down an enigmatic killer in this relentlessly suspenseful thriller... -
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky, Голди Молдавски
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNew girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends... -
The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA rash of grisly serial murders plagued Seattle until the infamous "Beacon Hill Butcher" was finally hunted down and killed by police chief Edward Shank in 1985. Now, some thirty years later, Shank, retired and widowed, is giving up his large rambling Victorian house to his grandson Matt, whom he helped raise... -
Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe’s cold, calculating, and can deceive with a smile. Jane Doe is back in the Amazon Charts bestselling series - and this time she's met her match.After a brutal childhood, Jane Doe has been permanently wired to look after herself and only herself. Now, looking next to normal, Jane has a lover and a job. But she hasn't lost her edge. It sharpens when she hears from her estranged family... -
The Liar's Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsPiper was raised in a cult. She just doesn't know it. Seventeen-year-old Piper knows that Father is a Prophet. Infallible. The chosen one.She would do anything for Father. That's why she takes care of all her little sisters. That's why she runs end-of-the-world drills. That's why she never asks questions. Because Father knows best.Until the day he doesn't... -
-
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEighteen months and eleven lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month... -
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 84 ratingsFrom The #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Of Gone GirlLibby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas. She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details... -
Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEmma’s darkest secrets are buried in the past. But the truth can’t stay hidden for long.Emma is a loving wife, a devoted mother…and an involuntary killer. For years she’s been hiding the dead body of the teacher who seduced her as a teen.It’s a secret that might have stayed buried if only her life had been less perfect... -
Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA gripping thriller about three young girlfriends, a dark obsession and a chilling crime that shakes up a quiet Iowa town, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence .For twelve-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover--movies and Ouija and talking about boys... -
In the Blood by Lisa Unger
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Best Book of the Year -- Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee, Silver Falchion Award Winner, Suspense Magazine Best Books, Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Novels, CBC Morning Show Top Pick, Indie Next Pick and Amazon Best Book of the Month. Liar, liar, pants on fire . . . College senior Lana Granger has told so many lies about her past that the truth seems like a distant, cloudy nightmare... -
The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut.' The greatest opening line in New Zealand literature opens this hilarious Gothic melodrama. Klynham is a sleepy little New Zealand town in which not a lot happens. But then one moonlit night the Scarecrow arrives, swilling brandies and looking for victims. Something sordid and even macrabre lies ahead...Categorized as:
classics crime humor journey literary-fiction suspense 20th-century action-adventure
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.