Ten thrillers for your summer suitcase

This relentless standalone thriller was the book that properly pulled me out of a reading slump. It moves with the pace and intensity I expect from Chris Carter, but you do not need to have read the Robert Hunter series first. I finished it in a day, which is about the strongest possible recommendation for a suitcase thriller.

Six thriller writers arrive on a private island for an exclusive retreat built around a murder-mystery game. The setting is remote, the guests understand exactly how fictional crimes are constructed and the entertainment becomes frighteningly real. It is a premise designed for readers who enjoy closed groups, literary rivalries and the knowledge that no help is coming quickly.

A gruesome discovery begins a dark and distinctive police investigation through Sheffield. This appealed to me because it combines an urban setting and a strong investigative thread with a voice that sounds less conventional than the standard police procedural. It was one of the more intense books on my holiday TBR.

Ten strangers travel to a remote Scottish island to take part in a survival reality show. The isolation, competitive pressure and questions about the other contestants quickly turn a television challenge into something much more dangerous. A stormy island and a group who may not all make it home is exactly the kind of “relaxing” holiday reading I tend to choose.

Five couples head to a tropical island for a reality programme, expecting challenges, alliances and the possibility of winning. When a storm cuts them off from the outside world, the glossy format collapses and survival becomes the only competition that matters. The tropical backdrop gives it a summer feel without offering the characters anything resembling a holiday.

A glamorous wedding gathers friends, relatives and old resentments on a wild island off the Irish coast. As a storm closes in, carefully maintained appearances begin to crack—and then somebody is found dead. I loved the combination of an isolated setting, multiple viewpoints and a guest list where almost everyone is keeping something back.

A wealthy group of friends escape to a private Greek island, where old tensions and shifting loyalties lead towards murder. The story is delivered by a narrator who promises to explain what happened while repeatedly reminding us that his version may not be reliable. The sunlit setting and theatrical storytelling make it an intriguing contrast between beauty and menace.

A family trip to a remote Australian island becomes a brutal fight to stay alive after an encounter with the locals goes disastrously wrong. Cut off from help and pursued through hostile terrain, the family must rely on one another while their relationships are pushed to breaking point. This is the breathless, survival-thriller entry on the list.

Two sisters are meant to travel together to a remote Fijian resort, but only one boards the flight—and the plane never reaches its destination. Two years later, the sister left behind follows a clue to the island and begins questioning the official account. I loved its combination of a missing-plane mystery, survival story and complicated sisterly relationship.

When a teenage girl disappears from an Adirondack summer camp in 1975, the mystery echoes the earlier disappearance of her young brother from the same wealthy family. Moving between timelines and perspectives, the novel gradually connects the family, the camp and the community around them. It is immersive, atmospheric and one of the books on this list I particularly loved.