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There’s nothing quite like a psychological thriller twist you genuinely didn’t see coming. But how do writers manage to fool us without cheating? Tracy Buchanan takes us behind the scenes to look at misdirection, hidden clues and what makes a great twist so satisfying.

When writing the wholesome small towns in my novels, I think hard about the kind of towns where community is bedded into their very culture. Small towns and villages feel safe because people know each other, but put that same idea into a psychological thriller and it becomes super unsettling. If everyone knows everyone, who gets to keep a secret? And what happens when an entire community has agreed to turn a blind eye on something that’s a little sinister?

There's something almost compulsive about a story set somewhere beautiful where everything goes horribly wrong. The perfect village. The idyllic small town. The close-knit community where everyone knows everyone's name and the gardens are immaculate and the local Facebook group buzzes with bake sale announcements and lost cat appeals. We're drawn in by the prettiness of it — and then we can't look away when the cracks appear. Why? What is it about paradise that makes darkne

How the curious history of live insect jewellery inspired my latest novel You’ve probably seen jewellery being sold in places like Etsy, featuring dried beetles, spiders or butterflies encased in resin or preserved in metal settings. Pretty standard, right? Well, let me introduce you to the trend of live insect jewellery. Yep, living, breathing insects being used as fashion accessories.This morbid trend is what inspired the latest novel in the Dr Vanessa Marwood series, Deat

Love thrillers with a killer hook? These are the most addictive psychological and domestic suspense novels to watch for in 2025—including...

Discover why cults fascinate readers of twisty psychological thrillers.