The 10 Most Popular Mysteries on TikTok:
TikTok is a social media platform celebrating short video content on all subjects that engage people. BookTok is a community of TikTok creators who post videos celebrating their love of books and reading. The hashtag #BookTok now has more than 46 billion views worldwide as readers celebrate books that make them cry, change their minds and of course, hold them in suspense. Here are the Top 10 Mysteries engaging book tokkers in 2022.
#1: The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Also available as eAudio (Borrow Box) , eBook (Libby), Large Print, Audiobook (CD).
A good domestic thriller can really build nerve wracking suspense and The Couple next Door is definitely one that is engaging TikTok book fans with the final mind blowing twist. Anne and Marco Conti appear to have the perfect life. A loving marriage, a beautiful house, and their precious baby girl, Cora. But a terrible crime is committed one night when they're next door at a dinner party. Baby Cora has vanished, and, naturally, suspicion falls upon the new parents. But what really happened that night is far more complicated. Detective Rasbach suspects the young couple is hiding something. But the deception goes even deeper than imagined, as the small family begins to unravel when it becomes clear Anne and Marco have been keeping secrets even from each other. Definitely one to put on your summer holiday reading list.
#2: Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab and has taken a job as a nanny after the suggestion from her sponsor, building stability and community bonds that she needs to anchor her recovery. Watching after five-year-old Teddy is a dream and the two bond quickly. Teddy loves to draw in his sketchbook and Mallory loves his pictures of trees and animals. One day, Mallory finds a drawing of a man dragging a woman’s body through the forest, and ever since, Teddy’s drawings become more and more concerning. Is this an unsolved murder witnessed by five-year-old Teddy? Mallory is determined to keep Teddy safe and uncover the truth – but at what cost? Summer holiday reading has never been so mysterious.
#3: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Also available as eBook (Libby) and eAudio (Libby).
When it comes to BookTok popularity, Young Adult mysteries are really where it’s at and there is nothing to stop adults enjoying the ride. The top of this list is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It is the first book in a series, so a great one to start your exploration of YA mysteries. Pippa Fitz-Amobi grew up in a small town that was consumed by the case of schoolgirl Andie Bell, who was allegedly murdered by Sal Singh. The case is closed. Everyone knows Sal did it. But Pippa isn’t so sure, and she’ll stop at nothing to get to the truth, putting herself in danger along the way. With three different formats to choose from you can definitely listen, download or take the book with you to read this one.
#4: Sadie by Courtney Summers
Available as eAudio (Libby) and eBook (Libby).
Get out your device for this one as we have eBook and eAudio copies for you to enjoy. Sadie has been a huge favourite of readers everywhere since its release in 2018, and BookTok is still loving this one. If you have missed it now is the time to catch up on a great read. When Sadie’s sister Mattie is found dead, Sadie leaves her small town behind and is determined to hunt down the murderer and bring that person to justice. Meanwhile, radio personality West McCray catches word of Sadie’s story while at a gas station. Now, he’s started his own podcast where he’s tracking Sadie’s journey, hoping to find the Sadie before it’s too late. Sounds like a whodunnit full of suspense and danger and this one you can enjoy while out walking if you download the eAudio.
#5: One of us is lying by Karen M. McManus
Also available as eAudio (Borrow Box), eBook (Borrow Box) and eBook (Libby).
Plenty of print copies are available for you to grab and we have eBook and eAudio copies as well for you to choose any which way you would like to delve into this great mystery. Read it first before you watch the TV Show! BookTok has been really promoting this one and connecting readers to a new favourite. On one Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walked into detention. One of them will not make it out alive. No one knows what happened in that room and how the one student died except for the four students in that room: Bronwyn, the brain; Addy, the beauty; Cooper, the athlete; and Nate, the criminal. One of them is lying. Can you work out which one of them is a murderer?
#6: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Also available in Large Print.
Loved this gothic mystery when it came out and my full review can be found here. So glad that BookTok loves it too. Mexican Gothic is a fun mix of mystery, horror, suspense, and historical fiction. And BookTok is just eating it up. Most BookTok users agree that the best way to read Mexican Gothic is to go into it knowing as little as possible. But here’s the basic idea. After receiving a distressing letter from her newlywed cousin, Noemí Taboada leaves her life as a socialite in Mexico City to find out what has happened. But when she arrives at her cousin’s new home — High Place, a dark and remote mansion in the country — she finds unsettling mysteries around every corner.
#7: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
Also available as eBook (Libby), eBook (Borrow Box), and eAudio (Borrow Box).
This is another light hearted, fun YA mystery series that BookTok just loves and I am sure the young person inside you will love it too. Avery Grambs is a high school student whose life changes forever when she mysteriously receives an inheritance from Tobias Hawthorne, a puzzle-loving billionaire she’s never met. But in order to win her inheritance, she’ll have to move into the secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where danger waits around every turn. The third book in this trilogy, The Final Gambit, just came out earlier this year, so you will have a lovely series to delve into if you love this first one.
#8: While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Also available in Large Print.
Stacey Abrams has made a huge name for herself in politics, romance novels, legal thriller/mysteries, and yes, even BookTok loves her novels. She has even reached the New York Times bestseller lists so you know this will grab your attention and keep it. In While Justice Sleeps, Avery, a brilliant young law clerk, has just become the legal guardian and power of attorney of Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynn who has slipped into a coma. Suddenly, Avery finds herself thrown into a world of political conspiracies and attempts on Wynn’s life. Will she and Wynn survive?
#9: Then She was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Also available as an eBook (Libby), eAudio (Libby), eAudio (Borrow Box), and in Large Print.
Available as an eBook, eAudio, or book form there is lots of ways for you to get your hands on this story that TikTokkers are raving about. Looking for jaw-dropping twists and turns? Then this is the definite holiday read for you. Laurel is a mother of three children when Ellie, her youngest child, disappears. Years after Ellie’s disappearance, Laurel and her family are still struggling with the loss of a beloved family member, and their relationships with one another suffer. Laurel tries to move on. She starts dating a man, and things are going well. Until she meets his 9 year old daughter Poppy. Poppy who looks exactly like Ellie did when she was that age. Enter the first twist before the turn! Enjoy and hang on for the ride.
#10: Verity by Colleen Hoover
We have plenty of copies of this one so definitely one you can add to your summer reading pile immediately. Let’s go ahead and crown Colleen Hoover the queen of BookTok. Verity lies somewhere between mystery and suspense, but this list would be absolutely incomplete without acknowledging just what a huge hold this book has on the BookTok community. Writer Lowen Ashley is on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts what seems at first like a dream job. Jeremy Crawford, the husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete Verity’s remaining books that she is unable to finish herself. But when Lowen digs into Verity’s manuscripts, she uncovers a shocking autobiography that no one was meant to read. And horrifying secrets are revealed.