Oprah's Book Club: Thriller And Mystery Picks You Won't Be Able To Put Down

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Thrillers and mysteries come in many forms, but when filtered through Oprah's Book Club, they tend to be deeper, darker, and hit closer to home. Her picks spotlight authors who go beyond writing simple suspense to rework the genre with complex characters, intense emotions, and endings that favor realistic truth over easy closure. These aren't cookie-cutter crime novels with tidy resolutions; they're stories that pull you in and take you on a mental and emotional journey to find the truth.

And while many critics rightfully point out that the Oprah's Book Club picks often skew dark, we all need a dose of reality now and then. Oprah herself has said books helped her understand different realities: "They've helped me see and understand the world and myself," she once shared on Facebook. If you prefer a guaranteed happily-ever-after, the best Reese's Book Club picks or our list of cozy mystery books kindle readers are loving might be more your speed. But if you like your mysteries with gut-punching emotion, flawed characters, and endings you'll still be thinking about days later, Oprah's Book Club delivers.

The first Oprah's Book Club selection is an unforgettable page-turner. Chosen in September 1996, it's a harrowing thriller-mystery about a missing child, a fractured family, and the complexity of reunions. "The Deep End of the Ocean" by Jacquelyn Mitchard tells the story of the Cappadora family faced with a devastating tragedy. Plot-wise, it's gripping: Beth Cappadora, a mother of three, loses her 3-year-old son, Ben, in a crowded area. This loss is followed by a slow, devastating unraveling as her family searches, mourns, and struggles to live with a loss that offers no closure.

Then, nearly a decade later, a discovery turns their world upside down when a familiar stranger is found in the most unlikely place, offering the family a sliver of hope they'd almost given up on. And while the legal steps are clear, the emotional ones aren't. Years of grief, growth, and silence have changed everyone, and rebuilding may be harder than surviving the loss. Beth must confront the fantasy she clung to for years, as well as the painful truth that not all reunions come with happy endings.

The weight of this novel isn't just in what happens; it's also in how it makes you feel. The characters are flawed, layered, and painfully real, not purely good or evil. And while the heroine isn't always easy to sympathize with, the story dives deep into a familiar, uncomfortable question: Do our deepest wants lead to our deepest pains?

If you enjoy nonlinear plots that unravel slowly but leave you reeling with a final, mind-bending revelation, you should love "Drowning Ruth" by Christina Schwarz. This post–WWI psychological thriller was Oprah's Book Club pick in September 2000, and it's a blend of family secrets, buried trauma, and devastating loss.

After the sudden death of Mathilda Neumann, her daughter, Ruth, is left with fragmented memories of the night the tragedy happened. The only other witness is her aunt Amanda, a woman battling her unraveling mind, making her version of events sketchy and unreliable. The two become entangled in a toxic bond, and as Ruth grows older and tries to forge an identity, her past claws its way back, demanding she confront the lies she was raised to believe.

The novel is told through shifting points of view and draws the reader into the murky truth behind Ruth's history and the secrets hidden within her family. The gripping suspense, unforgettable characters, and unflinching take on mental illness set this mystery novel apart.

While not a classic mystery, "Midwives" by Chris Bohjalian is a slow-burn thriller told through the eyes of a 14-year-old girl. When a minister's wife chooses to give birth at home, she enlists the help of the narrator's mother, Sibyl Danforth, a highly experienced midwife with a sterling reputation. The plan is for a calm, natural delivery, but when a brutal snowstorm cuts them off from the hospital and complications arise, everything changes. Sibyl is forced to make an impossible choice that no one wants to face. Eventually, her controversial medical decision leads to a manslaughter trial that threatens to destroy her career and her family.

Bohjalian's novel was picked by Oprah's Book Club in October 1998, and it's easy to see why it made the cut. On a basic level, it's impressive that he captures the voice of a 14-year-old narrator with authenticity and skillfully immerses readers in the story. But what truly sets the book apart is its layered storytelling and the way it challenges readers to examine their moral instincts. "Midwives" doesn't offer easy answers. It's tense, polarizing, and builds to a final twist that shifts everything that came before.

Few books capture the haunting, claustrophobic reality of domestic violence like "Black and Blue" by Anna Quindlen. This novel was the Oprah's Book Club pick of April 1998 and explores the life of Fran Benedetto, a woman who lives in constant fear of her violent and abusive police officer husband. As the reader sees, anything, even silence, can set her husband off. He's charming to the world and terrifying at home, and his connections mean that there's absolutely nothing Fran can do. But beyond his power, Fran is also tethered by love, habit, and the belief that staying is best for her son.

But one day, she realizes her son is just as much a prisoner as she is, and that's when she runs. She reinvents their life in a new state and tries to build something safe and stable, yet she never forgets that her husband is still out there, still searching. And soon enough, we realize that Fran may never truly be able to outrun her past. Quindlen's work will draw you into her character's life with such skill that you'll feel Fran's history, pains, and fears. It's fiction, but it feels terrifyingly real.

Oprah's May 2000 Book Club pick, "While I Was Gone" by Sue Miller, proves that great stories don't need relatable characters. Jo Becker is a veterinarian with a seemingly perfect life. She has a stable marriage, a fulfilling career, and a home many can only dream of. But when someone from her past suddenly reappears, she gets sucked back into old temptations and buried regrets surface. Soon, Jo feels a pull back toward a version of herself she thought she'd left behind.

As she flirts with the idea of yet another escape, a long-hidden murder from her youth forces its way into the present. With her marriage on the line and the truth closing in, Jo must face the cost of her choices and the ripple effects they've led to. "While I was Gone" isn't a story about a likable character. Jo is self-centered, but that's exactly what makes the novel so compelling. You may not like the character, but her story will suck you in until its last pages.

Decades after its launch, Oprah's Book Club is now better known for memoirs, self-help, and spiritual reads, but many of her early picks were thrillers and mysteries. We chose our selections based on reviews, ratings, plots, and, of course, the stories that resonated most with our writers and editors. If Oprah's eclectic taste leaves you craving something a little more lighthearted, Meghan Markle's favorite books are the perfect inspirational reading list.