If you finished The Last Thing He Told Me and immediately needed another book where a woman discovers her husband is not who she thought he was, you're in the right place. Laura Dave hit something with that book. The pacing, the stepmother-daughter relationship, the slow realization that your whole life has been built on a lie. It sold millions of copies for a reason.
The sequel, The First Time I Saw Him, picks up five years later and is just as addictive. If you haven't read it yet, start there. Our full guide has the plot summary, ending explained, and 10 discussion questions.
But if you've already devoured both and need more, this list is for you. I organized it by vibe so you can find exactly the kind of domestic thriller you're craving.
If you haven't read it yet definitely start with The First Time I Saw Him!
The First Time I Saw Him Bookcover
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The "My Husband Is Not Who I Thought He Was" Vibe
These are the closest matches to Laura Dave's energy. A woman discovers her partner has been hiding something massive, and the rest of the book is her digging for the truth while trying to protect the people she loves.
The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews Book Cover
1. The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
Reese's May 2026 Pick
Clare is an art historian married into a wealthy New York family. She begins an affair with an art dealer centered around a rare painting called Longfin. When the dealer is murdered, Clare is thrust into a web of deception, forgery, and family manipulation. The villain hiding in plain sight is genuinely shocking. If you loved the "nothing is what it seems" energy of Laura Dave, this one delivers.
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Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister Book Cover
2. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
Jen watches her teenage son commit murder on Halloween night. Then she wakes up and it's the day before. Each night's sleep transports her one day deeper into the past, where she must find out what drove her son to kill and stop it from happening. This was also a Reese pick, and the time-travel structure makes it completely unputdownable. Same "mother protecting her child at all costs" energy as both Dave books.
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Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister book cover
3. Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Jenna's May 2026 Pick
McAllister again because she's that good. A mother's daughter is kidnapped in Texas. The ransom isn't money. She must smuggle cocaine across the Mexican border. When the exchange goes wrong, she shoots a man to save her daughter. Then the real twists begin. The "how far would a mother go" question runs through this one like a live wire.
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You Should Have Told Me by Leah Konen Book Cover
4. You Should Have Told Me by Leah Konen
A new mother discovers her partner may be connected to a missing woman. Sleep-deprived, isolated, and increasingly suspicious, she starts digging into his past while caring for a newborn. The postpartum fog makes everything feel unreliable, which is exactly the point. If you want the "is my partner lying to me" dread but set in the chaos of early motherhood.
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The "Suburban Secrets" Vibe
These books look perfect from the outside and then the facade starts cracking. Neighborhood settings, family dynamics, and the realization that everyone on your street is hiding something.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty Book cover
5. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Three mothers at a prestigious elementary school in a wealthy Australian beach town become entangled in a web of lies that leads to a death at the school trivia night. You know from the first page that someone dies. You won't figure out who or why until the end. Moriarty basically invented the modern domestic thriller genre, and this is her best. The HBO series is incredible too. The sequel Big Little Truths is coming this August.
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Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica Book cover
6. Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
Two women and a child disappear from a quiet Illinois suburb. Eleven years later, the missing girl shows up on someone's doorstep. What happened to her? Where has she been? And who in the neighborhood has been keeping secrets this whole time? If you love the "safe community hiding something dark" energy, this one nails it. Her new book It's Not Her is also a must read.
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Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty book cover
7. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
A retired couple's seemingly perfect marriage comes under scrutiny when the mother disappears. Was it the mysterious stranger who'd recently moved in with them? One of the four adult children? The husband? Moriarty does the thing where every family member is both sympathetic and suspicious, and you keep changing your mind about who did it.
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The "Protecting My Family at All Costs" Vibe
These books center a woman who will burn the world down to keep her family safe. Same protective energy as Hannah Hall, different circumstances.
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth book cover
8. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
An 81-year-old woman, a hidden past, a murder conviction nobody knows about, and layers of deception that unfold beautifully. This is a book club powerhouse with dual timelines and an ending that fuels an hour of discussion. The central question is the same one Dave keeps asking: how far would you go to protect the people you love?
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Run Away by Harlan Coben book cover
9. Run Away by Harlan Coben
A father tackles his drug-addicted daughter in Central Park after months of searching for her. That confrontation triggers a chain of events involving a murder, a mysterious commune, and secrets from the parents' past. Coben connects a family crisis to a larger conspiracy the same way Dave does. The parent who won't give up even when everyone tells them to.
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The Housewife by Natalie Barelli book cover
10. The Housewife by Natalie Barelli
Jodie always dreamed of being a housewife. After a whirlwind romance, she marries renowned psychologist Dr. Roy Davies and moves into his perfect Beverly Hills home. But the fairy tale fades fast. Roy is distant, his friends see her as a gold-digger, and the house still belongs to his late wife Deborah, whose presence looms over everything. When Jodie starts digging into Deborah's death, the deeper she goes, the darker Roy's past gets. Goodreads' most anticipated thriller of summer 2026.
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The "Book Club Will Fight About This" Vibe
These aren't just thrillers. They're the kind of books where your group spends the entire meeting arguing about who was right and who was wrong. Same discussion potential as both Laura Dave books.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke book cover
11. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Reese's Book Club Pick
A tradwife influencer wakes up in the brutal reality of 1855 and has to figure out whether it's a nightmare, time travel, or something else entirely. Dual timelines, family secrets, and an ending your book club will argue about for an hour. Different genre from Dave but the same "nothing is what it seems" energy and the same quality of discussion questions.
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My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney book cover
12. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney
Eden Fox returns from a run to find her key doesn't fit, a woman eerily similar to her answers the door, and her husband insists the stranger is his wife. One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying. Meanwhile, six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy inherits the same house after a life-changing diagnosis and stumbles upon a clinic that claims to predict your date of death. If you loved the identity crisis at the center of Laura Dave's books, this one takes the concept and turns it sideways.
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It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell book cover
13.It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
Jane Trevally is walking her dogs on her country estate when a small white terrier appears alone. The teenager he'd been staying with is missing. Jane offers to return the dog to his registered owner in London and arrives at a run-down house called Thornwood in the backwaters of Hampstead. She's immediately on alert because she has a dark history with this house. The man who answers the door is not the man she remembers, and through the window she catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman. Twenty-five years of buried secrets are about to surface. If you loved the "nothing about this house is what it seems" energy of Laura Dave, Jewell delivers that same slow-building dread.
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Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy book cover
14. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Dominic Salt and his three children are the final caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island near Antarctica and home to the world's largest seed bank. When a violent storm washes a mysterious woman named Rowan ashore, the fragile balance of the family begins to shift. Rowan isn't telling the whole truth about why she came, and Dominic has secrets of his own, including sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave. Remote setting, rising tension, and the question of who you can trust when there's nowhere to run. If The Last Thing He Told Me made you love the "everyone is hiding something" slow burn, this does it on an island at the edge of the world.
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The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett book cover
15. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
Kathryn Stockett's first novel in 14 years. Women doing impossible things for the people they love, and the question of whether the ends justify the means. Historical fiction but with the same moral complexity and "who do you root for" energy that makes Dave's books such good discussion material.
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Already Read One of These?
Come back and check out the full guides. We have ending explained posts, character breakdowns, and book club discussion questions for all of them:
The First Time I Saw Him Guide | Fine Art of Lying Guide | Yesteryear Guide | Mad Mabel Guide | Calamity Club Guide
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Frequently Asked Questions
What books are similar to The Last Thing He Told Me?
Books similar to The Last Thing He Told Me include Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, The Housewife by Natalie Barelli, Thornwood by Lisa Jewell, and The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews. All feature domestic suspense, hidden identities, and women digging for the truth.
Is there a sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me?
Yes. The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave picks up five years later when Owen reappears at Hannah's furniture exhibition. It was Reese's January 2026 Book Club Pick and inspired Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series.
What should I read after The Last Thing He Told Me?
Start with The First Time I Saw Him, the direct sequel. After that, try Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (another Reese pick with a mother protecting her child) or The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews (Reese's May 2026 pick with art world secrets and a hidden villain).
What order should I read Laura Dave's books in?
Start with The Last Thing He Told Me, then read The First Time I Saw Him. Her other novels (Eight Hundred Grapes, The Night We Lost Him) are standalones that can be read in any order.
