How to read B.A. Paris books in order

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If you’re a fan of exciting psychological thrillers, you’ll love this list of B.A. Paris books in order of publication date!

A few years ago I discovered B.A. Paris when browsing eBooks to borrow from my library, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since and I’m currently working my way through her list of titles! My first B.A. Paris novel was The Therapist, and it immediately turned B.A. Paris into an auto-read author for me.

All of her books are standalone novels and can be read in any order, and both her earlier work and more recent books have received incredible praise and reached huge levels of popularity! If you’re looking for the perfect psychological suspense book with incredibly exciting twists to enjoy, I highly recommend B.A. Paris!

List of B.A. Paris’ books in order

Below are all of B.A. Paris’ books in chronological order of publication date:

1. Behind Closed Doors (2016)

2. The Breakdown (2017)

3. Bring Me Back (2018)

4. The Understudy with Sophie Hannah, Clare Mackintosh, Holly Brown (2019)

5. The Dilemma (2020)

6. The Therapist (2021)

7. The Prisoner (2022)

8. The Mosquito (2023)

9. The Guest (2024)

10. When I Kill You (2026)

B.A. Paris book tips & news

• B.A. Paris’ books are all standalone novels and can be read in any order
• If you’re looking to start from the beginning and work your way through, Behind Closed Doors is the right choice
• Book to screen adaptation news: The Breakdown was adapted into a film (titled Blackwater Lane) starring Minka Kelly, Dermot Mulroney, and Maggie Grace; and both Behind Closed Doors and The Therapist (with an on-screen title of The Circle) are being adapted into films

1 of 10: Behind Closed Doors (2016)

Synopsis for Behind Closed Doors:

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance. He’s a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’re hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.

2 of 10: The Breakdown (2017)

Synopsis for The Breakdown:

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods. It was on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, and a woman was sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm, and she probably would have been hurt herself if she’d stopped. Not only that, her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing. Where she left the car; if she took her pills; even the alarm code.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

And the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

3 of 10: Bring Me Back (2018)

Synopsis for Bring Me Back:

She went missing. He moved on. A whole world of secrets remained―until now.

Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone―never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story.

Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there’s something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him…even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her.

Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla―hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla’s past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen’s house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive―and on Finn’s trail―what does she want? And how much does she know?

4 of 10: The Understudy with Sophie Hannah, Clare Mackintosh, Holly Brown (2019)

Synopsis for The Understudy:

Written By Sophie Hannah, BA Paris, Clare Mackintosh, and Holly Bron, this psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Louise Candlish

How far would you go to protect your daughter?

Four mothers must identify the true threat at their daughters’ school before it’s too late.

Carolyn, Bronnie, Elise, and Kendall are bound together by one thing-their four daughters are best friends at the highly competitive Orla Flynn Academy for the Performing Arts.

Last year the foursome exploded because of brutal bullying between the girls, but they’ve since forgiven each other. The mothers, however, haven’t been able to move on. When new threats surface and “accidents” begin to happen – just as a mysterious new girl enters the scene – the mothers take matters into their own hands.

But they will have to risk their own secrets being exposed if they stand a chance at uncovering the truth . . .

Four incredible novelists come together to tell this unique, brilliantly written suspense novel

5 of 10: The Dilemma (2020)

Synopsis for The Dilemma:

Knowing the truth will destroy her. Keeping it secret will destroy him.

It’s Livia’s 40th birthday, and her husband Adam is throwing her the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding they never had. Everyone she loves will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But Livia is secretly glad Marnie won’t be there.

Livia has recently uncovered a secret about their daughter which, if revealed, will shake the foundation of their family to its core. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.

Adam, meanwhile, has his own surprise for Livia: he’s arranged for Marnie to secretly fly back for the party. But before Marnie arrives, Adam hears some terrible news. Now he too is faced with a dilemma: Does he share what he’s learned with his wife? Is hiding the truth the same as telling a lie? And how far are Adam and Livia willing to go to protect the ones they love―and give each other a last few hours of happiness?

6 of 10: The Therapist (2021)

Synopsis for The Therapist:

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

7 of 10: The Prisoner (2022)

Synopsis for The Prisoner:

Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne.

But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?

In the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Therapist, multimillion-copy bestseller B. A. Paris is back with a gripping new suspense novel.

8 of 10: The Mosquito (2023)

Synopsis for The Mosquito:

After his marriage fails, he hopes a vacation in France will relax and restore him. But fate has something more poisonous in store in this biting tale from bestselling author B. A. Paris.

Michael wanted to back out of this trip to the South of France after his wife left him, but his sister and their friends wouldn’t hear of it. His fellow houseguest Rupert isn’t in the mood, either, having recently been widowed. But rather than bonding, Michael is unsettled by Rupert’s constant needling. That and the bug bites are enough to suck the life right out of an idyllic holiday.

The Mosquito is part of Obsession, a collection of compulsively readable short stories about people pushed to their extremes. So addictive you won’t be able to put them down—read or listen to each story in a single sitting.

9 of 10: The Guest (2024)

Synopsis for The Guest:

Some secrets never leave.

Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and again: sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris’ clothes, even rearranging the furniture.

Laure has walked out on her husband―and their good friend―Pierre, over his confession of an affair and a secret child. Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive of their friends, but as Laure’s mood becomes increasingly unpredictable, her presence takes its toll.

Iris and Gabriel’s only respite comes in the form of a couple new to town. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past.

Soon, secrets from all their pasts will unravel, some more dangerous than they could have known.

10 of 10: When I Kill You (2026)

Synopsis for When I Kill You:

Who is watching Nell Masters?

Nell Masters is certain someone is following her. The hairs on the back of her neck rise when she travels to and from work, there are silent calls to her office, and a huge bouquet of flowers arrives without a card. And Nell has a reason to be looking over her shoulder, because she has a secret that she’s hiding from everyone in her life, including her new partner, Alex. But Alex also has secrets of his own.

Fourteen years earlier, when Nell went by the name Elle Nugent, she witnessed a student, Bryony Sanders, getting into a stranger’s car. When Bryony was found murdered, Elle became obsessed with finding the person responsible. She was convinced she knew who it was and her fixation with Brett Parker, the man she accused, led her down a dangerous path . . .

Now, Nell tries to convince herself that this unnerving feeling of being watched is all in her mind. Has someone from her past discovered her new identity? Has the stalker become the stalked? Or is there something even more deadly at play?

Authors similar to B.A. Paris

If you’re a fan of B.A. Paris’ books, you’ll also love these other authors!

• Alice Feeney
• Freida McFadden
• Gillian Flynn
• Katherine Faulkner
• Lisa Jewell
• Lucy Foley
• Megan Miranda
• Paula Hawkins
• Ruth Ware
• Shari Lapena