Five psychological thrillers with single-minded villains & anti-heroes

May Cobb earned her MA in literature from San Francisco State University, and her essays and interviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Rumpus, Edible Austin, and Austin Monthly. Her debut novel, Big Woods, won multiple awards. A Texas native, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

Cobb's new novel is The Hunting Wives.

At CrimeReads she tagged "five favorite psychological thrillers that revolve around crime characters who are driven by their naked ambition," including:

Framed by S.L. McInnis

From the outside, Beth Montgomery leads an idyllic life. She lives in a charming bungalow high in the hills above Los Angeles and is married to a sexy, adoring husband who has a promising road ahead of him as a film producer. But when her estranged best friend Cassie Ogilvy arrives in town looking for a place to crash, Beth’s life soon becomes upended by the sly and shifty Cassie, who not only takes up residence in Beth’s home, but also in Beth’s husband’s fantasies. Cassie’s character is a manipulative frenemy in its most glorious form and Framed will keep readers guessing as to what angle Cassie is working.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue