Nine top campus thrillers

Heather Darwent was raised in Yorkshire and moved to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is her debut novel.

At CrimeReads Darwent tagged nine shining campus thrillers, including two titles under the theme "Friendships and relationships":

Enter the tragic misfit – the protagonist. Perhaps they want to be part of a compelling circle of friends, and toxic bonds abound. Often the characters are lonely, or at least yearning for something they can’t quite put their finger on, but it isn’t always about friendship when it comes to the campus thriller. Take

Loner by Teddy Wayne, where the obsessive narrator becomes confused about his relationship with a female student, resulting in a deeply fascinating and uncomfortable read.

There’s a similar unreciprocated relationship in Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. This dark literary thriller takes place at an English university and revolves around the disappearance of a vivacious theatre student. The first-person narration is comparable to Loner, and works perfectly to show the narrator’s spiralling preoccupations. It’s impossible to look away.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue