Looking for a Thrill?
Discover your next page-turning obsession is here in this roundup of thrillers and true crime stories that deliver the perfect mix of suspense and atmosphere. Start with Alex Finlay’s Parents Weekend, a national bestseller that kicks off with a lively family event at a college campus. The plot quickly turns tense as five students suddenly disappear without a trace. Alongside the novel’s heart-pounding twists, you’ll find other stories that blur the line between fact and fiction, from mothers-turned-investigators digging into a cold case in The Carpool Detectives to Ashley Winstead’s This Book Will Bury Me, a chilling dive into digital sleuthing and dangerous obsession.
To enhance the reading experience, each story is paired with food and drink suggestions that set the mood. Whether you’re settling in with a comforting meal or raising a glass with a signature sip, these pairings bring an extra layer of immersion to every chapter. Together, the books and their accompaniments promise an unforgettable experience. They will satisfy both your cravings for a gripping mystery and a perfectly matched treat.
Parents Weekend
by Alex Finlay
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, comes one of the year's most anticipated thrillers.
In the glow of their children's exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families gather over dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids--five residents of Campisi Hall--never show up to dinner.
At first, everyone thinks they're just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours tick by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.
Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella--The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths soon call them--come from very different families. What drew them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril--or a threat to the friend group from within?
Told from each family's point of view--and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift--Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days in the dorms when friends become family.
Discussion Questions for Parents Weekend
- This book features a large cast of characters with an ever changing narrator. Did this help you better connect with the characters, or did it result in not enough depth? Did it help or hinder your enjoyment of the book?
- The large cast of characters offers a lot of potential suspects, however the large cast of victims may make it hard to see how everyone is connected. Were you able to figure out the suspect? Was the motive and plan laid out well in the end?
Parents Weekend Food Pairing
Five college students don’t show up for a free dinner with their parents? There is definitely something wrong. College and good food aren’t two things that go hand in hand often. But if you want to re-live some of your college days, or know someone who is currently in school, then this cookbook might make you re-think college food.
The Ultimate College Cookbook
by Victoria Granof
Students will discover the joy and simplicity of cooking for themselves with 60 recipes for easy, delicious meals that can easily be made in any dorm room or shared apartment!
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
The Ultimate College Cookbook offers sixty recipes for everything from breakfast to weeknight cooking and weekend gatherings, on-campus or off. Each dish is designed to be cooked in a dorm-friendly appliance, including microwaves, toaster ovens, electric burners, rice cookers, and slow cookers.
Don't miss Baked Ravioli Lasagna (use frozen ravioli instead of pasta sheets!), Hot Chocolate Lava Cakes (baked in individual mugs), and even perfect jammy eggs cooked in a tea kettle (add them to noodle soups in a pinch). And with variations for easy twists (upgrade your oatmeal to Pumpkin-Spice All-Nighter Oats, or turn garlicky roasted cauliflower into something new with chili-laced miso), there's no chance of getting bored in the kitchen.
Upgraded Instant Ramen
If there is one meal every college student - and graduate - knows well it is instant ramen. Not only is it a quick and easy meal, but it was also extremely cost effective for students on a tight budget. If you are looking for a way to fancy up this cheap and nostalgic dish, here is how you can make better ramen with only a few extra ingredients.
Ingredients
1/2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 handful sliced mushrooms
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 package instant ramen (seasoning discarded)
1 handful fresh spinach
1 large egg
1 green onion, sliced
sriracha to taste
Instructions
Step 1. Add the oil, garlic, and ginger to a small sauce pot and sauté over medium for about one minute.
Step 2. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for about a minute more.
Step 3. Add the broth and water, and bring to a boil.Once boiling, add the uncooked ramen noodles. Boil for about 3 minutes, or just until they are tender. Do not overcook the noodles.
Step 4. Stir in the spinach until wilted. Turn the heat down to low, crack the egg into the broth, and let sit for about six minutes, or until the egg whites are cooked and the yolk is still runny.
Step 5. Transfer the soup to one or two bowls, then top with sriracha and sliced green onion.
Parents Weekend Drink Pairing
California 75 Cocktail
What better way to ring in the first night of your child’s college parents weekend than with a zesty lemon cocktail. This classic California staple is not only a perfect pairing for dinner, but a great way to end the night.
Ingredients
2 ounces California dry vermouth
1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
6 ounces California sparkling wine
Lemon for garnish
Instructions
Step 1. Add dry vermouth, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
Step 2. Strain into flute glasses.
Step 3. Top each with sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon twist.
Parents Weekend non-alcoholic Drink Pairing
Arnold Palmer
When life hands you lemons in California, you make lemonade. Then you promptly mix it with iced tea for a perfect Arnold Palmer. But before you can make a great mix, you’ve got to make the lemonade just right.
Ingredients
For Lemonade
9 California lemons or 1 ½ cups of juice and pulp
7 cups of ice-cold water
1 sliced lemon for garnish
Sweetener of choice - try a California Honey Syrup for an authentic taste
For Arnold Palmer
Brewed tea of choice
Ice
Instructions
For Lemonade
Step 1. Squeeze the juice from the lemons
Step 2. Pour 7 cups of water into a pitcher and stir in the lemon juice and pulp.
Step 3. Add ¾ cup of sweetener, then increase little by little to taste.
Step 4. Mix until well combined.
Step 5. Pour over ice to serve
Step 6. Put pot on medium heat and add vanilla. Stir until it starts to boil.
Step 7. Stir for 2-3 minutes while boiling, making sure the milk doesn’t burn.
Step 8. Remove from heat and ladle into mugs.
Step 9. Top with cinnamon, coconut, and/or nut garnish
For Arnold Palmer
Step 1. Fill glass with ice and fill halfway with brewed tea, sweetened if desired
Step 2. Top with California lemonade
Step 3. Garnish with lemon.
Perfect pairing for true crime and cold case fans
Two mothers meet at their children’s school, but instead of becoming victims of a crime, like in Parents Weekend, they decide they are going to solve a case. In 2020, some true crime fans decided they could easily do a DIY criminal investigation. Why not?
The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case
by Chuck Hogan
The incredible true story of a group of moms who, united by a search for new purpose, attempt to solve a fifteen-year-old double murder.
"A true crime mystery that reads like a novel . . . It can be easy to forget that the underlying case is based on real, not fictional, murder."--Los Angeles Times
A lot of us like to think we could solve a mystery. Can these four moms actually do it?
In 2020, Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole find themselves at a familiar crossroads: when motherhood takes charge of their lives, they begin grappling with their own identities. Their thriving careers seem like a lifetime ago, and as their children become more independent, they struggle to find purpose. But when they meet at a bowling night fundraiser for their kids' school, they discover a shared interest in true crime that crystalizes around a mysterious double homicide that took place in their hometown a decade earlier: A couple in their 60s vanished overnight from their home and mysteriously shuttered their family business, leaving millions of dollars unaccounted for. Initially believed to have absconded with the money, they went from suspects to victims when their bodies were discovered in their car at the bottom of a steep ravine. And then the case turned cold.
But what if the moms could solve it? What if they could bring a killer to justice and give closure to a grieving family?
The four women have no connection to the case and no law-enforcement background, but the determined group find themselves in incredible and often dangerous situations-digging for evidence in prohibited ravines, scouring potential crime scenes for blood splatter, and sifting through pages and pages of dense police files. As they get more and more entangled in this complex investigation, they also find themselves in real danger--and with information that could blow the case wide open.
An emotional and often terrifying odyssey through a DIY criminal investigation, The Carpool Detectives is the ultimate wish fulfillment for any true crime fanatic, an absolutely thrilling read for armchair sleuths and mystery fans alike.
A Bit of True Crime and a Big Mystery
What happens when fans of true crime and armchair detectives find themselves at the center of an investigation? Can they solve their own mystery? This new psychological thriller will have fans of true crime podcasts and amateur sleuths on high alert.
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From bestselling author Ashley Winstead comes a chilling psychological thriller that explores the dark heart of digital obsession, collective grief, and what happens when murder becomes entertainment.
After losing her father, college student Jane Sharp finds solace--and purpose--in the strange intimacy of online true crime forums. Among armchair detectives and anonymous sleuths, she becomes someone new: sharp-eyed, fast-thinking, celebrated. But when the brutal deaths of three college girls in Delphine, Idaho spark a viral frenzy, Jane and her online friends become part of the investigation.
This time, they aren't just watching from behind a screen. This time, they're in it.
But every clue uncovers more contradictions. The town seems scripted, the police too polished, and the killer always one step ahead. As Jane inches closer to the truth, she begins to suspect they've walked into something far more dangerous than a mystery.
Now, one year later, Jane is ready to tell the true story. What she's about to reveal will change everything.
Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, This Book Will Bury Me is a gripping confessional of digital justice, dangerous fame, and the price of being seen.
Tense, emotional, and thought-provoking, This Book Will Bury Me is more than a thriller--it's a warning. For anyone who's ever binged a crime doc, shared a theory, or chased justice from their phone, Jane's confession will haunt you long after the final line.