Five dark novels that explore the sinister side of marriage

Azma Dar is an author and playwright. She has written three full-length theatre productions, several short plays, a radio play for BBC Asian Network and has a forthcoming play entitled NOOR at Southwark Playhouse in November 2022. Her debut novel, The Secret Arts, was published in 2015. Her latest novel is Spider.

At CrimeReads Dar tagged "five deliciously dark novels that explore the sinister side of marriage," including:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Nick and Amy Dunne are writers- he’s a journalist and she writes quizzes for magazines. They’ve left their glamorous, happy New York life and moved to the suburbs to look after Nick’s dying mother. The story begins on their fifth wedding anniversary, as Nick comes home to find his wife missing. When traces of blood are found in their living room, and Nick’s behaviour becomes increasingly evasive, it isn’t long before he becomes a suspect himself. Amy’s left Twisty, addictive and brilliantly written, it alternates between Nick’s narration and Amy’s diary entries, both of which can’t really be trusted, and is a sharp, witty observation of a troubled marriage that caused a sensation when it was published.

Read about another entry on the list.

Gone Girl made Jonas Jonasson's top ten list of books about revenge, Suzanne Redfearn's list of six novels about women trying to outrun their past, Max Manning's top ten list of psychopathic crime & thriller characters, Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufmann's list of six favorite literary human monsters, Elizabeth Macneal's list of five sympathetic fictional psychopaths, Jo Jakeman's top ten list of revenge novels, Amanda Craig's list of favorite books about modern married life, Sarah Pinborough's top ten list of unreliable narrators, C.A. Higgins's top five list of books with plot twists that flip your perception, Ruth Ware's top ten list of psychological thrillers, Jane Alexander's top ten list of treasure hunts in fiction, Fanny Blake's list of five top books about revenge, Monique Alice's list of six great fictional evil geniuses, Jeff Somers's lists of the top five best worst couples in literature, six books that’ll make you glad you’re single and five books with an outstanding standalone scene that can be read on its own, Lucie Whitehouse's ten top list of psychological suspense novels with marriages at their heart and Kathryn Williams's list of eight of fiction’s craziest unreliable narrators.

--Marshal Zeringue