Maestra Author L.S. Hilton Shares Her Top 10 Female-Fronted Thrillers

L.S. Hilton’s pitch-black trilogy starter Maestra gives us a new amoral heroine to love: Judith Rashleigh, art house assistant by day and hostess by night, who finds herself—by way of snagging a rich man’s attention—navigating the glittering world of the Riviera. After inadvertently ending up on her dangerous boss’s bad side, and following the accidental death of her mark, Judith relies on a flair for reinvention and sociopathic resistance to looking back to propel her on a twisting, decadent spree across Europe. With film rights sold and planned editions coming out all over the world, Maestra is a dark little thriller you’ll soon be seeing everywhere.
Here’s Hilton on 10 more female-fronted thrillers you can’t miss.

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
I adore du Maurier. This is a chilling story, and the omnipotence of the absent Rebecca is thrilling (even if this is not a thriller in the traditional sense).

The V. I. Warshawski novels, by Sara Paretsky
Because Vic Warshawski is just cool. If I were a cop, I’d want to be like her.

Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
Mental illness, spiritual fanatics, a notorious nineteenth-century murderess who has been misunderstood, this book has everything.

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
The idea of a missing tale, a vanished story, is brilliant and addictive.

We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver
As a mother, I found this a disturbing and thought- provoking book, and the twist at the end is fantastic.

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
Perhaps not traditionally viewed as a thriller, but the fate of the painting had me glued to the page, and whilst the protagonists are men, and indeed very well written, I found the female author to be the most compelling character in the book.

Dare Me, by Megan Abbott
The potential for the boredom of teenage girls to take a wrong turn is a terrifying thing.

Before I Go to Sleep, by S. J. Watson
Memory plays an important part in my work, and the thought of losing it, of doubting it, had a great effect on me.

Flowers in the Attic, by V. C. Andrews
Two really strong female characters, the plucky sister and the monstrous mother.

The Carrier, by Sophie Hannah
I find the inevitable amount of information held about all of us “up in the cloud” (even if, like me, you are not a social media person) disconcerting. So this story of a stranger having “inside knowledge”—eek!
Maestra hits shelves April 19 and is available for pre-order now.