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10 Mystery/Thriller BookTube Channels You’ve Got to Follow

Emily Martin

Contributing Editor

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.

Shattered by James Patterson

Nothing could tear Detective Michael Bennett away from his new bride—except the murder of his best friend. NYPD master homicide investigator Michael Bennett and FBI abduction specialist Emily Parker have a history. When she fails to show at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, Bennett ventures outside his jurisdiction. The investigation he undertakes is the most brilliant detective work of his career…and the most intensely personal. A portrait begins to emerge of a woman as adept at keeping secrets as forging powerful connections. A woman whose enemies had the means and the motives to silence her —and her protectors.

Hello fellow BookTube fans! Looking for recommendations for mystery/thriller BookTube channels to follow? Well you’ve come to the right place!

I have a confession to make. I’m completely obsessed with BookTube. I watch BookTubers nearly every day. While I’m having breakfast, while I’m working, while I’m cooking dinner, basically any time I have a free moment. So yeah, if there’s a BookTube channel out there, I’ve probably seen it. I love how BookTube helps keep me up-to-date about books people are reading, lets me hear other’s thoughts about books I’ve read and loved (or hated). And best of all, watching BookTube videos gets me extra excited about getting right back to reading again. Especially when it comes to some of my favorite genres to read: mysteries and thrillers.

Mystery and thriller books are very popular genres in the world of BookTube, so if you go hunting for mystery/thriller content on YouTube, you’ll find plenty of videos to watch. Which is great! But where to begin when you might find you have more options than you have time? If you only follow 10 BookTubers who cover mystery/thriller content, these are the channels you’ve absolutely got to follow.

Gabbyreads

If you’re looking for lots and lots of Mystery/Thriller content, you can’t go wrong with Gabby’s YouTube channel. She covers a lot of genres, but mystery/thriller is definitely her #1. In fact, she’s posted so many thriller book recommendations that she’s actually on PART 10! That’s 10 videos just recommending thrillers. And that’s not even including all the reading vlogs she’s got on her channel. Plus, she’s got thriller recommendations for beginners, a mystery/thriller book club called The Book Troop, and much, much more. She also co-hosts mystery/thriller/horror Read-A-Thons, so there are plenty of opportunities for you to get in on the fun.

BooksandLala

Speaking of BookTubers with mystery/thriller book clubs, Kayla at Books and Lala also has one you’ll definitely want to get in on if you love mystery/thrillers. It’s called the Literally Dead Book Club, and I can’t get over how much I love the name for this one. Kayla reads a ton of books (she’s already read 122 this year), and a lot of them are mysteries and thrillers. So you’ll catch her talking a lot of books in this genre in her wrap-up and TBR videos. She also does a bunch of fun experiment videos, like reading cozy mysteries for the first time and stopping her reading vlog every time she hates a book. This BookTuber is popular for a reason, so if you somehow haven’t checked her out, definitely do!

WithCindy

Of all the BookTubers on this list, Cindy is probably the one who makes me laugh the most. I also agree with her reviews nearly 100% of the time, so I cannot recommend this channel enough. Cindy has a lot of fun videos that include lots of genres, including plenty of mystery/thrillers. I love that in her wrap-up videos, she cooks while she reviews books. If you love romance, contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, or horror, Cindy covers those genres too. And if you’re just looking to laugh while Cindy watches and comments on movies and TV shows, she’s got that on her channel too. Really, Cindy has a little something for everyone.

Bowties and Books

Okay, not to play favorites, but Jesse’s channel Bowties and Books is probably my favorite BookTube channel. And yes, they’re another BookTuber that covers a lot of genres, but they do read a lot of mystery/thrillers. If you love mystery/thrillers, make sure you check out their video about thrillers written by authors of color. Or if you’re looking for a more recent thriller-centric video from this BookTuber, here are 20 recent horror/thriller books Jesse thinks might be potential 5-star reads.

Ashley’s Little Library

Love horror and thriller books? You’ll love Ashley’s Little Library. Ashley covers a lot of other genres as well, but a nice chunk of her channel is focused on horror and thriller novels. If you’re looking for thriller-specific videos, check out this one where Ashley reads thrillers for self care. Or since it’s summer time, try out these best thrillers to read in the summer.

Jordaline Reads

Jordaline is another BookTuber who reads mostly thriller and horror novels — although she has been diving into some other genres on her channel as well. Check out Jordaline’s recent reading vlogs to see her review in detail some of BookTube’s buzziest thrillers, like The Paris Apartment and Verity. Or just check out any of her TBR or wrap-up videos, which will include a lot of thriller reads.

Nakia’s Hideaway

Nakia reads pretty widely: mystery, thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, adult, YA… she does it all! But yes, she does chat about quite a few mystery and thriller books on her channel. I especially love that she includes spoiler-free and spoiler reviews of books like Rock, Paper, Scissors and The Sun Down Motel. I love a good spoiler-free review, but after I’ve read a book, I wish it was easier to find more BookTubers who got into the spoilers. Nakia’s got a little bit of both!

Loc’D Booktician

Love how Cindy cooks and talks about books? Bre on her channel Loc’D Booktician does that too! And lots of her videos are specifically about mysteries and thrillers. Check out the video above where Bre gets into what she loves to read in crime fiction. Or watch her video where she recommends thriller books for beginners. Bre also interviews authors on her channel. For instance, she recently interviewed Alyssa Cole, author of When No One is Watching. But there’s more! Bre also hosts Blackoweenathon, a Read-a-Thon centered on mystery, thrillers, and horror written by Black authors.

Chanelletime

If you love a BookTube book club, check out Chanelle’s YouTube channel and her Crusty Club Book Club. This book club covers a lot of genres, but they do discuss a lot of mystery/thrillers, including most recently All’s Well by Mona Awad. Chanelle also did a vlog where she read every Riley Sager book. And her wrap-up videos include a lot of thrillers as well. Basically, if you love a good thriller, there’s lots of content for you here.

Katie Colson

Last but not least, we can’t talk about mystery/thriller BookTubers without including Katie Colson. Katie is another BookTuber who covers a lot of genres, but she definitely loves mysteries and thrillers. And to kind of connect this all the way back to the beginning to my first BookTuber recommendation, be sure to check out Katie’s video where she reads Gabby’s favorite thriller books. Or check out any of Katie’s recent reading vlogs, which are mostly about thriller novels, including The Book of Cold Cases and Nine Lives.


Of course, there are many other BookTubers who chat about mysteries and thrillers, but these are 10 you won’t want to miss! Looking for even more BookTube recommendations? Check out these amazing SFF BookTube and BookTok accounts to follow. Or these 10 MangaTubers you should be watching. And here are 15 more fantastic YouTube book reviewers for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!