If you couldn’t get enough of The White Lotus – with its biting social satire, simmering tension, and luxe settings hiding dark secrets – you’re not alone. Whether it was the mysterious deaths, the flawed wealthy characters, or the gorgeous holiday backdrops that kept you hooked, we’ve rounded up the best books like The White Lotus to keep that same energy going.
These titles are perfect for fans of dark comedy, psychological tension, and stories where the rich behave badly – and often pay the price.
See How They Fall by Rachel Paris
Narrated by Rianwen Parkes-Lockwood, Eva Seymour
Turner Corp, a luxury goods empire, has been rocked by the death of its founder.
As his three sons gather at the family’s opulent estate for a long weekend, tensions rise when an illegitimate heir is introduced – and no one could predict the tragedy that follows. Skye, who married into the dynasty, is uneasy in her husband’s world, hiding her own secrets while trying to maintain a normal life for their six-year-old daughter.
The weekend quickly morphs into any parent’s worst nightmare, leaving Skye desperate to uncover the truth about the Turner family. Mei, the detective assigned to the case, is pressured by her superiors to close the investigation swiftly. However, as she begins to unpick the complex web of lies and betrayal, she realizes that pulling at these threads might just bring down an empire.
A gripping thriller with sumptuous settings, breathless plotting and twists you won’t see coming, just like The White Lotus – you’ll stay up all night to race to the end.
You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego
Narrated by Feodor Chin, Alejandro Ruiz, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, John Lee, Victoria Villarreal, Will Damron, Dawn Harvey, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Six thriller authors. One writing retreat.You’d die to be on the guest list . . .
The Host
Legendary mystery author J. R. Alastor’s books are sold all over the world, but no one knows his real name. After years hiding in the shadows, he has sent out six invitations to an exclusive murder mystery retreat on his private island.
The Assistant
Mila del Angél has been hired to ensure the week runs smoothly. She has yearned for revenge on a ghost from her past for years – and this could be her chance to get it.
The Players
The six bestselling thriller writers accept their invitations without question – it’s an opportunity any author would kill for.
The Game
What should have been a week of trope-filled games takes a sinister turn when one guest is found dead, and the others find themselves in the midst of a nightmare drawn from Alastor’s dark imagination. They may have written thrillers – but now they and Mila must survive one…
The Unwedding by Ally Condie
Narrated by Christine Lakin
Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.
She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?
But now she’s traveling solo.
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.
When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.
Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
Narrated by January LaVoy
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer.
They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro-or someone else’s husband.
But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other.
Until a body is discovered, face down off the side of the boardwalk.
Stylish, subversive and darkly comedic, this is a story of what’s lurking under the surface of picture-perfect lives in a place where everyone has something to hide.
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
Narrated by Colin Mace
Cornwall, Midsummer 1947.
Pendizack Manor Hotel has just been buried in the rubble of a collapsed cliff. Seven guests have perished, but what brought this strange assembly together for a moonlit feast before this Act of God – or Man?
Over the week before the landslide, we meet the hotel guests in all their eccentric glory: the selfish aristocrat; slothful hotelier; snooping housekeeper; bereaved couple; bohemian authoress; poverty-stricken children – and as friendships form and romances blossom, sins are revealed, and the cliff cracks widen . . .
Both a glorious portrait of seaside holidays in post-war Britain and a wise, witty fable, Margaret Kennedy’s The Feast is a banquet indeed.
The Resort by Sara Ochs
Narrated by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson, Pema Monaghan
A PARADISE ISLAND
You walk across white sand towards the sparkling ocean. You’re leading a group to scuba dive in some of the most beautiful waters on earth, an experience that will stay with you for ever.
WHERE NO ONE IS SAFE
But twenty minutes later, one diver is dead, another critically injured, and your life is in immediate danger.
AND NO ONE CAN ESCAPE
Because this was no accident. There’s a killer in paradise – and you think you might be next…
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
Narrated by Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Shiromi Arserio
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable, but their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is breath-taking, but it has a dark past: in 1974 it was rented by a notorious rockstar, who was joined by up-and-coming musician Pierce Sheldon and his girlfriend, Mari. By the end of the holiday Pierce is dead, and Mari goes on to write one of the greatest horror novels of all time.
As Emily digs into the villa’s history, she begins to think that Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but something more sinister – and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge – and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
Narrated by Elizabeth Evans
Ten days. Eight suspects. Six cities. Five authors. Three bodies. One trip to die for.
Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series, is on a book tour along the gorgeous Amalfi Coast when life starts imitating art as her ex-boyfriend (and book protagonist) Connor Smith is targeted by a killer.
Eleanor’s sleuthing skills are about to be put to the ultimate test as – among literary rivals, rabid fans, a crazed stalker and another ex-flame on tour with her – suspicions are flying faster than paperbacks off a bestseller shelf. But who is really trying to get away with murder?
Bad Tourists by Caro Carver
Narrated by Lesley Sharp
Best friends Darcy, Camilla and Kate have just landed in to the Maldives for a luxury holiday at the exclusive Sapphire Island Resort.They can’t wait for ten days of scorching sun, crystal-clear waters, white-sand beaches – and the chance to put a traumatic shared past behind them.
But what awaits them is a murderous revenge plot that none of them saw coming.Or did they?
Havoc by Christopher Bollen
Narrated by Maggi-Med Reed
Eighty-one-year-old Maggie Burkhardt has left it all behind and spent the last five years ping-ponging between the world’s luxury hotels.
Now she has finally come to rest somewhere she can imagine staying forever: the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt.
Maggie is no sweet old lady. She has a nasty, nosy little habit: she spies on her fellow guests and manipulates situations to ‘liberate’ them from what she sees as unhappy relationships.
When an eight-year-old boy, Otto, and his well-meaning mother arrive at the hotel, Maggie sees two easy targets. But she is more wrong than she could possibly know, and is soon locked in a death-spiral with Otto – has she finally met her match in a child one-tenth her age?
Looking for more drama-filled listens like The White Lotus?
Check out our If you loved The White Lotus collection on the xigxag app – where the rich are messy, the secrets are dark, and the vibes are always off in the best way.
