Travel Thrillers on Airplanes Boats Cars and Trains combine the claustrophobia of a locked room mystery with the excitement of a Vacation Thriller. That mash-up equals Transportation Thrillers about Vacations Gone Wrong, often in an unfamiliar place with no chance of escape. Let’s check out some of these Terrifying Travel Thrillers! Updated for 2026!
Travel Thrillers on Airplanes Boats Cars and Trains to read in 2026
Table of Contents:
- Jen’s Quick Picks: My Favorite Travel Thriller so Far
- Travel Thrillers Set on Planes
- Travel Thrillers Set on Trains
Travel Thrillers: Jen’s Quick Picks
NEW IN 2025 AND 2026:
- With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
- 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
- Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood
Most Famous: The Girl on the Train (which I didn’t include because it’s just a commuter train)
Most unusual setting: Midnight by Amy McCulloch
Most terrifying airplane book: Falling by TJ Newman
Train thriller trip I’d most like to take in real life: Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson, which takes place in the Australian outback!
Ending you HAVE to discuss: The Last Flight by Julie Clark
Creepiest twist: The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard
Airplane Thrillers: Books set on planes that are not for nervous flyers!
I am a VERY nervous flyer so I’m proud that I was able to read and pick out the Best Thrillers Set on Airplanes for your reading enjoyment.
Also, I feel that the term “airplane thriller” is backhand insult to thriller readers, meaning that thrillers are just throwaway books you read while on a plane. Rude!
Falling by T.J. Newman
Falling By T.J. Newman was a 2021 debut novel by a former flight attendant that was a blockbuster hit when it came out. I was too afraid to read it … until now.
Yes, it’s a Thriller You Can Read in One Sitting with 90% page turning plot and light on scene-setting and character development. But it’s a fast and fun read.
If you are not nervous about flying and are looking for books like the show Hijack on Apple TV, then Falling by T.J Newman is the book for you!
The Last Flight by Julie Clark
The Last Flight is a gripping female-forward thriller that came out during the pandemic and is one of my most popular book discussion posts. I loved it and continue to recommend it!
The Last Flight is about two women, each at a dangerous crossroads, who meet in an airport bathroom and decide to swap plane tickets.
Read it and join our discussion about the pink sweater!
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
Did you know that Before the Fall by Noah Hawley was a nominee for Goodreads Best Mystery Thriller (2016), Macavity Award Nominee for Best Novel (2017), ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel (2017), and Edgar Award for Best Novel (2017) is a must read for those looking for chilling airplane thrillers.
Before the Fall is also a great pick for readers looking for books like the ABC show LOST. A private plane headed to New York plunges into the ocean near Martha’s Vineyard. Only two passengers survive. Who brought the plane down and why?
Death In the Clouds by Agatha Christie
Is there any mystery concept that wasn’t covered by Agatha Christie?
On a short plane ride from Paris to London, a woman is mysteriously killed by a poison dart. Fortunately Hercule Poirot is on board to solve the case.
Yes, Death in the Clouds has its dated elements, but it is a fun locked room (plane?) story is a favorite of Agatha Christie fans.
Thrillers on a Train: Books Like Murder on the Orient Express
Train travel was more popular during the Golden Age of Mysteries but I am happy to report that Thrillers Set on Trains have become more of a thing.
Books like Murder on the Orient Express never go out of style. Woman on the Orient Express is a “meta” book about Agatha Christie on a train! Let the trend continue!
NEW TRAVEL THRILLERS ON TRAINS IN 2025 and 2026:
- With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
- 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
I enjoyed this Agatha Christie-inspired (Murder on the Orient Express anyone) about an author with a secret and a case of writers block who decides to take a train trip as a writers retreat. But as the bodies pile up, what’s up?
I enjoyed this one!!
With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
This dual timeline historical fiction novel is set on a train. A woman on a vengeance mission lures all the suspects onto the Philadelphia Phoenix, a luxury train going from Philadelphia to Chicago!
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
I read Everyone on the Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson in 2024 and highly recommend it to mystery super-fans. It has a “meta” concept about a group of mystery writers and fans who travel on the Ghan for a Crime Writers Festival, then have to solve a real-life murder.
In my 2024 Goodreads review, I said that Everyone on This Train is a Suspect:
“has a comic tone and a very strong narrative voice that breaks the fourth wall. I loved that most of the characters were crime writers or writer-adjacent (agents, fans, entourage, organizers). I have traveled around Australia, and the Ghan is as famous there is the Orient Express was in Agatha Christie’s time.”
Thrillers Set on Ships and Boats
I don’t know about you, but I find Thrillers Set on Boats and Ships completely terrifying. Not only are you often cut off from the internet and news, you’re trapped with a bunch of random strangers AND with the vast depths of the ocean underneath you.
NEW THRILLERS SET ON SHIPS AND BOATS IN 2025!
- Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman (this one is a bit of a two-for as it starts on a plane but moves to a river cruise!
- Murder on the Marlow Bell (Marlow Murder 4) by Robert Thorogood
Murder on the Marlow Belle
I love this cozy amateur detective series set in the UK. It’s perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and there’s a BBC/Masterpiece Theater adaptation!
Readers Guide to Murder on the Marlow Belle
Murder Takes a Vacation (2025)
Laura Lippman has picked out a minor character from her Tess Monaghan series and made her the star of the show. Muriel is a senior citizen and a plus-sized woman, which serves her well as no one suspects that she’s a sharp cookie too!
This wasn’t really for me, but try it if it’s for you!
The Last One by Will Dean (2023)
That “wait… what?” ending of The Last One by Will Dean will either thrill or enrage you. But if you like a thriller with a big twist, this one’s for you.
The Last One is set on the ocean liner RMS Atlantica. Caz and her new boyfriend Pete are looking forward to a romantic vacation. The ship leaves port, but Caz wakes up to find Pete is gone. And so is everyone else on the ship (!!)
Read my review of The Last One With Spoilers and let’s discuss!
Midnight by Amy McCulloch (2024)
A once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise. Huge cliffs of ice loom up to the sky. The sun never sets over the sparkling sea. And there’s a killer on board…
Unable to sleep in the endless eerie daylight, Olivia has no idea whom she can trust. And if she can’t figure it out soon, she won’t make it back alive…
Check out my review of Midnight, a unique locked room mystery set on an Antarctic voyage!
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
I’m a huge Ruth Ware fan and The Woman in Cabin 10 is a fun thriller with a unique setting.
Travel writer Lo Blacklock has been offered a week on a small luxury liner. Best assignment ever!
But when a horrified Lo witnesses a woman being thrown overboard, no one believes her.
I loved the way this book combined epistolary elements with a good old fashioned gaslighting plot!
Check out my full Review of The Woman in Cabin 10!
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
I personally prefer Rachel Hawkins’s modern Gothic thrillers, like The Villa, but Reckless Girls combines a terrifying yacht thriller with a dark female friendship story.
Lux and her boyfriend could use some extra cash, so agree to sail two friends to a remote island in the South Pacific. Sounds idyllic, but what are these women really up to? And is the island really cursed?
This book reminded me of a favorite movie from the late 1980s, Dead Calm, staring Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill! I still get chills thinking about it!
My Spoiler Discussion of Reckless Girls is here.
Thrillers Featuring Cars
Cars are so deeply engrained in American culture that I am surprised I couldn’t think of more titles. If you know of anything I missed, please drop me a comment!
I did come up with some very creepy thrillers in which cars play a huge part!
Murder Road by Simone St James (2024)
I am OBSESSED with this 1990s-set, paranormal story about a pair of honeymooners who take a wrong turn and end up on … Murder Road.
If that sounds too scary for you, it’s not! There’s a lot of humor here and the main characters were fascinating. Do not miss this one!
You can check out my review of Murder Road here!
Christine by Stephen King (1983)
First off, this is the first time I realized that the Stranger Things font was borrowed from King’s books. Christine is a book I read a LONG time ago, about a custom-painted red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine that is … possessed.
Yes, it almost sounds comical, but this is Stephen King.
The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard (2023)
I wish this book had received more attention when it came out in 2023. It’s a CREEPY sister story that I still can’t stop thinking about!
If you like psychological thrillers with a twist that will make you gasp, then flip the pages backwards to see how the author pulled it off, grab this book IMMEDIATELY! Then come join my spoiler discussion for The Trap!
No Exit by Taylor Adams (2017)
Can an ordinary college student save a kidnapped child?
This highway rest stop thriller set during a blizzard is both suspenseful and chilling. I didn’t review it, but it’s probably Taylor Adams’s most popular book.
No Exit is also a Hulu movie, but the book is more highly reviewed!
The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver (1997)
The first book in this iconic series about a criminologist who was terribly injured in an accident who solves crimes alongside a female police officer.
I can’t say how cars are involved, because it’s a spoiler, but this book is CHILLING and the 1999 movie with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie is really good too. Don’t miss out!
Okay, avid thriller fans, what titles did I miss? Please tell me in comments!
I like your list. I haven’t read any of them.