5 thrillers that make you wish you could time travel just to scream at people

Thrillers love to remind us that the past is messy, no one tells the whole truth, and time travel would solve about ninety percent of these problems. Every one of these books drops you into a mystery that could use a little temporal intervention. Would I personally risk a wormhole just to watch these disasters unfold firsthand? Maybe. Depends on the snacks.

Let’s dig in.

Little Doves by Sara Ennis (aka me) The past doesn’t stay politely in its lane. It barrels straight into the present wearing combat boots. Twenty years after Stasia King’s sister was murdered, another girl vanishes from the same country club on the same day. And the guy they blamed? He’s been dead. So what now?

Then there’s The Surgeon, a vigilante livestreaming attacks on the city’s favorite golden boys. Is this justice or chaos with a hashtag? If you could hop back in time, would you try to stop the original crime or take notes on The Surgeon’s methods? Asking for a friend.

I wrote this one to poke at the big questions. Who decides what justice looks like. Who gets away with what. And what happens when a community pretends its skeletons are just quirky décor.

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea If you’ve ever wanted to go back in time just to tell someone “stop trusting that guy,” this book is your moment. A reporter dives into a 9/11 cold case and discovers that nearly everyone worked a little creative magic on the truth. Every time you think you understand the past, Donlea flips the lights back off.

Would time travel make this easier or harder. No idea. But watching a reporter get tangled in her own obsession is pure thriller catnip.

The Lake House by Kate Morton A missing baby, a glamorous estate, and a cold case detective who falls down the world’s most chaotic rabbit hole. This is a book that makes you want to go back to that party and stand by the bassinet like a paranoid babysitter. Morton writes mysteries that sprawl across decades, which is perfect if you love stories where the past refuses to sit quietly in the corner.

Beneath Devil’s Bridge by Loreth Anne White True crime podcasts make everything sound neat and structured. Real life is more like opening a drawer and finding a live ferret. The confessed murderer in this case suddenly insists the confession was a lie, which is the kind of thing that makes detectives develop new stress wrinkles.

If you could time travel into this story, would you try to witness the crime or just hover awkwardly over everyone’s shoulder shouting “tell the truth” like a chaotic guardian angel.

When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins This one grabs you by the throat. Childhood trauma, buried memories, a crime that destroyed a family. Two decades later, someone decides to start digging again. If you’ve ever wanted to watch a past event unfold to finally understand “what the hell actually happened,” this book scratches that itch.

Memory is slippery. Trauma is mean. And sometimes the truth only shows up after it’s too late to do anything about it.

Five books. Zero chill. Infinite opportunities to wish for a time machine. If you enjoy thrillers that force you to wrestle with secrets, shame, and the horrifying thought that people are capable of literally anything, these will keep you up way past your bedtime. Each one pulls you into a moment where one wrong decision changed everything.

Grab one, curl up somewhere cozy, and prepare to yell “don’t do that” at characters who absolutely will.

Time travel sold separately.