I recently read The May Queen Murders (that’s a link to my goodreads reveiw, it’s the top one). Now I’m reading The Female of the Species which is really well written but deals with dark subject matter. I started it yesterday and got about halway through it but it triggered me pretty badly and I had to stop for the day. I’m probably gonna finish it tomorrow tho because it’s THAT good. It emphasizes female freindship and solidarity and there’s actual communication and understanding which is my BIGGEST issue with most YA.
Other small town murder mysteries/thrillers that i’ve read are Dark Places (it’s good but gross), Sharp Objects, Wax (though technically a bit of a mystery it’s more of a comedy I guess), The Merciless (not so much focused on the small town aspect but still good). Grasshopper Jungle is very small town but isn’t exactly a thriller/mystery. Lol, i need to read more. I only know so few.