10 Satisfyingly Sinister Novels about Secret Societies

Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut novel tells the story of Chiamaka and Devon, the only two Black students in the exclusive Niveus Private Academy. Chiamaka is reaching heady heights in her school career, while Devon is trying to keep his head down and get by, but when an anonymous figure named “Aces” threatens to reveal their secrets, the two discover that a secret society may be working against them.

If you like your thrillers chilling and Gothic, The Lighthouse Witches is a creepy and atmospheric read. When two children go missing on a remote Scottish island, their mother and the missing children’s remaining sister try to uncover the truth of what’s happened to them — a truth that involves secret societies, supernatural occurrences, and a plot drawn from the real-life history of the Scottish witch trials.

Another witchy novel, Dawson’s adult debut follows four women who practice magic as part of a secret government society of witches. The group was set up by Anne Boleyn, and has influenced every major historical event since. However, in the aftermath of a magical war, HMRC begins to fracture, and the protagonists have to make a choice about where their true loyalties lie.

In this YA thriller, protagonist Jess falls under suspicion when the golden boy of her exclusive private boarding school is killed in the exact same way that she described in a short story she wrote for class. Jess has to solve the mystery, and find out whether the school’s mysterious Regia Club are involved, before the murderer targets her too.

Best known for her Grishaverse novels, Leigh Bardugo writes a tense thriller focused around a secret society with Ninth House. Alex Stern survives a murder attempt, and, while she is recovering, is given the chance to attend Yale for free — all she has to do is report back on the activities of the famous college’s notorious secret societies.

There are layers upon layers of secret societies and Gothic intrigue in La Sala’s smash hit of a novel. Mars, a genderfluid teenager, goes back to a prestigious summer camp to discover the reason behind his twin sister Caroline’s violent death, and encounters the Honeys, a group of girls who clearly know more about what happened than they are telling.

Universities are popular settings for novels about secret societies, and for good reason: the academic can often cross over into the arcane, and universities often have old traditions that can seem weird or even sinister to outsiders. In The Oxford Inheritance, American student Cassandra goes to Oxford University to try to find out the truth about her mother’s death and finds herself tangled up with a secret society that is subtly influencing the wider world.

Another tense thriller with an Oxford connection, Babel is a fantasy story set at an alternative Oxford University. It follows Robin, a young orphan from China who is brought to Oxford and trained as a translator; however, the path he has been set on by his benefactor is challenged by the secretive Hermes Society, who want to stop the British Empire’s aggressive path of expansion and colonisation.

A murder mystery with mythological undertones, Hide tells the story of a group of people who travel to an abandoned fairground in order to take part in a reality TV game of hide-and-seek, each of them vying for the grand prize that will go to the last person to be found. Of course, there’s more to the game than meets the eye, and the secretive organisation behind it will stop at nothing to ensure the game plays out in the way they want.

Not all secret societies are sinister: sometimes they can be warm, welcoming, and cosy. In this sweet story, Mika, a woman who secretly has magic powers, joins the Nowhere House to teach other young witches. Mika makes friends, learns how to control her powers, and even finds romance.