Where to Start with Alice LaPlante
If you are new to Alice LaPlante, the absolute best place to begin is with her stunning debut novel, Turn of Mind (2011). Not only is it her most famous work, but it also won the prestigious Wellcome Trust Book Prize and became a New York Times bestseller. The book serves as the perfect introduction to her signature style: a blend of high-stakes mystery and deeply empathetic, technically daring character studies.
Because all of LaPlante's novels are standalone works, there are no complex continuity rules or character arcs to track across books. You can dive in wherever a premise catches your eye, though reading her fiction in publication order remains a highly rewarding experience.
Alice LaPlante Fiction in Publication Order
Alice LaPlante has published four psychological suspense novels. Below is a detailed breakdown of each book in order of publication:
1. Turn of Mind (2011)
Published by Atlantic Monthly Press, this groundbreaking debut is told from the perspective of Dr. Jennifer White, a retired orthopedic surgeon suffering from dementia. When her best friend Amanda is found murdered with her fingers surgically amputated, Jennifer is the prime suspect. The tragedy is that Jennifer herself cannot remember if she committed the crime. LaPlante drew from her own mother's struggle with Alzheimer's to paint a devastatingly realistic and haunting portrait of a disintegrating mind, wrapping it in a tense murder mystery.
2. A Circle of Wives (2014)
Her second novel, also published by Atlantic Monthly Press, shifts focus to marital secrets and deception. When Dr. John Taylor, a prominent plastic surgeon, dies of an apparent heart attack, Detective Sammy Finder begins investigating. The investigation quickly takes a bizarre turn when Sammy discovers that Dr. Taylor was secretly married to three different women at the same time: Helen, MJ, and Deborah. As the three wives meet and the details of Taylor's secret lives are exposed, readers are treated to a web of lies and complex female relationships.
3. Coming of Age at the End of Days (2015)
This novel follows Anna, a teenage girl struggling with clinical depression who finds herself drifting away from her family. She is recruited by a charismatic couple who run a local doomsday cult. As Anna becomes increasingly obsessed with their apocalyptic prophecies, her family desperately tries to pull her back. LaPlante uses this premise to examine the psychological vulnerabilities that lead people to search for belonging in dangerous places.
4. Half Moon Bay (2018)
Published by Scribner, this thriller focuses on Jane, a mother who is completely paralyzed by grief after the tragic death of her young daughter. Hoping for a fresh start, Jane relocates to the beautiful, foggy coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California. However, she soon finds herself at the center of a local crisis when young children in the community begin to vanish. Jane must confront her own past trauma while navigating the suspicious townspeople to uncover the truth.
Creative Writing Textbooks and Guides
In addition to her suspense novels, Alice LaPlante is a highly respected creative writing instructor who has taught at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. She has published three guides for writers:
- Method and Madness: The Making of a Story (2009): A highly acclaimed creative writing textbook published by W. W. Norton & Company. It functions as a complete writing course in a book, offering clear advice on craft alongside selected short stories.
- Write Yourself Out of a Corner: 100 Exercises to Unlock Creativity (2023): A guide focused on constraint-based writing exercises to help authors overcome writer's block and generate fresh ideas.
- The Lab: Adventures in Hybrid Writing (2023): Co-authored with Matthew Clark Davison, this book explores the boundaries of hybrid literary genres and experimental writing.
What to Know Before You Start
LaPlante's fiction is best categorized as literary suspense rather than traditional, fast-paced police procedurals. Her books focus heavily on characters dealing with psychological extremes, such as memory loss, deep grief, and obsession. If you enjoy authors who explore the dark, complex corners of human relationships—like Lisa Genova or Gillian Flynn—you will find LaPlante's novels deeply satisfying.