Murder. Banish. Recruit. With its gripping mix of seduction and strategic betrayal, BBC One’s The Traitors, a modern spin on the party game Mafia, has viewers hooked around the world. The gameshow blurs the lines between trust and treachery, where every alliance hides the potential for darker, more dangerous secrets. 

Perhaps you’re drawn to the suspense of the round table, the deception of the missions, or the merciless characters who will stop at nothing to get ahead. But who says the fun has to end there? This intoxicating brand of high-stakes drama isn’t confined to the screen – it pulses through the pages of many books, too, including plenty of those in the Booker Library.  

From noir-infused thrillers to murder mysteries laced with a Gothic edge, we’ve uncovered a selection of novels that serve up the same tantalising twists and sharp turns. And within, power is always the ultimate prize. So, there’s only one question left to ask: are you Team Faithful or Team Traitor?

The Traitor’s Niche by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson 

A public square replaces the round table in Ismail Kadare’s The Traitors’ Niche, which offers a slice of the TV show with a distinctly Ottoman twist. Here, at the heart of the Empire’s metropolis, the sultan presents the severed heads of rebels to the wider public as a chilling warning. This is one bad guy you’d be wise not to cross. 

Set in the early 1800s, it’s a world where authoritarian rule seeks to erase language and obliterate memory. Kadare’s Kafkaesque novel forms part of a wider trilogy exploring Albania under Ottoman domination, dissecting the region’s limits of power and control. Longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2017, The Traitor’s Niche is darkly funny and packed with so much paranoia you’ll be looking over your shoulder while reading. If you enjoy high-stakes drama with a sinister edge, Kadare delivers in spades. 

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner 

Meet Sadie Smith: a 34-year-old undercover agent and spy for hire, known for razor-sharp instincts and a ruthless streak. Her mission? To infiltrate a commune of radical activists for her shadowy employers, and she’ll stop at nothing to achieve her goal – ruthlessly charming and manipulating her way into the heart of the group. 

Sadie Smith is the perfect Traitors contestant – cunning, calculating, unknowable and always ten steps ahead. The book was described as ‘an espionage thriller sealed tight in the soiled plastic wrap of noir,’ in a review by critic Maureen Corrigan for NPR, who noted that the 2024 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel used ‘double-crossing, seduction, and sudden death’ as its plot devices.  

If you loved the suspense and strategic betrayals in The Traitors and are craving something deeper, Creation Lake offers a gripping, cerebral twist on the genre.  

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka  

What could be more Traitors-esque than being tasked with solving your very own murder? Maali Almeida has woken up dead in a bureaucratic afterlife while his dismembered body slowly sinks into the lake. Now, he must work out who is responsible – and why. But the clock is ticking.  

Set during the real-life Sri Lankan civil war of 1989 – a time of corruption and brutality – the task is anything but straightforward. Only Maali can guide those who matter most to a cache of evidence that could expose the horrors of the conflict.  

This Booker Prize 2022 winner is a whodunnit that only the sharpest minds can untangle. But, as Maali warns, ‘Don’t try and look for the good guys, ’cause there ain’t none’. 

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones 

Part Miss Marple, part mad cat lady, the eccentric Janina Duszejko is the unlikely 60-year-old super sleuth who sits at the heart of this murder mystery. When Janina’s two dogs go missing and a series of unusual deaths rattle her tiny Polish village in the middle of midwinter, she becomes embroiled in the investigation.  

Janina becomes convinced the answer to these crimes lies in the village’s deep-rooted obsession with hunting. As she digs deeper, her investigations lead to startling discoveries about her neighbours, including the dark secrets they harbour – and the lengths to which they will go to preserve power. 

With its blend of noir, wit, and moral ambiguity; Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2019, keeps readers guessing until its shocking conclusion that comes complete with a giant twist.  

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton  

Picture this: it’s 1866 in New Zealand, and the gold rush has brought greed and ambition. Walter Moody arrives in Hokitika seeking his fortune, only to stumble into a secret gathering of 12 men knee-deep in a web of unsolved crimes: a missing man, a desperate woman, and an unexpected fortune found in a curious location. 

Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries explores the depths to which people will sink for the chance to secure a large wad of cash. The novel builds to a riveting courtroom climax, delivering round-table-style drama, but not before throwing in a dose of blackmail, some conspiracies, and a few red herrings, all for good measure.  

Like The Traitors, this 2013 Booker-winning epic is all about alliances, betrayals, and big payoffs. At over 800 pages, it’s not for the faint of heart – but oh, the drama! 

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet  

Graeme Macrae Burnet whisks us to the Scottish Highlands – the real-life setting of The Traitors TV series – in his 2016 Booker Prize-nominated novel, His Bloody Project where 17-year-old Roderick Macrae confesses to the brutal killing of Lachlan Mackenzie, the oppressive and tyrannical village constable.  

Presented through a series of ‘found’ documents, readers are invited to play detective and piece together the truth behind the chilling murder through court transcripts, medical reports, police statements, and newspaper articles. Macrae Burnet offers readers a new piece of the puzzle with document, while throwing in some deliberate misdirections and dead ends, just to keep us on our toes. 

This is a novel with unreliable narration and deliberately blurred lines between right and wrong, fact and fiction, which will keep you wondering if Roderick is really a Traitor, or a Faithful. 

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh 

It’s the 1960s and Eileen Dunlop, a lonely young woman spends her days working at a boys’ prison in a sleepy New England town. Then Rebecca Saint John arrives – confident, commanding, and beautiful – and in a heady cloud of smoke, everything changes. With calculated precision, their seemingly innocent friendship quickly spirals into a game of violence and betrayal, as Rebecca recruits Eileen for an irreversible crime.  

As queen of the macabre, Ottessa Moshfegh is no stranger to crafting an unsettling narrative and she does just that and more here. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016, Eileen is a perfectly pitched Machiavellian tale of manipulation. Sound familiar, Traitors fans? 

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Step into the cut-throat and crooked world of Tudor politics, where Hilary Mantel charts the rise of the mysterious figure of Thomas Cromwell, from lowly blacksmith’s son to Chief Minister of Henry VIII. 

Cromwell’s power lies in his masterful ability to elbow his way ahead of the game – and sidestep the petty yet dangerous backstabbing of the Tudor court. As he orchestrates Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, Cromwell cements his place as the king’s indispensable right-hand man. 

In Wolf Hall, Mantel captured one of England’s most tumultuous periods through Cromwell’s calculating eyes. This 2009 Booker-winning novel is a masterclass in strategy and survival; a tale of double-dealing which perfect for those who relish a long con.