A Beginner’s Guide to Dr. Lucinda Berry’s Books
Dr. Lucinda Berry is an auto-buy author for me. I got The Perfect Child a million years ago from Amazon First Reads (or something like that), and it was probably the fastest I’ve ever finished a book (or it was at the time). Since then, I have read more of her books, and have loved each and every one of them. For anyone new to reading her, count this as your beginner’s guide to Lucinda Berry’s books.
About Lucinda Berry
USA Today bestselling author, Lucinda Berry, is a former psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. With millions of books worldwide, she’s written multiple bestsellers including The Perfect Child, Saving Noah, and Keep Your Friends Close. Her work has been optioned for film and translated into several languages.
If Berry isn’t chasing after her son, you can find her running through Los Angeles, prepping for her next marathon. To hear about her upcoming releases and other author news, visit her on social media (@lucindaberryauthor) or sign up for her newsletter HERE.
Now, the above was taken directly from her website. I’m certainly in no position to write her bio. However, I have had the absolute HONOR of meeting her in person, and can say she’s just freaking cool. She’s incredibly intelligent, and her history as a psychologist comes through in her writing (which is what makes her psychological thrillers so freaking good).
Lucinda Berry’s Books
Listed in chronological order of their release, starting with her earliest works.
Missing Parts
Expanded/revised version of her debut. Celeste hides a dangerous secret from her past that resurfaces when her daughter becomes gravely ill, sending her deeper into deception to protect her family.
Phantom Limb
Twins Emily and Elizabeth survive a horrifically abusive childhood together. After Emily’s apparent suicide, Elizabeth wakes in a psychiatric ward with fractured memories and must piece together the shocking truth of what really happened.
Appetite for Innocence
A serial predator kidnaps virgin teenage girls he tracks through social media, holding them captive in a soundproof basement. When two victims finally escape, one of them may be hiding secrets of her own.
Saving Noah
An honor-roll student and swim star confesses to molesting young girls. His mother must decide how far unconditional love can go as the family unravels under the weight of an unthinkable crime.
Note: Saving Noah is being re-released in September of 2026 under Lucinda Berry’s new publishing contract!
The Perfect Child (Hannah Bauer #1)
A surgeon and nurse unable to conceive adopt Janie, a severely traumatized six-year-old. As Janie’s disturbing behavior escalates, the family is pushed toward a devastating breaking point.
When She Returned
Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago. When she resurfaces with an infant in tow, her family learns her disappearance — and the reason for her return — is far darker than anyone imagined.
The Best of Friends
A shooting during a teen sleepover leaves one boy dead and another comatose. Three lifelong best friends and mothers must confront the secrets hiding beneath their picture-perfect suburban lives.
The Secrets of Us
Foster sisters Krystal and Nichole escaped a horrifying shared childhood on an Iowa farm. Decades later, one sister’s breakdown forces them to finally face the buried tragedy that bound them together.
One Little Mistake (Audible original novella)
An overwhelmed stay-at-home mom is charged with a DUI she can’t remember causing. To win back her family, she must complete rehab — and uncover what her husband may have had to do with it.
Under Her Care
When a mayor’s wife is murdered, her autistic teenage son is found at the scene. A psychologist called in to help untangle the case begins to suspect the boy’s mother is protecting a far darker secret.
A Welcome Reunion (novella, Hannah Bauer #1.5)
Eleven years after the events of The Perfect Child, Janie returns to town as a confident young adult promoting a tell-all memoir — forcing Hannah and Christopher to confront her again.
Off the Deep End
A therapist crashes her car into an icy lake and can only save one of the two boys inside. Ten months later, the boy she rescued vanishes, and she becomes the prime suspect.
Keep Your Friends Close
The queen bee of an elite moms’ club turns up dead in her own pool. As police investigate, three of her closest friends are revealed to be hiding explosive secrets and motives of their own.
One of Our Own (audio-first novella)
A suicide-hotline volunteer takes a call from a teenage sexual-assault victim and begins to suspect the crime may involve someone dangerously close to her own family.
If You Tell a Lie
Four childhood friends made a secret pact after a fatal lie one summer at camp — and swore never to speak of it again. Twenty years later, a threatening note drags them back together.
One in Four
A therapist agrees to treat a house full of former child stars on a reality-TV recovery show — until one of them turns up dead and she realizes she has secrets of her own to hide.
This is a Safe Space (audio-first novella)
A therapist snooping through her husband’s phone discovers a blackmail scheme involving one of her own patients, forcing her to question who in her life she can actually trust.
Her First Lie (Hannah Bauer #.5, prequel to The Perfect Child)
A prequel following Becky Watson, a young mother hiding her newborn daughter Janie, whose estranged grandmother offers help that comes at a devastating generational cost.
Run for Your Life (short story)
A woman’s ordinary morning run turns into a nightmare when she wakes bound in a lakeside cabin, held by a former coworker with a carefully constructed, deeply personal plan for her.
The Golden Child (upcoming in 2027)
Irish twins Ava and Bentley have always been close — she the golden child, he the family screwup. When Ava causes a fatal hit-and-run, Bentley takes the blame, setting off a chain of consequences that threatens to destroy them both.
Down the Book Jar’s Guide to Reading Lucinda Berry
Now, full disclosure, I have not read everything. BUT I have read most of her backlist, and have active plans to complete the rest. I’ve at least read the big hitters. Early on, I was part of her “launch team” on social for a few books. Then, as she got more successful, I wasn’t large enough of a creator. No hard feelings though! I will still promote her books and try and force everyone to read them.
Now, I do have some favorites. Again, she’s fantastic at bringing in different levels of psychology and mental trauma that just kind of wreck you. You know that she has this knowledge and history, so it makes sense. You won’t find substance abuse as a form of conflict or an unreliable narrator in any of her books (which is probably the main reason I love them so much).
To get it out of the way, the books of hers I haven’t yet read:
- Missing Parts
- Phantom Limb
- One Little Mistake – I don’t have Audible, unfortunately.
- A Welcome Reunion
- Her First Lie
- The Golden Child – Obviously. You can’t even pre-order this on Amazon yet!
I’m going to try to rank them in order of my favorite to my least favorite. I did this on my TikTok a few years ago, but I also think that was 5 or 6 books ago…
- When She Returned – I will forever come back to this as my favorite. I think this book is what exposed me to the weird obsession I have with reading about cults.
- Keep Your Friends Close – I joke that this book is like Real Housewives plus murder.
- Under Her Care – This book just felt so diabolical. It’s one where her history as a psychologist working in childhood trauma really came through. Some of her best mind work.
- The Perfect Child – This has jumpstarted and inspired so many of her other books, and it also was the first one I read. It kept me hooked, and was the book that spiked my interest in reading more psychological thrillers.
- This is a Safe Space – As an audio-first book, this was super cool! (Is this why people like podcasts?)
- Saving Noah – You will find so many people who say that this is the absolute best Lucinda Berry book ever. It was absolutely heartbreaking (especially if you are a parent; I’m not and it still wrecked me).
- The Secrets of Us – I also have one sister, so I think I resonated a bit with the characters in this one. It’s been a while since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it.
- One of Our Own – This was another audio-first book that I really liked. You got invested right alongside your main character, and I just had to see how it turned out.
- The Best of Friends – I remember being absolutely flabbergasted reading this book. People say that boys will be boys, but when is the line drawn?
- One in Four – A reality show about former reality TV stars going through mental health treatment? Say less.
- If You Tell a Lie – To me, this one felt predictable, and a bit more mainstream. Girls at camp have a secret? Been there, read that.
- Off the Deep End – This one felt weird to me. I remember being quite underwhelmed.
- Appetite for Innocence – Some of her earlier works feel like they were designed to just make you uncomfortable. I listened to this on audio, and had that stank face on the whole time because it was just so…creepy.
- Run For Your Life – I hate to say this because I am an AVID LB fan, but this short story just did not do it. It was missing those psychological elements that she’s known for, and it was just predictable. Also, take this with a grain of salt as I’ve realized I’m not a fan of short stories.
Keep in mind that I have not given any Lucinda Berry book less than 3 stars, which is pretty high praise for me. She will continue to be one of my favorite female authors, and I will continue to read anything and everything she writes.
@downthebookjar Replying to @Kristi M Apologies for the delah, but I am back with my @Lucinda Berry Author📚😳 book rankings! She is one of my auto/buy authors, and I have never been disappointed. 📖 #booktok #lucindaberry #bookrankings #bookramblings #readmorebooks #psychologicalthriller #femaleauthors #bookhype #readersoftiktok #books ♬ original sound – Down the Book Jar 📚
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