Domestic thrillers take place in domestic settings, such as the home. They often explore the dark undercurrents of interpersonal relationships, families, and spouses. While the home and family are often considered to be safe havens from the dangers of the outside world, domestic thrillers investigate how home and family can actually be sites of danger and unrest. This speaks to the proximity and intimacy that better poise family members and close friends to harm someone than a stranger, as well as the many crimes committed by people that the perpetrators know well. Like other thrillers, domestic thrillers often involve crime, murder, and/or mystery, but they may also explore other topics that, despite being “mundane,” can also create suspense, fear, and conflict, such as parenthood, infidelity, classism, financial troubles, mistrust and dishonesty between spouses, mental and/or physical illness, and pregnancy loss, each of which Faulkner’s novel includes. Domestic thrillers often feature female protagonists like Greenwich Park’s Helen, but not always.

At times, domestic thrillers primarily concern a single family, but at other times, they may focus a web of families that live in the same area and know each other well. Often, they’re set in upper-class or suburban neighborhoods that are generally considered to be “safe,” with relatively low crime rates (as far as is known or publicly documented).