Book picks similar to
The Doll Collector by Joanna Stephen-Ward


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The Accusation


Zosia Wand - 2018
    After years of trying, and failing, to become parents, they are in the final stages of adopting four-year-old Milly. Though she already feels like their daughter, they just have to get through the 'settling in' period: three months of living as a family before they can make it official.But then Eve's mother, Joan, comes to stay.Joan has never liked her son-in-law. He isn't right for Eve; too controlling, too opinionated. She knows Eve has always wanted a family, but is Neil the best man to build one with? Then Joan uncovers something that could smash Eve's family to pieces...

Cargo


J.C. Macek III - 2017
    He is a man who is used to getting his own way.But when Peterson wakes to find himself locked in a metal shipping container, with only a cell phone and twenty-four hours of air left, he begins to unravel.Desperate to escape, Peterson soon learns that there is more to the container than he first realised. And when the kidnappers call and demand ten million dollars, while threatening to murder and rape his beautiful wife if he doesn’t comply, Peterson must fight to meet their impossible terms or face being left to die alone in the darkness.Why has Peterson been targeted?Who are those responsible for his kidnap?And can Peterson make out of the container alive?Cargo is an edge of your seat thriller about the choices we make. This novel is based on James Dylan's upcoming feature film [Cargo], it will appeal to fans of authors like Michael Connelly, Robert Dugoni & Michael C. Grumley

The Classroom


A.L. Bird - 2018
    But Harriet has now turned five, and she can’t stay Kirsten’s baby forever. It might be hard, but it’s time to entrust her daughter’s care to her new teacher.the classroom is the one place she should be safe.Miriam Robertson has been waiting for the perfect little girl to walk into her class. She’s very picky but when Harriet walks in, Miriam knows: this is the child she’s been waiting for.Harriet knows not to speak to strangers. But her lovely new teacher isn’t a stranger at all. In fact, she’s her new best friend. And you can always trust your friends can’t you?

The Flood


Rachel Bennett - 2019
    She’s there to collect something she left in her childhood home, then she plans to leave. But upon entering the old house she discovers her younger sister’s body half-submerged in the water. As Daniela tries to work out what happened to Auryn, she uncovers dark secrets from her childhood as one of four sisters in the household, when the Cain’s and another local family begin to turn on each other with devastating results.

Pressure


Betsy Reavley - 2018
    The tension escalates as the survivors realise there is a murderer among them, who is preparing to strike again and again…With mounting desperation, people begin to turn on each other. While they struggle to identify who is responsible, each must contend with their own past and the secrets they are hiding.But who is who? And which of them will be next to die?

Strangers


C.L. Taylor - 2020
    Otherwise, one of them will die.Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening. The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.

Lead Me Home


C.S. Savage - 2018
    As an overworked NHS psychiatrist, Dr Clancy Mclean is used to dealing with mental illness. But she is stressed – trying to balance her career and the needs of her only child, Rowan. And she has her work cut out trying to keep her patients well. She knows two of them are psychotic, and becoming overwhelmed by their voices. If they act on them it could prove disastrous. Rowan is troubled. Her boyfriend is abusive but she doesn’t want to end the relationship – she’s too scared of being lonely. Can she find someone else to keep her company? And, as if Clancy doesn’t have enough to worry about, another of her patients is paranoid and convinced she is being stalked. Is it just a symptom of her mental illness? Because there is a stalker on the prowl and he is getting closer to his victim with each passing day.

Don't Let Me In


Phil Kurthausen - 2018
    When she starts to seek the truth about the murder of a teenage girl 12 years earlier, she soon finds herself the centre of unwanted attention.While trying to manage her agoraphobia, as well as the online trolls and her family life, Sarah begins to uncover some uncomfortable facts relating to the cold case.As she edges closer to accusing someone of the murder, the online threats soon become physical and as the outside world draws closer and closer to her front door threatening her home, her family and her life, Sarah must decide between fight or flight…

The Darkest Summer


Ella Drummond - 2019
    Now she’s back…but she’s not the girl you knew. Sera and Dee were the best of friends.Until the day that Dee and her brother Leo vanished from Sera’s life, during a long hot summer fifteen years ago.Now Sera is an adult, with her own child, five-year-old Katie, and has returned to her childhood home after her husband’s death.While she grieves, the past haunts Sera at every turn … and then Dee and Leo return to their small Hampshire village, along with Dee’s young daughter.But Dee is silent and haunted by her demons; no longer the fun-loving girl that Sera loved. And when Sera uncovers the shocking secret that Dee is hiding, it’s clear that the girl she knew is long gone – and that the adult she has grown into might put all of them in danger…

Woman Last Seen


Adele Parks - 2021
    Her husband, Mark, says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan and vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamorous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught. Detective Clements knows that people disappear all the time—far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run toward, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds. Their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the detective believes they might be. How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be. #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks returns with her most provocative, compelling book to date.

Liars


Frances Vick - 2018
    He’d do anything for you. But you don’t even know him.Jenny hasn’t had an easy life – no job and no money, with a sick mother and an abusive ex-stepfather. Not that anybody cares, she’s from the wrong side of town.David has taken care of Jenny ever since they were at school together. He knows how special she is, how much she needs his support. David has a lot of love to give.Jenny and David aren’t in a relationship. They aren’t even friends.Jenny thinks she’s free to do what she wants, see who she likes. What does David think? Well, you’ll have to find out.A gripping psychological thriller about the lies we tell ourselves, perfect for fans of Friend Request, The Couple Next Door and Teresa Driscoll.

The Date


Louise Jensen - 2018
     Her Saturday night started normally. Recently separated from her husband, Ali has been persuaded by her friends to go on a date with a new man. She is ready, she is nervous, she is excited. She is about to take a step into her new future. By Sunday morning, Ali’s life is unrecognisable. She wakes, and she knows that something is wrong. She is home, she is alone, she is hurt and she has no memory of what happened to her. Worse still, when she looks in the mirror, Ali doesn’t recognise the face staring back at her. She can’t recognise her friends and family. And she can’t recognise the person who is trying to destroy her…

All the Little Lies


Chris Curran - 2019
    It contains a picture of her true birth mother, Stella, and proves that Eve’s entire life with her adoptive parents has been a lie. Now she must unravel the mystery of Stella’s dark past. But what Eve finds will force her to take enormous risks, which put her – and her new-born baby – in immediate danger…

The Home


Karen Osman - 2018
    The home's manager Ray takes the girls off to his 'den' in the garden and the littlies come back crying, and Ray's wife Kath has special wooden spoons which she saves for beating any of the children who dare to misbehave. So, when wealthy couple James and Rosemary come to choose a child to adopt, Angela is desperate to escape. But the scars of her childhood remain, and when Angela's search for her birth mother Evelyn is successful, their reunion is no fairy tale. Soon strange and sinister events start to unfold, and Evelyn fears she may not survive her daughter's return... The Home is another devastating psychological thriller from the author of the bestselling The Good Mother.

Bad Girls


Gemma Rogers - 2021
    No Crime. No Time.Can you ever escape your past?Fresh out of prison, Jess Strickland has just six months’ probation to serve until she's free to get on with the life, she left behind 4 years ago.With few options available, Jess takes a job at Bright’s’, an industrial laundry company alongside other ex-cons, all eager to keep their noses clean.Here she finds an ally in Karla but soon learns her new boss Terry, is not all he seems.Realising she’s no safer on the outside Jess refuses to be a victim any longer.How far will she go to avoid going back to prison?