Book picks similar to
Line of Succession: The Price of Power by Michael Vandor
fiction
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crime
Warm Hearts In Winter
Helen Pollard - 2014
Still struggling to get his life and writing career back on track three years after his wife’s death, Jack isn’t ready for a breath of fresh air like Abby.Snowed in at his winter retreat on the moors, as the weeks go by and their working relationship becomes friendship and maybe more, Abby must rethink her policy of never getting involved with someone at work … and Jack must decide whether he is willing to risk the pain of love a second time.
Dark Homecoming
William Patterson - 2016
Their honeymoon was idyllic and Liz is blissfully happy—at first. But she feels increasingly uneasy in her lavish new home. Huntington House and its staff still seem to be in the thrall of David’s first wife. In fact, the housekeeper, Mrs. Hoffman, has made it clear that Liz can never measure up to the stunning, sophisticated, deceased, Dominique. Though Dominique drowned in a yachting accident, Liz still senses her spirit in the house. She hears unexplained noises…sees shadowy figures vanishing down the long corridors. The scent of Dominique’s favorite flowers fills the air. But Liz’s fears are more than insecurity. Two young women connected to Huntington House have already met terrible deaths. More will die—and soon. Because behind the house’s polished façade is an unimaginable secret and a love turned to twisted, unnatural obsession…Praise for William Patterson’s The Inn "The Conjuring meets The Shining in William Patterson's deliciously creepy thriller. Fast-paced, horror-filled, clever and impossible-to-predict, this heart-pounding tale will leave you breathless." --Kevin O’Brien, New York Times bestselling author
The Hand of Strange Children: A nerve-shredding mystery thriller
Robert Richardson - 1993
Details trickle in: the house belongs to wealthy merchant banker Charles Stansfield; present are well-known news editor Richard Barlow and members of his family. But the victims identities are withheld. Who are they? Why has a family gathering exploded into violence and death? Through their individual voices the lives of Richard, Tim and Naomi Barlow and their mother, Florence, unfold and a shocking crime comes to light - one that has gone undetected and unpunished, culminating in a double-killing a quarter of a century later. The Hand of Strange ChildrenPraise for Robert Richardson ''With this, his first novel, Robert Richardson makes a most impressive debut as a writer of the classical English detective story… He knows how to create suspense and an atmosphere of incipient evil; he provides us with a genuine puzzle, his characters are believable people, and the motive of his murderer is psycho-logically credible.” P D James “Skilful rerouting and the taste of real tears” The Sunday Times “Eccentrics, suspects and witty writing abound” The Times “Here is a book to be missed only at your own peril” Armchair Detective “Elegantly written, beautifully characterised, suspenseful and oddly moving” Mystery Reader’s Journal “Grand entertainment, deft handling and suave wit” Publishers Weekly Robert Richardson is a journalist and editor who lives in England.
Jack Ryder Mystery #4-6
Willow Rose - 2019
Mystery, love, suspense, and action these books have it all.
The hit series from #1 Bestselling author Willow Rose is impossible to put down.
- BLACK JACK:
Welcome to the Blackwood House. Enter if you dare. It is said about a house in Savannah that all who have ever lived there have gone insane. When Kimberly and Joseph inherit the house from an unknown aunt, they don’t know the house’s murderous history. They move in and soon a series of strange events occur. It’s like the house doesn’t want them there. Little by little, Joseph starts to change, and soon Kimberly begins to wonder: is the house haunted or is her husband just going mad? Jack Ryder and Shannon King have run away from the press and paparazzi to Savannah to get married. They are preparing for their wedding when they stumble upon a young girl sitting alone on the docks at the harbor at night. She doesn’t seem to have any parents, nor does she know where she lives. Her feet are bare, and she has nowhere to go. They take her in for the night, but as they try to pull out information from her, bizarre stories are revealed, and soon they start to speculate about the girl. Is she telling the truth or hiding unsettling secrets of her own?
- THE GIRL NEXT DOOR:
He came in the morning when they were still making lunches and getting ready for school and work. He killed them all. Mother, father, children. Brutally slaughtered them in the comfort of their own home. They called him the Monday Morning Killer. That was forty years ago, but now it is happening again. A mother and her daughter are brutally murdered in their house, on a peaceful Monday morning in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Home alone with six children while his wife - country superstar Shannon King - is on tour, Detective Jack Ryder gets the most terrifying case of his career, chasing a deranged serial killer, unlike anyone he has ever seen. No one feels safe, especially not the girl next door, who just bought the house where the first family was killed forty years ago.
Who is capable of such cruelty? And why?
Could one person be responsible for these brutal killings of entire families so many years apart? Or is Jack dealing with a copy-cat? You’ll never guess the shocking answer.
- HER FINAL WORD:
Ella Maria Chauncey walks home after a night out with her friends, hurrying to get back before her parents realize she's been out with the boy they don't want her to date. Living in the gated community of Lyford Cay, in one of the world's wealthiest neighborhoods, she believes it is safe.
Ella Maria never makes it home. She is found the next day floating in her family's pool, her tongue cut out..
Seven months later Jack Ryder is visiting the Bahamas with his adopted daughter Emily. They're trying to find Emily's relatives, but it turns out to be easier said than done. The only living relative they can track down is a woman…in jail. She's doing time for murdering Ella Maria Chauncey, but as Jack digs into the case, he starts to wonder if she was wrongfully convicted and the murderer is still out there, hunting for his next prey. As the shocking investigation unfolds, and secrets are revealed, no one in in the lucrative Lyford Cay can be trusted.
Slice
David Hodges - 2010
THERE’S A KILLER INSIDE THE POLICE STATION. A police station should be a safe place. But not when there’s a psychotic serial killer working there. THE FIRST VICTIM IS FOUND GRUESOMELY MUTILATED IN HIS MOST SENSITIVE AREA. HE IS DRESSED IN A JUDGE’S WIG. Detective Superintendent Jack Fulton takes on the grisly murder enquiry and discovers that his murderer might actually be one of the police station staff. MORE EMINENT VICTIMS FOLLOW. KILLED IN THE SAME SADISTIC MANNER. The press nickname the razor-wielding assassin “The Slicer.” With the killer stalking the shadowy Victorian building, Fulton has to contend not only with press harassment and police who will stop at nothing to get a result, but also with other problems much closer to home. As the killer leads him on a grim game of cat and mouse, Fulton has little idea of just how personal that game is about to become . . . YOU WON’T WANT TO PUT THIS ONE DOWN Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell. THE AUTHOR A former police superintendent, with thirty years’ service. Since ‘turning to crime’, he has received critical media acclaim, including a welcome accolade from Inspector Morse’s creator, the late great, Colin Dexter, and he is now a prolific novelist with eleven published crime novels and an autobiography on his police career to his credit. His previous police experience has enabled him to provide a gritty realism to his thrillers and his Somerset Murder Series, featuring feisty female detective, Kate, and her partner, Hayden, has gone from strength to strength, attracting interest in the United States as well as in the UK. DETECTIVE KATE HAMBLIN MYSTERY SERIES Book 1: MURDER ON THE LEVELS Book 2: REVENGE ON THE LEVELS Book 3: FEAR ON THE LEVELS Book 4: KILLER ON THE LEVELS Book 5: SECRETS ON THE LEVELS Book 6: DEATH ON THE LEVELS STANDALONES SLICE
Avery’s Knot
Mary Cable - 1981
Avery was tried for the murder of a twenty-nine-year-old mill worker, Sarah Marie Cornell. It was the first time a clergyman had ever been tried for murder in the United States and the first time an American murder trial became headline news. From this factual base, Mary Cable weaves a chilling novel of gothic desires and conflicting classes. She creates a rich atmosphere to show New England as it was then - simple, puritanical, superstitious, and unsentimental - on the brink of emerging from the eighteenth century into an industrial and far-more-complicated age. This dramatic, compelling story is as much about a time and place as it is about a notorious murder trial. A work of poetic intensity, Avery’s Knot is finally a classic, tragic tale of a woman caught between passion and puritanism.
The Fall
Evie Hunter - 2021
Now, with her life in tatters, she is determined to bring those who framed her to justice.Out for revenge…Journalist Nate Black is intrigued by Lauren’s story. Is she the innocent victim she claims to be or is there more to her past? Eager to learn more he offers to help Lauren clear her name and bring the real villains to justice.And running out of time.But with millions of pounds still missing, Lauren remains the prime suspect…and the main target in an increasingly deadly game. And as Lauren’s plan with Nate reaches its shocking climax, no one knows who will ultimately take the fall…A nail-biting revenge thriller, perfect for fans of Gemma Rogers, Heather Atkinson and Caro Savage.'A brilliant read that hooked me from the outset. The Fall is a tale of sweet revenge that I couldn’t tear myself away from!' Bestselling author Gemma Rogers.
Creepy Crawly (DI Jake Sawyer, #1)
Andrew Lowe - 2018
Sharp, tough and pathologically fearless.Now he’s quit the capital and returned to his home town in England’s Peak District, to investigate the savage murder of his mother, thirty years earlier.When the body of a teenage boy is found in a shallow grave, close to woodland where Sawyer used to play as a child, he’s called in to help decode the killer’s nightmarish methods.But as the victims stack up and the case takes an unexpected turn, Sawyer must risk his own life to hunt the hunter and save an innocent.
Creepy Crawly is Book One in the DI Jake Sawyer series. Dive in now and discover a new breed of detective, with stories that reveal the dark side of one of England's brightest beauty spots.
Praise for Andrew Lowe:"Prose that gets under your flesh and into your bones.""Taut and compelling. Not a wasted word.""Plot and character perfectly intertwined.""Keeps you reading through the night.""Poetic and utterly gripping."(Amazon reviews).
Bhoot, Bhavish, Bartaman
Mehool Parekh
The usual suspects are arrested by the Police until an odd-ball amateur sleuth starts to investigate. Something about the murder does not sit right with him. To start with, the victim – Rupali, a regular housewife living in marital bliss. But is that the truth? Why would someone murder her and why did she meet such a gruesome end? Who, in reality, was she? Introducing Major Bartaman Bhowmick, Southern Command of the Indian Army. Peace-time army life and supportive seniors allow Major Bhowmick to indulge in his hobby and passion – crime detection. His sharp investigative talents are highly valued by his cousin, an ACP in Pune. Robin Chowdhury is a city crime reporter, whose combination of keen intellect, attractive looks and affinity for all things tech, makes her a great sidekick for the Major. This book is as much about Rupali’s astounding story as her murder and Major Bhowmick and Robin’s investigation into the murder with its surprising conclusion.
About Author:
A finance professional, Mehool has, over time, worked as a management consultant, equity research head and a fund manager. He ran a successful venture capital fund and is currently a private equity investor in growth companies. In between these, he has dabbled in film finance and production and owns a well-known media company. He lives in Mumbai with his family.
The Prototype
Matt McCormick - 2018
His employer, Advanced Research Technologies, is racing to beat foreign competitors to market with their solar power storage prototype. They have potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to gain—and, as it turns out, everything to lose. As the day for testing the prototype rapidly approaches, the danger to those involved in the project increases. Robert is forced to leave his lighthearted life behind and focus on protecting the prototype—and keeping himself alive.
Concrete Pearl
Vincent Zandri - 2011
She's also had to rebuild her family business from the bottom up thanks to bad luck and bad fines. So it's easy to see why OSHA, breathing down her neck on her latest job at Albany's PS 20, has the contractor on edge. She's used to putting out fires, but this is about to be a full-on explosion--three hundred students at risk for exposure to deadly asbestos--and the asbestos removal contractor, Jimmy Farrell, is nowhere to be found. The clues--Jimmy's cleared-out office, his impounded car, his "gone fishing" story to his wife--point to something more troubling, possibly foul play. Armed with a framing hammer in lieu of a gun, Spike must sleuth her way through a world of deception, greed, and murder if she's going to nail a killer.