Book picks similar to
The Wrong Woman by Daniel Hurst


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psychological-thrillers
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The Truth


Naomi Joy - 2019
    Perfect life. Perfect crime.Anthony is not the man everyone believes him to be. And Emelia is not the woman he wants her to be.Theirs was a whirlwind romance, Anthony was the doting boyfriend, the charismatic and successful career man who swept her off her feet. But now Emelia is trapped in a marriage of dark secrets and obsession. She is no more than something Anthony wants to 'fix', one of his pet projects.Emelia has no escape from the life that Anthony insists on controlling, so she shares her story through the only means she can – her blog. Yet Anthony can never find out. Forced to hide behind a false name, Emelia knows the only way that Anthony will allow her to leave him, is death.Trapped with a man she knows is trying to kill her, Emelia is determined that someone will hear her story and Anthony will meet his ends. That everyone will discover the truth.Perfect for fans of My Lovely Wife, Liane Moriarty and The Mother in Law.

I Know What I Saw


S.K. Sharp - 2020
    She understands nothing.Only a handful of people in the world have a truly perfect memory. Nicola is one of them.With her condition proving to be more of a curse than a blessing, she has spent years trying to live a quiet life.But a body has been found, a discovery that threatens to tear the community apart.Nicola remembers the night with perfect clarity, but she never discovered the truth of what happened.Now she must use her ability to solve the murder from decades agoAnd save the man she loved from being wrongly convicted of the crime.

When the Bough Breaks


Jonathan Kellerman - 1985
    It's a good one!We meet Dr. Morton Handler who practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn.Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware's job is to unlock the terrible secret buried in Melody's memory. As the sinister shadows in the girl's mind begin to take shape, Alex discovers that the mystery touches a shocking incident in his own past. This connection is only the beginning, a single link in a forty-year-old conspiracy. And behind it lies an unspeakable evil that Alex Delaware must expose before it claims another innocent victim: Melody Quinn.

When She Was Bad


Tammy Cohen - 2016
    But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in ....Now, there's something chilling in the air.Who secretly hates everyone?Who is tortured by their past?Who is capable of murder?

In the Absence of Miracles


Michael J. Malone - 2019
    Malone‘A tense, immersive thriller that kept me guessing’ Ian Rankin‘Malone is the master of twists, turns and the unexpected, with the skill to keep things grounded. So much so, that the reader can picture themselves in the very circumstances described. Superb storytelling from a master of his craft’ Herald Scotland‘Beautiful, lyrical prose takes the reader through a perfectly constructed, often harrowing tale’ Denzil Meyrick_________________John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home following a massive stroke and she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again.With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood.For in a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler. A brother no one ever mentioned. A brother he knew absolutely nothing about. A discovery that sets John on a journey from which he may never recover.For sometimes in that space where memory should reside there is nothing but silence, smoke and ash. And in the absence of truth, in the absence of a miracle, we turn to prayer. And to violence._________________Shocking, chilling and heartbreakingly emotive, In the Absence of Miracles is domestic noir at its most powerful, and a sensitively wrought portrait of a family whose shameful lies hide the very darkest of secrets.‘With each turn of the page, a more shocking detail is revealed and some of the people John thought might help him are not who they seem … The domestic noir tale is one that many families will be able to relate to … There is barely enough time to catch your’ Scotsman‘Challenging and emotional, In the Absence of Miracles enthrals as it corkscrews to a shocking, yet ultimately rewarding end’ LoveReading‘Malone’s latest is an unsettling, multi-layered and expertly paced domestic noir drama that delves into one family’s dark secrets, shame and lies’ CultureFly‘Malone is a poet, there are wonderful lyrical passages here and very skilful storytelling. Some issues are not spoken about enough, Malone raises a couple of those issues and sensitively but realistically addresses them…’ New Books Magazine‘Engrossing, hard-hitting – even shocking – with a light poetic frosting. Another superb read!’ Douglas Skelton‘A chilling tale of secrets, lies and the ultimate betrayal’ Theresa Talbot‘Emotional. Brave. Dark. Raw. Utterly beautiful’ Louise Beech’A breathtakingly good book; powerful yet tender and an emotional master class in how to write about harrowing and difficult issues.

Small Town Secrets


Alys Murray - 2021
    One year’s room and board provided.”I should have known it was too good to be true when I first saw the ad. It turns out that Fortune Springs, Colorado isn’t just a one-horse town, it’s a two-woman one, and this is their attempt to keep the community alive. I want to say the scheme is ridiculous, totally outdated, but I’m carrying everything I own in my canvas backpack and the greyhound I stepped off this morning is long gone. If this is my chance at a fresh start, I’d better grab it with both hands.I know I should feel guilty about pretending to be a lonely heart willing to help repopulate this rural logging town, but all I feel is relief at having escaped the apartment in Savannah. And after all, what’s one more secret to add to the pile? I only hope I’ve hidden my tracks well enough, and that the kind Fortune Springs locals who’ve opened their doors to me will never find out what made me run away in the first place…An emotional, gripping story full of family drama. Fans of Carolyn Brown, Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber will be hooked.

And So It Begins


Rachel Abbott - 2018
    Evie brought Mark back to life after the sudden death of his first wife. Cleo, Mark's sister, knows she should be happy for him. But Cleo doesn't trust Evie...When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence? As Evie stands trial, the jury is forced to consider - is there ever a proper defence for murder?And So It Begins is a darkly compulsive psychological thriller with all the hallmarks of a Rachel Abbott bestseller - a provocative dilemma, richly-layered mystery, knife-edge tension, and brilliant characterization.

The Woman in the Water


Kelly Heard - 2021
    Even as I catch my first glimpse of sunlight on the lake, as I approach the small town where we grew up. I promised myself I would never go back there. That it would be safer for us both if I stayed away forever…But Holly’s little girls need me. They have no-one else. And they might be in danger.Because I know Holly’s death wasn’t an accident.She didn’t slip and drown out by the old boardwalk, surrounded by trees and dark water. She would never have gone there, if she had a choice.Someone has done this to keep her silent.If whoever killed Holly knows my secret too, then I need to find them before they find me.Otherwise, I’ll be next.An absolutely gripping, twisty psychological thriller about secrets between sisters that will keep you turning the pages late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and The Silent Patient.

Suspicion


Leigh Russell - 2019
    or your husband? Happily married to the charismatic headmaster of a prestigious boarding school, Louise thinks her life is perfect.But after hearing that her husband is having an affair, Louise must decide how far she is prepared to go to save her marriage. Confident in her IT skills, Louise cyber bullies her rival.When the police become involved, Louise realises she has made a dangerous choice as first one woman, then another, is found murdered. Realising she has taken on more than she intended, Louise has to make another choice and this one could cost her not only her marriage but also her life… Leigh Russell is the international best-selling author of the Geraldine Steel series and the stand-alone psychological thriller The Adulterer's Wife. Suspicion is a stunning domestic noir thriller which will appeal to fans of authors like Louise Jensen, Shalini Boland and Lisa Jewell.

In a Cottage In a Wood


Cass Green - 2017
    Isabelle forces a parcel into Neve’s hands and jumps to her death in the icy Thames below.An unexpected gift...Two weeks later, as Neve’s wreck of a life in London collapses, an unexpected lifeline falls into her lap – a charming cottage in Cornwall left to her by Isabelle, the woman on the bridge. The solution to all her problems.A Twisted secret...But when Neve arrives, alone in the dark woods late one night, she finds a sinister-looking bungalow with bars across its windows. And her dream home quickly becomes her worst nightmare – a house hiding a twisted secret that will change her life forever…

Little Black Lies


Sandra Block - 2015
    But she has a few of her own...In the halls of the psychiatric ward, Dr. Zoe Goldman is a resident in training, dedicated to helping troubled patients. However, she has plenty of baggage of her own. When her newest patient arrives - a beautiful sociopath who murdered her mother - Zoe becomes obsessed with questions about her own mother's death. But the truth remains tauntingly out of reach, locked away within her nightmares of an uncontrollable fire. And as her adoptive mother loses her memory to dementia, the time to find the answers is running out.As Zoe digs deeper, she realizes that the danger is not just in her dreams but is now close at hand. And she has no choice but to face what terrifies her the most. Because what she can't remember just might kill her.Little Black Lies is about madness and memory - and the dangerous, little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

YOU DID THIS


Jamie Millen - 2022
    A homicide detective’s destiny.Everybody loves Claire’s little sister, Tina. But only Claire sees the twisted psychopath hiding behind her sister’s angelic face. When Tina is brutally murdered on her fourteenth birthday, the day Claire failed to walk her home from school, Claire never forgives herself. And neither does their mother.Twelve years later, more girls turn up dead in Newburgh exactly like Tina. Claire, now a police detective, suspects that her sister’s murderer is still on the prowl. But the serial killer stumps the FBI forensic profiler assisting the case and Special Agent Robert Cline—Claire’s old flame.When Claire becomes the lead suspect in the murder investigation, the system turns against her. Unable to trust anyone—not even herself—Claire must break every rule in the book to save the next girl.With time running out in this nerve-shredding psychological thriller and harrowing family drama, a shocking discovery changes everything. Is Claire’s sister truly dead—or is she playing one final lethal prank?YOU DID THIS is the first book in the Claire Wolfe Thrillers series and can be read as a standalone mystery. Fans of Mike Omer, Robert Dugoni, Melinda Leigh, and Karin Slaughter should get to know Claire Wolfe.

A Perfect Mother


Jo Crow - 2020
    As the lonely days stretch into weeks with no reappearance or body resurfacing, the stay-at-home mom accepts a photography job from a former sorority sister, and current Instagram sensation, and returns to her Milwaukee roots—and the trauma she thought she’d escaped.Her college days left her with scars no camera can capture, and Laurie’s old OCD coping mechanisms creep in as she navigates the frightening new life of single motherhood. But becoming a personal photographer to a popular Instagram-Mom is helping Laurie provide for her daughter like any good mother should. She just never expected her daughter to become the center of so much attention.As the world of celebrity influencers feed her insecurities, Laurie realizes she’s not only lost her husband but now is losing the love of her only child. Arguments ensue. Accidental injuries surface. Allegations of neglect and endangerment are flung her way. But when Laurie’s daughter goes missing, a twisted scheme thrusts the past into the glaring light of the present.And this time, her daughter’s life is at stake.

The Last Time I Lied


Riley Sager - 2018
    The last she--and anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.Now a rising star in the NYC art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings.. They catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of the very same Camp Nightingale--and when Francesca implores Emma to return to the camp as a painting counselor, Emma sees an opportunity to find closure and move on.Yet, it is immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by surfacing memories, Emma is suddenly plagued by a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca, and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian apparently left behind about the camp's twisted origins. And as history begins to repeat itself and three girls go missing again, Emma must face threats from both man and nature in order to uncover all the buried secrets--including what really happened all those years ago.

Single


K.L. Slater - 2019
    She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life. George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate. But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter. Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger…