Book picks similar to
Rival by Jacqui Rose


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The Unbroken


Alex Caan - 2020
    The car door was pulled open and she was dragged out, her screams loud and raw, as she kicked and fought. She called out for Oscar, again and again, screaming for help.But he never came. It was the wedding of the year. Millie Beaumont marrying billionaire playboy Oscar Hayat, the eyes of the world watching.But the dream turns into a nightmare when Millie and Oscar are brutally abducted while on honeymoon. Millie is killed, her body dumped in London. Oscar is still missing…Enter DS Moomy Khan and DI Sarah Heaton - not your typical police officers. Moomy is running from her own troubled past, while Sarah is having to live with the hard choices she has made. Yet they will stop at nothing to find Millie’s murderers and track down Oscar. Only a family as high profile as the Hayats have enemies lurking in every corner - have they taken the ultimate revenge, or is someone else behind the death and kidnapping?And can Moomy and Sarah find Oscar - before time runs out and he suffers the same fate as his wife?The first book in the gripping, fast-paced new Khan and Heaton crime series, The Unbroken will thrill fans of A.A. Dhand, Angela Marsons and Robert Bryndza.Praise for Alex Caan:‘Wow!!...mysterious, suspenseful and full of delicious and devious surprises…Loved it!’ Angela Marsons, author of the D.I. Kim Stone seriesA chillingly authentic, bang-on-trend thriller - one you'd be a fool to miss Lisa Hall, #1 bestselling author of Between You and Me

The Estate


Liza Costello - 2020
    She's fine. Great. Settled in her single life. Until friends start peeling away, moving on to careers and family, leaving her feeling impatient and angry. When she bumps into Jason at a party, she spots the opportunity for her own fresh start - to turn her back on a reckless life of drinking and missed deadlines. She can build a new life, too...can't she? When she discovers that Jason has the opportunity to house-sit a new build out of town, she glimpses her chance. There's only one catch - Jason needs to stay in town for the sake of his new job. But Beth can keep their dreams alive on her own, can't she? As her drinking worsens, and new friends turn out to be prospective enemies, her sense of reality begins to unravel. As Beth comes to confront the mysteries of her own past, she moves closer to understanding the desperate crime at the heart of the estate. But first she must learn who is behind the strange attacks on her new home. And is Jason who she thought he was? Can she even trust him?In this taut crime novel set in the aftermath of the Irish recession, a change for the better turns into a nightmare of uncertainty. An edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Cass Green.

The Corpse's Tale


Katherine John - 2006
    He lived with his mother in the village of Llan, next door to bright, beautiful 19 year-old Anna Harris. But when Anna's battered body is discovered in a churchyard - and her bloodstained earring turns up Dai's pocket - he immediately becomes the prime suspect.

Too Close to Breathe


Olivia Kiernan - 2018
    Professional. Perfect. Dead. Respected scientist Dr Eleanor Costello is found hanging in her immaculate home: the scene the very picture of a suicide.TOO LATE TO HIDEDCS Frankie Sheehan is handed the case, and almost immediately spots foul play. Sheehan, a trained profiler, is seeking a murderer with a talent for death.TOO CLOSE TO BREATHEAs Frankie strives to paint a picture of the killer, and their victim, she starts to sense they are part of a larger, darker canvas, on which the lines between the two blur.Olivia Kiernan's debut is a bold, brilliant thriller that will keep you guessing and leave you breathless.

Red Rider


Gerrit Steenhagen - 2018
    Masquerading as a substitute teacher, he tracks down the killer – a high school senior – and methodically builds a web to entrap him. Teacher does not desire simple justice or death for the killer; he wants the killer to endure what his son endured. But Teacher’s plan takes a life-shattering turn when he must save his son’s former girlfriend from the clutches of the brutal MS-13 gang. A taut, suspenseful thriller, Red Rider explores the depths of revenge and the strength of human bonds.

The Safe Place


L.A. Larkin - 2021
    The snap of a twig tells her someone is close by. As she treads lightly towards the back door, she says a silent prayer—don’t let him find me…Everyone in Eagle Falls knows Jessie Lewis. Ever since she reported her boyfriend, fire chief and local hero, for beating her, she’s been an outcast from the small town. But when someone sets fire to a house in the woods, killing the entire Troyer family in their beds, the locals turn on her once again. And when rumors circulate about her very public argument with Paul Troyer, they take it as proof that she killed them.Devastated that anyone could think her capable of such an atrocity, Jessie knows that if people don’t believe she’s innocent, more lives will be in danger. She turns to Ruth: new in town, and an ex-FBI agent, Ruth could be the exact person Jessie needs to smoke out the killer. But can she trust her with her life?Days later, another house linked to Jessie is set ablaze. Falling to her knees in the scorched remains, Jessie finds something buried in the ash which she immediately recognizes. The murders must be linked to the death of someone very close to her, and, terrified, she realizes the killer is coming for her…As local wildfires take hold of Eagle Falls and the town is evacuated, Jessie drives at high speed toward the fires, knowing she must put herself in unthinkable danger in order to catch the killer. When she finally faces the person who wants her dead, will she have the strength to take them down first?

The Shadowing


Rhiannon Ward - 2021
    Mercy was pregnant - both her and the baby are said to be dead of cholera, but the workhouse hasn't had an outbreak for years.Hester discovers a strange trend in the workhouse of children going missing. One woman tells her about the Pale Lady, a ghostly figure that steals babies in the night. Is this lady a myth or is something more sinister afoot at the Southwell poorhouse?As Hester investigates, she uncovers a conspiracy, one that someone is determined to keep a secret, no matter the cost...

Arkhangel


James Brabazon - 2020
    . .A razor-sharp action thriller with the raw inventiveness of I Am Pilgrim and the breathless pace of movies like John Wick and James Bond, Arkhangel sees James Brabazon stake his claim alongside Lee Child, David Baldacci and Gregg Hurwitz as a master of the genre. Praise for James Brabazon 'Don't plan on sleeping' Lee Child'A full-throttle exercise in tension' Crimetime'A thriller of an unusually classy calibre' Financial Times'Outstanding . . . I couldn't put this book down' Andy McNab

A Family’s Heartbreak


Kitty Neale - 2019
    And when Henry beats his eldest daughter so badly that she ends up in the hospital, it seems like there’s nowhere left for them all to go. Broken But carpenter Craig has fallen head over heels for Jenny, and he offers her a place to stay. Happy at last, Jenny begins a new life with him, but when tragedy strikes, she’s left to pick up the pieces of both her broken home – and her broken heart. Bereft Desperately trying to make ends meet, Jenny is alone and working round the clock. Will she ever be able to give her siblings the happy home they deserve? Or is the worst yet to come…? The Sunday Times bestseller is back in a gritty family drama, perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Dilly Court.

The Last House on the Street


Diane Chamberlain - 2022
    But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. It's clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area...and a connection to Kayla herself. Kayla's elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it's clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past? And does the house at the end of the street hold the key? Told in dual time periods, The Last House on the Street is a novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.

Forget Me Not (Summit Lake Thriller, #1)


Kristen Middleton - 2018
     When a deranged lunatic starts targeting single mom, Amanda Schultz, with threatening letters and "presents" on her doorstep, she turns to the police, who offer advice but no real help. At the mercy of a psychopath, Amanda realizes she's in a game of cat-and-mouse, where the killer keeps changing the rules and the winner... is the only one left standing. Language, violence, and adult situations. Warning - reference to sexual abuse but no graphic details.

The Boatman's Wife


Noëlle Harrison - 2021
    She might never be able to lay his body to rest, but she could gain some kind of closure by finding out who the man she married was.When Lily married her soulmate Connor, buffeted by the sea spray and wild winds of her coastal homeland in Maine, she never imagined she’d be planning his memorial just three years later. Connor has been lost at sea in the bleak stormy Atlantic, leaving Lily heartbroken.But as she prepares to say goodbye to Connor for the last time, she is shocked to discover a message to him that he never told her about: Does your wife know who you really are, Connor Fitzgerald? Don’t ever think you can come home. Because if you do, I swear I’ll kill you.Unable to bear living in the home she and Connor shared, Lily decides to find out her husband’s secret. She flies to Connor’s home town of Mullaghmore on the west coast of Ireland, a harbour town hugged by golden beaches and emerald-green fields. But when doors are slammed in her face, she begins to realise that she knows nothing about her husband’s past.Connor’s grandmother, a hermit living on the cliffs of the wild Atlantic, must know the truth about her grandson. But when Lily tries to find her, threatening notes are pushed through her door warning her not to stay. Will Lily leave the darkness of the past where it belongs? Or will she risk everything to find out the truth about the man she married…A completely heartbreaking story about the lies we tell to protect the ones we love. Fans of The Light Between Oceans, Lisa Wingate and Susanne O’Leary will lose their hearts to The Boatman’s Wife.

Sins of Fathers: A Spectacular Break from a Dark Criminal Past


Michael Emmett - 2021
    Growing up, he knew he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps and join the family business. At just 16 years old, Michael did just that – and entered the glamourous, dangerous world of organised crime.Under the tutelage of his career criminal father – a contemporary of the infamous Kray twins – Michael’s criminal activities funded a reckless lifestyle marked by drugs, sex and violence. But the high couldn’t last forever. In 1993, Michael and his father were arrested in a dramatic confrontation with the police during a £13 million smuggling operation. Michael was sentenced to twelve years behind bars and would serve his time in the same prison as his father.But behind the walls of HMP Exeter, Michael found something he never expected – answers. After joining an Alpha prayer group in prison, he had an experience that would shake the very foundations of his life.Sins of Fathers is the story of Michael’s journey through chaos and trauma to the transformation he experienced in prison. It asks what it takes for a broken man to find redemption, and how he can learn to be the father he never had.

After You Fell


J.S. Lark - 2019
    Creepy, disturbing and genuinely thrilling, this is one page-turner you won’t be able to forget! As one life endsLouise Lovett’s death was a tragedy. But questions still swirl about exactly what happened to Louise that day. Did she fall … or was she pushed?A new life startsHelen Matthews’ donor heart saves her life. But as her new heart beats inside her, Helen feels the pull of its previous owner – despite what everyone is telling her, Helen is certain she has one final message to pass on.And a dark obsession beginsAs the lives of Helen and Louise become ever more entangled, Helen’s obsession gets increasingly out of control.  And the fragile new life she has built begins to fall apart… Readers can’t get enough of After You Fell… ‘A very different, enthralling read that I really didn't want to put down’ Eleine Brent, Goodreads‘I found myself turning pages late into the night to see what would happen…a unique story’ Jennifer Motz, Netgalley‘Wow, just as I thought I was right about the ending, I am proven wrong on the very last page’ Kimberley Bigelow, Goodreads‘The blurb describes this as creepy, disturbing and genuinely chilling which is spot on… A clever premise, a brilliant read’ Nikki’s Book Blog

Queenie


Kimberley Chambers - 2020
    . . For young Queenie, life in the backstreets of Whitechapel was a lesson in survival – Hitler’s bombs hit those with nothing the hardest. When danger strikes close to home, Queenie finds an ally in Mrs O’Leary, whose two sons are the kingpins of the East End. But while the O’Learys are the light in Queenie’s life, fate has a different path in store. AND MEN ARE WHAT THEIR MOTHERS MAKE THEM . . . Now married to the useless Albie Butler, Queenie is raising her children to fight their own battles. If the O’Learys taught her anything, it was that surviving meant doing whatever you had to, no questions asked, and family always comes first. The Butler boys will make sure their mother’s name becomes East End legend. MEET QUEENIE. THIS IS HER STORY.