Book picks similar to
Sullivan's Secret by Robin Murphy
paranormal
mystery
thriller
mystery-thriller
Little Girl Lost
J.S. Marciano - 2016
The press immediately turn on the family, blaming the parents for the young girl’s disappearance. Time passes and everyone begins to lose hope. But when a girl is found wandering the streets of Portugal alone, she is returned to her family and the case closed. Yet something is not right. And as little Rosemary Cathcart grows up, and her parent’s divorce, that feeling never really leaves her. Years later, after finding her boyfriend has been cheating on her, Rosemary flees to her brother’s home, where she quickly wears out her welcome. When her mother arrives and asks her to move in with her and her new husband, Rosemary decides to go to Jersey and work at her father’s hotel. But when she arrives she learns the hotel is close to bankruptcy and her father on his death bed with cancer. Before he dies, he has secrets to tell that will change her world, and the world of everyone around her, forever. And it would seem that Rosemary Cathcart, once a Little Girl Lost, is still yet to be found…. Full of dark secrets and mysterious twists and turns, Little Girl Lost is a must read thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. J. S. Marciano works in a London-based global organisation as a Credit Controller. Although she once dreamed of becoming a singer/actress, she began writing at an early age, and published her first short stories in the London Mystery Magazine and the London Evening News. Jane lives in North West London with her husband of forty years, and enjoys being a grandmother.
Scar Tissue
M.C. Domovitch - 2016
According to the police she was a victim of the Cutter, a serial killer who has already murdered three women. For her protection the police and her doctors give a press conference, announcing that because her amnesia is organically caused, her memory loss is permanent. But, whether her memory returns or not is anybody’s guess. Overnight, Ciara’s glamorous life is gone. Her scars have killed both her modelling career and her relationship with her rich boyfriend. With nothing to keep her in New York, she returns to her home town of Seattle, moves in with her sister and goes about building a new life. But when her sister lets it slip that Ciara’s memory is returning, the killer comes after her again. If Ciara is to stay alive, she must keep one step ahead of the Cutter.
Fractured Eden
Steven Gossington - 2015
Aaron Rovsing, Family Practice Physician, is fired from his medical practice in Connecticut because of alleged incompetence. After he flees and starts over in a town in East Texas, he discovers that things are not as they first appear, and soon Aaron must combat the deranged and addicted minds of the townspeople.Events take an even deadlier turn when he finds himself the next chosen victim of a serial killer who plans to add the doctor to his collection of skeletons. In this town of insanity and with a serial killer waiting to strike, how can Aaron manage to stay sane . . . and alive?
Phoenix (Book 1)
Kimberly Packard - 2012
The road to revenge is ahead. But the pit stop she makes along the way could reroute her life. Amanda Martin refuses to burn for the crimes of her manipulative ex-boyfriend. After all, he was the one who strong-armed her into committing fraud and left her to shoulder the blame. When an enraged investor sets fire to their office building, she scrambles onto the first bus out of the city. With the authorities hunting for her, she hides out to plot her revenge in the last place anyone would look—the tiny Texas town of Phoenix.But when Amanda uncovers a hidden talent for reporting at the local paper and starts a sweet romance with a charming cop, she starts to question whether she’d be better off building a new life than tearing her ex a new one. Just as she starts settling in, her work at the paper unearths a decades old cold case that threatens to turn the town against her and expose her criminal past. With time running out before the townsfolk discover her true identity, Amanda is faced with an impossible choice—turn her back on a fellow victim of crime or stand her ground and lose her precious freedom. Phoenix is the first book in an enthralling women’s fiction series. If you like compelling characters, nail-biting suspense, and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Kimberly Packard’s small-town mystery.
In Search of Jessica
Declan Conner - 2015
One other thing they couldn’t share was the love of their dad. He had his favorite for reasons best not mentioned.The family is torn apart when their dad is found murdered with all the traits of a particular twisted MO. A robbery gone wrong, jealous partner in a love triangle, warring neighbors, or someone closer to home? For Logan, the lead detective at the time and now head of LAPD homicide, the answer was and is simple. Jessica was guilty. That’s despite the case having never gone to trial, now gathering dust after fifteen years as his only cold case file of an otherwise illustrious career.When a murder takes place with a similar MO, detective Jason Stone is allocated the case. He’s a young man on a one–man mission to make a name for himself, and one who will break the rules to get there. Stone believes a mysterious person he dubs the Night Girl holds the key to unraveling the case. But just as he is close to cracking the case, his suspect list grows.Taken off the case, he goes undercover to continue his investigation. Infatuated, he places Jessica under surveillance to get close. Too close. Someone should tell him to stop chasing a dream, or could end up as the serial killer’s next target.
Closure
Angela Ford - 2013
An elite FBI task force tracks online predators while they hunt their prey. A series of murders in Presario Heights has forced Special Agent Jessica Resario to follow her gut instinct to save the next victim. Supervisory Special Agent Tom Erickson removes her from the case. The only place to escape the danger is her family beach home. She hadn’t been there since her parents were murdered. The level of intensity climbs higher with her discovery of postcards marked “I Crave You”. Old ghosts, secrets, imminent threats and an inevitable attraction to Tom send her on an emotional roller coaster. If that wasn’t enough, she opens the door to a man she thought was dead. Tom is stabbed and his case files go missing…high emotions put Jess at the killer’s mercy.
Don't Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick: A Caper Story
Marie F. Martin - 2016
She convinces her three golfing buddies, all in their seventies, to sell their homes and buy adjoining condos. The widows intend to spend the rest of their days golfing, gambling at the casino, and having fun. Oh, the heaven of it. But then they all hire the same maid who uncovers long-hidden criminal secrets kept by each woman. Oh, the horror of it. The reputations of their deceased husbands, a banker, a minister, and a respected farmer, will be tarnished forever. Three of the widows could face jail time, and the fourth fears for her life. Whatever will they do with the conniving, blackmailing maid? If you grew to love the characters in Marie F. Martin’s previous novels Maternal Harbor, Harbored Secrets, and Ratham Creek, you will treasure Roberta and her friends in the mystery Don’t Mess With Mrs. Sedgewick.This is a caper story where the not so pure put their lives at risk to catch the real bad guys and save their little town.
Take You Apart
T.J. Spade - 2015
Her hair is matted to her face with a mixture of blood and tears and she screams again before subsiding into body wrenching sobs. Her voice is slightly slurred as she begs, “Please, stop. Please, I want to go home. Please don’t do it again.” A pair of black gloved hands comes into view. They hold pliers. The girl screams again. Lovely. Successful artist Caleb Everett lives each day with a real-time film inside his head, playing … murder. Since he was a child, Caleb has been able to see into the minds of killers. Working alongside veteran Homicide Detective Jack Rafferty, Caleb now uses his unique ability to balance the scales of justice. With a new case afoot, Caleb is himself being targeted by a killer, and with attractive journalist Makayla Dawson on the scene, it becomes a race against time to save them all. With the odds savagely stacked against them, will this case take apart everything Caleb holds dear?
The After House
Michael Phillip Cash - 2014
Little do they know, another occupant is lurking in the haven of their own home. Will the After House be their shelter or their tomb?
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.
Dollhouse
Anya Allyn - 2012
A dollhouse, filled with life-sized toys. A doorway into other realms. And girls who keep disappearing...When Cassie’s best friend, Aisha, vanishes during a school hike, Cassie sets off with Aisha's boyfriend and their friend Lacey, determined to find her. Instead, the three teens fall into a carefully-laid trap—deep into the surreal nightmare and dark secrets of the Dollhouse.Now, Cassie must uncover the mysteries of the Dollhouse and her own connection to it-- before it's too late.With the horror and otherworldliness of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and the gothic romance of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Dollhouse is a tantalizing start to The Dark Carousel series.
If She Dies
Erik Therme - 2020
The driver, Brady Becker, was sentenced to two years in prison. It didn't make Tess’s pain go away.Brady also has a daughter: A twelve-year-old named Eve who walks to Chandler Middle School every day. Tess knows this because she's been watching Eve for the last few weeks. It isn’t fair that Brady’s daughter gets to live, while Tess’s daughter does not.When Eve goes missing, all eyes turn to Tess, who doesn’t have an alibi. But Tess isn’t guilty.Or so she believes.
It Began With a Lie
Michele Pariza Wacek - 2018
That was what Becca hoped the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin would be for her troubled family. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter. But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers, as she is now living in her aunt's house (or what the locals call "The Witch House"). But is the house really haunted? Or is there something far more sinister out to destroy them?
Into The Light
Darcia Helle - 2011
This presents a dilemma, since Max is even less competent as a spirit than he was as a live person. No one sees or hears him and he can't manage to get anywhere or do anything on his own. Joe Cavelli is a private investigator, living an ordinary life. Then one day he walks across a parking lot, gets yelled at by a ghost, and his life only gets stranger from there. Max and Joe team up to find Max's killer. In the process, they form an unlikely friendship and change each other's lives in ways they never expected.
Terminal Rage
A.M. Khalifa - 2013
In a world where the truth has become B-roll, exposing the true identity of his enigmatic adversary is the only thing Blackwell can do to prevent death and destruction of unprecedented proportions. But how do you unravel the identity of a man who does not exist? A frenetic pace, a hair-raising plot that hops around the globe, hard-hitting character beats, crisp prose, dexterous timing, the mother of all twists, and hands down one of the most interesting villains this side of Keyser Söze from The Usual Suspects make Terminal Rage a modern-day cult classic that defiantly redefines its genre.