Book picks similar to
Heartless by Alison Gaylin


thriller
mystery
mystery-thriller
suspense

The Abbey


Chris Culver - 2011
    Another year, and he'll be out of the department completely. That's the plan, at least, until his niece's body is found in the guest home of one of his city's most wealthy citizens. The coroner calls it an overdose, but the case doesn't add up. Against orders, Ash begins a danger-filled investigation to find his niece's murderer, but the longer he searches, the more entangled he becomes in a case that hits increasingly close to home. If he doesn't solve it fast, his niece won't be the only family member he has to bury.

The Last Girl


Nick Twist - 2018
    Impossible to put down. A most original ending.After surviving a plane crash, June West surrenders to a shallow existence of a life without memories--without purpose. She is stuck in a hospital where she is taken care of and told what to do with the rest of her life. But how come she has no relatives? No family, children or friends? Hell, she isn't even sure her name is June West. Slowly, her grasp on the world starts slipping. She hears baby cries every night. She eavesdrops the nurses talk about the last girl. Then she receives a note from under the door: you have twenty four hours to save your daughter or they will kill her."★★★★★ Intriguing, puzzling, curiouser and curiouser.." ~ M. J. Smith - AmazonTop Reviewer"★★★★★ Put [Nick Twist]'s book into the hands of the right director and Hollywood could make a most intriguing film. " ~ Diana F. Von Behren Amazon Top Reviewer"★★★★★[He] has a voice and style that set him apart from other novelists... in its originality." ~ Grady Harp - Amazon Top Reviewer"★★★★★ It is doubtful that even that most seasoned mystery reader will guess the answers. This book is the work of a genius." ~ BeatleBangs1964 Top Reviewer"★★★★★ Nothing is as it seems and the plots twists keep you riveted to the end.." ~ Martin A Hogan Amazon Top Reviewer

What We Saw


Ryan Casey - 2012
    As the story twists and turns towards a shocking conclusion, the secrets of the seemingly sleepy community begin to unravel…What We Saw is a touching and thrilling British mystery novel with elements of comedy, friendship, fear and loss. Told from the innocent perspective of a child, it poses the ultimate question: if you stumbled upon a shocking discovery as a child, how would you react?

Crooked Little Lies


Barbara Taylor Sissel - 2015
    A young man well known in their small town of Hardys Walk, Texas, Bo seems fine, even if Lauren’s intuition says otherwise. Since the accident two years ago that left her brain in a fragile state, she can’t trust her own instincts—and neither can her family. Then Bo vanishes, and as the search for him ensues, the police question whether she’s responsible. Lauren is terrified, not of what she remembers but of what she doesn’t.Unable to trust herself and unwilling to trust anyone else, Lauren begins her own investigation into the mystery of Bo’s disappearance. But the truth can prove to be as shocking as any lie, and as Lauren exposes each one, from her family, from her friends, she isn’t the only one who will face heart-stopping repercussions.

Save Me


Lisa Scottoline - 2011
    Lisa Scottoline is writing about real issues that resonate with real women, and the results are emotional, heartbreaking and honest.Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly's school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who's been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos. Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety. She believes she has accomplished both, only to discover that Amanda, for an unknown reason, ran back into the school once out of Rose's sight. In an instance, Rose goes from hero to villain as the small community blames Amanda's injuries on her. In the days that follow, Rose's life starts to fall to pieces, Amanda's mother decides to sue, her marriage is put to the test, and worse, when her daughter returns to school, the bullying only intensifies. Rose must take matters into her own hands and get down to the truth of what really happened that fateful day in order to save herself, her marriage and her family. In the way that Look Again had readers questioning everything they thought they knew about family, Save Me will have readers wondering just how far they would go to save the ones they love. Lisa Scottoline is writing about real issues that resonate with real women, and the results are emotional, heartbreaking and honest.

You Should Have Known


Jean Hanff Korelitz - 2014
    Grace is also the author of You Should Have Known, a book in which she castigates women for not valuing their intuition and calls upon them to examine their first impressions of men for signs of serious trouble later on. But weeks before the book is published, a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself.

The Last Time I Saw You


Liv Constantine - 2019
    Parrish follows that success with an addictive novel filled with shocking twists about the aftermath of a brutal high-society murder.Dr. Kate English has it all. Not only is she the heiress to a large fortune; she has a gorgeous husband and daughter, a high-flying career, and a beautiful home anyone would envy.But all that changes the night Kate’s mother, Lily, is found dead, brutally murdered in her own home. Heartbroken and distraught, Kate reaches out to her estranged best friend, Blaire Barrington, who rushes to her side for the funeral, where the years of distance between them are forgotten in a moment.That evening, Kate’s grief turns to horror when she receives an anonymous text: You think you’re sad now, just wait. By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll wish you had been buried today. More than ever, Kate needs her old friend’s help.Once Blaire decides to take the investigation into her own hands, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems in Baltimore high society. As infidelity, lies, and betrayals come to light, and tensions rise to a boiling point, she begins to alienate Kate’s friends and relatives with her relentless, accusatory questions, as she tries to find Lily’s killer. The murderer could be anyone—friend, neighbor, loved one. But whoever it is, it’s clear that Kate is next on their list. . .In The Last Time I Saw You, Liv Constantine takes the lightning pace of The Last Mrs. Parrish and raises the stakes, creating an exquisitely tension-filled and absorbing tale of psychological suspense in which innocent lives—and one woman’s sanity—hang in the balance.

See Jane Die


Erica Spindler - 2004
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Nightwatcher


Wendy Corsi Staub - 2012
    Intense, powerful, and refreshingly original, Nightwatcher returns to the site of America’s worst national nightmare—New York City on September 11, 2001—as a serial killer, plying his bloody trade in  the chaos following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, operates unnoticed by everyone…except for one frightened woman who has seen his face. Author Lee Child has called her work, “solid gold suspense,” and any reader who’s ever stayed up late, devouring the novels of Lisa Jackson and Lisa Gardner with every light on in the house, should prepare to lose even more sleep over Wendy Corsi Staub’s Nightwatcher.

One Little Mistake


Emma Curtis - 2016
    . . YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE.Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy.When she makes a split-second decision that risks everything she holds dear, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to.But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . . .

Tell Me You're Sorry


Kevin O'Brien - 2014
    An executive accused of embezzling kills himself and his loved ones. A house fire claims the lives of all its inhabitants. Separate incidents with two common threads--a first wife who took her own life, and a secret the victims took to their graves. . .And ThenStephanie Coburn has barely recovered from her sister's mysterious suicide before her brother-in-law and his new wife are murdered, her face disfigured beyond recognition. Stephanie never met the bride, has never even seen a clear photograph. But she knew her sister, and she knows something is desperately wrong. . .You'll Say GoodbyeThe police won't listen. Her only ally is another victim's son. Step by step, they're uncovering a trail of brutal vengeance and a killer who will never relent--and whose forgiveness can only be earned in death. . .

Toys In The Dust


N.M. Brown - 2019
    He is sad that he doesn’t have a doll to play with like the girls do, so Suzy hurries home to fetch one. When she returns, Suzy discovers both Tina and the stranger have vanished. A short while later, traffic officer Leighton Jones, who is fighting his own demons, is driving home from the scene of a near-fatal accident. When Leighton sees a young girl race out in front of his car and vanish into the countryside, he reports the sighting. Unfortunately, his superiors, who are increasingly concerned about Leighton’s mental health, doubt the child exists. But after Tina’s mother confirms her daughter’s disappearance, Leighton risks his job by pursuing his own investigation of the case. Meanwhile, in the Californian countryside, a child killer is relentlessly searching for the one who got away. Leighton has his work cut out. But can he prove his sanity and find Tina before the stranger does? Toys in the Dust is a gripping and fast-paced serial killer thriller, which will appeal to fans of authors like Damien Boyd, Keith Houghton, Mark Edwards and Angela Marsons. It is loosely connected to N.M. Brown's previous thrillers, also featuring Leight Jones, The Girl on the Bus and Carpenter Road, and can be read as part of a series or as an unmissable stand-alone.

Last Day


Luanne Rice - 2020
    The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on.Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.Reid immediately suspects Beth’s husband, whose affair is a poorly kept secret. He has an airtight alibi—but he also has a motive, and the evidence seems to point to him. Kate and Reid, along with the sisters’ closest childhood friends, struggle to make sense of Beth’s death, but they only find more questions: Who else would have wanted Beth dead? What’s the significance of Moonlight?Twenty years ago, Reid vowed to protect Beth and Kate—and he’s failed. Now solving the case is turning into an obsession . . .

Accidents Happen


Louise Millar - 2013
    All she has left is her young son, Jack, and determined to make a better future for him, she attempts to pull her life back together. But are she and her son safe?

Evelyn, After


Victoria Helen Stone - 2016
    Her husband, a prestigious psychiatrist, has been in an accident. And he isn’t alone.Suddenly Evelyn’s world isn’t as tidy as she thought. And in the midst of it all is Juliette, not only her husband’s secret lover but also his patient. If news of the affair were to get out, it would ruin more than just Evelyn’s marriage. Although it’s a bitter pill for Evelyn to swallow, protecting her family means staying silent—even if, as she begins to discover, the night of the accident has consequences far more dangerous than the unmasking of an affair.But the more Evelyn learns about Juliette’s picture-perfect life—complete with a handsome, unsuspecting husband—the more she yearns for revenge…and satisfaction. Her growing obsession fuels her rage, burning away her complacency. What will be left of her after it flames out?