Book picks similar to
The Mark by Heather Burnside


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The Beach House


P.R. Black - 2020
     Cora's on the island vacation of her dreams: a private beach in paradise, a romantic proposal, and an eight-figure cheque following the sale of her new fiancé’s business. When their island turns out to be not so private after all, Cora tries to make the best of a bad situation by inviting their strangely friendly neighbours to celebrate with them. But it doesn't take long for her once-in-a-lifetime holiday to take a very sinister turn...

Twelve Days


Paul Williams - 2019
    Totally gripping" Ten people. Twelve days. One killer. Ten people meet for a reunion at a remote castle, organised by a preacher who once held them in a Christian cult. One by one, the old friends are brutally murdered, and yet their killer remains hidden in their very midst.Rafe attends the reunion at the castle for one reason only: to settle once and for all how he really feels about his childhood obsession, Suzanne. Rivalry reignites at the outset as the men who all loved and fought over Suzanne are brought together once more.Is Suzanne the reason for these serial killings?Is the murderer a jealous unrequited lover?Or is she the femme fatale with a bloody agenda? As tension mounts, Rafe must play this deadly game in order to identify and neutralise the hidden serial killer before he himself becomes the next victim… Twelve Days is a twisty, gripping and claustrophobic crime thriller which you won't be able to put down. It will appeal to fans of authors like Mark Edwards, John Marrs and Caroline Mitchell.

You Belong To Me


Mark Tilbury - 2019
    She vanished ten years ago after walking home from school along a disused railway track. But Danny Sheppard knows exactly what happened to her. She is dead and buried in a field near Lassiter’s Brook. Now Cassie Rafferty has gone missing. Same age. Similar circumstances. And Danny also knows what has happened to her Can Danny fight his demons and tell the truth this time?Or will history repeat itself and leave another innocent girl dead?

The Apartment


K.L. Slater - 2020
    The woman before her tried… Freya Miller needs a miracle. In the fallout of her husband’s betrayal, she’s about to lose her family home, and with it the security she craves for her five-year-old daughter, Skye. Adrift and alone, she’s on the verge of despair until a chance meeting with the charismatic Dr Marsden changes everything. He’s seeking a new tenant for a shockingly affordable flat in a fashionable area of London.Adder House sounds too good to be true… But Freya really can’t afford to be cynical, and Dr Marsden is adamant she and Skye will be a perfect fit with the other residents.But Adder House has secrets. Even behind a locked front door, Freya feels as if she’s being watched: objects moving, unfamiliar smells, the blinking light of a concealed camera… and it’s not long before she begins to suspect that her dream home is hiding a nightmarish reality. Was it really chance that led her here—or something unthinkably dark?As the truth about Adder House starts to unravel, can Freya and Skye get out—or will they be locked in forever? Revised edition: This edition of The Apartment includes editorial revisions.

Killing Pretties (DS Malice, #1)


Rob Ashman - 2020
    It’s a shame he spoils his only redeeming quality by being a bent copper. Detective Kelly Pietersen joins the team to help find a missing woman. But Kelly has a secret... Damien Kaplan is a leading criminal barrister and a keen amateur potter. He also happens to be a serial killer with a chilling approach to creating his art. He’s married to Elsa, though she considers him more of a possession than a husband. She controls those around her using sex and procures men and women for her husband to play with but only after she’s finished with them first. Killing Pretties is his passion, having sex with them is hers. It is difficult to say which one is worse. The missing woman brings all four crashing together – an incendiary mix that doesn’t end well.

The Disappeared


Ali Harper - 2018
    Their first client is the kind of person they always hoped to help—a kind woman desperately worried about her son, Jack.A missing son…The case seems simple—kid starts college, takes up with the wrong crowd, forgets to ring his mother. But very quickly, Lee and Jo suspect they’re not being told the whole truth.A case which could prove deadly…Their office is ransacked, everyone who knows Jack refuses to talk to them and they feel like they’re being followed…it’s clear Lee and Jo have stumbled into something bigger, and far more dangerous, than they ever expected. Will they find Jack, or will their first case silence them both for good?

I Will Make You Pay


Caroline Bale - 2019
     He is watching Connie Taylor in the café. He has befriended the waitress over the previous months and gained her confidence. Her coarseness disgusts him and he muses to himself about pouring acid on her face. He is going to torture Connie that evening to get the final information he needs and then he will kill her. Connie Taylor’s head is found on the doorstep of a house in upmarket Heworth Green in York. DI Ellen McClure finds herself embroiled in a complicated murder investigation that pits her against colleagues and family. Her boss thinks that ex-prostitute Connie was killed by one of her former clients, but Ellen thinks there is more to it. Vicky is on the run with her five-year-old daughter, Kallie. Her life is in danger. ELLEN MUST FIND HER BEFORE HE DOES. Desperate to save Vicky, Ellen drags her own young daughter, Zoe into the path of a deadly psychopath who will stop at nothing on his murderous rampage. A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A PSYCHOPATH ON A MISSION

Her Greatest Mistake


Sarah Simpson - 2018
    which has become the perfect lie. Gone is the charming, attentive Gregg - instead Eve wakes up each morning beside a manipulative and sinister man who controls his wife's every move. So Eve flees her immaculate marital home to keep herself, and young son Jack safe. Yet no matter how careful she has been, she knows Gregg will be relentless in his pursuit of his missing family. And that one day, when she's least expecting it, he will find them... What was Eve's greatest mistake? Marrying Gregg? Leaving him? Or leaving him alive...?

The Best of Friends


Alex Day - 2021
    After a sticky divorce and losing the life she had grown accustomed to, moving to a small town in the south of England with her two sons is exactly the fresh start she needs. Charlotte seems to have it all…Charlotte is delighted when Susannah moves in. Charlotte may appear to have the perfect husband, the perfect family, the perfect house, but deep down she’s lonely, and she needs someone to confide in. But one of them is not who they pretend to be…The two women instantly become best friends. But underneath the surface, secrets, lies and betrayals are all hiding. And when the truth comes out, not everyone will live to tell the tale…

Allegation


R.G. Adams - 2020
    Although intrepid and intuitive, she is ill-prepared for such a high-profile case.Kit finds herself navigating a local minefield of connections and class, reputations and rumour. Unsure whether her interference is a heroic intervention or a hurtful intrusion, she knows one thing: it will have an impact. The question is whether this impact will be to expose a lie, or destroy an innocent life...

Murder at the Ritz


Jim Eldridge - 2021
    On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city's skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime - until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open.Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, no stranger himself to the haunts of the upper echelons of society, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson. Yet they soon face a number of obstacles. With the crime committed in rooms in use by an exiled king and his retinue, there are those who fear diplomatic repercussions and would rather the case be forgotten. With mounting pressure from various Intelligence agencies, rival political factions and gang warfare brewing either side of the Thames, Coburg and Lampson must untangle a web of deception if they are to solve the case - and survive.

Secrets of a Serial Killer


Rosie Walker - 2020
    It’s crawling all over her face and in her eyes, like a swarm of insects, and it’s all because of him.A serial killer has been terrorising Lancaster for decades, longer than should ever have been possible. The police are baffled, eluded at every turn by the killer whose victims span generations. Speculation is rife among the true crime forums; is someone passing on their gruesome trade?Every local mother's worst nightmare has become Helen Summerton's reality; he’s taken her daughter, Zoe. As the clock runs down so do her chances of survival. Can Helen unearth the secrets of the killer before it’s too late?A gripping serial killer thriller that you won’t be able to put down. Perfect for fans of The Whisper Man, What You Did and Don’t Even Breathe.

Her Last Secret


P.L. Kane - 2020
    But Jake hasn’t seen Jordan for over three years and, with secrets of her own, she was far from the child he abandoned all those years ago.Jake’s ex-wife Jules, is reluctant to let him waltz back into her life. But with a question mark hanging over the case, Jake knows that he must piece together the fragments of evidence before it is too late.Will he ever discover the truth?

No Man's Land


Neil Broadfoot - 2018
    For DCI Malcolm Ford it's like nothing he's ever seen before, the savagery of the crime makes him want to catch the murderer before he strikes again. For reporter Donna Blake it's a shot at the big time, a chance to get her career back on track and prove all the doubters wrong. But for close protection specialist Connor Fraser it's merely a grisly distraction from the day job. But then another bloodied and broken corpse is found, this time in the shadow of the Wallace Monument - and with it, a message. One Connor has received before, during his time as a police officer in Belfast.With Ford facing mounting political and public pressure to make an arrest and quell fears the murders are somehow connected to heightened post-Brexit tensions, Connor is drawn into a race against time to stop another murder. But to do so, he must question old loyalties, confront his past and unravel a mystery that some would sacrifice anything - and anyone - to protect. From Dundee International Book Prize and Bloody Scotland book of the year nominee Neil Broadfoot comes No Man's Land, the first in the white-knuckle Connor Fraser series.

Snatched From Home: What Would You Do To Save Your Children?


Graham Smith - 2015
    Penniless and desperate the couple turn to crime as a way to raise the ransom. Hot on their heels is recently bereaved DI Harry Evans and his Major Crimes team. Evans is fighting against enforced retirement and his replacement – DI John Campbell – is foisted upon him along with other cases. If he must leave the police then he wants one last big case before he goes. In a race against time Victoria and Nicholas must evade the police while continuing to add to the ransom fund. If they don’t pay up on time the kidnappers have threatened to amputate their children’s limbs with an oxy-acetylene torch. Can they save their children before time runs out?