Book picks similar to
Ruthless Girl by Emma Tallon


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A House of Ghosts: A Riveting Haunted House Mystery Boxset


Mason Dean - 2021
    Struggling with writer’s block and a tight deadline for his new novel, David Pragmore suggests a retreat away from Hartford to his wife, Susan, in order to find fresh inspiration. The publishers want David’s new book to shine in the horror genre, so when David reads about the odd manor with a haunted past, it seems like the perfect place to recapture his muse. But David and Susan quickly discover that some stories aren’t meant to be told.The Haunting of Saxton MansionAuthor Rob Hooper and his wife, Janet, are looking for a quiet place to live. The grandiose, isolated Victorian-style relic is everything they could want. A mysterious, widowed owner offers them a deal that can’t be passed up. But they quickly discover that some things are too good to be true.

Daria's Daughter


Linda Huber - 2021
    Her daughter has vanished without a trace and nobody is telling her what happened. Evie's gone. That's all. Gone. What does Daria have left to live for?A mother and daughter reunitedMargie can't believe it. Bridie is hurt. Bridie needs her. They manage to escape the smoke, the noise and the confusion. They are together, that's all that matters. Everything will be better in the morning, Margie tells Bridie. And it will.The bonds that never breakWill Daria ever be able to put the pieces of her tattered life back together after the loss of her daughter? Is it possible that things aren't quite as they seem? Can the unimaginable turn out to be the truth?

Seal of Confession


Michele Pace - 2021
    A young priest on the other side of the screen is shaken by what he learns. A former college athlete with an MBA from a prestigious university, Father Joe Russo is not your typical man of God. Nine years earlier, his own life took a tragic turn and he gave everything up, committing his life to the church. Now his peaceful existence is being tested, and he finds himself questioning the God he serves, the vows he made, and someone he left behind.In this gripping thriller, a priest and an FBI agent work to uncover secrets and expose hidden crimes, but when it seems they have it all figured out, everything they think they know will be questioned.

Someone Else's House


Jessica Vallance - 2019
    Stay in a 'home away from home'. But if it's someone else's house, then you're not the only one with the key.Lauren has finally dumped her dead-weight boyfriend, and what better way to celebrate a break-up than by going on holiday with your best friend?Except the holiday isn't turning out as planned - their cosy twosome has become a three and while Barcelona might be heaven, their rented apartment is anything but. It's small, shabby but, more than that, Lauren can't help but feel hunted.As the strange incidents escalate, Lauren and her friends decide to make their escape. But it's when they leave that the real danger begins.

Her Sister's Bones


Geraldine Hogan - 2019
    It's also a chilling reminder of when her sister, Janey, disappeared as a baby, 29 years ago, never to be seen again.Detective Iris Locke is assigned to the case, and, after a year undercover which ended in failure when her cover got blown, she's desperate to make her mark - and to live up to the reputation of her ex-cop father, the former head of the Limerick Murder Squad.Jack Locke ran the investigation into the disappearance of baby Janey. But by reopening the old case, Iris is also reopening old wounds for the team. Can she untangle the dark secrets that lead to one sister vanishing and the other's death - even if it means digging into the past of someone very close to her?

Cut-Throat Defence


Olly Jarvis - 2016
    With the assistance of his equally inexperienced instructing solicitor, Lara Panassai, Jack argues a savage ‘cut-throat’ defence – a risky tactic where the defendants blame each other – and quickly embroils some of the most eminent QCs in the land.As the son of Polish immigrants, the sensitive Kowalski has always found it hard to fit in, with a sense of inferiority and constant nervousness in Court. Now he must face his demons and fight not only for his clients, but for his very future at the Bar.But when the defendant then unexpectedly absconds, Jack and Lara must fight on regardless, following a tip that leads them out of the courtroom and into Manchester’s seedy underworld – crime bosses, strip clubs, corrupt lawyers and all manner of hidden sins.As the case grows darker with each new discovery, who in this viper pit of deception can Jack and Lara trust?Ingeniously plotted and embellished with real-life insider expertise, Cut-Throat Defence is a story of rivalry, ruthlessness and – above all – survival.

The Game


Luca Veste - 2020
    . .THEY KNOW WHAT YOU DID You receive a call, an email, a text – someone knows your secret and they want to ruin you.AND THEY’RE OUT FOR BLOOD If you don’t do what they say, they’ll tell everyone what you’ve been hiding. They will come after you, destroy you, and they aren’t afraid to kill.  IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAMEWhy readers love Luca Veste's novels . . . 'High-concept serial killer thriller with twists and heart. Stunning' STEVE CAVANAGH 'A fast-paced mystery about friendships, secrets and fears with a twist in the tail that fooled me completely' CHRIS EWAN ‘Properly Stephen King-style creepy’ IAN RANKIN ‘Perfectly terrifying' AMANDA JENNINGS ‘A dark and brilliant thriller from a writer who just gets better and better’ MARK BILLINGHAM ‘An entertainingly nasty piece of work' CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE

The Bride


Wendy Clarke - 2020
     We used to speak on the phone every day. Growing up I spent more time at her house than I did at my own. I’d always imagined what it would be like to see her get married, and now I didn’t even know her fiancé’s name. She asked me to come and meet Mark and I intended to tell her to slow down. You can’t know someone for a month and be sure that you want to spend the rest of your lives together. When I got to Joanna’s front door, only Mark was there. He was charming and gorgeous and nothing but nice to me, and I started to understand. And then he told me that Joanna was missing.

One Way Ticket


Rachel Hargrove - 2017
    It’s up to Detective Julia Sawyer to stop him before another innocent man dies, but her only clues are a severed ear and a one-way ticket. With limited resources and a serial killer running amok, It’s a race against time to find him—and his victims—before the commuter train becomes hell on wheels. The hunt is on, but can she find the killer without a body? An intense, gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller full of twists. It’s half the length, but it’s got all the thrills. Fans of James Patterson and Robert Dugoni will love this page-turner.

The Heatwave


Katerina Diamond - 2020
    One stranger. One killer…Two bad things happened that summer:A stranger arrived. And the first girl disappeared. In the wake of the crime that rocked her community, Felicity fled, knowing more than she let on. But sixteen years later, her new life is shattered by the news that a second girl has gone missing in her hometown. Now Felicity must go back, to face the truth about what happened all those years ago. Only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine. The heatwave is back. And so is the killer.

Man of the Year


Caroline Louise Walker - 2019
    You may praise him, resent him, even want to be him: but beneath the elegant trappings that define him, danger looms. Caroline Louise Walker’s stunning debut novel, for fans of Herman Koch’s The Dinner and Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door, delves into the increasingly paranoid mind of a man whose life as the most upstanding of citizens hides a relentlessly dark heart.Dr. Robert Hart, Sag Harbor’s just-named Man of the Year, is the envy of his friends and neighbors. His medical practice is thriving. He has a beautiful old house and a beautiful new wife and a beautiful boat docked in the village marina. Even his wayward son, Jonah, is back on track, doing well at school, finally worthy of his father’s attentions. So when Jonah’s troubled college roommate, Nick, needs a place to stay for the summer, Hart and his wife generously offer him their guest house. A win-win: Jonah will have someone to hang with, and his father can bask in the warm glow of his own generosity.But when he begins to notice his new houseguest getting a little too close to his wife, the good doctor’s veneer begins to crack. All the little lies Robert tells—harmless falsehoods meant to protect everything he holds dear—begin to mount. Before long, he’s embroiled in a desperate downward spiral, destroying the lives that stand in his way. It’s only the women in his life—his devoted office manager, his friends, his wife—who can clearly see the truth.Biting and timely, Man of the Year races along at an electric pace, with a wicked twist that you won’t see coming.

Dirty Tricks (Big Mo Series #1)


Dreda Say Mitchell - 2020
    Her dad is long gone and she won't listen to the pleas of her mum and granddad. When she's talent-spotted by local villain Barker, Mo jumps at the chance to start climbing the criminal underworld ladder.Then a vicious and violent East End gangland war to the finish breaks out between Mo's boss, Barker and fearsome gangster, Jimmy Southpaw, the head of the notorious Steele family. Mo is soon in the thick of this brutal struggle. But why are Barker and Jimmy really fighting? And will Mo live long enough to find out?

Her Silent Husband


Sam Vickery - 2021
    We built a family and a happy, stable home. You said we were a team. But now I’m holding my daughter’s hand all alone as you lie still in your hospital bed. You’ve left me to look after our children all by myself. I will never understand why.The moment Beth finds out that her husband Drew is in a coma her entire world comes crashing down. With four children to care for, and her six-year-old daughter Ceci still recovering from heart surgery, she can’t imagine how she’ll be able to manage on her own.But then she finds out that Drew tried to end his own life. And as she desperately waits to find out if he’ll wake up, she must grapple with the devastating idea that he may not want to.Beth has no idea why Drew would do this, but when his sister Gemma arrives at hospital she seems less surprised – there were terrible secrets that Drew had been keeping from Beth. Lies about his past and the person he really is. Lies that will change everything Beth thought she knew about her husband and could tear her perfect family life apart…

Southern Gothic


Dale Wiley - 2017
    Meredith can keep the manuscript to herself, or publish it under her own name. Her decision results in a bestseller, but the novel contains a coded secret; one that will put her on trial for murder and in hiding from "the blood stalker," proving too late that making a deal with the devil comes at a heavy price.

The Disappeared Girl


Martin J. Smith - 2014
     Two men stand out in a crowd overlooking the Ohio River. A plane is being taken from the water where it crashed decades before. Both men helped put it there. Jim Christensen’s daughter, Melissa, has been troubled of late. She has dreams that feel like memories, unsettling images percolate to the surface. She remembers a terrifying past, possibly her own, from a time before she was adopted by her father. Christensen’s work as an expert in memory makes him the ideal person to help unlock his daughter’s fragile grasp on her own history. But will he want to learn the truth of where Melissa came from? Who she was before? Who might still be looking for her? This dizzying novel of suspense takes the reader back into a dirty war and its human costs, into the fevered mind of one of its survivors, and through the crosshairs of a man desperate to keep his own history vanished.