Book picks similar to
Cheese Wrestling by J.A. Konrath
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suspense
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Mindgame
Anthony Horowitz - 2001
A thriller that actually manages to thrill, and a very dark comedy that twists and spirals towards a completely unexpected ending. This is one play where seeing isn't quite believing and reading the text is the only way to uncover all the clues.
The Safe Man: A Ghost Story
Michael Connelly - 2012
That is, his specialty is opening safes. Every job is a little mystery, and he has yet to encounter a lock he can't break or a box he can't crack. But the day Holloway gets called in to open a rare, antique safe in a famous author's library, his skills open a door that should have remained closed.In this haunting and singular story, previously published anonymously, Michael Connelly proves once again that he is "superb at building suspense.... the reader can never be sure what sudden turns the plot may take" (Wall Street Journal).
Swamp Bones
Kathy Reichs - 2014
In the prequel to Reichs’s upcoming thriller Bones Never Lie, Tempe takes a much-needed vacation—but murder follows wherever she goes. Although a trip to Florida is supposed to be about rest and relaxation, there’s no such thing as a day off for Dr. Temperance Brennan. She has come to visit her friend, a dedicated ornithologist who’s researching the threat that intrusive Burmese pythons pose to indigenous bird species in the Everglades. While sorting through the stomach of an eighteen-foot specimen, they make a disturbing discovery: bones that are unmistakably human. And when Tempe spots the telltale signs of murder by a very different kind of predator, she’s drawn into a case with its roots in the darkest depths of the swamp. Features a preview of the highly anticipated new Temperance Brennan novel, Bones Never Lie!
Busted
Karin Slaughter - 2013
This electrifying eBook novella featuring Will Trent is a prequel to Slaughter’s upcoming novel, Unseen. Detective Will Trent is standing in a Georgia convenience store, waiting on an obstinate Icee frozen drink machine. To the surveillance cameras and bored staff of the Lil’ Dixie Gas-n-Go, however, Will appears to be someone very different—the menacing ex-con Bill Black. Going undercover as Bill, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent is about to infiltrate the most corrupt town in the most corrupt county in the new American South. But first: his Icee. Everything changes in one horrific instant, as all hell breaks loose at the Lil’ Dixie. A cop is shot. A bag of cash goes flying across the floor. A young woman disappears while a killer takes off in a battered pick-up truck. Within seconds, Will is in pursuit. Includes an exclusive preview of Karin Slaughter’s thrilling new novel of suspense, Unseen.
City of Screams
James Rollins - 2012
Sergeant Jordan Stone and his crack forensic team are called in to examine the site, to hunt for the perpetrators of this horrific act. But the discovery of a survivor—a child of ten—will shatter all the team knows about life and death. Among the crumbling bones of dead kings, something hoary and murderous stirs out of the ancient past, lurching forward to claim vengeance on those still living.Included with this thrilling story is a sneak peek at The Blood Gospel, where the further exploits of Sergeant Stone and his team will be revealed.
Greed
Jay Nadal - 2016
. . As the body count starts to mount, Detective Inspector Scott Baker and his team face a race against time to track down a serial killer who’s methodical, disturbed and unforgiving. His boss seems grateful someone else is doing their job for them and thinks it’s all down to an internal power struggle between the factions of Brighton’s criminal underworld. As the killings become increasingly more savage, can Scott track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the criminal underworld implodes? If you love police procedurals, hard boiled mysteries, or books from Damian Boyd, Angela Marsons, Helen H Durrant, Mel Sherratt, Lisa Hartley, or Kerry Wilkinson, you’ll enjoy the debut novel in the DI Scott Baker, an exciting new crime thriller and mystery series. Greed is the first in a new series of detective police procedurals featuring D.I. Scott Baker from Brighton and Hove CID. Scott Baker is a single, thirty something Detective Inspector who thrives on the challenges that life throws at him. His personal life, however, haunts him and threatens to break him every day. He treads a fine line between sanity and self-destruction. The police procedural series is set in the coastal resort of Brighton on the South Coast of England. It’s a bustling, vibrant, cosmopolitan town with a rich mix of fun, history and intrigue.Greed is a murder mystery thriller peppered with a sprinkling of romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit.
Scratch a Woman
Laura Lippman - 2008
The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories—and reveals another level of mastery.Lippman sets many of the stories in this sterling anthology, Hardly Knew Her, in familiar territory: her beloved Baltimore, from downtown to its affluent suburbs, where successful businessmen go to shocking lengths to protect what they have or ruthlessly expand their holdings, while dissatisfied wives find murderous ways to escape their lives. But Lippman is also unafraid to travel—to New Orleans, to an unnamed southwestern city, and even to Dublin, the backdrop for the lethal clash of two not-so-innocents abroad. Tess Monaghan is here, in two stories and a profile, aligning herself with various underdogs. And in her extraordinary, never-before-published novella, Scratch a Woman, Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood.Each of these ingenious tales is a gem—sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to read Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers, hailed for her keen psychological insights and her compelling characterizations," (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has "invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work" (George Pelecanos). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.
Flytrap
Simon Kernick - 2016
His solitary life sailing the Caribbean is the only way he can survive. That is, until, he meets…HerA widow with nothing left to lose, she finds herself on his sleek forty-foot yacht. He’s handsome and charming; exactly what she’s been looking for.But the night doesn’t go exactly as they had planned, and only one of them will get out alive.
Snowflakes
Ruth Ware - 2020
But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.Ruth Ware’s Snowflakes is part of Hush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death. Each piece can be read or listened to in one truly chilling sitting.
Love Is Murder
Allison Brennan - 2011
. . DEAD After a tough breakup with her boyfriend, Lucy Kincaid needs a different kind of break. So she heads west to join her brother, an ex-cop, for a long weekend of skiing in the mountains. At a picturesque lodge tucked high in the Sierra Nevada, Lucy finds just what she’s looking for: a peaceful retreat undisturbed by Internet, television, and cell phone distractions. She also finds an unexpected group of newlyweds seeking their own idyllic getaway.But finding one of her fellow guests dead wasn’t in the brochure. And neither was the overnight snowstorm that leaves the lodge cut off from the outside world. When Lucy’s brother suspects the honeymooner’s death was foul play, he’s mysteriously stricken ill. Now, to keep him and herself alive, it’s up to aspiring FBI agent Lucy Kincaid to figure out which of the lovebirds trapped in the lodge is really a bird of prey.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Allison Brennan’s upcoming novel Kiss Me, Kill Me as well as an exclusive excerpt from an FBI interview with Lucy Kincaid!
Superbia
Bernard Schaffer - 2012
After Frank O'Ryan gets shot, his first assignment is working with the most disliked man in his police department, Detective Vic Ajax. Ajax isn't like the other cops. He doesn't like them and they don't like him. He hunts drug dealers and pedophiles. Now, Frank will enter a world where being real police means laying so much of your soul on the line, you might not make it out. But as Vic explains, if it keeps a little girl from having to testify about what some monster did to her, it's worth it. Together, they'll resort to any means necessary to take down the scumbags, even if it means employing the interrogative services of a man in a six-foot bunny costume called The Truth Rabbit. Readers the world over have called Superbia's author the 21st Century Ed McBain novel and the successor to Joseph Wambaugh. Both a best-selling author and career police officer, Bernard Schaffer's experience in patrol, narcotics, and investigations has filled the pages with a degree of accuracy and bold, raw, truth that cannot be found in any other work of literature. Often compared to The Wire, the Superbia books have been called the "Most subversive" account of law enforcement since Serpico.
Rick Cantelli, P.I.
Bernard Lee DeLeo - 2013
After twenty successful years, Rick's old high school girlfriend shows up to turn their world upside down. Suddenly, they're back killing bad guys, facing down mobsters, and escorting movie stars. They were a deadly team in their CIA years, and they prove they’re just as deadly now.
The 4th Man
Lisa Gardner - 2016
With no physical evidence, no signs of sexual assault, and no witnesses, all the police have to go on are the three men who were in the library with her: her boyfriend and two campus security guards . . . all of whom have secrets, none of whom can be proven guilty.Five years later, ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his wife, former police officer Rainie Conner, agree to consult on the still-unsolved case, delving into deep background to comb for any clue that will lead to the woman's murderer. But with no leads and the case colder than the body, will they be able to build a case against one of the three suspects, or is there a fourth man out there? And if the killer has eluded the police this long, how far will he go to ensure justice is never served? With Gardner's singular ability to delve into the minds of criminals and law enforcement alike, The 4th Man is a shocking look at the reasons for taking a life . . . and just how far profilers need to go to learn them. It also includes an early look at Gardner's next chilling thriller, Right Behind You, coming February 7, 2017.
The Academy
Robert Dugoni - 2014
While most of her classmates and instructors at the academy want her to succeed, Detective Johnny Nolasco is hell-bent on keeping the boys’ club intact. The training sessions offer plenty of opportunities for humiliation, but Tracy’s not the type to give in. Fueled by a confrontation with her in the middle of a class, Nolasco is determined to see Tracy fail. Tracy, harboring memories of the loss of her sister and the disintegration of her family, has too much at stake to let one pigheaded detective stand in her way. With so much to lose, will she make the cut in this competitive world?
Close to the Bone
Kendra Elliot - 2018
The complications pile up as Cate is distracted by the coroner on the case—and by nagging memories that draw her twenty years into the past. The remains suggest eerie similarities between this victim, and Cate and Tessa’s friend Samantha, who disappeared when she was fourteen.Cate finds herself up against closemouthed locals, buried town secrets, and even her own heart. As the case unravels, will she be able to cut through the fog and find justice for the missing and the dead