Book picks similar to
Cold Comfort by Scott Mackay


mystery
fiction
mystery-suspense
digital

Forget Me Not (Summit Lake Thriller, #1)


Kristen Middleton - 2018
     When a deranged lunatic starts targeting single mom, Amanda Schultz, with threatening letters and "presents" on her doorstep, she turns to the police, who offer advice but no real help. At the mercy of a psychopath, Amanda realizes she's in a game of cat-and-mouse, where the killer keeps changing the rules and the winner... is the only one left standing. Language, violence, and adult situations. Warning - reference to sexual abuse but no graphic details.

Don't Tell Meg


Paul J. Teague - 2017
    One night. So many deaths. When radio journalist Pete Bailey betrays his wife Meg on his fortieth birthday, he has no idea of the terrible consequences that will follow his infidelity. His passionate relationship with Meg is on the rocks and they're having no luck starting a family. It's only when he meets TV reporter Ellie Turner on a working weekend away from home that Pete succumbs to her charms in a moment of weakness. His treacherous actions set off a chain of events fueled by jealousy, revenge, violence and hatred. Five people will lose their lives as a result of Pete's deception and he will be compelled to confront the ugly truth about his wife and his best friend, Jem. He thought that nobody would ever discover what he'd done with Ellie ... but he didn't know who was listening in the room next door. Don't Tell Meg is the first part of trilogy of thrillers. Book 2, The Murder Place and Book 3, The Forgotten Children are also available. Paul J. Teague has also written the standalone thriller Dead of Night (Released May 2017) Please note that this book contains mild violence, bad language and sexual references.

Deadly Aim


Patricia H. Rushford - 2004
    Featuring determined police officer Angel Delaney, the first episode is sure to have armchair sleuths turning the pages as fast as they can to discover whodunit? When a police shootout results in the death of a 12-year-old boy, Officer Angel Delaney is blamed, convicted, and condemned by the media and the Sunset Cove community before the case even goes to trial. Angel will have her day in court, but before she has the chance to defend herself, the situation spirals out of control. Key evidence is missing, evidence that could have verified her claim of firing only one shot in self-defense. In short order, the body count rises, and suddenly Angel is a suspect in more than one murder investigation. Heartsick about the young boy's death, and questioning her judgment as a police officer, Angel joins forces with Detective Callen Riley to fight the mounting charges against her.

The Perfect Woman


James Andrus - 2010
    Then he packs his victims in luggage—a nod to the cops that he works alone. Dremmel’s no fool, he’s also a college professor. He just likes using his intellect for darker purposes….Is Another Man’s Anguish…Haunted by his own daughter’s unsolved disappearance, Detective John Stallings is committed to finding runaways and busting their abductors. When a series of girls is found dead and stuffed into duffle bags, he’s consumed with capturing “The Bagman”—at the risk of his marriage, his career, and possibly his tough-as-nails partner, Patty Levine…And Neither Intends To Give UpAs The Bagman grows more brazen in his crimes, the clues line up. But when he draws terrifyingly close to Patty, Stallings is determined to play by his own rules—and they won’t be pretty—or quiet…

She Belongs to Me


Carmen DeSousa - 2011
     Charlotte police officer Jordan Monroe is used to being in control. Ever since his father died, he has provided for his mother and sisters and even hired his two brothers-in-law to help run his successful construction company. On a chance business trip, however, he meets the one person who throws his life into a whirlwind--Jaynee.Jaynee has lived a tragic life and has sworn off all men. That is until a rugged southern gentleman lands in her seating area, refusing to take no for an answer. From the moment they meet, Jordan sweeps her off her feet, assuring her that happiness exists. But can she really escape her past?Five years later, Jordan finds Jaynee on their back porch with a gunshot wound to the head. While Jaynee lies in a coma, Jordan has to go back to their beginning and figure out what went wrong. Did he push his wife to the edge, or has her past come back to haunt them? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "You'll be swept off your feet along with Jaynee as she discovers the man of her dreams. You'll be drawn into the drama. And you'll flip the pages fast as Jordan must desperately figure out the truth in time. I was and did!" -- New York Times bestselling author Jaime Rush⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "SHE BELONGS TO ME is definitely a good suspenseful read. Ms. DeSousa is a talented author and I had no problem in connecting with the characters. The story displayed a realistic relationship between Jordan and Jaynee." -- The Romance Reviews

Whiskey Sour


J.A. Konrath - 2004
    Her live-in boyfriend has left her for his personal trainer, chronic insomnia has caused her to max out her credit cards with late-night home shopping purchases, and a frightening killer who calls himself 'The Gingerbread Man' is dumping mutilated bodies in her district. Between avoiding the FBI and its moronic profiling computer, joining a dating service, mixing it up with street thugs, and parrying the advances of an uncouth PI, Jack and her binge-eating partner, Herb, must catch the maniac before he kills again...and Jack is next on his murder list. Whiskey Sour is full of laugh-out-loud humor and edge-of-your-seat suspense, and it introduces a fun, fully drawn heroine in the grand tradition of Kinsey Millhone, Stephanie Plum, and Kay Scarpetta.

The Night Bird


Brian Freeman - 2017
    When a series of bizarre deaths rock San Francisco—as seemingly random women suffer violent psychotic breaks—Frost looks for a connection that leads him to psychiatrist Francesca Stein. Frankie’s controversial therapy helps people erase their most terrifying memories…and all the victims were her patients.As Frost and Frankie carry out their own investigations, the case becomes increasingly personal—and dangerous. Long-submerged secrets surface as someone called the Night Bird taunts the pair with cryptic messages pertaining to the deaths. Soon Frankie is forced to confront strange gaps in her own memory, and Frost faces a killer who knows the detective’s worst fears.As the body count rises and the Night Bird circles ever closer, a dedicated cop and a brilliant doctor race to solve the puzzle before a cunning killer claims another victim.

Sorcerer


David Menon - 2013
    The house used to be a care home for teenage boys and Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton and his team uncover a history of horrifying brutality and abuse. Their investigations lead them to the former manager of the home and his wife who are now living in Spain. Their twisted family secrets are then exposed and Jeff, who's a single Dad following the death of his wife and balancing a demanding job with caring for his five year-old son Toby, begins to unravel an audacious plan by a former victim. But will it serve justice or revenge? And can Jeff and his team get to him before that decision is taken out of their hands?

Summer People


Aaron Stander - 2000
    The summer residents are settling in for the season and the tourists are beginning to flood the highways and beaches. But the idyllic vision of a summer at the shore is suddenly shattered by a gangland-style shooting. This murder is quickly followed by the deaths of three more summer residents, each taking place under suspicious circumstances. At times hindered by local politics and the proverbial tension between the summer people and the natives, Sheriff Ray Elkins searches for the possible links between the four victims. As he probes into their tangled lives and dark histories, he finds both the motive and the possible murderer.

Interference


Brad Parks - 2020
    That, it turns out, is not quite true: Matt has been prodding the mysteries of the quantum universe, with terrible repercussions for his health. And perhaps even for humanity as a whole.Then, in the midst of another seizure, Matt disappears. When foul play is feared, there is no shortage of suspects. Matt’s research had gained the attention of Chinese competitors, an unscrupulous billionaire, and the Department of Defense, among others.With Matt’s life in clear danger, Brigid sets out to find him. Will Matt be killed before she reaches him, or could the physics that endangered him actually be used to save his life?

Squall


Sean Costello - 2014
    On a clear winter morning he sets out in his Cessna 180 to do some repairs on a remote hunt camp, leaving his five year old son and very pregnant wife snug in their beds.On the return trip, a squall forces him into an emergency landing and he winds up—quite literally—in the lap of petty criminal Dale Knight. Dale, now a fugitive from the law—and worse, from a merciless drug lord who just happens to be his brother—draws Tom into a web of mayhem and treachery that puts not only his life at risk, but the lives of his wife, son…and unborn child.SQUALL is a fast-paced, darkly-comic tale of murder and gang-style retribution that grabs the reader on page one and simply does not let go.

A Litter of Bones


J.D. Kirk - 2019
    Was the biggest case of his career the worst mistake he ever made?Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan stopped the serial child-killer dubbed 'Mister Whisper,' earning himself a commendation, a drinking problem, and a broken marriage in the process.Now, he spends his days working in Glasgow's Major Incident Team, and his nights reliving the horrors of what he saw.And what he did.When another child disappears a hundred miles north in the Highlands, Jack is sent to lead the investigation and bring the boy home.But as similarities between the two cases grow, could it be that Jack caught the wrong man all those years ago?And, if so, is the real Mister Whisper about to claim his fourth victim?A Litter of Bones is the explosive debut crime thriller novel from JD Kirk, an exciting new voice in Scottish crime fiction.

Back on Murder


J. Mark Bertrand - 2010
    Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.

The World Beneath


Rebecca Cantrell - 2013
    This subterranean labyrinth inhales three million bustling commuters every day. And every day, it breathes them all out again... except for one. Software millionaire Joe Tesla is set to ring the bell on Wall Street the morning his company goes public. On what should be the brightest day in his life, he is instead struck with severe agoraphobia. The sudden dread of the outside is so debilitating, he can't leave his hotel at Grand Central Terminal, except to go underground. Bad luck for Joe, because in the tunnels lurk corpses and murderers, an underground Victorian mansion and a mysterious bricked-up 1940s presidential train car. Joe and his service dog, Edison, find themselves pursued by villains and police alike, their only salvation now is to unearth the mystery that started it all, a deadly, contagious madness on the brink of escaping The World Beneath.

All That Remains


Hannah Holborn - 2015
    A fragile child. Will they save each other?Harvey’s training at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children prepared him for the most important case of his career to date, the abduction of eight-year-old Gabriel Wheeler. Nothing, however, could prepare him for the boy’s blame-shifting mother from hell who shoots up instead of alerting police when the boy goes missing. Nor is Harvey equipped to deal with the heartbreak when his girlfriend leaves him on the same night, taking Effie, the non-biological young daughter Harvey adores. The case goes cold when Harvey fails to interview Effie’s best friend, the only witness able to identify the perpetrator’s car. As police resources are wasted on dead ends and wrong suspects, Gabriel receives unlikely help to escape from Willard Crawley, a simple-minded abductor seeking a replacement for the infant brother he accidentally suffocated years before.Book 1 in the Missing & Exploited Suspense Series, All That Remains explores childhood resiliency in a dangerous adult world (previously published as Notes From a Cold Case).