Book picks similar to
Web of Deceit by Susan Sleeman


romance
romantic-suspense
mystery
suspense

Traces of Guilt


Dee Henderson - 2016
    . . mostly. She's very skilled at investigations and has steadily moved up through the ranks. She would like to find Mr. Right, but she has a hard time imagining how marriage could work, considering the demands of her job. Gabriel Thane is a lifetime resident of Carin County and now its sheriff, a job he loves. Gabe is committed to upholding the law and cares deeply for the residents he's sworn to protect. He too would like to find a lifetime companion, a marriage like his parents have. . . . When Evie arrives in Carin, Illinois, it's to help launch a new task force dedicated to reexamining unsolved crimes across the state. Spearheading this trial run, Evie will work with the sheriff's department on a couple of its most troubling missing-persons cases. As she reexamines old evidence to pull out a few tenuous new leads, she unearths a surprising connection . . . possibly to a third cold case. Evie's determined to solve the cases before she leaves Carin County, and Sheriff Thane, along with his family, will be key to those answers.

Oath of Honor


Lynette Eason - 2018
    John loves her crazy, loud, law-enforcement family. With three brothers and two sisters, she's never without someone to hang out with—or fight with. And she knows they'll be there for her when things get tough. Like when her partner is murdered and she barely escapes with her own life.Determined to discover exactly what happened, Izzy's investigation sends her headfirst into a criminal organization, possibly with cops on the payroll—including someone from her own family. With her dead partner's handsome homicide detective brother Ryan shadowing her every move, Izzy's head is spinning. How can she secure justice for her partner when doing so could mean sending someone she loves to prison? And how will she guard her heart when the man she's had a secret crush on for years won't leave her side?

If I Run


Terri Blackstock - 2016
    There’s no use talking to police; they have failed her abysmally before. She has to flee before she’s arrested . . . or worse. The truth doesn’t matter anymore.But what is the truth? That’s the question haunting Dylan Roberts, the war-weary veteran hired to find Casey. PTSD has marked him damaged goods, but bringing Casey back can redeem him. Though the crime scene seems to tell the whole story, details of the murder aren’t adding up. Casey Cox doesn’t fit the profile of a killer. But are Dylan’s skewed perceptions keeping him from being objective? If she isn’t guilty, why did she run?Unraveling her past and the evidence that condemns her will take more time than he has, but as Dylan’s damaged soul intersects with hers, he is faced with two choices. The girl who occupies his every thought is a psychopathic killer . . . or a selfless hero. And the truth could be the most deadly weapon yet.

Because You're Mine


Colleen Coble - 2017
    So it should come as no surprise that in the beauty that surrounds Charleston, all is not as it seems.When her husband is killed by a car bomb while their band is on tour in Charleston, Alanna doesn’t know where to turn. Her father-in-law is threatening to take custody of the baby she carries, but the one thing she knows for sure is that she can’t lose the last piece of Liam she has left.Their manager offers her a marriage of convenience to gain her U.S. citizenship and allow her to escape her father-in-law’s control. It seems like the perfect solution . . . but her doubts begin almost as soon as she arrives at Barry’s family home, a decaying mansion surrounded by swamp.To make matters worse, Liam’s best friend survived the car bomb. She’s never really liked Jesse and now she can’t seem to get away from him. When he takes Liam’s place in their band, it’s almost more than she can bear.But then things start happening. Things that could easily cost Alanna her life—or the life of her unborn child. Are they merely coincidences? Or is there something much more sinister at work?

Bait


Lisa Phillips - 2014
    To get abducted. But when the killer evades capture, an injured Caisey takes some much needed time off. In the small town of Buckshot, CO, she runs straight into a homicidal sheriff...and an old flame. Gabe Carlen has been hiding from his uncle for seventeen years. Caisey might be the one woman he’s never forgotten, but she’s also brought his uncle right to his doorstep—and revenge is sure to follow. While the Chloroform Killer’s obsession for Caisey grows, she must repair the rift in her family and figure out if a future with Gabe is possible. Only by trusting God with their safety can she let go long enough to save herself.

The Killing Tide


Dani Pettrey - 2019
    An Old Flame with Danger Written all over Her.Things Are about to Get Very Complicated.When one Coast Guard officer is found dead and another goes missing, Coast Guard Investigative Service special agent Finn Walker faces his most dangerous crime yet. His only clues are what little evidence remains aboard the dead officer's boat, and the direction the clues point to will test Finn and the Guard to their limits.The already volatile situation is complicated even further by the arrival of Gabby Rowley--Finn's boss's sister and an investigative reporter with unrelenting questions about the crime. Now that she's returned, the tug on Finn's heart is strong, but with the risks she's taking for her next big story, he fears she might not live through it.Thrown together by the heinous crime, Finn and Gabby can't ignore the sparks or judgments flying between them. But will they be able to see past their preconceptions long enough to track down an elusive killer, or will they become his next mark?

Glimmer in the Darkness


Robin Patchen - 2021
    Nothing could get her home…but this.Cassidy Leblanc worked hard to shake off her tragic childhood. As a foster child with a mother in prison for murder, she was an outcast in her small New Hampshire town until she met James. But she and James’s sister, whom she was babysitting, were kidnapped. She escaped, but Hallie didn’t survive, and everybody assumed Cassidy killed her. Like mother, like daughter, after all. With public opinion and the authorities united against her, young Cassidy fled. Now, a decade later, another little girl has been kidnapped, and Cassidy may be the only person who can find her. He doesn’t know who to trust.James Sullivan never believed that Cassidy killed his sister, no matter what the authorities said. When his best friend’s daughter goes missing a decade after Hallie's murder, James keeps his opinions on the matter to himself. But when he finds Cassidy sneaking around his property, his thoughts turn dark. If she’s not behind the recent kidnapping, what is she doing back in Coventry? Her answer—that she’s returned to find little Ella, and she needs his help—has him reeling. Can he trust Cassidy, despite what the police tell him? If there’s any chance he can save Ella, he has to try.Danger lurks on the mountain.Together, they search for the elusive cave where Cassidy and Hallie were taken, but somebody will stop at nothing to make sure they don’t find it or, if they do, that they don’t come out alive. Pulse-pounding suspense, a second-chance romance, and a precious little girl who needs her daddy. You don't want to miss it.

Fatal Affair


Marie Force - 2010
    The perfect opportunity arises when Senator John O’Connor is found brutally murdered in his bed, and Sam is assigned to the case. Things get complicated when Sam has to team up with Nick Cappuano, O’Connor’s friend and chief of staff…and the man Sam had a memorable one-night stand with years earlier. Their sexual chemistry still sizzles, and Sam has to fight to stay focused on the case. Sleeping with a material witness is another mistake she can’t afford—especially when the bodies keep piling up.

Vanished


Irene Hannon - 2013
    In the dark. In a thunderstorm. When a confusing detour places her on a rural, wooded road, she's startled by the sudden appearance of a lone figure caught in the beam of her headlights. Though Moira jams on her brakes, the car careens across the wet pavement--and the solid thump against the side of the vehicle tells her she hit the person before she crashes into a tree on the far side of the road. A dazed Moira is relieved when a man opens her door, tells her he saw everything, and promises to call 911. Then everything fades to black. When she comes to an hour later, she is alone. No man. No 911. No injured person lying on the side of the road. But she can't forget the look of terror she saw on the person's face in the instant before her headlights swung away. The person she hit had been in trouble. She's sure of it. But she can't get anyone to believe her story--except a handsome former police detective, now a private eye, who agrees to take on the case. From the very first page, readers will be hooked into this fast-paced story full of shocking secrets from fan-favorite Irene Hannon. Vanished is the exciting first book in the Private Justice series: Three justice seekers who got burned playing by the rules now have a second chance to make things right.

Misery Loves Company


Rene Gutteridge - 2013
    Other than the reviews Jules writes on her blog, she has little contact with the outside world.One day when she ventures out to the local grocery store, Jules is bumped into by a fellow customer who apologizes profusely. She recognizes him as her favorite author, Patrick Reagan. Jules gushes and thoroughly embarrasses herself before Regan graciously talks with her.And that’s the last thing she remembers—until she wakes up in a strange room with a splitting headache. She’s been kidnapped. And what she discovers will change everything she believed about her husband’s death . . . her career . . . and her faith.

Sidetracked


Brandilyn Collins - 2014
    Like clothing first rough and scratchy, it eventually wears down, thins out. Sinks into your skin. Thirty-four-year-old Delanie Miller has fled her dark past and is now settled into a quiet life in small-town Redbud, Kentucky. She has friends, a faux "family" who lives in her house, and a loving boyfriend who may soon ask her to marry him. Her aching dream of a husband and future children are about to come true. But protecting this life of promise means keeping a low profile and guarding the truth of her past from everyone.The town's peace is shattered when Delanie's friend, Clara, is murdered, and Delanie finds her body. The police chief quickly zeroes in on Billy King, a simple-minded young man whom Delanie knows would never hurt Clara. She can hunt down evidence and speak out publicly against the chief only at great risk of her own exposure. But how can Delanie, who suffered such injustice in her past, keep silent now? She must find a way to uncover the real murderer yet save the life she's created the deceit-ridden life that will forever distance her true self from others and God.With page-turning intensity, Sidetracked hurtles between Delanie's trauma in Redbud and the chaos of her past. Those experiences forced Delanie to reinvent her present but at what cost to her future?

Smoke Screen


Sandra Brown - 2008
    The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety.Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might not have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered.Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers -- and ruin his -- had festered, but he was helpless to set things right.That changes when he learns of Jay Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication -- and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire.But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives.Friends are exposed as foes, heroes take on the taint of criminals, and no one can be trusted completely. A tale about audacious corruption -- and those with the courage to expose it -- Smoke Screen is Sandra Brown's most searing and intense novel yet.

Home Before Dark


Christy Barritt - 2013
    As she’s about to flee back to Nashville, she finds a hidden journal belonging to her father. His words hint that his death was no accident.Small town mechanic Ryan Shields is the only one who seems to believe that Daleigh may be on to something. Her father trusted the man, but Daleigh’s instant attraction to Ryan scares her. She knows her life and career, however dwindling it might be, are back in Nashville and that her time in the sleepy North Carolina town is only temporary.As Daleigh and Ryan work to unravel the mystery, it becomes obvious that someone wants them dead. They must rely on each other—and on God—if they hope to make it home before the darkness swallows them whole.Home Before Dark offers a blend of Nicholas Sparks meets Mary Higgins Clark, a mix of charming small town life in North Carolina tangled in a gripping suspense.

Pursued


Mary Alford - 2017
    Jordan Scott needs is to fall in love.Jordan thought she knew her boyfriend better than anyone…until a Detective Riley Donovan confronts her with the truth about her brother’s death. His murder was no random act of violence. And Caesar is the prime suspect, which puts her directly in the path of danger.Imperfect by Christy Barritt:A book signing in the mountain town of Perfect seems just like what novelist Morgan Blake needs to revive her creative juices. Her trip there takes a wrong turn when she’s involved in a hit and run—she’s hit a man, and he’s run from the scene. Before fleeing, he mouthed the word “help.” Once in town, she searches for answers about the man’s identity. But the deeper she digs, the more she suspects she was lured to town for an ulterior purpose. Only one man can help her . . . if he survives in time to reach her.The Unrelenting Tide (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans #1) by Lynnette Bonner:Widowed former-Hollywood-actress Devynne Lang has been living a quiet life in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. For years, she's hoped her fabricated death would keep her identity safe from the public, and more to the point, from the stalker who forced her into hiding. But strange things have been happening around her place and this time, with a daughter to protect, she can’t afford one mistake – even if it means letting Carcen Lang get close enough to help.Saving Grace (Madison Falls #1) by Lesley Ann McDaniel:When an obsessive fan forces opera singer Tracy Fontaine to change her name to Grace Addison and go into hiding in a small Montana town, the last thing she wants is to get to know the locals. Now, not one but two men have worked their way into her daily routine, much to the chagrin of a jealous local girl, who insists on prying into Grace’s past and stirring up deadly trouble. Will Grace find love in Madison Falls…or will her stalker find her?Prey (Denver FBI #2) by Lisa Phillips:Mark Heyland is on the run with a flash drive of information...and his sister. His past is catching up, and they need the help of the sibling they've never met.Samantha Kurter is a sheriff's deputy in Buckshot, Colorado. But even being a former Marine isn't going to help when a dangerous criminal abducts the sheriff's long lost brother.Lives are on the line and loyalty is tested as Samantha's daughter is put in danger. How will they survive a night being hunted as prey?Identity Theft by Alana Terry:After a devastating accident stole her fiancé and robbed her of a normal life, Lacy does what she can to move on. It’s hard enough living in Glennallen, Alaska with its negative-fifty-degree winters and mosquito-ravaged summers. Things get even more complicated when she meets Kurtis, an Alaska state trooper, and his delightful four-year-old daughter who would love nothing more than to make Lacy her new mom.A traumatized past makes it hard for Lacy to commit to this new relationship, especially since she can’t shake the nagging suspicion that her fiancé isn’t dead like the police reports claim. All she wants is closure, but as she seeks out real answers, she discovers how deadly the truth can actually be.HOMECOMING HOMICIDE by Virginia Vaughan:When a case of mistaken identity has Kim Clarkson accused of a crime she did not commit, she must rely on her newfound faith and the investigative skills of her husband, homicide detective Mike Clarkson, the man whose heart she broke—and hop

The Perfect Witness


Iris Johansen - 2014
    But the gift seemed more like a curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his world of corruption and violence. Exposed by her own family to the darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected. She realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run.Out of nowhere, or so she believes, a man by the name of Andre Mandak appears. He kills her pursuers—but that's not nearly enough for Teresa to trust him. It is his promise to get her into Witness Protection, along with his mind-blowing ability to help her control her gift before it consumes her, that convinces Teresa Casali to become Allie Girard. Living a normal life with a new family, she shuts the door to the past …although Mandak is clear: when the time is right, he too will benefit from her powers.For years Allie flourishes …until the day her cover is blown and the truth comes tumbling out. Once again she is on the run, with her own life and those of her loved ones at stake. But this time she will not be a pawn. This time she will use her finely honed gift to end the threat that began with her family's betrayal. From perfect target to perfect witness, Allie Girard is ready to take on the past even if it kills her.