Book picks similar to
Survivor by Marc Brandel


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The Empty Hearth


Kitty Neale - 2006
    He's jealous when she shows us any affection.'Set in Battersea in the Fifties and Sixties, the Pratchett family have to contend with coalman Alfie Pratchett's obsessive jealousy. Although Alfie is a bully, his two teenage children, John and Millie, have learned to dodge him and his moods. The main concern of ugly duckling Millie - who looks nothing like her handsome brother John - is to protect their mum, Eileen.When a serious crisis occurs at the Pratchetts' home, Alfie is forced to watch his whole world gradually collapse around him. Their old life has gone forever, and a new one has begun - one in which rape, debt, alcoholism and insanity play their parts. And redemption is a long time comingKitty Neale is a storyteller of rare power, unafraid to uncover the dark secrets that lie behind the well-scrubbed doorsteps of family homes.

The Listening House


Mabel Seeley - 1938
    Garr’s old boarding house. Despite the gruff landlady and an assortment of shifty tenants, Gwynne rents a room for herself. She spends her first few nights at 593 Trent Street tensely awake, the house creaking and groaning as if listening to everything that happens behind its closed doors.A chain of chilling events leads to the gruesome discovery of a mutilated body in the basement kitchen, dead of unknown circumstances. Was it an accident or murder? Under the red-black brick façade of the old house on Trent Street, Gwynne uncovers a myriad of secrets, blackmail, corruption, and clues of a wicked past. As she closes in on the truth, the cold, pale hands of death reach for Gwynne in the night…

The Swimming Pool


Mary Roberts Rinehart - 1952
    Her sister, detective novelist Lois, has no patience for Judith's bizarre behavior. However, a real-life mystery unfolds when Judith disappears from her locked room without a trace. Reissue.

The Grey Beginning


Barbara Michaels - 1984
    Here in the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany, she seeks solace—and discovers something sinister instead. Befriending a lonely boy named Pietro—accepting the chilly hospitality of the aristocratic Contessa Morandini—Kathy begins to uncover the pieces of an ominous puzzle and hints of a deadly obsession. And now she has stumbled upon a murderous plot that could cost Kathy her life—for it was meant to stay hidden . . . forever.

They Won't Be Hurt


Kevin O'Brien - 2018
    Scott Singleton, former NFL star turned television evangelist, lies dead. The bodies of his wife and four of their five children are found on the second floor, bound, gagged, and stabbed repeatedly. The oldest daughter was shot in her boyfriend's car. And the police's main suspect--the property caretaker--has disappeared.THEY WILL NEVERIn her secluded vineyard home two hours away, Laura Gretchell is on edge. Her husband is out of town on business, and the children are understandably shaken. Laura tries to tell herself there's no reason to fear. Then the door handle rattles, and the real terror begins.LET YOU GOThey're in her house, holding her children hostage, and Laura has only one option: do exactly what the intruders say. But as Laura races to find the information they seek, she realizes that the enemies within her own home are only part of the nightmare. Because someone wants to keep the truth hidden at any cost, no matter how many more must die . . .

A Handful of Sovereigns


Anna King - 1994
    But there might be a way out… When fifteen-year-old Maggie, her sister Liz and young brother Charlie find themselves tragically orphaned they know their young lives can never be the same again. And when Liz is taken ill, Maggie has to tend to her, and loses what little work she had. In desperation, she ventures onto the streets, risking her safety and her innocence. A mysterious stranger appears to offer hope, but does he have only her best interests at heart? Will tragedy strike again or can Maggie save the family from poverty, and find the happiness she truly deserves? Set in London’s Bethnal Green shortly after the Ripper murders, A Handful of Sovereigns is a classic East End family saga, perfect for fans of Jennie Felton, Maggie Ford or Dilly Court.

Her Frozen Heart


Lulu Taylor - 2017
    About Sara. Caitlyn thinks her marriage to Patrick is a success. For one thing, he is one of the few people not to fall head over heels for her beautiful friend, Sara. Life is lived on his terms, but they are happy.Aren’t they?When a devastating accident turns her existence upside down, Caitlyn is forced to reassess everything she thought about her marriage, what she truly knows about Patrick, and his real feelings for her best friend. In the refuge of an old manor house, she begins to discover the truth.In 1947, the worst winter in decades hits England, cutting off entirely the inhabitants of Kings Harcourt Manor. For Tommy Carter, widowed at the start of war, it is particularly hard: the burden of the family falls on her. She has the solace of her children, and the interesting presence of her brother’s friend, Fred. But there is also Barbara, a mysterious figure from her past who appears to want a piece of Tommy’s future as well.Her Frozen Heart is a thrilling mystery from Lulu Taylor, top ten bestselling author of The Snow Rose.

The Dead Place


Rebecca Drake - 2008
    The first victim is found floating in a creek - naked, beautiful and brutally garroted. Lily Slocum was a college student with everything to live for and nothing to fear. How many more victims will there be?

The Secret Path


Karen Swan - 2021
    . .Tara Tremain has worked hard to leave the controlling grasp of her extremely affluent family far behind. With her own career in medicine, she doesn’t need the Tremains’ expectations weighing her down any more. But pulled back into the family’s orbit one last time for an unmissable party in the jungles of Costa Rica, she finds herself flung into action: a local boy is desperately ill and she must trek for days into the jungle to save his life.What Tara could never have predicted is that the one person who can help her in this impossible journey is Alex Carter, the man who destroyed her life ten years ago . . .

Together Alone


Barbara Delinsky - 1995
    Once half of a perfect marriage—still suffering from a terrible loss—Emily hardly knows her workaholic husband, Doug, anymore, and is drawn instead to what is offered by a new neighbor. A dedicated teacher who loves her job, Kay is confused and troubled by husband John's unfamiliar demands. And Celeste, long-divorced and ecstatic with freedom, sees her electric new life dimmed when her child is endangered.As the three friends struggle to navigate this uncharted territory, they find themselves redefining their dreams, desires, and what it means—to each of them—to be a woman. But before they can bring about change, they must learn the hardest lesson of all: how to love themselves.

With a Vengeance


Eileen Dreyer - 2003
    She has to be-as a tactical emergency medic for the St. Louis SWAT team and a trauma nurse at Blymore Memorial. The daughter of a violent ex-cop she prefers wits over weapons. Then one of her patients, a psychotic former FBI agent known as Montana Bob, dies in the ER from superficial wounds following a botched stand-off-but not before revealing a secret about Blymore...It's called The List-a chillingly precise run-down of expendable citizens and patients. And one by one, under Maggie's care, they're dying from inexplicable causes. With each one comes another step in framing Maggie...with each step comes Maggie's fear that no colleague or friend is above suspicion-including her lover, police officer Sean Delaney. With no one left to trust but herself, her investigation takes her into the darkest recesses of a killer's mind bent on a vengeance that targets Maggie as the final victim.

Surprise! Surprise!


Agatha Christie - 1965
    Miss Jane Marple cycles into a viper's nest of danger and intrigue. Mr. Parker Pyne takes a train to a mansion where a dance of diabolical deceit awaits him. Harley Quin motors to an isolated country inn for a rendezvous with eerie evil. — And the one and only Agatha Christie offers thirteen unforgettable journeys from bewildering bafflement to startling solution for all who love a mystery.

Their Last Secret


Rick Mofina - 2020
    She could never imagine she was setting in motion the horrifying crime that would tear her peaceful prairie town apart.Twenty years later in California, school counselor Emma Grant struggles to keep her past buried. But when she finds a note on her car threatening to reveal her secret, it becomes harder to keep up the deception. Even her teenage stepdaughter suspects that Emma is hiding something. Now, with her celebrated true-crime author husband digging into a decades-old murder case for his next book, and a suspicious accident involving someone who’s been following her, the perfect life Emma’s built is crumbling, forcing her to take desperate steps to save it…

Murder At Madingley Grange


Caroline Graham - 1990
    Specifically, a 1930s Murder Mystery Weekend, to be held at Madingly Grange, his aunt's superbly hideous gothic mansion. Simon and his sister are meant to be house-sitting, but surely Aunt Maude would not begrudge them the chance to earn a few nearly honest shekels. Ah, the confidence of youth! Simon's grand plans quickly go awry, beginning with the guests - each one dottier than the last - and moving on to the staff, hired on the cheap and with larcenous plans of their own. And when an actual body turns up, deprived of actual life, Simon's charade of detection is suddenly forced to begin in earnest. An ingenious plot and excellent characters . . . well written, witty, and elegantly plotted - The Guardian (UK) Splendid . . . a book not to be missed! - Denver Post Extracts maximum fun from the genre - Sunday Times (London)

Snowfire


Phyllis A. Whitney - 1972
    In this new novel of romantic suspense Phyllis A. Whitney follows her young heroine into the storm of conflicting emotions that surrounds Greystones, a brooding Norman-style mansion with a foreboding past.The master of Greystones is Julian McCabe, a champion skier whose career was cut short by a tragic accident. He has been teacher and sponsor to Linda's talented step-brother. But now this promising young athlete is in jail, accused in the bizarre death of Julian's wife.Linda soon discovers that this death has cast its shadow over all the residents of Greystones. Julian's ethereal sister is full of tales of reincarnation and visions of more death. And his eight-year-old daughter is haunted by fear and guilt.A severe blizzard, a dangerous encounter in a stone tower, and a death on the slopes lead Linda to a discovery she has never expected. These, along with the striking characters that have always marked Phyllis Whitney as a true mistress of the genre, are some of the elements that she weaves into this spellbinding tale of romance and suspense.