Book picks similar to
Dead Man's Gift and Other Stories by Simon Kernick
simon-kernick
crime
thriller
kernick-simon
The Partridge and the Pelican
Rachel Crowther - 2011
The girls are nineteen, on holiday and staying with a young medical student, James. The events of that summer cast a long shadow over their careers, marriages and motherhood. When they meet again 25 years later, the baby in the phone box returns to haunt them, and they are forced to confront the truth that has remained silent all this time. The Partridge and the Pelican explores motherhood, secrets and the enduring ties of friendship.
False Step
Victoria Helen Stone - 2019
In this marriage of secrets and lies, nothing is what it seems.For days, all of Denver, Colorado, has worried over the fate of a missing child, little Tanner Holcomb. Then, a miracle: handsome, athletic Johnny Bradley finds him, frightened but unharmed, on a hiking trail miles from his wealthy family’s mountain home.In a heartbeat, his rescuer goes from financially strapped fitness trainer to celebrated hero. The heat of the spotlight may prove too much for Johnny’s picture-perfect family, however. His wife, Veronica, despises the pressure of the sudden fame, afraid that secrets and bitter resentments of her marriage may come to light. And she’s willing to do anything to keep them hidden.But when a shocking revelation exposes an even darker side to Tanner’s disappearance, Veronica realizes that nothing in her life can be trusted. And everything should be feared.
Grimm's Fairy Stories
Jacob Grimm - 1812
Contains stories such as "The Goose Girl", "Hansel and Grethel", "Cinderella", "The Golden Goose", "The Frog Prince" and many more.
Duel
Richard Matheson - 1971
It was Thursday and unseasonably hot for April. He had his suitcoat off, his tie removed and shirt collar opened, his sleeve cuffs folded back. There was sunlight on his left arm and on part of his lap. He could feel the heat of it through his dark trousers as he drove along the two-lane highway. For the past twenty minutes, he had not seen another vehicle going in either direction.Then he saw the truck...
The Holiday
T.M. Logan - 2019
Three families. One killer.It was supposed to be the perfect holiday - a group of families enjoying a week together in the sun. Four women who have been best friends for as long as they can remember making the most of a luxurious villa in the south of France.But Kate has a secret: her husband is having an affair. And a week away might just be the perfect opportunity to get the proof she needs - to catch him in the act once and for all. Because she suspects the other woman is one of her two best friends.One of them is working against her, willing to sacrifice years of friendship to destroy her family. But which one? As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined . . . Because someone in the villa may be prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.
Felony Murder
Joseph T. Klempner - 1995
Klempner's fast-paced page-turner is more than entertainment . . . He writes with power, color, and compassion. . . . Felony Murder takes you through the tawdry, real-life criminal justice system where you cannot tell the cops from the crooks." - William Kunstler On the surface, the court-appointed case that lands on young Dean Abernathy's desk is a biggie; he is slated to defend a homeless man accused of the felony murder of the popular black New York City Police commissioner during an early-morning mugging attempt. But at second look, the case promises to be a routine conviction. The evidence is overwhelming. The police have come up with an eyewitness, they have physical evidence, and Joey Spadafino has given the arresting officers a signed confession. Dean's course seems obvious: Get Joe Spadafino, an ex-con, to plead guilty, bargain for the most lenient sentence possible, and figure you can't win ‘em all. Before he can talk to his client about a plea bargain, however, he finds that the prosecutor has already offered one - which Joey refuses. Dean, not only a conscientious defense attorney but a former investigator, starts looking harder at the seemingly incontrovertible evidence. What he turns up changes a foregone conclusion into something very different. The district attorney, although outwardly cooperative, seems to be trying to keep Dean from interviewing the eyewitness - and the reason becomes apparent when Dean, challenged, digs deeper into her background. Anomalies and discrepancies in the government's case crop up. Dean realizes that he is drawing closer to a particularly nasty truth, one that not only puts his life and those of others in immediate peril but confronts him with a moral dilemma that is even more difficult to face.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
Oscar Wilde - 1887
The stories include: "Lord Savile's Crime"; "The Canterville Ghost"; "The Portrait of Mr W.H."; "The Sphynx Without a Secret"; and "The Model Millionaire".
Something to Die For (Ryan Drake Book 9)
Will Jordan - 2020
Most of his friends are dead or disappeared. Corrupt CIA Director Marcus Cain is poised to ascend to the highest levels of power, and the shadowy group known as the Circle is causing chaos across the globe.
That Night
Gillian McAllister - 2021
What would you do to protect your family?ANYTHING.That night everything changed.The night Frannie commited a murder, but she didn’t mean to…That night we helped her bury the body, what else could we do?One hot summers night in Italy, Joe and Cathy Plant receive a phone call that will change their lives forever.Their sister Frannie has killed a man, and she needs their help.They were always close, some might say too close, siblings who worked together, lived next door to each otherAnd now they’ve buried a body together…But when they return to England, Frannie, Joe and Cathy become tangled in lies in they’ve been telling,to the police, to their friends, to each other…But if you can’t trust your family, who can you trust?
Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories
Mary Higgins Clark - 2015
Mary returned to Death Wears a Beauty Mask nearly forty years later and the result is spectacular.Featuring the same chills and heart-pounding drama we’ve come to expect from a Mary Higgins Clark title, and including an exclusive author’s introduction, Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories is a spine-tingling read and glimpse into the evolution of the remarkable career of the “Queen of Suspense.”
Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread
Chuck Palahniuk - 2015
The absurdity of both life and death are on full display; in "Zombies," the best and brightest of a high school prep school become tragically addicted to the latest drug craze: electric shocks from cardiac defibrillators. In "Knock, Knock," a son hopes to tell one last off-color joke to a father in his final moments, while in "Tunnel of Love," a massage therapist runs the curious practice of providing 'relief' to dying clients. And in "Expedition," fans will be thrilled to find to see a side of Tyler Durden never seen before in a precursor story to Fight Club.Funny, caustic, bizarre, poignant; these stories represent everything readers have come to love and expect from Chuck Palahniuk. They have all the impact of a sharp blow to the solar plexus, with considerable collateral damage to the funny bone.
The Sophie Hannah Collection Books 1-3: Little Face, Hurting Distance, The Point of Rescue
Sophie Hannah - 2013
But when Alice Fancourt walks into the nursery, her terrifying ordeal begins, for Alice insists the baby in the cot is a stranger she's never seen before . . . Hurting DistanceThree years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins - so terrible that she never told anybody.Now Naomi has another secret - the man she has fallen passionately in love with, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes without trace, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing . . .The Point of RescueSally is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she ought not to recognise: Mark Bretherick.Last year, when Sally's work trip was cancelled at the last minute, she decided not to tell her husband that the trip had fallen through. Instead, she booked a week off work and treated herself to a secret holiday. All she wanted was a bit of peace - some time to herself - but it didn't work out that way. Because Sally met a man - Mark Bretherick. All the details are the same: where he lives, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. Except that the man on the news is a man Sally has never seen before. And Geraldine and Lucy Bretherick are both dead . . .
Stitched: A gruesome tale of control, fear and brutality
Cheryl Elaine - 2019
To the outside world, Andrew Brooke is a cop who’s obsessively committed to his job. But behind closed doors, he enforces his dominance and disciplines his wife, Emily, in the most inhumane ways. When his life begins to fall apart and his reputation becomes tarnished, he unleashes his anger and seeks revenge on those who dare to encounter him. Emily Brooke is left broken by her husband’s hand, with no means of escape. Eventually, though weak and confused, she manages to flee. But is the life she escapes to a better one? Detective Donavan has his own demons to battle following his wife’s death. Assigned a missing person’s case that leads to a series of brutal attacks, he follows the trail of a serial killer dubbed ‘The Stitcher’ - but will his own dark secrets get in the way of justice being served? Stitched perfectly demonstrates how cruel life – and people – can be.
Meredith & Hodge Boxset: Books 1-3
M.K. Turner - 2021
However, nothing gets in the way of them solving a case. Discover them and their world in this three book box set, containing over 1300 pages of murder, mystery, twists and turns and find out why over 60,000 readers have downloaded M K Turner’s popular series. Misplaced Loyalty – Assisted suicide or euthanasia? Meredith calls it murder! Ill Conceived – Why is an apparently innocent young woman prime suspect in a motiveless, senseless murder? The Wrong Shoes – Why did a pair of shoes set off a string of murders and a kidnapping? Want the answers? Buy the box set now!
Bliss Uncovered
Tony J. Forder - 2020
A double life – a single truth.May 1991. Fresh out of uniform, DC Jimmy Bliss finds himself at the centre of an undercover sting. Enlisted by a crew of villains to crack a safe, he fears his cover is blown when he’s seen in the wrong place at the wrong time.But on the night of the job, things run smoothly enough until the gang leader changes the location of the heist. As the job spirals out of control, Bliss has to trust his instincts and buy some time. There’s just one problem: he has no idea if his team know what has become of him.As the situation escalates, Bliss finds himself at the mercy of a violent criminal who will do anything not to be caught.