Book picks similar to
The Moonlit Door by Anne Maybury


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A Heritage of Shadows


Madeleine Brent - 1983
    Only her neighbour, Toby Kent, a struggling artist, knows the strange and horrifying secret that makes her afraid to return to England. Then one night, rescuing a stranger, Andrew Doyle, from attach by Montmarte apaches, Hannah unwittingly becomes entangled in circumstances that force her to flee from France to England and take up the mysterious offer she had received to become French tutor in the household of a Mr. Sebastian Ryder. But why should Mr. Ryder want to employ her? Does he know something about her of which she is unaware? Are there still more secrets in her past? A Heritage of Shadows is the haunting story of a girl, ignorant of her true identity and convinced that she is forever denied love on account of her shameful past, who is plunged into a world of nightmarish intrigue. As the tale unfolds, carrying her from England to Mexico and back again to Paris, Hannah finds herself caught up in a vicious struggle between two men of great wealth and power - a struggle which threatens her life - before the final discovery of where her happiness lies. Madeleine Brent, the bestselling author, has once again written a story packed with drama and suspense. It vividly recreates the atmosphere of the 1890s, exposing the darker and more sinister elements that lurked below that outwardly respectable era.

The Mistress of Trevelyan


Jennifer St. Giles - 2004
    It has long been whispered that Trevelyan Manor hides dark secrets and sinister deeds -- including the murder of Benedict's wife. But Ann refuses to pay heed to spiteful rumor.As she grows to cherish her young charges, Ann also finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome Benedict, whose passionate persuasion introduces her to a new world of sensual pleasures. But even while falling in love with the master of Trevelyan, Ann wonders if his attentions are intended to blind her to the secrets of the past -- and if Benedict holds he key to her destiny...or her destruction.

The Lost and the Damned (The Banlieues Trilogy)


Olivier Norek - 2020
    Anonymous letters addressed to him personally have begun to arrive, highlighting the fates of two women, invisible victims whose deaths were never explained. Just two more blurred faces among the ranks of the lost and the damned.Olivier Norek's first novel draws on all his experience as a police officer in one of France's toughest suburbs - the same experience he drew on as a writer for the hit TV series Spiral.Translated from the French by Nick Caistor

Behind Closed Doors


Natalie R. Collins - 2007
    Melissa was the only one who knew what had really happened to Jannie beyond the sacred walls of the Mormon Temple the night that changed her life forever…. UNTIL HER BEST FRIEND VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE.Now Melissa has gone missing, just days after entrusting Jannie with a mysterious box that someone would kill to possess. And someone has--leaving in their murderous wake an innocent victim and a trail of blood that leads to the heart of Jannie's hidden burden. Desperate to protect her secret, and to find out what has happened to Melissa, Jannie trusts no one. Not the stranger whose piercing green eyes have already seen too much, nor the family and friends whose familiar fold may be shielding a cold-blooded killer who is lurking BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

Cold Fear


Suzanne Brandyn - 2013
    When she regains consciousness, her daughter is missing.As the police widen their futile search, Macy struggles to pick up the pieces of an unimaginable life. Urged to take a break she heads to an isolated cabin with a girlfriend to recuperate so she can continue searching, only to face her worse nightmare - times ten.Trapped by a man she believed dead, he demands she play a game. She runs, he hunts. There is no place to hide...

Kill Me Twice


Joseph Flynn - 2015
    She tells Zeke that Jonas Dawson, a lawyer with mob connections, is going to kill her. She knows this because Dawson strangled her aunt, Pamela Keller. That’s ominous enough, but things get complicated when Paulette tells Zeke she was her aunt in a previous life. Zeke finds that hard to believe, but he sees that Paulette truly feels vulnerable. So he takes a look into things. When he does, a couple of bruisers try to make him back off. Big mistake. Zeke’s previous job was playing middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. His best friends, George A. Black and Regina Green, are also no strangers to laying a hurt on people. Throw in shady big-city politics, any number of cops, some honest, some not, and a pair of hit men nicknamed Paganini and Chopin and Zeke’s first case is summed up by a time-honored expression. “Welcome to the game, rookie.”

Fire at Midnight


Lisa Marie Wilkinson - 2009
    Victor, with a gang of criminals, uses French privateer Sebastien Falconer as the scapegoat for his crimes. When Victor spreads the lie that Rachael informed on Falconer’s smuggling activities, Falconer vows revenge on the girl. Gripping suspense and romance play out in front of numerous historical details, including a violent storm that devastated England in 1703 and swept the Eddystone Lighthouse into the sea.

One Way to Venice


Jane Aiken Hodge - 1974
     Soon, she starts receiving a series of anonymous and menacing letters urging her to find her missing son in Venice. Despite the danger involved, Julia has no choice but to follow the taunting messages. With her miserable days in La Rivière still looming over her, she ventures to Italy on a train. But she can’t shake the feeling that the letters were written by someone she knows, someone playing an awful and dangerous game. Meanwhile, Julia meets a handsome stranger on the train, but does she dare fall for him? In the mystical and unfamiliar city of Venice, who can she trust? The journey to Venice brings a new friendship, an old confrontation and, above all, danger. But there is also the hope of happiness, if Julia can fight her way out of the conspiracy around her… ‘Jane Aiken Hodge captures interest from the start. A good holiday read-in Venice or anywhere'. - EVENING STANDARD Jane Aiken Hodge (December 4, 1917 – June 17, 2009) was an American-born British writer. She is also the author of ‘Runaway Bride’, ‘Escapade’ and ‘All for Love’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

House of Men


Catherine Cookson - 1977
    Even so, Kate found it difficult to understand his peculiar hatred of his elder brother Logan, on whose charity Maurice was obliged to depend. But when she accidentally stumbled upon Maurice with Logan's fiancée , she became aware of some of the secrets of Tor-Fret, and realised she was getting too deeply involved with Logan Rossiter and the other inhabitants of the mysterious household.

Parting the Veil


Paulette Kennedy - 2021
    Eliza arrives at her new home and finds herself falling for the mysterious lord of Havenwood, Malcolm Winfield. Despite the sinister rumors that surround him, Eliza is drawn to his melancholy charm and his crumbling, once-beautiful mansion. With enough love, she thinks, both man and manor could be repaired.Not long into their marriage, Eliza fears that she should have listened to the locals. There’s something terribly wrong at Havenwood Manor: Forbidden rooms. Ghostly whispers in the shadows. Strangely guarded servants. And Malcolm’s threatening moods, as changeable as night and day.As Eliza delves deeper into Malcolm’s troubling history, the dark secrets she unearths gain a frightening power. Has she married a man or a monster? For Eliza, uncovering the truth will either save her or destroy her.

The Whirlwind Rescue


Ginny Sterling - 2020
    She’s fascinated with the idea of being able to live in paradise and the peace it brings to her soul. Sand, sun, flowers, and gentle warm rain – it’s supposed to be the idyllic life. When a hurricane threatens the island, she is rescued by her ex-boyfriend, Gavin Tanner. Gavin knows that when the storm hits, it’s his job to save the lives of the people who’ve been stranded among the chaos that nature delivers abruptly. When he comes face-to-face with the woman who once broke his heart, he realizes that the buildings around him aren’t the only things that were destroyed by a strong female. Hurricane Dottie is nothing compared to the wrath of his beloved Natalie! Will these two strong personalities handle the influx of emotions, as well as the surge of water, that threatens them? Can they set aside their differences and work together in order to survive the onslaught around them? Step into the world of Disaster City Search and Rescue, where officers, firefighters, military, and medics, train and work alongside each other with the dogs they love, to do the most dangerous job of all — help lost and injured victims find their way home.

The Splendour Falls


Susanna Kearsley - 1995
    It is to Chinon that Emily goes on a long-awaited holiday, to meet her charming but unreliable cousin, Harry. Harry wanted to explore the old town and the castle, where Queen Isabelle, child bride of King John, had withstood the siege of Chinon many centuries ago, and where, according to legend, she hid her casket of jewels. But when Emily arrives at her hotel she finds that Harry has disappeared, and as she tries to find him she becomes involved with some of the other guests and learns of a mystery dating from the German occupation during the Second World War. Another Isabelle, a chambermaid at the hotel, fell in love with a German soldier, with tragic results.Emily becomes increasingly aware of strange tensions, old enmities and new loves; as she explores the city, with its labyrinthine dungeons and tunnels and its ancient secrets, she comes ever closer to the mystery of what happened to both the Isabelles of Chinon's history.

The Silence of Herondale


Joan Aiken - 1964
    Instead she found terror and murder...Isolated in the Gilmartin ancestral home in Herondale, Deborah and young Carreen were left to face a nameless, unseen danger lurking in the frozen village, where only the flick of a curtain at a window or some random footprints in the snow, showed that it was inhabited at all.Alone in a house that had known violence, Deborah turned to Carreen's cousin Jeremy, as attractive as he was cynical and mysterious. But was he really a friend, or was he the enemy? In spite of Jeremy - or because of him? - Deborah found herself fighting for her life in an affair so bizarre as to shatter the silence of Herondale forever.1973 printing, with the "Ace * First in Gothics" banner at the top of the front cover.

Michael's Wife


Marlys Millhiser - 1972
    Only a slip of paper with the words "Captain Michael Devereaux, Luke Air Force Base" found in her clothing connects her with reality -- a reality that becomes terrifying when she meets the captain, who angrily tells her that she is his wife, Laurel, who deserted him and their newborn son two years before. Taken to the isolated Devereaux estate outside Phoenix, she gradually becomes convinced both that she may indeed be Michael's wife and that whatever horror she fled in the desert continues to threaten her life. The hostility of her newfound relatives, their refusal to believe her story of amnesia, and growing evidence of a very real and present jeopardy drive her in a desperate search for her past -- a past she fears will prove even more unbearable than the menace of the present.

Danger in Plain Sight: A Callie James Thriller


Burt Weissbourd - 2020
     Celebrated Seattle restaurateur Callie James is more than a little thrown when her ex-husband, French investigative reporter Daniel Odile-Grand, shows up after fourteen years asking for her help. Even more disturbing: as she throws him out, Daniel is deliberately hit by a car, hurled through the front window of her restaurant--broken, bloody and unconscious. He flees from the hospital and breaks into Callie's apartment, where he passes out. Reluctantly, Callie hides him. When she gets back to her restaurant, two assassins walk in, insisting that she find Daniel for them by tonight or pay the consequences. Overwhelmed and hopelessly out of her depth, Callie hires the only man she knows who can help her: Cash Logan, her former bartender, a man she had arrested for smuggling ivory through her restaurant two years earlier, and who still hasn't forgiven her. The assassins blow up her restaurant. It's Callie's nightmare. And the worst is yet to come as she and her unlikely, incompatible ally discover that the most perilous dangers are far closer to home than they'd imagined.