Book picks similar to
Coil of Serpents by Anne Stevenson


gothic
suspense
20th-century
gothic-romance

The Other: A traditional clean Victorian Gothic (Gothika Series)


L.C. Kincaide - 2017
    She was wrong. New widow, Haley Colbrooke travels to Ashdown to meet her husband’s family and to visit his grave. The shocking news of their recent marriage is awkward enough. That her brother in-law is Lance’s identical twin is worse. Given her circumstances, she accepts the invitation to stay, which sets in motion a chain of events that will risk Haley losing all she has left. Rather than finding solace, she is drawn into past tragedies and deadly secrets. Perhaps coming to the family estate was a terrible mistake.

The Mystery of Drury House


Elizabeth Wilde - 2015
    For Jack Saxon, a semi-retired magician from the mainland, the icy weather is an acquired taste to say the least. After Saxon inherits an enormous mansion and vast fortune from an eccentric recluse named Drury, disturbing things begin happening on the island. A young girl vanishes without a trace. A woman takes her own life under mysterious circumstances. And finally, a vicious murder is committed, shocking the peaceful residents of the normally placid island. All too soon, Saxon finds himself in the middle of a deadly game of madness and deception… Original American title: Mystery of the Red Alders

ARMY INVESTIGATIONS: A 5-Books ARMY Romance Series


Lola Silverman - 2017
    5 books and NO cliffies! Boiling Point Every time the Army Corps of Engineers goes into a town to do a project, they send someone like me in to assess the possible reaction of the locals. From the first minute I tried to talk to these people it was like hitting my head against a wall! Then there’s resort owner Chase Kingston of course. The guy looks like an underwear model wandering around in the wilderness. He hunts snakes and works part time as a fishing guide and he’s completely the wrong kind of man for someone like me. But if he can help me get the people in this town to cooperate, I’m willing to spend a little extra time with him. It’s not like that would be a hardship. Absolute Zero One of the things I like best about the military is the complete lack of gray area. Things are black and white. I like absolutes and I like order. So when I get stuck on this job in Wilson Hollow I figure I’ll use my brand of law and order to make this project a fast success. Of course that was before I met Reese Coburn. The woman seems to take great pleasure in irritating the crap out of me and questioning my every decision. Center of Gravity I’m not entirely sure that anyone has luck as bad as Kelsey Kingston’s. The woman has been trapped on her brother’s resort for years while she waits for him to buy her out. She’s had a tough time finding a job because there aren’t that many businesses in a small town, and now she’s been fired from her job and accused of murder.I know Kelsey didn’t kill that man and I aim to prove it. Pendulum The army has been accused of murder and so they’ve brought in their own investigator. Lieutenant Buck Colson is the most arrogant man I’ve ever met! Unfortunately he’s also the best looking, which is totally distracting when I’m working so hard not to notice him. He’s on my turf, he’s poking around, and he’s starting to reveal some things that have been wrong in Wilson Hollow for a long, long time. Melting Point Alison Thomason was the one who got away. That much has always been true for me. I never really understood what happened when we were kids, but then we were from very different families. Now I’m back in Wilson Hollow on army business and Alison is doing everything she can to poke at me. I wonder if she realizes that we’re on the same team.

Two-Faced: A Suspense Mystery


L. Selfman - 2014
    But things aren't exactly what they seem and her life soon spins out of control as she's sucked into a web of lies, betrayal and murder.

In the Shadow of Lakecrest


Elizabeth Blackwell - 2017
    Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

The Eye Stones


Harriet Esmond - 1975
     She soon discovers that both her sister and her new husband have tragically perished in a fire which destroyed their home. Alone in the bleak Norfolk brecklands, Deborah is at first forced to accept hospitality from the handsome yet forbidding widower, Sir Randall Gaunt. Yet even when Deborah later stumbles upon the warm companionship of Lord Stannard, the charming young aristocrat wooing her with such passionate urgency, the strange events that follow cause her feelings of uneasiness to grow. And then, before long Deborah becomes inextricably involved in a nightmare of unimaginable evil…

Boston Confidential


Lexie Ray - 2017
    All full length books. No cliffies! EDUARDO Sally Verdun's life was straight out of a glamour mag; yachts, rich dinners, drinking, and an abusive husband. Her only chance at escape is to flee her cruel husband, searching for the one place left in North America where she can be safe. Little does Sally know however, that her husband has hired none other than Boston Confidential to track her down, and they’ve out their new recruit Eduardo on the job… KATE Kate Perelli is the sort of girl who knows what she wants, but has no clue how to get it. Hard-talking, and even harder-hitting, she’s never taken crap from any man who attempts to show her his guns at Monster Gym, New York. She’s Boston’s toughest agent at Boston Confidential Private Securities, but when she is tasked with escorting an organ donation across a foreign country she realizes that it’s not just the heart in the box which she might lose when she meets Blake, paramedic and organ transport operative. BEA Elizabeth Thurrock didn’t ‘get’ people. She got machines, like computers, and servers, and app programmes. So when she is called on to babysit a client’s new security installation by her employer, Boston Confidential, she’s not happy to hear that it’s an art gallery in Manhattan where the owner is constantly trying to look down her top, and the floor manager thinks that she’s a rival for the affections of Marius, the front of house boy. PENNY Penny is a senior strategic analyst, cool and calculated at all times, and the perfect agent for close protection job that Boston has in mind for her. Look after Vans Ritter, a rat for one of the New York Five Families until the FBI can take him in. When cold and strategic thinker Penny meets passionate alpha Vans, any amount of risk assessment can predict that there are going to be sparks… BOSTON Boston Cahill, ex NYPD cop and recovering alcoholic has run out of time. The people who have been blackmailing him ever since he opened his Private Securities firm are calling time, and Boston has to race to find out who they are, or else the dream is over

The Guardian - The Complete Series


Bella Young - 2021
    

AN OXFORD MYSTERY & ROMANTIC SUSPENSE FIVE-BOOK BOX SET five utterly gripping page-turners (Totally Fabulous Mystery and Suspense Box Sets 1)


Faith Martin - 2021
    

Summons to the Chateau D'Arc


Kay Cornelius - 2005
    She finds herself falling for the attractive estate manager, who carries secrets of his own. As the tension grows more unbearable, Ellen will have to risk everything she holds dear to discover the secrets that lurk in the shadows of the Chateau D'Arc.

Hope Springs Books 4-6: A Christian Romance Box Set


Valerie M. Bodden - 2020
    

Diverted


Lori Matthews - 2021
    Now, too hurt to return to his former position and not wounded enough to be benched, he’s assigned as the new Coast Guard team leader in…Panama. They’re there as part of a drug interdiction unit, but really, they’re Team RECON. Recon as in reconstructed. Each of the four men is like him; a Humpty Dumpty. Except they were trying to put themselves back together so they could do what they loved best, kicking ass, and taking names.Dr. Carolina Alvarez had moved on from research and was working for Doctors Without Borders. A chance meeting with her old boss set her on a dangerous mission to deliver much-needed medicine to South America. Her failure would mean the sure extinction of a tribe clinging to their ancient traditions.Nick should have realized from the instant Carolina walked back into his life things would not go according to plan. But harbored resentment still clouded his vision. Now they were on the trail of the missing vaccine, and the assignment just turned deadly.

Catching the Last Tram


Susan Holt - 2017
    Sharing the same antiquated tram day after day, the pair become close and Beth suspects she’s falling in love.But Isaac has a secret that threatens their budding romance. Something dark and as magical as the tram that picks her up every morning and evening.Why does he suddenly push her away? Does he really not care for her? How could she have got the signals so wrong?Then Isaac and the tram go missing and Beth begins to discover the truth. But it might be too late…

The Book of Matthew: Adonis (Gems & Gents Series 8)


Iris Bolling - 2019
    Matthew Lassiter will learn that lesson in many ways. At a crossroads, he wonders if being a high school coach is all there is for him, until…ribs, peach cobbler and Leah Saxton walks into his life. Leah Saxton has a father who believes a woman’s place is in the kitchen, and having babies. According to him, a brain is a terrible waste in a woman. Determined not to bow to his or any man’s will, she constantly battles to be a force in her father’s world, until…Matthew Lassiter walks into her life. Sexual tension explodes from the first kiss to the last as the two learn the road they are traveling leads to their destiny. Adonis: An everyday hero with an impressive punch.

The Protective Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (Billionaires Find Love)


Christine Kersey - 2018
    Then, while on a walk on the wooded property, she catches a glimpse of a man nearby. Terrified that her stalker's found her, she overreacts.Billionaire Cameron Shah just wants to enjoy the solitude of his new mountain cabin. But when his beautiful yet baffling neighbor threatens him with a branch, he's intrigued. Too bad she won't tell him her name.When Cameron cooks up a plan to help Aubree, she has to decide if she wants to stay in hiding forever, or if with Cameron's help, she's ready to come out of the shadows.