Book picks similar to
The One Before by Miranda Smith
netgalley
mystery
thriller
fiction
The Broken Ones
Ren Richards - 2020
but did she kill her?A bestselling true crime writer, Nell tells other people's stories. But there is one story she won't tell. Ten years ago, she was a teenage mother with a four-year-old she found desperately hard to love. Then the little girl disappeared.As Nell begins to interview the subject of her next book, a woman convicted of murdering her twin sister, it becomes clear that someone has uncovered her true identity. And they know that Nell didn't tell the truth about the day her daughter vanished...
The Day I Lost You
Alex Sinclair - 2018
Erika Rice is in an elevator with her four-year-old daughter Alice when all the lights go out. It jerks to a stop on a deserted floor of apartments and the little girl runs out into the corridor. But before Erika can follow her the doors slam shut again. Now her daughter is nowhere to be seen. Erika was about to take Alice away for a fresh start, far from her troubled past, when the child vanished. How could a four-year-old disappear into thin air? And with no one to help her, will Erika ever find her daughter?
The Secret Sister
Karen Clarke - 2020
A beautiful house, a charming husband and a precious baby daughter – her life has pretty much turned out exactly as she planned.But when Ella’s mother tragically dies, her perfect life starts to crack. Her mother had been harbouring a life-long secret. Ella has a sister – an older sister – called Colleen.Excited by the thought of no-longer being an only child, Ella can’t wait to find her.But Colleen has a whirlwind past of her own. Desperate to escape her troubles, she is ready to go to any length to start afresh.As their paths collide, someone is keeping secrets… and when Colleen mysteriously disappears without notice, Ella can’t help but question if she should have started looking for her at all…
The Secret by the Lake
Louise Douglas - 2015
This is where Julia spent her childhood. But she used to have an older sister, Caroline, whom she rarely speaks about...Who disappeared at just seventeen...Who has a secret the whole village wants kept hidden for ever...Louise Douglas's beautifully crafted and haunting page-turner will hold you in its grip.
All the Little Lies
Chris Curran - 2019
It contains a picture of her true birth mother, Stella, and proves that Eve’s entire life with her adoptive parents has been a lie. Now she must unravel the mystery of Stella’s dark past. But what Eve finds will force her to take enormous risks, which put her – and her new-born baby – in immediate danger…
The Man I Married
Elena Wilkes - 2020
You’ll do anything for him. But do you really know him?This is the story of Lucy and Paul.They met. They fell deeply in love. They got married.Lucy thought that she had everything she wanted.Until she found the photograph from Paul's past life, read the text messages he's so desperately trying to hide. Until she uncovered Paul’s darkest secrets.Now Lucy realizes she doesn’t really know her husband. She doesn’t know if she can trust her own mind. She doesn’t know the lengths Paul would go to keep his perfect life.And worst of all, she doesn’t know that she’s in danger...A gripping, dark psychological thriller with an absolutely nail-biting ending that will keep you hooked - the perfect read for fans of Behind Closed Doors, Mark Edwards, and Lisa Jewell.
Dead Air
Michael Bradley - 2020
Until now. Crowned the top-rated radio DJ in Philadelphia, she is finally ready to settle down with her fiancé and new friends who know nothing about her past. When a sudden flood of anonymous letters threatens her seemingly charmed life, she realizes that someone out there knows. But who? As the threatening letters escalate, Kaitlyn’s life spirals toward a reunion in the one place she’d hoped to never visit again: The Shallows. Isn’t her secret buried with the dead?From the Philadelphia skyline to the rural suburbs of New Jersey, Dead Air weaves a suspenseful tale of past misdeeds and present malice as Kaitlyn plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a mysterious killer who will stop at nothing to get revenge.
Safe
Jane A. Adams - 2020
She’s seventeen and destined for an arranged marriage with vicious criminal Charlie Perrin. But when Charlie tries to force himself on her, she kills him.THE ONE PERSON LAUREN TRUSTS IS MURDERED BY HER FATHER’S MENHer only hope is undercover cop Petra Merrow. Lauren has no choice but to trust her. It’s that or die.THERE ARE NO SAFE HOUSESA corrupt cop threatens them both. Petra’s cover is blown. She calls on DI Toby Clarke to help. But can he be trusted?SHE’S ON THE RUN. TIME’S RUNNING OUT. WILL SHE EVER BE SAFE?
My Husband's Son
Deborah O'Connor - 2016
Wouldn't you?Heidi and Jason aren't like other couples.Six years ago, Heidi's daughter was murdered. A year later, Jason's son Barney disappeared. Their shared loss brought them together.By chance, Heidi meets a boy she's certain is Barney.But Jason is equally convinced it's not him.Is Heidi mad? Or is Jason hiding something? And can their fragile marriage survive Heidi's newfound quest for the truth . . .
The Darkest Summer
Ella Drummond - 2019
Now she’s back…but she’s not the girl you knew.
Sera and Dee were the best of friends.Until the day that Dee and her brother Leo vanished from Sera’s life, during a long hot summer fifteen years ago.Now Sera is an adult, with her own child, five-year-old Katie, and has returned to her childhood home after her husband’s death.While she grieves, the past haunts Sera at every turn … and then Dee and Leo return to their small Hampshire village, along with Dee’s young daughter.But Dee is silent and haunted by her demons; no longer the fun-loving girl that Sera loved. And when Sera uncovers the shocking secret that Dee is hiding, it’s clear that the girl she knew is long gone – and that the adult she has grown into might put all of them in danger…
The Book Doctor
Britney King - 2020
As he should be. Once a household name, George is dying to make a comeback, and death may be the only option left to get the public’s attention. Ask anyone, his life is unraveling at the seams. Meanwhile, his new apprentice is everything he is not.The enigmatic man his publisher sends to help is young and ambitious, with looks that could kill, and possibly do.When George discovers that his apprentice’s talent extends beyond fixing broken plots, that his winning formula may, in fact, be a result of making the crimes in his novels come to life, George has to ask himself how much he is willing to overlook to achieve mainstream success.Perfectly paced, The Book Doctor is an electrifying psychological thriller about a life’s work, obsession, and the dangerous places ambition can take you. Full of enough tension and twists to make even the most seasoned suspense reader break out in a cold sweat, it keeps you guessing until the very last page.
The Other Child
Lucy Atkins - 2015
. . but what happens when that lie destroys everything you love? When Tess is sent to photograph Greg, a high profile paediatric heart surgeon, she sees something troubled in his face, and feels instantly drawn to him. Their relationship quickly deepens, but then Tess, single mother to nine-year-old Joe, falls pregnant, and Greg is offered the job of a lifetime back in his hometown of Boston. Before she knows it, Tess is married, and relocating to the States. But life in an affluent American suburb proves anything but straightforward.Unsettling things keep happening in the large rented house, Joe is distressed, the next-door neighbours are in crisis, and Tess is sure that someone is watching her. Greg's work is all-consuming and, as the baby's birth looms, he grows more and more unreachable. Something is very wrong, Tess knows it, and then she makes a jaw-dropping discovery . . .
The Vow
Debbie Howells - 2020
And then her fiance disappeared…‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL‘A terrific new talent’ PETER JAMESTwo weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police – but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day.Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona – a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her – but instead, he’s vanished.Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt – but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met.The wedding day never happened. But the funeral might.
I Will Make You Pay
Teresa Driscoll - 2019
A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?