Book picks similar to
The One Before by Miranda Smith
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mystery
thriller
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Never Tell Them
N.L. Hinkens - 2021
Ray’s young son, Henry—traumatized from the recent loss of his mother—acts like he barely knows his father.But things soon take a turn for the worse when Ray is involved in a multi-vehicle wreck, and suffers a brain injury and subsequent memory loss. Sonia steps in to care for Henry, but soon becomes alarmed at the disturbing things he tells her. Determined to get to the bottom of who her neighbor really is, she snoops around in his house. The shocking clues she uncovers shake her to the core. Her own life is in danger from the deadly lie he is living.The more she digs, the more she finds that some lies are best left buried.- A gripping tale of explosive secrets with a jaw-dropping twist! -Will you enjoy Never Tell Them? If you read any of my favorite psychological and domestic suspense thriller authors including K.L. Slater, Shalini Boland, Adam Croft, Kathryn Croft, Kiersten Modglin, Mark Edwards, Lisa Gardner, Louise Jensen, or Rachel Caine, the answer is a resounding yes!
The Secret Surrogate
Stephanie Mitchell - 2021
Married, successful and living a life she created from scratch, Brooklyn only needs one thing to feel complete- a baby. Unable to have one, she hires a surrogate in secret. And then she gets a positive pregnancy test of her own. But, just weeks before their due dates, Brooklyn’s surrogate vanishes and her perfectly crafted life begins to crumble.Desperate and running out of time, she does everything she can to find her missing baby before it is too late. But as she also tries to keep the disappearance, and her connection to the surrogate, under wraps, the media pounces on the story.Almost immediately the headlines turn against her in a flurry of secrets and lies. Her life, her business, and her family are all under attack. Why was the owner of an exclusive adoption center keeping a surrogate a secret? What happened to the heavily pregnant surrogate and Brooklyn's unborn child? Does her agency have anything to do with it?Does her husband?Does she?
The Guilty Wife
Alison James - 2021
On the surface, they seem to have it all. But behind the filtered photos and fake smiles is the truth…Tansy isn’t really in love.Daniel is trying to escape the biggest mistake of his life.Nikki’s past is catching up with her.Arne’s heart is about to be broken.They all have secrets. And before the honeymoon is over, their happiness will be shattered.Because one of them is going to die…This dark, addictive thriller will have you gripped until the final, shocking twist. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, The Guest List and The Wife Between Us will be hooked by the latest page-turner from US top five bestseller Alison James.(*Previously titled: Happily Ever After)
The Wedding
Ruth Heald - 2021
Just four words were printed in the card, in such small lettering they were almost an afterthought. He doesn’t love you.I’ve been dreaming about this day – marrying Adam, my childhood sweetheart, who I’ve loved for eighteen years.I didn’t realize the perfect day would turn into the perfect nightmare.I was so excited to send out the wedding invitations, carefully writing everyone’s names on thick cream paper in beautiful cursive script.I had no idea I was inviting someone to destroy our marriage.I couldn’t wait to say ‘I do’ surrounded by loved ones clinking champagne glasses.I couldn’t imagine that one of them would try to hurt me.It was meant to be the first day of the rest of our lives.I never thought it would be the end of my life as I knew it.We were meant to share our vows, to toast our future. But when the truth comes out, shocking the onlooking guests and ripping my heart out, is a happy ever after possible?
The Playdate
Victoria Jenkins - 2021
Child’s play. Preparing the house was more difficult. It was only now she realised how many photographs there were: the picture-perfect unit. Wife, husband, child. All of it a lie.I made a new friend at playgroup today. She’s different from the other mothers. She feels like someone I can trust. Someone I can confide in.But there are some things I can’t tell her. Things I can’t tell anyone.Because I have a secret that no one else knows. One that still haunts my dreams, wakes me up in cold sweat at night.Even another mother would never understand. Unless, of course, she’s hiding something too…From the bestselling author of The Argument, this utterly addictive psychological thriller will have you hooked from the first page to the final, mind-blowing twist. Fans of Friend Request, The Silent Patient and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!
Everybody Lies
Emily Maine Cavanagh - 2020
But now they have found that poor girl down on the beach, I realize just how many secrets we’ve been keeping all along.Evvy has lived on the island of Great Rock all her life. Every year, after the holidaymakers have departed, storms begin to roll in off the Atlantic and the island returns to the small group of locals who, like her, have decided to make it their home.But when a body is found on the snow-covered beach it sends shockwaves through this tight-knit community and rattles Evvy to her core.The dead woman had worked on the island the previous summer and it seems strange she would have been visiting so out of season. What drew her back and who was she meeting? When Evvy learns that her partner, Ian, was the last person to see her alive, the shadow of the murder falls far too close to home.No stranger to being talked about on the island, where no one’s private life is their own, Evvy must protect her daughter, Daisy, from yet more island gossip. Her family’s happiness has felt fragile at the best of times and now with Ian under suspicion, she senses they are close to freefall once again.As the icy weather closes in, Evvy will discover that no matter how hard you try to hide it, the truth will always find a way out.A tense and atmospheric emotional drama that will keep you guessing. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Diane Chamberlain and Sally Hepworth.
Familiar Strangers
Jackie Walsh - 2019
You’re not my daughter.' Since Becca Wall’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, every day Becca loses a little more of the loving, caring mother who would do anything for her only daughter. But when one day Nancy Wall confesses that Becca is not her child, Becca's world falls apart. Becca tells herself that the words are just a cruel symptom of Nancy’s illness; after all, she has her birth certificate, and pictures of herself as a newborn along with her Mom, Dad and older brother, Danny. Becca tries to forget, to get on with her life – until the day the police question her about the whereabouts of a missing woman, Katie Collins. Katie has disappeared without a trace, telling her husband that she is leaving to find Rebecca Wall. But Becca doesn’t know Katie, so it’s a case of mistaken identity – isn’t it? But as Becca discovers why Katie was desperate to find her, the lies that Becca has always believed come crashing down. Soon, it’s clear that someone knows the truth – and that they’ll stop at nothing to keep their secrets… An addictive, fast-paced psychological thriller with a shocking twist that will leave you gasping. Fans of The Girl on the Train, The Wife Between Us and T.M Logan will be gripped until the very last page.
The Parents
Claire Seeber - 2021
But it’s not long before I realise: I should have never made friends with them…I knew it wouldn’t be easy for my kids to adjust when we moved to a tiny village where they didn’t know a soul. But after the death of my husband, we needed a fresh start.Suddenly, we’re outsiders. I know the only way we’ll be accepted is if I throw myself into my new life, so when my son joins a local club, I volunteer to help along with the other parents.Before moving here, I didn’t know people like this really existed; their lives seem too perfect to be real. Although my own life couldn’t be more different, they welcome me into the fold. For the first time since my husband died, I feel like I made the right decision for my family…That is until I overhear something that tells me these other parents aren’t as perfect as they seem. Something that turns my world upside down again.My secret has already ruined my life once. I thought the truth had died with my husband… I should have known that it wouldn’t be buried for long.A completely addictive page-turner about the secrets and lies hiding beneath seemingly perfect lives. Fans of Big Little Lies, Lisa Jewell and Louise Candlish will be absolutely hooked by this pacey read with a jaw-dropping twist you just won’t see coming.
The One Night Stand
Carissa Ann Lynch - 2020
Could she have killed him?As she tries to piece together what happened last night, Ivy’s own past returns to haunt her. And secrets can’t stay hidden forever…
The Perfect Stepmother
Karen King - 2021
‘And to be a mother to Emma too, of course.’ Her gaze flickered to Lily’s sister, but only Lily saw her expression momentarily change – from warm and loving to something else. Something Lily didn’t trust…Lily has always had a simple dream: to be happy like her parents were. Content in their sweet suburban home, nothing in life had phased her mother and father, not even when they’d had a ‘surprise’ second child, Emma, nearly twenty years after Lily.But their love story was cut tragically short, when – after a devastating battle with cancer – Lily’s mother died. Lily was heartbroken, but also desperately worried about her grieving dad, not to mention five-year-old Emma.So Lily is shocked and concerned when he suddenly decides to remarry, less than a year after her mother’s death. It feels far too soon, and Lily finds herself furious with him – and his new wife, Maria, who can apparently do no wrong. She seems madly in love with Lily’s dad and instantly bonds with Emma.It’s only Lily who can’t trust her.Who won’t trust her.And when Emma goes missing – could Lily be right? What if the greatest danger to them all is the woman now living in their family home?A totally gripping and unmissable psychological suspense novel about dark family secrets, perfect for fans of Shalini Boland, Claire McGowan and Gone Girl.
Her Biggest Fan
Nora Valters - 2020
He’s uber famous. Who’s stalking who?Author Sally Speck has it all – a promising career, great friends, a loving family. So when superstar celebrity Tom Darlington takes an interest in her, she thinks, why not?But the fun fling soon turns into a nightmare, as she’s relentlessly hounded by the media and harassed by Tom's crazed fans. But more worrying is Tom's increasingly obsessive and frightening behaviour.As Sally's life crumbles around her, she learns a shocking family secret that threatens to tip her over the edge. Perhaps drastic action is her only hope of escape...What happens when a celebrity stalks a fan? Find out in this gripping psychological thriller about dark obsessions, family bonds spiralling out of control and just how far we’ll go when pushed past our limits.
The Wrong Woman
Daniel Hurst - 2021
But they picked the wrong woman...Simone used to be the woman that other women would use if they suspected that their partner was cheating. She would investigate, find out the truth, and if the men were guilty, exact revenge. But after things went wrong with one couple, Simone was forced to go into hiding to evade the law.Having assumed a new identity, Simone is now Mary, a mild-mannered woman who doesn't raise her voice or get angry, meaning nobody would suspect her of being capable of the things she used to do for a living. But when she finds out that her new boyfriend is having an affair, it awakens in her the person she used to be.That means Simone is back. It also means that her boyfriend and his mistress are in for the shock of their lives...Another gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Til Death Do Us Part and The Passenger
The Silent Victim
Dana Perry - 2019
The police are calling it a random attack, but Jessie Tucker isn’t so sure – she’s seen this crime scene before… she was the victim.Twelve years ago, Jessie Tucker was attacked as she made her way home from an outdoor concert. She still walks with a limp from that night, and every day since has been a struggle to rebuild her life. The police told her she was unlucky – that she was safe after they charged a local man for the crime. But Jessie has never managed to shake the feeling that there was someone else in the park that night… someone she knew.But then Margaret Kincaid’s murder file lands across her desk, and Jessie knows she can’t keep silent any longer. Margaret’s wounds so exactly match her own it's spooky – but Jessie’s attacker is in prison, and Jessie has never met the victim. What links her to Margaret Kincaid, and why did the attacker let one woman live, and the other die?Nail-biting, gripping and absolutely unputdownable! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Gregg Olsen.
Secrets Between Us
Valerie Keogh - 2018
780 identical white envelopes brimming with my sister’s darkest secrets. All the intimate details of a life as different to mine as could possibly be. I read each letter slowly to make sure I understand it perfectly, one day very soon it will be a matter of life and death… At the end of each letter, after signing her name, there is always one final sentence: Don’t forget to burn this letter. I’ll let you decide if I do… A jaw-dropping psychological thriller that you will read in one sitting. If you loved dark, twisty thrillers like The Girl on The Train, The Couple Next Door and Friend Request, this unputdownable novel will have your heart racing long after you’ve finished reading.
Deny Me
Karen Cole - 2020
But Jessica isn't the only one with problems, as her mother, Jean, has recently been diagnosed with dementia. Shortly after Jessica's arrival, one of the neighbours falls to her death, in what appears to be a terrible accident. However, Jean claims that the woman was murdered by her husband and that she witnessed the whole thing. With Jean's memory rapidly deteriorating, her family dismiss her story, believing Jean is confused. But when Jessica learns that the couple next door's marriage may have been in trouble, she begins to wonder if her mother did see something after all. Jessica is determined to discover the truth, but soon uncovers much more than she bargained for...