Book picks similar to
Spider Lake: A Northern Lakes Mystery by Jeff Nania
mystery
wisconsin
fiction
mystery-thriller
Frozen Assets
Quentin Bates - 2010
Was it an accident, or something more sinister? It's up to Officer Gunnhildur, a sardonic female cop, to find out. Her investigation uncovers a web of corruption connected to Iceland's business and banking communities. Meanwhile, a rookie crime journalist latches onto her, looking for a scoop, and an anonymous blogger is stirring up trouble. The complications increase, as do the stakes, when a second murder is committed. "Frozen Assets" is a piercing look at the endemic corruption that led to the global financial crisis that bankrupted Iceland's major banks and sent the country into an economic tailspin from which it has yet to recover.
Repent
Lisa Fink - 2013
But when his life begins to unravel—he loses his dog, his girlfriend, his job, and his house in quick succession—he suspects that it’s more than a joke: someone is attempting to systematically destroy him.Desperate and alienated, he turns to Annelie, his old flame. In the midst of his despair, he realizes that with her, he could rebuild his life again. But just as he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, he discovers that his tormenter isn’t done with him yet. Will he discover who is behind the plot before the psychopath’s suggestion of suicide turns to murder?
Under Cover of Daylight
James W. Hall - 1987
Hall’s haunting debut novel first introduced the rugged character Thorn and the breathtaking South Florida landscape where he lives. Thorn’s past includes a savage act of revenge on the drunken hit-and-run killer of his parents. Now, fifteen years later, Thorn still cannot escape that moment, or the darkness he took into his soul that night. Not even his best friend, Sugarman, knows the truth. Not even Sarah Ryan knows the depths of her lover’s pain. Then suddenly, the nightmare begins again as Thorn’s foster mother is found slaughtered. Thorn can almost taste the rage as he stalks her killer and waits. "An exciting, well-crafted first novel that smoothly places complex, believable characters into an action-filled plot."—Washington Post "It starts good and stays good, right to the end."—Chicago Tribune
Death in a Wine Dark Sea
Lisa King - 2012
But things go terribly wrong: the evening ends in tragedy, not celebration when, after exchanging vows, Wingo disappears into the bay.Diane asks Jean to investigate Martin's murder out of fear that the police will uncover too many of his secrets. Jean agrees, but discovers it's not easy to find out who killed a blackmailer and womanizer. The list of potential suspects is long. When Jean joins forces with the young and geeky Zeppo, Martin's former assistant who is armed with the details of MArtin's victims elicits strong reactions - from fear to rage to attempted murder - that endanger them both, and force Jean to fight for her life - twice.
The Other Woman
Jane A. Adams - 1997
Uneasy, resentful, afraid.She’s always been his favourite, his Bird — the helpless little thing who stole his heart at birth.Now he is dying and Marcie can’t stand to be around him.Day and night, he raves of Rebekkah, a raven-haired beauty who never leaves his side.She is not his wife.She is not the mother of his children.She is not to be silenced.Is she a fragment of a dying man’s fevered imagination? Or something more?Marcie vows to help her grandfather pull the truth from his nightmares. But the deeper she digs the more she regrets her promise.Is she ready for the killer secret she’s about to expose?Fans of Eve Chase, C. D. Major, Celeste Ng, Alex North, Ruth Ware, Bridget Collins, Jessie Burton, Mark Edwards and Stephen King will devour this unforgettable tale of family secrets dragged to light.
Outsourced
Eric J. Gates - 2012
It's not long before he realises what it represents will change his life... with deadly consequences. Others want the package's contents too, including a high-tech Intelligence agency who will stop at nothing to obtain it. ...and the sender wants it back! The new fast-paced SUSPENSE THRILLER from Eric J. Gates will make YOU question your Destiny!
The Third to Die
Allison Brennan - 2020
An ambitious FBI special agent. Together they are at the heart of the ticking-clock investigation for a psychopathic serial killer. The bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for high-stakes suspense.Detective Kara Quinn, on leave from the LAPD, is on an early morning jog in her hometown of Liberty Lake when she comes upon the body of a young nurse. The manner of death shows a pattern of highly controlled rage. Meanwhile in DC, FBI special agent Mathias Costa is staffing his newly minted Mobile Response Team. Word reaches Matt that the Liberty Lake murder fits the profile of the compulsive Triple Killer. It will be the first case for the MRT. This time they have a chance to stop this zealous if elusive killer before he strikes again. But only if they can figure out who he is and where he is hiding before he disappears for another three years. The stakes are higher than ever before, because if they fail, one of their own will be next...
The Body in the Woods
April Henry - 2014
When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own.This first book in April Henry’s Point Last Seen YA mystery series is full of riveting suspense, putting readers in the middle of harrowing rescues and crime scene investigations.
The Secret Sister
Brenda Novak - 2015
She goes there to heal—and to help her brother, Keith, a deeply troubled man who's asked her to come home. But she refuses to stay in the family house. The last person she wants to see is the wealthy, controlling mother she escaped years ago. Instead, she finds herself living next door to someone else she'd prefer to avoid—Rafe Romero, the wild, reckless boy to whom she lost her virginity at sixteen. He's back on the island, and to her surprise, he's raising a young daughter alone. Maisey's still attracted to him, but her heart's too broken to risk… Then something even more disturbing happens. She discovers a box of photographs that evoke distant memories of a little girl, a child Keith remembers, too. Maisey believes the girl must've been their sister, but their mother claims there was no sister. Maisey's convinced that child existed. So where is she now?
The Trophy Child
Paula Daly - 2017
In her unsettling new domestic thriller, The Trophy Child, Daly digs beneath the serene surface of the idyllic suburban Lake District community where families strive for perfection, delivering a suspenseful, surprising story of motherhood and fallibility.Karen Bloom is not the coddling mother type. She believes in raising her children for success. Some in the neighborhood call her assertive, others say she’s driven, but in gossiping circles she’s known as: the tiger mother. Karen believes that tough discipline is the true art of parenting and that achievement leads to ultimate happiness. She expects her husband and her children to perform at 200 percent—no matter the cost. But in an unending quest for excellence, her seemingly flawless family start to rebel against her.Her husband Noel is a handsome doctor with a proclivity for alcohol and women. Their prodigy daughter, Bronte, is excelling at school, music lessons, dance classes, and yet she longs to run away. Verity, Noel’s teenage daughter from his first marriage, is starting to display aggressive behavior. And Karen’s son from a previous relationship falls deeper into drug use. When tragedy strikes the Blooms, Karen’s carefully constructed facade begins to fall apart—and once the deadly cracks appear, they are impossible to stop.A thrilling tale of ambition and murder, Daly’s richly imagined world of suburban striving and motherly love is an absorbing page-turner about the illusions of perfection and the power games between husband and wife, parent and child.
Spooker
Dean Ing - 1995
It's his escape hatch--a stash that contains false identification, keys to a hidden car or boat or plane, weapons, and money--lots of money.It took U.S. intelligence a longtime to figure out that somone was stalking and killing agents for their spookers. It was the perfect crime, almost. Agents are killed every day by people they are spying on. And these killers were good--invisible, quick, leaving no trace behind.But finally the killers made one mistake.
Lying Next to Me
Gregg Olsen - 2019
It’s the perfect getaway to unplug—and to calm an uneasy marriage. But on Adam’s first day out on the water, he sees Sophie abducted by a stranger. A hundred yards from shore, Adam can’t save her. And Sophie disappears.In a nearby cabin is another couple, Kristen and Connor Moss. Unfortunately, beyond what they’ve heard in the news, they’re in the dark when it comes to Sophie’s disappearance. For Adam, at least there’s comfort in knowing that Mason County detective Lee Husemann is an old friend of his. She’ll do everything she can to help. She must.But as Adam’s paranoia about his missing wife escalates, Lee puts together the pieces of a puzzle. The lives of the two couples are converging in unpredictable ways, and the picture is unsettling. Lee suspects that not everyone is telling the truth about what they know—or they have yet to reveal all the lies they’ve hidden from the strangers they married.
Over The Edge
Lisa Regan - 2019
But as Jocelyn watches in disbelief, the woman jumps off the bridge, plunging to her death in the Schuylkill River one hundred fifty feet below. Wracked with guilt, especially after learning the woman, Molly Porter, left behind a small child, Jocelyn wants answers. Why would a woman who seemingly had it all commit suicide because of a car accident? But the more Jocelyn learns about Molly’s life and her past, the less perfect it seems. Because Molly Porter had secrets…secrets with dangerous consequences.
And Still, She Wept
T.C. Barnes - 2011
After having lost his wife to cancer, he is drawn back from the brink of an emotional abyss by the murder of a young girl who looks just like her. With nothing else to assuage his grief, he throws himself into the case with every ounce of passion still left inside him. But with little evidence to go on, his case quickly grows cold. When another victim is killed in exactly the same manner over five hundred miles away, Reilly realizes that there may be a serial killer at work. Going against the advice of his superiors, he flies to North Carolina to continue his hunt for the sadistic murderer. Reilly knows that his only hope of success is to convince the Sheriff of Camden County that both crimes are connected. To his relief, Claire Stiles immediately recognizes the undeniable similarities between both cases. Fueled by the furious and unrelenting desire to find the killer, they work together day and night. Unexpectedly however, they find themselves growing closer in the process. In order to understand what tenuous link binds the victims together, Claire and Reilly leave no stone unturned in their desperate search for the killer. But when yet another girl is abducted, Claire and Reilly must put their own lives on the line in order to stop the madman, before it's too late.
Careful What You Wish For
Hallie Ephron - 2019
He’s filled their basement, attic, and garage with his finds.Like other professionals who make a living decluttering peoples’ lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, she makes clear that the client is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. That stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years. She’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. The larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour when, after too much wine, the women end up fantasizing about how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses.But the next day Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up. Careful what you wish for, the old adage says . . . now Emily might lose her freedom, her marriage . . . and possibly her life.