Book picks similar to
Jailed (Cal Rogan Mysteries, #7) by Robert P. French


author-requested-read
crime-fiction
legal-law-related
psychological-suspense

The Girl on the Swing


Ali Cooper - 2010
    For the first time, she meets someone in this life whom she recognises from a previous existence. But this man is a murderer, convicted of killing his wife. As Julia seeks to find out more, past and present entwine, culminating in a dramatic conclusion.101K words (approx).For a more detailed description of the story, I recommend the review by D Figueroa in the US store.Other books by this author:Cave. A gripping tale of friendships and relationships, set in Wales at the turn of the millennium.The Cat and the Cathedral. The first of a YA/adult trilogy with a slightly supernatural premise. Set in modern day Exeter.Bloody Scared. A humorous vampire spoof.Editing a Better Book. A comprehensive guide to all aspects of editing.

Blackwater Lake


Maggie James - 2015
    His father, Joseph Stanyer, has been struggling to cope with his wife Evie, whose dementia is rapidly worsening. When their bodies are found close to Blackwater Lake, a local beauty spot, the inquest rules the deaths as a murder-suicide. A conclusion that's supported by the note Joseph leaves for his son. Grief-stricken, Matthew begins to clear his parents' house of decades of compulsive hoarding, only to discover the dark enigmas hidden within its walls. Ones that lead Matthew to ask: why did his father choose Blackwater Lake to end his life? What other secrets do its waters conceal?A short (25,000-words) novella, Blackwater Lake examines one man's determination to uncover his family's troubled past.

The Killer Next Door


Alex Marwood - 2013
    23 has a secret. In this bedsit-riddled south London wreck, lorded over by a lecherous landlord, something waits to be discovered. Yet all six residents have something to hide.Collette and Cher are on the run; Thomas is a reluctant loner; while a gorgeous Iranian asylum seeker and a 'quiet man' nobody sees try to stay hidden. And watching over them all is Vesta - or so she thinks. In the dead of night, a terrible accident pushes the neighbours into an uneasy alliance. But one of them is a killer, expertly hiding their pastime, all the while closing in on their next victim...As a cloying heatwave suffocates the city, events build to an electrifying climax in this dark, original and irresistibly compelling thriller.

An Ambush of Widows


Jeff Abbott - 2021
    Adam Zhang is the cofounder of one of Austin’s most successful venture capitalist firms. These two men didn’t know each other. They had never met. Yet they died together, violently, in a place neither had any business being.When Henry doesn’t return from a business trip, his wife, Kirsten, panics—and then gets an anonymous phone call: “Your husband is dead in Austin.”Flora Zhang knew her husband was keeping secrets. She suspected an affair, but she had decided she could forgive him for his weakness—until her husband ended up dead. And with no explanation for her husband’s murder, the police begin to suspect her.Together, these two widows will face a powerful foe determined to write a false narrative about the murders. In doing so, neither Flora nor Kirsten will remain the women the world thought they were.

The Split


Sharon J. Bolton - 2020
    She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he's out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won’t give up until he finds her.But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie's relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her.

The Familiar Dark


Amy Engel - 2020
    Sometimes it's better not to know.Set in the poorest part of the Missouri Ozarks, in a small town with big secrets, The Familiar Dark opens with a murder. Eve Taggert, desperate with grief over losing her daughter, takes it upon herself to find out the truth about what happened. Eve is no stranger to the dark side of life, having been raised by a hard-edged mother whose lessons Eve tried not to pass on to her own daughter. But Eve may need her mother's cruel brand of strength if she's going to face the reality about her daughter's death and about her own true nature. Her quest for justice takes her from the seedy underbelly of town to the quiet woods and, most frighteningly, back to her mother's trailer for a final lesson.The Familiar Dark is a story about the bonds of family—women doing the best they can for their daughters in dire circumstances—as well as a story about how even the darkest and most terrifying of places can provide the comfort of home.

Heart of a Killer


David Rosenfelt - 2012
    It’s not that he isn’t smart. He is. It’s just that hard work, not to mention the whole legal thing, isn’t exactly his passion. Underachiever? A little. Content? Right up until the firm puts him on a case that turns his whole world upside down.Sheryl Harrison has served four years of a thirty-year murder sentence for killing her husband, who she claims was abusive. The case is settled---there shouldn’t be anything for Jamie to do---except Sheryl’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Karen, is sick. She has a congenital heart defect and will die without a transplant. Her blood type is rare, making their chances of finding a matching donor remote at best. Sheryl wants to be that donor for her daughter, and Jamie is in way over his head. Suicide, no matter the motive, is illegal. So with Sheryl on suicide watch, Jamie’s only shot at helping her and saving Karen is to reopen the murder case, prove Sheryl’s innocence, and get her freed so that she can pursue her plan on her own.Heart of a Killer---a gripping story of an ordinary man faced with an impossible situation---is the most powerful and shocking thriller yet from David Rosenfelt, a true master of the genre.

Tank Water


Michael Burge - 2021
    Now, he’s returned to Kippen for the first time in twenty years because his cousin Tony has been found dead under the local bridge.The news that Tony has left him the entire family farm triggers James’s journalistic curiosity – and his anxiety – both of which cropped up during his turbulent journey to adulthood. But it is the unexpected homophobic attack he survives that draws James into a hunt for the reasons one lonely Kippen farm boy in every generation kills himself.Standing in the way is James’s father, the town’s recently retired top cop, who is not prepared to investigate crimes no-one reckons have taken place. James must use every newshound’s trick he ever learned in order to uncover the brutal truth.A coming-of-age story and crime thriller with a large and gentle heart.

Paper


Andrew Stanek - 2016
    Now everyone from petty criminals to the FBI are after Ken while he tries to find his estranged father and win back his girlfriend. How much money is real and how much is counterfeit? Find out in Paper.

The Long Drunk


Eric Coyote - 2011
    Murphy's life in the gutter was bad enough, but now bad gets worse. Murphy has one week to solve a cold-case murder that has police detectives stumped, or else his best friend dies. Inspired by Chandler, Steinbeck, and Quentin Tarantino, THE LONG DRUNK is a darkly comic crime/detective saga filled with sex, violence, booze, and plenty of foul street talk. Hard-boiled, heartbreaking, and gritty as hell, it thoroughly immerses the reader in the squalid yet resourceful underworld of the down-and-out. By juxtaposing the cruel realities of life on the street with the obscene wealth of the Hollywood elite, Eric Coyote creates an ultra noir masterpiece for the ages. THE LONG DRUNK, named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, will leave you cringing, laughing, and begging for more.

Deadly Affair


Misty Evans - 2016
     Cooper Harris, head of the SCVC Taskforce and nicknamed The Beast, isn’t afraid of anything…except that the woman who rocks his world may be about to dump him. Celina is acting distant and secretive while an engagement ring burns a hole in Cooper’s pocket. Whisking her away for a romantic weekend at a Northern California vineyard, he hopes to reignite the spark between them and get up the nerve to finally ask her to marry him. Feisty crime scene photographer Celina Davenport hates keeping secrets. The baby growing inside her is cause for celebration, but Cooper has a son from a previous marriage and claims he doesn’t want more children because of his dangerous job. Celina understands what makes The Beast tick, and she also knows he’ll be a great dad to their child. She only needs the perfect moment to break the news. Before either can come clean, Cooper and Celina stumble upon human bones and realize the beautiful vineyard hides a dark and haunting past filled with love, betrayal and murder. Can they unravel the mystery buried in the Northern California hills and bring a killer to justice? Or will the secrets they’re keeping from each other put them in deeper danger than they could ever imagine? Other books in the series include: Deadly Pursuit (the first Cooper and Celina story!) Deadly Deception Deadly Force Deadly Intent

As The Twig Is Bent: A Matt Davis Mystery


Joe Perrone Jr. - 2008
    On the case is Matt Davis, a plodding but effective NYPD homicide detective who is addicted to fly fishing - and chocolate. Helping him is his one-quarter Mohawk Indian partner, Chris Freitag, to whom he owes a long-standing debt of gratitude. Complicating things is Rita Valdez, a female cop looking for "true love," and not too particular about where she finds it. "As the Twig is Bent" is an explosive thriller that rips the lid off the sordid underbelly of Internet chat rooms, and propels the reader on a no-holds-barred journey toward its bone-chilling conclusion. CAUTION: Contains graphic sexual material that is inappropriate for some readers.

Gone Without a Trace


Mary Torjussen - 2017
    Fans of I LET YOU GO and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN will be gripped. No one ever disappears completely...You leave for work one morning.Another day in your normal life.Until you come home to discover that your boyfriend has gone. His belongings have disappeared. He hasn't been at work for weeks. It's as if he never existed.But that's not possible, is it?And there is worse still to come.Because just as you are searching for himsomeone is also watching you.

As Night Falls


Jenny Milchman - 2015
    But, as the sky darkens over the Adirondacks and a heavy snowfall looms, an escaped murderer with the power to take it all away draws close.In her isolated home in the shadowy woods, Sandy prepares dinner after a fight with her daughter, Ivy. Upstairs, the fifteen-year-old—smart, brave, and with every reason to be angry tonight—keeps her distance from her mother. Sandy’s husband, Ben, a wilderness guide, arrives late to find a home simmering with unease.Nearby, two desperate men on the run make their way through the fading light, bloodstained and determined to leave no loose ends or witnesses. After almost twenty years as prison cellmates, they have become a deadly team: Harlan the muscle, Nick the mind and will. As they approach a secluded house and look through its windows to see a cozy domestic scene, Nick knows that here he will find what he’s looking for . . . before he disappears forever.Opening the door to the Tremont home, Nick brings not only a legacy of terror but a secret that threatens to drag Sandy with him into the darkness.

The Last Guests


J.P. Pomare - 2021
     Newlyweds Lina and Cain don't make it out to their vacation home on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they'd like, so when Cain suggests they rent the property out on weekends, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been special to her family for generations, their neighbors are all signing up to host renters, and frankly, she and Cain could use the extra money. What could go wrong? And at first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up to spend a weekend--and at how much they're willing to pay.  But both Lina and Cain have been keeping secrets, secrets that won't be kept out by a new alarm system or a locked cupboard. When strange things begin happening on their property, and a visit takes a deadly turn, Lina becomes convinced that someone out there knows something they shouldn't--and that when they come for her, there will be nowhere left to hide.