Book picks similar to
The Butcher's Daughter by Jane E. James


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Game of Life


Belle Brooks
    She inflicted pain on another, and now, more than a decade later, she's going to pay. The only problem is she can't remember what it is she's done to find herself caught in this cat and mouse game that's been played twelve times before . . . a game nobody has ever come out of alive. Can Morgan be the first to survive this game of life?Can she outrun nature, the darkness, a fire and a vengeful hunter?Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?You should be!Lose your mind. Live the fear. Fight with these characters as they battle until the very end. Hold your breath as you start, and finish, the story of a lifetime. Characters so real—you'll feel like you're playing the game with them. Plot twists so unexpected—you won't be able to stop reading. And an ending so powerful ... you'll never forget it. ~ A standalone novel by international bestselling author Belle Brooks.Also available in a FIVE-part novella series.

The Manuscript


Nathan Hystad - 2020
     An unpublished manuscript. A long-buried secret. Jeremiah Trent works as a Seattle homicide detective. When he’s contacted by a friend from his childhood, he packs his bags and heads to a mansion in remote Colorado. As he arrives at the best-selling author’s home, Jerry can’t shake the feeling it was a mistake visiting the people from his past. The mystery deepens when Jay offers them a chance to read his newest manuscript, one chapter at a time. When Jerry digs in, he finds the story is their own from twenty-five years ago, only with different character names and a changed setting. Abby, Ken, Jay, and Jerry’s tale unravels, and when a body is discovered by the local Police Department, one that has been there for years, everything escalates into a shocking conclusion. The Manuscript is a suspense thriller by Nathan Hystad, the author of The Event and Lights Over Cloud Lake.

Everything Is Lies


Helen Callaghan - 2018
    At least that is what she's always believed.Everyone has secretsUntil the day she arrives at her childhood home to find a house ringing with silence. Her mother is hanging from a tree. Her father is lying in a pool of his own blood, near to death.Especially those closest to you The police are convinced it is an attempted murder-suicide. But Sophia is sure that the woman who brought her up isn't a killer. As her father is too ill to talk it is up to Sophia to clear her mother's name. And to do this she needs to delve deep into her family's past - a past full of dark secrets she never suspected were there . . .What if your parents had been lying to you since the day you were born?

The Cuban Affair


Nelson DeMille - 2017
    At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan. He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan. Truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky.One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez.What Mac learns is that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. With the “Cuban Thaw” underway between Havana and Washington, Carlos, Eduardo, and Sara know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash—by accident or on purpose. And Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all.Brilliantly written, with his signature humor, fascinating authenticity from his research trip to Cuba, and heart-pounding pace, Nelson DeMille is a true master of the genre.

Home Truths


Tina Seskis - 2019
    But can it survive the unimaginable? American nanny Eleanor was never meant to meet Alex. But when she walks into his London police station to report a stalker, everything changes for them both. He’s convinced he can protect her from anything and anyone. She hopes her darkest days are behind her.As they settle into their life together, two hundred miles away another young couple faces an uncertain future. Christie knows Paul is a decent man, but she can’t shake a clairvoyant’s warning: ‘Never trust your husband . . .’ When a work trip tests their bond, will she overcome her fears for the sake of her family?Ten years later, both couples are still together, for better or worse. But as doubts and resentments begin bubbling steadily to the surface, all four of them start to question the choices they’ve made.At least the secrets they all brought into their marriages are still well hidden.For now.

And Then You Were Gone


R.J. Jacobs - 2019
    Even better, her life is coming together: she’s got a great job, her own place, and a boyfriend, Paolo, who adores her. So when Paolo suggests a weekend sailing trip, Emily agrees—wine, water, and the man she loves? What could be better? But when Emily wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone.A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. Where else could he have gone? And why? As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip.But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy. To clear her name, Emily must find the truth—but can she hold onto her own sanity in the process?

Promises to Keep


S.W. Vaughn - 2018
    Now he's back for revenge ... but this time, he wants her daughter. A gripping psychological thriller with a haunting twist. Twenty years ago, the Singing Woods Killer descended on the quiet suburban town of Dayfield to prey on sixteen-year-old girls, murdering four. Then his fifth victim escaped, killing him in the process. Or did she? Madeline Osborn is the girl who got away. Her ordeal left her with no memory of the week she spent with the killer, and a rare psychological disorder that preys on her mind, distorts what she sees. For years she's known that she can't trust her own thoughts. That's why no one believes her -- including herself -- when she starts seeing the dead man who abducted her. At the supermarket. In her back yard. But when her own sixteen-year-old daughter goes missing, Madeline begins to think she may not be crazy after all. He's back. And he wants her to suffer. Now, if she can't uncover the truth about what happened to her twenty years ago, she'll pay the ultimate price: her daughter's life. Powerful and captivating, PROMISES TO KEEP is an unrelenting, heart-stopping psychological thriller perfect for fans of Gone Girl, I Am Watching You, Silent Child, and The Girl on the Train.

The Hand of Strange Children: A nerve-shredding mystery thriller


Robert Richardson - 1993
     Details trickle in: the house belongs to wealthy merchant banker Charles Stansfield; present are well-known news editor Richard Barlow and members of his family. But the victims identities are withheld. Who are they? Why has a family gathering exploded into violence and death? Through their individual voices the lives of Richard, Tim and Naomi Barlow and their mother, Florence, unfold and a shocking crime comes to light - one that has gone undetected and unpunished, culminating in a double-killing a quarter of a century later. The Hand of Strange ChildrenPraise for Robert Richardson ''With this, his first novel, Robert Richardson makes a most impressive debut as a writer of the classical English detective story… He knows how to create suspense and an atmosphere of incipient evil; he provides us with a genuine puzzle, his characters are believable people, and the motive of his murderer is psycho-logically credible.” P D James “Skilful rerouting and the taste of real tears” The Sunday Times “Eccentrics, suspects and witty writing abound” The Times “Here is a book to be missed only at your own peril” Armchair Detective “Elegantly written, beautifully characterised, suspenseful and oddly moving” Mystery Reader’s Journal “Grand entertainment, deft handling and suave wit” Publishers Weekly Robert Richardson is a journalist and editor who lives in England.

Tell Me No Lies


Lisa Hall - 2016
    Trust. Anyone.It was supposed to be a fresh start.A chance to forget the past and embrace the future.But can you ever really start again?Or does the past follow you wherever you go…

Cold Echo


C.J. Carver - 2019
    Should you trust your best friend with your life? Harry, Lucas and Guy were best friends when they were kids.  But then they made a terrible mistake and their friendship shattered, forcing them to cut all ties.Years later, a man’s head is discovered in the woods, skinned and with the tongue cut out.  The police call on Harry, a psychologist, to help with the case, and when it turns out the victim is his childhood friend Guy, old skeletons begin to surface.Then one of Harry’s clients goes missing.  Forced into a desperate hunt to save the boy, Harry finds himself closing in on a shocking secret, a secret someone will do anything to keep safe…

Three Great Novels: Perfect Husband / Other Daughter / Third Victim


Lisa Gardner - 2003
    Even locked up in a maximum security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now the cunning killer has escaped--and the most dangerous game of all begins.... After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she's never done before. She's going to learn to protect her daughter and fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess knows that this time, her only choices are to kill--or be killed. Lisa Gardner sold her first novel when she was 20 years old. In 1993 she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations. She lives in Rhode Island, where she is at work on her next novel of suspense.

Watching Over You


Mel Sherratt - 2014
    On moving into a new flat, she is befriended by her landlady, Ella, who seems like the perfect friend and confidante.But, unbeknown to Charley, Ella is fighting her own dark and dirty demons as the fallout from a horrific childhood sends her spiralling down into madness—and unspeakable obsessions.As Ella’s mind splinters, her increasingly bizarre attentions make Charley uneasy. But with every step Charley tries to take to distance herself, Ella moves in a tightening lockstep with her, closer and closer and closer…From the bestselling author of Taunting the Dead comes a raw, intense, relentless, and darkly claustrophobic psychological thriller that grabs you by the back of the neck and never lets you go.

The Babysitter


Sheryl Browne - 2018
    Would you trust her with your life? Mark and Melissa Cain are thrilled to have found Jade, a babysitter who is brilliant with their young children. Having seen her own house burn to the ground, Jade needs them as much as they need her. Moving Jade into the family home can only be a good thing, can’t it? As Mark works long hours as a police officer and Melissa struggles with running a business, the family become ever more reliant on their babysitter, who is only too happy to help. And as Melissa begins to slip into depression, it’s Jade who is left picking up the pieces. But Mark soon notices things aren’t quite as they seem. Things at home feel wrong, and as Mark begins to investigate their seemingly perfect sitter, what he discovers shocks him to his core. He’s met Jade before. And now he suspects he might know what she wants … Mark is in a race against time to protect his family. But what will he find as he goes back to his family home?

The Pharmacist


Gillian Jackson - 2021
    Has he left her for another woman, or has something more sinister happened? In a world that is becoming increasingly muddled, Alice is unsure whom she can trust. Even her daughter appears to be lying to her. How much heartache can one person endure?As strange things begin to happen, Alice struggles to separate reality from fantasy--and to make sense of a mystery surrounding Millie, her beautiful five-year-old granddaughter. Sometimes it takes a stranger to help. And sometimes you need a detective . . .

The Hen Party


Maria Frankland - 2021
    Who will be the one?