Book picks similar to
Seas of Snow by Kerensa Jennings


literary-fiction
fiction
psychological-suspense
not-at-the-library

Our Little Lies


Sue Watson - 2018
    A beautiful townhouse on the best street in the neighbourhood. Three bright children who are her pride and joy. Sometimes her past still hurts: losing her mother early, growing up in foster care. But her husband, Simon, is always there. A successful surgeon, he’s the envy of every woman they’ve ever met. Flowers, gifts, trips to France: nothing is too good for his family. Then Simon says another woman’s name. The way he lingers on it, Caroline , gives Marianne a shudder of suspicion, but she knows it’s nothing – she can’t entertain this flash of paranoia. In the old days, she’d have distracted herself by excelling at work, but Marianne left her glamorous career when she married. She’d speak to a friend, but she’s too busy with her children and besides, Simon doesn’t approve of the few she has left. It’s almost by accident that Marianne starts to learn more about Caroline. But once started, she can’t stop, because what she finds makes her wonder: is the question she should be asking not ‘should she be jealous’, but... ‘should she be scared?’ Fans of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go, who are looking for a dark, gripping psychological thriller with a final twist to put their jaw on the floor, will love Our Little Lies.

The French Girl


Lexie Elliott - 2018
    It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway--until they met Severine, the girl next door. For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive, and there are some people you can't forget, like Severine, who was never seen again. Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free.

The Brambles


Leah Erickson - 2017
     Elizabeth Gray is found hanging from a tree. Her town is shocked to learn that Elizabeth had no birth certificate, no social security number, no record of education. Her mother, an independently wealthy woman, refuses to cooperate with authorities. But Elizabeth is not truly gone: she communicates in spirit with her three childhood playmates, driving them to investigate the true circumstances of her death. And in doing so, Mack, Lillian, and Vanessa discover the world of The Brambles, a mansion owned by the elderly movie star, Mitch Cooper. They meet John Leary, a defocked priest and Mitch's "caretaker." Drugs, a motorcycle gang, a corrupt medical doctor nicknamed "Honeybear." How are all of these things connected, and what is the secret to Elizabeth's true identity? Only three brave teenagers can find out. The Brambles is a more than a mystery, but an absorbing exploration of life, death, and how people navigate relationships around them. A book you don't want to put down, and when you do, your thoughts go back to it." — Ross Rojek, San Francisco Book Review Mature teens to new adults who want a story that begins with a ghostly presence and evolves into a much broader plot will find The Brambles creates a brooding set of circumstances that embrace everything it touches, making for an engrossing story that's thought-provoking and hard to put down. — Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Run Away Baby


Holly Tierney-Bedord - 2015
    What her jealous friends don't know is that her reality is far from the pretty picture they see."If you like stories about rebirth and taking your life back, mixed with suspense and even a bit of humor, this book is for you!!"-- Amazon reviewWhen her nails were dry enough, Abby put the spinning tower and manicure accessories away and then returned to the living room where a mid-afternoon talk show was playing. She sat down, nudging the mute button, so if Randall watched the playback of her he would see the program unfolding in the background. As far as she knew, the room wasn't bugged. Not yet, anyhow.Sometimes all the noise became too much for her to bear. She liked to go into her own head. It was the last safe place. But acts like pausing a show to daydream made Randall nervous."What's this about?" he'd ask as he fast-forwarded through moments of Abby's day, pausing at incriminating moments like her staring thoughtfully without distractions, or eating junk food, or disappearing for hours and arriving home empty-handed.Only Krissa had an accurate idea of Abby's life. But even Krissa didn't know Abby's secret name for Randall: He was Papa Rottzy. Because he watched every move she made. And because he was old. And because he was rotten. It was the name she would have called him if she still had a sister, and if this were her sister's problem instead of her own.She'd take her sister out for coffee and ask her, "How's Papa Rottzy? Are you ready to escape from his prison?" She'd be kidding, but she'd be serious.In Abby's fantasies it was always her trying to help one of her little sisters out of this mess, because there was a big part of her that still couldn't believe this was her life.

My Better Half


M.M. Boulder - 2020
    Until now. Everything and everyone is making her see red, especially her condescending husband of thirty years. She desperately wants to kill him, and it terrifies her.Attacked during a home invasion, Lucille finds an unexpected outlet for her rage. Killing. Afterwards she feels lighter, in control, reborn, and she begins making her own decisions, having opinions, becoming her true self, much to the disapproval of her husband. But even though she's freeing herself from a lifetime of repressive chains, the anger hasn’t gone away. And it wants to be fed.To maintain her tenuous control, Lucille starts playing a dangerous game, unaware that a relentless detective is closing in. But she can’t stop. Killing bad people is the only thing keeping her from strangling her husband.Can Lucille find a way to preserve her newfound freedom, or will she lose everything to her burning rage?

Behind The Pretty Pink Door


M.J. Hardy - 2020
    Their neighbours want what they have but did they go a step too far to achieve it?Then there's Keith and Sandra Wickham who everyone wishes hadn't moved there at all.They all have one thing in common and it's not the street they moved into.It's their fascination for what goes on behind the pretty pink door.Who lives there and what secrets does it hide?Secrets have a habit of coming out and none of theirs are safe.What happens when the pretty pink door opens and lets them all inside?Sometimes it’s easier to turn a blind eye than to face the consequences but true evil is found in the ones who look away and do nothing.From the author of the bestselling book, The Girl on Gander Green Lane.How well do you really know your neighbours?

All the Broken People


Leah Konen - 2020
    Imagine you've finally escaped the worst relationship of your life, running away with only a suitcase and a black eye.Imagine your new next-door neighbours are the friends you so desperately needed - fun, kind, empathetic, very much in love.Imagine they're in trouble. That someone is telling lies about them, threatening their livelihoods - and even their lives.Imagine your ex is coming for you.If your new best friends needed you to tell one small lie, and all of these problems would disappear, you'd do it, wouldn't you?It's only one small lie, until someone turns up dead.

The Memory Game


Nicci French - 1997
    But your memory is deceitful. And possibly deadly...When a skeleton is unearthed in the Martellos' garden, Jane Martello is shocked to learn it's that of her childhood friend, Natalie, who went missing twenty-five years ago. Encouraged by a therapist to recover lost memories, Jane hopes to find out what really took place when she was a child - and what happened to Natalie.But in learning the truth about hers and Natalie's past, is Jane putting her own future at terrible risk?

The Hen Party


Maria Frankland - 2021
    Who will be the one?

The Disappeared


Roger Scruton - 2015
    It is the story of Stephen, a teacher whose love for the pupil who shares his dreams brings him face to face with ruin; of Sharon, the child of a feckless stepmother, and her criminal abusers; of Laura, the investigative high-flyer, now faced with rape and sexual slavery; of Justin, environmentalist and Heavy Metal fan, whose obsession with Muhibbah, rescued from forced marriage, spells disaster for them both. It is the story of a police force fearful of charges of racism, and a social worker, Iona, expected to make a viable community from fragments that will not join.With dizzying speed The Disappeared uncovers the chaotic underworld of a Yorkshire city, its characters eventually stumbling across one another in a single catastrophe. A victim may bring redemption: but who will it be?

Twisted


Andrew E. Kaufman - 2015
    Christopher Kellan spends his days at Loveland Psychiatric Hospital, overseeing a unit known as Alpha Twelve, home to the most deranged and psychotic killers imaginable. His newest patient, Donny Ray Smith, is accused of murdering ten young girls and making their bodies disappear. But during his first encounter with Donny, Christopher finds something else unsettling: the man looks familiar.The killer with a secret…Donny Ray knows things about Christopher—things he couldn’t have possibly learned at Loveland. As the psychologist delves deeper into the mysterious patient’s case, Christopher’s life whirls out of control. The contours of his mind are rapidly losing shape, and his grasp on reality is slipping even faster. Is he going mad, or is that what Donny Ray wants him to think?The terror that binds them…In this taut psychological thriller from Andrew E. Kaufman, bestselling author of The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, a tormented man must face his fear and enter the mind of a killer to find the truth…even if it costs him his sanity.

Elizabeth Is Missing


Emma Healey - 2014
    Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, who she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger.But no one will listen to Maud—not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth's mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend.This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud's rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more than fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey's disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?

Give Me the Child


Mel McGrath - 2017
    So when Ruby Winter, a small girl in need of help, arrives in the middle of the night, it seems like fate.A devastating secret.But as the events behind Ruby’s arrival emerge – her mother’s death, her connection to Cat – Cat questions whether her decision to help Ruby has put her own daughter at risk.Do we get the children we deserve?Cat’s research tells her there’s no such thing as evil. Her history tells her she’s paranoid. But her instincts tell her different. And as the police fight to control a sudden spate of riots raging across the capital, Cat faces a race against time of her own…

Unraveling Oliver


Liz Nugent - 2014
    Together they write and illustrate award-winning children’s books; their life together one of enviable privilege and ease—until, one evening after a delightful dinner, Oliver delivers a blow to Alice that renders her unconscious, and subsequently beats her into a coma.In the aftermath of such an unthinkable event, as Alice hovers between life and death, the couple’s friends, neighbours, and acquaintances try to understand what could have driven Oliver to commit such a horrific act. As his story unfolds, layers are peeled away to reveal a life of shame, envy, deception, and masterful manipulation.

The Perfect Girlfriend


Karen Hamilton - 2018
    She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline so she can keep a closer eye on him.They are meant to be.The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back.She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants.True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain...