Book picks similar to
The House of the Wicked by D.M. Mitchell
mystery
thriller
fiction
suspense
Blood Orange
Harriet Tyce - 2019
A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise - she's just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems...
Just one more night. Then I'll end it.
Alison drinks too much. She's neglecting her family. And she's having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.
I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.
Alison's client doesn't deny that she stabbed her husband - she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.
I'm watching you. I know what you're doing.
But someone knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done, and who won't stop until she's lost everything....A disturbing, toxic and compelling novel that explores the power of fear and desire, jealousy and betrayal, love and hate, BLOOD ORANGE introduces a stunning new voice in psychological suspense.
The Night of the Moths
Riccardo Bruni - 2017
She’ll always remember the night she was murdered. And she still suffers the grief and rage that destroyed her family.But what Alice regrets most is the last fight she had with her boyfriend, Enrico—and the fact that she never had the chance to tell him something that would have changed everything.A decade later, Enrico has returned to the provincial town where Alice lived and died, to sell his family home. All he wants is to forget. But then, among the things he left behind, he finds an old cell phone…and unread texts sent from Alice’s phone.Now, her terrible secrets are about to swallow up everyone she knew, loved, and trusted. For Enrico, discovering them is his only chance to put his lost love—and the demons of his past—to rest.
Blizzard Ball
Dennis Kelly - 2011
The jackpot has run up to a red-hot $750 million, the world's richest prize. A bungled convenience store heist triggers a happenstance theft of winning lottery tickets and trips up an insider's scheme to rig the results.Agent Kirchner, an old-school cop reluctantly teams up with a young tech-savvy analyst on an investigation that propels them into the world of numerical probability, conspiratorial politics, international ticket scalpers, counterfeiters, disgruntled players, and illegal immigrants looking to grab the brass ring. Caught in the crosscurrents of those in deadly pursuit of the winning ticket, the investigators are buffeted by unsolved murders, a bomb blast-and the curious giveaway of winning lottery tickets: acts of charity or criminal subterfuge?The whereabouts and redemption of the $750 million jackpot lottery ticket remains a mystery throughout, stirring anger and resentment among the lottery-playing public. The winning ticket, finally, surfaces but before the prize can be claimed a Faustian bargain puts Kirchner's job on the line.
Blood Forest
Jonathan Taylor - 2012
With their attackers in pursuit, Brandon and Samantha are pushed deeper and deeper into the forest, to a place so terrifying that even the local Mbuti refuse to enter. The pair soon discovers another party is risking the dangers of the jungle, seeking a rare flower with vast medical potential. As the two groups combine forces against the genocidal militia, the Blood Forest holds them all with a secret that is more complex and sinister than any of them realize.“This forest has a pulse.It beats in my chest.I can see it in the eyes of the beasts.Together, we move to this rhythm.It calls to us. It calls for blood.”
After the Evil
Cary Allen Stone - 2005
He is investigating a murder; a serial killer is responsible. FBI profiler Mika Scott leads the investigation. Mika and Jake were partners and lovers. Tensions run high when Jake discovers who the killer is. Will they get there in time to stop another murder?
The Palindrome Cult
Kevin Bradley - 2017
But when the US Ambassador to London and the British Prime Minister are caught up in it, the situation becomes deadly.The Palindrome Cult members are fanatical. They will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. But who are they? And who is their elusive leader?Hedge and Cole must hunt them down, before the government is fatally damaged, and before more people have to die.This is a novel in the acclaimed Hedge & Cole thriller series.(The Palindrome Cult story concludes in this book, but the main characters are set to return in future exploits).Cole is a tough, ex-military man. He’s the sort of person that trouble and danger seem to follow, wherever he goes. He can be ruthless when he needs to be. And he often finds the need.Hedge is a reluctant hero. Plagued with anxieties and haunted by flashbacks, he is not the type of lead character that you would normally expect. This novel is refreshingly different in that respect.You are invited along for the ride, but will you be able to unravel the secret of the Cult before the ultimate, shocking, twist in the tail?Kevin Bradley shows how to mix fast paced action, with suspense and intrigue. This novel will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.This book would sit well alongside your Lee Child and Michael Connelly favourites!
The Storm Killer
Mike Jastrzebski - 2010
Place: New York City. Crime beat reporter Jim Locke gets sucked into a quagmire of death, deceit, and danger when his actress sister is murdered – and he becomes the prime suspect. When he uncovers a pattern of similar murders, he is convinced that a serial killer is on the loose. But the police aren’t buying it, and it’s up to Jim to stop the madman. The hunt takes him from the grimy streets and smoke-filled bars of Manhattan to deceptively laid-back Key West, just as a killer storm bears down on the island. THE STORM KILLER has it all: hard-boiled narrative, gripping suspense, period detail, an unlikely hero battling his inner demons, and a stunning conclusion that you won’t see coming. Highly recommended!--Miriam Auerbach, author of Dirty Harriet Rides Again ----Mike Jastrzebski's stunning historical debut takes readers back into the hard-boiled world of Chandler and Hammett -- and brings Ernest Hemingway back to life in a book as big as the man himself. The Storm Killer, a top grade thriller with a heavy dose of noir, hurtles you from New York to Key West at a pace that will leave you breathless.--Christine Kling, author of Surface Tension, Cross Current, Bitter End, and Wrecker's Key ----Jastrzebski's hard-boiled thriller storms through New York's gritty streets down to Prohibition-era Key West with Ernest Hemingway providing the tailwind. A crisp, fast-paced detective story, which Humphrey Bogart would have loved to play the lead in.-- Award-winning author Sharon Potts, In Their Blood.
The Fall of Billy Hitchings
Kirkus MacGowan - 2011
Unless you have a gun."Book Description:John Reeves drives to Myrtle Beach to confront his fiancée, hoping to repair their damaged relationship. Instead, he finds her unconscious in the local hospital, the victim of an unexplained explosion at a local restaurant.During his investigation, Reeves meets Billy Hitchings, a teenager who knows more about the explosion than he should. Their questions lead to an ancient legacy best left alone.Pulled into yet another crossfire, John Reeves fights to protect his friends and keep a primeval power from falling into the wrong hands.
Stolen Child Super Boxset
James Hunt - 2018
Abduction cases are taken very seriously by all of the parties involved. None more so than by Chase Grant, a detective in Seattle’s eighteenth precinct. The clock starts the moment he gets the call from a parent, and the first twelve hours are crucial. Every move counts, and every choice matters. If he missteps, then a child might not come home. But today was different. He got a call about a missing child. And then another, and another, and another… The Lost Orphans A murder twenty-five years forgotten, a female detective with the ability to communicate with the dead, and a killer without boundaries clash in the heart of winter. It's Christmas, and there's been another murder. Rachel Harroway, a homicide detective gifted in the arts and communication with the dead, tracks a serial killer lurking in the shadows for the last twenty-five years. The closer Rachel gets to solving the mystery, the more the unforgiving Appalachian winter weather and supernatural energies push back, forcing Rachel to decide how far she'll go for a man society has forsaken. The Abducted To rescue her daughter from a killer, one mother has to play his deadly game. A child predator known as the Snatcher is presumed at-large throughout South Florida. To some, he’s a ghost. To others, he’s evil incarnate. To Sergeant Miriam Castillo, he’s the monster who kidnapped her daughter, Ana, leaving behind a horrifying crime scene. With Ana’s life hanging in the balance, Miriam enters a nightmarish world to face a remorseless villain who has terrorized her community for far too long. But the Snatcher will also have to contend with the wrath of a woman with nothing to lose. Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned. Kidnapped Renowned Miami detective Anna Dedrick returns to her rural birthplace with hopes of leaving behind the vices of the big city. That dream shatters when the town’s pride--an African-American child prodigy--goes missing. As the only woman equipped for the job, Anna takes the case but soon discovers the town suspecting her estranged brother… and herself.
The Good Samaritan
John Marrs - 2017
But can you trust her?The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry. She doesn’t love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it.But now someone’s on to her—Ryan, whose world falls apart when his pregnant wife ends her life, hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man, and why did they choose to die together?The sinister truth is within Ryan’s grasp, but he has no idea of the desperate lengths Laura will go to…Because the best thing about being a Good Samaritan is that you can get away with murder.
Muleshoe (Mike Bishop #1)
Jess Butcher - 2011
When Mike Bishop arrives in Muleshoe seeking a legendary cache of rare gold coins, he enlists the aid of local Sheriff Laura Moss. The Sheriff cautiously joins Bishop’s search and together they discover a link between the gold and an unexplained series of grisly murders spanning more than a century. But others are racing to recover the treasure as well. The line between good and evil blurs as Bishop and Laura struggle to survive a murderous local legend … a legend that promises to turn the Kansas prairie black with blood.
When I Was Ten
Fiona Cummins - 2020
Their Dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautiful house on the hill. Their best friend, Brinley Booth, lived next door. They would do anything for each other but everything shifted on that fateful day when Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were stabbed fourteen times with a pair of scissors in what has become the most talked about double murder of the modern age.The girls were aged ten and twelve at the time. One, nicknamed the Angel of Death, spent eight years in a children’s secure unit accused of the brutal killings. The other lived in foster care out of the limelight and prying questions. Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down one of the sisters, persuading her to speak about the events of that night for the first time.Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and Brinley Booth, now a journalist, is tasked with covering the news story which brings to light fresh evidence and triggers a chain of events which will have devastating consequences.
The Gandy Dancer
Jeff Andrews - 2012
His ex-wife is demanding more money. A woman he can’t even remember accuses him of fathering her child. Newspaper reporter Mitch Corsini shrugs and takes another drink. However, when his estranged teenaged daughter mysteriously disappears, his life finally has a purpose: find the child he's neglected for too long and rekindle the love they once shared. Mitch’s quest takes him to the Virginia mountains and his ancestral home. There, he finds himself locked in a life or death struggle to save his daughter as seventy-year-old family secrets and the fate of a long-forgotten railroad worker combine to shatter the very foundations of his world.
Knighthorse
J.R. Rain - 2010
Parker's Spenser and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Dark Horse and The Mummy Case introduce a hard-hitting, wise-cracking hero with a modern twist.DARK HORSEWhen high school student Derrick Booker, the only black student at a posh Orange County high school, is accused of killing his white girlfriend, ex-college football hero and detective Jim Knighthorse is hired to dig a little deeper into the murder. It doesn't take long for Knighthorse to realize that not all is as it seems at tranquil Huntington High, from a band director who preys on the innocent to a vice-principal with a secret agenda of her own. Not to mention someone's hired a professional killer to keep Knighthorse permanently off the case. As the investigation continues, Knighthorse's personal life is shattered by the discovery of new evidence relating to his mother's unsolved murder, a murder dating back twenty years. Reeling from the discovery, a determined Jim Knighthorse sets out to bring two killers to justice.THE MUMMY CASEPrivate investigator Jim Knighthorse takes on a very, very cold case. When historian Willie Clarke dies of mysteriously of dehydration in the California deserts, ex-football hero Jim Knighthorse is hired to dig a little deeper―and discovers a shocking connection to one of the West's oldest mysteries. Over a hundred years ago, an unnamed cowboy was murdered in the California desert and, due to freak weather conditions, would become mummified within twenty-four hours. Now known to the world as Sylvester the Mummy and displayed in a creepy curiosity shop, Sylvester and historian Willie Clarke will be forever linked in mystery. That is, unless private investigator Jim Knighthorse can survive long enough to untangle one of the West's greatest unsolved murders. **Acclaim for the Novels of J.R. Rain**"Gripping, adventurous, and romantic―J.R. Rain's The Lost Ark is a breakneck thriller that traces the thread of history from Biblical stories to current-day headlines. Be prepared to lose sleep!"―JAMES ROLLINS, international bestselling author of Altar of Eden and The Doomsday Key"Dark Horse is one of the best books I've read in a long time! A great classic detective story with a modern twist. Unique and interesting characters (I think I'm half in love with Jim Knighthorse now!), a great plot that kept me guessing until the end, and some of the funniest lines I've read anywhere."―GEMMA HALLIDAY, author of Deadly Cool and Play Dead"Impossible to put down. J.R. Rain's Moon Dance is a fabulous urban fantasy."―APRIL VINE, author of The Midnight Rose and Blindfolded by Lust"Moon Dance is absolutely brilliant!"―LISA TENZIN-DOLMA, author of Understanding the Planetary Myths and The Dolphin Experience"Moon Dance is a must read. If you like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, be prepared to love J. R. Rain's Samantha Moon, vampire private investigator.
The Last Train Home
Tony Wilson - 2012
Their lives are worlds apart, yet inextricably linked. In this captivating twist on a seasonal tale, the three men are brought together on the last train home and given their chance at redemption. But will they take it? Always gripping, sometimes sad, yet ultimately uplifting, don’t miss your place on The Last Train Home.