Book picks similar to
The Lost Brother by Susanna Beard
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I Always Wanted to be a Spy
Judith A. Barrett - 2019
A heart-wrenching murder changes her life forever, and Maggie transforms from prey to predator. Will the librarian with the soul of a spy and the unusual support team stop the desperate kingpin or will she become the latest victim? It all comes down to kill or be killed.
Bitter Past
Caroline Fardig - 2017
Three years ago, criminalist Ellie Matthews was blindsided when a grisly homicide case suddenly became personal. She abandoned the danger and stress of crime scene investigation for a professorship at a posh private college and never looked back. Now, Ellie’s pleasant world is shattered when she finds the dead body of a female student. The campus is in chaos, reporters are circling like vultures, and Ellie is trying her best to distance herself from the situation. Not an easy task when her closest colleague becomes the prime suspect. After the college community is rocked by another suspicious death, Ellie’s mentor, Sheriff Jayne Walsh, convinces her to consult on the case. Partnered with quick-witted Detective Nick Baxter, Ellie reluctantly bottles up her personal demons and dives back into the world she left behind, racing to make sense of the evidence before the killer strikes again.
A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery Collection Books 1 - 3: End of the Lane, Be Still My Heart and The Last Ride
Sonia Parin - 2018
Instead of writing about the weekend bake sale, she has to give a statement to the police. It seems the small town of Eden is not the idyllic place she'd imagined it to be. There's a killer on the lose but the finger of suspicion is pointed at Abby. Be Still My Heart (Book 2) Abby Maguire is in a rut and in desperate need of a scoop, not another dead body, but that’s what she gets. After witnessing an altercation between two Eden Thespian rivals, Abby Maguire, the town’s new reporter, hopes the annual Eden picnic fundraiser will be the perfect venue for her to witness some fireworks. Everyone has turned up, and everyone is dressed in 1920s costumes, including the dead body she finds. The Last Ride (Book 3) A carousel. A body. An inheritance. Eden’s local café owner, Joyce Breeland, has issued Abby Maguire an ultimatum - the small-town newspaper reporter must find the identity of the Eden Bloggess or be banned from Joyce’s café. Functioning on limited coffee rations, Abby Maguire goes in search of this elusive blogger only to stumble upon a body and a mysterious inheritance. There’s a killer on the loose and he might be working his way through a list… I LOVE this book. The writing flowed, the story drew me in immediately and the characters were incredibly likable. Abby flies halfway around the world to start a new life as a small-town newspaper reporter in Australia. Her first assignment is supposed to be about cake, of all things, but instead she finds herself investigating the murder of her new boss. This is sincerely the perfect cozy mystery. It is fast-paced, lighthearted, fun and engaging. I will be keeping my eye out for more books by Sonia Parin. (End of the Lane) Amazon Reviewer A hilarious cozy!!! I love Doyle! A small town, a reporter and a dog. Throw in murder and stir with a lot of sugar Well written with a good story line (Be Still My Heart) Amazon Reviewer I love this writer and especially this series in Australia. The characters are real and funny. They relate to each other. There is consistency between the books. (The Last Ride) Amazon Reviewer
Shadow of Doubt
S.L. Beaumont - 2019
Lacking support from her husband in the aftermath, she turns to her new work colleague Will Johnston for comfort, setting her personal and professional lives on a collision course with unforeseen and explosive consequences.Jessica barely has time to recover before another tragedy hits: her beloved father suddenly dies of a heart attack in Edinburgh, and she rushes to her mother’s side to comfort her.Waiting for Jessica in her father’s personal effects are instructions in code and the key to a safety deposit box. As she follows the clues her father left behind, Jessica uncovers secrets that will upend the foundations of her life—and put her in grave danger.Forced from her home and job, Jessica flees to the Scottish coast where she tries to piece together a terrifying conspiracy that has personal and global implications. Can she stop events that could topple the political establishment of the country? Or will terror succeed?
Gone (Connor Callahan Book 1)
Reagan Keeter - 2021
He knocks out Connor's father, tasers his mother, and then, as quick as he came, he is gone.The police quickly exhaust their leads. No ransom call comes. And Connor takes it upon himself to find his parents before it is too late. That quest, however, is complicated when he crosses paths with a group of anarchists bent on causing chaos in New York City. And their plan, Connor learns, is not only related to the abductions, it will also upend everything he thought he knew about his family.
Death of a Mermaid
Lesley Thomson - 2020
But now her parents are dead, and she's back in her hometown to help her brothers manage the family fishmonger. Nothing here has changed: the stink of fish coming up from the marshes; the shopping trolleys half-buried by muddy tides; the neighbours sniffing for a new piece of gossip. It's not what Freddy would have chosen, but at least while she's here she'll get to see her childhood best friends, Toni and Mags. At school, the three of them were inseparable. The teachers called them the Mermaids for their obsession with the sea, and with each other. Then Mags goes missing, and Freddy must decide. Go back home to her new life, or stay in Newhaven and find her friend?
A Deadly Vice (DC Jake Tanner, #0.5)
Jack Probyn - 2021
So when a body is found face-down in the city’s farmlands, head crushed, split in two, Jake jumps at the opportunity. The victim is soon identified as Zeke Harrison. A successful businessman and philanthropist. A man who had it all. But, as the investigation into his death develops, it becomes clear that Zeke had more secrets than success. And he had his debts - debts that got him killed.But now they've been passed on to someone else. And Jake must find out to whom before history repeats itself.
A Simple Lie
Mary Bush - 2019
With foreclosure looming she acts in desperation, lying to get a position as an assistant to the county medical examiner. Val’s relieved. She won’t be homeless. But Val didn’t count on the lie trapping her in a dangerous game with a killer. Val quickly becomes involved in the case of Francine Donohue, who disappeared from her neighbourhood and is discovered dead six months later. The bizarre circumstances surrounding the murder are not the first of their kind. With the evidence pointing to a serial killer, and a calling card Val understands, she quickly gets sucked into the case. As Val is pulled in further, the situation takes a darker turn. Someone is aware of the lie she told. Someone who is prepared to kill…
Cold Press
David Bradwell - 2017
Her exposés are legendary, but she's not without her enemies. Now, on the verge of unveiling her biggest ever scoop, she arranges to meet her researcher Danny Churchill, to reveal all over lunch. But Clare never shows, and later that night her car is found abandoned on the hard shoulder of the M25. Worse still, the police investigation is being headed up by DCI Graham March - the embodiment of police corruption and the subject of one of Clare's current investigations.Danny sets out to find Clare, and enlists the help of his spiky flatmate - fashion photographer Anna Burgin. But they soon realise that nobody can be trusted - especially the police. As the search becomes ever more desperate, suddenly their own lives are very much on the line. David Bradwell is a former winner of the PPA British Magazine Writer of the Year Award and has written for publications as diverse as Smash Hits and the Sunday Times. Cold Press is his first novel.
Whisper Cottage
Anne Wyn Clark - 2021
Their new home is run-down compared to their neighbour’s, but generous Mrs Barley quickly becomes a friend. Until Stina sees a mysterious figure in the widow’s garden, and her happy new life begins to unravel. And when she hears strange noises in the night, she is forced to question if Mrs Barley is what she seems. Why do the other villagers whisper about her? Why is she so eager to help the couple? And what is she hiding in her picture-perfect home? A haunting, twisty story about the power of secrets and rumours, perfect for fans of Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key and Lucy Atkins’s Magpie Lane.
Every Little Secret
Sarah Clarke - 2022
Only she knows about the cracks in her picture-perfect life… and the huge secret behind them. After all, who can she trust?Her brother Josh is thousands of miles away, and he and Grace have never been close – he was always their parents’ favourite.Her best friend Coco walked away from her years ago, their friendship irreparably fractured by the choices they’ve made.And her husband Marcus seems like a different man lately. Grace can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something.But when her seven-year-old daughter makes a troubling accusation, Grace must choose between protecting her child and protecting her secret… before she loses everything.
A Marriage of True Minds
Melissa F. Miller - 2013
Miller! Sasha and Connelly are finally getting married! They’ve gathered their closest friends and family at a remote eco-resort in Nicaragua to attend their New Year’s Eve wedding on the beach. It’s romantic. It’s breathtaking. It’s perfect. Until a murderous enemy from their past arranges for armed banditos to storm the resort and take the bride and groom hostage. Till death do us part may come all too soon, unless Sasha, Connelly, and their guests can outwit the mercenaries and reclaim control of the festivities. Note from Melissa: This 18,000-word novella (approximately 75 printed pages) is written for readers who are already hooked on Sasha. If you haven’t read any of the books in this series, you should start with one of the full-length novels first. After all, who wants to attend a stranger’s wedding?
Dark Murder
Helen H. Durrant - 2015
. . why have her eyes have been viciously poked out? Detective Stephen Greco has just started a new job at Oldston CID and now he faces a series of murders with seemingly no connection but the brutal disfigurement of the victims. Greco’s team is falling apart under the pressure and he doesn't know who he can trust. Then they discover a link to a local drug dealer, but maybe it’s not all that it seems. Can Greco get control of his chaotic team and stop the murders? If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Mel Sherratt, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer. DARK MURDER is the first book in a new series of detective thrillers featuring D.I. Greco. Stephen Greco has moved to Oldston after his wife divorced him. He doesn't like the place much but he wants to stay close to their daughter, Matilda. He is a meticulous policeman with a touch of O.C.D. Easy to admire, but sometimes difficult to like. The series is set in the fictional industrial northern English town of Oldston. ALSO AVAILABLE: THE BEST-SELLING BAYLISS & CALLADINE SERIES which first introduced D.I. Greco DEAD WRONG, book one featuring Detectives Bayliss and Calladine is available now! "A bag of severed fingers is found in the playground by a rough housing estate. DEAD SILENT book two in the series. A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . . Police partners D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to catch a vicious serial killer. DEAD LIST book three An unlikely killer with a bucket list of victims . . . This book is the first to introduce D.I Greco
The Next Girl
Carla Kovach - 2018
She was wrong. Deborah Jenkins pulls her coat around her as she sets out on her short walk home in the pouring rain. But she never makes it home that night. And she is never seen again …Four years later, an abandoned baby girl is found wrapped in dirty rags on a doorstep. An anonymous phone call urges the police to run a DNA test on the baby. But nobody is prepared for the results. The newborn belongs to Deborah. She’s still alive.If you love Lisa Gardner, Patricia Gibney and Robert Bryndza, you’ll love this jaw-dropping new crime thriller from Carla Kovach. The Next Girl will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Your Life for Mine
Karen Clarke - 2020
A secret that only those closest to her know.Aged seven, she almost drowned on a family holiday… and a stranger died saving her life. Survivors guilt has been the defining characteristic of her life ever since.So, when Beth receives a threatening text message from an anonymous number on the way to her surprise birthday party, she knows her time is up."Enjoy your birthday, Beth. It’ll be your last."As she arrives at her house, there’s only one thing she knows for certain, someone at the party wants her dead.