Book picks similar to
The Elemental by Heather Atkinson
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The Past We Run From: A Yorkshire Murder Mystery
Meg Jolly - 2021
A child killer on the loose. Time is running out.When a toddler goes missing in the middle of a bustling Bradford park in broad daylight, Detective Daniel Ward is put on the case. It ought to be an open and shut investigation; but the hours tick by, and Millie Thompson is nowhere to be found.There’s only one conclusion DI Ward can come to: she was taken.When a known child-killer is spotted in the vicinity, Ward fears the worst. Has this infamous monster struck again, right under his nose?He has to catch up with the only lead he has, before the infamous Hunters - merciless, vigilante, justice seekers who will seek retribution at any cost - catch up with his suspect first.If they do, DI Ward may never find Millie alive again.‘I raced through this book in one sitting. A compelling and intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages with a cast of complex and diverse characters and a gritty Northern setting. Highly recommended.’ — Imogen Clark, #1 Amazon Bestselling AuthorSet in the diverse, beautiful, and historical city of Bradford, The Past We Run From is the first in the DI Ward crime thriller series from debut crime novelist Meg Jolly. Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, Dave Gatward, and JE Mayhew, join DI Ward today on a twisting race to solve the case.
The Longing
Jane Asher - 1997
Was that so much to ask? A baby to nourish in her body, to give birth with pain and pleasure, to adore. A baby to suckle and care for, to clean and cuddle and comfort. A baby to make her whole and complete. But her womb was empty and its emptiness filled her days and her nights, invaded her dreams, determined every waking thought. A baby. All she wanted was a baby…
The Rope
Stephen Leather - 2015
The short story also appears in the collection Spider Shepherd: SAS Volume 2.
Sidekick to Obsession in Death
Anna Gooding-Call - 2015
Robb’s Obsession in Death? Immerse yourself in her world and discover hidden treasures with this Sidekick. Warning: This is an independent companion to Obsession in Death, meant to enhance your experience of the novel. If you have not yet bought J.D. Robb’s novel, make sure to purchase it before buying this unofficial Sidekick. A murderer has his eyes on Lieutenant Eve Dallas—but not for the reasons you might think. He considers himself her greatest fan, and he just wants to show her how much he likes her . . . with the bodies of those who have wronged or opposed her in the past. As the killings continue, Dallas must race against time to unravel the mystery—before love turns to hate. Obsession in Death is the fortieth book in J.D. Robb’s bestselling In Death series. With this Sidekick, you’ll: • Spend some more time with the characters you’ve come to know and love • Learn what you might have missed on your first read of Robb’s novel • Uncover some of the novel’s hidden gems and underlying themes • Explore possible alternate endings and imagine ideas for a sequel • Get a chance to discuss Obsession in Death with other savvy readers on our Goodreads forum Sidekicks are entertaining and insightful reading companions, filled with delightful commentary and thought-provoking questions. What are readers saying about Anna Call's Sidekicks? "Makes the book much more interesting," "a real eye-opener," a "beautifully written perspective into what is actually happening between the lines." Designed to be read side by side with the novels they complement, they’ll give you even more reasons to love some of today’s best books.
Whispers Beneath the Pines
Carla Kovach - 2014
The group plan to have one last adventure before they have to finally succumb to adulthood. What they think will be a week of sun, parties and romance soon becomes more sinister when they take a trip to the mountainous province of Mügla for the day. Eve soon realises that things are not what they seem. She sees that something isn’t right but her friends are oblivious. Can she convince them all before it’s too late? Suitable for adults only.
The DCI Isaac Cook Thriller Series: Books 1 - 6: The Complete Series
Phillip Strang - 2017
Six Edge of Your Seat Thrillers. Six Books at a Discounted Price. Over One Hundred Five Star Reviews.
Murder is a Tricky Business (Book 1) -There’s a secret, that much is certain, but who knows?
The missing actress? The executive producer, his eavesdropping assistant? Or the actor who portrayed her fictional brother on the Soap Opera? Why has DCI Cook been taken away from more important crimes to search for the woman? It’s not the first time she’s gone missing, and why does everyone assume she’s been murdered?
Murder House (Book 2) - A corpse in the fireplace of an old house. It's been there for thirty years, but who is it?
It's clearly murder, and what connection does the body have to the previous owners of the house? It was bound to be discovered eventually but was that what the murderer wanted? The main suspects are all old and dying, or already dead. There's a motive, but what is it? Those who know are not talking out of an old-fashioned belief in that a family's dirty laundry is not to be aired in public, and certainly not to a policeman - even if that means the murderer is never brought to justice! Murder is Only a Number (Book 3) - Before she left she carved a number in blood on his chest. But why the number 2, if this was her first murder? And why is she keeping count? The woman prowls London. She kills at will. Her targets are men who have wronged her, or have they? DCI Cook knows who she is, at least after she has killed the first four, but the woman disappears in plain sight. The pressure’s on to stop her, but she’s always one step ahead.
Murder in Little Venice (Book 4) - A dismembered corpse floats in a canal in London. Isaac Cook is baffled as to why it’s there. Is it gang-related, or is it something more?
Whatever the reason, it’s clearly a warning, and Isaac and his team are sure it’s not the last body that they’ll have to deal with.
Murder is the Only Option (Book 5) - A man, thought to be long dead, returns to exact revenge against those who had blighted his life. His only concern is to protect his wife and daughter. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim.
‘Big Greg, I never expected to see you around here at this time of night.’ ‘I’ve told you enough times.’ ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ Robertson replied. He looked up at the man, only to see a metal pole coming down at him. Robertson fell down, cracking his head against a concrete kerb. The two vagrants, no more than twenty feet away, did not stir and did not even look in the direction of the noise. If they had, they would have seen a dead body, another man walking away.
Murder Without Reason (Book 6) - Before she left she carved a number in blood on his chest.
The Credit Draper
J. David Simons - 2008
Avram Escovitz, a young Jew, arrives in Glasgow from Russia. He dreams of playing football until WWI intervenes and he begins work as a credit draper, peddling goods to Highlanders. A stranger in a strange land, Avram must set up a new business and capture the heart of a Highland lass. But how easy will it be to shake off his Jewish roots?
Jealousy Junction
Cathryn Grant - 2021
My organic grocery store was thriving; I had a charming and tender new guy in my life who was looking like he might be the real deal. And then my estranged sister reappeared in my life. I couldn’t have been happier.Until I wasn’t. Someone was stalking me. My sister was flirting with my boyfriend, and I was pretty sure he was flirting back.Someone was dead, and everyone might be lying.Welcome to Liar’s Island… a stand-alone series of interconnected, novella-length domestic thrillers set in the picture-perfect community of Liars Island. Here, nothing is quite as it seems.On this island, families and friendships are more than meets the eye … secrets, deceptions, and jealousies threaten to ruin everything these influential people have built. But it isn’t only the rich that live here … and power comes in all shapes and sizes.Everyone here is a liar … just how far would you go to get what you want?
Who'll Stop The Rain
Don Donovan - 2016
The cemetery loomed in its eternal silence on our right, and I felt the eyes of the dead opening under heavy lids to watch us pass by in the rainy night, somehow knowing we were on our way to do murder, to send them some company." From the mean streets of Miami, Hialeah, and Key West comes this sprawling noir novel of three hardened individuals: LOGAN, career criminal from Key West who is fed up with his outlaw life, but can't escape it. MAMBO DeLIMA, gambling boss of Key West, who is being muscled by out-of-town racketeers and is determined to face them down. SILVANA MACHADO, the first female detective sergeant in the Miami PD's homicide division, who gets her results through violence and intimidation. In this first entry in The Miami Crime Trilogy, Don Donovan has spun a tale of separate South Florida characters whose lives are woven together into a web of money, betrayal, and murder. "... classic noir, written as noir was intended to be written." -- David Beckwith, Key West Citizen
Man Found Dead in Park
Margaret Coel - 2017
I love Margaret Coel’s writing because there’s never a misplaced step. She balances two opposing cultures with little room for compromise, which is good because this chick works without a safety net. It’s human nature, or certainly the nature of writers, to analyze another’s work when reading it, in an attempt to take the story apart like an acrobatic trick—kick off your shoes and try it out. Every once in a while you second guess them and follow them out onto that tightrope just to find where they might’ve slipped up, but Margaret never does and just when you think she has she’ll turn and wink, so keep reading. Like Catherine McLeod, the reporter protagonist of Man Found Dead in Park, Margaret embraces both the mainstream and native cultures, all the while maintaining the aspect of her writing that transcends the genre with a deep understanding of human nature. When a man is found dead in an Indian section of Denver where no one is talking, McLeod finds herself in conflict with Mexican drug cartels and an investigation that leads north into Wyoming's Wind River Reservation and what turns out to be her roots. Transformative for both McLeod and the reader, the width and breath of the story is easy to miss, because Coel’s writing has a heady narrative that holds a sense of wonder and romance—a place that a lot of other writers fear to tread. I sometimes wonder if she knows how good she is, but I think probably not. The humility of a few artists is what keeps them grounded, and even when she’s out there flying high, I’m pretty sure she has her head up but is feeling every twitch of the story through the soles of her feet. Navigating with the finesse of a Flying Wallenda, Coel never misses a thing, because the devil is in the details, and like her character, Detective Nick Bustamante, Margaret knows that these indiscernible little slights of hand are the thing that makes for great drama under the Big Top. So join Margaret Coel out onto that high wire where she works without a safety net. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out there will be moments of insecurity, thoughts that will disconcert, and you might be tempted to look down, but don’t. If things get too hairy just reach out and take this daredevil performer’s hand, and she’ll grin that signature smile and make sure you make it back to safety. --Craig Johnson
Better Days
June Tate - 2000
Life would be good if it wasn't for her mother, Eve, who likes more to drink than is good for her. And when Gemma's dad walks out and Eve starts bringing strange men home, Gemma doesn't know where to turn. Desperate to escape, she seizes the opportunity to be a stewardess on the Queen Mary, voyaging to and from New York. When she discovers that Nick is also on board, it seems an affirmation that she made the right decision. But a chance encounter with Vince Morelli, a gang boss in the New York docks, looks set to jeopardise her newfound happiness.
The Consortium: Crime fiction from the heart of Wales (The Welsh crime mysteries Book 2)
Nicola Clifford - 2021
Teesside Steal
John Nicholson - 2013
His dad has just died, he’s being made bankrupt, he’s getting evicted, his girlfriend has left him and Middlesbrough are 2-0 down in the UEFA Cup. But there’s a way out. His father has bequeathed him a huge inheritance, if only he can find out where it is. As he tries to repair his relationship with Julie and deal with the ghosts of his dysfunctional upbringing, he discovers his dad isn’t the man he thought he was. Soon it becomes obvious something very strange has happened and Nick begins to doubt that his dad is even dead at all. As he searches for the truth, he is plunged into a world of theft, greed and brutal murder. Soon, as the Boro play a huge European game, he will have to fight for his and Julie’s life on the windswept sand dunes of Saltburn. Teesside Steal is set in Teesside and North Yorkshire and is the first in the Nick Guymer series of mysteries. It is a story of upbringing, inheritance and UEFA Cup football.
Snatched From Home: What Would You Do To Save Your Children?
Graham Smith - 2015
Penniless and desperate the couple turn to crime as a way to raise the ransom. Hot on their heels is recently bereaved DI Harry Evans and his Major Crimes team. Evans is fighting against enforced retirement and his replacement – DI John Campbell – is foisted upon him along with other cases. If he must leave the police then he wants one last big case before he goes. In a race against time Victoria and Nicholas must evade the police while continuing to add to the ransom fund. If they don’t pay up on time the kidnappers have threatened to amputate their children’s limbs with an oxy-acetylene torch. Can they save their children before time runs out?
Ed's Dead
Russel D. McLean - 2017
She works in a bookshop and likes the odd glass of Prosecco... oh, and she’s about to be branded The Most Dangerous Woman in Scotland.
Jen Carter is a failed writer with a rubbish boyfriend, Ed. That is, until she accidentally kills him one night. Now that Ed’s dead, she has to decide what to do with his body, his drugs and a big pile of cash. And, more pressingly, how to escape the hitman who’s been sent to recover Ed’s stash. Soon Jen’s on the run from criminals, corrupt police officers and the prying eyes of the media. Who can she trust? And how can she convince them that the trail of corpses left in her wake are just accidental deaths?
A modern noir that proves, once and for all, the female of the species really is more deadly than the male.