Book picks similar to
Smile by Matt Shaw


horror
short-stories
matt-shaw
mystery

Apple Tree Yard


Louise Doughty - 2013
    The charge is murder. Before all of this, she was happily married, a successful scientist, a mother of two. Now she's a suspect, squirming under fluorescent lights and the penetrating gaze of the alleged accomplice who's sitting across from her, watching: a man who's also her lover. As Yvonne faces hostile questioning, she must piece together the story of her affair with this unnamed figure who has charmed and haunted her. This is a tale of sexual intrigue, ruthless urges, and danger, which has blindsided her from a seemingly innocuous angle. Here in the courtroom, everything hinges on one night in a dark alley called Apple Tree Yard.

The First Day of Spring


Nancy Tucker - 2021
    "That was all it took for me to feel like I had all the power in the world. One morning, one moment, one yellow-haired boy. It wasn't so much after all."Meet Chrissie... Chrissie is eight and she has a secret: she has just killed a boy. The feeling made her belly fizz like soda pop. Her playmates are tearful and their mothers are terrified, keeping them locked indoors. But Chrissie rules the roost -- she's the best at wall-walking, she knows how to get free candy, and now she has a feeling of power that she never gets at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer.Twenty years later, adult Chrissie is living in hiding under a changed name. A single mother, all she wants is for her daughter to have the childhood she herself was denied. That's why the threatening phone calls are so terrifying. People are looking for them, the past is catching up, and Chrissie fears losing the only thing in this world she cares about, her child.

Child of the Ghosts


Jonathan Moeller - 2011
    She learns the secrets of disguise and stealth, of assassination and infiltration.But even that might not be enough to save her.For the evil that destroyed her family seeks to devour the entire world...

Just One Night


Lexi Ryan - 2012
    Addison Duval has a secret. A delicious, broad-shouldered, six-foot-three secret with hot eyes, rough hands and a rougher past. Charming, handsome, and off-limits, Chase Montgomery is the only man she’s wanted since her father lured him out of a back alley Louisville chop shop to take a job in their tiny town of Decadence Creek. After Chase finally takes her up on her old proposition that they spend a night together, will Addison let him risk everything so they can be together more than JUST ONE NIGHT? Caution: This 10,000-word short story contains explicit sex scenes and second chances.

Dane


Liliana Hart - 2011
    It's been ten years since he left the woman he loved behind to make a name for himself, and now he's bound and determined to claim her once and for all.But Charlotte Munroe has no desire to welcome home the Prodigal Son with a fatted calf. The bitterness of Dane's betrayal runs deep, and she has no plans of letting him back into her life.Especially since she's trying to protect the son Dane isn't aware exists from heartbreak, since she's sure he's only going to walk out of their lives again.

The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex


Tamsyn Muir - 2020
    For the bookish academics of the Sixth, every secret is a mystery, and every mystery is a puzzle to be solved or a paper to be published. Deep in the bowels of their house, one such secret is about to reveal itself. The study of the famed academic Donald Sex, sealed since the moment of his death, is about to open, and archivists are ready to dissect what he left behind. They are not ready for the macabre surprise that awaits them.Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.

Pieces of Lies


Angela Richardson - 2013
    Her move allows her to reconnect with Josh, her best friend, who is more then thrilled at Norah's appearance back into his life. At the same time that Norah steps back into Josh's heart, she learns that he is in the process of being accepted into McLaren's uber exclusive secret society, the 'Lappell'. Josh takes Norah to the Lappell's glamorous parties in the hope of taking their friendship to the next level, but when Norah meets the handsome and elusive Clint Weston, a leader in the Lappell, he sweeps her off her feet in more ways then one. Norah quickly becomes caught up in an emotional tug-of-war between the two guys while also trying to deal with her own secrets that follow her every day. When Norah's past begins to intertwine with her present, what unfolds is a series of dramatic events filled with romance, mystery and dark motivations. She quickly realizes the path to real love can be paved in all kinds of lies.*NOTE: This is a new adult novel with some mature sexual content.

The Last Thing to Burn


Will Dean - 2021
    On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago. When she discovers she is pregnant, she resolves to protect her child no matter the cost, and starts to meticulously plan her escape. But when another woman is brought into the fold on the farm, her plans go awry. Can she save herself, her child, and this innocent woman at the same time? Or is she doomed to spend the remainder of her life captive on this farm? Intense, dark, and utterly gripping The Last Thing to Burn is a breathtaking thriller from an author to watch.

The Murder House


James Patterson - 2015
    7 Ocean Drive is a gorgeous, multi-million-dollar beachfront estate in the Hamptons, where money and privilege know no bounds. But its beautiful gothic exterior hides a horrific past: it was the scene of a series of depraved killings that have never been solved. Neglected, empty, and rumored to be cursed, it's known as the Murder House, and locals keep their distance. Detective Jenna Murphy used to consider herself a local, but she hasn't been back since she was a girl. Trying to escape her troubled past and rehabilitate a career on the rocks, the former New York City cop hardly expects her lush and wealthy surroundings to be a hotbed of grisly depravity. But when a Hollywood power broker and his mistress are found dead in the abandoned Murder House, the gruesome crime scene rivals anything Jenna experienced in Manhattan. And what at first seems like an open and shut case turns out to have as many shocking secrets as the Murder House itself, as Jenna quickly realizes that the mansion's history is much darker than even the town's most salacious gossips could have imagined. As more bodies surface, and the secret that Jenna has tried desperately to escape closes in on her, she must risk her own life to expose the truth--before the Murder House claims another victim.Full of the twists and turns that have made James Patterson the world's #1 bestselling writer, The Murder House is a chilling, page-turning story of murder, money, and revenge.

Disarm


June Gray - 2012
    Unfortunately, Henry has only ever treated her like a younger sister, stepping into her brother's shoes after he was killed in action.That is, until one night, when one dance ignites a sensual fire between the two, leaving Elsie aroused and confused. Is she allowed to lust after her surrogate big brother who also happens to be her roommate?But Henry, an Air Force officer, has been harboring two secrets--one will bring them together and the other will tear them apart--and it is up to Elsie to decide if their relationship is worth fighting for.

The Secret Stealers


Jane Healey - 2021
    Everything changes when she’s recruited into the Office of Strategic Services by family friend and legendary WWI hero Major General William Donovan.Donovan has faith in her—and in all his “glorious amateurs” who are becoming Anna’s fast friends: Maggie, Anna’s down-to-earth mentor; Irene, who’s struggling to find support from her husband for her clandestine life; and Julia, a cheerful OSS liaison. But the more Anna learns about the organization’s secret missions, the more she longs to be stationed abroad. Then comes the opportunity: go undercover as a spy in the French Resistance to help steal critical intelligence that could ultimately turn the tide of the war.Dispatched behind enemy lines and in constant danger, Anna is filled with adrenaline, passion, and fear. She’s driven to make a difference—for her country and for herself. Whatever the risk, she’s willing to take it to help liberate France from the shadows of occupation and to free herself from the shadows of her former life.

Birthday Girl


Haruki Murakami - 2002
    She always worked Fridays, but if things had gone according to plan on that particular Friday, she would have had the night off. One rainy Tokyo night, a waitress’s uneventful twentieth birthday takes a strange and fateful turn when she’s asked to deliver dinner to the restaurant’s reclusive owner. Birthday Girl is a beguiling, exquisitely satisfying taste of master storytelling, published to celebrate Murakami’s 70th birthday.

Temporary Arrangement


Karen Erickson - 2013
    Who hires a virtual stranger out of a New York City coffee shop to care for their adorable grandson? Apparently Claudia Renaldi does.Widower Matteo Renaldi isn't pleased that his mother found a replacement nanny so soon after he fired the last one. Yet little Matty takes to Paige like no other nanny before. And Matteo can't deny he's quite taken with her as well. She's beautiful, sweet, and far, "far" too young for him.There's something about the gorgeously sexy Matteo that fills Paige with longing to break through his wall of formality and touch his softer side. But no one knows better than she that crushing on her boss is one thing. Acting on those feelings is forbidden. Foolish.InevitableWarning: Sexy, grumpy Italian hero who is determined to keep his walls up. No matter how much his son's sweetly beautiful nanny drives him to distraction

True Places


Sonja Yoerg - 2019
    As Suzanne rushes her to the hospital, she never imagines how the encounter will change her—a change she both fears and desperately needs.Suzanne has the perfect house, a successful husband, and a thriving family. But beneath the veneer of an ideal life, her daughter is rebelling, her son is withdrawing, her husband is oblivious to it all, and Suzanne is increasingly unsure of her place in the world. After her discovery of the ethereal sixteen-year-old who has never experienced civilization, Suzanne is compelled to invite Iris into her family’s life and all its apparent privileges.But Iris has an independence, a love of solitude, and a discomfort with materialism that contrasts with everything the Blakemores stand for—qualities that awaken in Suzanne first a fascination, then a longing. Now Suzanne can’t help but wonder: Is she destined to save Iris, or is Iris the one who will save her?

In Servitude


Heleen Kist - 2018
    She discovers Glory was indebted to a local crime lord and laundering money through her café. What’s worse, Grace is now forced to take over.Defying her anxiety, Grace will stop at nothing to save herself and those Glory left behind from the clutches of Glasgow’s underworld. But her plans unravel when more family secrets emerge and Grace is driven to question everything she believed about her sister – even her death.Could Glory’s accident have been murder?