Book picks similar to
The Little Lies by Valerie Keogh
mystery
psychological-thriller
thriller
5-stars
The Silent Daughter
Claire Amarti - 2020
Blonde hair waterfalling over her shoulders, serious eyes, lips a little parted like she's about to speak. That's when I realize I've been holding my breath, because the gasp when I inhale almost chokes me.Sadie Kelly has lost her job. Until last month, she was a teacher at Horton College – the same high school she went to ten years ago along with her best friend, Fiona. But Fiona died in an accident on their graduation night, in circumstances Sadie's spent the last ten years trying to forget, and since then nothing's been the same.Now Sadie's back in the small Connecticut town where she grew up, jobless and living temporarily with Fiona's mother. But when she hears that a Horton schoolgirl has gone missing, everything changes. Because the missing girl is Devon Hundley - daughter of Philip Hundley, a man Sadie knows all too well…
Blame
Patricia Dixon - 2021
Hoping for a fresh start in France she unexpectedly and inconveniently falls in love. Unbeknown to Frankie, back in England, the wheels of fate are set in motion when Herbert Dunne, a convicted murderer, is released from prison.When he moves in with Margaret, a woman who he has formed an unlikely relationship with, their dark sides gradually emerge allowing inner demons to blossom. News of Herbert’s release once again rocks the small village of Elkdale and as they remember the young woman he murdered, old scars are reopened. But what is Herbert hoping to achieve by stirring up the past?Soon, bitter emotions surface and someone seeks revenge. Someone who is going to make sure they all pay the price…
Scars
Dan Scottow - 2021
Is the house haunted or is something far more sinister living within the walls?As secrets and lies begin to unravel, Lucy starts to question what is real. But one thing seems certain, if scars cannot heal, people will never forgive…
The Only Child
Miranda Rijks - 2021
One little lie. Where will it end?Chantal and Stuart are a golden couple. She’s a high-flying divorce lawyer dealing with the biggest case of her career, and he’s the darling of daytime television, on the cusp of A list celebrity. Their seventeen-year old son Alex is a passionate environmentalist, the apple of his mother’s eye.And it’s all built on a lie.A lie told by Chantal.When someone discovers her secret and starts to blackmail her, Chantal’s perfect life threatens to go into freefall. Her marriage, her career, and even her relationship with her son are at stake. She can’t let it happen!She decides to fight fire with fire, but soon finds her actions have extreme - and unexpected - consequences. As she is pulled ever deeper into a web of lies and deceit, she has to ask the most terrifying question of all…Where will it end?
The Surrogate
Louise Jensen - 2017
Then a chance encounter with Kat’s childhood friend Lisa gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream. But Kat and Lisa’s history hides dark secrets. And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye. As dangerous cracks start to appear in Kat’s perfect picture of happily-ever-after, she realises that she must face her fear of the past to save her family…
The Teacher
Katerina Diamond - 2016
It meant the end.As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?SMART. GRIPPING. GRUESOME.This is a psychological crime thriller in a class of its own.WARNING: Most definitely not for the faint-hearted!
My Secret Sister
Lauren Westwood - 2021
I should have made the bargain, paid the price – anything to avoid being right here, right now.A voice whispers in my head that I can’t silence. This is all your fault. You killed her. It’s her voice, the one I hear in my nightmares. The woman who stole my memories, the woman who stole my life. And, this time, I know she’s right.”How far would you go to save your child?Claire is living every mother’s worst nightmare. Her daughter, Jess, has been diagnosed with a rare illness and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. With no match on the registry, Claire turns to a charismatic geneticist for help and embarks on a Genetic Journey to seek a familial match for her daughter.On the other side of the country, Marianne suffers her eighth miscarriage. Her perfect life is rotting underneath, but she is determined to do whatever it takes to have a baby.When DNA test results reveal that Claire and Marianne are half-sisters, Claire must face the dark lies of the past and make impossible choices about the future. Is her secret sister the answer to her prayers, or will she cost her everything?My Secret Sister is a tense and emotional family drama with a moral dilemma at its heart. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult, and John Marr’s The One will be gripped.
The Nanny
Gilly Macmillan - 2019
Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.
Flowers for the Dead
Barbara Copperthwaite - 2015
EVEN IF IT KILLS YOU.Adam Bourne is a serial killer who thinks he is a saviour. When he murders young women and cuts off their lips, he believes he has done it to make them happy. How did he become warped from the sensitive four-year-old who adored his gran and the fairy tales she read to him? What turned him into a monster who stalks his victims? And what is he trying to say with the bouquets he sends? When he meets Laura Weir, Adam weaves a fairy tale romance around them. A tale she has no idea she is part of. As he hatches his twisted plan for their fairy tale ending, can anyone stop him before he creates the ultimate sacrifice to love?
A Familiar Sight
Brianna Labuskes - 2021
Gretchen White is a specialist in antisocial personality disorders and violent crimes. She’s helped solve enough prominent cases for detective Patrick Shaughnessy that her own history is often overlooked: Gretchen is an admitted sociopath once suspected of killing her aunt. Shaughnessy still thinks Gretchen got away with murder. It’s not going to happen again.When a high-profile new case lands on Shaughnessy’s desk, it seems open and shut. Remorseless teenager Viola Kent is accused of killing her mother. Amid stories of childhood horrors and Viola’s cruel manipulations, the bad seed has already been found guilty by a rapt public. But Gretchen might be seeing something in Viola no one else does: herself.If Viola is a scapegoat, then who really did it? And what are they hiding? To find the truth, Gretchen must enter a void that is not only dark and cold-blooded, but also frighteningly familiar.
Silent Victim
Caroline Mitchell - 2018
But the truth can’t stay hidden for long.Emma is a loving wife, a devoted mother…and an involuntary killer. For years she’s been hiding the dead body of the teacher who seduced her as a teen.It’s a secret that might have stayed buried if only her life had been less perfect. A promotion for Emma’s husband, Alex, means they can finally move to a bigger home with their young son. But with a buyer lined up for their old house, Emma can’t leave without destroying every last trace of her final revenge…Returning to the shallow grave in the garden, she finds it empty. The body is gone.Panicked, Emma confesses to her husband. But this is only the beginning. Soon, Alex will discover things about her he’ll wish he’d learned sooner. And others he’ll long to forget.
The Mistake
K.L. Slater - 2017
But one discovery can change everything… Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead. Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy’s death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother? Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him… and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down. Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger…
Lies People Tell
Liam Hanson - 2019
A vicious killer on the loose. When DCI Bran Reece is called to the bloody crime scene of a brutally murdered woman, he thinks the case is his. And when the victim turns out to be the sister of his nemesis; believes the local gangster must be somehow involved.The new Chief Superintendent has other ideas. She sees the recently widowed Reece as a volatile risk-taker and puts him on leave, forcing him to watch from the sidelines. Or so she thinks. DS Elan Jenkins soon realises her boss’s replacement is out of his depth and takes matters into her own hands. But Elan has unknowingly put herself and others in grave danger.With the body count rising, can Reece and Jenkins overcome their personal issues and do what’s right? Even when the truth might be closer to home than either of them is willing to admit.
Those People
Louise Candlish - 2019
The houses are beautiful, the neighbors get along, and the kids play together on weekends.But when Darren and Jodie move into the house on the corner, they donʼt follow the rules. They blast music at all hours, begin an unsightly renovation, and run a used-car business from their yard. It doesn't take long for an all-out war to start brewing.Then, early one Saturday, a horrific death shocks the street. As police search for witnesses, accusations start flying--and everyone has something to hide.
The Playdate
Victoria Jenkins - 2021
Child’s play. Preparing the house was more difficult. It was only now she realised how many photographs there were: the picture-perfect unit. Wife, husband, child. All of it a lie.I made a new friend at playgroup today. She’s different from the other mothers. She feels like someone I can trust. Someone I can confide in.But there are some things I can’t tell her. Things I can’t tell anyone.Because I have a secret that no one else knows. One that still haunts my dreams, wakes me up in cold sweat at night.Even another mother would never understand. Unless, of course, she’s hiding something too…From the bestselling author of The Argument, this utterly addictive psychological thriller will have you hooked from the first page to the final, mind-blowing twist. Fans of Friend Request, The Silent Patient and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!