Book picks similar to
Taking Lives by Joseph Lewis


indies
jeepers-creepers
stand-alone
sleuths-amateur

Mom Said Kill


Burl Barer - 2008
    The shocking true story of Barbara Opel, a woman who convinced a group of teenagers, including her 13-year-old daughter, to savagely kill her boss.

11 Missed Calls


Elisabeth Carpenter - 2018
    She had dark hair, like mine. 2. She wasn’t very happy at the end.Anna has always believed that her mother, Debbie, died 30 years ago on the night she disappeared.But when her father gets a strange note, she realises that she’s never been told the full story of what happened that night on the cliff.Confused and upset, Anna turns to her husband Jack – but when she finds a love letter from another woman in his wallet, she realises there’s no-one left to help her, least of all her family.And then a body is found…

Moving Targets (Valdemar)


Larry Dixon - 2008
    in a fancy wagon provided by a wealthy father. Then one of them was adopted by a kyree, and then a town asked for help with a problem that seemed to be either demons or ghosts. This story first appeared in Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar in 2008.

Most Wanted Killer


Robert Scott - 2010
      Jesse James Hollywood grew up in LA’s upscale West Hills with every imaginable privilege. By the age of nineteen, he owned a spacious house, a tricked-out car, and a closet full of designer clothes. His high-flying lifestyle was bankrolled by his chosen career: drug dealing.   In 2000, Ben Markowitz, another teen from a “good family,” found himself with a dope tab he couldn’t pay. A standoff between dealer and druggie exploded when Hollywood, along with two young accomplices, spotted Ben’s brother, Nick (15), walking near his parents’ home. Witnesses saw the three men attack Nick, then shove him into a van and drive off. But assault and kidnapping were only the beginning . . .   On the last night of Nick’s life, he was taken to an isolated area outside Santa Barbara known as the Lizard’s Mouth. There, he was shot to death and buried in a shallow grave. But the story was far from over. Because mastermind Jesse James, like his namesake, knew how to run and hide. With his handsome face at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, he lived in luxury—until the long arm of the law reached out to pull him back home for justice.

Letting Go: A true story of murder, loss and survival by Rachel Nickell’s son


Alex Hanscombe - 2014
    A coming-of-age story that begins with a tragedy but ends in optimism, forgiveness and peace.On a beautiful July morning in 1992, just three weeks before his third birthday, Alex Hanscombe and his young mother, Rachel Nickell, went walking on Wimbledon Common. Life was never the same again. Shortly after ten o’clock that morning, Alex was discovered by the side of his mother’s body – she had been assaulted, stabbed forty-nine times in a frenzied attack, and left dead. Alex was the only witness to the attack.Letting Go is Alex’s heartbreaking account of that morning, the aftermath, and the devastating effect on his father, the extended family and the wider community. Alex tells the story of the resulting media storm, the legal cases following and the peace and understanding that he has now found, as a young man. In telling his story, and the truth, this is the last stage of Alex’s incredible journey to letting go.

The Forest Lake Mystery


Palle Rosenkrantz - 1903
    The local magistrate orders the lake to be drained and the body of a young woman is discovered, naked and weighed down with stones tied to her feet and neck. Her identity is a mystery.Holst then takes it upon himself to find out where this woman came from, why she was in this remote location and who could have had motive to kill her. His investigations take him across Scandinavia and into central Europe as, gradually, he realises that the solution to the mystery could have huge implications on his own future.The Forest Lake Mystery, originally published in 1903, is considered to be the very first Danish crime novel and the annual Danish crime writing awards are named in honour of its author, Palle Rosenkrantz.

Unlovely


Carol Walsh Greer - 2013
    The lucky ones live to regret it.Don't misunderstand: it's not that Claudia Milford wants people to get hurt. Claudia wants what's best for everyone; her motives are pure and her goals are noble. It's just that sometimes people don't really know what (or who) is best for them. Claudia sees things more clearly than most of her peers. It takes plenty of nerve to act on that intelligence. Of course, Claudia shouldn't be expected to put her own needs last. That wouldn't make sense. And Claudia is a sensible person, no matter what the doctors may conclude.Some people are born crazy, some become crazy, and some have crazy thrust upon them. Claudia Milford thrusts crazy all over the place.

All My Lies


Sophie Flynn - 2021
    All she knows is that she needs to leave before it’s too late. And she has a plan.When Anna reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, Sam, she sees it as the answer to her problems. Finally, they’ll have a life together, like they’d always planned – the life she was meant to have. But the lies are catching up with her . . .On the morning of their escape, Sam goes missing. Anna knows he wouldn’t leave her, that something must have happened to him.Her search for answers will force her to confront her past, something that she has been running from for a very long time . . . Perfect for fans of Louise Jensen, Phoebe Morgan and K.L. Slater, this is a twisty, tense psychological thriller about one woman’s hunt for the truth and her ultimate fight to break free.

Unintended Consequences


Marti Green - 2012
    They arrested George Calhoun for murdering his daughter, and his wife testified against him at the trial. George maintains he didn’t do it. That the body isn’t his little Angelina. But that’s all he’s ever said—no other defense, no other explanation. The jury convicted him. Now his appeals have been exhausted, and his execution is just six weeks away.Dani Trumball, an attorney for the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, wants to believe him. After all, there was no forensic evidence to prove that the body in the woods was George’s daughter. But if the girl isn’t Angelina, then who is it? And what happened to the Calhouns’ missing daughter? Despite the odds, the questions push Dani to take the case.For nineteen years, George Calhoun has stayed silent. But he’s ready to talk, and if the story he tells Dani is true, it changes everything.

Butcher Road


Jon Athan - 2016
    Austin would visit Las Vegas for work and Anna would tag along. The couple, however, were not aware of the terror lurking on Butcher Road – a lonely road plagued by violent murder and human trafficking. When they stumble upon a wrecked station wagon and a bloodied hitchhiker, the pair find themselves trying to survive a terrifying night...Jon Athan, author of Sinister Syndromes and Mr. Snuff, invites you on a bloody road trip through Butcher Road. Don't forget your baggage. You won't be coming back...WARNING: This book contains some scenes of graphic violence and disturbing themes, including references to abuse. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.

Oz


Sienna Mynx - 2015
    She has a successful career, a new business venture and a sister who has seen her through every trial and triumph since they were little girls. The only thing missing now is someone to share her successes with. She's spent the last year convinced that love on her terms was all that she really needed. That is until she meets Oz. A Mexican immigrant who awakens the deepest passions in her. He wants a friend, a lover, and possibly more. But there's more to him than she knows, and once Lyric enters his world she discovers hers will never be the same...

Vote For Murder


Jacqueline Beard - 2015
    The diary recounts the last days of Mary Emily Cage, executed for the murder of her husband six decades earlier. When Louisa’s next door neighbour, Charles Drummond, dies under suspicious circumstances, the parallels between the two deaths become impossible to ignore. But can two deaths sixty years apart be linked? And can Louisa find the poisoner before an innocent woman is convicted?

Pull Of The Moon


Diane Janes - 2010
    Haunted by echoes of a vanished summer which changed her life forever, Kate is forced to confront memories she would rather forget.

Nasty Little Cuts


Tina Baker - 2022
    She leaves the kids tucked up in their beds and goes downstairs. There's a man in her kitchen, holding a knife. But it's not an intruder. This is her husband Marc, the father of her children. A man she no longer recognises.Once their differences were what drew them together, what turned them on. Him, the ex-army officer from a good family. Her, the fitness instructor who grew up over a pub. But now these differences grate to the point of drawing blood. Marc screams in his sleep. And Debs hardly knows the person she's become, or why she lets him hurt her.Neither of them is completely innocent. Neither is totally guilty. Marc is taller, stronger, and more vicious, haunted by a war he can't forget. But he has no idea what Debs is capable of when her children's lives are at stake...

Blood Red


Anita Waller - 2021
    The Connection Investigation Agency has seen big changes. New partners, Tessa, Luke, and Beth, have taken over and members of the old team have moved on to pastures new. On the first day of reopening, a body is discovered in the outhouse at the back of the office and their first case begins with bones that have lain undiscovered for twenty-five years. Can Luke take on his first solo case and solve it? Will Tessa prove to be as good an investigator as she was a DI? Will she solve the mystery of the threatening notes sent to two women, who become murder victims? As the agency digs deeper into the past and a link between the two cases is revealed, will this help or hinder?