Book picks similar to
Down To The Needle by Mary Deal


mystery
thriller
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suspense-thriller

Deception Bay


Chris Patchell - 2019
    He’s dangerous. Together, can they stop a killer from tearing a small island community apart? When wise-cracking cozy mystery author, Austin Martell, left his hometown on Whidbey Island for the bright lights of New York, he vowed he would never go back. But some promises are impossible to keep, and when Austin discovers that his mother has suffered a serious accident, he has no choice but to return. Austin soon learns that her accident may be no accident at all, and secrets that were laid to rest after his brother’s tragic death off the coast of Deception Bay, have now begun to surface. >>>As they close in on the killer, new dangers arise Austin finds himself in the center of a real-life murder mystery, when Police Chief Ellie Sharpe uncovers a curious connection between the author and the death of a local businessman. Born and raised on Whidbey and trained as a New York cop, Ellie is smart, and tough, and determined to solve the mystery behind the killing before more people die. Sparks fly as the two pair up to figure out who is responsible for the murder. The closer they come to discovering truth, the more desperate someone is to keep the sins of the past from coming to light. >>>Someone close to Austin harbors a deadly truth. Can Ellie unmask a killer before Austin becomes one more secret buried beneath the waves of Deception Bay? Scroll Up and Grab Your Copy Today!

I Believe You


Jeanne Grunert - 2016
    Now he struggles to raise his three sons alone and run the financial empire founded by his outlandish father. One night, a mysterious stranger appears to be watching his home. The next day, $100,000 is missing from his bank account. As David untangles the knot of lies, deception and intrigue surrounding his wife's death, he threatens to shatter his close-knit family forever.

Betrayal


Sharon Brownlie - 2014
    Now, as an adult, Helen is spiraling out of control. Old wounds are surfacing; can she face her demons without the drugs? Will revenge help release her from her past? Beating her addiction is her only chance at a new life. But, an encounter with a former school teacher opens up old wounds that had been festering deep within her. While quitting drugs, another craving takes its place. A desire for revenge: payback for those who'd betrayed her. Plagued with bitterness, Helen heads to Edinburgh to begin her killing spree.Police are mystified when her first victim is found. A second death convinces them it’s the same killer. Can they connect Helen to the crimes? How many more will die before she is stopped?

Perfect Crime


Jack Parker - 2018
     The First Crime: Many people had reason to kill the victim, and they tried 'til they got it right. You'd think that would leave plenty of clues, but they don't add up right. Can a 16-yr-old. The Second Crime: A teacher was found dead and a lot of other students have had accidents, some serious. Gracie Greene's not so sure they were accidents, but can she find the pattern and motive before someone else dies? The Third Crime: At 18 years old Gracie Greene has already solved 2 murders. Now she finds herself a suspect in a 3rd murder and must solve it to clear herself.

Not What She Seems


Victorine E. Lieske - 2010
    What he doesn't know is that interfering in her life will put his own life in danger.When billionaire Steven Ashton couldn't stand his high society social life anymore, he left the stress of New York on a vacation for his soul. The need to meet real down to earth people led him to a small Nebraska town. He didn't want to lie about who he was, but he couldn't exactly tell them the truth.Emily could have easily fallen in love with Steven, under different circumstances, but her past was catching up with her and she needed a new life. If the authorities found out about her, she could lose the one thing that meant everything, her four year old son.Not What She Seems is approximately 67,000 words long.This book is a "sweet" romantic suspense, appropriate for all ages.Like clean romance? Check out cleanromancebooks.com!

Blood Sister


Kenna McKinnon - 2015
    Together with handsome detective Mark Snow, they set to bring the killer to justice. But Annie is haunted by her past, unable to overcome her mother's death and her father deserting their family. Soon after, the investigation takes a surprising turn when Annie and her boyfriend find themselves among the suspects. What is the cryptic message left on the late doctor's charts... and is it possible that Annie, or one of her friends, is responsible for the crimes? Praise for BLOOD SISTER: "A charming murder mystery" - Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger "A uniquely courageous and quirky whodunit with a fresh voice." - Jesse Giles Christiansen

Campbell Agency


Clara Kendrick - 2017
    Lots of suspense, mystery, and romance. No cliffhangers! Book One Gwen Grange doesn’t exist, as far as the world is concerned. She disappeared after her father was accused of horrendous crimes, and has been presumed dead. In reality, she’s simply living off the grid, surviving on her own. But when she comes across Jason O’Neil of Campbell’s Agency in the unlikeliest of places, she’ll be forced to come to terms with what happened to her family and become a functioning part of society once again. Book Two Bridget Barden’s greatest joy in her life is her son, Wyatt, despite the fact that his father died suspiciously after getting involved in the wrong investigation. The last thing she ever expects to do is get involved with another private investigator, but when her connection to Gwen Grange puts her in danger and her home is set on fire as a message to the Campbell Agency men, she finds herself relying on the head of the organization, Alex Campbell, to keep her and her son safe. Book Three Caleb Robinson has been charged with looking after his best friend’s sister while she works to recover from a difficult past. The problem is, he’s falling for her fast. But when his health gets in the way, he’ll doubt whether or not he’s right for the woman who has already overcome so much. Only her persistence and a case that helps him realize what’s most important in life can help him get past his doubts and accept love. Book Four Mark Thompson is determined to track down the man who has for so long been plaguing Campbell’s Agency, and having a source on the police force is a great asset. He’s eager to help Rachel when she asks, but the chemistry between them starts to get distracting. What he could never have predicted is that helping her with her own secret investigation might just crack his own wide open. Book Five Sylvia Lyons is a freelance cartoonist who works in Jackson Square in the historical district of New Orleans. Her boyfriend, Ken, works as a security guard, but he doesn’t tell her much more than that until the day he drags her to Campbell’s Agency where he proceeds to confess the fact that he’s gotten in over his head with the worst criminal possible. Their unhealthy relationship explodes, and Sylvia commits to helping Campbell’s Agency clean up the mess Ken created. When Spencer Nichols takes her under his personal protection, Sylvia is grateful, but both of them are wary of the intense connection between them and distracted by the threat on all of their lives.

Blindsided


Erica Hilary - 2020
    A man was the last thing she needed. But that was before Richard Lynch literally crashed into her life.After Reilly and the charismatic Brit are involved in a fender-bender, she's unable to resist the exhilarating romantic freefall. The enigmatic Rick is not who she thinks he is, however, and Reilly finds herself in a twisted maze of sordid secrets and devious manipulations. Navigating this terrifying new reality, can she rally and find a way out before her soulmate-turned-stranger destroys everything she treasures.

Spy Rising


Vikki Kestell - 2019
    In one way or another, every “righteous” clandestine operative is sought out, enlisted, and trained for the difficult and often terrible work intended to ensure that the principles of freedom triumph over ideologies that seek to dominate and enslave. The year is 1977; the Cold War is intensifying. Helena Portland—Laynie to her family—is set to graduate from the University of Washington, when recruiters from Marstead International invite her to dinner and an informal employment interview. Laynie is flattered: Marstead International is a technology and aeronautics firm with a global presence and reputation. But behind their corporate image? Marstead is a front for joint U.S./NATO covert operations. Not far into the dinner conversation, the recruiters make their pitch: “We have offices around the world, Miss Portland, and we actively seek college graduates with the right mix of aptitude and skills to work and grow within our worldwide market. Actually, we have been observing you for some time. We feel that you have the potential to serve . . . the interests of your country.” Laynie catches their drift and confronts it. “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You are representatives of a U.S. intelligence agency, unnamed so far, and you are trying to recruit me. Do I have it right?” When Laynie accepts Marstead’s offer, she is sent through the Company’s rigorous tradecraft and tactical training program. Laynie soon discovers that the world of clandestine service is dirty business. To succeed, operatives must bend and twist the tenets of liberty. Along the way, noble objectives tarnish and corrode, hearts harden, and methods and means drag virtue into the gutter. Laynie perseveres at the work set before her; she enters into it because she holds a secret—a secret she has never shared with anyone, a view of herself that not only condones the awful choices she is asked to make, but justifies them. I am worthless; my life has no value. I am only useful when the work I do serves a greater purpose. Laynie PortlandBook 1: Laynie Portland, Spy Rising—The Prequel Book 2: Laynie Portland, Retired SpyBook 3: Laynie Portland, Renegade SpyBook 4: Laynie Portland, Spy Resurrected

Girl in Reverse


Lore Dresden - 2017
    One killer. A devastating secret. On a lazy and warm summer evening in 2001 young Sadie and Madison Hunter and their parents are brutally assaulted. The case has been cold for eighteen years, and it's a shock for the Snohomish County Police Department to find a man dead in Sadie's niche bookstore, It’s a Mystery, with the same MO that killed her parents: four stab wounds in a perfect square.What could tie the death of her parents to this strange man killed in Sadie’s store almost two decades later? The sisters vow to catch the killer who destroyed their lives and they must do it before newly-minted homicide detective Michael Kwon does—or risk exposing their biggest secret of all.

The Silence of the Stones


Rebecca Bryn - 2014
    Twists and turns will keep you guessing to the end. Alana is a struggling artist and sculptor, scarred by her parents' relationship and a lost love but determined to grab life by the throat, whatever the cost. Opportunity beckons when she is left a cottage in a West Wales’ village by an aunt she didn’t know existed, but strange runes painted on her door and carved onto ancient stones in a stone circle, hint at a dark undercurrent of tragedy and intrigue and she is caught up in the village’s conspiracy of silence over a thirty-year-old crime. An eccentric old woman, a young female investigative journalist, a two-year-old girl, a good-looking male busker and an ex-lover make unlikely bedfellows but combine to send Alana on a voyage of self-discovery that changes her world forever.

Rain of Terror


Donna Cummins - 2014
    Clad in hooded black robes, carrying torches that blazed with evil fury, they came. With chanting—at first a distant murmur, then growing and building, louder and louder—incessant, demanding, hideous chanting, they came.Mother had been rocking both Jeremiah, my four-year-old little brother, and me on our rickety rocking chair, its swaying motion in itself a soothing comfort on a dark night. But more than that, mother sang to us in her clear and lilting voice as she often did, chasing away the ghosts and goblins that sometimes haunt a young boy’s mind. As I was about to drop off to sleep, the noise and the clatter from outside our cabin startled me back to consciousness. Mother’s voice mixed with the incessant chanting that came closer and closer. Her voice faded. We could see the lights from their torches through the window panes, and mother rose quickly from the rocker and hurried Jeremiah and me into our bedroom. She cautioned us in whispery tones to stay quiet, to stay in our room, pretend to be asleep; and then on tiptoe, she rushed out the door, closing it quietly after herself.Within minutes, I heard Mother scream a piercing wail that emitted both terror and defeat. They came through our bedroom door, robes rustling, wild eyes searching, hands reaching, and carried Jeremiah and I from our beds. They dragged Mother out the front door, through the dark forest, up the mountainside, our captors pulling my brother and I close behind. I remember the brittle sound of the fallen leaves under our feet, the cold chill of the night air brushing against my face, the pale moonlight frosting the tips of the last remaining leaves on the black, skeletal oak trees that rose above us. And we kept climbing, climbing, farther and farther up through the forest. And as we walked, a cold wind came up, turning the leaves; and the racing clouds changed into thunderheads. And then the first bolt of lightning lit the sky and illuminated the hellish scene around us—the shadowy, dark figures stomping through the bushes and underbrush, the swaying glow of lanterns through the trees. All the while their chanting reverberated across the landscape, mixing with the sound of the howling, barking, snarling, pawing dogs that followed in their midst."

Footprints


Rosen Trevithick - 2010
    However, cracks start to form, causing Jenna to ask some startling questions and she sets off to Cornwall to find answers.At first the people of Bosdower are welcoming and friendly, but Jenna slowly finds herself drawn into a web of unrequited passions, abduction and perhaps, even murder.

One Night Years Ago


J.R. Pace - 2020
    Now, Fowler’s back in town.When he was twenty, Hunter Fowler made a huge mistake. He’s spent the last twelve years in prison paying for it. When he gets out of prison, the last thing he wants to do is go back to Sharp’s Cove, but he has no choice.Natalie Bowmann isn’t a frightened young woman anymore. She’s the town’s sheriff now and she’s not going to let Fowler’s return destroy the life she’s built for herself. But when another young woman is attacked, Natalie realizes two things: that twelve years earlier an innocent man was sent to prison and, most importantly, that a monster is loose in their peaceful coastal town.Will Hunter and Natalie be able to find him before he strikes again? What will they do with the growing attraction between them?This suspense romance book is intended for adult readers. Each book in the series can be read as a standalone romance.Warning: one of the characters was assaulted years earlier, and remembers the assault at several points during the story.

His First His Second


A.D. Davies - 2014
    She’s nice. Too nice to be a police officer, if she’s honest.She is also one of the most respected criminal analysts in the country, and finds herself in a cold northern town assigned to Donald Murphy’s team, investigating the kidnap-murders of two young women—both strikingly similar in appearance. Now a third has been taken, and they have less than a week to chip away the secrets of a high-society family, and uncover the killer’s objective.But Richard—the father of the latest victim—believes the police are not moving quickly enough, so launches a parallel investigation, utilising skills honed in a dark past that is about to catch up with him. As Richard’s secret actions hinder the police, Alicia remains in contact with him, and even starts to fall for his charms, forcing her into choices that will impact the rest of her life.