Book picks similar to
Revenge by Gaynor Torrance


mystery
netgalley
thriller
police-procedurals

Little Girl Gone


Gerry Schmitt - 2016
    On a frozen night in an affluent neighborhood of Minneapolis, a baby is abducted from her home after her teenage babysitter is violently assaulted. The parents are frantic, the police are baffled, and, with the perpetrator already in the wind, the trail is getting colder by the second.As family liaison officer with the Minneapolis P.D., it’s Afton Tangler’s job to deal with the emotional aftermath of terrible crimes—but she’s never faced a case quite as brutal as this. Each development is more heartbreaking than the last and the only lead is a collection of seemingly unrelated clues.But, most disturbing of all, Afton begins to suspect that this case is not isolated.  Whoever did this has taken babies before—and if Afton doesn’t solve this crime soon, more children are sure to go missing . . .

Safe No Longer


Gayle Curtis - 2020
    ANOTHER MISSING. THE VILLAGE HAS SEEN THIS BEFORE.On a warm evening in late summer, best friends Raymond and Cara camp out overnight in the garden. By morning, Raymond is dead and Cara is missing.Di Rita Cannan is called home to the sleepy seaside town of Green-on-the-Sea to investigate Raymond's murder and try to find Cara - alive. But the case carries eerie echoes of another girl's death that rocked the close-knit community, decades ago. If there's a connection, if history is repeating itself, who knows more than they're letting on? And how far will they go to cover their tracks?There are only so many lies a small town can hold and when everyone is a suspect, Cannan has nowhere to turn. To discover the truth, she must confront her own past. but can she do so in time to uncover the identity of the murderer and find Cara - before more innocent lives are lost?RUNNING TIME ⇒ 7hrs. and 35mins.©2020 by Gayle Curtis. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Keep Me Close


Jane Holland - 2021
    What would you do?When shy publisher Kate Kinley finds mysterious bruises on her mother’s arms she assumes the worst. Suffering with early onset dementia, her mother insists that nothing is wrong; it was just a clumsy accident. But was it an accident, or has her mother’s illness made her forget what really happened?In desperate need of someone she can trust, her isolation and paranoia grow as the closest people in her life become key suspects.With each heart-stopping revelation, Kate begins to realise that the perpetrator is no longer interested in inflicting bruises; they want blood.Keep Me Close is a compelling story of gross immorality, a cautionary tale of how easily wicked people can take advantage of the vulnerable elderly people in your life.If you love dark, psychological revenge-thrillers like The Sister-in-Law, The Babysitter and The Girl on the Train, you will love this twisty, sinister read. Perfect for readers of Gillian Flynn, Karin Slaughter, and Paula Hawkins.

The Wrong Man


Kate White - 2015
    While on vacation in the Florida Keys, Kit resolves to do something risky for once. When she literally bumps into a charming stranger at her hotel, she decides to make good on her promise and act on her attraction. But back in New York, when Kit arrives at his luxury apartment ready to pick up where they left off in the Keys, she doesn't recognize the man standing on the other side of the door. Was this a cruel joke or part of something truly sinister? Kit soon realizes that she's been thrown into a treacherous plot, which is both deeper and deadlier than she could have ever imagined. Now the only way to protect herself, her business, and the people she loves is to find out the true identity of the man who has turned her life upside down. Adrenaline-charged and filled with harrowing twists at every turn, The Wrong Man will keep readers riveted until the final page.

The Blue Journal: A Detective Anthony Walker Novel


L.T. Graham - 2015
    When one of Randi Conway’s psychotherapy patients is found dead of a gunshot wound, the investigation is turned over to Detective Anthony Walker.Formerly a New York City cop, Walker now serves on the police force of an affluent community in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  He lives among the privileged gentry, where he understands that appearances are often far removed from reality.  This certainly proves to be true in the death of Elizabeth Knoebel, when Walker discovers that she had been keeping a private journal entitled “SEXUAL RITES”.  In her diary, Elizabeth was recording the explicit details of her sexual adventures with various men, many of whom were married to the women in her therapy group.  Elizabeth was a predator bent on seducing and, in some instances, humiliating these men, obsessed with a perverse mission that Walker believes led to her murder.As Walker uncovers the secrets of Elizabeth’s memoir, he becomes convinced that her killer is another of Randi Conway’s patients.  But which one?

White Bodies


Jane Robins - 2017
    Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless facade, not everything is as it seems. Callie, Tilda's unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix's domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in Saran Wrap and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom trash. She knows about Felix's uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister's arms. Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an Internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgment when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies--or was he murdered? A page-turning work of suspense that announces a stunning new voice in fiction, White Bodies will change the way you think about obsession, love, and the violence we inflict on one another--and ourselves.

A Man of Some Repute


Elizabeth Edmondson - 2015
    Or so it seems to intelligence officer Hugo Hawksworth, wounded on a secret mission and now reluctantly assuming an altogether less perilous role at Selchester. The Castle’s faded grandeur hides a web of secrets and scandals—the Earl has been missing for seven years, lost without a trace since the night he left his guests and walked out into a blizzard. When a skeleton is uncovered beneath the flagstones of the Old Chapel, the police produce a suspect and declare the case closed.Hugo is not convinced. With the help of the spirited Freya Wryton, the Earl’s niece, he is drawn back into active service, and the ancient town of Selchester is dragged into the intrigues and conspiracies of the Cold War era. With a touch of Downton Abbey, a whisper of Agatha Christie and a nod to Le Carré, A Man of Some Repute is the first book in this delightfully classic and witty murder mystery series.

Natural Causes


James Oswald - 2012
    So the murderer has killed himself; that just saves the time and cost of a trial. But a second murder days later bears haunting similarities to the first, even though once more the murderer swiftly confesses and kills himself.Detective Inspector Anthony McLean is investigating the discovery of a dead girl, walled up in the basement of an old Edinburgh mansion. She has been brutally murdered, her internal organs removed and placed around her in six preserving jars. The evidence suggests this all happened over sixty years ago, an attempt to re-enact an ancient ceremony that by trapping a demon in the dead girl’s body would supposedly confer immortality on the six men who took one of her organs each.McLean’s grandmother – the woman who raised him after his parents were killed when he was a young boy – dies after months in a coma following a stroke. On top of this he has to investigate a series of unusual, violent suicides and a cat-burglar who targets the homes of the recently dead. But as another prominent Edinburgh businessman is killed, he begins to suspect that there may be a connection between the murders, the suicides and the ritual killing of the girl found in the basement. The same names keep cropping up. He just can’t find a rational explanation as to how that connection works.As he digs deeper, and as the coincidences stack up, McLean is forced to consider an irrational explanation. Could there really be something evil stalking the city he has sworn to protect? And if so, how on earth can he hope to stop it?

The Echo Man


Sam Holland
    Detectives Cara Elliott and Noah Deakin are on the case of a series of seemingly unconnected murders, each different in method, but each shocking and brutal. As the body count increases, they can’t ignore the details that echo famous cases of the past—Manson, Kemper, Dahmer, and more. As Elliott and Deakin get closer to unmasking the killer, the murders are moving closer to home. Meanwhile, Jessica Ambrose is on the run. She’s been implicated as the arsonist who killed her neglectful husband and injured her young daughter. With the help of disgraced and suspended detective Nate Griffin, Jess discovers a shocking link between her case and that of the ultimate copycat killer working on his horrifying masterpiece.

The Missing Nurse


Roger Silverwood - 2004
     Discover a gripping series of murder mysteries set in south Yorkshire. MEET DETECTIVE INSPECTOR MICHAEL ANGEL. AN OLD-SCHOOL POLICEMAN WHO SOMETIMES RUBS HIS COLLEAGUES UP THE WRONG WAY. HE’S GOT HIS FLAWS, BUT HE NEVER GIVES UP ON A CASE. PLEASE NOTE THIS BOOK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED AS “IN THE MIDST OF LIFE.” For Inspector Michael Angel, the savage murder in an insane asylum twenty years ago marks the beginning of this gruesome trail of enquiries to find missing nurse Fiona Thomas. In spite of obstruction from the chief constable, this quirky Yorkshire policeman reduces the suspects to one, by resorting to an unusual and original strategy. A dead woman wearing one stocking inside out, an American class ring, a missing videotape of the lovely Lola, and two dead cats all play their part in this scramble to find the killer in this unusual and gripping mystery. Perfect for fans of R.D. Wingfield, Colin Dexter, Peter Robinson, Reginald Hill, and Agatha Christie. THE DETECTIVE Michael Angel is over fifty, married to Mary. They don’t have any children. They are a devoted couple but the relationship sometimes breaks down due to his job or due to the problems of Mary’s sister who lives in Edinburgh and imposes on their easygoing natures. Michael works at the small local police station and is devoted to defeating crime, murder, and dishonesty of any sort and has no personal ambition beyond being a good husband and a successful detective. He doesn’t want promotion with all the routine office work and stress that goes with it. He is incorruptible but always short of money. He is always at odds with his immediate chief, Detective Superintendent Horace Harker, who is lazy, a hypochondriac and not a bit interested in assisting Angel in serious police work. THE SETTING Bromersley is a market town at the bottom of the Pennines surrounded by stone and hawthorn-edged fields grazed by cattle and sheep. It is cold as anywhere in the winter but its closeness to the mountains protects it from many gales and heavy falls of snow. The town’s industry today includes the manufacture of ball bearings and whisky bottles, and a huge brewery produces Bromersley’s best bitter, which is considered the finest beer for miles around. Wednesday is market day, and the town centre is host to the frequent cries of stall-holders hawking their wares while the enticing smells of cheeses, coffees, foreign spices and fish and chips tempt your taste buds as you wander through the stalls. The police always find it difficult to catch pilferers and pickpockets in such a crowd. Bromersley folk are easy to befriend but many of the old people are stubborn and still buy their fruit and veg in pounds and ounces, not kilos and grams. MORE YORKSHIRE MURDER MYSTERIES COMING SOON. JOIN THE JOFFE BOOKS MAILING LIST TO BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT THEM.

Deny Me


Karen Cole - 2020
    But Jessica isn't the only one with problems, as her mother, Jean, has recently been diagnosed with dementia. Shortly after Jessica's arrival, one of the neighbours falls to her death, in what appears to be a terrible accident. However, Jean claims that the woman was murdered by her husband and that she witnessed the whole thing. With Jean's memory rapidly deteriorating, her family dismiss her story, believing Jean is confused. But when Jessica learns that the couple next door's marriage may have been in trouble, she begins to wonder if her mother did see something after all. Jessica is determined to discover the truth, but soon uncovers much more than she bargained for...

Friction


Sandra Brown - 2015
    Following the death of his wife four years ago, Crawford, a Texas Ranger, fell into a downward spiral that left him doing deskwork rather than fieldwork, and with his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the custody of her grandparents. But Crawford has cleaned up his act, met all the court imposed requirements, and now the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.Holly, ambitious and confident, temporarily occupies the bench of her recently deceased mentor. With an election upcoming, she must prove herself worthy of making her judgeship permanent. Every decision is high-stakes. Despite Crawford's obvious love for his child and his commitment to being an ideal parent, Holly is wary of his checkered past. Her opinion of him is radically changed when a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing. Crawford reacts instinctually, saving Holly from a bullet. But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. The cloud over him grows even darker after he uncovers a horrifying truth about the courtroom gunman and realizes that the unknown person behind the shooting remains at large . . .and a threat. Catching the real culprit becomes a personal fight for Crawford. But pursuing the killer in his customary diehard fashion will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of his daughter, and further compromise Judge Holly Spencer, who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them. FRICTION will keep you on the edge of your seat with breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters that make Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we keep to protect them.

Buried


Lynda La Plante - 2020
    . .The gripping first book in a brand-new thriller series by the Queen of Crime Drama, Lynda La Plante.__________________ DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down.In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes.Jack's search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld - a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers - and what will it cost him?In BURIED, it's time to meet DC Jack Warr as he digs up the deadly secrets of the past . . .__________________'Lynda La Plante practically invented the thriller' Karin Slaughter

A Journal of Sin


Darryl Donaghue - 2014
    A troubled priest is brutally murdered, leaving behind a journal of the resident's confessional secrets; secrets certain people would prefer he took to the grave. As word spreads, the pressure rises as the eyes of the town watch her every move. With no forensic team, no support and a savage killer hiding in a turbulent town, is PC Sarah Gladstone up to the task?

Falling


Emma Kavanagh - 2014
    A woman is murdered. Four people all have something to hide. Jim is a retired police officer, and worried father. His beloved daughter has disappeared and he knows something is wrong.Tom has woken up to the news that his wife was on the plane and must break the news to their only son.Cecilia had packed up and left her family. Now she has survived a tragedy, and sees no way out.Freya is struggling to cope with the loss of her father. But as she delves into his past, she may not like what she finds.'Before the plane crash, after the plane crash, such a short amount of time for the world to turn on its head. '