Books like 'Mystic River'
Readers who enjoyed Mystic River by Dennis Lehane also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological horror thriller crime suspense drama law-enforcement dark
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One by One by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratings'I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?' Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD's Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address - a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn't want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option... -
Hunting Evil by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 20 ratings'Every story one day comes to an end.' As roommates, they met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from Stamford Psychology University. As adversaries, they met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter had become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit... -
The Night Stalker by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsWhen an unidentified female body is discovered laid out on a slab in an abandoned butcher's shop, the cause of death is unclear. Her body bears no marks, except for the fact that her lips have been stitched shut... -
I Am Death by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAN EVIL MIND was Chris Carters's most acclaimed novel to date, described by the Daily mail as: 'A chilling, compulsive portrait of a psychopath, and proves that Carter is now in the Jeffrey Deaver class.' It spent three weeks in the Sunday Timestop ten and received brillant reviews and sales. This terrifying new standalone thriller reunites Hunter and Garcia in their most explosive case to date... -
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Missing Angel by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIsabella pedals her bright red bike on the familiar route home, admiring her charm bracelet catching the light. But half an hour later, she is nowhere to be seen. All her frantic parents find is an angel-shaped charm discarded on the sidewalk…When twelve-year-old Isabella Farner disappears, Agent Tori Hunter races to the scene... -
Our Stolen Pieces by James Hunt
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the morning after a slumber party reveals two missing girls, a newly minted Detective and a young veteran are assigned the case. Recently partnered, the pair of detectives must set aside their troubled pasts to recover the pair of girls who may have been coerced by a stranger who had kidnapped before...Categorized as:
crime drama family law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural suspense thriller -
Play Dead by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe dead don't tell secrets... unless you listen. The girl's smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess. Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A 'body farm' investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay... -
The Fifth To Die by J.D. Barker
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAlternate cover art can be found hereIn the thrilling sequel to The Fourth Monkey, a new serial killer stalks the streets of Chicago, while Detective Porter delves deeper into the dark past of the Four Monkey Killer.Detective Porter and the team have been pulled from the hunt for Anson Bishop, the Four Monkey Killer, by the feds...Categorized as:
crime dark law-enforcement noir police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
Written in Blood by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDon't miss GENESIS, the latest must-read serial killer thriller from master of the genre, Chris Carter. Available to order now. ‘Wonderful storytelling, with a superbly drawn killer, it underlines exactly how good Carter has become’ Daily MailTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER A serial killer who will stop at nothing… The Killer His most valuable possession has been stolen... -
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsMarin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They're admired in their community and are a loving family—until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken.A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak... -
Untitled by Dot Hutchison
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA fourth book is coming with a release date estimated Spring 2019...Categorized as:
crime dark drama family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
Missed Connections by Alexandria Clarke
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHow far would you go for revenge? Veronica Bauer isn’t above homicide. Twelve years after a ruthless attack killed her mother and put her father in prison, she embarks on a mission to bring the real culprits to justice. As bodies start to drop, Detective Sheila Arden is assigned to the gruesome case, but she soon discovers that the truth is more complicated than she thought...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural literary-fiction thriller mystery fiction -
The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFor over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished... -
The Thirst by Jo Nesbø
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsHarry Hole returns in the eleventh installment of the author's best-selling, electrifying crime fiction series—published in 48 languages, more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. In Police—the last novel featuring Jo Nesbø's hard-bitten, maverick Oslo detective—a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him... -
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A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA chilling thriller of serial murder and dark secrets that will leave you wondering, is the past really in the past?Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed, and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, The FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate... -
The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsLincoln Rhyme was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics -- until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. But now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits... -
If Angels Fall by Rick Mofina
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the bestselling tradition of Jonathan Kellerman and Mary Higgins Clark, comes this powerful psychological thriller from newcomer Rick Mofina. "If Angels Fall" is the story of a man beset by tragedy, who moves from mourning...to madness...to murder.There are some horrors a man can never forget. Sounds so chilling that they can never be silenced. The frantic screams of drowning children... -
Fractured by Karin Slaughter
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe second Will Trent novel, from the No. 1 Bestseller.When Atlanta housewife Abigail Campano comes home unexpectedly one afternoon, she walks into a nightmare. A broken window, a bloody footprint on the stairs and, most devastating of all, the horrifying sight of her teenage daughter lying dead on the landing, a man standing over her with a bloody knife... -
Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSix women—mothers, daughters, sisters—gone missing. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this harrowing novel tells the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims, from the internationally best-selling author of Betty."Capture[s] what goes horribly wrong when women don’t fit a customary victim profile.. -
Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWe don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing... -
The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHE MUST-READ RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK. Chilling, moving and unputdownable, The Memory Wood is a thriller like no other. 'Beautifully told, with two superbly drawn young protagonists, Lloyd is a rare new thriller talent' Daily Mail'Superbly creepy, with an unexpected twist' Guardian'Brilliant writing, a terrifying story, and characters so real it feels like you know them...Categorized as:
coming-of-age crime dark friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural suspense -
The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child... -
The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA gripping literary thriller and smash bestseller that has taken Italy, France, Germany and the UK by storm.Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified... -
The Boy by Tami Hoag
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNow a New York Times bestseller An unfathomable loss or an unthinkable crime? #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag keeps you guessing in her most harrowing thriller yet... -
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Wall of Silence by Tracy Buchanan
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHer children have a deadly secret. Can she uncover it before the police do?Melissa Byatt’s life in Forest Grove seems as perfect as can be: a doting husband, three loving children and a beautiful house in a close-knit community. But appearances can be deceiving... -
Stalker by Lars Kepler
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsDetective Joona Linna -- recently returned from compassionate leave -- reunites with hypnotist Erik Maria Bark in a search for a seemingly unassailable sadistic killer.The Swedish National Crime Unit receives a video of a young woman in her home, clearly unaware that she's being watched. Soon after the tape is received, the woman's body is found horrifically mutilated... -
The Last Child by John Hart
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: a warm home and loving parents; a twin sister, Alyssa, with whom he shared an irreplaceable bond. He knew nothing of loss, until the day Alyssa vanished from the side of a lonely street. Now, a year later, Johnny finds himself isolated and alone, failed by the people he'd been taught since birth to trust... -
All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted... -
Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsWhat have we got? A missing little girl named Maggie Rose . . . a family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C. . . . the thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school teacher . . . a psychopathic serial kidnapper/murderer who is so terrifying that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police cannot outsmart him - even after he's been captured... -
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLiv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife... -
The Elephant Tree by R.D. Ronald
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsMark Fallon is an overworked detective investigating a spate of attacks at a string of high profile city centre nightclubs. Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation... -
The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Thefertility of Hill's imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality ofhis literary style never ceases to delight." —Val McDermid,author of Fever of the BoneIn a stand-alone psychological thrillerfrom acclaimed mystery master Reginald Hill, a mysterious ex-con returns to hisremote childhood home on a deadly hunt for revenge...Categorized as:
crime drama law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
Ich vergesse nie by John Marrs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsShe’s chasing a killer. He’s watching her every move.He hides in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Each kill is calculated, planned and executed like clockwork.Struggling to balance her personal and professional life, young DS Becca Vincent has landed the biggest case of her career—and she knows that it will make or break her. But she can’t catch the culprit alone...Categorized as:
crime drama law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural suspense thriller adult -
Alex by Pierre Lemaitre
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAlex Prévost—kidnapped, savagely beaten, suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse in a tiny wooden cage—is running out of time. Her abductor appears to want only to watch her die... -
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The Likeness by Tana French, Heather O'Neill
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsListening length: 22 Hours and 18 MinutesIn this follow-up to Tana French’s runaway bestseller In the Woods, itʼs six months later and Cassie Maddox has transferred out of the Dublin Murder Squad with no plans to go back—until an urgent telephone call summons her to a grisly crime scene... -
The Blackhouse by Peter May
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA brutal killing takes place on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland: a land of harsh beauty and inhabitants of deep-rooted faith.A MURDERDetective Inspector Fin Macleod is sent from Edinburgh to investigate. For Lewis-born Macleod, the case represents a journey both home and into his past.A SECRETSomething lurks within the close-knit island community. Something sinister... -
Roses Are Red by James Patterson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn this heart-pounding but touchingly romantic thriller, Detective Alex Cross pursues the most complex and brilliant killer he's ever confronted - mysterious criminal who calls himself the Mastermind. In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C... -
Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHe performs his profane ceremony in a wooded Minneapolis park, anointing his victims, then setting the bodies ablaze. He has already claimed three lives, and he won’t stop there. Only this time there is a witness. But she isn’t talking. Enter Kate Conlan, former FBI agent turned victim/witness advocate... -
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 97 ratingsOn a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears... -
3rd Degree by James Patterson, Andrew Gross
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe Women's Murder Club returns in a shockingly suspenseful thriller. Plunging into a burning town house, Detective Lindsay Boxer discovers three dead bodies...and a mysterious message at the scene. When more corpses turn up, Lindsay asks her friends Claire Washburn of the medical examiner's office, Assistant D.A... -
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 75 ratingsPrivate investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home... -
The Tywi Estuary Killings by John Nicholl
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIs it revenge or is it justice?DI Gravel is supposed to be on mandatory leave, but when a severed head washes up on the estuary beach his holiday is cut short. Back on the job, he’s shocked when the case leads him to the victim from an old caseSeventeen years ago, the system failed Rebecca. They let the abuser of a six-year-old girl walk free... -
The Art of Murder by José Carlos Somoza
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn 2006, the art world has moved far beyond sheep in formaldehyde and the most avant-garde movement is to use living people as artwork. Undergoing weeks of preparation to become 'canvases', the models are required to stay in their pose for ten to twelve hours a day and, as art pieces, they are also for sale... -
Forget Me Not by Claire Allan
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings‘AMAZING’ Marian Keyes I disappeared on a Tuesday afternoon. I was there one minute and the next I was gone. They’ve never found my body… It’s six in the morning during the hottest summer on record when Elizabeth O’Loughlin, out walking her dog, comes across Clare, a victim of a horrific knife attack, clinging onto life at the side of the road... -
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Hard Candy by Andrew Vachss
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke—the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children—is up against a soft-spoken messiah, who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for his own hideous purposes... -
The Girls He Adored by Jonathan Nasaw
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor ten years, the charmingly disheveled veteran FBI Special Agent E.L. Pender has been investigating the apparently random disappearances of a dozen women across the country. The only detail the cases have in common is the strawberry blond color of the victims' hair, and the presence of a mystery man with whom they were last seen... -
Caged by Ellison Cooper
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFBI neuroscientist Sayer Altair hunts for evil in the deepest recesses of the human mind. Still reeling from the death of her fiance, she wants nothing more than to focus on her research into the brains of serial killers. But when the Washington D.C... -
Disturbed by Jennifer Jaynes
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA captivating psychological thriller from #1 USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Jaynes.On Halloween night five years ago, Chelsea Dutton’s college roommates were viciously stabbed to death, and Chelsea was critically injured. She was found hiding in her apartment’s bathtub, barely clinging to life... -
My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMost mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into... -
You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows...
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