Books like 'Dust'
Readers who enjoyed Dust by Patricia Cornwell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery serial killer thriller crime suspense law-enforcement forensics medical whodunit
-
Longstone by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBetween the devil and the deep blue sea… Viking treasure is discovered beneath the icy waters of the North Sea and local historian Doctor Anna Taylor is called in to help catalogue the most exciting hoard in living memory. But when a shipwreck diver washes up dead, she’s soon out of her depth... -
![Desert Star by Michael Connelly]()
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to hunt the brutal killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family. Discover more thrilling Bosch mysteries in the original Freevee series Bosch: Legacy. A year has passed since LAPD detective Renée Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralization, and endless red tape...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure -
![Dying Truth by Angela Marsons]()
Dying Truth by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHow far would you go to protect your darkest secrets? When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents... -
![Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan]()
Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Josie Quinn hasn’t heard from her sister since Trinity stormed out of the house in the heat of an argument three weeks ago. So, when human remains are found at the remote hunting cabin where Trinity was last seen, Josie can only assume the worst... -
-
![The Infirmary by L.J. Ross, Jonathan Keeble]()
The Infirmary by L.J. Ross, Jonathan Keeble
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIntroducing the new, unabridged version of The Infirmary by LJ Ross, the author of the international number one best-selling series, the DCI Ryan Mysteries.There's a serial killer targeting the streets of Newcastle, seemingly picking his victims at random but subjecting them all to the same torturous end... -
![First Blood by Angela Marsons]()
First Blood by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith this installment exploring an utterly chilling case following a disturbing killer, USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons delivers the prequel to the internationally bestselling DI Kim Stone thrillers.In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time... -
![Dead Memories by Angela Marsons]()
Dead Memories by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe ruined their lives. Now they’re going to destroy hers. ‘Someone is recreating every traumatic point in your life. They are doing this to make you suffer, to make you hurt and the only possible end game can be death. Your death.’ On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive... -
![Child's Play by Angela Marsons]()
Child's Play by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinally we’re playing a game. A game that I have chosen. I give one last push of the roundabout and stand back. 'You really should have played with me,’ I tell her again although I know she can no longer hear... -
![Broken Bones by Angela Marsons]()
Broken Bones by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThey thought they were safe. They were wrong. The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood... -
![Forever Mine by Linsey Lanier]()
Forever Mine by Linsey Lanier
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn old friend. A bad smell. A body stuffed into a wall. You'll never escape. After she left her abusive husband thirteen years ago, Miranda Steele became a fighter. Over the years, she picked up martial arts and street fighting tactics, and now that she works for the Parker Investigative Agency, she can handle a weapon. But the battle with her inner demons? Not so easy... -
![The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe]()
The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer daughter, with emerald eyes and the sweetest smile, is everything to her. Her whole world. “Mommy,” the little girl says, touching her mother’s face with trembling fingers before she’s torn away. “Don’t cry.” Will she ever see her again?When single mother Alison Nolan sets off with her six-year-old daughter, Hazel, she can’t wait to spend precious time with her girl... -
![If She Ran by H.K. Christie]()
If She Ran by H.K. Christie
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree months. Three missing women. One PI determined to discover the truth.Back from break, PI Martina Monroe clears the air with her boss at Drakos Security & Investigations and is ready to jump right into solving cold cases for the CoCo County Sheriff’s Department... -
![Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan]()
Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSometimes danger comes from the most unexpected places.Gwen Proctor has always been willing to do anything it takes to protect her kids. But there are some things even she can’t protect them from. When a violent incident at Connor’s school brings the press to Gwen’s doorstep, she agrees to take a case out of town hoping to keep her family out of the crushing media spotlight... -
![Midnight Obsession by Melinda Leigh]()
Midnight Obsession by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s edgy new thriller, Louisa Hancock thought she was safe…but there’s a new killer in town.When a mysterious package lands on Louisa Hancock’s doorstep, the Philadelphia museum curator can hardly anticipate the nightmare that’s about to envelop her... -
-
![Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell]()
Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMeet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart... -
![She Can Scream by Melinda Leigh]()
She Can Scream by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn one moment, high school teacher and single mother Brooke Davenport interrupts a vicious assault, saves a young woman’s life, and attracts the attention of a serial killer. Sixteen years ago, Brooke lost her roommate to a brutal murder. Now she teaches women’s self-defense, still trying to heal from the guilt and grief that plague her... -
![The Fallen by David Baldacci, Orlagh Cassidy]()
The Fallen by David Baldacci, Orlagh Cassidy
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsAmos Decker is the Memory Man. Following a football-related head injury that altered his personality, Decker is now unable to forget even the smallest detail - as much a curse as it is a blessing. And in The Fallen, Decker's life might be about to change again....Something sinister is going on in Baronville. The rust belt town has seen four bizarre murders in the space of two weeks... -
![Field of Prey by John Sandford]()
Field of Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe night after the fourth of July, Layton Carlson Jr., of Red Wing, Minnesota, finally got lucky. And unlucky. He’d picked the perfect spot to lose his virginity to his girlfriend, an abandoned farmyard in the middle of cornfields: nice, private, and quiet. The only problem was . . . something smelled bad—like, really bad... -
![Gathering Prey by John Sandford]()
Gathering Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe extraordinary new Lucas Davenport thriller from #1 New York Times–bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize–winner John Sandford. They call them Travelers. They move from city to city, panhandling, committing no crimes—they just like to stay on the move. And now somebody is killing them... -
![Free to Kill by Julie Mellon]()
Free to Kill by Julie Mellon
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFBI Agent Katie Freeman’s life has been upended. After being reassigned from Louisiana to middle Tennessee, her new bosses suspect that her reassignment is due to an indiscretion with her previous partner. Now, she and her new partner, Michael Powell, are asked to assist on the bewildering case of a woman who was kidnapped, tortured and left for dead on her own front porch... -
![Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett]()
Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat really happened in the forest? Hidden crimes and secrets of the past converge in a riveting thriller by Anne Frasier, the New York Times bestselling author of Find Me.No strangers to evil, criminal profiler Reni Fisher and detective Daniel Ellis both still grapple with traumatizing pasts. It unites them. So has a crime they must solve before someone else dies... -
![A Cold Killing by Anna Smith]()
A Cold Killing by Anna Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCrime reporter Rosie Gilmour returns from hiding in Bosnia to a story of a brutal execution. University lecturer Tom Mahoney was shot at point blank range, the killing has all the signs of a hit. But who would want to kill a retired lecturer? Rosie throws herself into the investigation, looking for a witness that has gone missing. A witness that might hold the key to the story... -
![Buried Prey by John Sandford]()
Buried Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long. In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that... -
![Lady's Well by L.J. Ross]()
Lady's Well by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTHERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER...When the ancient waters of Lady’s Well in the rural village of Holystone begin to run red, it seems to be a nasty Hallowe’en prank and nothing more. But things take a sinister turn when the entire village suffers severe poisoning, and one old man turns up dead... -
-
![Alone by Kendra Elliot, Tanya Eby]()
Alone by Kendra Elliot, Tanya Eby
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne rainy night in the woods outside of Portland, Dr. Victoria Peres is called to the site of a haunting crime scene. Six beautiful young girls—all in white dresses and arranged in a perfect circle—have been left for dead. Only one girl, fighting for her life at a nearby hospital, has survived the carnage... -
![The Killing Game by Iris Johansen]()
The Killing Game by Iris Johansen
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA MERCILESS KILLER ON THE HUNT ... AN INNOCENT CHILD IN HIS SIGHTS ... A WOMAN DRIVEN TO THE EDGE TO STOP HIMThe killer knows Eve Duncan all too well. He knows the pain she feels for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body has never been found... -
![So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison]()
So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTalent borrows. Genius steals. Evil delegates. It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back…and he's got helpers... -
![Before Evil by Alex Kava]()
Before Evil by Alex Kava
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSpecial Agent Maggie O'Dell doesn't need to set foot at a crime scene to catch a serial killer. From her small Quantico office, she's profiled criminals using just Polaroids and faxed copies of evidence from homicide detectives across the country.Then comes Albert Stucky . . . and nothing will ever be the same... -
![The Creek Killer by Dominika Best]()
The Creek Killer by Dominika Best
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHow would you prove you weren’t dead? Jane Smith has been running from danger her whole life. That danger followed her everywhere, leaving a trail of death in its wake. When the mummified bodies of six girls are discovered in the wetlands of Los Angeles, Jane is surprised to learn one of the dead girls bears her name—the name she abandoned twenty-five years ago to go into hiding...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement thriller female-mc mystery fiction contemporary police-procedural -
![Body Double by Tess Gerritsen]()
Body Double by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsBoston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles literally meets her match–and must face a savage serial killer and shattering personal revelations–in the brilliant new novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Sinner.Dr. Maura Isles makes her living dealing with death... -
![Her Deadly Touch by Lisa Regan]()
Her Deadly Touch by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe woman is kneeling at a gravestone, her hair blowing in the breeze, a bunch of wilting yellow daffodils on the grass beside her. Her eyes are fixed on the ground and her mouth is parted in a silent prayer... -
![The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens]()
The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA woman finds herself in a race not only for justice but for her life in this "riveting, hold-your-breath" new mystery from the bestselling author of The Life We Bury (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author).Lila Nash is on the verge of landing her dream job—working as a prosecutor under the Hennepin County Attorney—and has settled into a happy life with her boyfriend, Joe Talbert... -
![The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey]()
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHe meets women. He gains their trust. He kills them. That's all London police detective Maeve Kerrigan knows about the man she is hunting. Three women have been strangled in their homes, and it appears to be the work of the same sadistic killer. With no sign of break-ins, every indication shows that the women let their attacker in willingly... -
![One Last Step by Sarah Sutton]()
One Last Step by Sarah Sutton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsONE LAST STEP (A Tara Mills Mystery—Book One) is the debut novel in a new FBI mystery series by debut author Sarah Sutton... -
-
![The Trapped Ones by Stacy Green]()
The Trapped Ones by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe raced across the woods. Cold wind hit her face, and her heart pounded so fast she could almost feel the panic rushing through her veins. She knocked on the door knowing she didn’t have much time. Fear gripped her. “Please, help,” she whispered.Rushing to the scene of a homicide at a farmhouse surrounded by thick, dark woodland, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is shocked to find four victims... -
![Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell, C.J. Critt]()
Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell, C.J. Critt
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 41 ratings"Killing me won't kill the beast" are the last words of rapist-murderer Ronnie Joe Waddell, written four days before his execution. But they can't explain how Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds Waddell's fingerprints on another crime scene -- after she'd performed his autopsy. If this is some sort of game, Scarpetta seems to be the target... -
![I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen]()
I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the twelfth gripping novel featuring Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles, the crime-solving duo—featured in the smash-hit TNT series Rizzoli & Isles—are faced with the gruesomely staged murder of a horror film producer.The crime scene is unlike any that Detective Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have ever before encountered... -
![The Girl Hunter by Leslie Wolfe]()
The Girl Hunter by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHis pale skin is covered with the dirt I threw over his still-warm body. His hands, marked by a struggle that ended in blood, rest over his chest. His once vibrant, loving eyes are now forever closed. I am the one who consigned my husband to the damp earth of the Glades.Seven months ago, I lost everything.I used to have it all. A successful career in television...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller law-enforcement female-mc serial-killers kidnapping psychological -
![Vanish by Tess Gerritsen]()
Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsA blessed event becomes a nightmare for pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli when she finds herself on the wrong side of a hostage crisis in this timely and relentless thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Body Double. A nameless, beautiful woman appears to be just another corpse in the morgue... -
![The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza]()
The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIf the Night Stalker is watching, you're already dead...In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer's night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances... -
![The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen]()
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe Surgeon has been locked up for a year but his chilling legacy still haunts the city, and especially Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli. But now a new killer is at work and Rizzoli senses something horrifyingly familiar about this murderer's modus operandi... -
![Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson]()
Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe gripping new emotional thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ice Cream Girls, My Best Friend's Girl and The Brighton Mermaid. Pieta has a secretTen years ago, Pieta survived a weekend with a sadistic serial killer. She never told anyone what happened and instead moved on with her life... -
![Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs]()
Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt’s never easy working fire scenes, Tempe thinks. Called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a building set ablaze amid mysterious circumstances, she sees all her misgivings justified. The building site is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and the property’s ownership becomes even more suspicious when Tempe delves into its past... -
![Hide by Tracy Clark]()
Hide by Tracy Clark
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed author Tracy Clark comes a page-turning mystery featuring hard-boiled Chicago detective Harriet Foster, who’s on the hunt for a serial killer with a deadly affinity for redheads.When a young red-haired woman is found brutally murdered in downtown Chicago, one detail stands out: the red lipstick encircling her wrists and ankles... -
-
![Girl One: Murder by Molly Black]()
Girl One: Murder by Molly Black
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFBI Special Agent Maya Gray, 39, has seen it all. She’s one of BAU’s rising stars and the go-to agent for hard-to-crack serial cases. When she receives a handwritten postcard promising to release 12 kidnapped women if she will solve 12 cold cases, she assumes it’s a hoax.Until the note mentions that, among the captives, is her missing sister.Maya, shaken, is forced to take it seriously... -
![His Perfect Crime by Alex Sigmore]()
His Perfect Crime by Alex Sigmore
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA strange box is unearthed deep in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains. What’s discovered inside will rock a small town to its core.FBI Special Agent Emily Slate is no stranger to tragedy. After losing her husband three months ago, then botching the biggest case of her career, she’s barely hanging on to the only job she’s ever wanted... -
![Point Blank by Catherine Coulter]()
Point Blank by Catherine Coulter
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe explosive action kicks off as treasure-hunting FBI agent Ruth Warnecki is on the trail of stolen Confederate gold hidden in Winkel’s Cave in western Virginia. She never expects to find herself chin-deep in a grisly murder that leaves her nearly dead and rocks the town of Maestro... -
![The Murderer's Son by Joy Ellis]()
The Murderer's Son by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat if your mother was a serial killer? A BLOODY KILLER SEEMS TO HAVE RETURNED TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS A gripping new crime series by the best-selling author of the Nikki Galena series. Twenty years ago: a farmer and his wife are cut to pieces by a ruthless serial killer. Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes... -
![Liar Liar by M.J. Arlidge]()
Liar Liar by M.J. Arlidge
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDetective Helen Grace gets caught in an inferno of death and destruction in the red-hot new thriller from the author of Eeny Meeny, Pop Goes the Weasel, and The Doll’s HouseDetective Helen Grace has never seen such destruction. Six fires in twenty-four hours. Two people dead. Several more injured. It’s as if someone wants to burn the city to the ground.. -
![The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen]()
The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsNot even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the cloistered convent lie two nuns–one dead, one critically injured–victims of an unspeakably savage attacker...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
