Books like 'Close to the Bone'
Readers who enjoyed Close to the Bone by Kendra Elliot also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery small town suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural drama paranormal
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Bullets and Beads by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLet the good times roll? It’s Mardi Gras time and Fortune is looking forward to seeing the spectacle firsthand, but when a visitor to Sinful is murdered during the celebration there, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie can’t help but wonder what happened... -
A Merciful Promise by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Wall Street Journal bestselling series continues as Mercy Kilpatrick becomes embedded in the nightmare of a terrorist conspiracy.The job: infiltrate a militia amassing illegal firearms in an isolated forest community. FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick is the ideal candidate. She knows Oregon. She’s near the compound...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Catch Her Death by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert and those she loves become the target of a family’s deadly revenge in a chilling novel of suspense by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.After Sheriff Bree Taggert’s takedown of cold-blooded murderer Travis Ekin, his family vows revenge. Travis’s mother and brothers are every bit as violent, and Bree is in their crosshairs...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc new-york-state romance mystery -
Cajun Fried Felony by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsVenus Thibodeaux had a reputation for being trouble. Some said she started at birth. When she finally left Sinful shortly after turning eighteen, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When she blew back into town four years later, no one was happy about her return... -
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Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s Christmas in Sinful and Fortune is set to participate in all the local hoopla. A Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. Murder is not. But when someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer... -
One Foot in the Grave by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe third book in the Carly Moore series by Denise Grover Swank.The dead can’t speakAfter months of living in the Smoky Mountains town of Drum, Tennessee, Carly knows firsthand the financial hardship the citizens face. Still, she can’t muster the same excitement as everyone else when town patriarch Bart Drummond breaks ground on his new resort that promises more jobs and money... -
Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe discovery of human remains unearths another nightmare from Sheriff Bree Taggert’s past in a bone-chilling thriller by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Twenty-seven years ago, Sheriff Bree Taggert’s father killed her mother, then himself. Now Bree and her younger brother, Adam, find human bones on the grounds of their abandoned family farm... -
What I've Done by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestseller.In the fourth book of the multimillion-copy bestselling series, Morgan Dane’s new client has blood on her hands—and no recollection of what happened.Haley Powell wakes up covered in blood, with no memory of the night before...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
The First Death by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestselling series.For a search and rescue expert, the buried remains of her past are a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.Rowan Wolff was five years old when she, her brother, and their babysitter were kidnapped by a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. The babysitter was murdered... -
Save Your Breath by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMorgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger investigate the mysterious disappearance of a true-crime writer.When true-crime writer Olivia Cruz disappears with no signs of foul play, her new boyfriend, Lincoln Sharp, suspects the worst. He knows she didn’t leave willingly and turns to attorney Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger to find her before it’s too late...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Drown Her Sorrows by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert is blindsided by a killer’s devious plan in number one Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of escalating shock and suspense.When Sheriff Bree Taggert discovers the body of a young woman floating near the bank of the Scarlet River, a note in her abandoned car suggests suicide. The autopsy reveals a different story...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult animals -
A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the fourth book of the Wall Street Journal bestselling series, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick must unlock the mystery of a mass murder, and the secrets of its silent witness… For Mercy Kilpatrick, returning to rural Oregon has meant coming to terms with her roots. Raised as a prepper, Mercy is now relying on her survivalist instincts to defend her town from the people the law can’t reach...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Buried in Secrets by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBook four of the USA Today bestselling Carly Moore series.Be careful where you dig…Life in Drum, Tennessee has been quiet since corruption was uncovered in the sheriff’s department three months ago—too quiet. Still, Carly is shocked when she discovers one of her sweetest lunch customers at the tavern has committed murder in cold blood... -
In the Air Tonight by Marie Force
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI was there. I saw what you did.BlaiseI wasn’t supposed to be there that night, but my friend Sienna talked me into going to the party in Land’s End so she could spy on her boyfriend. While hiding out in the woods, we witnessed an unspeakable crime. And we did everything wrong afterward.Connections run deep in our small town... -
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Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsShocking evidence hits close to home for attorney Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger as Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s acclaimed series continues. Private investigator Lance Kruger was just a boy when his father vanished twenty-three years ago...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Until Susan by C.P. Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the world of NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Aurora Rose Reynolds. See how the Mayson clan began. You've read their sons' stories, now it's James and Susan's turn. Experience the boom all over again in this action-packed novella of insta-love and suspense from Author CP Smith... -
Her Scream in the Silence by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratings>b>In the second book of the USA Today bestselling series, Carly looks into a young woman’s disappearance while trying to hide her own dark secrets. Carly Moore is finally feeling settled in Drum, Tennessee. She likes her job waitressing at Max’s Tavern AND her boyfriend… she should have known both were too good to be true... -
Awash by Dawn Lee McKenna
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Bones don't float, no."In the quiet, coastal town of Apalachicola, the past is never far behind, and secrets don't always stay buried.When a young girl is attacked, Lt... -
Jonny's Redemption by Riley Edwards
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCan two lost souls find redemption or are some transgressions beyond forgiveness? Lieutenant Jonny Spencer’s life is spiraling out of control. With no end in sight, he withdrawals. Giving in to the darkness is his only reprieve. Roberta “Bobby” Layne knows what it means to live in the shadows. Her childhood was spent fading into obscurity—loneiless her only friend... -
Dirty Minds by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCoroner J.J. Graves and Sheriff Jack Lawson are in a race against time as they hunt down a sniper who is taking the law into his own hands. No one is safe, and everyone is a target...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc romance mystery contemporary -
Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe #1 Amazon Charts bestselling series continues as Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger fight for the innocence of a young murder suspect—if only they could find him.When a retired sheriff’s deputy is shot to death in his home, his troubled teenage stepson, Evan, becomes the prime suspect. Even more incriminating, the boy disappeared from the scene of the crime... -
See Her Die by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert is both hunter and hunted in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s blood-freezing thriller of murder, rage, and revenge.New sheriff Bree Taggert is called to a shooting in a campground shuttered for the winter. But she arrives to find a perplexing crime. There is no shooter, no victim, and no blood...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Griffin by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSometimes it sucked being the oldest.Griffin had been the oldest of five kids, and even as an adult, those traits still stuck. Responsible. Reliable. Always taking care of others.Moving into an apartment in old Victorian home, he longed to expand his custom home refinishing business, but found himself still taking care of others. The older woman who owned the building...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction -
Hear My Heart by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMilitary duty called them away to war zones, but after tours overseas, the group of friends found their way back home as men, seeking the peaceful little seaside town. Now, the band of brothers, together once more, work to provide a place for less fortunate veterans to call home...Categorized as:
drama law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary -
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Sweet Rose by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJason Boswell had moved to Baytown at the invitation of his Navy buddy to open a garage and tattoo parlor. He never meant to start off on the wrong foot with the beautiful Rose. Rose Parker wanted to open an ice-cream parlor in Baytown, but life kept handing her one setback after another. And for Jason? It appeared that he managed to get everything he wanted...Categorized as:
drama law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Minutes to Kill by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter corporate attorney Hannah Barrett tries—and fails—to stop a kidnapping in Vegas, she can’t shake the haunting image of the terrified young girl she couldn’t save. She tells herself that a visit to her hometown in Scarlet Falls could be a welcome distraction. But soon, Hannah realizes the kidnappers have all the info they need to track her every move...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense abuse action-adventure -
The Dollmaker by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDr. Tessa McGowan had never seen anything quite like it. But the mutilated bodies on her exam table tell a stunningly macabre tale: someone with a twisted mind is kidnapping women and altering their faces to resemble real, life-size dolls. As a forensic pathologist, it’s her job to aid the agent leading the case—even if that agent is her estranged husband...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Thirty-One and a Half Regrets by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBook Four in the USA Today bestselling Rose Gardner Mystery Series! While Rose recovers from a broken heart, she finds herself at odds with her sister—and business partner—Violet. Rose buries herself in her landscaping work, but becomes worried when her employee and friend, Bruce Wayne Decker, goes missing. In the meantime, Fenton County assistant D.A... -
Backrush by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe sea heals all things.Tempest Island has weathered the worst of storms and still stands proud, providing its residents with the healing power of the sea and sun. When Alayna Scott’s life falls spectacularly apart, both professionally and personally, the executive chef’s only thought is getting back home to the island and her aunt Bea... -
Blind Bake by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a young woman is at the wrong place at the wrong time, she becomes a person of interest in a murder investigation. Maddie Baker just wants to make ends meet. She gave up her school librarian career to return to her hometown and take care of her elderly aunt... -
Dirty Dozen by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the twelfth installment of the J.J. Graves mystery series from New York Times Bestselling Author Liliana Hart, winter has moved into Bloody Mary with a vengeance. But so has a killer who's bringing a modern flair in his imitation of Jack the Ripper. It's up to J.J. and her husband, Sheriff Jack Lawson, to hunt the hunter and bring justice to the victims...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc mystery romance contemporary -
A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this Wall Street Journal bestseller, a pair of ritual murders could expose Mercy Kilpatrick to something terrifying: her own past…Raised off the grid by survivalists, Mercy Kilpatrick believed in no greater safeguard than the backwoods of Oregon. Unforgiven by her father for abandoning the fold for the FBI, Mercy still holds to her past convictions. They’re in her blood...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Cold Hearted by Toni Anderson
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHunting For A Killer...Who Doesn't Play By The Rules. Detective Erin Donovan expects life to quiet down after the arrest and conviction of a serial rapist who terrified her university town last summer. Then two young women are brutally slain and the murders bear all the hallmarks of the campus rapist...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Guarding Your Heart: Baytown Boys by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSophie Bayles was devastated by grief when her beloved brother, a soldier, had been killed in action when she was a teenager. Guarding her heart, she left Baytown and the boy she had loved…her brother’s best friend. Callan Ward lucked out when he was assigned to the Coast Guard station in his hometown of Baytown...Categorized as:
drama law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary -
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Cold Aim by Janice Cantore
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPolice Chief Tess O’Rourke’s small town is still reeling from a devastating fire when the FBI asks for help: Could she shelter a witness in a high-profile human trafficking case? Initially reluctant to put the townspeople of Rogue’s Hollow at risk, Tess is swayed after she sees Pastor Oliver Macpherson’s genuine conviction to rescue those in need, a trait in him she’s coming to love more each day...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement female-mc police-procedural romance mystery christian -
Bred in the Bone by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the fourth Widow’s Island novella by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot, the truth of a twenty-year disappearance will finally come to light. When the town drunk ends up dead in a hit-and-run, FBI special agent Cate Wilde expects that solving the case will be cut and dried. But evidence quickly surfaces that the victim was involved with another crime... -
Buried Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA college student’s murder shines light on community secrets left in the dark in the seventh Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.All communities have their secrets…but on Widow’s Island, there’s a skeleton in every closet, as Deputy Tessa Black knows all too well... -
A Broken Bone by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe mysterious death of a local teen leads to a hunt for a killer in the sixth Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.On Widow’s Island, the secrets are dark…and everybody has one. So when Deputy Tessa Black responds to a call about an explosion in a quiet neighborhood, she gets more than she bargained for: the body of a teen who went missing weeks ago... -
Montana Ranger's Wedding Vow by Elle James
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDallas Hayes muscled her way through Army Ranger training only to be considered a curse on her all-male unit in an operation in Syria. When half the team is killed, she’s left Injured, losing the lower portion of her left leg. Back in the States, she’s fitted with a prosthetic, still jogs and works out, but she’s medically discharged. Angry and resentful, she doesn't trust anyone... -
Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSometimes, the most dangerous animals are the ones you let inside.When a man hires Emery Hazard to track down a teenager who, he claims, robbed him, Hazard isn’t convinced. The story has holes in it, and the client seems eager—too eager—to keep the authorities from getting involved. But Hazard is willing to play along; he suspects something much darker is going on, and he wants to know what it is... -
Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the second book in a new series.Liz Danger is a ghostwriter, trapped in her old hometown for the summer... -
Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor Sheriff Bree Taggert, a gruesome double murder exposes the secrets of the dead in a shocking novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.A teenager returns home from work and finds her parents shot to death in their bed. Responding to the call, Sheriff Bree Taggert realizes the crime wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. The couple was executed... -
A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRunning a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff--and even fuller-time coffee guzzler--Sunshine Vicram, didn't get that memo.All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven)... -
Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe electrifying conclusion of the romantic suspense novella series from Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot. The sleepy town of Solitude, Oregon, has turned into ground zero for a turf war between the manufacturers and distributors of a lethal new drug. When a teenage witness disappears, social worker Carly Taylor must find him before he’s silenced permanently... -
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Dirty Devil by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA series of bizarre murders that are seemingly unrelated turn out to be the work of a serial killer in the newest installment of the New York Times bestselling J.J. Graves Mystery Series.Coroner J.J. Graves and Jack Lawson investigate the murder of a victim who got exactly what he deserved. But justice is blind, and they have to put their personal feelings aside to hunt a ruthless killer...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult audiobook billionaire -
Betrayed by Sharon Sala
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDead Men Don't TalkThere's nothing more deadly in a Louisiana bayou than the wildlife thriving in the dark green water and unbearable heat--except a cold-blooded killer with a body to hide.But Witnesses DoThere nothing more desperate than the witness to a murder--with but one option to keep her from a similar fate.Run far and fast and don't look back... -
Burning Bond by Emma Hart
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBURNING BOND is book six of the HOLLY WOODS FILES series. While it can technically be read as a standalone, it's advised to read the first five books prior to this for full enjoyment. -- Two men, both determined to protect me. I think I love one. I’m almost sure I’m in love with the other. Ride or die just got a whole lot realer... -
Forgotten Legacy by Robin Perini
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsForgotten secrets. Forgotten lies. A family legacy…A determined killer. On the outskirts of Singing River, Wyoming, a couple dies in a fire that ravages their remote mountain home. Everyone believes it’s a tragic accident—except FBI profiler Riley Lambert. She isn’t convinced, and neither is her fiancé, ex–Navy SEAL turned sheriff Thayne Blackwood... -
You Can Run by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFans of Laura Griffin and Jayne Ann Krentz won’t want to miss this brand new thriller series by New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti, as FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow, a rising star profiler, strives to stay one step ahead of the criminal mind—and discovers that her own demons may be the hardest to outrun… Laurel Snow wouldn’t call hunting a serial killer a vacation, but with a pile... -
Dirty Laundry by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new novel in the New York Times bestselling series: Coroner JJ Graves and her husband Sheriff Jack Lawson are back on the job when the body of an elderly woman is found in Bloody Mary. Rosalyn McGowen is everyone’s favorite great-grandmother. She always has baked treats in her bag, she smells of roses, and she takes in stray cats. No one knows who could hurt a sweet old lady...
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