Books like 'An Unsettled Grave'
Readers who enjoyed An Unsettled Grave by Bernard Schaffer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
small town psychological serial killer violent-conflict thriller suspense domestic-drama war family law-enforcement
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Paint It All Red by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsHush, little baby, don't say a word... Will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together? It's time to fuck with their minds. It's time to finish it all. It's time to paint it all red... Monsters don't usually wish for happily-ever-afters. **BE WARNED: Some descriptions are vivid and can be a trigger for sensitive readers... -
All the Lies by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsTo understand the monsters in the world, you have to get inside their heads. It's a dangerous place to be, especially when you start to empathize and lose your own sense of morality.But that's never happened to me...I've never felt conflicted on any case. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It's simple. Black and white. There's no such thing as a gray area.But fuck this case... -
Scarlet Angel by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsTo kill a monster, you have to be twice as monstrous. To love a monster, you have to share your soul...Logan Bennett makes me want to have a future not tainted by the constant hunger for revenge. Doesn't mean I can stop. Doesn't mean I want to stop. It just means I want more...one day... -
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... -
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Stolen Angels by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwisting her hands together, she bites back a sob. She only turned her back for a second, and then her daughter was gone. Every mother in town would be hugging their children tighter tonight.Lara is baking cupcakes when her daughter Ava runs to catch the school bus just one block away. Chasing after her, Lara sees the bus tumbling past, and waves. But Ava never turns up at school... -
Hide and Seek by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe’s hunting. He’s watching. Special Agent Macy Crow is a survivor. After a vicious hit-and-run nearly kills her, she gets right back to work, and now she’s gunning for a spot on the FBI’s elite profiling team. As an audition, she offers to investigate the recently discovered bones of Tobi Turner, a high school girl who disappeared fifteen years ago...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense abuse action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
In the Waning Light by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTwo decades after her sister’s brutal attack and murder, Meg Brogan has finally found happiness…or so it appears. A bestselling true-crime writer, Meg has money, fame, and a wealthy fiancé. But when a television-show host presses her to tackle the one story everyone claims she cannot write—the story of her own family’s destruction—her perfect life shatters... -
Beneath Blackwater River by Leslie Wolfe, Gwendolyn Druyor
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsListening Length 13 hours and 4 minutesShe looked alive, her hair drifting freely in the water, her red lips gently parted, as if to let her final breath escape. A small locket floated by her face, attached to her neck with a silver chain…When Detective Kay Sharp first left Mount Chester—population 3,823—in her rear-view mirror, she promised never to look back...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook book -
The Killer's Girl by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Mama, wake up.’ The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor. When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house... -
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 mystery romance contemporary audiobook -
Hide Away by Jason Pinter
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of the Henry Parker series comes a page-turning thriller about a vigilante who’s desperate to protect her secrets—and bring a killer to justice.On the surface, Rachel Marin is an ordinary single mother; on the inside, she’s a fierce, brilliant vigilante...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Bitter Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFBI agent Matthew Roarke has been on leave, and in seclusion, since the capture of mass killer Cara Lindstrom—the victim turned avenger who preys on predators. Torn between devotion to the law and a powerful attraction to Cara and her lethal brand of justice, Roarke has retreated from both to search his soul... -
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... -
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You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet against the atmospheric backdrop of rural Pacific Northwest, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s thrilling suspense series follows FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow as she strives to navigate her complicated family life when her newly discovered sociopathic half-sister becomes the target of a dangerous killer... -
The Obsession by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThe riveting new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts“She stood in the deep, dark woods, breath shallow and cold prickling over her skin despite the hot, heavy air. She took a step back, then two, as the urge to run fell over her.” Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods... -
Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFrom Nora Roberts comes the #1 New York Times bestseller Shelter in Place (June 2018) — a powerful tale of heart, heroism...and propulsive suspense.It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense 21st-century action-adventure adult -
Stranger Danger by Michaelbrent Collings
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHe will teach you the lesson...... he knows you’re dying to learn.Legion is a teacher. An avenging angel. A murderer.A madman.Raised in the underground hideout of an insane father, he searches for those who keep secrets and sins. Then he teaches them how to leave those mistakes behind. Even if it means killing them to do it.Because sometimes murder is the cost of a proper education... -
I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJohn Cleaver has called a demon—literally called it, on the phone, and challenged it to a fight. He’s faced two of the monsters already, barely escaping with his life, and now he’s done running; he’s taking the fight to them... -
Follow Me Home by D.K. Hood
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘Don’t you agree Detective? That some people deserve to die? I’ve killed the first. I’ve killed the second. Now will you catch the others, or do I have to kill them too?’ The body of Amos Price lies in a pool of blood on the polished floor of an otherwise empty house. With no signs of a break in, and no clues left at the scene, Detective Jenna Alton is at a loss...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
When You See Me by Lisa Gardner
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBestselling author Lisa Gardner unites three of her most loved characters -Detective D.D. Warren, Flora Dane, and Kimberly Quincy - in a twisty new thriller, as they investigate a mysterious murder from the past that points to a dangerous and chilling present-day crime... -
The Silent Dolls by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSilent tears trickle down her cheeks as she curls inside the tiny cave-like space. She lies on her side, darkness all around her, rubbing her fingers over the little wooden doll he’d carved. He told her to be quiet, not to cry or scream. Not to be a baby. Her throat was raw, her eyes swollen shut. She wanted her mommy and daddy. She wanted to go home...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural romance mystery fiction psychological -
Hunting Fear by Kay Hooper, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHe's no ordinary kidnapper. Not only does he strike again and again, but he collects the ransom, gets away safely, and leaves his helpless hostages dead. Now, after months of eluding the best that law enforcement can put against him, this monster has left nothing in his wake but a cold trail of unconnected victims. He's no ordinary cop... -
Sense of Evil by Kay Hooper
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsKay Hooper is the brightest new star of suspense fiction. Now the New York Times bestselling author who's built a reputation for keeping her readers' pulse in the red zone delivers a thriller that will stun the senses -- all six of them. This time a psychic special agent and a gritty cop must stop a brutal killer with a chilling M.O. and an unstoppable...Sense of Evil... -
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Last Day Alive by J.R. Adler, Jeneva Rose
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne hot summer’s evening, ten-year-old Piper Chase went for a bike ride. She never came home…Piper cycles off one hot Oklahoma evening for a sleepover with her new friend Miley from summer camp. But when she doesn’t come home, her grandparents raise the alarm. Their little angel is missing, last seen on her pink bicycle, heading towards the dark woods on Black Heart Lane... -
Killman Creek by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsEvery time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text…You’re not safe anywhere now... -
Whisper of Evil by Kay Hooper
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSomeone is stalking the little town of Silence...Three victims have fallen to a killer’s savage vengeance. Each of the dead men was a successful and respected member of the community — yet each also harbored a dark secret discovered only after his murder... -
Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe was close enough to see that the girl had written a word on the wall in bright, warm red blood. Not a word, actually. A name… Everyone in the small American town of Denton is searching for Isabelle Coleman, a missing seventeen-year-old girl. All they’ve found so far is her phone and another girl they didn’t even know was missing... -
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsHardly a day goes by when nine-year-old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true... -
Broken by Karin Slaughter
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsWhen Special Agent Will Trent arrives in Grant County, he finds a police department determined to protect its own and far too many unanswered questions about a prisoner's death. He doesn't understand why Officer Lena Adams is hiding secrets from him. He doesn't understand her role in the death of Grant County's popular police chief. He doesn't understand why that man's widow, Dr...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure adult -
Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA small Kansas town has turned into a killing ground.Is it a serial killer, a man with the need to destroy?Or is it a darker force, a curse upon the land?Amid golden cornfields, FBI Special Agent Pendergast discovers evil in the blood of America's heartland.No one is safe...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure adult -
Scream For Me: A Novel of the Night Hunter by Cynthia Eden
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNothing is deeper than the desire they can’t fight—or deadlier than the evil they can’t escape. They were only supposed to have a professional relationship, but FBI agent Kyle McKenzie has been fantasizing about his sexy partner, Cadence Hollow, from the moment they first moment. It takes the darkest case of their careers to finally bring their hidden desire bubbling to the surface... -
In the Barren Ground by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the Barrens, a vast wilderness in northern Canada bordering the Arctic Circle, night consumes every hour of the winter. Humans are scarce; ferocious predators roam freely. Locals say spirits do, too. Rookie cop Tana Larsson doesn’t mind the dark and quiet. Five months pregnant and hoping to escape the mistakes of her past, she takes a post in Twin Rivers, population 320...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult animals -
Corrupting Ivy by Ann-Marie Davis
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI wanted to stay hidden… anonymous. But fate had other plans. After stumbling upon a grim scene that threw me into the spotlight, my life is turned upside down, and I’m no longer safe. Then he walked in. The one everyone warned me about.He's rumored to have more demons than Hell.But the devil can be oh so tempting… WARNING: This book is a DARK/ANTI HERO romance... -
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The Evil That Was Done by Michele Pariza Wacek
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe shocking conclusion to the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. It’s happening again—people are disappearing. And just like before, the finger is pointed at Becca. She knows how it looks … and that she’s being set up. Someone is following her. Sneaking into her house. Planting evidence to make her look guilty. The problem is, she has no idea why... -
Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this debut thriller, a troubled child psychologist returns to a small Louisiana town to protect her secrets but winds up having to protect her life.Dr. Willa Watters is a prominent child psychologist at the height of her career... -
The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe past isn't over....An unspeakable act has ripped apart the idyllic town of Bakersville, Oregon, and its once-peaceful residents are demanding quick justice. But though a boy has confessed to the horrific crime, evidence shows he may not be guilty. Officer Rainie Conner, leading her first homicide investigation, stands at the center of the controversy...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSara Linton--resident medical examiner/pediatrician in Grant County, Georgia, --has plenty of hardship to deal with, including defending herself in a heartbreaking malpractice suit. So when her husband, Police chief Jeffery Tolliver, learns that his friend and coworker detective Lena Adams has been arrested for murder and needs Sara's help, she is not sure she can handle the pressure of it all...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Fallen Girls by Kathryn Casey
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe didn’t notice the corn stalks shiver a few feet to her right. By the time she looked up, the man towered above her. In a single movement he wrapped one thick hand around her waist, the other he clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsGina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake... -
Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller.She can’t ignore a cry for help. But in this remote hunting town, it’s open season.Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option... -
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Third to Die by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn edgy female police detective... An ambitious FBI special agent. Together they are at the heart of the ticking-clock investigation for a psychopathic serial killer. The bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for high-stakes suspense.Detective Kara Quinn, on leave from the LAPD, is on an early morning jog in her hometown of Liberty Lake when she comes upon the body of a young nurse...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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The Blood We Crave: Part One by Monty Jay
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMy secrets are infested with infatuation. His cravings are dripping in blood. Is it love? Or is it something much darker… An obsession. Death found me as a young girl. Latching onto the core of my soul. No one knows what that horrid night did to me. What kind of monster it flourished inside me... -
Grave Games by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn FBI profiler on leave. A detective haunted by their shared past.After a serial killer who hunts men ravages her college town, psychology student Dominique St. Clair becomes an FBI profiler. Twelve years later, she returns to the town to confront her dark past when the Black Widow Killer resurfaces to terrorize the peaceful seaside community...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement police-procedural thriller crime fiction serial-killers psychological -
Worth Dying For by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne man wants to kill her the other will die to protect her. Just when the residents of Slaughter Creek think they're safe, a sadistic serial killer strikes. Someone they're calling The Dissector. Someone who keeps his victims' body parts as gruesome trophies. Special Agent Liz Lucas has been on leave, recovering from the trauma of her last case... -
Come with Me by Ronald Malfi
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA masterful, heart-palpitating novel of small-town horror and psychological dread from a Bram Stoker nominee.Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence--and her ghost--Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country... -
Don't Tell A Soul by D.K. Hood
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe floor was stone cold on her bare skin. Her heart pounded in her chest. ‘Not a soul knows where I am,’ she thought as she took in the darkness around her. And then she heard his footsteps…When a body is found stuffed into a barrel at a garbage dump, covered in long red lacerations, Detective Jenna Alton and her new deputy, David Kane, rush to the scene...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHE HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER Evelyn Talbot knows that a psychopath can look perfectly normal. She was only sixteen when her own boyfriend Jasper imprisoned and tortured her—and left her for dead. Now an eminent psychiatrist who specializes in the criminal mind, Evelyn is the force behind Hanover House, a maximum-security facility located in a small Alaskan town...
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