Books like 'How the Light Gets In'
Readers who enjoyed How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery small town thriller crime law-enforcement suspense police-procedural cozy corruption
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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 family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWhen an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary... -
A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the next book in the Wall Street Journal bestselling Mercy Kilpatrick series, there are no such things as little secrets…Raised by preppers, survivalist and FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick has a deep-rooted need for a safe place. Her getaway in the Cascade Foothills is her secret... -
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 33 ratings"Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. "Sweet relationships are dead."But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montréal... -
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The Blue Pool Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDCI Lesley Clarke is a busy woman.She's dealing with the reopened investigation into DCI Mackie's death, supporting DS Dennis Frampton through recurring mental health problems, and making plans for her own future.And then prominent crime boss Arthur Kelvin is found dead at a local beauty spot... -
The Millionaire Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn anonymous murder victim and a missing journalist: can Lesley uncover the truth?DCI Lesley Clarke has too many suspects to choose from when a wealthy lawyer and her unidentified companion are found brutally murdered in a Sandbanks mansion... -
Wolf Pack by C.J. Box, David Chandler
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWyoming game warden Joe Pickett encounters bad behavior on his own turf--only to have the FBI and the DOJ ask him to stand down.The good news is that Joe Pickett has his job back, after his last adventure in The Disappeared...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime family friendship law-enforcement police-procedural political-intrigue suspense -
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsWhen a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose...Categorized as:
cozy crime drama family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder...Categorized as:
cozy crime drama family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s riveting series, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite returns home to a brutal murder and her haunted past. The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime drama family law-enforcement police-procedural political-intrigue suspense -
A Better Man by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsCatastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec in the latest novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.It's Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir...Categorized as:
cozy crime family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural politics -
The Wrong Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA frantic chase to catch a grave robber reveals a startling discovery in this tenth installment of the Widow’s Island novella series by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Deputy Tessa Black spots a man disturbing a grave in the local cemetery and gives chase. But when Tessa catches him, she learns that the ghoulish trespasser wasn’t robbing graves; he was burying a box of bones...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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... -
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... -
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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... -
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsChaos is coming, old son. With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness... -
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsYou’re a coward.Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache.It starts innocently enough.While the residents of the Québec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by a simple request...Categorized as:
cozy crime family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural politics -
Bad Memory by Lisa Gray
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPrivate investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to help her sister, Rue Hunter—a convicted murderer whose execution is days away—Jessica can’t resist the offer... -
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 drama family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
Bone Deep by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen two men kidnap former FBI agent Cate Wilde’s fiancé, the boldness of the crime rattles the community. Desperate to find the man she loves, Cate joins forces with the FBI and the local sheriff’s department to launch an investigation and bring Dr. Henry Powers home...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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... -
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... -
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 law-enforcement police-procedural politics suspense adult audiobook billionaire -
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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... -
Beneath Devil's Bridge by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratings11 hours, 42 minutes A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White. True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley... -
Below the Bones by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA former FBI special agent must come out of retirement to solve a murder in the fifth novella in the Widow’s Island series from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot.Former FBI special agent Cate Wilde is a new bakery and bookstore owner—and retirement is now complete with a doctor boyfriend... -
Burned by Her Devotion by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the second Rogue Vows novella, the town of Solitude, Oregon, will learn that good TV makes for terrible reality. When Chase Ryan, a popular crime TV star, turns up dead, the entire town of Solitude is shaken—but the show isn’t over yet. The confessed murderer is violently abducted on the way to the county jail, and now Detective Seth Harding must find both the killer and the kidnapper... -
Bluegrass Undercover by Kathleen Brooks
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn her first follow-up to the Best Selling Bluegrass Series, Kathleen Brooks brings Keeneston back to life through the Davies Brothers. Cade Davies had too much on his plate to pay attention to newest resident of Keeneston. He was too busy avoiding the Davies Brothers marriage trap set by half the town... -
Her Grave Secrets by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThere are no secrets in a small town—until someone has one worth dying for. Local cop Stevie Taylor and police chief Zane Duncan have startling new proof that a deadly street drug is expanding its poisonous grip on their small town: a skull found on the banks of the Rogue River has two bullet holes in the back... -
The Canal Murders by J.R. Ellis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLife moves at a slower pace on the canals. But death always comes when you least expect it. The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime... -
A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA deadly fire exposes the dark side of Amish life in this harrowing new thriller in the New York Times bestselling series.When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first, it looks like an accident, but when the body of eighteen-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside—burned alive—Kate suspects murder... -
An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart , the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road... -
Deep Freeze by John Sandford
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsClass reunions: a time for memories—good, bad, and, as Virgil Flowers is about to find out, deadly—in this New York Times bestselling thriller from John Sandford.Virgil knows the town of Trippton, Minnesota, a little too well...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense whodunit thriller action-adventure adult -
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Bad Blood by John Sandford
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAnother brilliant Virgil Flowers thriller from the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author.One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator- and a young man hits him on the head with, was it a steel bar?, and then drops him into the grain bin as he first waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime family law-enforcement police-procedural political-intrigue politics suspense -
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...Categorized as:
cozy crime drama family law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural political-intrigue -
The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of Spandau Phoenix and Mortal Fear returns with a rich and atmospheric novel of high suspenseWhen recently widowed Penn Cage leaves Houston with his young daughter and returns to his hometown seeking peace, he finds something very different. Natchez, Mississippi, is the jewel of the antebellum South, a city of old secrets and older money...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime drama family friendship law-enforcement political-intrigue politics -
The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn an intense, emotional mystery that spans a decade in the life of a small town, bestselling author Brian Freeman brings us an unforgettable heroine who discovers that the dead may sometimes be easier to rescue than the living.Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold...Categorized as:
crime friendship law-enforcement police-procedural season-winter suspense thriller adult -
Fatal Reunion by Annette Dashofy
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs Monongahela County’s new coroner Zoe Chambers-Adams gears up for a third day searching for a missing woman, she receives the news she’s been dreading: a body has been found. What she discovers at the scene leaves no doubt—the missing woman was violently murdered. Worse, the manner of death mirrors the Monongahela Strangler case that terrorized the county when Zoe was in high school... -
Poison Ivy by Helena Marchmont
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's party time in Bunburry! The deluxe Magnolia Inn is hosting surprise birthday celebrations for Bunburry's favourite senior citizens, Liz and Marge. But the party is not the only surprise. A glamorous widow, Francesca Fairfax Adams, is staying in the Magnolia Inn, and catches the eye of self-made man and amateur sleuth Alfie McAlister... -
Blinded by Lyz Kelley
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA small town murder. A second chance at love. Somebody killed Joey Gaccione’s brother. After a ten-year absence, the big city detective returns home to Colorado for the funeral knowing he will be pressured to find Sheriff Sam’s killer. Joey’s instincts say whoever murdered his brother is part of something more sinister than the Elkridge deputies can handle...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement crime literary-fiction romance contemporary mystery fiction -
Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTWO MISSING GIRLS. TWO BRUTAL MURDERS. ALL CONNECTED TO ONE FARM HOUSE. WHO IS TO BLAME?When pretty and popular teenagers Piper Hadley and Tash McBain disappear one Sunday morning, the investigation captivates a nation but the girls are never found.Three years later, during the worst blizzard in a century, a husband and wife are brutally killed in the farmhouse where Tash McBain once lived... -
Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo, Kathleen McInerney
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural, upstate New York to assist on a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl. Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and "English" communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community...Categorized as:
crime drama family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo, Kathleen McInerney
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis program is read by series narrator Kathleen McInerney. In this electrifying new thriller in the New York Times bestselling series, a convicted murderer is on the run and Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must catch him before he strikes again."Murder in Amish country has a certain added frisson, and Castillos the master of the genre. People magazine[An] incisive and affecting series . . -
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Long Shadow by Elle Keaton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNiall’s never known anything but betrayal. All Mat wants is Niall’s heart. What will it take for him to coax Niall in from the cold? Mat's connection with Niall is tenuous; one step forward, two steps back. Since that night on the beach Niall's been avoiding Mat like a bad case of the flu--which, ironically, most of his deputies have come down with... -
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWelcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.It's spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life. .Categorized as:
cozy crime drama family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny, Andrea Stumpf
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsWelcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines...Categorized as:
cozy crime drama family friendship law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
Gone to Her Grave by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn Solitude, Oregon, everyone has secrets…and some will kill to keep them. When she believes a teen is falsely accused of drug dealing, social worker Carly Taylor takes on a high-risk case and her estranged husband—the detective in charge of the investigation—to prove the boy innocent...Categorized as:
crime drama family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves, Janine Birkett
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAs the snow falls thickly on Newcastle, the shouts and laughter of Christmas revelers break the muffled silence. Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter, Jessie, are swept along in the jostling crowd onto the Metro... -
Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn extraordinarily beautiful Amish woman, a dangerous femme fatale, is the central figure in a story that reveals a dark side of Painters Mill and its seemingly perfect Amish worldA rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere...
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