Books like 'Small Mercies'
Readers who enjoyed Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery thriller historical-fiction crime family
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Deadly Choices by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'You get one of your children back. Your choice.' When Alison Osman takes her children on a trip to Cadbury World, she thinks their squabbling is her worst problem. But when she turns to find them gone, she's plunged into every mother's worst nightmare. And then the message arrives, telling Alison she has three days to choose one of her children... -
The Moonflowers by Abigail Rose-Marie
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a powerful and poignant novel, an artist unravels her mysterious family history and its generations of women who depended on each other to survive.Tig Costello has arrived in Darren, Kentucky, commissioned to paint a portrait honoring her grandfather Benjamin. His contributions to the rural Appalachian town and his unimpeachable war service have made him a local hero... -
City on Fire by Don Winslow
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo criminal empires together control all of New England.Until a beautiful woman comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.Danny Ryan yearns for a more “legit” life and a place in the sun. But as the bloody conflict stacks body on body and brother turns against brother, Danny has to rise above himself... -
Fast Ice by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsKurt Austin races to Antarctica to stop a chilling plot that imperils the entire planet in the latest novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling Grand Master of Adventure.After a former NUMA colleague disappears while researching the icebergs of Antarctica, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala embark for the freezing edge of the world to investigate... -
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Journey of the Pharaohs by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsANCIENT SECRETS. MODERN WEAPONS . . . When Kurt Austin rescues the crew of a Scottish trawler, he finds himself trying to save them not once but twice. First, from the violent storm that dashes their vessel into jagged rocks and, second, from the deadly gunmen desperate to get their hands on its lost cargo of stolen Egyptian artefacts... -
Blue Horizon by Wilbur Smith
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFollowing on from Monsoon the next generation of Courtneys are out to stake their claim in South Africa. The journey they make takes them through the untouched wilderness of a beautiful land filled with warring tribes and dangerous animals... -
Scarecrow / Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSCARECROWAs 'Scarecrow' Schofield watches his mission to eliminate a Siberian turn into a bloodbath, he realizes he has been tricked—and now becomes the prey rather than the predator. For a shadowy consortium of staggering power and wealth has included his name on a list of fifteen targets to be eliminated without fail by noon that day...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction thriller action-adventure audiobook book fiction historical -
The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMeet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'... -
The Worthy Soldier by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMay 1147. Gareth and Gwen have traveled to Deheubarth in the retinue of Prince Hywel. The Prince of Gwynedd has temporarily allied himself with King Cadell and his Norman relations in order to finally evict the hated Flemings from south Wales. But while the battle goes well, the celebratory feast afterwards does not, leaving Gareth and Gwen among the few left standing... -
The Favored Son by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNovember 1147. Gareth and Gwen have again been called to a castle belonging to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, this time by Prince Henry, who insists his uncle was murdered. Allying with Normans doesn't come easily to Gareth and Gwen, but initial doubts are swept aside as more losses come to light... -
While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKatherine Schneider's workaday life as a dentist in 1913 New York is upended when a patient reveals details of a deadly plot while under the influence of laughing gas. As she is plunged into danger, she seeks help from the dashing Lieutenant Jonathan Birch, a police officer she has long admired from afar... -
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River, an immersive, propulsive novel about a missing child whose disappearance sends equal shockwaves through three very different worlds—an opulent Adirondack summer estate, the rustic teen summer camp that operates in its shadow, and the blue-collar community that serves them both...Categorized as:
historical-fiction thriller family mystery fiction historical literary-fiction suspense -
The Anger of God by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn autumn 1379, the power of the British crown is invested in John of Gaunt, and the kingdom is seething with discontent. The French are attacking the southern ports and peasants are planning a revolt organized by a mysterious leader who proclaims himself “IRA DEI,” the anger of God. Meanwhile Gaunt's tenuous plans are plunged into chaos by a series of bloody murders in London... -
Murder Most Holy by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the early summer of 1379 in London, Sir John Cranston, Coroner of the city, is trapped into a wager with Signior Gian Galeazzo, Lord of Cremona, who challenges him to resolve a certain murder mystery within two weeks. Men have been found dead in the scarlet chamber of one of Cremona's manors... -
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Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA bomb goes off, but how many passengers on the MV Buckingham have lost their lives? You will find out only if you read the opening chapter of Mightier than the Sword...Categorized as:
crime family historical-fiction thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Best of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThese fifteen short stories, chosen by David Stuart Davies, former Editor of Sherlock magazine, show the master detective Sherlock Holmes at his most ingenious... -
The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime thriller mystery historical fiction audiobook law-enforcement -
Hidden Killers by Lynda La Plante
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe brilliant new crime thriller from the BAFTA-winning writer behind the TV series Prime Suspect and author of Widows, now a major motion picture When WPC Jane Tennison is promoted to the role of Detective Constable in London’s Bow Street CID, she is immediately conflicted... -
A Conspiracy of Wolves by Candace Robb
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen a prominent citizen is murdered, former Captain of the Guard Owen Archer is persuaded out of retirement to investigate in this gripping medieval mystery.1374. When a member of one of York’s most prominent families is found dead in the woods, his throat torn out, rumours spread like wildfire that wolves are running loose throughout the city... -
The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone... -
Murder in Canton by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA.D. 681Murder In Canton takes place in 680 A.D. Judge Dee, recently promoted to Lord Chief Justice, is sent incognito to Canton to investigate the disappearance of a court censor... -
Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"New York Times" bestselling author Robert McCammon continues his triumphant return with the conclusion of an epic tale of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time....The Carolinas, 1699: After hearing damning testimony from the townspeople of Fount Royal, magistrate Isaac Woodward sentences the accused witch, Rachel Howarth, to death by burning... -
The Leper's Bell by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn November of 667 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel has returned home to her brother's castle to discover that a servant, her son's nurse, has been found brutally murdered in the woods near town, and her son is missing, presumed kidnapped or worse... -
Jinnie by Josephine Cox
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTen years ago, Louise Hunter's life was torn apart by tragedy. Her husband, Ben, killed himself; her brother-in-law was murdered; and her sister, Susan, abandoned her new-born daughter, revealing the baby is Ben's child. Louise remains haunted by guilt over the one night she spent with Ben's friend Eric, and refuses to return Eric's love... -
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Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn inquisitive woman defies expectations to become the mother of forensic science in this absorbing short story by New York Times bestselling author Ariel Lawhon.You will have ninety minutes to solve the murder. A startling declaration by a new Harvard instructor: sixty-seven-year-old Frances Glessner Lee. It’s 1945... -
Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLos Angeles. Christmas, 1967. A devil is loose in the City of Angels . . .A young nurse, Kerry Gaudet, travels to the City of Angels desperate to find her missing brother, fearing that something terrible has happened to him: a serial killer is terrorising the city, picking victims at random, and Kerry has precious few leads... -
Dead Man's Blues by Ray Celestin
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsChicago, 1928. In the stifling summer heat three disturbing events take place. A clique of city leaders is poisoned in a fancy hotel. A white gangster is found mutilated in an alleyway in the Blackbelt. And a famous heiress vanishes without a trace.Pinkerton detectives Michael Talbot and Ida Davis are hired to find the missing heiress by the girl's troubled mother... -
The Mercy Seat by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA breakout novel by “a bitingly intelligent writer” (New York Times Book Review) set during the hours leading up to the scheduled execution of a young black man for the alleged rape of a white woman in a small Louisiana town in 1943.“One of the finest writers of her generation” (Brad Watson), and author of three previously acclaimed novels, Elizabeth H... -
The Red Hill by David Penny
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA killer who can’t be stopped. A request that can’t be refused.In 1482 the Englishman Thomas Berrington is living in the last remnants of Moorish Spain. A physician, he is an unwilling friend to the most powerful man in the kingdom. When bodies start to turn up, each showing the marks of a savage attack, Thomas is asked to investigate... -
Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMen of Men by Wilbur SmithIt was called The Devils's Own: a steep scar in the African earth, around which men toiled with picks, shovels, and dreams of the milky treasures that would become prized, polished diamonds. In this demonic race, native tribesmen became miners. Sometimes they became thieves. And then they became rebels... -
The Orphan House by Ann Bennett
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo women uncover the secrets of the past in this emotional and poignant story that’s perfect for fans of Lisa Wingate and Kristina McMorris. 1934: Connie Burroughs loves living in the orphanage that her father runs in the English countryside... -
Button Man by Andrew Gross
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMorris, Sol, and Harry Rabinowitz grew up poor but happy in a tiny flat on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father thrust them into having to fend for themselves and support their large family... -
The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the national bestselling and highly acclaimed author of The Outside Boy comes the deeply moving story of two mothers—witty, self-deprecating Majella, who is shocked by her entry into motherhood in modern-day New York, and her ancestor, tough and terrified Ginny Doyle, whose battles are more fundamental: she must keep her young family alive during Ireland’s Great Famine... -
A Trick of the Light: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 3 by David Ashton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe third in David Ashton's series of McLevy books, A Trick of the Light sees McLevy team up with Arthur Conan Doyle to pursue a ruthless killer. It is 1860 and a Confederate officer, Jonathen Sinclair, arrives in Edinburgh with a sheaf of money to purchase a blockade-runner from Clydeside shipbuilders. He is betrayed to the Union forces and brutally shot dead by their secret agents... -
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Surgeons’ Hall by E.S. Thomson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat secret grips Corvus Hall?Visiting the Great Exhibition to view the wax anatomical models of the famous but reclusive Dr Silas Strangeway, Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find a severed hand, perfectly dissected and laid out amongst the exhibits... -
The House at Helygen by Victoria Hawthorne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'DARK, DISTURBING AND UTTERLY COMPELLING' LIZ FENWICKAn atmospheric historical suspense novel rich with familial secrets. The House at Helygen is a twisted tale of dark pasts, murderous presents and uncertain futures.2019 When Henry Fox is found dead in his ancestral home in Cornwall, the police rule it a suicide, but his pregnant wife, Josie, believes it was murder... -
Hold on to your Dreams by Beryl Matthews
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLondon 1899. Gertrude Melrose is preparing for a New Year party when her brother enters her room. She knows he wants money from her and refuses at once. She loves her brother but he is in with a disreputable crowd and losing heavily at the gaming tables. He has already gambled away his inheritance and she cannot allow him to do that with hers... -
The Chariots of Calyx by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLibertus is in Londinium, at the invitation of the Roman Governor, when news arrives of the brutal murder of Caius Monnius, the city's chief corn-officer. Still reeling from the shock of catching sight of the wife he lost to slavery 20 years earlier, only to lose her again, the ever-inquisitive Libertus is, for once, uninterested in unmasking the murderer...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime thriller mystery historical fiction roman-empire ancient-civilization -
A Roman Ransom by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGlevum, AD 188. Lying in his sick bed, weak and disoriented, Libertus is strictly forbidden visitors. But when Marcus Septimus forces his way in, desperate to speak to the pavement-maker, Libertus knows that something is seriously wrong. Marcus's beloved wife Julia and their baby son have disappeared without a trace...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime thriller mystery historical fiction roman-empire ancient-civilization -
Into the Suffering City by Bill LeFurgy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBaltimore, 1909. The city is jumping with danger and excitement. New thrills are everywhere: cars, cocaine, ragtime music, moving pictures. Old troubles also thrive, including murder, corruption, and the painful divisions of gender, class, and race.Dr. Sarah Kennecott is on the autism spectrum—a trait that is unidentified and unappreciated at the time... -
The Rule of Knowledge by Scott Baker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFaith, history, science and love collide in this fast-paced action adventure.High school teacher Shaun Strickland is shocked when he receives a last-minute invitation from Cambridge University to deliver a paper on the relationship between space and time, something he has been studying for years. This could be the break he s been longing for... -
The Dragons of Archenfield by Edward Marston
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDOMESDAY IS COMINGIn 1086, England's mighty king, William the Conqueror, sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their day of judgment. Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement; *and sometimes murder. . . -
With Song by Dorothy Garlock
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMolly barely noticed the sedan that pulled up in front of her family's store. Minutes later, a hail of bullets rained down on her parents. Hod Dolan, the federal agent knows she can identify the gunmen, and soon proposes a trap that uses Molly as bait... -
Veil of Doubt by Sharon Virts
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed? Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud... -
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Queen of Clubs by Beezy Marsh
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLondon, 1957: After rising up against gangland’s queen, Alice Diamond, formerly downtrodden Nell is living the perfect life of crime. Far from the East End slums where she was raised, she’s now an accomplished professional thief by day—lifting luxury goods from high-end department stores—and a glamorous nightclub owner after dark... -
West on 66 by James H. Cobb
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA classic noir mystery in the tradition of Elmore Leonard. The location is Route 66 in 1958, where a young L.A. deputy sheriff becomes involved with a mysterious woman, mobsters, and a lost fortune...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction thriller mystery hard-boiled historical action-adventure military -
The Waxman Murders by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1300, an English privateer named The Waxman was trapped and overrun by two powerful war cogs flying the streamers of the powerful Hanseatic League of North Germany. The ship was carrying a casket containing the Carta Mysteriosa, a collection of valuable and detailed maps and sea charts... -
An Experiment In Treason by Bruce Alexander
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSir John Fielding has trailed a packet of controversial letters from London to the colony of Massachusetts. But when the suspect in the theft is found dead, Sir John turns his eye on the possible involvement of Benjamin Franklin... -
A Prayer for the Damned by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn February of 668 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel and her companion Eadulf are about to get permanently married. As the sister to the King of Muman, Fidelma's marriage ceremony is a major event; the High King of Ireland, as well as other kings and major figures, are going to be in attendance... -
The Leper's Return by Michael Jecks
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a local goldsmith, Godfrey of Harwood, is found brutally murdered in his home, Furnshill and Puttock are called on to investigate. But when rumors begin spreading that patients from a local leper hospital might have been involved in Godfrey's murder, a series of vicious attacks on the unfortunate victims ensues, culminating in a disastrous fire at the hospital...
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