Books like 'Playing Nice'

Readers who enjoyed Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  mystery  psychological  horror  thriller  europe  british-isles  united-kingdom  england  urban 

  • One Among Us by Paige Dearth

    One Among Us by Paige Dearth

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    A kidnapped girl is forced into human sex trafficking Eleven- year-old Maggie Clarke is abducted from her loving family and thrust into the indescribably horrific and largely unknown underworld of human sex trafficking. In captivity, Maggie's life turns into a nightmare most children couldn't imagine...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  realistic  suspense  thriller  abuse
  • Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

    Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 44 ratings
    Cormoran Strike is back, with his assistant Robin Ellacott, in a mystery based around soldiers returning from war.When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed...
    Categorized as:
    british-isles  crime  dark  drama  england  europe  realistic  suspense
  • The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

    The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 39 ratings
    Sally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister.There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week...
  • Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

    Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    The serial killer isn't on trial.He's on the jury.It’s the murder trial of the century. And Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house – and to be sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.But there’s someone on his tail...
  • Primal Fear by William Diehl

    Primal Fear by William Diehl

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    Martin Vail, the brilliant "bad-boy" lawyer every prosecutor and politician love to hate, is defending Aaron Stampler, a man found holding a bloody butcher's knife near a murdered archbishop...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  legal  suspense  thriller  adult  book
  • Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

    Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They're admired in their community and are a loving family—until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken.A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  domestic-drama  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult
  • Fractured by Karin Slaughter

    Fractured by Karin Slaughter

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    The second Will Trent novel, from the No. 1 Bestseller.When Atlanta housewife Abigail Campano comes home unexpectedly one afternoon, she walks into a nightmare. A broken window, a bloody footprint on the stairs and, most devastating of all, the horrifying sight of her teenage daughter lying dead on the landing, a man standing over her with a bloody knife...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook
  • The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

    The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A woman being held captive is willing to risk everything to save herself, her unborn child, and her captor’s latest victim in this claustrophobic thriller in the tradition of Misery and Room. On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  dark  thriller  drama  fiction  mystery  horror
  • The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

    The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 32 ratings
    A page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child...
  • Wall of Silence by Tracy Buchanan

    Wall of Silence by Tracy Buchanan

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Her children have a deadly secret. Can she uncover it before the police do?Melissa Byatt’s life in Forest Grove seems as perfect as can be: a doting husband, three loving children and a beautiful house in a close-knit community. But appearances can be deceiving...
  • What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

    What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  domestic-drama  drama  family  suspense  thriller  abuse
  • Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela

    Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Edwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction
  • All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

    All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    It’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  family  thriller  dark  mystery  fiction  audiobook
  • Messiah by Boris Starling

    Messiah by Boris Starling

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    A former reporter and a specialist in kidnap negotiations releases a debut serial killer novel that reveals the making of a mass murderer. Three bodies are found with their tongues cut out and replaced with silver spoons. The killer's motives and methods are so elusive that talented investigator Red Metcalf must search the darkest corners of his own soul to stop the killings...
  • Paranoid by Lisa Jackson

    Paranoid by Lisa Jackson

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a new novel of nerve-jangling suspense as a woman haunted by guilt realizes that nothing can be trusted—not even her own memory … There are people in Edgewater, Oregon, who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with murder...
    Categorized as:
    crime  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book
  • The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson

    The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    The unmissable new thriller from the bestselling author and screenwriter of Netflix movie, The Weekend Away.In a cabin in a wood,A woman by the window stood.Glancing out, she thought she heardFootsteps, whistling, something stirred.Hiding here, she fears the night,For what’s done in the dark will come to light...
  • Trespassing by Brandi Reeds

    Trespassing by Brandi Reeds

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    In a novel of mounting psychological suspense, a young mother follows a dangerous path to find her missing husband.Veronica Cavanaugh’s grasp on the world is slipping. Her latest round of fertility treatments not only failed but left her on edge and unbalanced. And her three-year-old daughter, Elizabella, has a new imaginary friend, who seems much more devilish than playful...
  • His & Hers by Alice Feeney

    His & Hers by Alice Feeney

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying. When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation...
    Categorized as:
    british-isles  crime  dark  drama  england  europe  family  realistic
  • Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

    Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly turned into a nightmare. Traumatized, betrayed, and publicly vilified for the shocking circumstances surrounding the cannibal murder case, Kate could only watch as her career ended in scandal...
  • Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Caroline Webb knows what it means to lose the person you love most. Twenty years ago, her five-year-old daughter, Hayley, was the light of her life, her treasure, her angle. Then came the terrible day when Hayley was kidnapped from her favorite swing. More than a month passed before her burned, lifeless body was found. All that remained was the silence of Caroline's heartache--and her guilt..
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • Vicious by Kevin O'Brien

    Vicious by Kevin O'Brien

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    NO MOTIVE For more than two years, he held Seattle in a terror grip. A cold-blooded killer who abducted young mothers right in front of their sons and murdered them execution style. Then, as suddenly as the killings began, they seemed to stop.NO MERCY Susan Blanchette is looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with her fianc�, Allen, and young son, Matthew...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  family  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary
  • Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

    Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    In this chilling novel from bestselling author John Marrs, a young couple’s house hides terrible secrets—and not all of them are confined to the past.Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC...
  • You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ EPIC!! EPIC!! EPIC!! This book had EVERYTHING I love in a book!! ' Goodreads ReviewerHe only had to do one thing. Love her family…Matt Walker was a chancer; he’d spent his entire profession chasing the next job. His personal life took on a similar mantra; a succession of one-night stands and brief relationships. Life was slowly drifting him by...
  • My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil

    My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Most mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  family  thriller  dark  drama  audiobook  fiction
  • You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke

    You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Spine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows...
  • No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara

    No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Two children get on the train. Only one gets off...No one saw it happen.You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind.Everyone is lying.By the time you get to the next stop, you've convinced yourself that everything will be fine...
  • Because She Loves Me by Mark Edwards

    Because She Loves Me by Mark Edwards

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A gripping tale of jealousy, obsession, and murder, from the #1 bestselling author of The Magpies . When Andrew Sumner meets beautiful, edgy Charlie, he is certain his run of bad luck has finally come to an end. But as the two of them embark on an intense affair, Andrew wonders if his grasp on reality is slipping. Items go missing in his apartment. Somebody appears to be following him...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  realistic  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook
  • The Soul Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek

    The Soul Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    International number one bestseller Sebastian Fitzek plunges readers into the depths of their own souls in a new high-concept thriller.The Soul Breaker destroys his victims.He doesn't kill them, or mutilate them. But he leaves them completely dead inside, paralysed and catatonic. His only trace a note left in their hands.There are three known victims when suddenly the abductions stop...
  • People Like Them by Minka Kent

    People Like Them by Minka Kent

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Nobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  crime  thriller  dark  family  fiction  audiobook  mystery
  • Dear Child: A Novel by Romy Hausmann

    Dear Child: A Novel by Romy Hausmann

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    A woman held captive finally escapes—but can she ever really get away?Gone Girl meets Room in this page-turning, #1 internationally bestselling thriller from one of Germany’s hottest new talentsA windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.She says her name is Lena...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  suspense  thriller  abuse  action-adventure
  • The Good Samaritan by John Marrs

    The Good Samaritan by John Marrs

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    She’s a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  suspense  thriller  abuse  adult
  • I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

    I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

    Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars
    · 41 ratings
    When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  suspense  thriller  audiobook  book
  • Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil

    Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil

    Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars
    · 34 ratings
    In the summer of 2006, Emma Price watched helplessly as her six-year-old son's red coat was fished out of the River Ouse. It was the tragic story of the year - a little boy, Aiden, wandered away from school during a terrible flood, fell into the river, and drowned. His body was never recovered. Ten years later, Emma has finally rediscovered the joy in life...
  • The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent

    The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent

    Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York...
  • The Woods by Harlan Coben

    The Woods by Harlan Coben

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    Twenty years ago at summer camp, Paul Copeland's sister died in the woods, the alleged victim of a serial killer. Her body was never found. Now, Paul is the prosecutor for Essex County, New Jersey, immersed in one of the biggest cases of his career-a case that will change everything he believes about the past...and the truth...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  legal  suspense  thriller  action-adventure
  • Here To Stay by Mark Edwards

    Here To Stay by Mark Edwards

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    A beautiful home. A loving wife. And in-laws to die for.Gemma Robinson comes into Elliot’s life like a whirlwind, and they marry and settle into his home. When she asks him if her parents can come to stay for a couple of weeks, he is keen to oblige – he just doesn’t quite know what he’s signing up for...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  domestic-drama  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult
  • Trapped by Greg Iles

    Trapped by Greg Iles

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    24 HOURS --- that's how long it takes a madman to pull off the perfect crime. He's done it before, he'll do it again, and no one can stop him.But this time, he's just picked the wrong family to terrorize. Because Will and Karen Jennings aren't going to watch helplessly as he victimizes them. And they aren't going to let him get away with it...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  legal  suspense  thriller  action-adventure  adult
  • The Collector by John Fowles

    The Collector by John Fowles

    Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins the pools he buys a remote Sussex house and calmly abducts Miranda, believing she will grow to love him in time...
  • Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

    Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers...
  • The Stalker by Sarah Alderson

    The Stalker by Sarah Alderson

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Newly-weds Liam and Laura are spending their honeymoon in paradise: just the two of them on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. But they soon discover that all is not as it seems, and the island has a tragic past. And they can’t shake the feeling of being watched…When one morning, they wake to find a message scratched into the window, their worst fears are confirmed...
  • The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan

    The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nanny and What She Knew comes the terrifying story of what can happen after all your dreams come trueBe careful what you wish for...Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple—until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight...
  • The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

    The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    In this powerful psychological suspense debut, when a woman’s life is shattered, she is faced with a devastating question: What if everything she thought was normal and good and true . . . wasn’t? Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters...
  • Nobody Knows You're Here by Bryn Greenwood

    Nobody Knows You're Here by Bryn Greenwood

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    A desperate woman fights to escape captivity in this gripping thriller from the New York Times -bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. Beatrice is about to lose everything when a kind stranger offers her a cup of coffee and a job. It seems like a promise of a better life . . . until she wakes up under lock and key in an isolated mansion in the woods...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  crime  thriller  dark  drama  mystery  fiction  audiobook
  • In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards

    In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Isabel’s life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead.For four years Jessica has never doubted that her sister Isabel’s death was an accident. But when Jessica’s young daughter seems to know long-forgotten details about her aunt’s past, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that there’s a more sinister truth behind the tragedy...
    Categorized as:
    crime  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book
  • The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

    The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    A rash of grisly serial murders plagued Seattle until the infamous "Beacon Hill Butcher" was finally hunted down and killed by police chief Edward Shank in 1985. Now, some thirty years later, Shank, retired and widowed, is giving up his large rambling Victorian house to his grandson Matt, whom he helped raise...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook
  • Hanover House by Brenda Novak

    Hanover House by Brenda Novak

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Hanover House The Hanover House Chronicles Prequel novella to my new Hanover House Chronicles (digital only). Welcome to Hanover House…. Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind...
  • Hangman by Daniel Cole

    Hangman by Daniel Cole

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    How do you catch a killer who's already dead?'Eighteen months have passed, but the scars the Ragdoll murders left behind remain. DCI Emily Baxter is summoned to a meeting with US Special Agents Elliot Curtis of the FBI and Damien Rouche of the CIA...
  • amok by Sebastian Fitzek

    amok by Sebastian Fitzek

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    This was supposed to be the last day of her life. Renowned criminal psychologist Ira Samin can no longer bear the feelings of guilt inspired by her eldest daughter's death and has decided to commit suicide. The preparations are all in place when Samin is summoned to a radio station where people have been taken hostage by a violent psychopath. A macabre game will decide the fate of the victims...
    Categorized as:
    crime  drama  europe  suspense  urban  thriller  adult  audiobook
  • How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

    How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  drama  family  realistic  suspense  urban  thriller
  • The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

    The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings...
Fantastic book recommendations by book lovers for book lovers.
Find out more about thebooknaut.com.



Looking for more inspiration? Enter another book title to get more suggestions on what to read next.


Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.