Books like 'Motive'
Readers who enjoyed Motive by Jonathan Kellerman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery psychological serial killer action / adventure thriller north-america usa california crime suspense
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High Force by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHell has unleashed a demon – and he’s coming for you… Detective Chief Inspector Ryan’s worst nightmare has just become a reality. Notorious serial killer The Hacker has escaped prison and kidnapped one of his best detectives from her own home. His brutality is the stuff of legend – Ryan lost his sister and nearly his own life bringing the man to justice first time around...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Bamburgh by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn’t think much of it—except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body... -
Dead Souls by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe truth was dead and buried…until now. When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone. As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult archaeology -
The Infirmary by L.J. Ross, Jonathan Keeble
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIntroducing the new, unabridged version of The Infirmary by LJ Ross, the author of the international number one best-selling series, the DCI Ryan Mysteries.There's a serial killer targeting the streets of Newcastle, seemingly picking his victims at random but subjecting them all to the same torturous end...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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Beware the Past by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsOne terrible case always haunted detective Matt Ballard. Now many years later, the killer seems to be back. And this time he's after Matt. When Matt Ballard was starting out his career, three boys were murdered in the same area, the remote and bleak Gibbet Fen. When the main suspect was killed in a hit-and-run, the killings stopped...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
In the Darkness by Mike Omer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA forensic psychologist fights a mental war against two serial killers in this disturbing thriller from Mike Omer, Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of A Killer’s Mind.An online video of a girl clawing at the ceiling of her own grave could be the worst thing FBI forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley has ever seen...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Angel by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe’ll make you his angel, but first you have to die... After a turbulent time, DCI Ryan’s life is finally beginning to return to normal and he’s looking forward to spending an uneventful Easter bank holiday weekend with his fiancée. Then, on Good Friday morning he is called out to a crime scene at one of the largest cemeteries in Newcastle...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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 law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsHomicide detective Tracy Crosswhite has returned to the police force after the sensational retrial of her sister’s killer. Still scarred from that ordeal, Tracy is pulled into an investigation that threatens to end her career, if not her life.A serial killer known as the Cowboy is killing young women in cheap motels in North Seattle...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
Heavenfield by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe hunter becomes the hunted… When a man is found dead at the remote church of Heavenfield, DCI Ryan is the only other person for miles around. The police have no weapon, no motive and no other suspects. Already suspended from Northumbria CID, Ryan must fight to clear his name. But soon, more than his career is at stake when prominent members of the mysterious ‘Circle’ begin to die...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Cragside by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter his climactic battle with notorious serial killer The Hacker , DCI Ryan is spending the summer with his fiancée within the grounds of Cragside, a spectacular Bavarian-style mansion surrounded by acres of woodland. When they are invited to attend the staff summer party – a Victorian murder mystery evening – it’s all a joke until the lights go out and an elderly man is found dead...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Winter's Redemption by Mary Stone
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Preacher is killing again...The serial killer who slaughtered Winter’s parents has come out of retirement, leaving bloody victims in his wake. Special Agent Winter Black has spent her entire life preparing for this moment, and she intends to end the man who took everything from her and solve the disappearance of her little brother—no matter the cost... -
The Knight by Steven James
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn The Knight, the third installment in the bestselling series of thrillers featuring FBI criminologist Patrick Bowers, the stakes have never been higher.Agent Bowers is used to tracking the country's most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him... -
Fear on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNow.In the beautiful gardens of Shelley House a shocking discovery is made. A blackened hand dangles over the side of a wheelbarrow. The horrific scent of burnt flesh lingers in the air.Detective Nikki Galena and Joseph Easter are called in to investigate.Twenty years ago.A family destroyed by tragic secrets. The scientist father who killed their gardener, before being murdered himself...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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The Fifth To Die by J.D. Barker
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAlternate cover art can be found hereIn the thrilling sequel to The Fourth Monkey, a new serial killer stalks the streets of Chicago, while Detective Porter delves deeper into the dark past of the Four Monkey Killer.Detective Porter and the team have been pulled from the hunt for Anson Bishop, the Four Monkey Killer, by the feds...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Mania: An Alexander Gregory Thriller by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DCI RYAN MYSTERIESYou can’t run from the past…Back in London after a dramatic trip to North America, Doctor Alexander Gregory finds himself without an occupation while he awaits the all-important decision of the disciplinary panel at Southmoor Hospital...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Bishop by Steven James
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsF.B.I. Special Agent Patrick Bowers's cutting edge 21st century geospatial investigative techniques and impeccable logic have helped him track some of the country's most grisly killers. But those skills are pushed to the limit in this new installment of the highly acclaimed, award winning The Bowers Files series... -
Fear No Evil by James Patterson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAlex Cross enters the final showdown with the relentless killer who has stalked him and his family for years.Dr. Alex Cross and Detective John Sampson venture into the rugged Montana wilderness—where they will be the prey. They’re not on the job, but on a personal mission...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult assassinations -
Dawn Girl by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA GRIPPING SERIAL KILLER THRILLERHer blue eyes wide open, glossed over. A few specks of sand clung to her long, dark lashes. Her beautiful face, immobile, covered in sparkling flecks of sand. Her lips slightly parted as if to let a last breath escape...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult book -
Crimson Lake Road by Victor Methos
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBestselling author Victor Methos’s acclaimed series continues as prosecutor Jessica Yardley races to catch an art-obsessed serial killer before she becomes his next masterpiece.Retiring prosecutor Jessica Yardley can’t turn down one last investigation. This time, it’s a set of murders inspired by a series of grisly paintings called The Night Things...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Criss Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA killer with all the skills of a master detective has made Alex Cross the subject of his deranged "investigation." In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed "M" rests on the corpse. "You messed up big time, Dr. Cross...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure audiobook book -
The Girl in the Sand by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShallow graves scar the desert landscape. A cemetery in the sand. Some of the lost are never found. Thousands of girls go missing every year in Las Vegas. Taken. Bought and sold. Or worse. And now the dead are calling. These lost girls summon FBI Profiler Violet Darger to Sin City -- a new case...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Ladykiller by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsGeorge Markham has a nasty little hobby, one that erupts into an orgy of vicious sexual depravity.Patrick Kelly is a hard man. His one soft spot is his daughter, and when she falls victim to the Grantley Ripper, Kelly wants revenge.The DI in charge of the case is Kate Burrows. She feels for Kelly but her growing involvement with a known villain is putting her career at risk . .Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Gallery of the Dead by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 19 ratings‘Thirty-seven years in the force, and if I was allowed to choose just one thing to erase from my mind, what’s inside that room would be it.'That’s what a LAPD Lieutenant tells Detectives Hunter and Garcia of the Ultra Violent Crimes Unit as they arrive at one of the most shocking crime scenes they have ever attended...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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Sycamore Gap by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe past never stays buried for long... Detective Chief Inspector Ryan believes he has put his turbulent history behind him. Then, in the early hours of the summer solstice, the skeleton of a young woman is found inside the Roman Wall at Sycamore Gap. She has lain undiscovered for ten years and it is Ryan's job to piece together her past...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Impostor by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DCI RYAN MYSTERIES There’s a killer inside all of us… After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amidst a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Night Thief by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen everyone is sleeping, he comes into their houses.He takes one thing. A photo of their child.A thief on a power trip or something even darker and more sinister?Detectives Jackman and Evans find themselves on the hunt for a highly unusual burglar who seemingly only steals photographs. But then, late one night, an elderly woman falls to her death after seeing someone in her home... -
Unbound Ties: When the past unravels, all that’s left is death ... by Liz Mistry
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the past unravels, all that’s left is death.Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly,When DI Gus McGuire is called out to the murder of a pregnant woman, the crime scene tells him that this killer is not only taunting them … he’s also just getting started.Lavender’s green,With ritualistic precision, the killer has placed a series of clues beneath the victim’s feet...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller mystery domestic-drama killer -
The Thames Path killer by Biba Pearce
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA SCINTILLATING DEBUT MYSTERY FROM YOUR NEW CRIME FICTION OBSESSION: BIBA PEARCE.Please note this book is a completely revised edition of THE SURREY STALKER.A deranged serial killer targeting brides-to-be. An ambitious young detective. A case that could destroy everything.A young woman is brutally attacked on her way home. It looks like she was the victim of a jilted — and twisted — ex-lover...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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 -
Cross Justice by James Patterson
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFor Alex Cross, the toughest cases hit close to home-and in this deadly thrill ride, he's trying to solve the most personal mystery of his life.When his cousin is accused of a heinous crime, Alex Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in over three decades...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Winter Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 31 ratings"Winter Prey" is a John Sandford suspense masterpiece! Following the international success of "Shadow Prey" and "Silent Prey," he creates another heart-pounding chapter in the career of Lucas Davenport, the brilliant, hard-bitten detective from the Twin Cities.The Iceman is Lucas Davenport's most determined foe - a serial killer driven to cover his brutal tracks with blood...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Shattered by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsOver a span of twenty years, four boys have been kidnapped from their bedrooms, suffocated, and buried nearby in a shallow grave. Serial killer or coincidence?That’s the question investigative reporter Maxine Revere sets out to answer when an old friend begs her to help exonerate his wife, who has been charged with their son’s recent murder. But Max can do little to help because the police and D... -
Police by Jo Nesbø
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhen a police officer is found murdered at the scene of an old unsolved murder case that he was involved in investigating, it can hardly be a coincidence. When the same thing happens to two other officers in a matter of months the pattern is as clear as it is terrifying. None of the old cases were ever solved. The killings are extremely brutal and the police have no leads...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure adult -
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A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAtlee Pine has spent most of her life trying to find out what happened that fateful night in Andersonville, Georgia. Her six year old twin sister, Mercy, was taken and Atlee was left for dead while their parents were apparently partying downstairs. One person who continues to haunt her is notorious serial killer Daniel James Tor, locked away in a Colerado maximum security prison...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement north-america police-procedural suspense usa thriller action-adventure -
The Rook by Steven James
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn arsonist has struck a top-secret research facility at a key US naval base. But it's not just a random terrorist attack. These people were after something specific. When Special Agent Patrick Bowers is called in to investigate, he is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue and deception... -
Murder in the Village by Faith Martin, Gemma Dawson
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife's alibi is full of holes and there's another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival? DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this perplexing murder...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Where The Truth Lies by M.J. Lee
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA killer in total control. A detective on the edge. A mystery that HAS to be solved. DI Thomas Ridpath was on the up in the Manchester CID: a promising young detective whose first case involved capturing a notorious serial killer. But ten years later he’s recovering from a serious illness and on the brink of being forced out of the police...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense police-procedural thriller fiction mystery contemporary -
Bad Blood by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe body slumps over the steering wheel. Pools of blood going tacky on the dash. Two shots to the back of the head. A mafia-style hit in a small town.So Special Agent Violet Darger arrives in rural Michigan. She must make sense of this savagery. Figure out how something like this could happen in an idyllic town of just 5,000.The victim had been living the American dream... -
Gone by Lisa Gardner, Anna Fields
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFrom New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner, author of Alone and The Killing Hour, comes a thriller that goes from heartbreaking to heartstopping in the blink of an eye...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Guilty Ones by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTHE MOST DIFFICULT CASE OF DETECTIVE JACKMAN’S LIFE. WHO ARE THE GUILTY ONES AND IS ANYONE REALLY INNOCENT? THIS TIME IT’S VERY PERSONAL FOR JACKMAN. Jackman’s sister-in-law Sarah disappears to London and throws herself into the river. What drove her to this? She was a woman with a seemingly happy home life and two beloved sons. DI Jackman and DI Evans dig into Sarah’s life...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The House of Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe thirty-second instalment in James Patterson's globally bestselling Alex Cross series. It’s time to put the guns down, Detective Cross. Even if you knew the way out of this place, we would catch you.A serial killer is taking out America’s finest legal minds, and Alex Cross is called to investigate their brutal murders... -
The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEach time he struck, he took two victims. Day after day, he waited for the first body to be discovered--a body containing all the clues the investigators needed to find the second victim, who waited...prey to a slow but certain death. The clock ticked--salvation was possible.The police were never in time.Years have passed; but for this killer, time has stood still...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
Sleep Tight by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsClose your eyes … Just pray you don’t wake up.A killer stalks the streets of East London. All over the area, murdered young women are discovered, their bodies posed into disturbing recreations of fairytale princesses.Detective Ruby Preston is determined to hunt down the murderer who is using the women to realise his dark fantasies...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural thriller action-adventure adult audiobook book -
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Secret Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe company chairman lay dead in the woods, his orange hunting jacket punctured by a bullet at close range. Around him stood the four executives with whom he had been hunting, each with a reason not to be sorry about the man's death. A classic murder mystery, it would seem: the kind where the detective gathers everyone together at the end and solves the case...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
YOU DID THIS by Jamie Millen
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsA sister’s worst nightmare. A homicide detective’s destiny.Everybody loves Claire’s little sister, Tina. But only Claire sees the twisted psychopath hiding behind her sister’s angelic face. When Tina is brutally murdered on her fourteenth birthday, the day Claire failed to walk her home from school, Claire never forgives herself. And neither does their mother... -
The Thirst by Jo Nesbø
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsHarry Hole returns in the eleventh installment of the author's best-selling, electrifying crime fiction series—published in 48 languages, more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. In Police—the last novel featuring Jo Nesbø's hard-bitten, maverick Oslo detective—a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure adult -
The Cipher by Isabella Maldonado
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsTo a cunning serial killer, she was the one that got away. Until now…FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera escaped a serial killer’s trap at sixteen. Years later, when she’s jumped in a Virginia park, a video of the attack goes viral. Legions of new fans are not the only ones impressed with her fighting skills. The man who abducted her eleven years ago is watching...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement north-america police-procedural suspense usa thriller action-adventure -
The House that Jack Built by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsScott Kingston is afraid of monsters. He thinks they’re lurking outside his bedroom window at night when his mother tucks him in. He asks his mother to keep the light on to scare the monsters away. But that light is exactly what lures the kidnapper to his window and the next morning, Scott Kingston is gone...Categorized as:
cozy crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Promise by Katerina Diamond
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘All hail the new Queen of Crime!’ HeatWhen troubled teen Connor moves to Exeter from the US after a horrific school shooting, he finds himself embroiled in a world of popular kids and easy girls. Everyone wants to be his friend, but they don’t know about what he did…and they don’t know about his father...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook
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