Books like 'The Spinning Heart'
Readers who enjoyed The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological europe british-isles ireland literary-fiction historical-fiction drama realistic
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One Among Us by Paige Dearth
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA 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... -
![Anxious People by Fredrik Backman]()
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 51 ratingsA poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imaginedLooking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage... -
![The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope]()
The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTina is a young woman hiding from her grief on the streets of the Cross. On a cold night in the middle of winter she breaks all her own rules when she agrees to go home with a customer.What she finds in his house will change her life forever.Across the country Sarah and Doug are trapped in limbo, struggling to accept the loss that now governs their lives... -
![Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff]()
Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAndy Gage was born in 1965 and murdered not long after by his stepfather. . . . It was no ordinary murder. Though the torture and abuse that killed him were real, Andy Gage's death wasn't. Only his soul actually died, and when it died, it broke in pieces. Then the pieces became souls in their own right, coinheritors of Andy Gage's life. . . -
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![Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain]()
Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLaura Brandon had promised her dying father she would visit Sarah Tolley, but her own agony is drowning out the old woman's ramblings. Her husband killed himself, and the only witness--her daughter, Emma--now refuses to speak. Desperate, Laura turns to a man she met once five years ago: Emma's real father... -
![A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne]()
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMaurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don’t need to be his own... -
![The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain]()
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own... -
![Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney]()
Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhat if you found out that your family isn't yours at all? How far would you go to protect them? A gripping new psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl Before. . . .Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent's worst nightmare... -
![Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty]()
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIf you knew your future, would you try to fight fate? Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed. Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die... -
![Secrets Mothers Keep by Anya Mora]()
Secrets Mothers Keep by Anya Mora
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn Friday night in the clay fields of Bethel Creek, seventeen-year-old Daniel Reyes is found brutally attacked and left for dead. On Saturday morning, Cora Maxwell finds her teenage son’s clothes covered in blood. A small town torn apart by a horrific hate crime. An investigative reporter hell bent on finding the truth. A mother’s worst nightmare... -
![The Passing Storm by Christine Nolfi]()
The Passing Storm by Christine Nolfi
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days... -
![The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green]()
The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsEven the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface...Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place... -
![The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse]()
The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat would you do if you learned that the life you lived was a lie? Nina McCarrick lives the perfect life, until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels.Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina quickly loses her life of luxury and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married... -
![A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks]()
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsMiles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. Missy had been his first love, and Miles fervently believes she will be his last. As a deputy in the North Carolina town of New Bern, Miles Ryan not only grieves for Missy, but also longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews... -
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![The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis]()
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city... -
![Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver]()
Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThree mothers. Three secrets. One devastating scandal.Anna has always been the quiet one, the soft-spoken mother who kept her head down and her secrets close. But when she's thrown together with Maggie and Rhea on a PTA project, they begin to bond over wine and gossip, and slowly share the truths behind their picture-perfect lives... -
![Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan]()
Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA wry, affecting tale set in a small town on the Indonesian coast, Man Tiger tells the story of two interlinked and tormented families and of Margio, a young man ordinary in all particulars except that he conceals within himself a supernatural female white tiger. The inequities and betrayals of family life coalesce around and torment this magical being...Categorized as:
crime drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics action-adventure -
![I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch]()
I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsArrested and imprisoned in a small Swiss town, a prisoner begins this book with an exclamation: "I'm not Stiller!" He claims that his name is Jim White, that he has been jailed under false charges and under the wrong identity... -
![Dear Mother by Angela Marsons]()
Dear Mother by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA story about three sisters brought together by the death of their cruel and abusive mother. Alex, the youngest, is a bitter, unforgiving woman who refuses to face the events of her childhood. She hides in a bottle and destroys any chance of happiness that comes her way. Her life is spiralling dangerously out of control but she doesn't have the strength to stop it... -
![The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire]()
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
![The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph]()
The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOusep Chacko, journalist and failed novelist, prides himself on being “the last of the real men.” This includes waking neighbors upon returning late from the pub. His wife Mariamma stretches their money, raises their two boys, and, in her spare time, gleefully fantasizes about Ousep dying... -
![The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson]()
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsThe Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories...Categorized as:
crime dark drama historical-fiction humor literary-fiction realistic social-commentary -
![Service: A Novel by Sarah Gilmartin]()
Service: A Novel by Sarah Gilmartin
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA “powerful and compelling” novel about power, consent, and complicity in our #MeToo era — for fans of Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You (Joseph O’Connor, author of My Father’s House)Tensions are at an all-time high in an upscale Dublin restaurant as its employees grapple with the fallout from a shocking scandal involving its head chefThe waitress, the chef, and the chef’s wife may... -
![The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent]()
The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTwo 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... -
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![The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark]()
The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLisa Genova meets 23andMe in this exploration of the genetic and emotional ties that bind, as debut author Julie Clark delivers a compelling read about a young boy desperate to find his place in this world, a mother coming to terms with her own past, and the healing power of forgiveness... -
![One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf]()
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn her most emotionally charged novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores the unspoken events that shape a community, the ties between parents and their children and how the fragile normalcy of our everyday life is so easily shattered.In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom... -
![The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle]()
The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA young widow raising two boys, Sarah Laden is struggling to keep her family together. But when a shocking revelation rips apart the family of her closest friend, Sarah finds herself welcoming yet another troubled young boy into her already tumultuous life.Jordan, a quiet, reclusive elementary school classmate of Sarah's son Danny, has survived a terrible ordeal... -
![A Heart So White by Javier Marías]()
A Heart So White by Javier Marías
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn alternate cover of this ISBN can be found here.Javier Marías's A Heart So White chronicles with unnerving insistence the relentless power of the past. Juan knows little of the interior life of his father Ranz; but when Juan marries, he begins to consider the past anew, and begins to ponder what he doesn't really want to know...Categorized as:
crime drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain]()
Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says she's going to the store--and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets... -
![She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper]()
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEleven-year-old Polly is smart far beyond her years. But she's a loner. Her mother tells her she has 'gunfighter eyes', like the father she's never met. In prison, about to be released, Nate runs afoul of the powerful leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Marked for death on his release, Nate soon realizes that everyone he has ever loved is a target - including his daughter, Polly... -
![Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel]()
Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s the phone call every parent dreads: in the middle of the night, Sandy Cline learns that her twenty-year-old son, Jordan, has been in a car accident. Her nephew, Travis, was also in the car, along with Travis’s girlfriend. All three are alive—but barely. The car was smashed against a tree along a remote and winding road, beautiful but deadly, in their rural Texas Hill Country town... -
![Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta]()
Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Bish Ortley, a suspended cop, receives word that a bus carrying his daughter has been bombed, he rushes to her side. A suspect has already been singled out: a 17-year-old girl who has since disappeared from the scene.The press has now revealed that she is the youngest member of one of London's most notorious families... -
![Come Back to Me by Sara Foster]()
Come Back to Me by Sara Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDo you have to honour a promise you made in the past if it means losing all you have now? When Mark introduces his date, Julia, to Chloe and her husband at a London restaurant, it's obvious that something is very, very wrong. Alex and Julia pretend not to know one another, but the shocked expressions on their faces tell another story... -
![The Antarctica of Love by Sara Stridsberg]()
The Antarctica of Love by Sara Stridsberg
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe international star Sara Stridsberg returns with The Antarctica of Love, an unnamed woman's tale of her murder, her brief life, and the world that moves on after she left itThey say you die three times... -
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![Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton]()
Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEmma held the photo for a long moment before her eyes focused on the girl’s face. She dropped it and let out a muted cry.The girl in the photograph was Tessa.Twenty-five years after losing her friend Tessa in a tragic accident, Emma’s life is happy and settled. She rarely thinks about the day that Tessa fell to her death, or the secret that she made Emma swear to keep just hours before... -
![The Ninth Session by Deborah Serani]()
The Ninth Session by Deborah Serani
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that brings a unique mix of Psychotherapy, American Sign Language and Coda Culture. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again! Dr. Alicia Reese takes on a new patient. Lucas Ferro suffers with crippling anxiety, and as sessions progress, he begins to share the reasons why he's struggling... -
![Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay]()
Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days.“They found the bodies on a Tuesday... -
![Skagboys by Irvine Welsh]()
Skagboys by Irvine Welsh
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMark Renton has it all: he's good-looking, young, with a pretty girlfriend and a place at university. But there's no room for him in the 1980s. Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone... -
![The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain]()
The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA beloved daughter. A devastating choice. And now there's no going back. Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and worrying about keeping food on the table. But he's never regretted his decision. Bella is the light of his life... -
![Working Fire by Emily Bleeker]()
Working Fire by Emily Bleeker
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone comes a compelling novel of a bond between sisters, tested by tragedy…Ellie Brown thought she’d finally escaped her stifling hometown of Broadlands, Illinois; med school was supposed to be her ticket out... -
![If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin]()
If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'So beautifully written, such a devastatingly compelling story... I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read - it is without shadow of a doubt, EASILY up there with Girl On a Train and Eleanor Oliphant.' - Ruth JonesSamuel, the day we met I knew I’d finally found what I’ve been waiting for.You.Happiness, at last.Then you left me.And now I am alone... -
![Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke]()
Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPeople go traveling for two reasons: because they are searching for something, or they are running from something. Katie’s world is shattered by the news that her headstrong and bohemian younger sister, Mia, has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Bali. The authorities say that Mia jumped—that her death was a suicide... -
![The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown]()
The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the enchanting landscapes of Tasmania, "The Secrets Mothers Keep" unravels a captivating tale of three generations bound by a shared purpose—to restore the family manor into a charming bed and breakfast. But beneath the surface lies a lifetime of concealed truths that threaten to tear them apart... -
![The Choice by Susan Lewis]()
The Choice by Susan Lewis
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSometimes the choice is too hard to bear...Nikki Grant is only twenty-one when she discovers she's pregnant. Despite her parents' disappointment and anger, she welcomes the news with joy. The baby will complete the happy home she shares with the man she adores, Spencer James. Baby Zac arrives and is perfect in every way... -
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![Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell]()
Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEmma’s darkest secrets are buried in the past. But the truth can’t stay hidden for long.Emma is a loving wife, a devoted mother…and an involuntary killer. For years she’s been hiding the dead body of the teacher who seduced her as a teen.It’s a secret that might have stayed buried if only her life had been less perfect... -
![Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro]()
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA GRIPPING NEW NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF INHERITANCEOne Night. One Fateful Choice. A Constellation of Lives Changed Forever.SIGNAL FIRES opens on a summer night in 1985. Three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family grief drama fiction audiobook contemporary -
![The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk]()
The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA New Translation and Afterword by Maureen FreelyGalip is a lawyer living in Istanbul. His wife, the detective novel–loving Ruya, has disappeared. Could she have left him for her ex-husband or Celâl, a popular newspaper columnist? But Celâl, too, seems to have vanished...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics 20th-century action-adventure -
![Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller]()
Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe will not admit it to Rhea and Lars - never, of course not - but Sheldon can't help but wonder what it is he's doing here..Eighty-two years old, and recently widowed, Sheldon Horowitz has grudgingly moved to Oslo, with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband... -
![Empire Falls by Richard Russo]()
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWith Empire Falls Richard Russo cements his reputation as one of America's most compelling and compassionate storytellers. Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school... -
![The Allegations by Mark Lawson]()
The Allegations by Mark Lawson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the morning after he has celebrated his 60th birthday party at a celebrity-filled party, Ned Marriott is in bed with his partner, Emma, when there's a knock on the door. Detectives from the London police force's 'Operation Millpond' have come to arrest him over an allegation of sexual assault...
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