Books like 'The Descent'
Readers who enjoyed The Descent by Matt Brolly also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery serial killer psychological thriller europe british-isles united-kingdom england crime law-enforcement
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Dying Truth by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHow far would you go to protect your darkest secrets? When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents... -
A Whisper of Sorrows by J.D. Kirk
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe hunter has become the hunted.Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan caught the twisted child killer known as Mister Whisper.Two days ago, Mister Whisper escaped.Now, Jack must track down the most ruthless enemy he has ever faced before he can strike again. But, after ten years behind bars, it isn't just murder that Mister Whisper has in mind.It's revenge...Categorized as:
europe british-isles united-kingdom crime law-enforcement suspense police-procedural thriller -
One by One by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratings'I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?' Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD's Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address - a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn't want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option... -
Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer stomach lurches as she sits in the windowless room. He throws her phone to the ground, grinds it against the floor with the heel of his shoe and brings his face closer to hers. There was no turning back now, her life as she knew it was gone... -
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Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Josie Quinn hasn’t heard from her sister since Trinity stormed out of the house in the heat of an argument three weeks ago. So, when human remains are found at the remote hunting cabin where Trinity was last seen, Josie can only assume the worst... -
Stolen Angels by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwisting her hands together, she bites back a sob. She only turned her back for a second, and then her daughter was gone. Every mother in town would be hugging their children tighter tonight.Lara is baking cupcakes when her daughter Ava runs to catch the school bus just one block away. Chasing after her, Lara sees the bus tumbling past, and waves. But Ava never turns up at school... -
Losing Leah Holloway by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFive years ago, Claire Fletcher escaped her abductor. But some scars never fade, and surviving was just the beginning…When Claire sees a car full of children careen into a river, she rushes to the rescue. But the driver, a mother named Leah Holloway, prefers to drown. For Claire and her ex, Detective Connor Parks, it doesn’t add up... -
The Girl and the Secret Society by A.J. Rivers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEvil has many faces. This one you will never see coming.This is the bizarre and shocking case of Lakyn Monroe.In the midst of filming her show, Lakyn vanished without a trace.Four months have passed, and the unusual disappearance of the internet celebrity has garnered nationwide attention... -
The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTheir parents thought they were hiding… One beautiful summer’s evening, thirteen-year-old twins Ivy and Erin Westmore snuggle down in a tent in their back garden, giggling and sharing secrets. When their mother goes to wake the girls the next morning, their tent is empty. The alarm is raised and Detective Natalie Ward is put onto the case... -
Missing Angel by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIsabella pedals her bright red bike on the familiar route home, admiring her charm bracelet catching the light. But half an hour later, she is nowhere to be seen. All her frantic parents find is an angel-shaped charm discarded on the sidewalk…When twelve-year-old Isabella Farner disappears, Agent Tori Hunter races to the scene... -
The Girl in the River by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe body lay in the river, arms outstretched. Long brown hair swirled in all directions, flowing with the current of the water. Her eyes were wide open in death, pale pink lips parted in a scream.Detective Ellie Reeves should be enjoying the wedding of her dear friend Mia Norman. But instead of celebrating, she is frantically searching for the missing bride... -
First Blood by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith this installment exploring an utterly chilling case following a disturbing killer, USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons delivers the prequel to the internationally bestselling DI Kim Stone thrillers.In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time... -
Child's Play by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinally we’re playing a game. A game that I have chosen. I give one last push of the roundabout and stand back. 'You really should have played with me,’ I tell her again although I know she can no longer hear... -
Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou have to stop me from hurting anyone else. I don’t want to do these horrible things. Help me before I’m forced to do it again. And I will do it again because I have no choice. I’ve never had a choice.In a busy shopping centre, a little girl clutches a teddy bear, clinging to it in the absence of her mother, Katrina. Hours later, Katrina’s body is discovered in an abandoned building... -
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Lost Angels by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Special Agent Nikki Hunt is called to the Boundary Waters near Stillwater, Minnesota, it’s not just the cold that shocks her to her core: the body of a young woman has been found frozen beside a remote lake... -
The Killing House by Claire McGowan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLong-buried secrets are being unearthed. And they're very close to home...Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns yet again to her hometown to investigate a spine-chilling case in THE KILLING HOUSE, the sixth novel in Claire McGowan's series. The Paula Maguire series is the perfect read for fans of Michael Connelly and Peter May... -
Flesh and Blood by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA string of suicides. A community in terror. And a chilling conspiracy only DI Amy Winter can crack.A wave of apparent suicides hits a string of seaside resorts, but when a police officer is named as the latest to die, DI Amy Winter suspects there may be more than mere coincidence to these tragic deaths... -
The Silent Wife by Andy Maslen
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHer career on the line and an innocent woman charged with murder. Can she save them both?As bogus corruption charges loom over her, DS Kat Ballantyne finds herself deskbound and stuck with cold cases. Her hated boss, DI Carver, has given her just one week to explain how £50,000 found its way into her bank account. If she can’t, she’ll be lucky to have a desk at all...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller female-mc audiobook mystery -
Evil Games by Angela Marsons, Andrea Sawatzki
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe greater the Evil, the more deadly the game…When a rapist is found mutilated in a brutal attack, Detective Kim Stone and her team are called in to bring a swift resolution. But, as more vengeful killings come to light, it soon becomes clear that there is someone far more sinister at work...Categorized as:
british-isles crime england europe female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense -
Left For Dead by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA victim on display. A detective on the rails.Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine’s Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace—until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin’s mouth.This is no stunt. A post-mortem reveals the victim was left to die on her macabre throne for all to see... -
Out of Her Mind by T.R. Ragan
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCrime reporter Sawyer Brooks still grieves for the family she and her two sisters never had. Raised in a house of horrors, they continue to fight through the trauma—releasing their rage by seeking justice for those who are just as vulnerable as they were... -
Silenced Girls: An absolutely addictive mystery thriller by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe moved far away to try and forget her past. A past that would seep back in when she least expected it and crushed her soul over and over. She tried to keep the evidence packed away in boxes high up on a closet shelf like carefully packing away a tragic part of her life. As if sealing the boxes, was sealing away a time in her life she desperately wanted to go back and change... -
The Crying Season by D.K. Hood
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe light fades as she runs for her life, the forest now becoming quieter around her. The only noise she hears is the sound of footsteps following her... It’s hiking season in Black Rock Falls and the small town in Montana is flooded with visitors. But when a hiker finds a human skull on a deserted trail in the woods that surround the town, Detective Jenna Alton is called in to investigate... -
Aberration by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFBI analyst Kassidy Bishop is assigned to the “For You” killer’s task force after a series of sadistic murders bearing the same signature arise in different parts of the country.The homicides are both calculated and savage, occurring in different states, but bearing the same signature: the words “for you” scribbled at each crime scene... -
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Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSometimes danger comes from the most unexpected places.Gwen Proctor has always been willing to do anything it takes to protect her kids. But there are some things even she can’t protect them from. When a violent incident at Connor’s school brings the press to Gwen’s doorstep, she agrees to take a case out of town hoping to keep her family out of the crushing media spotlight... -
The Angel Creek Girls by Leslie Wolfe, Gwendolyn Druyor
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsListening Length 13 hours and 3 minutesHer chestnut hair, long and shiny, fanned around her head, moving gently in the wind. Her eyes, still open, stared at the back door, and her hand stretched out in a pleading gesture. Her lips, pale under the rosy lip gloss, were parted slightly as if to whisper one last word, to draw one last breath... -
Last Breath by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe’s your perfect date. You’re his next victim. When the tortured body of a young woman is found in a dumpster, her eyes swollen shut and her clothes soaked with blood, Detective Erika Foster is one of the first at the crime scene. The trouble is, this time, it’s not her case...Categorized as:
british-isles crime england europe female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense -
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 -
Dark Water by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsBeneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning. When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched...Categorized as:
british-isles crime england europe family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural -
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 family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure audiobook -
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 female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Cold Truth by Mary Stone, Donna Berdel
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSay the words...In a dark basement, a cold-blooded killer pits friend against friend, torturing one until the other says the horrible words that will end their friend’s suffering. He’s gotten away with murder for years. Until now...Ellie Kline can’t remember most of her kidnapping when she was fifteen, but that night has shaped her life. Instead of cowering, that horrible night made her strong... -
The Girl in the Ground by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe was beautiful: shiny blond hair, crystal blue eyes and the widest smile Nikki had ever seen. She thought back to what she had seen in the ground, the dirt that caked the white bones... -
One Last Kill by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDetective Tracy Crosswhite draws a long-dormant serial killer out of hiding in a nerve-shattering novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.Tracy Crosswhite is reopening the investigation into Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer. After thirteen victims, he stopped hunting and the trail went cold, stirring public outrage... -
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The Secret Child by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDI Amy Winter knows evil. She’s lived through it.Four-year-old Ellen is snatched by a stranger in the dead of night. Her devastated mother, Nicole, receives four identical phials and a threatening note in a familiar scrawl that chills her to the bone. But she always knew this would happen. She’s been expecting it for years…According to the note, one of the phials is poisoned... -
Once Lost by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsStill reeling from her former partner Lucy’s death and from her partner Bill’s PTSD, FBI Special Agent Riley Paige does her best to try to keep herself stable and to patch together her family life. She has to decide what to about April’s boyfriend, recovering from his abusive father, and about Blaine, who is ready for their relationship to move ahead... -
Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMeet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart... -
Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe fell in love with a killer, now she’s one too.The suitcase was badly rusted, and took Erika several attempts, but it yielded and sagged open as she unzipped it. Nothing could prepare her for what she would find inside…When a battered suitcase containing the dismembered body of a young man washes up on the shore of the river Thames, Detective Erika Foster is shocked...Categorized as:
british-isles crime england europe family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural -
Shadow's Force by Mary Stone
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhich is more dangerous...Mother or Human Nature?Twelve hours earlier, Interim Sheriff Rebecca West was enjoying a casual lunchtime burger. Now she’s preparing for a hurricane headed straight for Shadow Island. While hauling sandbags and calming town officials, the last thing she needs is a stunned man stumbling into the sheriff’s department.Covered in blood... -
Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat really happened in the forest? Hidden crimes and secrets of the past converge in a riveting thriller by Anne Frasier, the New York Times bestselling author of Find Me.No strangers to evil, criminal profiler Reni Fisher and detective Daniel Ellis both still grapple with traumatizing pasts. It unites them. So has a crime they must solve before someone else dies... -
The River's Edge by Joy Ellis, Richard Armitage
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA series of gruesome murders on the Lincolnshire fens. An old enemy from the past. A deadly game of cat and mouse.The peaceful little village of Saltern-le-Fen is buzzing with excitement. A film crew are in town, shooting a new TV police drama, Fen Division Five. But Detective Jackman receives a disturbing tip-off that something is wrong... -
Shadow Sands by Robert Bryndza, Kristin Atherton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe internationally bestselling author of Nine Elms and The Girl in the Ice is back with a nail-biting new Kate Marshall case, a woman with a dark secret and a powerful sense of justice.When Kate Marshall finds the bloated body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands reservoir, the authorities label it a tragic accident...Categorized as:
british-isles crime england europe female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense -
You Made Me by Jamie Millen
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDeath is one heartbeat away when your stalker is a serial killer.Police detective Claire Wolfe has a secret admirer. But instead of sending flowers, this twisted psychopath murders wealthy, young women...and leaves gruesome messages for Claire on their mutilated corpses.To decode her stalker's obsession, Claire teams up with her lover, Special Agent Robert Cline, FBI forensic profiler Dr... -
So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTalent borrows. Genius steals. Evil delegates. It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back…and he's got helpers... -
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The Girl in the Grave by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the body of a teenage runaway is found hidden inside someone else’s grave in a small-town cemetery in The Lake District, an urgent call is made to Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams. Still traumatised by a recent attempt on her own life, one look at the beautiful girl’s broken body is enough to bring Beth out of hiding for the first time since her attack...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller law-enforcement police-procedural mystery psychological fiction -
The Innocent Girls by B.R. Spangler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTears stream down her face as she feels the cold blade press against her neck. The sweet scent of her daughter’s favorite strawberry pancakes all around, her last thought is for her beautiful girl. Please, please let Lisa have escaped...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc thriller mystery audiobook -
Once Cold by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere is one cold case that has plagued Special Agent Riley Paige for her entire career, dwelling at the corners of her consciousness, forcing her to return to it again and again. The only case she has never solved, she has finally put it out of her mind. Until she gets a call from the murdered victim’s mother... -
Once Stalked by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen two soldiers are found dead on a huge military base in California, apparently killed by gunshot, military investigators are stumped. Who is killing its soldiers, inside the secure confines of its own base?And why?The FBI is called in, and Riley Paige is summoned to take the lead... -
Once Forsaken by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Special Agent Riley Paige finally decides to take a well-needed rest from the FBI, a request for help comes from the most unlikely source: her own daughter. April’s best friend is devastated by the death of her sister, a freshman at Georgetown. Worse, she is convinced that the suicide was staged, and that her sister was murdered at the hands of a serial killer... -
A Savage Hunger by Claire McGowan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe fourth in the crime series featuring forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reason for investigation: Missing person.ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin.Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire...
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