Books like 'This Secret Thing'
Readers who enjoyed This Secret Thing by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery thriller suspense crime family female-mc coming-of-age literary-fiction friendship
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Finding Billie Romano by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsUSA Today bestselling author wants to take you to Ireland for a story that will leave you wanting more long after you turn the last page... Twenty-five year old Billie Romano is struggling. She is grieving the death of her beloved dad and nothing in her life is going right... -
The Surrogate's Gift by L.G. Davis
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHer one good deed is about to turn into her worst nightmare.Becoming a surrogate for Marcia and Travis Thorpe is Grace’s chance to overcome her inner demons.Nothing can go wrong. Her life depends on it.Determined to focus on the pregnancy, she drops everything and accepts the Thorpes’ offer to move in with them until the baby is born. A simple decision. One big mistake... -
Redemption by Stephanie St. Klaire
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJessie Clarke has worked hard for almost a decade to overcome the trauma of her past, and building her career as a fireman in McKenzie Ridge has helped her become a strong, independent woman. But, underneath her fowl mouth and tough exterior, Jessie hides a secret that could not only endanger her but all those she loves in her small mountain town... -
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.“Impeccably crafted, deeply emotional, entirely shattering. I was captivated from page one.” ―Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier... -
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A Cold Killing by Anna Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCrime reporter Rosie Gilmour returns from hiding in Bosnia to a story of a brutal execution. University lecturer Tom Mahoney was shot at point blank range, the killing has all the signs of a hit. But who would want to kill a retired lecturer? Rosie throws herself into the investigation, looking for a witness that has gone missing. A witness that might hold the key to the story... -
Hidden Valley by Annie Seaton
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHappily working on her family’s macadamia farm in the rolling hills of northern New South Wales, Dee Peters receives an enigmatic letter hinting of family secrets, and the prospect of her inheriting a cattle station in the Northern Territory outback... -
Revenge in Paradise by Deborah Brown
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a man of questionable character’s corpse is found at The Cottages, beaten to death with Madison’s own gardening tools, she and her partner, Fab, set out to prove that the man’s abused girlfriend did not kill him. Along the way, Madison finds herself behind bars twice, held hostage in a mansion, and running from flying bullets... -
Invisible Girl by Jill Childs
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA heartbreaking story of family secrets from the USA Today bestselling author of Gracie’s Secret. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain.I know you. I know you in a way you can’t even imagine. I have been searching for you in the years since you wrote that letter – the letter that told me you were looking for me too... -
Little Lost Secrets by Cheryl Bradshaw
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen a dead body is found in the walls during a home renovation, detective Georgiana Germaine gets swept into a cold case murder... -
A Different Kind of Gone by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe truth behind a teenage girl’s disappearance becomes something to conceal in a gripping novel about justice, lies, and impossible choices by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.When nineteen-year-old Jill Moss goes missing near the Utah-Arizona border, everyone has an opinion. Only Norma Gallagher, a search and rescue volunteer, knows the real story... -
No Way Out by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom Allison Brennan, the New York Times bestselling author of Cut and Run, comes a new e-novella, No Way Out: FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid faces her worst fear when her husband goes missing Nine years ago, mercenary Kane Rogan and photojournalist Siobhan Walsh risked their lives to rescue Hestia Juarez, a thirteen-year-old girl being forced to marry a much older man to expand her father’s crime family... -
Screams in the Dark by Anna Smith
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA gritty, page-turning thriller perfect for fans of Martina Cole.Refugees are disappearing in Glasgow. The mutilated body of one has been found, but the police aren't interested... -
Sweet Vengeance by Fern Michaels
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings#1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels’ new novel is a deeply satisfying and uplifting story of one woman’s journey from heartbreak to triumph. Tessa Jamison couldn’t have imagined anything worse than losing her beloved twin girls and husband—until she was convicted of their murder... -
What She Saw by Wendy Clarke
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe lied to her daughter to save her family. Everyone knows Leona would do anything for her daughter Beth: she moved to Church Langdon to send Beth to the best school, worked hard to build a successful business to support them and found them the perfect little cottage to call home. Leona and Beth hike together, shop together, share their hopes and fears with one another... -
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One Minute Later: A Novel by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsInternational bestselling author Susan Lewis’ riveting, unforgettable novel of a woman whose life changes in an instant and the handsome young man with whom she shares a secret history—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, and Susan Wiggs. How well do you know the people you love? For one young woman returning to the past, the answer could be heart-shattering.. -
The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBrighton Beach, 1993Teenagers Nell and Jude find the body of a young woman and when no one comes to claim her, she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Nell is still struggling to move on when, three weeks later, Jude disappears.Twenty-five years on, Nell is forced to quit her job to find out who the Brighton Mermaid really was - and what happened to her best friend that summer... -
Good as Dead by Susan Walter
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt all starts with a promise from a stranger: We’ll take care of everything.Holly Kendrick’s husband is dead. Holly saw it all. In one violent moment, a hit-and-run accident turns Holly’s life upside down. Then a fixer for the high-powered guilty party approaches Holly with an offer she is in no position to refuse... -
The Baltimore Boys by Joël Dicker
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSwiss Sensation Joel Dicker's compulsive follow-up to the phenomenally bestselling The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair... -
The Night She Vanished by Wendy Dranfield
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy parents seem to be the perfect couple. But no one knows what I know... Everyone in the small Midwestern town of Henderson looks up to my perfect parents. With dependable jobs as a midwife and the town sheriff, they help this close-knit community feel safe. But the locals didn't grow up in my parents' house. They don't know what I know. And they wouldn't believe me if I told them.. -
The List by Velvet Vaughn
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the author of The Fan and Committed is the first romantic suspense novel in the COBRA Securities series. The List is an intriguing mixture of pulse-pounding suspense and sizzling passion. It was just supposed to be a game... What started out as a harmless game between friends has turned deadly real. Fourteen men are dead, all from apparent accidents... -
All That Is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landay
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA mother vanished. A father presumed guilty. There is no proof. There are no witnesses. For the children, there is only doubt. From the New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob. . . .One afternoon in November 1975, ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find her house eerily quiet. Her mother is missing. Nothing else is out of place. There is no sign of struggle... -
Two to Die For by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo tales of murder and betrayal from the Lucy Kincaid and Maxine Revere series Spiral (Lucy Kincaid, #12.5)Sean Rogan and Lucy Kincaid are enjoying their honeymoon in a remote cabin outside Vail, Colorado. They sorely need the quiet time alone—a break from the murder and violence that has defined so much of their lives. And for one blissful week, they are in paradise... -
No Time To Blink by Dina Silver
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA profoundly moving story of impossible risks and love without boundaries. Told from alternating points of view––that of a daughter whose past is a mystery, and that of a mother with painful secrets to share.Catherine Clarke defied her family’s expectations when she married Gabriel, a handsome Lebanese businessman... -
A Field of Poppies by Sharon Sala
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo families. One secret. Separated by a river and twenty years of lies. Five minutes changed Poppy Sadler’s life forever. Tick. The hospital called. Her mother’s battle with cancer was finally over. Tock. The police showed up at her door. Her father’s body has just been pulled from the River. Tick. Murdered. Tick, Tock. Five minutes and a secret is coming undone... -
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The House of Now and Then by Jo Dixon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsYou should leave the past in the past ... or should you? A vividly told, jaw-droppingly twisty and wholly engaging story about the consequences of discovering the truth. For readers of Sally Hepworth, Nicola Moriarty and Adele Parks... -
The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met, and a shocking account of a crime committed over twenty-five years ago... -
In His Blood by Kate Bold
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFBI Special Agent Eve Hope can’t escape the shadow of her notorious serial killer father—though he is jailed, the puzzle of the loving father of her childhood haunts her, and now, assigned to a copycat case, she is forced to face her worst memories... -
The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt’s a normal afternoon when I walk out the patio doors of our kitchen to check on Mia, my stepdaughter, who is swimming in our backyard pool. But she’s gone. My heart stops when I see the back gate is open, her pink, fluffy towel lying folded on a chair. I was just feet away... -
Call the Canaries Home by Laura Barrow
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThree estranged sisters reconnect in their Louisiana hometown to face an unresolved past in a heartfelt novel about family, grief, secrets, and forgiveness.Savannah was four years old when her twin sister, Georgia, went missing from their small Louisiana town, fracturing their family... -
Redemption Lake by Susan Clayton-Goldner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTucson, Arizona – Eighteen-year-old Matt Garrison is harboring two terrible secrets: his involvement in the drowning death of his 12-year-old cousin, and a night of drunken sex with his best friend’s mother, Crystal, whom he finds dead in a bathtub of blood. Guilt forces Matt to act on impulse and hide his involvement with Crystal.Detective Winston Radhauser knows Matt is hiding something... -
Ripley: Lost in a Sea of Secrets: A lost love, second chance novel by Jacqui Penn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA secret. A suspicion. A shattered heart. Ripley Bradford’s world is torn apart. Her lover and best friend, Joe, has mysteriously disappeared without trace, and everything points to her father, who she suspects has been involved in foul-play in the past. Years pass, and with the realisation that Joe is gone forever, Ripley marries... -
The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA dream vacation turns deadly when secrets from the past catch up to a married couple in Paris in this new edge-of-your-seat thriller from USA Today bestselling author, Kimberly Belle.When Stella met Adam, she thought she had finally found a nice, normal guy—a welcome change from her previous boyfriend and her precarious jetsetter lifestyle with him... -
The Audacity of Goats: A Novel by J.F. Riordan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAll is not well north of the tension line. A series of unsettling nighttime incidents have left the islanders uncertain whether to be nervous or annoyed... -
Hard Time by A.J. Carella
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen it comes to family, Kat will do anything. Even if that means going against everything she believes in, and risking her already fragile relationship with the man she loves. Faced with a problem that is too much for her alone, she enlists the help of her one time partner, Kyle. Together they must uncover a deadly secret before any more innocent lives are lost... -
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Somewhere Between Luck and Trust by Emilie Richards
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhere Luck Meets Trust, Miracles Can Happen... Christy Haviland served eight months in prison, giving birth behind bars to the child of the man who put her there and might yet destroy her. Now she's free again, but what does that mean? As smart as she is, a learning disability has kept her from learning to read. And that's the least of her hurdles... -
The Perfect Family Man by M.M. DeLuca
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFive years ago, my little boy went missing. Now my husband’s vanished, too.I wish I could say that the tragedy of little Jack disappearing brought me and Nate closer together. But my husband is more distant from me now than he’s ever been. Perhaps that’s why I don’t ask him exactly where he’s going when he sets off on another business trip...Categorized as:
crime suspense female-mc literary-fiction family thriller psychological contemporary -
Closet Full of Bones by A.J. Aalto
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEver since they were children, Gillian Hearth has been her sister Frankie’s guardian, her sounding board, and her best friend. Together, the Hearth sisters quietly bury their secrets and form a formidable team during any crisis. Purchasing the old Blymhill house with the hopes of turning it into an artists’ retreat, the sisters are finally living their dream... -
The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble... -
One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsVicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy. When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to. But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . . -
My Sister and Other Liars by Ruth Dugdall
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSam is seventeen, starving herself and longing for oblivion. Her sister, Jena, is mentally scarred and desperate to remember. Between them, they share secrets too terrible to recall. Eighteen months earlier, Sam was still full of hope: hope that she could piece together Jena's fragmented memory after the vicious attack that changed their family forever... -
Silent Witness by Rebecca Forster
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJosie Baylor-Bates has a full plate caring for a troubled teen, but it's about to get fuller when her ex-cop lover, Archer, is accused of murdering his disabled stepson - a son Josie never knew he had. When Timothy Wren died at California's oldest amusement park it appeared to be a tragic accident. But now Timothy's biological father and the district attorney are out for blood... -
My Little Girl by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘I’m sorry. Your daughter is missing…’Claire Nolan receives a panicked phone call, telling her that her seven-year-old daughter Beatrice has gone missing on a trip to the local fair.It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. And it’s happening to her... -
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... -
No Mercy by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe brand new novel from Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller and 'undisputed queen of crime writing' (Guardian) Martina Cole. The biggest selling female crime writer in the UK, Martina's unique and powerful novels have gripped their readers for twenty-five years, and include Dangerous Lady, The Take and Damaged... -
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In Her Eyes by Sarah Alderson
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou're at home with your family. You think you're safe. You're wrong... Ava's life is the kind other people envy: loving husband; great kids; beautiful house. Until the night a violent home invasion turns the dream into a nightmare, and leaves her beautiful daughter fighting to survive.And then things get worse. Ava realises that the attack wasn't random. Someone is targeting her family... -
Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of I Am Watching You. The perfect family? Or the perfect lie?It’s their daughter’s graduation and Rachel and Ed Hartley are expecting it to be one of their family’s happiest days... -
The Accident by Natalie Barelli
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIf only she'd said no... Katherine knew she’d had too many drinks, but they were only going a short distance. And as Eve pointed out, it was late, there was no traffic anyway... Now, Katherine would do anything to turn back the clock. If anyone ever found out about the accident, it would ruin Katherine’s life... -
The Curfew by T.M. Logan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsYour son said he was home. WHY DID HE LIE? It's time to preorder the brand new up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Richard and Judy pick The Holiday, now a major TV Drama.I should have known something was wrong. I should have sensed it. Felt it in the air, like the build-up of pressure before a thunderstorm, that heavy, loaded calm... -
Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman, Kristin Atherton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Forgetting : a tense, character-driven suspense with a final twist that will make you gaspA heartbroken motherWhen seventeen-year-old Isla Richardson is killed in a hit-and-run incident, a community’s lives are thrown into disarray. For Isla’s mum, Abby, it is her second devastating bereavement, having lost her husband five years ago... -
The House of Lost Secrets by Anstey Harris
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsShe thought she knew her best friend…She was wrong.The weatherworn cottage Clachan has always been Jo Wilding’s sanctuary, a blissful escape from her tumultuous home life...
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