Books like 'Paradise Lost'
Readers who enjoyed Paradise Lost by J.A. Jance also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Fortune Funhouse by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe traveling carnival has made its stop in Sinful and everyone is ready for thrilling rides, challenging games, and most importantly, funnel cake. But when a man is murdered in the funhouse and Emmaline LeBlanc is knocked unconscious so the killer can escape, the good times are over... -
A Merciful Promise by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Wall Street Journal bestselling series continues as Mercy Kilpatrick becomes embedded in the nightmare of a terrorist conspiracy.The job: infiltrate a militia amassing illegal firearms in an isolated forest community. FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick is the ideal candidate. She knows Oregon. She’s near the compound...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe discovery of human remains unearths another nightmare from Sheriff Bree Taggert’s past in a bone-chilling thriller by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Twenty-seven years ago, Sheriff Bree Taggert’s father killed her mother, then himself. Now Bree and her younger brother, Adam, find human bones on the grounds of their abandoned family farm... -
A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the next book in the Wall Street Journal bestselling Mercy Kilpatrick series, there are no such things as little secrets…Raised by preppers, survivalist and FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick has a deep-rooted need for a safe place. Her getaway in the Cascade Foothills is her secret... -
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Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsShocking evidence hits close to home for attorney Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger as Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s acclaimed series continues. Private investigator Lance Kruger was just a boy when his father vanished twenty-three years ago...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense whodunit action-adventure -
The Blue Pool Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDCI Lesley Clarke is a busy woman.She's dealing with the reopened investigation into DCI Mackie's death, supporting DS Dennis Frampton through recurring mental health problems, and making plans for her own future.And then prominent crime boss Arthur Kelvin is found dead at a local beauty spot... -
The Millionaire Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn anonymous murder victim and a missing journalist: can Lesley uncover the truth?DCI Lesley Clarke has too many suspects to choose from when a wealthy lawyer and her unidentified companion are found brutally murdered in a Sandbanks mansion... -
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsWhen a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose... -
A Better Man by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsCatastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec in the latest novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.It's Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir... -
The Wrong Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA frantic chase to catch a grave robber reveals a startling discovery in this tenth installment of the Widow’s Island novella series by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.Deputy Tessa Black spots a man disturbing a grave in the local cemetery and gives chase. But when Tessa catches him, she learns that the ghoulish trespasser wasn’t robbing graves; he was burying a box of bones...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Killer's Girl by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Mama, wake up.’ The little girl reached for her mother’s face with one pudgy hand. But the eyes stayed closed, and the blood continued to trickle across the floor. When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house... -
Backrush by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe sea heals all things.Tempest Island has weathered the worst of storms and still stands proud, providing its residents with the healing power of the sea and sun. When Alayna Scott’s life falls spectacularly apart, both professionally and personally, the executive chef’s only thought is getting back home to the island and her aunt Bea... -
Blind Bake by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a young woman is at the wrong place at the wrong time, she becomes a person of interest in a murder investigation. Maddie Baker just wants to make ends meet. She gave up her school librarian career to return to her hometown and take care of her elderly aunt... -
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsChaos is coming, old son. With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness... -
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Bred in the Bone by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the fourth Widow’s Island novella by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot, the truth of a twenty-year disappearance will finally come to light. When the town drunk ends up dead in a hit-and-run, FBI special agent Cate Wilde expects that solving the case will be cut and dried. But evidence quickly surfaces that the victim was involved with another crime... -
Bad Memory by Lisa Gray
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPrivate investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to help her sister, Rue Hunter—a convicted murderer whose execution is days away—Jessica can’t resist the offer... -
Bone Deep by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen two men kidnap former FBI agent Cate Wilde’s fiancé, the boldness of the crime rattles the community. Desperate to find the man she loves, Cate joins forces with the FBI and the local sheriff’s department to launch an investigation and bring Dr. Henry Powers home...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
Buried Bones by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA college student’s murder shines light on community secrets left in the dark in the seventh Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.All communities have their secrets…but on Widow’s Island, there’s a skeleton in every closet, as Deputy Tessa Black knows all too well... -
A Broken Bone by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe mysterious death of a local teen leads to a hunt for a killer in the sixth Widow’s Island novella by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.On Widow’s Island, the secrets are dark…and everybody has one. So when Deputy Tessa Black responds to a call about an explosion in a quiet neighborhood, she gets more than she bargained for: the body of a teen who went missing weeks ago... -
The Monument Murders by Rachel McLean
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a body is found draped over Swanage's iconic Globe monument, DCI Lesley Clarke is called in.A message points to the Go Home.Is this a hate crime? Or something closer to home?Lesley must find the killer before he or she strikes again, all while dealing with a mutiny in her team and political pressure from her boss... -
Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the second book in a new series.Liz Danger is a ghostwriter, trapped in her old hometown for the summer... -
Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe electrifying conclusion of the romantic suspense novella series from Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot. The sleepy town of Solitude, Oregon, has turned into ground zero for a turf war between the manufacturers and distributors of a lethal new drug. When a teenage witness disappears, social worker Carly Taylor must find him before he’s silenced permanently...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult alpha-mc anthologies -
Dirty Devil by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA series of bizarre murders that are seemingly unrelated turn out to be the work of a serial killer in the newest installment of the New York Times bestselling J.J. Graves Mystery Series.Coroner J.J. Graves and Jack Lawson investigate the murder of a victim who got exactly what he deserved. But justice is blind, and they have to put their personal feelings aside to hunt a ruthless killer...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult audiobook billionaire -
Dirty Laundry by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new novel in the New York Times bestselling series: Coroner JJ Graves and her husband Sheriff Jack Lawson are back on the job when the body of an elderly woman is found in Bloody Mary. Rosalyn McGowen is everyone’s favorite great-grandmother. She always has baked treats in her bag, she smells of roses, and she takes in stray cats. No one knows who could hurt a sweet old lady... -
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Beneath Devil's Bridge by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratings11 hours, 42 minutes A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White. True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley... -
Fallen by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo’s new thriller Fallen, a rebellious Amish woman leaves the Plain life, but the secrets she takes with her will lead Chief of Police Kate Burkholder down a dark path to danger and death.When a young woman is found murdered in a Painters Mill motel, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is shocked to discover she once knew the victim... -
Below the Bones by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA former FBI special agent must come out of retirement to solve a murder in the fifth novella in the Widow’s Island series from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot.Former FBI special agent Cate Wilde is a new bakery and bookstore owner—and retirement is now complete with a doctor boyfriend... -
Truth Be Told by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA torrential two-day storm has cut off the small town of Solitude, Oregon, from the outside world. But for police officers Stevie Duncan and her husband, Zane, the ravages of nature have nothing on the nature of man... -
Burned by Her Devotion by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the second Rogue Vows novella, the town of Solitude, Oregon, will learn that good TV makes for terrible reality. When Chase Ryan, a popular crime TV star, turns up dead, the entire town of Solitude is shaken—but the show isn’t over yet. The confessed murderer is violently abducted on the way to the county jail, and now Detective Seth Harding must find both the killer and the kidnapper... -
Her Grave Secrets by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThere are no secrets in a small town—until someone has one worth dying for. Local cop Stevie Taylor and police chief Zane Duncan have startling new proof that a deadly street drug is expanding its poisonous grip on their small town: a skull found on the banks of the Rogue River has two bullet holes in the back...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult alpha-mc anthologies -
Dirty Money by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen the past meets the present… King George County, Virginia has it’s share of crime, but it’s generally a good place to live and raise a family. So when a string of violent murders sweeps through the county, J.J. Graves and her husband, Sheriff Jack Lawson, are left scratching their heads. It’s soon discovered all the victims have a connection—Malachi Graves—J.J.’s father...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult amateur-sleuth audiobook -
A Dirty Job by Liliana Hart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA new chapter begins...J.J. Graves is trying to put the wounds caused by her father behind her. She and Jack have a shot at peace for the first time in their marriage, and it's new territory for them.A mortuary convention on a South Carolina island has J.J. and Jack combining work with pleasure...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult audiobook billionaire -
The Canal Murders by J.R. Ellis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLife moves at a slower pace on the canals. But death always comes when you least expect it. The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime... -
An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart , the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road... -
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Marshal by Jodi Burnett
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe U.S. Marshals service seeks a K9 Unit for their elite strike team tasked with hunting down America's most wanted criminals. Caitlyn Reed and her K9 partner, Renegade, are called up to the varsity to face this harrowing challenge. Has she bitten off more than she can handle?Moose Creek Sheriff Colt Branson finds himself in the foray as a part of the U.S... -
Deep Freeze by John Sandford
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsClass reunions: a time for memories—good, bad, and, as Virgil Flowers is about to find out, deadly—in this New York Times bestselling thriller from John Sandford.Virgil knows the town of Trippton, Minnesota, a little too well...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural suspense whodunit thriller action-adventure adult -
The Next Grave by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestselling series.Following a murder and a woman’s sudden disappearance, investigations into old crimes and new collide in an alarming novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.Detective Evan Bolton is gutted by his latest investigation... -
Stalking Ground by Margaret Mizushima
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEasy TargetsWhen Chief Deputy Ken Brody’s sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are called to search. But it’s mid-October and a dark snowstorm is brewing over the high country. And they’re already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn an intense, emotional mystery that spans a decade in the life of a small town, bestselling author Brian Freeman brings us an unforgettable heroine who discovers that the dead may sometimes be easier to rescue than the living.Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold... -
On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert becomes a target when she follows the twisting trail of a serial killer in a bone-chilling novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.A pair of hikers find a tarp-wrapped body in a clearing in the woods. When a search in the surrounding area yields two more, Sheriff Bree Taggert knows they’ve stumbled onto a serial killer’s dumping ground... -
Fatal Reunion by Annette Dashofy
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs Monongahela County’s new coroner Zoe Chambers-Adams gears up for a third day searching for a missing woman, she receives the news she’s been dreading: a body has been found. What she discovers at the scene leaves no doubt—the missing woman was violently murdered. Worse, the manner of death mirrors the Monongahela Strangler case that terrorized the county when Zoe was in high school... -
Poison Ivy by Helena Marchmont
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's party time in Bunburry! The deluxe Magnolia Inn is hosting surprise birthday celebrations for Bunburry's favourite senior citizens, Liz and Marge. But the party is not the only surprise. A glamorous widow, Francesca Fairfax Adams, is staying in the Magnolia Inn, and catches the eye of self-made man and amateur sleuth Alfie McAlister... -
Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTWO MISSING GIRLS. TWO BRUTAL MURDERS. ALL CONNECTED TO ONE FARM HOUSE. WHO IS TO BLAME?When pretty and popular teenagers Piper Hadley and Tash McBain disappear one Sunday morning, the investigation captivates a nation but the girls are never found.Three years later, during the worst blizzard in a century, a husband and wife are brutally killed in the farmhouse where Tash McBain once lived... -
Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo, Kathleen McInerney
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural, upstate New York to assist on a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl. Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and "English" communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
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A Killer Ending by Karen MacInerney
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBooks, beach roses... and bodies.Bookseller and recent divorcée Max Sayers has risked her life savings to start a fresh chapter with the purchase of Seaside Cottage Books in cozy Snug Harbor, Maine. But she's barely opened the shop's doors when her new storybook life takes a dark turn... -
A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home... -
On Shadow Beach by Barbara Freethy
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe California town of Angel’s Bay has had its share of troubles: from the long-unsolved murder of a teenage girl to the young police officer recently left in a coma after being shot. But miracles also have a way of happening . . . as if angels really do keep a watchful eye there... -
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWelcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat.It's spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life. . -
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny, Andrea Stumpf
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsWelcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines... -
Gone to Her Grave by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn Solitude, Oregon, everyone has secrets…and some will kill to keep them. When she believes a teen is falsely accused of drug dealing, social worker Carly Taylor takes on a high-risk case and her estranged husband—the detective in charge of the investigation—to prove the boy innocent...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult
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