Books like '99 Red Balloons'
Readers who enjoyed 99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological thriller crime suspense drama family domestic-drama female-mc
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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... -
![The Girl in the Moss by Loreth Anne White]()
The Girl in the Moss by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA shallow grave exposes deadly secrets as bestselling author Loreth Anne White brings her thrilling series of romantic suspense to its shocking conclusion… Disgraced ex-cop Angie Pallorino is determined to make a new start for herself as a private investigator...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller -
![Graves on the Fens by Joy Ellis]()
Graves on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt arrives in the morning. An old-fashioned airmail envelope addressed to Detective Nikki Galena. Inside, on a single sheet of blue airmail paper, are three words:You failed me.The second airmail envelope arrives at Nikki’s home address. The same message. Only this time, it’s followed by four names: Alexandra Cornfield, Ruth Baker, Bethany Lyons, Leanne Delaney.Four missing women... -
![Lost Girls by Angela Marsons]()
Lost Girls by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsTwo girls go missing. Only one will return.The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping... -
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![Life of Crime by Kimberley Chambers]()
Life of Crime by Kimberley Chambers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf you could get away with the perfect crime - would you? HEAVEN HAS NO RAGE, LIKE LOVE TO HATRED TURNED.NOR HELL A FURY, LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED... -
![聖母 by Rikako Akiyoshi, 秋吉理香子]()
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![Our Stolen Pieces by James Hunt]()
Our Stolen Pieces by James Hunt
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the morning after a slumber party reveals two missing girls, a newly minted Detective and a young veteran are assigned the case. Recently partnered, the pair of detectives must set aside their troubled pasts to recover the pair of girls who may have been coerced by a stranger who had kidnapped before...Categorized as:
crime drama family female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural -
![Far Gone by Danielle Girard]()
Far Gone by Danielle Girard
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of White Out comes a story of two heroines with shattered pasts and a town with blood on its hands.When a North Dakota couple is shot down in their home in cold blood, the sleepy town of Hagen wakes with a jolt. After all, it’s usually such a peaceful place. But Detective Kylie Milliard knows better... -
![Hide Away by Jason Pinter]()
Hide Away by Jason Pinter
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of the Henry Parker series comes a page-turning thriller about a vigilante who’s desperate to protect her secrets—and bring a killer to justice.On the surface, Rachel Marin is an ordinary single mother; on the inside, she’s a fierce, brilliant vigilante... -
![The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White]()
The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsKit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem. She’s the “invisible girl,” compelled to poke into her wealthy clients’ closely guarded lives. It’s a harmless hobby until Kit sees something she can’t unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This makes Kit dangerous to the couple...Categorized as:
crime drama female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![The Secret Child by Caroline Mitchell]()
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... -
![The Surrogate's Gift by L.G. Davis]()
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... -
![Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell]()
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... -
![In the Dark by Cara Hunter]()
In the Dark by Cara Hunter
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDo you know what they’re hiding in the house next door?A woman and child are found locked in a basement, barely alive, and unidentifiable: the woman can’t speak, there are no missing persons reports that match their profile, and the confused, elderly man who owns the house claims he has never seen them before... -
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![Little Lost Secrets by Cheryl Bradshaw]()
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... -
![Missed Connections by Alexandria Clarke]()
Missed Connections by Alexandria Clarke
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHow far would you go for revenge? Veronica Bauer isn’t above homicide. Twelve years after a ruthless attack killed her mother and put her father in prison, she embarks on a mission to bring the real culprits to justice. As bodies start to drop, Detective Sheila Arden is assigned to the gruesome case, but she soon discovers that the truth is more complicated than she thought...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc literary-fiction thriller kidnapping -
![YOU DID THIS by Jamie Millen]()
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... -
![Run For Your Life by C.M. Sutter]()
Run For Your Life by C.M. Sutter
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith the weekend right around the corner, Homicide Detective Mitch Cannon is looking forward to Saturday night. It isn’t often he has a date, and this one will be particularly interesting. His new friend Liza is beautiful, edgy, outspoken, and somewhat odd.But Mitch’s usual Friday-morning phone call to his mom sets the wheels in motion for five days of pure hell... -
![No Way Out by Cara Hunter]()
No Way Out by Cara Hunter
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIt's one of the most disturbing cases DI Fawley has ever worked. The Christmas holidays, and two children have just been pulled from the wreckage of their burning home in North Oxford. The toddler is dead, and his brother is soon fighting for his life... -
![The Weight of Silence by Gregg Olsen]()
The Weight of Silence by Gregg Olsen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA heart-pounding novel of unspeakable crimes and unforgivable sins from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Rain. Homicide detective Nicole Foster has finally balanced an unsteady life and is anxious for a second chance... -
![Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott]()
Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the author of number one bestseller, Sleep Tight.One Dark Secret. One act of revenge.When Emma Joseph met her husband David, he was a man shattered by grief. His first wife had been killed outright when her car veered off the road. Just as tragically, their six-year-old daughter mysteriously vanished from the scene of the accident... -
![The Girl in the Snow by Alexandria Clarke]()
The Girl in the Snow by Alexandria Clarke
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA retired FBI agent. A heartstopping tragedy. Carolina Caccia, a divorced mother of two, confronts her worst fears when her son goes missing during a family ski trip. As she discovers her son has been taken, she must revisit her dark past to rescue her child...Categorized as:
suspense law-enforcement family crime police-procedural kidnapping literary-fiction thriller -
![The Unquiet Bones by Loreth Anne White]()
The Unquiet Bones by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA shocking discovery of human bones reopens an almost fifty-year-old cold case—and rips apart the lives of a group of friends—in a riveting novel by Loreth Anne White, the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Maid’s Diary...Categorized as:
suspense crime thriller law-enforcement police-procedural kidnapping female-mc mystery -
![The Girl Hunter by Leslie Wolfe]()
The Girl Hunter by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHis pale skin is covered with the dirt I threw over his still-warm body. His hands, marked by a struggle that ended in blood, rest over his chest. His once vibrant, loving eyes are now forever closed. I am the one who consigned my husband to the damp earth of the Glades.Seven months ago, I lost everything.I used to have it all. A successful career in television...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller law-enforcement kidnapping female-mc serial-killers psychological -
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![What She Saw by Wendy Clarke]()
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... -
![The Dark by Sharon J. Bolton]()
The Dark by Sharon J. Bolton
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsONCE, SHE SAVED HIS LIFE...NOW, HE'LL TAKE HERS. When a baby is snatched from its pram and cast into the river Thames, off-duty police officer Lacey Flint is there to prevent disaster. But who would want to hurt a child?DCI Mark Joesbury has been expecting this...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense thriller police-procedural literary-fiction female-mc mystery -
![The Foster Family by Nicole Trope]()
The Foster Family by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn their holiday home, a stone’s throw from the beach, Elizabeth dials the police with trembling hands. ‘My little boy, he’s missing.’Elizabeth is Joe’s foster mother, but she loves him like her own. The five-year-old, who adores superheroes and watching the birds outside, is the child she has dreamed of... -
![Hide by Tracy Clark]()
Hide by Tracy Clark
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed author Tracy Clark comes a page-turning mystery featuring hard-boiled Chicago detective Harriet Foster, who’s on the hunt for a serial killer with a deadly affinity for redheads.When a young red-haired woman is found brutally murdered in downtown Chicago, one detail stands out: the red lipstick encircling her wrists and ankles... -
![The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White]()
The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA deviously twisty novel of psychological suspense about secrets, neighbors, a need to belong, and murder by the award-winning author of The Maid’s Diary. Socially awkward Chloe Cooper divides her time between dog walking, bartending, caring for her ailing mother, and at a safe distance, watching people and inventing the stories of their lives... -
![A Deeper Grave by Debra Webb]()
A Deeper Grave by Debra Webb
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen the hunter becomes the hunted… Serial-killer hunter Nick Shade built his legendary career chasing monsters—sadistic criminals with a gruesome thirst for death. When he rescued Montgomery detective Bobbie Gentry from horrific captivity and helped her reclaim her life, he didn't intend to be a hero. Or a target...Categorized as:
crime female-mc justice kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense vigilante -
![Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister]()
Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt is June 21, the longest day of the year, and the life of new mother Camilla is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop off her infant daughter at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.Then it starts...Categorized as:
suspense crime thriller literary-fiction family kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural -
![Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks]()
Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDom and Stacey have the perfect life. Until they meet Tamara. Brilliant, beautiful, she hides a horrifying secret. One that may destroy them all.Happily married with two wonderful children, Dom and Stacey are living the dream. He runs a successful design agency, she is finding fame as an author of children’s books.Everything is perfect... -
![The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot]()
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... -
![No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale]()
No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes the first book in a trilogy about love, betrayal, and the secrets families keep.Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes... -
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![Ice Cold Heart by P.J. Tracy]()
Ice Cold Heart by P.J. Tracy
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe gripping new thriller in P. J. Tracy's Twin Cities series, coming in Summer 2019On a bitterly cold winter night, Kelly Ramage leaves her suburban home, telling her husband she's going to meet a friend.She never comes back... -
![You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty]()
You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Ex and Those Other Women comes a thrilling family drama about the secrets we keep, the lies we tell and the truths that won't stay hidden.The holidays are here. The extended family has gathered. The cars are packed and the convoy sets off.The cottage is a few hours' drive - but not everyone will live to see it .. -
![The Lies You Wrote by Brianna Labuskes]()
The Lies You Wrote by Brianna Labuskes
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor a brilliant forensic linguist, crimes of the past hold clues to new series of murders in a twisting novel of suspense by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of A Familiar Sight.The double murder of a married couple in a small Washington town draws FBI forensic linguist Raisa Susanto into an investigation that mirrors a decades-old crime... -
![Boetedoening (O'Loughlin by Michael Robotham]()
Boetedoening (O'Loughlin by Michael Robotham
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRay Hegarty, a highly respected former detective, lies dead in his daughter Sienna's bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. Everything points to her guilt, but psychologist Joe O'Loughlin isn't convinced.Fourteen-year-old Sienna is Joe's daughter's best friend ? Joe has watched her grow up and seen the troubled look in her eyes...Categorized as:
crime drama family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![Ich vergesse nie by John Marrs]()
Ich vergesse nie by John Marrs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsShe’s chasing a killer. He’s watching her every move.He hides in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Each kill is calculated, planned and executed like clockwork.Struggling to balance her personal and professional life, young DS Becca Vincent has landed the biggest case of her career—and she knows that it will make or break her. But she can’t catch the culprit alone...Categorized as:
crime drama law-enforcement literary-fiction police-procedural suspense thriller adult -
![Found by Erin Kinsley]()
Found by Erin Kinsley
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen 11 year old Evan vanishes without trace, his parents are plunged into their worst nightmare.Especially as the police, under massive pressure, have no answers. But months later Evan is unexpectedly found, frightened and refusing to speak. His loving family realise life will never be the same again.DI Naylor knows that unless those who took Evan are caught, other children are in danger... -
![Trespassing by Brandi Reeds]()
Trespassing by Brandi Reeds
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn a novel of mounting psychological suspense, a young mother follows a dangerous path to find her missing husband.Veronica Cavanaugh’s grasp on the world is slipping. Her latest round of fertility treatments not only failed but left her on edge and unbalanced. And her three-year-old daughter, Elizabella, has a new imaginary friend, who seems much more devilish than playful... -
![The Sound of Rain by Gregg Olsen]()
The Sound of Rain by Gregg Olsen
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFormer homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she’s flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase—whose murder case ended her career... -
![Bring Them Home by D.S. Butler]()
Bring Them Home by D.S. Butler
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA perfect village. A perfect crime. When two young girls disappear from their primary school, the village of Heighington is put on high alert—and not for the first time. Called in to investigate, Detective Karen Hart is sure that parallels with a previous disappearance are anything but coincidental...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural thriller female-mc kidnapping mystery -
![The Princess of Greektown by Suzanne Jenkins]()
The Princess of Greektown by Suzanne Jenkins
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThirty years ago, Terry Smith was Detroit’s top news anchor. She set the standard for excellence in investigative journalism, staying at the news desk long after her time should have been over. Just as Terry’s son-in-law is murdered in the city, Detective Jill Zannos faces upheaval in her own life... -
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![The Death Of Me by Natalie Hames]()
The Death Of Me by Natalie Hames
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe watched. He studied. He planned. Every detail meticulously organised. Every detail perfect. The basement was ready, now all he needed was the girl. Grace Dalton was just fourteen years old when she was snatched from Greenwich Park on her way back from school. A beautiful, shy, but socially awkward girl, she would do anything to stay out of trouble and away from her bullies...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement literary-fiction vigilante justice female-mc police-procedural kidnapping -
![Gone... But Not Missed by A.R. Kennedy]()
Gone... But Not Missed by A.R. Kennedy
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLillian Brannon wakes up on Valentine's Day in an exact replica of her bedroom but the only item that she believes is authentic is her dog, Laude. She is held captive in her kidnapper's basement apartment, summoned upstairs once a week for a chaste dinner... -
![The Perfect Family Man by M.M. DeLuca]()
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 -
![Exquisite by Sarah Stovell]()
Exquisite by Sarah Stovell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBo Luxton has it all - a loving family, a beautiful home in the Lake District, and a clutch of bestselling books to her name. Enter Alice Dark, an aspiring writer who is drifting through life, with a series of dead-end jobs and a freeloading boyfriend. When they meet at a writers' retreat, the chemistry is instant, and a sinister relationship develops .. -
![Girls In White Dresses by Alex Gates]()
Girls In White Dresses by Alex Gates
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom Book 1: The streets are too dangerous a place for a runaway girl. That’s why we take her in. That’s why we feed her, teach her, transform her from a little girl… Into a bride. Detective London McKenna investigates a horrifying conspiracy, but every uncovered secret only spills more blood. Runaway girls are kidnapped and groomed to become child brides...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc literary-fiction thriller kidnapping -
![Hurt Mountain by Angela Crook]()
Hurt Mountain by Angela Crook
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn estranged mother and father join forces to uncover the truth about their missing daughter in a haunting novel about trauma, loss, family, and hope. When patrolman Brandon Hall comes upon a broken-down car on a Colorado highway, he finds a young girl in a bloodied nightgown at the wheel. In the back seat, the brutalized body of a teenage boy. The girl will say only one Hurt...
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