Books like 'A Hidden Secret'
Readers who enjoyed A Hidden Secret by Linda Castillo also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery small town action / adventure crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural realistic family
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Gators and Garters by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.72 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Til death do us part?Ida Belle, Fortune, and Gertie are gearing up for the big day—Ida Belle’s wedding to Walter—but when the caterer goes missing just a week before the big day, it puts a huge black mark on the joyous celebration... -
Baskets and Beignets by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWorth dyeing for.Ten years ago, Ryan Comeaux was convicted of killing his girlfriend and was sentenced to life in prison. Now a witness has come forward who claims she was with Ryan the entire night and it’s not possible that he was the killer. But the local police assume she’s mistaken and aren’t interested in reopening what they view as an open-and-shut case... -
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... -
Change of Fortune by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSinful, Louisiana, is always a hotbed of activity, and despite the steamy heat, August is no exception. Godzilla is terrorizing the town, looking for a home-cooked meal, and Gertie is worried someone will take the gator out before she can get him under control. Francine has a situation of her own at the café, where food is missing from inventory. And Celia is always up to no good... -
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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 -
Catch Her Death by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert and those she loves become the target of a family’s deadly revenge in a chilling novel of suspense by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.After Sheriff Bree Taggert’s takedown of cold-blooded murderer Travis Ekin, his family vows revenge. Travis’s mother and brothers are every bit as violent, and Bree is in their crosshairs...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement police-procedural family female-mc new-york-state romance -
Cajun Fried Felony by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsVenus Thibodeaux had a reputation for being trouble. Some said she started at birth. When she finally left Sinful shortly after turning eighteen, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When she blew back into town four years later, no one was happy about her return... -
Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s Christmas in Sinful and Fortune is set to participate in all the local hoopla. A Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. Murder is not. But when someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer... -
Swamp Sweets by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s November in Sinful and everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving. But when Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie bag a body on their turkey hunting trip, the quiet enjoyment of fall is over. No one really knew Miles Broussard well, and as he’d recently sold the building his business was in to retire in another state, no one could explain how he’d ended up murdered and dumped in the bayou... -
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...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense abuse action-adventure -
What I've Done by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestseller.In the fourth book of the multimillion-copy bestselling series, Morgan Dane’s new client has blood on her hands—and no recollection of what happened.Haley Powell wakes up covered in blood, with no memory of the night before...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural realistic suspense action-adventure adult -
The First Death by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Wall Street Journal bestselling series.For a search and rescue expert, the buried remains of her past are a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.Rowan Wolff was five years old when she, her brother, and their babysitter were kidnapped by a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. The babysitter was murdered... -
Save Your Breath by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMorgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger investigate the mysterious disappearance of a true-crime writer.When true-crime writer Olivia Cruz disappears with no signs of foul play, her new boyfriend, Lincoln Sharp, suspects the worst. He knows she didn’t leave willingly and turns to attorney Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger to find her before it’s too late...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural realistic suspense action-adventure -
Drown Her Sorrows by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert is blindsided by a killer’s devious plan in number one Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of escalating shock and suspense.When Sheriff Bree Taggert discovers the body of a young woman floating near the bank of the Scarlet River, a note in her abandoned car suggests suicide. The autopsy reveals a different story...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult animals -
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A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the fourth book of the Wall Street Journal bestselling series, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick must unlock the mystery of a mass murder, and the secrets of its silent witness… For Mercy Kilpatrick, returning to rural Oregon has meant coming to terms with her roots. Raised as a prepper, Mercy is now relying on her survivalist instincts to defend her town from the people the law can’t reach...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
Frightfully Fortune by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRest when you’re dead?It’s time for the annual Halloween festival in Sinful, and Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie can’t wait to suit up and enjoy the food and activities. But when a dead man gallops through the park on a black stallion and slides to a decapitated stop right in front of Swamp Team 3, they know another festival is about to be turned on its head…so to speak... -
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 action-adventure adult -
Fierce Shadows by Kathleen Brooks
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDare Reigns is Charleston’s newest undercover ATF agent. Dare and his bosses believe a nearby resort is responsible for several deaths from tainted alcohol. As a favor to his friend, Marcy Davies, Dare agrees to a blind date with her grand-niece who lives in the area. What he didn’t tell her was having a date night at the resort would be the perfect cover for him to begin his investigation... -
Until Susan by C.P. Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the world of NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Aurora Rose Reynolds. See how the Mayson clan began. You've read their sons' stories, now it's James and Susan's turn. Experience the boom all over again in this action-packed novella of insta-love and suspense from Author CP Smith... -
Awash by Dawn Lee McKenna
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Bones don't float, no."In the quiet, coastal town of Apalachicola, the past is never far behind, and secrets don't always stay buried.When a young girl is attacked, Lt... -
Jonny's Redemption by Riley Edwards
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCan two lost souls find redemption or are some transgressions beyond forgiveness? Lieutenant Jonny Spencer’s life is spiraling out of control. With no end in sight, he withdrawals. Giving in to the darkness is his only reprieve. Roberta “Bobby” Layne knows what it means to live in the shadows. Her childhood was spent fading into obscurity—loneiless her only friend... -
Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe #1 Amazon Charts bestselling series continues as Morgan Dane and PI Lance Kruger fight for the innocence of a young murder suspect—if only they could find him.When a retired sheriff’s deputy is shot to death in his home, his troubled teenage stepson, Evan, becomes the prime suspect. Even more incriminating, the boy disappeared from the scene of the crime... -
See Her Die by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSheriff Bree Taggert is both hunter and hunted in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s blood-freezing thriller of murder, rage, and revenge.New sheriff Bree Taggert is called to a shooting in a campground shuttered for the winter. But she arrives to find a perplexing crime. There is no shooter, no victim, and no blood...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
Hide and Seek by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe’s hunting. He’s watching. Special Agent Macy Crow is a survivor. After a vicious hit-and-run nearly kills her, she gets right back to work, and now she’s gunning for a spot on the FBI’s elite profiling team. As an audition, she offers to investigate the recently discovered bones of Tobi Turner, a high school girl who disappeared fifteen years ago...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense abuse action-adventure adult -
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Wolf Pack by C.J. Box, David Chandler
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWyoming game warden Joe Pickett encounters bad behavior on his own turf--only to have the FBI and the DOJ ask him to stand down.The good news is that Joe Pickett has his job back, after his last adventure in The Disappeared...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult animals -
A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s riveting series, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite returns home to a brutal murder and her haunted past. The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Griffin by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSometimes it sucked being the oldest.Griffin had been the oldest of five kids, and even as an adult, those traits still stuck. Responsible. Reliable. Always taking care of others.Moving into an apartment in old Victorian home, he longed to expand his custom home refinishing business, but found himself still taking care of others. The older woman who owned the building...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction -
Edge of Nowhere by Freya Barker
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOpen roads and honor meets poke bowls and self-controlI’m a homesick nomad.A protégé, a mountain man, an ally, and a seeker.My name is Wapi.I’m a work in progress looking to belong, and though my road has been a winding one, my heart has found focus.I’m a straightlaced hellcat.A princess, a fool, a target, and a handle.My name is Lindsey... -
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsPip is not a detective anymore.With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement realistic suspense action-adventure audiobook -
Beneath Blackwater River by Leslie Wolfe, Gwendolyn Druyor
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsListening Length 13 hours and 4 minutesShe looked alive, her hair drifting freely in the water, her red lips gently parted, as if to let her final breath escape. A small locket floated by her face, attached to her neck with a silver chain…When Detective Kay Sharp first left Mount Chester—population 3,823—in her rear-view mirror, she promised never to look back...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Bake Off by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMaddie Baker hasn’t seen Detective Noah Langley since he ghosted her a month ago, but now she needs his help to find a missing woman. When Maddie Baker offers a self-defense course, a terrified young woman asks her for private lessons to escape a chokehold. Maddie readily agrees to meet Amy the next morning, but when she doesn’t show up, Maddie becomes concerned...Categorized as:
female-mc law-enforcement suspense action-adventure adult alpha-mc book contemporary -
Hear My Heart by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMilitary duty called them away to war zones, but after tours overseas, the group of friends found their way back home as men, seeking the peaceful little seaside town. Now, the band of brothers, together once more, work to provide a place for less fortunate veterans to call home...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary drama -
Sweet Rose by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJason Boswell had moved to Baytown at the invitation of his Navy buddy to open a garage and tattoo parlor. He never meant to start off on the wrong foot with the beautiful Rose. Rose Parker wanted to open an ice-cream parlor in Baytown, but life kept handing her one setback after another. And for Jason? It appeared that he managed to get everything he wanted...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary -
Adverse Possession by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe plural form of Nemesis is NemesesAnna Albertini never thought she’d have to look up the plural form of nemesis. In fact, she never thought she’d have one, much less three. But as she and her new partner try to make a go of their fledgling law firm, enemies come from every direction.First, there’s a newspaper reporter trying to make a name for herself by dogging Anna’s every move... -
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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...Categorized as:
crime family law-enforcement police-procedural realistic suspense 21st-century abuse -
Minutes to Kill by Melinda Leigh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter corporate attorney Hannah Barrett tries—and fails—to stop a kidnapping in Vegas, she can’t shake the haunting image of the terrified young girl she couldn’t save. She tells herself that a visit to her hometown in Scarlet Falls could be a welcome distraction. But soon, Hannah realizes the kidnappers have all the info they need to track her every move...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense abuse action-adventure -
The Dollmaker by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDr. Tessa McGowan had never seen anything quite like it. But the mutilated bodies on her exam table tell a stunningly macabre tale: someone with a twisted mind is kidnapping women and altering their faces to resemble real, life-size dolls. As a forensic pathologist, it’s her job to aid the agent leading the case—even if that agent is her estranged husband...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
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:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this Wall Street Journal bestseller, a pair of ritual murders could expose Mercy Kilpatrick to something terrifying: her own past…Raised off the grid by survivalists, Mercy Kilpatrick believed in no greater safeguard than the backwoods of Oregon. Unforgiven by her father for abandoning the fold for the FBI, Mercy still holds to her past convictions. They’re in her blood...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Cold Hearted by Toni Anderson
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHunting For A Killer...Who Doesn't Play By The Rules. Detective Erin Donovan expects life to quiet down after the arrest and conviction of a serial rapist who terrified her university town last summer. Then two young women are brutally slain and the murders bear all the hallmarks of the campus rapist...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Guarding Your Heart: Baytown Boys by Maryann Jordan
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSophie Bayles was devastated by grief when her beloved brother, a soldier, had been killed in action when she was a teenager. Guarding her heart, she left Baytown and the boy she had loved…her brother’s best friend. Callan Ward lucked out when he was assigned to the Coast Guard station in his hometown of Baytown...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult book contemporary drama -
Colorado Cold Case by Elle James
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSole survivor of a mission gone wrong, Griff left the Navy to recover from his wounds and grief. The one person he’d loved had left San Diego while he'd been on a mission and hadn't returned or reached out. She’d said she was from Colorado... -
Cold Aim by Janice Cantore
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPolice Chief Tess O’Rourke’s small town is still reeling from a devastating fire when the FBI asks for help: Could she shelter a witness in a high-profile human trafficking case? Initially reluctant to put the townspeople of Rogue’s Hollow at risk, Tess is swayed after she sees Pastor Oliver Macpherson’s genuine conviction to rescue those in need, a trait in him she’s coming to love more each day...Categorized as:
suspense crime law-enforcement female-mc police-procedural romance mystery christian -
One in Vermillion by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the third book in a new trilogy.Liz Danger is stuck in her hometown of Burney, Ohio, because her insane employer has rented a house there for the summer, which means she has three more months of trying to get a copy edit done, babysitting a seven-year-old, and figuring out what to do with three hundred and ninety-two teddy bears... -
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In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsListening Length 10 hours and 20 minutesDetective Tracy Crosswhite has a skill, and a soft spot, for tackling unsolved crimes. Having lost her own sister to murder at a young age, Tracy has dedicated her career to bringing justice and closure to the families and friends of victims of crime...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
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...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
Dead Heat by Kathleen Brooks
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPaige Davies finds her world turned upside down as she becomes involved in her best friends' nightmare. The strong-willed Paige doesn't know which is worse: someone trying to kill her, or losing her dog to the man she loves to hate. FBI Agent Cole Parker can't decide whether he should strangle or kiss this infuriating woman of his dreams... -
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:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Absolving Blue by Freya Barker, Operation Alpha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor long-time Durango Fire Department EMT, Ava ‘Blue’ Navarro, her teammates at Station 3 represent a family more loyal than her own. However, when patients start dying on her watch, she draws the attention of local law enforcement. In particular the smooth-talking detective she’s successfully evaded for years, fearing he might stir up her quiet existence... -
Payback by Rebecca Deel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA mission from his past threatens his future. A stalker has his sights set on art history teacher Ivy Monroe. Still recovering from a relationship with an abusive former boyfriend, she's determined to win this fight over fear and intimidation. No one has the right to cage her again. When Ivy is nearly killed, she takes refuge in the arms of the one man she trusts...
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