Books like 'Melancholy Baby'
Readers who enjoyed Melancholy Baby by Robert B. Parker also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure serial killer thriller crime law-enforcement suspense investigator workplace noir
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The Hermitage by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFROM THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOLY ISLAND AND SEVEN BRIDGES He thought he was invincible, but he was wrong… When an old man is found dead inside the ancient hermitage at Warkworth Castle, Northumbria CID are called in to investigate... -
![Bamburgh by L.J. Ross]()
Bamburgh by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn’t think much of it—except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body... -
![Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis]()
Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA derelict cottage hidden in a copse of trees.A missing girl whose body was never found.Has her killer returned?Detective Joseph Easter’s daughter discovers a cottage hidden in some trees on a large fenland farm. Someone has been living there.The farm-owner’s wife has been receiving sinister pagan artefacts, including a witch’s knife... -
![Dead Souls by Angela Marsons]()
Dead Souls by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe truth was dead and buried…until now. When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone. As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps... -
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![The House in the Woods by Mark Dawson]()
The House in the Woods by Mark Dawson
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFour murders. Two detectives. One mystifying crime. On Christmas Eve, DCI Mackenzie Jones is called to a shooting at a remote farmhouse. Ralph Mallender believes his father lies dead inside. When three more bodies are discovered, it’s clear a festive family gathering has turned into a gruesome tragedy...Categorized as:
crime female-mc investigator law-enforcement thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Cragside by L.J. Ross]()
Cragside by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter his climactic battle with notorious serial killer The Hacker , DCI Ryan is spending the summer with his fiancée within the grounds of Cragside, a spectacular Bavarian-style mansion surrounded by acres of woodland. When they are invited to attend the staff summer party – a Victorian murder mystery evening – it’s all a joke until the lights go out and an elderly man is found dead... -
![Winter's Redemption by Mary Stone]()
Winter's Redemption by Mary Stone
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Preacher is killing again...The serial killer who slaughtered Winter’s parents has come out of retirement, leaving bloody victims in his wake. Special Agent Winter Black has spent her entire life preparing for this moment, and she intends to end the man who took everything from her and solve the disappearance of her little brother—no matter the cost... -
![Signature by Jeff Carson]()
Signature by Jeff Carson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsChief Detective Wolf and Special Agent Kristen Luke are back — and they’re going up against a sadistic killer whose signature works span the Four Corners region of Colorado and are now spilling into Rocky Points. Signature is the latest pulse-thumping thriller in Jeff Carson’s popular David Wolf mystery-thriller series... -
![Fear on the Fens by Joy Ellis]()
Fear on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNow.In the beautiful gardens of Shelley House a shocking discovery is made. A blackened hand dangles over the side of a wheelbarrow. The horrific scent of burnt flesh lingers in the air.Detective Nikki Galena and Joseph Easter are called in to investigate.Twenty years ago.A family destroyed by tragic secrets. The scientist father who killed their gardener, before being murdered himself... -
![Hunted on the Fens by Joy Ellis]()
Hunted on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA VICIOUS CRIMINAL IS TARGETING DI NIKKI GALENA AND HER TEAM. ONE BY ONE HE WILL HUNT THEM DOWN AND DESTROY THEIR LIVES, UNLESS SHE CAN STOP HIM FIRST DI Nikki Galena faces her toughest challenge yet... -
![Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood]()
Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe sound that wakes her from sleep is unmistakable—someone is in their house... -
![The Courbet Connection by Estelle Ryan]()
The Courbet Connection by Estelle Ryan
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsForged masterpieces. Kidnapped students. The dark net. Nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard's search for an international assassin is rudely interrupted by an autistic teenager who claims that forged masterpieces are being sold on the dark net--a secret internet few know exists... -
![Burn the Dawn by Lisa Phillips]()
Burn the Dawn by Lisa Phillips
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA series of missing girls.Weeks after she got shot, Kenna is back. She's living free of a past that held her in the grip of fear, determined to move on-and keep fighting. This PI isn't going to let anything keep her from finding the lost and broken.A town in the grip of fear.After a deadly setback, Kenna realizes the case is far more complicated than she first thought... -
![Dawn Girl by Leslie Wolfe]()
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... -
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![The Girl in the Sand by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain]()
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... -
![The Ladykiller by Martina Cole]()
The Ladykiller by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsGeorge Markham has a nasty little hobby, one that erupts into an orgy of vicious sexual depravity.Patrick Kelly is a hard man. His one soft spot is his daughter, and when she falls victim to the Grantley Ripper, Kelly wants revenge.The DI in charge of the case is Kate Burrows. She feels for Kelly but her growing involvement with a known villain is putting her career at risk . .Categorized as:
crime female-mc hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![Shadow Over the Fens by Joy Ellis]()
Shadow Over the Fens by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTWO BRUTAL KILLERS ARE LOOSE ON THE FENS BUT WHO CAN DI NIKKI GALENA TRUST? Detective Nikki Galena’s friend and neighbour meets a tragic end but there’s more to his death than meets the eye . . . And someone terrible from DS Joseph Easter’s past is back . . -
![The Sirani Connection by Estelle Ryan]()
The Sirani Connection by Estelle Ryan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsStolen masterpieces. Deadly narcotics. Artificial intelligence.A mysterious email and the arrest of a fugitive art thief send Doctor Genevieve Lenard and her team to Prague, where it soon becomes apparent that this theft has a close connection to a sadistic killer they've been tracking for almost a year... -
![I'm Still Here by Jon Mills]()
I'm Still Here by Jon Mills
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsStill haunted by her brother’s disappearance and the high profile murder trial that gripped the nation, New York homicide detective, Kara Walker deals with survivor’s guilt by tracking down killers. But as the anniversary of her brothers abduction approaches, Kara receives news of her mother’s death and is drawn back to her rural hometown in the Olympic Peninsula to tie up loose ends... -
![Sycamore Gap by LJ Ross]()
Sycamore Gap by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe past never stays buried for long... Detective Chief Inspector Ryan believes he has put his turbulent history behind him. Then, in the early hours of the summer solstice, the skeleton of a young woman is found inside the Roman Wall at Sycamore Gap. She has lain undiscovered for ten years and it is Ryan's job to piece together her past... -
![The Night Thief by Joy Ellis]()
The Night Thief by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen everyone is sleeping, he comes into their houses.He takes one thing. A photo of their child.A thief on a power trip or something even darker and more sinister?Detectives Jackman and Evans find themselves on the hunt for a highly unusual burglar who seemingly only steals photographs. But then, late one night, an elderly woman falls to her death after seeing someone in her home... -
![A L'ombre Du Mal by Robert Crais, Hubert Tézenas]()
A L'ombre Du Mal by Robert Crais, Hubert Tézenas
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsElvis Cole is Back--In a Desperate Fight to Clear his Name... It's fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. When police and fire department personnel rush door to door in a frenzied evacuation effort, they discover the week-old corpse of an apparent suicide...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![Chosen Prey by John Sandford]()
Chosen Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA New York Times bestseller! Lucas Davenport returns in the most harrowing and unexpected Prey novel yet—the story of a congenial man, and his most uncongenial obsession...An art history professor and writer and cheerful pervert, James Qatar had a hobby: he took secret photographs of women and turned them into highly sexual drawings. One day, he took the hobby a step further and..Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Winter Prey by John Sandford]()
Winter Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 31 ratings"Winter Prey" is a John Sandford suspense masterpiece! Following the international success of "Shadow Prey" and "Silent Prey," he creates another heart-pounding chapter in the career of Lucas Davenport, the brilliant, hard-bitten detective from the Twin Cities.The Iceman is Lucas Davenport's most determined foe - a serial killer driven to cover his brutal tracks with blood... -
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![The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly, Dick Hill]()
The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsDetective Harry Bosch was sure he'd shot the serial killer responsible for a string of murders in LA . . . but now, a new crime makes him question his convictions.The Dollmaker was the name of the serial killer who had stalked Los Angeles ruthlessly, leaving grisly calling cards on the faces of his female victims... -
![Shattered by Allison Brennan]()
Shattered by Allison Brennan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsOver a span of twenty years, four boys have been kidnapped from their bedrooms, suffocated, and buried nearby in a shallow grave. Serial killer or coincidence?That’s the question investigative reporter Maxine Revere sets out to answer when an old friend begs her to help exonerate his wife, who has been charged with their son’s recent murder. But Max can do little to help because the police and D... -
![The Watson Girl by Leslie Wolfe]()
The Watson Girl by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn entire family is murdered and, by a quirk, a young girl is left unharmed. For fifteen years, she believed the killer had been caught, and he’s now on death row, awaiting execution. While trying to be content with her adoptive family, she’s living in relentless uncertainty and the fear of remembering what really happened that night when she was five years old. She’s The Watson Girl... -
![Murder in the Village by Faith Martin, Gemma Dawson]()
Murder in the Village by Faith Martin, Gemma Dawson
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife's alibi is full of holes and there's another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival? DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this perplexing murder... -
![No Way Back by Rick Mofina, Christian Rummel]()
No Way Back by Rick Mofina, Christian Rummel
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSan Francisco crime reporter Tom Reed is burned out. On the day he decides to finally quit the news business, a sensational story breaks. A heart-stopping robbery-homicide at a jewelry store. The suspects have shot and killed a police officer before fleeing with a female hostage. Reed rushes to the scene, his passion resurrected for one last big story...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![Her Last Breath by Charlie Gallagher]()
Her Last Breath by Charlie Gallagher
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiscover a crime thriller which will have you gripped from the explosive start to one of the most shocking endings of the year. DETECTIVE GEORGE ELMS THOUGHT HE’D SEEN IT ALL, UNTIL HE COMES UP AGAINST SERIAL KILLER HENRY ‘THE BULL’ ROBERTS. Henry Roberts had a type — young, blonde, attractive women. He is three years into a life sentence. Two of his victims were never found... -
![Taker of Lives by Leslie Wolfe]()
Taker of Lives by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA GRIPPING CRIME THRILLER How can you outrun a killer you won’t see coming?They are the most violent, blood-thirsty, and vicious of criminals. While hunting for them, FBI profilers call these monsters UNSUBS, short for unknown subjects of ongoing investigations... -
![Dark is the Grave by T.G. Reid]()
Dark is the Grave by T.G. Reid
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA dead cop. A damaged detective. A copycat killer on the loose.When the chief suspect in the notorious Peek-a-boo cop killer case blew himself up, almost taking lead investigator DCI Duncan Bone with him, the psychologically damaged detective thought his days on the force were over...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement thriller mystery fiction contemporary police-procedural -
![Where The Truth Lies by M.J. Lee]()
Where The Truth Lies by M.J. Lee
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA killer in total control. A detective on the edge. A mystery that HAS to be solved. DI Thomas Ridpath was on the up in the Manchester CID: a promising young detective whose first case involved capturing a notorious serial killer. But ten years later he’s recovering from a serious illness and on the brink of being forced out of the police... -
![Bad Blood by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain]()
Bad Blood by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe body slumps over the steering wheel. Pools of blood going tacky on the dash. Two shots to the back of the head. A mafia-style hit in a small town.So Special Agent Violet Darger arrives in rural Michigan. She must make sense of this savagery. Figure out how something like this could happen in an idyllic town of just 5,000.The victim had been living the American dream...Categorized as:
crime female-mc hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
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![Final Breath by Robert F. Barker]()
Final Breath by Robert F. Barker
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA monstrous killer, safely behind bars – But just how safe is, ‘safe’? An archive of debauchery and murder, poised to ruin reputations, careers, lives A detective running out of time to find what he seeks Eighteen months on from the case that nearly cost him his life, only DCI Jamie Carver knows the incredible extent of the Worshipper Killer’s network of depravity – and the storm that will... -
![Blood Work by Michael Connelly]()
Blood Work by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly presents his most ambitious, most gripping achievement to date--a novel of masterly suspense and righteous obsession that will never let you go.When Graciella Rivers steps onto his boat, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb has no idea he's about to come out of retirement. He's recuperating from a heart transplant and avoiding anything stressful... -
![Perfect Prey by Helen Sarah Fields]()
Perfect Prey by Helen Sarah Fields
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsIn the midst of a rock festival, a charity worker is sliced across the stomach. He dies minutes later. In a crowd of thousands, no one saw his attacker. The following week, the body of a primary school teacher is found in a dumpster in an Edinburgh alley, strangled with her own woollen scarf... -
![The Narrows by Michael Connelly]()
The Narrows by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsFBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years, the one that tells her the Poet has surfaced. She has never forgotten the serial killer who wove lines of poetry in his hideous crimes--and apparently he has not forgotten her.Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too--from the widow of an old friend... -
![There's No Place like Home by Willow Rose]()
There's No Place like Home by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsASIN moved from less recent editionWhat is the worst that can happen?Maria and Jonas Boegh asked themselves that very question when deciding to sign the papers for their new house. It might be expensive. They might be in over their heads a little financially, but they were never happier than on the day they moved in. Everything was perfect. It was the house of their dreams... -
![Unsolved by James Patterson]()
Unsolved by James Patterson
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAvid fans of million-copy bestselling author Robert Bryndza's serial killer thrillers following the cases of Detective Erika Foster will be thrilled by the prospect of Unsolved, which also features a determined female lead as she pieces together clues to bring down an elusive serial... -
![Her Last Day by T.R. Ragan]()
Her Last Day by T.R. Ragan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this page-turner of a thriller by bestselling author T.R. Ragan, unlikely partners PI Jessie Cole and crime reporter Ben Morrison search for clues to a mystery buried in their own pasts—only to discover that sometimes the truth is better off buried... -
![Dark Lava by Toby Neal]()
Dark Lava by Toby Neal
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParadise is threatened by a fight for sacred artifacts.She just wants to disarm the IED.Newly assigned to the bomb squad, Detective Lei Texeira struggles with skills that may be dangerously out of reach, even as a heinous crime strikes close to home and catches her husband in the crossfire.The woman is his. And if he can’t have her, she’ll have to die... -
![Dark Houses by Helen H. Durrant]()
Dark Houses by Helen H. Durrant
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTHE STUNNING NEW CRIME MYSTERY FEATURING D.I. GRECO BY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR HELEN H. DURRANT A young woman is found brutally murdered in an empty house Detective Stephen Greco and his team must piece together her life as quickly as possible. Within twenty-four hours there is another horrific murder using the same method... -
![Dead Lucky by Matt Brolly, David Monteath]()
Dead Lucky by Matt Brolly, David Monteath
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA fast-paced crime-thriller, full of chilling twists, turns and grisly surprises, Matt Brolly’s Dead Lucky will have you gripped from beginning to end! DCI Michael Lambert is back… When a woman is murdered, the twisted killer forcing her husband to watch her slow and painful death, DCI Michael Lambert knows that his next case might be his toughest yet... -
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![Secret Prey by John Sandford]()
Secret Prey by John Sandford
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe company chairman lay dead in the woods, his orange hunting jacket punctured by a bullet at close range. Around him stood the four executives with whom he had been hunting, each with a reason not to be sorry about the man's death. A classic murder mystery, it would seem: the kind where the detective gathers everyone together at the end and solves the case... -
![A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly]()
A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsTerry McCaleb, the retired FBI agent who starred in the bestseller "Blood Work," is asked by the LAPD to help them investigate aseries of murders that have them baffled. They are the kind of ritualized killings McCaleb specialized in solving with the FBI, and he is reluctantly drawn from his peaceful new life back into the horror and excitement of tracking down a terrifying homicidal maniac... -
![The Creek Killer by Dominika Best]()
The Creek Killer by Dominika Best
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHow would you prove you weren’t dead? Jane Smith has been running from danger her whole life. That danger followed her everywhere, leaving a trail of death in its wake. When the mummified bodies of six girls are discovered in the wetlands of Los Angeles, Jane is surprised to learn one of the dead girls bears her name—the name she abandoned twenty-five years ago to go into hiding...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement thriller female-mc mystery fiction contemporary police-procedural -
![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... -
![The House that Jack Built by Willow Rose]()
The House that Jack Built by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsScott Kingston is afraid of monsters. He thinks they’re lurking outside his bedroom window at night when his mother tucks him in. He asks his mother to keep the light on to scare the monsters away. But that light is exactly what lures the kidnapper to his window and the next morning, Scott Kingston is gone... -
![Bring Me Flowers by D.K. Hood]()
Bring Me Flowers by D.K. Hood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe didn’t know he was watching. Until it was too late.She’d walked this path hundreds of times before, she knew every twist and turn. But today was different. She didn’t know someone was waiting for her, hidden away from view. She didn’t know this was the last time she’d walk this path...
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