Books like 'Darkness First'
Readers who enjoyed Darkness First by James Hayman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery serial killer thriller crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural kidnapping cozy
-
Longstone by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBetween the devil and the deep blue sea… Viking treasure is discovered beneath the icy waters of the North Sea and local historian Doctor Anna Taylor is called in to help catalogue the most exciting hoard in living memory. But when a shipwreck diver washes up dead, she’s soon out of her depth...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![High Force by LJ Ross]()
High Force by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHell has unleashed a demon – and he’s coming for you… Detective Chief Inspector Ryan’s worst nightmare has just become a reality. Notorious serial killer The Hacker has escaped prison and kidnapped one of his best detectives from her own home. His brutality is the stuff of legend – Ryan lost his sister and nearly his own life bringing the man to justice first time around... -
![Dying Truth by Angela Marsons]()
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... -
![Six Graves by Angela Marsons]()
Six Graves by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top and Kim feels a sharp stab of sadness... -
-
![One by One by Chris Carter]()
One by One by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratings'I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?' Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD's Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address - a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn't want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option... -
![Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons]()
Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer stomach lurches as she sits in the windowless room. He throws her phone to the ground, grinds it against the floor with the heel of his shoe and brings his face closer to hers. There was no turning back now, her life as she knew it was gone... -
![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...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense action-adventure adult -
![Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan]()
Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Josie Quinn hasn’t heard from her sister since Trinity stormed out of the house in the heat of an argument three weeks ago. So, when human remains are found at the remote hunting cabin where Trinity was last seen, Josie can only assume the worst... -
![Losing Leah Holloway by Lisa Regan]()
Losing Leah Holloway by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFive years ago, Claire Fletcher escaped her abductor. But some scars never fade, and surviving was just the beginning…When Claire sees a car full of children careen into a river, she rushes to the rescue. But the driver, a mother named Leah Holloway, prefers to drown. For Claire and her ex, Detective Connor Parks, it doesn’t add up... -
![The Killing Code by J.D. Kirk]()
The Killing Code by J.D. Kirk
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhat would you do if there weren't any consequences?After twenty years on the force, Detective Chief Inspector Jack Logan thinks he has seen it all.He is wrong.When a nurse is murdered on her way home from nightshift, Jack and his team go on the hunt for her killer... -
![Missing Angel by Roger Stelljes]()
Missing Angel by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIsabella pedals her bright red bike on the familiar route home, admiring her charm bracelet catching the light. But half an hour later, she is nowhere to be seen. All her frantic parents find is an angel-shaped charm discarded on the sidewalk…When twelve-year-old Isabella Farner disappears, Agent Tori Hunter races to the scene... -
![First Blood by Angela Marsons]()
First Blood by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith this installment exploring an utterly chilling case following a disturbing killer, USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons delivers the prequel to the internationally bestselling DI Kim Stone thrillers.In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time... -
![Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons]()
Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEeeny meeny, miney, moe. Who lives, who dies only I know. When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell – a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young school girl... -
![Dead Memories by Angela Marsons]()
Dead Memories by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe ruined their lives. Now they’re going to destroy hers. ‘Someone is recreating every traumatic point in your life. They are doing this to make you suffer, to make you hurt and the only possible end game can be death. Your death.’ On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive... -
-
![Child's Play by Angela Marsons]()
Child's Play by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinally we’re playing a game. A game that I have chosen. I give one last push of the roundabout and stand back. 'You really should have played with me,’ I tell her again although I know she can no longer hear... -
![Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons]()
Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou have to stop me from hurting anyone else. I don’t want to do these horrible things. Help me before I’m forced to do it again. And I will do it again because I have no choice. I’ve never had a choice.In a busy shopping centre, a little girl clutches a teddy bear, clinging to it in the absence of her mother, Katrina. Hours later, Katrina’s body is discovered in an abandoned building... -
![Broken Bones by Angela Marsons]()
Broken Bones by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThey thought they were safe. They were wrong. The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood... -
![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...Categorized as:
cozy crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure -
![Deadly Secrets by Robert Bryndza]()
Deadly Secrets by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTo commit the perfect murder, you need the perfect cover.On an icy morning, a mother wakes to find her daughter’s blood-soaked body frozen to the road. Who would carry out such a killing on the victim’s doorstep?Straight off her last harrowing case, Detective Erika Foster is feeling fragile but determined to lead the investigation...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller 21st-century adult -
![The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe]()
The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer daughter, with emerald eyes and the sweetest smile, is everything to her. Her whole world. “Mommy,” the little girl says, touching her mother’s face with trembling fingers before she’s torn away. “Don’t cry.” Will she ever see her again?When single mother Alison Nolan sets off with her six-year-old daughter, Hazel, she can’t wait to spend precious time with her girl... -
![Secrets on the Fens by Joy Ellis, Henrietta Meire]()
Secrets on the Fens by Joy Ellis, Henrietta Meire
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne moonlit night, the bodies of two young people are discovered lying entwined on a blanket in the woods. The young man is clutching a red rose. It appears to be a lovers’ suicide pact . . .Until Detective Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter look more closely. Romeo and Juliet, as they decide to call them, were murdered somewhere else and brought to the woods... -
![The Roubaud Connection by Estelle Ryan]()
The Roubaud Connection by Estelle Ryan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBrutal murders. An ancient treasure. A rogue state.A young acquaintance of nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard begs her to look into the disappearance of his friend...Categorized as:
crime thriller law-enforcement police-procedural kidnapping mystery fiction social-commentary -
![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...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![Silenced Girls: An absolutely addictive mystery thriller by Roger Stelljes]()
Silenced Girls: An absolutely addictive mystery thriller by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe moved far away to try and forget her past. A past that would seep back in when she least expected it and crushed her soul over and over. She tried to keep the evidence packed away in boxes high up on a closet shelf like carefully packing away a tragic part of her life. As if sealing the boxes, was sealing away a time in her life she desperately wanted to go back and change... -
-
![Blind Spot by Brenda Novak]()
Blind Spot by Brenda Novak
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNew York Times bestseller Brenda Novak's Evelyn Talbot series returns, with a heavily pregnant Evelyn being held hostage. With Jasper Moore, the privileged boy who attacked her when she was only sixteen, finally caught and in prison, Dr... -
![If She Ran by H.K. Christie]()
If She Ran by H.K. Christie
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree months. Three missing women. One PI determined to discover the truth.Back from break, PI Martina Monroe clears the air with her boss at Drakos Security & Investigations and is ready to jump right into solving cold cases for the CoCo County Sheriff’s Department... -
![Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan]()
Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSometimes danger comes from the most unexpected places.Gwen Proctor has always been willing to do anything it takes to protect her kids. But there are some things even she can’t protect them from. When a violent incident at Connor’s school brings the press to Gwen’s doorstep, she agrees to take a case out of town hoping to keep her family out of the crushing media spotlight... -
![Near You by Mary Burton]()
Near You by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a scorching novel of obsession and revenge, New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton ignites fear in the heart of a woman targeted by a killer who knows her secrets.Forensic psychologist and single mother Ann Bailey has joined forces with Montana Highway Patrol officer Bryce McCabe...Categorized as:
crime female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult -
![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...Categorized as:
crime kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult audiobook -
![Deadly Recall by T.R. Ragan]()
Deadly Recall by T.R. Ragan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsPI Jessie Cole is about to discover that there’s no revenge too wicked as New York Times bestselling author T.R. Ragan’s gripping series continues.When you search for the missing, there’s no telling what you’ll find. PI Jessie Cole learned that painful truth firsthand when her sister disappeared. Now a new case will test Jessie and Ben once again... -
![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 . .Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
![Never Look Back by Mary Burton]()
Never Look Back by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsExpect the unexpected in this gritty, tense, and page-turning mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute...Categorized as:
crime female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult -
![The Girl With No Name by Lisa Regan]()
The Girl With No Name by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDetective Josie Quinn is horrified when she’s called to the house of a mother who had her newborn baby snatched from her arms...Categorized as:
crime kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult audiobook -
![A Litter of Bones by J.D. Kirk]()
A Litter of Bones by J.D. Kirk
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsWas the biggest case of his career the worst mistake he ever made?Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan stopped the serial child-killer dubbed 'Mister Whisper,' earning himself a commendation, a drinking problem, and a broken marriage in the process.Now, he spends his days working in Glasgow's Major Incident Team, and his nights reliving the horrors of what he saw.And what he did...Categorized as:
crime kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult audiobook -
-
![Burn You Twice by Mary Burton, Melissa Moran]()
Burn You Twice by Mary Burton, Melissa Moran
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratings8 hours, 56 minutesFire can destroy the past. It can also uncover secrets in this novel of searing suspense by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.Ten years ago as an undergrad, Joan Mason escaped an arsonist’s fire. Shaken, she fled the small collegiate Montana town, leaving behind friends and not looking back...Categorized as:
crime female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense adult audiobook -
![In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart MacBride]()
In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart MacBride
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSergeant Logan McRae is in trouble…His missing-persons investigation has just turned up a body in the woods – naked, hands tied behind its back, and a bin bag duct-taped over its head. The Major Investigation Team charges up from Aberdeen, under the beady eye of Logan’s ex-boss Detective Chief Inspector Steel. And, as usual, she wants him to do her job for her... -
![Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett]()
Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat really happened in the forest? Hidden crimes and secrets of the past converge in a riveting thriller by Anne Frasier, the New York Times bestselling author of Find Me.No strangers to evil, criminal profiler Reni Fisher and detective Daniel Ellis both still grapple with traumatizing pasts. It unites them. So has a crime they must solve before someone else dies... -
![Perfect Crime by Helen Sarah Fields, Robin Laing]()
Perfect Crime by Helen Sarah Fields, Robin Laing
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYour darkest moment is your most vulnerable…Stephen Berry is about to jump off a bridge until a suicide prevention counsellor stops him. A week later, Stephen is dead...Categorized as:
crime female-mc kidnapping law-enforcement police-procedural suspense thriller adult -
![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 police-procedural thriller mystery fiction contemporary -
![A Cold Killing by Anna Smith]()
A Cold Killing by Anna Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCrime reporter Rosie Gilmour returns from hiding in Bosnia to a story of a brutal execution. University lecturer Tom Mahoney was shot at point blank range, the killing has all the signs of a hit. But who would want to kill a retired lecturer? Rosie throws herself into the investigation, looking for a witness that has gone missing. A witness that might hold the key to the story... -
![Hell to Pay by Rachel Amphlett]()
Hell to Pay by Rachel Amphlett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a road traffic accident on a dark autumn night uncovers a disturbing conspiracy, Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter’s investigation exposes a ruthless serial killer exploiting vulnerable young women.With her enemies unmasked and her career spiralling out of control, Kay’s determination to seek vengeance for the victims brings her dangerously close to those who want to silence her...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense female-mc police-procedural thriller kidnapping mystery -
![Lady's Well by L.J. Ross]()
Lady's Well by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTHERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER...When the ancient waters of Lady’s Well in the rural village of Holystone begin to run red, it seems to be a nasty Hallowe’en prank and nothing more. But things take a sinister turn when the entire village suffers severe poisoning, and one old man turns up dead... -
![Girl Next Door by Willow Rose]()
Girl Next Door by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere”-Ted BundyInspired by a true story.He came in the morning when they were still making lunches and getting ready for school and work. He killed them all. Mother, father, children. Brutally slaughtered them in the comfort of their own home.They called him the Monday Morning Killer... -
![So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison]()
So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTalent borrows. Genius steals. Evil delegates. It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back…and he's got helpers... -
-
![Before Evil by Alex Kava]()
Before Evil by Alex Kava
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSpecial Agent Maggie O'Dell doesn't need to set foot at a crime scene to catch a serial killer. From her small Quantico office, she's profiled criminals using just Polaroids and faxed copies of evidence from homicide detectives across the country.Then comes Albert Stucky . . . and nothing will ever be the same... -
![Birthday Girl by Matthew Iden]()
Birthday Girl by Matthew Iden
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBlow out a candle. Make a wish. Your last one. Eight years ago, Elliott Nash’s daughter was murdered. Since then, everything the brilliant former criminal psychologist had is a memory―his child, his career, his wife, and his home. Now he lives on the streets around Washington, DC, with only a bottomless well of guilt and nightmares to make him feel alive. Until Amy Scowcroft solicits his help... -
![The Innocent Girls by B.R. Spangler]()
The Innocent Girls by B.R. Spangler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTears stream down her face as she feels the cold blade press against her neck. The sweet scent of her daughter’s favorite strawberry pancakes all around, her last thought is for her beautiful girl. Please, please let Lisa have escaped...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement police-procedural female-mc thriller mystery audiobook -
![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 police-procedural female-mc mystery fiction contemporary -
![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...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement suspense thriller police-procedural female-mc mystery audiobook -
![Her Deadly Touch by Lisa Regan]()
Her Deadly Touch by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe woman is kneeling at a gravestone, her hair blowing in the breeze, a bunch of wilting yellow daffodils on the grass beside her. Her eyes are fixed on the ground and her mouth is parted in a silent prayer...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
