Books like 'Cold, Cold Bones'
Readers who enjoyed Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure psychological serial killer north-america crime north-carolina usa suspense romantic-love
-
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... -
All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThree casinos. Three bodies. Three days. After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement north-america political-intrigue suspense usa thriller action-adventure -
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...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult archaeology -
The Infirmary by L.J. Ross, Jonathan Keeble
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIntroducing the new, unabridged version of The Infirmary by LJ Ross, the author of the international number one best-selling series, the DCI Ryan Mysteries.There's a serial killer targeting the streets of Newcastle, seemingly picking his victims at random but subjecting them all to the same torturous end... -
-
Winter's Storm by Mary Stone
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThey survived, but survival won't save them.When the survivors of the massacre at the Riverside Mall are murdered one after the other, the police suspect a serial killer and turn to the FBI. Winter Black is on the case, working to track down the third person involved in the mass shooting that happened the same night she took down The Preacher, the man who killed her parents...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime female-mc political-intrigue suspense action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
In the Darkness by Mike Omer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA forensic psychologist fights a mental war against two serial killers in this disturbing thriller from Mike Omer, Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of A Killer’s Mind.An online video of a girl clawing at the ceiling of her own grave could be the worst thing FBI forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley has ever seen... -
Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsHomicide detective Tracy Crosswhite has returned to the police force after the sensational retrial of her sister’s killer. Still scarred from that ordeal, Tracy is pulled into an investigation that threatens to end her career, if not her life.A serial killer known as the Cowboy is killing young women in cheap motels in North Seattle... -
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
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... -
The Knight by Steven James
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn The Knight, the third installment in the bestselling series of thrillers featuring FBI criminologist Patrick Bowers, the stakes have never been higher.Agent Bowers is used to tracking the country's most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him... -
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... -
Killing Season by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLet it bleed. Watch it burn.The first shot punches through the windshield of an SUV. A head shot. The driver's death is instantaneous.By the time Special Agent Violet Darger arrives in Atlanta, the city teeters toward panic. The vacant streets and restaurants paint an eerie picture. No one dares to venture out.A killer walks among them. A shadow...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense action-adventure adult assassinations -
The Bishop by Steven James
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsF.B.I. Special Agent Patrick Bowers's cutting edge 21st century geospatial investigative techniques and impeccable logic have helped him track some of the country's most grisly killers. But those skills are pushed to the limit in this new installment of the highly acclaimed, award winning The Bowers Files series... -
Fear No Evil by James Patterson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAlex Cross enters the final showdown with the relentless killer who has stalked him and his family for years.Dr. Alex Cross and Detective John Sampson venture into the rugged Montana wilderness—where they will be the prey. They’re not on the job, but on a personal mission...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure adult assassinations -
-
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... -
Crimson Lake Road by Victor Methos
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBestselling author Victor Methos’s acclaimed series continues as prosecutor Jessica Yardley races to catch an art-obsessed serial killer before she becomes his next masterpiece.Retiring prosecutor Jessica Yardley can’t turn down one last investigation. This time, it’s a set of murders inspired by a series of grisly paintings called The Night Things... -
Criss Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA killer with all the skills of a master detective has made Alex Cross the subject of his deranged "investigation." In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed "M" rests on the corpse. "You messed up big time, Dr. Cross... -
Winter's Rise by Mary Stone
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe cure is to kill...For more than thirteen years, Special Agent Winter Black has believed her little brother was dead—kidnapped and murdered by The Preacher, the same lunatic who killed her parents. A lead into Justin’s whereabouts brings her out of her hiatus to chase it, but other cases need her attention too...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime law-enforcement medical political-intrigue suspense action-adventure adult -
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
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 . . -
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... -
Impostor by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DCI RYAN MYSTERIES There’s a killer inside all of us… After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amidst a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed... -
The Thames Path killer by Biba Pearce
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA SCINTILLATING DEBUT MYSTERY FROM YOUR NEW CRIME FICTION OBSESSION: BIBA PEARCE.Please note this book is a completely revised edition of THE SURREY STALKER.A deranged serial killer targeting brides-to-be. An ambitious young detective. A case that could destroy everything.A young woman is brutally attacked on her way home. It looks like she was the victim of a jilted — and twisted — ex-lover... -
Wired In by Toby Neal
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsParadise has no protection from a hacker with a hidden agenda.Do you love a woman sleuth with a dark past, a great dog, and a complicated romantic life?Meet tech agent Sophie Ang.Sophie’s emotions are battered by a child kidnapping case, and in tracking the criminal ring, her rogue data analysis program D.A.V.I.D...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure amateur-sleuth -
-
Cross Justice by James Patterson
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFor Alex Cross, the toughest cases hit close to home-and in this deadly thrill ride, he's trying to solve the most personal mystery of his life.When his cousin is accused of a heinous crime, Alex Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in over three decades... -
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... -
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... -
A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAtlee Pine has spent most of her life trying to find out what happened that fateful night in Andersonville, Georgia. Her six year old twin sister, Mercy, was taken and Atlee was left for dead while their parents were apparently partying downstairs. One person who continues to haunt her is notorious serial killer Daniel James Tor, locked away in a Colerado maximum security prison...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement north-america political-intrigue suspense usa thriller -
Seven Days by Alex Lake
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe twisty new psychological thriller from the USA Today bestselling author Maggie Taylor’s son is a week away from his third birthday, and she is terrified. Because in her world, third birthdays are the day on which the worst possible thing happens…She loses her child.For the last decade, Maggie has been imprisoned in a basement. Kidnapped aged sixteen, she has not seen a sunrise for ten years...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime female-mc law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Rook by Steven James
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn arsonist has struck a top-secret research facility at a key US naval base. But it's not just a random terrorist attack. These people were after something specific. When Special Agent Patrick Bowers is called in to investigate, he is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue and deception... -
Killer Lawyer by Mark Nolan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJake Wolfe is a young lawyer who leads a secret life as a government assassin. Trained by the CIA, Jake now wants a new life of peace and quiet, living on a boat and practicing law. But when his city is shocked by a serial killer and he’s framed for the murder of a friend, Jake must race against time to find the killer before he strikes again... -
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... -
Avenging Adam by Jodi Burnett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhile hiking in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, FBI Special Agent Kendra Dean and her K9 partner, Baxter, stumble upon a dead body stashed in the woods. The discovery changes both of their lives forever.Special Agent Rick Sanchez hunts a serial murderer who is targeting women on a multi-state killing spree... -
Alone by Kendra Elliot, Tanya Eby
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne rainy night in the woods outside of Portland, Dr. Victoria Peres is called to the site of a haunting crime scene. Six beautiful young girls—all in white dresses and arranged in a perfect circle—have been left for dead. Only one girl, fighting for her life at a nearby hospital, has survived the carnage... -
-
The House of Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe thirty-second instalment in James Patterson's globally bestselling Alex Cross series. It’s time to put the guns down, Detective Cross. Even if you knew the way out of this place, we would catch you.A serial killer is taking out America’s finest legal minds, and Alex Cross is called to investigate their brutal murders...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement thriller political-intrigue mystery fiction audiobook -
The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEach time he struck, he took two victims. Day after day, he waited for the first body to be discovered--a body containing all the clues the investigators needed to find the second victim, who waited...prey to a slow but certain death. The clock ticked--salvation was possible.The police were never in time.Years have passed; but for this killer, time has stood still... -
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... -
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 Cipher by Isabella Maldonado
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsTo a cunning serial killer, she was the one that got away. Until now…FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera escaped a serial killer’s trap at sixteen. Years later, when she’s jumped in a Virginia park, a video of the attack goes viral. Legions of new fans are not the only ones impressed with her fighting skills. The man who abducted her eleven years ago is watching... -
The Queen by Steven James
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhile investigating a double homicide in an isolated northern Wisconsin town, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers uncovers a high-tech conspiracy that twists through long-buried Cold War secrets and targets present-day tensions in the Middle East...Categorized as:
conspiracies crime law-enforcement political-intrigue suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Promise by Katerina Diamond
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘All hail the new Queen of Crime!’ HeatWhen troubled teen Connor moves to Exeter from the US after a horrific school shooting, he finds himself embroiled in a world of popular kids and easy girls. Everyone wants to be his friend, but they don’t know about what he did…and they don’t know about his father... -
Murder of the Bride by Faith Martin, Gemma Dawson
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDI Hillary Greene is called out to attend a suspicious death at Three Oaks Farm in the picturesque village of Steeple Barton. The large farmhouse is filled with music and revelers, but when she steps into the farm's cowshed, Hillary finds a dead bride. Dressed in a sumptuous white wedding gown, the young, beautiful redhead had clearly been strangled... -
Mastermind by Andrew Mayne
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA mysterious electrical storm plunges Manhattan into darkness. As a strange, smothering fog rolls in, all communication crashes. In the blink of an eye, the island seems to vanish into a void.FBI special agent Jessica Blackwood and brilliant scientist Dr. Theo Cray know this isn’t a freak accident. It’s a sinister sleight of hand...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement medical suspense thriller action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
Murder Theory by Andrew Mayne
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe desire to kill is becoming contagious in this riveting novel of conceivable mad science by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.Computational biologist and serial-killer hunter Dr. Theo Cray receives an off-the-record request from the FBI to investigate an inexplicable double homicide. It happened at the excavation site where a murderer had buried his victims’ remains... -
-
I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the twelfth gripping novel featuring Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles, the crime-solving duo—featured in the smash-hit TNT series Rizzoli & Isles—are faced with the gruesomely staged murder of a horror film producer.The crime scene is unlike any that Detective Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have ever before encountered... -
The People vs. Alex Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsINSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThis time it's Alex Cross on trial.Alex Cross is on the wrong side of the law. Serving a suspension from the force while he awaits trial for murder, Cross has been branded as a trigger-happy cop, another bad apple walking the streets with a gun, an accusation that Cross will do anything to refute... -
Dead End Girl by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHer body is broken. Wrapped in plastic. Dumped on the side of the road. She is the first. There will be more.The serial killer thriller that "refuses to let go until you've read the last sentence."The most recent body was discovered in the grease dumpster behind a Burger King. Dismembered. Shoved into two garbage bags and lowered into the murky oil... -
The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe past isn't over....An unspeakable act has ripped apart the idyllic town of Bakersville, Oregon, and its once-peaceful residents are demanding quick justice. But though a boy has confessed to the horrific crime, evidence shows he may not be guilty. Officer Rainie Conner, leading her first homicide investigation, stands at the center of the controversy... -
Find Me by Anne Frasier
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsConvicted serial killer Benjamin Fisher has finally offered to lead San Bernardino detective Daniel Ellis to the isolated graves of his victims. One catch: he’ll only do it if FBI profiler Reni Fisher, his estranged daughter, accompanies them. As hard as it is to exhume her traumatic childhood, Reni can’t say no. She still feels complicit in her father’s crimes...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement north-america suspense usa thriller action-adventure -
The Secrets of the Shadows by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSophie was afraid of the man in the shadows. He terrified her, but he would always disappear when someone else came. But one day in June 1984, she didn't escape. He took her. When a young woman is found draped over a gravestone in a chilling murder, police officer Annie Graham experiences a familiar sense of dread...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.