Books like 'The Substitute'
Readers who enjoyed The Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological suspense crime thriller family dark literary-fiction
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![Lost Angels by Stacy Green]()
Lost Angels by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Special Agent Nikki Hunt is called to the Boundary Waters near Stillwater, Minnesota, it’s not just the cold that shocks her to her core: the body of a young woman has been found frozen beside a remote lake... -
![Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent]()
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of... -
![The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope]()
The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTina is a young woman hiding from her grief on the streets of the Cross. On a cold night in the middle of winter she breaks all her own rules when she agrees to go home with a customer.What she finds in his house will change her life forever.Across the country Sarah and Doug are trapped in limbo, struggling to accept the loss that now governs their lives... -
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![The Stepchild by Nicole Trope]()
The Stepchild by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree-year-old Millie Everleigh disappears on a crisp winter’s day, and nothing is as it seems…It’s the phone call every mother dreads.I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old little girl Millie.‘I only went upstairs for a second,’ she says through her sobs. ‘She’s gone... -
![Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel]()
Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSix women—mothers, daughters, sisters—gone missing. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this harrowing novel tells the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims, from the internationally best-selling author of Betty."Capture[s] what goes horribly wrong when women don’t fit a customary victim profile.. -
![The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson]()
The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBrighton Beach, 1993Teenagers Nell and Jude find the body of a young woman and when no one comes to claim her, she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Nell is still struggling to move on when, three weeks later, Jude disappears.Twenty-five years on, Nell is forced to quit her job to find out who the Brighton Mermaid really was - and what happened to her best friend that summer... -
![The Night She Vanished by Wendy Dranfield]()
The Night She Vanished by Wendy Dranfield
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy parents seem to be the perfect couple. But no one knows what I know... Everyone in the small Midwestern town of Henderson looks up to my perfect parents. With dependable jobs as a midwife and the town sheriff, they help this close-knit community feel safe. But the locals didn't grow up in my parents' house. They don't know what I know. And they wouldn't believe me if I told them.. -
![Only The Good Die Young : And I'm Not A Saint by Akash Verma]()
Only The Good Die Young : And I'm Not A Saint by Akash Verma
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSometimes when you're desperate to leave the past behind, the past is eager to catch up!Anuradha leaves Gurgaon when Dhruv chooses his family over her. She thinks that chapter of her life hasended, and starts afresh in Mumbai. But strangely, it seems her past is trying to catch up. Dhruv suddenlycomes back into her life... -
![All That Is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landay]()
All That Is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landay
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA mother vanished. A father presumed guilty. There is no proof. There are no witnesses. For the children, there is only doubt. From the New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob. . . .One afternoon in November 1975, ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find her house eerily quiet. Her mother is missing. Nothing else is out of place. There is no sign of struggle... -
![Underneath by Andie M. Long, Michelle Dunbar]()
Underneath by Andie M. Long, Michelle Dunbar
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the Author of The Alphabet Game comes a tale of drama and suspense. LAUREN LAWLER’s life is visually perfect. However husband Niall seems to have forgotten she exists. Running a Vintage shop on Ebay and meeting her best friend Monique for coffee and shopping, Lauren feels settled but bored... -
![The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot]()
The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met, and a shocking account of a crime committed over twenty-five years ago... -
![Juste une ombre by Karine Giébel]()
Juste une ombre by Karine Giébel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCloé Beauchamp est une jeune femme à qui tout semble réussir; belle, brillante, sur le point d'être nommée à la tête d'une prestigieuse agence de publicité... Et amoureuse, depuis peu, d'un homme charmant. Elle cache à la perfection ses failles et les horreurs qui ont jalonné son passé. Mais lentement, sa vie va se transformer en cauchemar... -
![The Girl She Wanted by K.L. Slater]()
The Girl She Wanted by K.L. Slater
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat if my sister is unstable and everyone can see it but me? What was she really doing standing over Florence’s cot in the middle of the night?Alexa has always looked up to her older sister Carrie. Carrie lives in Alexa’s family home, and adores her one-year-old niece Florence. Alexa doesn’t know how they would cope without her... -
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![The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder]()
The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsYou’ve got everything she wants …Newly married Natasha has the perfect house, a loving husband and a beautiful little girl called Emily. She’d have it all if it wasn’t for Jen, her husband’s ex-wife who just won’t leave them alone …Then Natasha returns home one day to find her husband and Emily gone without trace... -
![A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks]()
A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIs it better to believe a lovely lie or know the horrible truth?1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police, protecting each other from the consequences... -
![Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson]()
Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCaroline Webb knows what it means to lose the person you love most. Twenty years ago, her five-year-old daughter, Hayley, was the light of her life, her treasure, her angle. Then came the terrible day when Hayley was kidnapped from her favorite swing. More than a month passed before her burned, lifeless body was found. All that remained was the silence of Caroline's heartache--and her guilt.. -
![Vicious by Kevin O'Brien]()
Vicious by Kevin O'Brien
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNO MOTIVE For more than two years, he held Seattle in a terror grip. A cold-blooded killer who abducted young mothers right in front of their sons and murdered them execution style. Then, as suddenly as the killings began, they seemed to stop.NO MERCY Susan Blanchette is looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with her fianc�, Allen, and young son, Matthew... -
![The Perfect Family Man by M.M. DeLuca]()
The Perfect Family Man by M.M. DeLuca
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFive years ago, my little boy went missing. Now my husband’s vanished, too.I wish I could say that the tragedy of little Jack disappearing brought me and Nate closer together. But my husband is more distant from me now than he’s ever been. Perhaps that’s why I don’t ask him exactly where he’s going when he sets off on another business trip... -
![The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong]()
The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble... -
![Stimmen by Ursula Poznanski]()
Stimmen by Ursula Poznanski
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEr hatte die Zeichen gesehen. Er sah sie seit Jahren schon, und hatte immer wieder versucht, die Menschen zu warnen, doch nie wollte jemand ihm glauben.Sie hatten ein Opfer dargebracht. Auf keinen Fall durften sie ihn hören. Sie wissen, wer du bist.Menschen, die wirr vor sich hinmurmeln... -
![Either Side of Midnight by Tori de Clare]()
Either Side of Midnight by Tori de Clare
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWHAT IF THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE TURNED INTO YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE? When nineteen-year-old Naomi Stone is snatched from her husband at knifepoint on the night of their wedding and taken to a deserted cemetery, she knows her life is finished. Drugged and disorientated, she loses consciousness as she lies in an open grave with a gun to her head... -
![My Little Girl by Shalini Boland]()
My Little Girl by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘I’m sorry. Your daughter is missing…’Claire Nolan receives a panicked phone call, telling her that her seven-year-old daughter Beatrice has gone missing on a trip to the local fair.It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. And it’s happening to her... -
![The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire]()
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
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![When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins]()
When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe had lived a lie for thirteen years, and the perfect life as she had known it was about to change forever.Everyone remembered Sara and Shannon Carter, the little blonde haired sisters. Their Dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautiful house on the hill. Their best friend, Brinley Booth, lived next door... -
![You're Family Now by Jack Stainton]()
You're Family Now by Jack Stainton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratings⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ EPIC!! EPIC!! EPIC!! This book had EVERYTHING I love in a book!! ' Goodreads ReviewerHe only had to do one thing. Love her family…Matt Walker was a chancer; he’d spent his entire profession chasing the next job. His personal life took on a similar mantra; a succession of one-night stands and brief relationships. Life was slowly drifting him by... -
![You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke]()
You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows... -
![No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara]()
No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTwo children get on the train. Only one gets off...No one saw it happen.You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind.Everyone is lying.By the time you get to the next stop, you've convinced yourself that everything will be fine... -
![People Like Them by Minka Kent]()
People Like Them by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display... -
![All the Lies by Nicola Sanders]()
All the Lies by Nicola Sanders
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsShe thought he was the perfect husband. Now she’s running for her life.On the surface, Amy and Jason have the perfect marriage, but Amy is trapped in a nightmare with a controlling, violent husband. Then on a short cruise without Jason, Amy befriends Liz, a young woman travelling alone on her way to meet her birth mother for the first time. Liz looks so much like Amy that they could be sisters... -
![The Good Samaritan by John Marrs]()
The Good Samaritan by John Marrs
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsShe’s a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry... -
![Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll]()
Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of I Am Watching You. The perfect family? Or the perfect lie?It’s their daughter’s graduation and Rachel and Ed Hartley are expecting it to be one of their family’s happiest days... -
![The Accident by Natalie Barelli]()
The Accident by Natalie Barelli
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIf only she'd said no... Katherine knew she’d had too many drinks, but they were only going a short distance. And as Eve pointed out, it was late, there was no traffic anyway... Now, Katherine would do anything to turn back the clock. If anyone ever found out about the accident, it would ruin Katherine’s life... -
![Over Her Dead Body by Susan Walter]()
Over Her Dead Body by Susan Walter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn inheritance that comes with a warning.Ashley Brooks’s life isn’t working out as planned. After years of struggling to make it in Hollywood, she’s still waiting for her big break. When fate leads her to the doorstep of legendary casting director Louisa Lake George, Ashley thinks her luck is about to change: the prickly old pro knows about a role she’s perfect for... -
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![The Curfew by T.M. Logan]()
The Curfew by T.M. Logan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsYour son said he was home. WHY DID HE LIE? It's time to preorder the brand new up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Richard and Judy pick The Holiday, now a major TV Drama.I should have known something was wrong. I should have sensed it. Felt it in the air, like the build-up of pressure before a thunderstorm, that heavy, loaded calm... -
![Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman, Kristin Atherton]()
Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman, Kristin Atherton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Forgetting : a tense, character-driven suspense with a final twist that will make you gaspA heartbroken motherWhen seventeen-year-old Isla Richardson is killed in a hit-and-run incident, a community’s lives are thrown into disarray. For Isla’s mum, Abby, it is her second devastating bereavement, having lost her husband five years ago... -
![The Other Daughter by Shalini Boland]()
The Other Daughter by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNine years ago her daughter was taken. And now she’s back. Two-and-a-half-year-old Holly is playing happily in a pink plastic playhouse, while her mother Rachel sips coffee and chats with a friend nearby. It should be an ordinary day for all of them. But, in the blink of an eye, it turns into every family’s worst nightmare. Holly is taken by a stranger and never found... -
![We Used To Live Here by Daniel Hurst]()
We Used To Live Here by Daniel Hurst
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEvery house has secrets. But not all of them stay buried forever...When the Burgess family move into their 'forever' home, it seems like they are set for many happy years together at their new address. Steph and Grant, along with their children, Charlie and Amelia, settle into their new surroundings quickly... -
![Little Friends by Jane Shemilt]()
Little Friends by Jane Shemilt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTHE STUNNING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB SENSATION DAUGHTERTheir children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering.There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece... -
![I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry]()
I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIT STARTED WITH A KISS... AND ENDED WITH MURDER. The darkly addictive new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of I Looked Away, Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife. --------------------------------------------------------In Poppy Page's mind, there are two types of women in this world: those who are faithful to their husbands, and those who are not... -
![Eden by Candice Fox]()
Eden by Candice Fox
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'I fool myself that Eden has a heart – that she would at least have trouble killing me...'Most police duos run on trust, loyalty, and the desire to see killers in court. But Detective Frank Bennett's partner, the enigmatic Eden Archer, has nothing to offer him but darkness and danger. She doesn't mind catching killers – but it's not the courthouse where her justice is served... -
![The Girl Who Came Back by Susan Lewis]()
The Girl Who Came Back by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFor readers of Diane Chamberlain and Heather Gudenkauf comes a gripping novel of suspense about a mother determined to avenge her daughter’s murder—no matter the cost to her husband, to her family, and to herself. When Jules Bright hears a knock on the door, the last person she expects to find is a detective bringing her the news she’s feared for the last three years... -
![No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper]()
No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department, she thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be possible when her husband is sleeping right next to her? Except when she turns to wake him, he isn’t there... -
![THE RISING TIDE by Sam Lloyd]()
THE RISING TIDE by Sam Lloyd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPerfect for fans of Jane Harper, the beautifully written, evocative and pulse-pounding new novel from Sam Lloyd. A family pushed to its limits, set against the backdrop of the most unforgiving of landscapes. The news doesn''t strike cleanly, like a guillotine''s blade. Nothing so merciful. This news is a slovenly traveller, dragging its feet, gradually revealing its horrors... -
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![Before Her Eyes by Jack Jordan]()
Before Her Eyes by Jack Jordan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe can't see the killer But the killer can see her...Naomi Hannah has been blind since birth. Struggling with living in the small, claustrophobic town of Balkerne Heights, Naomi contemplates ending her life. But before she can, Naomi stumbles across the body of a young woman who has been brutally murdered. She senses someone else there at the scene - watching her... -
![Fallen by Carey Baldwin]()
Fallen by Carey Baldwin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA body just fell from the sky onto Hollywood Boulevard. When a beautiful prostitute is dumped onto the Walk of Fame, FBI profiler Atticus Spenser and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Caitlin Cassidy are called in to solve one of their most baffling cases yet... -
![The Breakdown by Arianne Richmonde]()
The Breakdown by Arianne Richmonde
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne day she had the perfect life. The next it was gone…I stand at the very edge of the cliff face, looking at the roaring ocean below my feet. I’m in no danger, in fact my husband and his sister talk just feet away from me, watching my every move.Behind them sits a place my husband refers to as our summer house. Apparently it’s my favorite place in the world, not that I can remember... -
![Unspoken by Samantha Hayes]()
Unspoken by Samantha Hayes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA secret is about to destroy a family in Sam Hayes' breathtaking follow-up to BLOOD TIES... Mary Marshall would do anything for her daughter Julia. A devoted grandmother to Julia’s children, she’s always been the rock her family can rely on. Until now. Mary has a past Julia knows nothing about, and it’s come back to haunt her. Julia's husband Murray French is walking a tightrope... -
![The Ninth Session by Deborah Serani]()
The Ninth Session by Deborah Serani
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that brings a unique mix of Psychotherapy, American Sign Language and Coda Culture. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again! Dr. Alicia Reese takes on a new patient. Lucas Ferro suffers with crippling anxiety, and as sessions progress, he begins to share the reasons why he's struggling... -
![Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier]()
Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThings We Do in the Dark is a brilliant new thriller from Jennifer Hillier, the award-winning author of the breakout novels Little Secrets and Jar of Hearts. Paris Peralta is suspected of killing her celebrity husband, and her long-hidden past now threatens to destroy her future...
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