Books like 'The First Lie'
Readers who enjoyed The First Lie by A.J. Park also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
psychological mystery serial killer crime thriller suspense legal true-crime family breakup
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Triple Cross by James Patterson
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDetective Alex Cross hunts down a serial killer who’s murdering entire families—and who will next be coming for Cross.A methodical killer is targeting multigenerational families in and around Washington, DC—striking under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, leaving no physical evidence of any kind. Alex isn’t the only one investigating... -
The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTHE MOST HATED WOMAN IN AMERICAThe Sandman killings have been solved. Daniel Miller murdered fourteen people before he vanished. His wife, Carrie, now faces trial as his accomplice. The FBI, the District Attorney, the media and everyone in America believe she knew and helped cover up her husband's crimes.THE LAWYEREddie Flynn won't take a case unless his client is innocent... -
Devil's Bargain by Robin James
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis attorney’s darkest regret just knocked on her front door…Cass Leary thought she was done defending shady mobsters. But when the boss calls in a favor, she realizes her debt has yet to be paid... -
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... -
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The Killing House by Claire McGowan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLong-buried secrets are being unearthed. And they're very close to home...Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns yet again to her hometown to investigate a spine-chilling case in THE KILLING HOUSE, the sixth novel in Claire McGowan's series. The Paula Maguire series is the perfect read for fans of Michael Connelly and Peter May... -
The Patient's Secret by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSecrets worth dying―and killing―for, in a novel of suspense inspired by a horrific true crime by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White... -
Left For Dead by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA victim on display. A detective on the rails.Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine’s Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace—until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin’s mouth.This is no stunt. A post-mortem reveals the victim was left to die on her macabre throne for all to see... -
A Different Dawn by Isabella Maldonado
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor nearly thirty years a serial killer has been hiding in plain sight. So has the key to an FBI agent’s dark past.A family is murdered as they sleep. FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera and her new team are tasked with determining whether there is any link between this attack and another triple homicide from four years earlier and more than two thousand miles away... -
The Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA deadly prosecutorThey call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.A twisted ritualistic killingWhen a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois... -
Out of Her Mind by T.R. Ragan
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCrime reporter Sawyer Brooks still grieves for the family she and her two sisters never had. Raised in a house of horrors, they continue to fight through the trauma—releasing their rage by seeking justice for those who are just as vulnerable as they were... -
The Silent Threat by Elle Gray
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter the bodies of six young girls were discovered in a shipping container that had been dumped in a scrapyard, FBI agent Blake Wilder is summoned onto the horrific scene. A closer inspection of the bodies reveals strange markings, similar to Spenser's victims in Sweetwater Falls... -
A Code to Kill by Elle Gray
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMost of us have a code we live by.Some live their life altruistically, while others live by a more sinister code.A code that only their victims know. A code to kill…Fresh from a grueling joint operation with Spenser Song, FBI agent Blake Wilder continues to find herself being stalked and hunted down by an unknown culprit. The worst part is that they may be after her loved ones as well... -
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... -
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Cold Truth by Mary Stone, Donna Berdel
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSay the words...In a dark basement, a cold-blooded killer pits friend against friend, torturing one until the other says the horrible words that will end their friend’s suffering. He’s gotten away with murder for years. Until now...Ellie Kline can’t remember most of her kidnapping when she was fifteen, but that night has shaped her life. Instead of cowering, that horrible night made her strong... -
One Last Kill by Robert Dugoni
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDetective Tracy Crosswhite draws a long-dormant serial killer out of hiding in a nerve-shattering novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.Tracy Crosswhite is reopening the investigation into Seattle’s Route 99 serial killer. After thirteen victims, he stopped hunting and the trail went cold, stirring public outrage... -
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... -
Malevolent by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter years of silence, the game is back on… Widower Allan Brown is hosting a support group in his home for the bereaved. One of the guests in attendance will be Amy Lambert, this week marking the five-year anniversary of her family’s horrifying ordeal at Crescent Lake. Of course it’s hardly cause for celebration... -
Cross Out by James Patterson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDetectives Cross and Sampson are tracking a serial killer who's fatally ambushing young men in the “Dead Hours” murders. They don't hear the machine gun fire. At first. “Drop whatever you're doing, Dr. Cross, and head to Reagan Airport,” DC Metro Police dispatch says. “A plane just crashed and exploded on the runway. The chief and the FBI want you and John Sampson there pronto... -
Unbound Ties: When the past unravels, all that’s left is death ... by Liz Mistry
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the past unravels, all that’s left is death.Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly,When DI Gus McGuire is called out to the murder of a pregnant woman, the crime scene tells him that this killer is not only taunting them … he’s also just getting started.Lavender’s green,With ritualistic precision, the killer has placed a series of clues beneath the victim’s feet...Categorized as:
suspense crime domestic-drama family thriller mystery law-enforcement police-procedural -
Safe Haven by Patricia MacDonald
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe finally had everything she ever wanted . . .Dena returns to her hometown for a high school reunion. She gets together with Brian, her high school crush, and ends up pregnant.She moves back to the small town where she grew up to start a new life with horse breeder Brian.But behind closed doors, Dena’s perfect life becomes the perfect nightmare... -
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... -
The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSome doors are locked for a reason…While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.Until the day the police arrived at their front door.Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence... -
A Savage Hunger by Claire McGowan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe fourth in the crime series featuring forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reason for investigation: Missing person.ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin.Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire... -
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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... -
Arsonist by Victor Methos
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEvil is Released Onto the Streets of San Diego...A series of deadly fires rages across the cityscape, claiming the lives of entire families. Helpless to stop the fires, the SDPD assigns their most famous detective, Jon Stanton, to the case. The evidence points him to a single arsonist committing the horrendous acts... -
The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA woman finds herself in a race not only for justice but for her life in this "riveting, hold-your-breath" new mystery from the bestselling author of The Life We Bury (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author).Lila Nash is on the verge of landing her dream job—working as a prosecutor under the Hennepin County Attorney—and has settled into a happy life with her boyfriend, Joe Talbert... -
One Left Alive by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘One of those rare books that really is unputdownable . A must read.’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐A gentle breeze blew her blonde hair across her face, her glazed eyes staring blankly into the sunset. Her small frame looked lost hanging from the large oak tree. On the branch next to her was a worn child’s rope swing. She looked too young and beautiful to be dead... -
Psychopath by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe final game is here… A decade has passed. The Lambert family is thriving. Amy Lambert is a successful entrepreneur and in a promising relationship with Allan Brown. Caleb Lambert is a respected member of the United States Marine Corps. Carrie Lambert is a flourishing college student. Or so they wish. Nothing could be further from the truth... -
His Garden of Bones by Vickie McKeehan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNot all flowers are grown with love. Years earlier, teenage girls began to vanish off the streets of Seattle. Now, they're turning up dead, their mutilated bodies left in prominent locations around the city. Skye Cree suspects there are more... -
The Girls They Lost by J.H. Leigh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDead girls don’t run or tell secrets.Nicole, Dylan and Jilly may have escaped the horrors of the auction house but they aren’t safe.Madame Moirai has eyes everywhere. There’s nowhere the girls can go that can shelter them for long. On the run, with no one to trust, it’s just a matter of time before they’re found... -
Spider's Truth by Christa Yelich-Koth
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA psychological detective thriller.Some people can’t let go of a grudge. Homicide Detective Sean Trann is learning this the hard way. He made the mistake of interrupting the killing spree of Boston’s most notorious serial killer, Spider. Intent on finishing what he started and infuriated at Sean’s previous involvement, Spider has decided to use those closest to Sean as pieces in his twisted game...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller mystery fiction law-enforcement psychological serial-killers -
A Caller's Game by J.D. Barker
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDIE HARD meets TALK RADIO in this heart-pounding, relentlessly fast-paced thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Fourth Monkey—master of suspense, J.D. Barker. "I'm going to offer you a choice." Controversial satellite radio talk show host, Jordan Briggs, has clawed her way to the top of the broadcast world... -
Death is in the Details by Heather Sunseri
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA woman haunted by her past. A killer who won't let her forget.Faith Day's condition curses her to recall her mother’s fiery murder like it was yesterday. And when the forensic photographer’s convicted stepbrother is somehow cleared 12 years later and released from prison, Faith wonders if he'll put an end to her tortured memories... -
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The Disappeared by Sibel Hodge
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Widow. The Secret. The Liar. The Disappeared… On a routine flight from Africa to England, Dr Mason Palmer is tragically killed when the light aircraft he’s travelling on crashes and disappears in dense bushland. The Widow… Ten months later, Nicole Palmer is still trying to block out the grief of her husband’s sudden death... -
DARK FALLS by Gregg Olsen
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThey say your past can come back to haunt you. For Detective Megan Carpenter, her past might just come back to kill her.Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to horrifying crime scenes, but when she arrives at the home of a woman whose body has been brutalized, Megan is shocked to discover that she knows the victim. Monique Delmont helped Megan when she was in danger years ago... -
Lola Is Missing by Alison James
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA MISSING CHILD. A DEAD WOMAN. A SHOCKING MYSTERY. Six-year-old Lola Jade Harper is taken from her bedroom. Her mother is distraught. She is convinced her estranged husband, Gavin Harper, has abducted their daughter.Detective Rachel Prince is leading the investigation but is soon out of her depth as she searches for the most high-profile missing child in the country... -
The Last Party by A.R. Torre
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection... -
Fatal Games by Elle Gray, K.S. Gray
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJumping off a plane is one thing, but being forced to do so amid a plane crash is something no one puts on their bucket list.After surviving a plane crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, FBI agent Olivia Knight and a group of survivors are washed ashore onto a desolate island.An island harboring more danger than any of them could have ever imagined... -
Three Widows by Patricia Gibney
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe kissed her daughter, turned out the light and entered her own room. Too late to run, she stood frozen as a figure stepped out from behind the door and a hand covered her mouth. Fear was a bomb in her chest ready to explode. Her children. They’d already lost their daddy; they couldn’t lose her too... -
What Lies Hidden by Fran McDonnell
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIsobel McKenzie is an experienced and intuitive psychotherapist who is on sabbatical while recovering from illness. Reluctantly she goes to London to help out an old friend, solicitor Paul Wright, who is uneasy about the partisan nature of a proposed divorce settlement. He asks her to meet the couple, Thomas and Anne Banks, to assess the situation... -
Corrupted by Sin by Kennedy Layne
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA chilling confession unleashes deadly secrets…In downtown D.C., an emergency surgery is performed on a prominent psychiatrist following a multi-car accident. The ICU nurse on duty has heard many interesting utterances from her groggy patients over the years... -
Profile K by Helen Sarah Fields
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHe’s going to kill you. He just doesn’t know it yet. There’s something wrong with me. For years I’ve hidden it. Suppressed it. Blended into society. But The Test awoke something within me. It was just a routine application designed to get to know me better – with results that would show me everything I was capable of... -
Vengeful Games by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPLAYTIME IS NOT OVER...In Autumn of 2008, the Lambert family headed to western Pennsylvania for a weekend getaway to the family cabin.They visited hell instead...The Fannelli brothers. Two psychopaths who believed themselves exceptional, put on this Earth for the soul purpose of tormenting others for their own amusement. To make people play their twisted games... -
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Butterfly Kisses by Patrick Logan
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHis hands are bound behind him, a crude butterfly drawn in blood on his bare back. He isn’t the first. When a drug addict finds the body of a man in the basement of an abandoned warehouse in New York City, Detective Damien Drake is called in to lead the murder investigation... -
Tell Me You're Sorry by Kevin O'Brien
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFirst You'll Say You're SorryA family is wiped out after a burglary gone wrong. An executive accused of embezzling kills himself and his loved ones. A house fire claims the lives of all its inhabitants. Separate incidents with two common threads--a first wife who took her own life, and a secret the victims took to their graves. . -
A Winter's Kill by J.K. Ellem
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt’s winter, and a new kind of predator has just come out of hibernation.All summer long he has been hibernating, just like the bears do in winter. During the fall he spent his months preparing, getting ready, making sure this season would be his best ever. And when winter finally comes…he’ll hunt.The winters in Willow Falls, Iowa are cold, brutal and unforgiving... -
Killer Takes All by Erica Spindler
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe White Rabbit beckons you to follow him, down the rabbit hole, into his world. He's a deceiver, a trickster. You won't know what is truth and what is a lie. He aims to best you. Beat you. And when he does, you die. A friend's brutal murder turns former homicide detective Stacy Killian's life upside down... -
Paranoid by Lisa Jackson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a new novel of nerve-jangling suspense as a woman haunted by guilt realizes that nothing can be trusted—not even her own memory … There are people in Edgewater, Oregon, who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with murder... -
Buried by Jeffery Deaver
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn old-school reporter discovers that the search for the truth is still full of surprises in a twisty short thriller from bestselling master of suspense Jeffery Deaver.After a long run as a respected journalist, Edward “Fitz” Fitzhugh is on his way out when he stumbles across the story of a lifetime. The Gravedigger is a serial kidnapper who taunts the police with riddles...
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