Books like 'Next Life Might Be Kinder'
Readers who enjoyed Next Life Might Be Kinder by Howard Norman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological supernatural literary-fiction ghosts thriller
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Different Seasons by Stephen King
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsFrom the Magical Pen of Stephen King, Four Mesmerizing Novellas…“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”An unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge…the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Shawshank Redemption...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![Hemlock by Kiersten Modglin]()
Hemlock by Kiersten Modglin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe thought she’d escaped her poisonous past…Thirteen years ago, Maggie Ellis left her small town and vowed to never return. In her rearview mirror were two men she loved and an ominous secret that would forever haunt her.Now, tragedy has brought her back, and she’s determined to forget that fateful night... -
![The Secrets of the Shadows by Helen Phifer]()
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... -
![Dearest by Jacquie Walters]()
Dearest by Jacquie Walters
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother—only to invite something much darker inside—in this "fast-paced and frightening debut" (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family secrets, perfect for readers of Grady Hendrix or Ashley Audrain. Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, even if she arrived a few weeks early... -
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![The Haunting of Rachel Harroway by J.S. Donovan]()
The Haunting of Rachel Harroway by J.S. Donovan
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1983, a family of four was murdered in their nineteenth century Queen Anne manse. There were no witnesses, no real investigation, and no survivors. The discovery of a serial killer's burial ground rocks the peaceful town of Highlands, North Carolina. Rachel Harroway, a tragic detective with the ability to see the dead, and her brilliant atheistic partner, Jenson Peak, are put on the case... -
![The Lost Children by Helen Phifer]()
The Lost Children by Helen Phifer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLizzy pulled the covers over her head. Then she realised what was being dragged behind the person with the torch. She rammed her fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming…For decades, The Moore Asylum was home to the forgotten children of Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has cast an imposing shadow... -
![The Haunting of Thackery School by Skylar Finn]()
The Haunting of Thackery School by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrances Teller has been running from the past since the tragic fire that killed two of her friends as a teenager. When Frances Teller accepts a job teaching at the prestigious Thackeray School in Vermont, she learns that the ghosts who haunt the hallways have adirect connection to her dangerous past... -
![The Caveman by Jørn Lier Horst]()
The Caveman by Jørn Lier Horst
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOnly three houses away from the policeman’s home, a man has been sitting dead in front of his television set for four months. There are no indications that anything criminal has taken place. Viggo Hansen was a man nobody ever noticed, even though he lived in the midst of a close-knit community... -
![Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti]()
Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis collection features tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns, as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics. The cycle of narratives that includes the title work of this collection, for instance, introduces readers to a freakish community of artists who encounter demonic perils that ultimately engulf their lives...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies contemporary cosmic-horror -
![Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz]()
Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn unlikely pair teams up to investigate a brutal murder in a haunting thriller that walks the line between reality and impossibility.When small-town police officers discover the grave of a young boy, they're quick to pin the crime on a convicted felon who lives nearby. But when it comes to murder, Officer Susan Marlan never trusts a simple explanation, so she's just getting started... -
![Ordeal by Jørn Lier Horst]()
Ordeal by Jørn Lier Horst
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Hummel case has bothered William Wisting for more than six months. The investigation into what happened when taxi-driver Jens Hummel disappeared has been fruitless, and he has to endure criticism. A crucial discovery directs suspicion at Dan Roger ‘Danny’ Brodin. The problem is, however, that Danny is already in prison, convicted of another murder... -
![The Spires by Kate Moretti]()
The Spires by Kate Moretti
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA troubled woman becomes consumed by a past she’s desperate to forget in this unsettling psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year.Strung between two teenagers, an unemployed husband, and a tenuous career, Penelope Cox barely has her life together when the past comes knocking at her door... -
![The Intruders by Louise Jensen]()
The Intruders by Louise Jensen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt should be the perfect a manor house available rent free in exchange for a bit of housesitting. But when Cass and James dig deeper, they find the place has been abandoned since a robbery left almost all the inhabitants dead almost thirty years ago. But they’ve got to save for a deposit somehow, so they move in, and things quickly take a strange turn... -
![Pressure by Jeff Strand]()
Pressure by Jeff Strand
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAlex stared at the red pocketknife shown to him by his daughter. A pocketknife owned by somebody he hadn't seen in years …CHILDRENThey met first in boarding school at age twelve. Alex Fletcher, shy and scared. Darren Rust, always furiously scribbling away in a private journal... -
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![Shattered Silk by Barbara Michaels]()
Shattered Silk by Barbara Michaels
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA Killer Lurks In her quaint vintage clothing boutique in picturesque Georgetown, Karen Nevitt' s laces and white linens seem so innocent. Her aunt' s aged friends have even ransacked their attics to help the novice entrepreneur launch her business... -
![Crossroads by Laurel Hightower]()
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHow far would you go to bring back someone you love? When Chris's son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris's life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything. A drop of blood falls from Chris's hand onto her son's roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window... -
![The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane by Laird Koenig]()
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane by Laird Koenig
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlone in the darkened house, with only fire's glow and thirteen flickering candles for illumination, silent except for the mounting chords of a Liszt concerto, Rynn was preparing a solemn celebration. Until a knock at the door shattered sanctuary.Rynn is the little girl who lives in the house at the end of the lane with her father-or so she says... -
![Dark Corners by Liz Schulte]()
Dark Corners by Liz Schulte
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsElla Reynolds knew from the first moment she walked into the old house someone or something was watching her. Waiting. Her husband's violent murder sent her spiraling into a world of grief and isolation, but Ella isn't alone. Who or what is responsible for her husband's death is still with her. Darkness has engulfed the past year of Ella's life... -
![Séances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry]()
Séances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen something goes bump in the night . . . it’s most likely a plumbing problem, or something equally mundane. But fake medium Eleanor Wilde is happy to investigate and cleanse your home of spectral presences—for a fee. Hey, it’s a living . . . Ellie has an ailing sister to care for, and working as a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe in ghosts helps cover the bills for both of them... -
![Eenie, Meenie by Willow Rose]()
Eenie, Meenie by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJohnny is a criminal. He has been locked up before - but never in a place quite like this. Now he wonders if he will ever make it through to his release date - alive...EENIE, MEENIE is a 15,000 word thriller novella from Willow Rose, author of the International Bestselling horror-series starring the Danish reporter Rebekka Franck. It is not for the faint at heart...Categorized as:
literary-fiction thriller action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary fiction horror -
![We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer]()
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThe Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit... -
![I Am Dust by Louise Beech]()
I Am Dust by Louise Beech
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer… Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years... -
![The Other by Thomas Tryon]()
The Other by Thomas Tryon
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEntranced and terrified, the reader of The Other is swept up in the life of a Connecticut country town in the thirties—and in the fearful mysteries that slowly darken and overwhelm it.Originally published in 1971, The Other is one of the most influential horror novels ever written... -
![In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards]()
In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIsabel’s life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead.For four years Jessica has never doubted that her sister Isabel’s death was an accident. But when Jessica’s young daughter seems to know long-forgotten details about her aunt’s past, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that there’s a more sinister truth behind the tragedy... -
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![The Katharina Code by Jørn Lier Horst]()
The Katharina Code by Jørn Lier Horst
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA gripping thriller from the international bestselling author Jørn Lier Horst Twenty-four years ago Katharina Haugen went missing. All she left behind was her husband Martin and a mysterious string of numbers scribbled on a piece of paper. Every year on October 9th Chief Inspector William Wisting takes out the files to the case he was never able to solve... -
![The Foster Child by Jenny Blackhurst]()
The Foster Child by Jenny Blackhurst
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen child psychologist Imogen Reid takes on the case of 11-year-old Ellie Atkinson, she refuses to listen to warnings that the girl is dangerous.Ellie was the only survivor of a fire that killed her family. Imogen is convinced she's just a sad and angry child struggling to cope with her loss.But Ellie's foster parents and teachers are starting to fear her... -
![The Distant Dead by Heather Young]()
The Distant Dead by Heather Young
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA BookPage Best Book of 2020 * A People Magazine Best Book of Summer * A Parade Best Book of Summer * A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of Summer “[A] second stunning piece of redemptive fiction… An ideal recommendation for fans of Kate Atkinson and Jodi Picoult.” – Booklist, Starred Review A body burns in the high desert hills...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction thriller amateur-sleuth animals audiobook book coming-of-age -
![Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion]()
Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo women wrenched apart by a family member’s disappearance must find a way back to each other in this haunting page-turner by the author of A Crooked Tree.Nessa Garvey’s sister Deena vanished without a trace in Philadelphia in 2004. In all that time, Nessa has never once doubted what her instincts told her: her sister’s ex-husband has gotten away with an unspeakable crime... -
![Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra]()
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratings***Note that many reviews contain spoilers***A razor-sharp thriller about a mother forced to the breaking point when her life and the lives of her children are threatened by an intruderHome alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. She hears a noise—old houses are always making some kind of noise... -
![Hydra by Matt Wesolowski]()
Hydra by Matt Wesolowski
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsElusive online investigative journalist Scott King investigates the case of Arla Macleod, who bludgeoned her family to death, in another episode of the chilling, award-winning Six Stories series... -
![The Lost Orphans #2 by J.S. Donovan]()
The Lost Orphans #2 by J.S. Donovan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe small town of Highlands, North Carolina reels from the horrific Halloween night massacre. Detective Rachel Harroway pursues a killer planning another great attack. However, the only way to stop a monster is to know his weaknesses... -
![Ghost Stories by Henry James]()
Ghost Stories by Henry James
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury. Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche... -
![Viskningar i mörkret by Amanda Stevens]()
Viskningar i mörkret by Amanda Stevens
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWork is a welcome refuge for New Orleans homicide detective Evangeline Theroux. Feeling suffocated by her new baby, in whose eyes she sees only her dead husband, she throws herself into a high-profile murder case. Reclusive writer Lena Saunders offers Evangeline a provocative theory about the crime: it is the work of a lunatic vigilante... -
![Don't Forget To Breathe by Cathrina Constantine]()
Don't Forget To Breathe by Cathrina Constantine
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSixteen-year-old Leocadia arrives home from school to find her mom’s bloody body. Unaware that the killer still lingers, she rushes to her mother’s side, only to be grabbed from behind and then everything fades to black. After a year of retrograde amnesia and battling personal demons, Leo’s dreams are getting worse—she’s starting to remember... -
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![Skeletal by Katherine Hayton]()
Skeletal by Katherine Hayton
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThree months before she died Daina Harrow faced a bully at school.Six weeks before she died Daina Harrow suffered an assault in the park.One week before she died Daina Harrow stole a secret people had killed to hide. That was ten years ago. Ten long years.Now, her bones have been found on a building site. A coroner's inquest has been reopened. A parade of witnesses is about to start... -
![Blind Rage by Terri Persons]()
Blind Rage by Terri Persons
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYoung women committing suicide is haunting the Twin Cities-but FBI Agent Bernadette Saint Clare has a hunch that these women didn't die by their own hand...It's a big leap to take, and Bernadette's going to need some serious evidence to back it up... -
![Lay Me to Rest by E.A. Clark]()
Lay Me to Rest by E.A. Clark
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome secrets never stay buried for long…Devastated by the death of her husband, Annie Philips is shocked to discover she is pregnant with his unborn child. Hoping for a fresh start, she travels to a remote stone cottage in Anglesey, amidst the white-capped mountains of North Wales.She settles in quickly, helped by her mysterious new neighbour, Peter... -
![Four Past Midnight by Stephen King]()
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsAt midnight comes the point of balance. Of danger. The instang of utter stillness when between two beats of the heart, an alternative reality can slip through, like a blade between the ribs, and swithc you into a new and terrifying world... -
![One Dark Night by Hannah Richell]()
One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a body is found the day after Halloween, a small British community must reckon with its past and the dangers lurking in its present in this spine-tingling novel from “not to be missed” (Hayley Scrivener, author of Dirt Creek) author Hannah Richell... -
![Naoko by Keigo Higashino]()
Naoko by Keigo Higashino
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNaoko, a major bestseller and film in Japan, is a poignant and wily take on gender relations from a master of the detective story. Expertly and seamlessly interweaving the real and the unreal, Naoko involves a regular guy whose world is rocked when his wife dies in a bus accident. His young daughter survives, but seems to be inhabited by her mother’s personality... -
![A Gift for Dying by M.J. Arlidge]()
A Gift for Dying by M.J. Arlidge
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom The Sunday Times bestselling author of the Helen Grace series comes the gripping new thriller perfect for fans of James Patterson, Angela Marsons and Karin Slaughter. 'Strikingly well-told, and with a compelling central character' Daily Mail With just one look, she knows how and when you will die . . . Nothing surprises Adam Brandt anymore... -
![Where I Lost Her by T. Greenwood]()
Where I Lost Her by T. Greenwood
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn her page-turning new novel, T. Greenwood follows one woman's journey through heartbreak and loss to courage and resolve, as she searches for the truth about a missing child. Eight years ago, Tess and Jake were considered a power couple of the New York publishing world--happy, in love, planning a family... -
![Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels]()
Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere are terrible secrets from generations past buried at Maidenwood. Medical student Julie Newcomb has returned to her family's decaying plantation—the site of so many painful childhood memories—to tend to her tyrannical grandmother, felled by a stroke... -
![Something Wicked by Lisa Jackson, Nancy Bush]()
Something Wicked by Lisa Jackson, Nancy Bush
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsYou Sense HimSome refer to it as the Colony. To others, it's a cult. But few locals in the Oregon coastal hamlet of Deception Bay have ever been invited to the inner sanctum of Siren Song. Even the sisters who live here, far from strangers who might recoil at their unnerving psychic abilities, don't know all the terrors buried within its walls. . -
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![Night Chills by Dean Koontz]()
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 26 ratings#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz unleashes a contagion on a small Maine town--one that triggers the darkest desires of the soul.Designed by top scientists and unleashed in a monstrous conspiracy, night chills are seizing the men and women of Black River--driving them to acts of rape and murder. The nightmare is real. And death is the only cure.. -
![The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths]()
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsClare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M... -
![The Music of the Deep by Elizabeth Hall]()
The Music of the Deep by Elizabeth Hall
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFleeing an abusive marriage and tormented by her past, Alexandra Turner finds solace in a small coastal town on Puget Sound and a job with a local marine biologist studying orcas.After befriending a group of locals, Alex learns that she has moved to a place that has a reputation of being the “most haunted town in Washington... -
![Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz]()
Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsDo you dare step through the red door? Spencer Grant had no idea what drew him to the bar with the red door. He thought he would just sit down, have a slow beer or two, and talk to a stranger. He couldn't know that it would lead to a narrow escape from a bungalow targeted by a SWAT team. Or that it would leave him a wanted man. Now he is on the run from mysterious and ruthless men... -
![Rock-a-bye Baby by Willow Rose]()
Rock-a-bye Baby by Willow Rose
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLisa Rasmussen just had a baby and everything in her life seems perfect at this point. Only she wishes that everyone else around her would be as flawless as she is and stop getting in her way. And if they won't listen, then she'll make them.ROCK-A-BYE BABY, is a thriller novella from Willow Rose, author of the International Bestselling horror-series starring the Danish reporter Rebekka Franck...Categorized as:
literary-fiction thriller action-adventure adult anthologies comedy contemporary fiction -
![Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart]()
Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWilliam ""Dead"" Kennedy has problems. He's haunted by family, by dead people with unfinished business, and by those perfect pop songs that you can't get out of your head. He's a 32-year-old Texan still in love with his ex-wife. He just lost his job at Pet-Co for eating cat food. His air-conditioning is broken, there's no good music on the radio, and he's been dreaming about ghost roads...
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