Books like 'What July Knew'
Readers who enjoyed What July Knew by Emily Koch also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery family historical-fiction thriller secrets amateur-sleuth female-mc
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Lowcountry on My Mind by Ashley Farley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsChildhood friends reunite in an explosive tale of family dysfunction and romance gone wrong.Amelia has been plotting to escape her abusive husband for years. When her mama’s untimely death provides an unexpected opportunity, she hops on the next bus to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Her husband will eventually come for her. But she’s prepared... -
The Art of Inheriting Secrets by Barbara O'Neal
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Olivia Shaw’s mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she’s inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime... -
Change of Tides by Ashley Farley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSecond Chances and New RomancesBirdie Fuller doesn’t like change. And a lot of change is happening at once. Her daughter and three-year-old grandson are moving out of her apartment to a nearby city. Will Birdie be able to survive the loneliness without Hannah and Gus? She joins a dating website to find companionship and meets the seemingly perfect man... -
The Know by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJoanie Brewer' s children meant the world to her. She'd do anything to protect them, even resorting to prostitution and petty crime in order to feed and clothe them. So when her beautiful teenage daughter is raped and murdered, only one thing will stop Joanie's pain - seeing her daughter's killer brought to justice. Joanie knows who he is and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him.. -
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Center Stage by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst book in the Magnolia Steele Mystery series by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Denise Grover Swank. Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return . . -
The Memory of Butterflies by Grace Greene
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTo keep a devastating family secret from being revealed, a young mother’s desperate lies could end up destroying everything, and everyone, she loves. The Memory of Butterflies is a poignant story of family and forgiveness—of knowing when to let go and when to hold each other close. Hannah Cooper’s daughter is leaving for college soon. The change is bittersweet... -
The Wishing Tide by Barbara Davis
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Secrets She Carried comes a novel about the pull of the past and the power of love. As offseason begins on the Outer Banks, a storm makes landfall, and three unlikely strangers are drawn together... Five years ago, Lane Kramer moved to Starry Point, certain the quaint island village was the place to start anew...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction adult book contemporary fiction literary-fiction -
Murder in the Family by Paula Bernstein
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHannah Kline is a successful Los Angeles obstetrician and the recently widowed mother of a young daughter. She is barely managing to hold it all together, when her life is shattered once again by the brutal murder of her beautiful, bright, zany and recently divorced sister-in-law Beth. Hannah is determined to do whatever she can to assist the police in finding the murderer... -
The View from Prince Street by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the author of The Brighter the Light comes the story of two women connected by the grief they never got over and the journey they embark on to finally move forward.It’s been fifteen years since her sister died, and Rae McDonald still hasn’t recovered from the accident—or the ways she tried to cope with it. Not even a PhD in psychology has helped her deal with her feelings...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family female-mc romance fiction womens-fiction contemporary mystery -
The Hunting Ground by Jean Heller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDEUCE MORA DOESN’T SHY AWAY FROM FIGHTS – SHE PICKS THEM. THE BIGGER THE BETTER. Although, to be fair, this one is brought to her by a dog with a bone in his teeth. In Jean Heller’s first Deuce Mora mystery, the scrappy female sleuth tangled with the mob; this time out she’s on the wrong side of the NSA, the FBI and the CIA. At a minimum... -
Against The Spread by Mara Jacobs
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsMy name is Anna Dawson, and I'm back.Unfortunately, so is JoJo.When the loan shark enforcer who beat me up years ago is found murdered, I'm thinking it's my lucky day. Until I'm questioned as a possible suspect. I have an alibi, but not one I can divulge. Helping college basketball star Raymond Joseph shave points is not exactly something I want to share with the cops... -
Killer in the Kiwis by Dale Mayer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRiches to rags. ... Chaos again. ... Winning is important, ... at least for some!Doreen is overwhelmed with joy when she sees all the volunteers who show up to help get her deck addition built. Most of the men are cops, friends of Corporal Mack Moreau’s, and are happy to help Mack’s special friend and the lady who has helped solve so many crimes for them with a spot of home renovation... -
Death and Wedding Cake by Nova Walsh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA small town with big secrets. A caterer turned amateur detective. A wedding weekend plagued by murder and mystery. Home is where the heart is for Abby Hirsch, a chef returning to her small Texas hometown to cater a wedding at her aunt's charming bed and breakfast. But homecoming turns deadly when Abby finds the body of the bride's rival dumped on the grounds... -
Picture Perfect Murder by Jenna St. James
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRyli Sinclair had no idea moonlighting as the forensic photographer for the Granville Police Department would put her in the direct path of a crazed killer. Determined to capture the murderer before she's next in line, Ryli enlists the help of her best friend, Paige, and her elderly great-aunt Shirley, a former private investigator... -
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Keep Her Quiet by Emma Curtis
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'This is grip-lit at its best' Fanny BlakeJenny has just given birth to the baby she’s always wanted. She’s never been this happy.Her husband, Leo, knows this baby girl can’t be his. He’s never felt so betrayed.The same night, a vulnerable young woman, Hannah, wakes to find her newborn lifeless beside her. She’s crazed with grief... -
Sweet Vengeance by Fern Michaels
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings#1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels’ new novel is a deeply satisfying and uplifting story of one woman’s journey from heartbreak to triumph. Tessa Jamison couldn’t have imagined anything worse than losing her beloved twin girls and husband—until she was convicted of their murder... -
An Unholy Shame by Joyce Cato
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMonica Noble and her husband Graham, the local vicar, are invited to participate in a high-flying ecclesiastical conference being held at a swanky hotel in their village. During the Saturday night dinner, the ambitious female cleric Celia Gordon tragically dies, seemingly of a peanut allergy... -
The Secret Child by Kerry Fisher
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJust for a moment, I was young and invincible again, back before I made the decision that changed the rest of my life… Susie did something that she knows she will always regret: giving her baby son up for adoption, to keep her infidelity secret from her family... -
The Road to Zoe by Nick Alexander
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe ran away from the truth, but she can’t run forever. Seven years after his sister vanished without a trace, Jude is on the road, determined not to return home until he has found her. He wants to reunite his broken family, but more than this he wants to know why Zoe left—what happened when they were kids, on that terrible day when everything fell apart... -
His Secret Daughter by Melissa Wiesner
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNot Noah. Not my husband . But there he is, unconscious in the hospital bed. Our daughter sobs into my shoulder. We love him so much. What if he never wakes up? And who is the little girl beside him, gazing up at us with big, tear-filled brown eyes? Eyes that look just like my husband’s…Our family of three is perfect. Just me, Noah and our teenage daughter Maya...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction female-mc fiction mystery audiobook contemporary womens-fiction -
What's Left Unsaid by Emily Bleeker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn enthralling novel of secrets, second chances, and confronting the past by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone.After a series of devastating losses, Chicago journalist Hannah Williamson has landed in Senatobia, Mississippi, to care for her bedridden grandmother and endure grunt work at a small newspaper... -
Good as Dead by Susan Walter
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt all starts with a promise from a stranger: We’ll take care of everything.Holly Kendrick’s husband is dead. Holly saw it all. In one violent moment, a hit-and-run accident turns Holly’s life upside down. Then a fixer for the high-powered guilty party approaches Holly with an offer she is in no position to refuse... -
The Tilt by Chris Hammer
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA man runs for his life in a forest.A woman plans sabotage.A body is unearthed.Newly-minted homicide detective Nell Buchanan returns to her home town, annoyed at being assigned a decades-old murder - a 'file and forget'.But this is no ordinary cold case, as the discovery of more bodies triggers a chain of escalating events in the present day... -
Bound and Deceased: A Taylor Quinn Quilt Shop Mystery by Tess Rothery
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTaylor Quinn thought she was done with murder. She’d finally settled into her life as owner of Flour Sax Quilt Shop in Comfort, Oregon. It wasn’t exciting, but there were compensations, like spending time with handsome Hudson the handyman, and being close to her Grandpa Ernie... -
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Murder on Tour by V.M. Burns
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBookstore owner and Michigander Samantha Washington is thrilled to see her debut historical mystery finally on the shelves, but a killer seems determined to steal away the spotlight . . . While Sam wraps up her first whirlwind book tour, Nana Jo has kept Market Street Mysteries running smoothly. The last stop is a prestigious book festival in Sam’s hometown of North Harbor, Michigan... -
Artistic License to Kill by Paula Darnell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this cozy mystery, artist Amanda Trent, accompanied by her beloved golden retriever Laddie and her persnickety calico cat Mona Lisa, is determined to start a new life after her husband divorces her to marry a younger woman, but it isn't easy... -
A Dealer Dead Ahead by Scarlett Moss
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll she can see is grief until a friend offers her a coastal view. But this seaside adventure could have her drowning in danger.Carter Cash struggles with starting over. Widowed for a year and looking for direction, the mystery-TV-show fanatic agrees to assist a pal refurbishing an old yacht… and makes fast friends with a retired police dog... -
Accidental Lawyer: A humorous peek into Baltimore's legal Community by Kim Hamilton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet in the brilliant and diverse city of Baltimore, Accidental Lawyer, is a humorous, often irreverent portrayal of the dubious practice of personal injury law.Jessica Snow has a crisp new law degree, a grinding ambition, and a pesky moral compass that is often at odds with her new job as an ambulance chaser... -
Sadie Kramer Flair Mysteries - Box Set 1-3 by Deborah Garner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA Flair for Chardonnay: When flamboyant senior sleuth Sadie Kramer learns the owner of Cioccolato, her favorite chocolate shop, is in trouble, she heads for the California wine country with a tote-bagged Yorkie and a slew of questions. The fourth generation Tremiato Winery promises answers, but not before a dead body turns up at the vintners’ scheduled Harvest Festival... -
Bones in the Begonias by Dale Mayer
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRiches to rags. … Chaos continues. … Murders abound. … Honestly? Doreen Montgomery’s new life in Kelowna was supposed to be a fresh start after a nasty split from her husband of fourteen years, plus a chance to get her bearings and her life back on track. Instead her first week in her new hometown was spent digging up dead bodies, chasing clues, and getting in Corporal Mack Moreau’s way... -
No Time To Blink by Dina Silver
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA profoundly moving story of impossible risks and love without boundaries. Told from alternating points of view––that of a daughter whose past is a mystery, and that of a mother with painful secrets to share.Catherine Clarke defied her family’s expectations when she married Gabriel, a handsome Lebanese businessman... -
Lady Luck's Map of Vegas by Barbara Samuel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA successful Web designer, forty-year-old India has a fabulously hip life in Denver and a sexy Irish lover in New York who jets out to see her on bi-weekly visits. The long-distance romance suits India just fine: Though Jack is the only man who has ever made India feel truly alive, she doesn’t want things to get too serious... -
The House of Now and Then by Jo Dixon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsYou should leave the past in the past ... or should you? A vividly told, jaw-droppingly twisty and wholly engaging story about the consequences of discovering the truth. For readers of Sally Hepworth, Nicola Moriarty and Adele Parks... -
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... -
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Forgive Me by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCheltenham, 1991 When Eva Patterson returns home from work one day, a devastating scene awaits her. Her mother, Flora, lies dead in the bath. Beside her is a note saying only: 'Forgive Me'. Until then, Eva always believed her family's life would be comfortable and secure - but Flora's suicide changes everything... -
Lesser Evil by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWould you cross the street if wickedness lived there? When Fifi moves to London with her bricklayer boyfriend Dan, her mother is outraged. Despite initial feelings of horror at her new surroundings, Fifi finds the freedom from her middle-class family background exhilarating... -
Chaos in Little Leaf Creek by Cindy Bell
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHer new home in the country comes with an antiquated historical society, a sour-faced next-door neighbor, and a murder victim on her front lawn…Cassie Alberta needs a fresh start... -
Piece of My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark, Alafair Burke
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn the latest thrilling collaboration from #1 New York Times bestselling author and “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, television producer Laurie Moran must solve the kidnapping of her fiancée’s nephew—just days before her wedding... -
The Love of my Life by Rosie Walsh, Imogen Church
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Ghosted comes a love story wrapped in a mystery: an up-all-night page-turner with a dark secret at its coreI have held you at night for ten years and I didn't even know your name. We have a child together. A dog, a house. Who are you?Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them... -
Ripley: Lost in a Sea of Secrets: A lost love, second chance novel by Jacqui Penn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA secret. A suspicion. A shattered heart. Ripley Bradford’s world is torn apart. Her lover and best friend, Joe, has mysteriously disappeared without trace, and everything points to her father, who she suspects has been involved in foul-play in the past. Years pass, and with the realisation that Joe is gone forever, Ripley marries... -
Had a Great Fall by Jullian Scott
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA serial killer is on the loose in Chicago. When Dani Jeffries wakes up in a dark cell, she learns that she is about to become the latest victim. As a shadowy figure comes for her at night, she finds herself face-to-face with an unimaginable monster. Olivia Thompson has recovered from her physical injuries, but she is still haunted by memories of things that go bump in the night...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth female-mc contemporary ghosts mystery paranormal supernatural suspense -
Attribution by Linda Moore
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArt historian Cate Adamson, still grieving the death of her brother and desperate to succeed, leaves her troubled parents in the Midwest to complete her doctorate in New York, only to find herself assigned to a misogynist advisor. She attempts to impress him until she discovers a hidden painting, possibly a Baroque masterpiece, in the university basement...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc family thriller fiction mystery literary-fiction contemporary -
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... -
Sprinkles of Suspicion by Kim Davis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne glass of cheap California chardonnay cost Emory Gosser Martinez her husband, her job, and her best friend. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of her troubles.Distraught after discovering the betrayal by her husband and best friend, Tori, cupcake caterer Emory Martinez allows her temper to flare. Several people witness her very public altercation with her ex-friend... -
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Blessed are Those Who Mourn by Kristi Belcamino
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSan Francisco Bay Area reporter Gabriella Giovanni has finally got it all together: a devoted and loving boyfriend, Detective Sean Donovan; a beautiful little girl with him; and her dream job as the cops' reporter for the Bay Herald. But her success has been hard-won and has left her with debilitating paranoia...Categorized as:
family amateur-sleuth female-mc thriller mystery contemporary suspense action-adventure -
War and Peach by Susan Furlong
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe author of Rest in Peach serves up another bite of Southern charm in the latest Georgia Peach mystery. Nola Mae Harper is too busy restocking the jars of preserves and chutney flying off the shelves of her shop, Peachy Keen, to keep up with all the gossip about the upcoming mayoral election, but she does know the debate is sure to be a real barn burner... -
Brothers & Sisters by Adele O'Neill
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat lengths would you go to protect the ones you love? When the complex web of dark family secrets begins to gradually unravel, Tim and his sister Rose are consumed by trying to protect their 46-year-old secret, a secret that was never meant to be told. Faced with an impossible dilemma, they must decide whether to tell the truth or face the consequences... -
Songs of Wine and Murder by Lynn Cahoon
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeries sleuth Jill Gardner is trying to drum up business for Coffee, Books, and More—but a killer has other ideas . . .With the Moonstone Beach Festival coming up, Jill is touching base with her fellow small business owners to make it as successful as possible... -
Slice of Murder by Rosie A. Point
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this small town, eating the last slice of pizza is murder…After being kicked out by her cheating fiance, Gina Romano decides to return to her hometown of Lake Basil, New York. She needs a break from the city, and her uncle, Rocco, could use the help with his bustling pizza parlor.But when Gina arrives expecting a warm, cheesy welcome, she finds the pizzeria on the brink of closure instead... -
Murder With a View by Diane Kelly
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMurder With a View is the third book in the delightful cozy mystery series from Diane Kelly set in Nashville, Tennessee—where the real estate market is to die for…A DREAM PROPERTYCarpenter Whitney Whitaker, her cousin Buck, and guard-cat Sawdust just scored a hot property near downtown Nashville in a tax sale...
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