Books like 'Looking for Smoke'
Readers who enjoyed Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery horror indigenous-mc crime friendship poc-mc family realistic suspense
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Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsPip is not a detective anymore.With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing... -
One Among Us by Paige Dearth
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA kidnapped girl is forced into human sex trafficking Eleven- year-old Maggie Clarke is abducted from her loving family and thrust into the indescribably horrific and largely unknown underworld of human sex trafficking. In captivity, Maggie's life turns into a nightmare most children couldn't imagine... -
The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen David Child, a major client of a corrupt New York law firm, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm.Eddie's not a man to be coerced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price... -
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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Frozen Statues by L.E. Fraser
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller with shocking twistsIn the bitter cold of a Canadian winter, seven university freshmen vanish without a trace. Soon afterwards, police discover a ghastly crime scene—the victim is frozen solid and his eyes are missing, replaced with black stones. A week later, they find a second frozen statue at an identical crime scene... -
Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWe don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing... -
Stolen Children by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAmy learned a lot in her babysitting course, but not what to do if two thugs show up, intent on kidnapping. Armed with misinformation and a weapon, the men take Amy and little Kendra to a remote cabin in the woods. There they make videos of the girls and mail them to Kendra’s wealthy parents in an effort to get ransom money... -
The Couple at No. 9 by Claire Douglas
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIt was the house of their dreams. Until the bodies were found . . . BODIES FOUND UNDER PATIOWhen pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations the last thing she expects is builders uncovering a body - two bodies, in fact.POLICE INVESTIGATEForensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least thirty years. Nothing Saffy need worry herself over... -
Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage and You Shouldn't Have Come Here, comes a chilling family thriller about the (sometimes literal) skeletons in the closet. After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end... -
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFeminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying… yet enticing... -
Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEdwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews... -
All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted... -
Hell's Half Acre by Will Christopher Baer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKidnapping, snuff films, amputee geeks and a requiem of lost love.Cast adrift after the blood symphony of Penny Dreadful, Phineas Poe is looking for answers in the form of a woman. He tracks Jude to San Francisco, where he finds her involved with John Ransom Miller, a wealthy sociopath with a mysterious hold over her... -
Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAux alentours de Grenoble, un jeune a fini sa trajectoire dans un ravin après une course-poursuite avec la douane. Dans son coffre, le corps d’une femme, les orbites vides, les mains coupées et rassemblées dans un sac... -
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The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe unmissable new thriller from the bestselling author and screenwriter of Netflix movie, The Weekend Away.In a cabin in a wood,A woman by the window stood.Glancing out, she thought she heardFootsteps, whistling, something stirred.Hiding here, she fears the night,For what’s done in the dark will come to light... -
The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTwo sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York... -
#NoEscape (Volume 3) by Gretchen McNeil
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe #murder and mayhem continue in this prequel companion novel to the grisly, campy social media insanity that is #MurderTrending and #MurderFunding. Gretchen McNeil brings her signature wit and merciless kills to this gruesome yet hilarious, wildly topical young adult novel.Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2... -
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
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... -
Closet Full of Bones by A.J. Aalto
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEver since they were children, Gillian Hearth has been her sister Frankie’s guardian, her sounding board, and her best friend. Together, the Hearth sisters quietly bury their secrets and form a formidable team during any crisis. Purchasing the old Blymhill house with the hopes of turning it into an artists’ retreat, the sisters are finally living their dream... -
Count All Her Bones by April Henry
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCheyenne sets out to save her former captor in this much-anticipated sequel to Girl, Stolen.Six months ago, Griffin Sawyer meant to steal a car, but he never meant to steal the girl asleep in the backseat. Panicked, he took her home. His father, Roy, decided to hold Cheyenne―who is blind―for ransom. Griffin helped her escape, and now Roy is awaiting trial... -
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... -
My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMost mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into... -
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... -
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Because She Loves Me by Mark Edwards
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA gripping tale of jealousy, obsession, and murder, from the #1 bestselling author of The Magpies . When Andrew Sumner meets beautiful, edgy Charlie, he is certain his run of bad luck has finally come to an end. But as the two of them embark on an intense affair, Andrew wonders if his grasp on reality is slipping. Items go missing in his apartment. Somebody appears to be following him... -
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... -
The Stalker by Sarah Alderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNewly-weds Liam and Laura are spending their honeymoon in paradise: just the two of them on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. But they soon discover that all is not as it seems, and the island has a tragic past. And they can’t shake the feeling of being watched…When one morning, they wake to find a message scratched into the window, their worst fears are confirmed... -
ASBO by Iain Rob Wright
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsYOUR FEAR IS THEIR ENTERTAINMENT...Andrew’s life is one of bored contentedness: a teenage daughter, a faithful wife, and a middle-class job. He even has a Mercedes. His life is without drama, and the comfort of middle-age is setting in.That all changes when he refuses to buy a pack of cigarettes for the local gang of youths... -
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsConnor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare. His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.” But Connor’s troubles are only beginning... -
Petrified Women by Jeremy Ray
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSome pranks go too far. This one could be deadly.Harley has the perfect boyfriend. Why can’t her best friend see that? He’s nothing like the others, especially the one who still haunts her memories. She’s finally picked a “keeper” with Aiden.Sure, he’s a bit eccentric. His wood carving hobby is a little odd. His need for isolation while he carves his life-size female figurines is strange... -
The Valley of Lost Children by David Barbur
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt starts with a footprint. It ends with a murder.Wildlife tracker and wilderness survival expert Tye Caine just wants to live in the woods and be left alone, but a killer haunts the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest. When someone attempts to abduct a child, and a local resident is murdered, Tye is drawn into a web of hidden secrets and madness... -
Lincoln Hospital by Cassia Brightmore
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the twenty-third day—he hunts, bringing the scum of the earth to justice; his justice. Ending up as a patient on Dr. O’Reilly’s table could either save your life or end it in the most horrific way. New York City. The infamous city that never sleeps; the place where dreams either shine brightly or shatter into razor sharp pieces of metal. For Dr... -
The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA rash of grisly serial murders plagued Seattle until the infamous "Beacon Hill Butcher" was finally hunted down and killed by police chief Edward Shank in 1985. Now, some thirty years later, Shank, retired and widowed, is giving up his large rambling Victorian house to his grandson Matt, whom he helped raise... -
Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text. Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead... -
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The Stranger Within by Kathryn Croft, Lisa Coleman
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBe careful what you wish for. On the surface, Callie Harwell has it all. Newly married to James, she finally gets the family she has longed for and becomes a mother to his two sons. So why is she arrested for murder?Things are not as Callie hoped they would be and she struggles to be accepted as part of James' family, and to keep hidden the secrets that could destroy her future... -
Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe’s cold, calculating, and can deceive with a smile. Jane Doe is back in the Amazon Charts bestselling series - and this time she's met her match.After a brutal childhood, Jane Doe has been permanently wired to look after herself and only herself. Now, looking next to normal, Jane has a lover and a job. But she hasn't lost her edge. It sharpens when she hears from her estranged family... -
Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn electrifying tale of psychological suspense in which an unsuspecting young woman finds herself trapped in an increasingly sinister web of mystery and lies.CARER/COMPANION WANTED FOR ELDERLY LADYYOUNG FEMALE PREFERRED COMPETITIVE SALARYROOM AND BOARD INCLUDEDShe thought she was safe. So did the others . . -
The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsGhostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings... -
Confessions About Colton by Olivia Harvard
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsSeven clues, seven steps closer to a killer . . .Bringing us into a world of unrelenting suspense, Olivia Harvard’s astonishing debut explores the ravages of grief and betrayal through the eyes of a teenage boy coping with a heartbreaking loss and its revelations . . .The unthinkable has happened: Colton Crest is dead. And Elliot, Colton’s best friend, is the one who finds him brutally murdered... -
Smilin' Sam's Corn Maze by Stephanie Perry Scissom
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen her seven-year-old daughter Lizzy disappeared into a corn maze on Halloween night in 1984, Catherine Bryant didn’t think she’d survive the loss.For nearly forty years, Catherine has struggled with her grief and guilt, so when her doctor delivers a fatal diagnosis, it’s almost a relief.But something is happening to Catherine... -
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe first stand-alone thriller by critically acclaimed author Charlie Huston, The Shotgun Rule is a raw tale of four teenage friends who go looking for a little trouble–and find it.Blood spilled on the asphalt of this town long years gone has left a stain, and it’s spreading.Not that a thing like that matters to teenagers like George, Hector, Paul, and Andy... -
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA mind-bending, razor-sharp look at motherhood and mental health that follows a young Indigenous woman who discovers the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequencesOn the surface, Alice is exactly where she thinks she should She’s just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve—a white academic whose area of study is conveniently her... -
El libro negro de las horas by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAlguien que lleva muerto cuarenta años no puede ser secuestrado y, desde luego, no puede sangrar.Vitoria, 2022... -
Cut Me Free by J.R. Johansson
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Charlotte barely escaped from her abusive parents. Her little brother, Sam, wasn't as lucky. Now she's trying to begin the new life she always dreamed of for them, but never thought she'd have to experience alone. She's hired a techie-genius with a knack for forgery to remove the last ties to her old life... -
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The Kill Club by Wendy Heard
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJazz will stop at nothing to save her brother.Their foster mother, Carol, has always been fanatical, but with Jazz grown up and out of the house, Carol takes a dangerous turn that threatens thirteen-year-old Joaquin’s life. Over and over, child services fails to intervene, and Joaquin is running out of time.Then Jazz gets a blocked call from someone offering a solution... -
The Doll's House by Tania Carver
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the outside, the house was unremarkable. Just one of many on an ordinary, suburban estate. But inside was a different matter. With pink ribbons and pink walls, stuffed toy animals everywhere and a dining table laid out for a tea party, it was a doll's house.The doll was sitting at the table. Life size, with blonde, pigtailed hair and rosy red cheeks, dressed in her best pink party dress... -
Lucky Day by Barry Lyga
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis is the story of the small town sheriff who captured one of the world's most ruthless and cunning murderers.It all started with Dead Girl #1 and Dead Girl #2, the first killings in the sleepy town of Lobo's Nod in decades. Two murders: just a coincidence, or something more sinister? One thing's for sure -- it was definitely inconvenient in a year when Sheriff G... -
What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGriffin Tomlin is dead. And Clara’s sister killed him . . . Four months after the murder, the entire town of Shiloh is still in shock. For Clara Porterfield, the normal world has crumbled around her in a million chaotic pieces. Now Clara lives in a new reality, where her sister awaits trial for murder, her mother obsessively digs in a dead, frozen garden, and her father lives and breathes denial... -
Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNeely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble.With a history of mental illness in her family, and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns... -
Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEmma’s darkest secrets are buried in the past. But the truth can’t stay hidden for long.Emma is a loving wife, a devoted mother…and an involuntary killer. For years she’s been hiding the dead body of the teacher who seduced her as a teen.It’s a secret that might have stayed buried if only her life had been less perfect...
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