Books like 'Kill Your Darlings'
Readers who enjoyed Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
psychological serial killer suspense domestic-drama thriller literary-fiction crime
-
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... -
Love, Lies, and Suicide by Elle Gray, K.S. Gray
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“You can’t always get what you want.”“But, if you try, you might find…”You’ll get exactly what’s coming for you.FBI agent Olivia Knight has seen the realities of what happens when nightmares come to life.When she’s called to investigate a case of an apparent murder-suicide in an affluent community... -
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... -
-
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... -
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... -
Impostor by L.J. Ross
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DCI RYAN MYSTERIES There’s a killer inside all of us… After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amidst a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed... -
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 thriller mystery law-enforcement police-procedural killer -
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... -
Once Hunted by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsONCE HUNTED is book #5 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE.A prison break from a maximum security prison. Frantic calls from the FBI. Special Agent Riley Paige’s worst nightmare has come true: a serial killer she put away years ago is loose. And his main target is her... -
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... -
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... -
-
Bits & Pieces by Dawn Hosmer, Diane Box-Worman
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA chance encounter with a stranger traps Tessa within the mind of a madman.Tessa was born with a gift. Through a simple touch she picks up pieces of others. A “flash” of color devours her—the only indication that she’s gained something new from another person. Red equals pain; purple, a talent; yellow, a premonition; orange, a painful memory; and blue, a pleasant one... -
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 -
In the Dark by Chris Patchell
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMarissa Rooney stands in her daughter’s empty dorm room, a half-used vial of insulin clutched in her trembling hand. Brooke has been missing for days. Her roommate hasn’t seen her since that night in the bar. And if Marissa has Brooke’s insulin, it means that Brooke does not.But Marissa isn’t alone in her terror... -
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... -
The Dead Ground by Claire McGowan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsStolen. Missing. Dead...Forensic psychologist Paul Maguire is up against the clock to stop a merciless killer in THE DEAD GROUND.Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, already wrestling with the hardest decision of her life, is forced to put her own problems on hold when she's asked to help find a baby taken from a local hospital... -
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... -
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... -
-
Wicked Secret by Valerie Keogh
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNicola Connolly's dreams have started again but this time she is the target. Deciding to investigate, to hunt rather than be hunted, she makes a startling discovery. Tom Hudson, meanwhile, has troubles of his own - Sean White is missing and one of his colleagues has been brutally murdered. Is there a link between the two? Reluctantly, Tom decides to ask Nicola for help... -
Stranger in the Woods by Anni Taylor
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhotographer Isla Wilson is thrilled she’s landed her dream job, but the clients who hired her are getting stranger by the day. It sounded so perfect - a month‘s assignment at the misty, sprawling Scottish Highlands property of brilliant architect Alban McGregor, and his wife, Jessica. But deep in the woods, there is a chilling playhouse... -
Her Perfect Secret by T.J. Brearton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Gone.It’s him.Tom. The boy whose mother I helped put in prison for life.I recognize the sharp nose and flare to the nostrils. His thick eyebrows and defined cheekbones. But mostly it’s the eyes. Sea green.But my daughter, Joni, keeps calling him Michael. And they’re here at the lake house telling us they’re getting married... -
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... -
An Eye for an Eye by Caroline Fardig
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA string of targeted kidnappings launches criminalist Ellie Matthews into the midst of a shocking case. After surviving the brutal ordeal of her last investigation, Ellie Matthews just wants to return to teaching, and put her nightmares behind her. But fate has other plans. It isn’t long before the reluctant investigator finds herself drawn back into the field... -
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... -
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... -
-
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... -
The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn investigative journalist on the edge. A serial killer testing his limits. What they have in common can freeze the blood.Still reeling from a personal tragedy, investigative journalist Rooker Lindström finds a grim hideaway from the world. It’s the dilapidated cabin on Minnesota’s Deer Lake bequeathed to him by his late father—one of the most notorious serial killers in the state... -
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... -
Ich vergesse nie by John Marrs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsShe’s chasing a killer. He’s watching her every move.He hides in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Each kill is calculated, planned and executed like clockwork.Struggling to balance her personal and professional life, young DS Becca Vincent has landed the biggest case of her career—and she knows that it will make or break her. But she can’t catch the culprit alone... -
Thirst for Sin by Kennedy Layne
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBrooklyn Sloane works as a special consultant to the FBI as one of the most adept profilers in the agency’s history. She had been recruited at a relatively young age from her career in academics, but her colleagues have no idea the disturbing motive for her success...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller mystery fiction serial-killers law-enforcement police-procedural -
Perfect Girls by Alison James
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPhoebe. Tiffany. Melissa. They all made one little mistake... When twenty-five-year-old Phoebe Stiles opens the door to her perfect apartment she doesn’t realise it’s the mistake that will kill her… The body of the beautiful English girl is discovered months later - dumped behind the back of a department store... -
The Truth You Told by Brianna Labuskes
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA serial killer on death row challenges a forensic linguist to solve his final puzzle in a novel of breathtaking mind games by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Lies You Wrote.Forensic psychologist Callum Kilkenny lost his wife, Shay, to the very serial killer he’d hunted for five years... -
Dead in the Water by Britney King
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTHE PERFECT NEIGHBORS. THE PERFECT COVER. A GRIPPING ROMANTICS SUSPENSE THRILLER He’s a contract killer. She likes to even the score. Smack dab in the middle of suburbia, few married couples are as competitive as Jude and Kate. But then, most married couples don't keep score in the form of body counts. Each hell-bent on a silent pact to out-do the other, the games begin... -
The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED NOVELS OF 2023 - "A bravura feat of storytelling...daring and completely satisfying." --James Patterson, #1 best-selling author A PULSE-POUNDING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER NARRATED BY THOSE CLOSEST TO HIM: HIS 13-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, HIS GIRLFRIEND--AND THE ONE VICTIM HE HAS SPARED... -
Anonymity by John Nicholl
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAre you looking for a dark and gripping psychological thriller? Then you will love Anonymity by international best-selling author John Nicholl. When Mia, a successful novelist, is targeted by a stalker, her life begins to unravel... -
-
Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShe has his dead wife’s heart; the one she wants is his. The author of The Family Plot brings her signature prose to a twisty novel about a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband.Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One... -
A Wicked Mercy by Bilinda P. Sheehan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe’s in your home… and you don’t even know it. A spate of suicides sets the village of Tollby in North Yorkshire on edge. Although the police are convinced that these are open and shut cases, Forensic psychologist Harriet Quinn is certain the deaths are due to foul play. Her suspicions deepen when her own friend becomes one of the victims... -
The Nurse by Claire Allan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings‘Wow! This book kept me on the edge of my seat and every time I thought I knew what was going to happen there was another fabulous twist. I loved it.’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Well! I HORSED through The Nurse, pure HORSED! Tense, pacey, unputdownable.’ – MARIAN KEYES Someone is watching her. She just doesn’t know it yet. Nell Sweeney has led an ordinary life... -
Positively Murder by Netta Newbound
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor Melissa May, happily married to Gavin for the best part of thirty years, life couldn’t get much better. Her world is ripped apart when she discovers Gavin is HIV positive. The shock of his duplicity and irresponsible behaviour re-awakens a psychiatric condition Melissa has battled since childhood... -
Bird of Prey by Lee Alan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe seeks love. He seeks revenge. With Corey fighting for his life and an uncertain future for her unborn child, newly married Anna must face the aftermath of her big day and protect those who need her. But that’s not all. Something is about to happen that will shatter her fragile peace and turn her world upside down once more. An event that will test her and her young family to the limit... -
Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTerence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his freedom approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped—or worse...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.