Books like 'What Happens in the Dark'
Readers who enjoyed What Happens in the Dark by Kia Abdullah also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery serial killer legal crime thriller female-mc family political-intrigue friendship
-
Penshaw: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFROM THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOLY ISLAND When you sell your soul, the devil gives no refunds... When an old man is burned alive in a sleepy ex-mining village, Detective Chief Inspector Ryan is called in to investigate. He soon discovers that, beneath the facade of a close-knit community, the burn from decades-old betrayal still smoulders... -
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to hunt the brutal killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family. Discover more thrilling Bosch mysteries in the original Freevee series Bosch: Legacy. A year has passed since LAPD detective Renée Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralization, and endless red tape...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement legal suspense thriller 21st-century action-adventure -
Dying Truth by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHow far would you go to protect your darkest secrets? When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents... -
Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer stomach lurches as she sits in the windowless room. He throws her phone to the ground, grinds it against the floor with the heel of his shoe and brings his face closer to hers. There was no turning back now, her life as she knew it was gone... -
-
Find Her Alive by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDetective Josie Quinn hasn’t heard from her sister since Trinity stormed out of the house in the heat of an argument three weeks ago. So, when human remains are found at the remote hunting cabin where Trinity was last seen, Josie can only assume the worst... -
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... -
Missing Angel by Roger Stelljes
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIsabella pedals her bright red bike on the familiar route home, admiring her charm bracelet catching the light. But half an hour later, she is nowhere to be seen. All her frantic parents find is an angel-shaped charm discarded on the sidewalk…When twelve-year-old Isabella Farner disappears, Agent Tori Hunter races to the scene... -
The Girl in the River by Rita Herron
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe body lay in the river, arms outstretched. Long brown hair swirled in all directions, flowing with the current of the water. Her eyes were wide open in death, pale pink lips parted in a scream.Detective Ellie Reeves should be enjoying the wedding of her dear friend Mia Norman. But instead of celebrating, she is frantically searching for the missing bride... -
First Blood by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith this installment exploring an utterly chilling case following a disturbing killer, USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons delivers the prequel to the internationally bestselling DI Kim Stone thrillers.In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time... -
Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEeeny meeny, miney, moe. Who lives, who dies only I know. When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell – a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young school girl... -
Dead Memories by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe ruined their lives. Now they’re going to destroy hers. ‘Someone is recreating every traumatic point in your life. They are doing this to make you suffer, to make you hurt and the only possible end game can be death. Your death.’ On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive... -
Child's Play by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinally we’re playing a game. A game that I have chosen. I give one last push of the roundabout and stand back. 'You really should have played with me,’ I tell her again although I know she can no longer hear... -
Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou have to stop me from hurting anyone else. I don’t want to do these horrible things. Help me before I’m forced to do it again. And I will do it again because I have no choice. I’ve never had a choice.In a busy shopping centre, a little girl clutches a teddy bear, clinging to it in the absence of her mother, Katrina. Hours later, Katrina’s body is discovered in an abandoned building... -
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... -
-
Deadly Secrets by Robert Bryndza
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTo commit the perfect murder, you need the perfect cover.On an icy morning, a mother wakes to find her daughter’s blood-soaked body frozen to the road. Who would carry out such a killing on the victim’s doorstep?Straight off her last harrowing case, Detective Erika Foster is feeling fragile but determined to lead the investigation... -
The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHer daughter, with emerald eyes and the sweetest smile, is everything to her. Her whole world. “Mommy,” the little girl says, touching her mother’s face with trembling fingers before she’s torn away. “Don’t cry.” Will she ever see her again?When single mother Alison Nolan sets off with her six-year-old daughter, Hazel, she can’t wait to spend precious time with her girl... -
The Memory Bones by B.R. Spangler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLooking down at the familiar, pale and lifeless face floating in the salty waters of the marsh, her blood freezes. It’s a face she hasn’t seen for years, but used to know so well…When Detective Casey White is called to a murder scene in the Outer Banks saltmarshes, she’s devastated to find the strangled body of her ex-husband—father of her missing daughter Hannah... -
If She Ran by H.K. Christie
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree months. Three missing women. One PI determined to discover the truth.Back from break, PI Martina Monroe clears the air with her boss at Drakos Security & Investigations and is ready to jump right into solving cold cases for the CoCo County Sheriff’s Department... -
Trapper Road by Rachel Caine, Carrie Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSometimes danger comes from the most unexpected places.Gwen Proctor has always been willing to do anything it takes to protect her kids. But there are some things even she can’t protect them from. When a violent incident at Connor’s school brings the press to Gwen’s doorstep, she agrees to take a case out of town hoping to keep her family out of the crushing media spotlight... -
Justice Lost by Scott Pratt
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the Wall Street Journal bestseller, lawyer turned rogue Darren Street faces the most personal and ruthless vendetta of his life.After forfeiting years serving time for a false murder conviction, former criminal defense attorney Darren Street finally got his freedom back and is trying to build a regular life... -
The Girl in the Ground by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe was beautiful: shiny blond hair, crystal blue eyes and the widest smile Nikki had ever seen. She thought back to what she had seen in the ground, the dirt that caked the white bones... -
The Flinck Connection by Estelle Ryan
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA murdered politician. An unsolved art heist. An international conspiracy. A cryptic online message leads nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard to the body of a brutally murdered politician. Despite being ordered not to investigate, Genevieve and her team look into this vicious crime... -
Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMeet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart... -
The Fallen by David Baldacci, Orlagh Cassidy
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsAmos Decker is the Memory Man. Following a football-related head injury that altered his personality, Decker is now unable to forget even the smallest detail - as much a curse as it is a blessing. And in The Fallen, Decker's life might be about to change again....Something sinister is going on in Baronville. The rust belt town has seen four bizarre murders in the space of two weeks... -
-
Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom award-winning author Jane Casey comes another powerful Maeve Kerrigan crime thriller which will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page! Leo Stone is a killer. A year ago, he was convicted of murdering two women and sentenced to life without parole. But now, a juror from his trial has revealed the jury was prejudiced, and a retrial is called... -
Free to Kill by Julie Mellon
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFBI Agent Katie Freeman’s life has been upended. After being reassigned from Louisiana to middle Tennessee, her new bosses suspect that her reassignment is due to an indiscretion with her previous partner. Now, she and her new partner, Michael Powell, are asked to assist on the bewildering case of a woman who was kidnapped, tortured and left for dead on her own front porch... -
Tell Me by Anne Frasier, Erin Bennett
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat really happened in the forest? Hidden crimes and secrets of the past converge in a riveting thriller by Anne Frasier, the New York Times bestselling author of Find Me.No strangers to evil, criminal profiler Reni Fisher and detective Daniel Ellis both still grapple with traumatizing pasts. It unites them. So has a crime they must solve before someone else dies... -
Fall by Tracy Clark
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the second book in the Detective Harriet Foster thriller series, author Tracy Clark weaves a twisted journey into the underbelly of Chicago as Harriet and her team work to unmask a serial killer stalking the city’s aldermen...Categorized as:
crime suspense law-enforcement female-mc thriller politics political-intrigue mystery -
A Cold Killing by Anna Smith
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCrime reporter Rosie Gilmour returns from hiding in Bosnia to a story of a brutal execution. University lecturer Tom Mahoney was shot at point blank range, the killing has all the signs of a hit. But who would want to kill a retired lecturer? Rosie throws herself into the investigation, looking for a witness that has gone missing. A witness that might hold the key to the story... -
The Judge's List by John Grisham
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsListening Length 11 hours and 36 minutesFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author, a new legal thriller about a man who might be the most criminal sitting judge in American history As an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct, Lacy Stoltz sees plenty of corruption among the men and women elected to the bench... -
Saltwater Graves by B.R. Spangler
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPlunging under the cold ocean surface, her long blonde hair drags in the current and she frantically kicks towards the light. With her arms and legs tied she is helpless. As water fills her lungs, she has just one regret. She never told anyone about her date... -
Daylight by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFBI Agent Atlee Pine's search for her sister Mercy clashes with military investigator John Puller's high-stakes case, leading them both deep into a global conspiracy -- from which neither of them will escape unscathed.For many long years, Atlee Pine was tormented by uncertainty after her twin sister, Mercy, was abducted at the age of six and never seen again...Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller -
So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTalent borrows. Genius steals. Evil delegates. It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back…and he's got helpers... -
Before Evil by Alex Kava
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSpecial Agent Maggie O'Dell doesn't need to set foot at a crime scene to catch a serial killer. From her small Quantico office, she's profiled criminals using just Polaroids and faxed copies of evidence from homicide detectives across the country.Then comes Albert Stucky . . . and nothing will ever be the same... -
-
A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling authorEvery mother's worst nightmare . . .When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side... -
The Creek Killer by Dominika Best
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHow would you prove you weren’t dead? Jane Smith has been running from danger her whole life. That danger followed her everywhere, leaving a trail of death in its wake. When the mummified bodies of six girls are discovered in the wetlands of Los Angeles, Jane is surprised to learn one of the dead girls bears her name—the name she abandoned twenty-five years ago to go into hiding...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement thriller female-mc mystery fiction contemporary police-procedural -
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... -
21st Birthday by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLindsay vows to protect a twenty-year-old victim long enough to see her twenty-first birthday. SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer has sworn to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic. As Lindsay prepares to celebrate her own daughter's birthday, she clashes with rising Chief Charlie Clapper over a family case... -
Her Deadly Touch by Lisa Regan
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe woman is kneeling at a gravestone, her hair blowing in the breeze, a bunch of wilting yellow daffodils on the grass beside her. Her eyes are fixed on the ground and her mouth is parted in a silent prayer... -
The Sixth Man by David Baldacci
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAfter the #1 New York Times bestsellers Split Second, Hour Game, Simple Genius, and First Family, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return in their most shocking case: a high stakes struggle where the relentless needs of national security run up against the absolute limits of the human mind...Categorized as:
crime friendship law-enforcement legal political-intrigue politics suspense thriller -
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... -
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHe meets women. He gains their trust. He kills them. That's all London police detective Maeve Kerrigan knows about the man she is hunting. Three women have been strangled in their homes, and it appears to be the work of the same sadistic killer. With no sign of break-ins, every indication shows that the women let their attacker in willingly... -
Silent Scream by Karen Rose
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a teenage girl dies in a suspicious fire, Detective Olivia Sutherland is assigned to track down the arsonist. Then she discovers something more sinister: a vicious blackmailer who preys on young people and murders without hesitation. Making her work even harder is sexy firefighter David Hunter...Categorized as:
crime female-mc law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense action-adventure adult -
One Last Step by Sarah Sutton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsONE LAST STEP (A Tara Mills Mystery—Book One) is the debut novel in a new FBI mystery series by debut author Sarah Sutton... -
-
The Trapped Ones by Stacy Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe raced across the woods. Cold wind hit her face, and her heart pounded so fast she could almost feel the panic rushing through her veins. She knocked on the door knowing she didn’t have much time. Fear gripped her. “Please, help,” she whispered.Rushing to the scene of a homicide at a farmhouse surrounded by thick, dark woodland, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is shocked to find four victims... -
Whiplash by Catherine Coulter
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsYale professor Dr. Edward Kender’s father is undergoing chemotherapy when the supply of a critical accompanying drug, Culovort, suddenly runs out. Unwilling to accept the drug manufacturer’s disingenuous excuse of production line problems, Dr. Kender hires private investigator Erin Pulaski to prove that something more sinister is going on at Schiffer Hartwin...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement political-intrigue politics suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Secret Witness by Victor Methos
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife comes the thrilling first installment in the Shepard & Gray series, featuring a young sheriff who teams up with a former prosecutor to stop a copycat killer.This is Reaper speaking.So begins an anonymous letter published in a Utah newspaper after a young couple is viciously murdered... -
A Killer’s Game by Isabella Maldonado
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn FBI agent with a background in cryptography. A brilliant game maker bent on revenge. A deadly battle of wits and wills. An ingenious thriller from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela “Dani” Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator...Categorized as:
suspense crime thriller law-enforcement female-mc political-intrigue mystery fiction -
I Bet You’d Look Good in a Coffin by Katy Brent
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYour favourite anti-heroine, Kitty Collins, is back! Expect more wit, sass, and, of course, murder…My name is Kitty Collins and I’m a serial killer.I don’t want to kill. It’s just so hard to resist. Some men really, really deserve it.Men like Blaze Bundy, an anonymous influencer spreading misogyny online. He’s making it very hard for me to control my murderous urges... -
The Girl Hunter by Leslie Wolfe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHis pale skin is covered with the dirt I threw over his still-warm body. His hands, marked by a struggle that ended in blood, rest over his chest. His once vibrant, loving eyes are now forever closed. I am the one who consigned my husband to the damp earth of the Glades.Seven months ago, I lost everything.I used to have it all. A successful career in television...Categorized as:
crime suspense thriller law-enforcement female-mc serial-killers kidnapping psychological
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.