Recommendations based on "Don't Say a Word"

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL • NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR“Defiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling.” —Katie Kitamura, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Editors' Choice)"A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. . . . Compassionate and thought-provoking." –BRIT BENNETT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing HalfRecommended by New York Times Book Review • Los Angeles Times • Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • Good Housekeeping • USA Today • Buzzfeed • Goodreads • Real Simple • Marie Claire • Rolling Stone • Business Insider • Bustle • PopSugar • The Millions • The Guardian • and many more!In the tradition of Long Bright River and The Mars Room, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life—from the bestselling author of Girl in Snow.Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood.Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men."Poetic and mesmerizing . . . Powerful, important, intensely human, and filled with a unique examination of tragedy, one where the reader is left with a curious emotion: hope." —USA TODAY“A profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. . . . I relished every page of this brilliant and gripping masterpiece."—ASHLEY AUDRAIN, New York Times bestselling author of The Push

New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo delivers an electrifying thriller in which Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must confront a dark evil to solve the mysterious murders of an entire Amish family.The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life―until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English―and each other―but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.State agent John Tomasetti arrives on the scene to assist. He and Kate worked together on a previous case during which they began a volatile relationship. They soon realize the disturbing details of this case will test their emotional limits and force them to face demons from their own troubled pasts―and for Kate, a personal connection that is particularly hard to bear.When she discovers a diary that belonged to one of the teenaged daughters, Kate is shocked to learn the girl kept some very dark secrets and may have been living a lurid double life. Who is the charismatic stranger who stole the young Amish girl's heart? Could the brother―a man with a violent past, rejected and shunned by his family and the Amish community, have come to seek out revenge? As Kate's outrage grows so does her resolve to find the killer and bring him to justice―even if it means putting herself in the line of fire.Topping her own bestselling debut, Linda Castillo once again immerses us in the world of the Amish with a chilling story that is both a fast-paced thriller and intriguing psychological puzzle.

From the author of New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, comes an atmospheric new thriller about one woman's search for the truth 'Brilliant! ... I had to finish this marvelous thriller in one sitting!' Jeffery Deaver, author of Hunting Time 'Packed full of twists and turns, I couldn't stop frantically turning the pages. Stacy is a must-read author" Sarah Pearse, author of The Sanitorium Today is day 364. 364 days since my last night of sleep. 364 days since my son, Mason, was taken from his bed. The police have stopped looking. My husband wants me to move on. But I need to keep his story alive. Someone knows what happened to my son. And I'm going to find them. It's been a year since Isabelle Drake's son, Mason, disappeared from his bedroom. Since then, she hasn't had a full night of sleep. Everyone else has moved on - the detectives, the press, her husband - but she can't rest until she knows the truth. Teaming up with true crime podcaster Waylon Spencer, Isabelle investigates her son's case. But Waylon has motives of his own and as long-forgotten memories of Isabelle's past resurface, doubt begins to cloud her sleepless nights. What happened to Mason Drake? What if the past is better left buried?

Don’t miss the next Will Trent thriller, This Is Why We Lied, coming this August!INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner."— theSkimmRecommended by Washington Post • theSkimm • GMA.com • Popsugar • Bustle • Atlanta Journal-Constitution • Augusta Chronicle • Sun-Sentinel • Mystery and Suspense Magazine • and more!He saw what you did. He knows who you are…From the New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone thriller.AN ORDINARY LIFE…Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST...But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…On a Sunday night at her daughter’s school play, she gets a call from one of the firm's partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn't have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They're scheduled to go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case. The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie—the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they’ve been through. But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice...“A high-stakes thriller . . . Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous.” –OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE

**Susan Lewis's thrilling new novel Don't Believe a Word, featuring true crime podcast host Cristy Ward is available now!** A triple murder. A mother, her daughter and a family friend, are brutally killed at Kellon Manse one quiet summer’s day. A young girl disappears and has not been seen since. One suspect. All fingers point to the husband of one of the victims. Yet he still walks free. An unsolvable crime. Cristy Ward has discovered the perfect next feature for her true crime podcast. Who really killed the three women at Kellon Manse? And is there a chance the missing girl is still alive? Readers LOVE Nothing to See Here! 'A fantastic read that keeps you guessing until the end' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Gripping. All through the book I had it in my head who I thought the killer was and was completely shocked to find out the truth. Absolutely amazing.' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Suspense and red herrings had me reading frantically into the night' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book was fast paced, thrilling, emotional... Everytime I put my book down I couldn’t stop thinking about it and was desperate to get back into it!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Midnight. A call out to an isolated farm on the outskirts of Oxford. A body shot at point-blank range in the kitchen. -------- 'One of the finest crime writers we have' Mark Billingham 'Fawley is back and better than ever' Shari Lapena 'Emotionally riveting, taut, and suspenseful' Karin Slaughter It looks like a burglary gone wrong, but DI Adam Fawley suspects there's something more to it. When the police discover a connection to a high-profile case from years ago, involving a child's murder and an alleged miscarriage of justice, the press go wild. Suddenly Fawley's team are under more scrutiny than ever before. And when you dig up the past, you're sure to find a few skeletons... The sixth twisty, up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling Cara Hunter. For fans of Shari Lapena, Claire Douglas and Lisa Jewell. -------- Everyone loves Cara Hunter 'An intelligent and immersive thriller with a gritty human story' Janice Hallett, The Twyford Code 'If you have not sampled Adam Fawley before, now is certainly the time' Daily Mail 'A mystery that is both satisfying and surprising' Sunday Times Crime Club 'A great premise, tight plotting, and characters who live beyond the page' JP Delaney, Playing Nice 'A clever, fascinating book' Araminta Hall, Hidden Depths 'If you start, you won't be able to stop' Nicci French, The Unheard 'A masterclass in how to write crime fiction' John Marrs, The Vacation 'The DI Adam Fawley series just keeps getting better and better' Victoria Selman, Truly, Darkly, Deeply 'Twist follows twist at a breathtaking pace' Daily Mail And readers are loving this series, too 'All hail the new queen of all things crime' Penny, Netgalley 'Mind-bending brilliance' Kath, Netgalley 'Definitely for fans of Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter and the like' Fiona, Netgalley 'This series just gets better and better' Tina, Netgalley

The latest novel in the Will Trent series from No. 1 bestselling author, Karin Slaughter. A body is discovered in an empty Atlanta warehouse. It's the body of an ex-cop, and from the moment Special Agent Will Trent walks in he knows this could be the most devastating case of his career. Bloody footprints leading away from the scene reveal that another victim - a woman - has left the scene and vanished into thin air. And, worst of all, the warehouse belongs to the city's biggest, most politically-connected, most high-profile athlete - a local hero protected by the world's most expensive lawyers. A local hero Will has spent the last six months investigating on a brutal rape charge. But for Will - and also for Dr Sara Linton, the GBI's newest medical examiner - the case is about to get even worse. Because an unexpected discovery at the scene reveals a personal link to Will's troubled past. The consequences will wreak havoc on his life and the lives of those he loves, those he works with, and those he pursues. But Sara's scene-of-the-crime diagnosis is that they only have a few hours to find the missing woman before she bleeds out . . .

A 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. But when a woman is pulled from the Mississippi River, barely alive, things in the office take a personal turn. The police believe the woman's assailant is local photographer Gavin Spenser, but the case quickly flounders as the evidence wears thin. It seems Gavin saw this investigation coming--and no one can imagine how carefully he has prepared. The more determined Lila is to put Gavin behind bars, the more elusive justice becomes. Battling a vindictive new boss and haunted by the ghosts of her own unspeakable attack, which she's kept a dark secret for eight long years, Lila knows the clock is ticking down. In a race against an evil mastermind, it will take everything Lila's got to outsmart a killer--and to escape the dark hold of her own past. "A near-perfect thriller, The Stolen Hours is a true nail-biter that will have you reading long into the night." --Book Reporter "Even readers who predict the tale's biggest twist before it arrives will still have the breath knocked out of them by the surprises that follow." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "There's not a moment misplaced or a second lost. With the precision of a watchmaker, Eskens assembles the fine parts of a mystery and sets them to the tempo of a thriller, leaving the reader breathless." --Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

Having established her reputation with the enormously successful, two-time Emmy Award-winning television series Prime Suspect, author/screenwriter Lynda La Plante enhanced it with her more recent popular CBS TV miniseries, Bella Mafia. The same unbeatable storytelling power she brings to her films is the engine that drives her new thriller, Cold Heart, from its disturbing beginning to its shocking climax.A single gunshot into a Beverly Hills swimming pool ends the life of movie mogul Harry Nathan, a man with so many enemies--including a widow and two ex-wives--that the challenge for PI Lorraine Page at first seems to be the surfeit of suspects. Newly established as an independent private investigator, Lorraine comes to the case hungry and determined to succeed--but Harry Nathan's death is the beginning, not the end, of a trail of lust and conspiracy leading to the darkest corners of the international art world. A sordid trail of video evidence implicates other leading Hollywood figures in the case, while Lorraine finds her own investigations hampered by the personal intervention of new police chief Jake Burton, a man who appears to know everything bad about her but still seems determined to know more.As the failures of her past come back to haunt her, Lorraine finds that solving this murder is no longer just a job, it's about recapturing her own self-worth. A first-rate crime story, a love story, and more--it's precisely the kind of superior suspense novel we've come to expect from Lynda La Plante, one of the preeminent originators of realistic crime drama.

A brutal home invasion shocks the nation. A man is murdered, his wife bound, gagged and left to watch. But when Detective Sam Shephard scratches the surface, the victim, a successful businessman, is not all he seems to be.