Category Archives: Mystery & Thriller

The Baby by A.J. McDine

The day I was told I’d never be able to have a child, my world came crashing down. My husband says he still loves me but I lie awake at night, wishing we could have a family. One morning, my husband’s side of the bed is cold and empty. I hear a noise and head downstairs. In the middle of the rug in my living room is a wooden drawer. Swaddled inside, with perfect rosy cheeks and beautiful round blue eyes, a baby gazes up at me. I shiver. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, but this baby is not mine…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Depression
  • Miscarriage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Meet Hanna. She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good. Meet Suzette. She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette’s husband remains blind to the failing family dynami… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Mutism
  • Self-harm
  • Parent with depression recounted
  • Surgery for Chron’s Disease recounted
  • Emesis

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha’s Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father. The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons’ daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Emesis
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Imprisonment
  • Bullying

All Fall Down by Ally Carter

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: 1) She is not crazy; 2) Her mother was murdered, and 3) Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. The thing is, nobody else believes her and there’s no-one she can trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands. Grace’s past has come back to haunt her and if she doesn’t stop it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Emotional child abuse & gaslighting
  • Drugging
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Physical injury
  • Death of a mother (theme)
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire

Ali Cross by James Patterson

The brilliant DC detective who never gives up on a case.Ali CrossThe tenacious kid who’s determined to follow in his father’s footsteps.The case that finally gives him a chanceAli knows Gabe Qualls better than anyone, so when his friend goes missing, Ali jumps right into action. Being Alex Cross’s son has taught him the skills he needs to solve the intelligence, persistence, and logic. One thing he didn’t inherit? Patience.Because Ali knows that with every day that passes without the police finding Gabe, the less likely it is that he’ll ever be found. And being Alex Cross’s son, he refuses to accept those odds.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Disappearance of a friend

Afterlight by Rebecca Lim

Since her parents died in a freak motorbike accident, Sophie Teague’s life has fallen apart. But she’s just enrolled at a new high school, hoping for a fresh start. That’s until Eve, a beautiful ghost in black, starts making terrifying nightly appearances, wanting Sophie to be her hands, eyes and go-to girl. There are loose ends that Eve needs Sophie to tie up. But dealing with the dead might just involve the greatest sacrifice of all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Attempted sexual assault & sexual harassment
  • Domestic violence
  • Death of parents in a motorcycle accident
  • Bullying

99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter

When eight-year-old Grace goes missing from a sweetshop on the way home from school, her mother Emma is plunged into a nightmare. Her family rallies around, but as the police hunt begins, cracks begin to emerge. What are the secret emails sent between Emma’s husband and her sister? Why does her mother take so long to join the search? And is Emma really as innocent as she seems? Meanwhile, ageing widow Maggie Taylor sees Grace’s picture in the newspaper. It’s a photograph that jolts her from the pain of her existence into a spiralling obsession with… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Emotional child neglect
  • Self-harm & suicidal ideation
  • Drugging
  • Cannibalism mentioned
  • Hospitalisation mentioned
  • Death of a child (off-page)
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion (bomb)
  • Animal death (pet)

After You Died by Dea Poirier

Bisexual teen, Asher remembers nothing from the night in 1968 that the police found him covered in his girlfriend’s blood. He knows he’d never hurt anyone, least of all her. But the only person who believes him is his twin sister. He’s sentenced to five years at the Dozier Reform School. And like Asher’s memory, Dozier hides violent secrets of its own. Juvenile boys serving time for everything from truancy to murder are hidden away in the sinister School for Boys. Those who manage to escape its bounds with broken bones and scars are the lucky ones. Asher’s afraid he may end… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child sexual abuse mentioned
  • Domestic abuse
  • Attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Murder
  • Torture

Adrift by Will Dean

Peggy and Drew, both aspiring writers, move to an isolated canal boat with their fourteen-year-old son. Peggy is the glue that holds their family together, even as their son is bullied relentlessly for his physique and his family’s lack of money. But when Drew becomes frustrated by his wife’s sudden writing success, he moves their boat further and further from civilization. With their increasing isolation, personal challenges become harder to ignore, even as they desperately try to break toxic generational patterns. But when Drew’s gaslighting becomes too much for Peggy to take, it sets off a catastrophic series of events.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse & gaslighting
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Forced institutionalisation
  • Drug overdose
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Animal death

The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh

The 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. Eddie Flynn won’t take a case unless his client is innocent. Now, he has to prove to a jury, and the entire world, that Carrie Miller was just another victim of the Sandman. She didn’t know her husband’s dark side and she had no part in the murders. But so far, Eddie and his team are the only ones who believe her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping