Mystery & Thriller – Page 31 – Trigger Warning Database

The Castaways by Lucy Clarke

You wake on a beautiful, remote island. Sparkling blue seas, golden sunsets, barely a footprint in the sand. Yet this is no ordinary escape. Next to the wreck of a plane, a stranger paces. Another sharpens a knife, scoring a list of the dead onto a palm tree. Others watch from the shadows of a campfire – all with untold stories, and closely-guarded secrets. This is no ordinary holiday. This is no ordinary island. This is no ordinary beach read….

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Spousal & parental abandonment
Attempted rape (on-page)
Sexual assault (unwanted non-consensual kiss, on-page)
Spousal infidelity discussed
Suicidal ideation, including an on-page scene where the protagonist begins an attempt by jumping
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Drug use and abuse mentioned
Parent with alcoholism mentioned
Starvation and food scarcity
Infertility discussed
Blood & gore depiction including physical injuries and dead bodies
Death of a lover by shark attack (off-page)
Disappearance of a sibling (theme)
Murder by drowning in self-defence from attempted rape
Attempted murder by strangulation
Near-death of an infant from choking
Plane crash (theme)
Animal hunting & butchering (mostly fish)

Green-Eyed Monster by Carolyn Keene

Green-Eyed Monster by Carolyn Keene

George, Bess, and I were so excited when we won an amazing vacation at an eco-resort in Costa Rica. Fun, sun, surf — all in the name of ecology and helping to keep our planet clean. But, as always, dirty business seems to follow me wherever I go, and this resort isn’t as spic ‘n’ span as we originally thought. After a string of increasingly dangerous “accidents,” it seems that there is a jealous predator staying at the resort, making trouble for the management and the guests. Against the urging of my friends, I know that I need to take this case and get to the bottom of it before our.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Drugging
Animal death

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Nancy, unaided, seeks to find a missing will. To the surprise of many, the Topham family will inherit wealthy Josiah Crowley’s fortune, instead of deserving relatives and friends who were promised inheritances. Nancy determines that a clue to a second will might be found in an old clock Mr. Crowley had owned and she seeks to find the timepiece. Her search not only tests her keen mind, but also leads her into a thrilling adventure.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Classism
Home invasion
Confinement
Poverty & financial difficulties (theme)

*Context: Nancy walks in a crew burglarising an unvacated holiday house and they lock her in a wardrobe. Secondary characters struggle with financial concerns, including an elderly lady who cannot afford food or medical treatment.

The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene

The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene

While trying to help a friend out of a difficulty, teenage detective Nancy Drew has a perilous experience in and around a deserted bungalow.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a mother mentioned
Kidnapping & captivity
Boating accident, on-page

Bad Mommy by Tarryn Fisher

Bad Mommy by Tarryn Fisher

When Fig Coxbury buys a house on West Barrett Street, it’s not because she likes the neighbourhood, or even because she likes the house. It’s because everything she desires is next door: The husband, the child, and the life that belongs to someone else.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia & slut-shaming
Infidelity
Suicidal ideation
Miscarriage
Cancer
Death of a parent
Stalking

The Widow of Walcha by Emma Partridge

The Widow of Walcha by Emma Partridge

All farmer Mathew Dunbar ever wanted was to find love and have a family of his own. That’s why, just months after meeting Natasha Darcy, the much-loved grazier didn’t hesitate to sign over his multi-million-dollar estate to her. When Mathew died in an apparent suicide soon afterwards, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Natasha’s estranged husband – who she was once charged with trying to kill – was the first paramedic on the scene after the murder. When Mathew died in an apparent suicide soon afterwards, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Natasha’s estranged husband… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia
Rape mentioned
Suicide mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Fire

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

There’s something out there that’s killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don’t know when to shut up. 2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. Not the school psychologist she’s seeing. Not her father, who has a new wife, and a new baby. And not her mother—the infamous Caroline Sawyer, a unique artist whose eerie… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Attempted statutory rape
Hallucinations (auditory & visual)
Body horror
Graphic murder
Kidnapping of a child
Animal death

Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid

Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid

Jennifer Sylvester made her deal with the devil . . . and now they’re engaged! But all is not well in Green Valley. A chicken choker is on the loose, 61 dead birds most “fowl” need plucking, and no time remains for Jennifer and her devilish fiancé. Desperate to find a spare moment together, Jenn and Cletus’s attempts to reconnect are thwarted by one seemingly coincidental disaster after another. It’s not long before Cletus and Jenn see a pattern emerge and the truth becomes clear. Sabotage! Will an undercover mission unmask the culprit? Or are these love-birds totally plucked?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Domestic violence

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen

Lord Adrian Smythe may appear a perfectly boring gentleman, but he leads a thrilling life as one of England’s most preeminent spies, an identity so clandestine even his wife is unaware of it. But he isn’t the only one with secrets. Now that the Napoleonic wars have come to an end, daring secret agent Lady Sophia Smythe can hardly bear the thought of returning home to her tedious husband. Until she discovers in the dark of night that he’s not who she thinks he is after all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Miscarriage recounted
Blood depiction
Murder
Gun violence

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat was warned that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected that fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Having married into a family with wealth, power, and connections, Bree now has all a woman could ever dream of. Until the day she awakens and sees someone peering into her bedroom window–an old gray-haired woman dressed all in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears. It must be a play of the early morning light or the remnant of a waking dream, Bree tells herself, shaking off the bad feeling that overcome… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Slut-shaming
Rape
Incest
Revenge pornography
Substance addiction
Overdose
Poisoning
Infanticide & infanticide (theme)
Drugging of infants
Drowning of an infant
Explosion
Gun violence
Kidnapping
Blackmail