Category Archives: Mystery & Thriller

A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan

Farrah “Digit” Higgins may be going to MIT in the fall, but this L.A. high school genius has left her geek self behind in another school district so she can blend in with the popular crowd at Santa Monica High and actually enjoy her senior year. But when Farrah, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, unknowingly cracks a terrorist group’s number sequence, her laid-back senior year gets a lot more interesting. Soon she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping– all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously. So much for blending in . . .

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Terrorism discussed

*Context : The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl and her love interest is a 23-year-old man who ‘won’t take the relationship further’ until she turns 18.

Hurricane Heist by James Ponti

When a category three hurricane hits Miami Beach, it uncovers a body buried at the renowned Moroccan Hotel. The body is identified as the man who served as the hotel’s bell captain sixty years ago…and the presumed culprit of the million-dollar jewel heist that took place just before his disappearance. Since the bell captain clearly didn’t take off with the goods as had been long believed, the Sherlock Society sets their sights on uncovering the real culprit of the theft. But when the thief may also be implicated in the bell captain’s murder, even sixty years later, there are people who want the truth to stay buried.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dead body uncovered during a hurricane (theme)

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

When five brothers move into the abandoned mansion next door, Sophie Gracewell’s life changes forever. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nic Falcone, Sophie finds herself falling into an underworld governed by powerful families. When Sophie’s own family skeletons come to life, she must choose between two warring dynasties – the one she was born into, and the one she is falling in love with. When she does, blood will spill and hearts will break…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Drugging

Hills of Shivers and Shadows by Pam Godwin

Abducted and taken to a remote cabin in Alaska, Frankie finds herself at the mercy of four feral men, each with his own dark secrets and twisted desires.
With nowhere to run, she must rely on her wits to survive the harsh winter, trapped with them. As she delves into their mysterious pasts, she uncovers an insidious evil that feeds on loyalty and uses love as a weapon. Nothing is as it seems. They torment her, protect her, and keep her in the dark. But to have any chance of escape, they must stand together. Or fall prey to the evil in the hills of shivers and shadows.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse recounted (love interest)
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage due to snowmobile accident (on-page, protagonist)
  • Forced pregnancy mentioned
  • Death of a mother from suicide & murder mentioned (love interest)
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping & captivity of children and women (theme)
  • Blizzard (on-page)

*Context : The antagonist kidnapped multiple mothers and sons who he held captivity in a remote cabin. He sexually abused both the children and women, including forced pregnancy, until he is murdered by one of the kidnapped men. Some of the mothers are murdered, some died during escape attempts, and others died from suicide.

When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin

Lissa is home on her own after school one afternoon when a stranger turns up on the doorstep carrying a baby. Reed is on the run – surely people are looking for him? He’s trying to find out who he really is and thinks Lissa’s mum might have some answers. But how could he be connected to Lissa’s family – and why has he been left in charge of a baby? A baby who is sick, and getting sicker… Reed’s appearance stirs up untold histories in Lissa’s family, and suddenly she is having to make sense of her past in a way she would never have imagined. Meanwhile, her brother is dealing with a devastating secret of his own.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Bullying & cyberbullying

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

For three years, wallflower heiress Lydia Hope-Wallace has anonymously penned seditious pamphlets. And for almost as long, she’s corresponded with the Earl of Strathrannoch, whose political ambition is matched only by his charm. When Arthur’s latest letter reveals his dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him the only salvation she can think of—a marriage of convenience. To, um, herself. Unfortunately, the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is. .When a bewitching redheaded stranger offers him her hand in marriage, Arthur Baird is stunned—but… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abuse recounted
  • Social Anxiety (protagonist)
  • Gun violence

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just… gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Rape mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & alcoholism mentioned
  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Murder mentioned
  • Animal death

Dead Money by Jakob Kerr

In her job as unofficial “problem solver” for Silicon Valley’s most ruthless venture capitalist, Mackenzie Clyde’s gotten used to playing for high stakes. Even if none of those tech-bro millions she’s so good at wrangling ever make it into her pockets. But this time, she’s in way over her head—or so it seems. The lightning-rod CEO of tech’s hottest startup has just been murdered, leaving behind billions in “dead money” frozen in his will. As the company’s chief investor, Mackenzie’s boss has a fortune on the line—and with the police treading water, it’s up to Mackenzie to step up and resolve things, fast. Mackenzie’s a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cancer
  • Gun violence
  • Stalking

The Family Inside by Katie Garner

It takes a special family to turn a home into a nightmare. Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage—and now that she’s lost her job, she has no idea how she’ll provide for her unruly teenage daughter, Ellory. Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more in an invitation to move into his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property. It seems like… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Heart disease & heart attack mentioned
  • Childbirth
  • Death of a husband

Penitence by Kristin Koval

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Alcoholism
  • Huntington’s Disease