Tag Archives: Blackmail

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, and Donna Tartt. But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Homomisia
  • Rape
  • Cheating
  • Alcoholism
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Overdose
  • Death from a heart attack
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Drowning
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident
  • Blackmail

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

Juliette loves Nate. She will follow him anywhere. She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline so she can keep a closer eye on him. They are meant to be.

The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back. She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants.

True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut-shaming
  • Dubious consent
  • Toxic relationship
  • Emotional abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Murder
  • Stabbing
  • Stalking
  • Kidnapping
  • Blackmail

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you’re falling in love.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misgendering
  • Racism
  • Sexual assault implied
  • Sex work of a minor
  • Child abuse
  • Threats of sexual violence
  • Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety
  • Gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia
  • Blood depiction
  • Amputation
  • Nonconsensual surgery & implants, including body modifications
  • Medical experimentation
  • Graphic injury
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Loss of bodily autonomy
  • Blackmail

Echo by A Zavarelli 

Echo by A. Zavarelli

How far would you go to save someone you love? Would you give up your body? I did and it cost me everything. He says he owns me. And it’s true. I’ve signed over complete control of my life for six months to a man I don’t know. Five years he’s been planning this. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But my blackmailer serves it up white-hot.

But he also scares me. He holds the fate of my brother’s life in his hands. A life behind bars for crimes I know he didn’t commit. My blackmailer can’t give up his revenge on my family, and I can’t be with him if he doesn’t. Do I really have a choice?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blackmail
  • Incarceration of a sibling

Crow by A Zavarelli 

Crow by A. Zavarelli

I had a plan. Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right? Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door.

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either. Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission.

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him. Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape & attempted rape, on-page
  • Sex work
  • Cheating recounted
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Blackmail
  • Organised crime

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Parental neglect
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self harm
  • Panic attack
  • Recreational drug use
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Blackmail
  • Fire

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for…

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Sexual assault (groping) recounted
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attack, on-page
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Nightmares
  • Dissociation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent
  • Torture recounted
  • Explosion recounted
  • Kidnapping recounted
  • Blackmail
  • Military service recounted
  • Doxing

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre

Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch—daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family “feedback,” Danica made a pact with her cousin: they’ll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica’s mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path.

Three blocks down from the Fix-It Witches, Titus Winnaker, owner of Sugar Daddy’s bakery, has family trouble of his own. After a tragic loss, all he’s got left is his sister… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia
  • Bimisia
  • Alchol consumption mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from illness recounted
  • Blackmail

His and Hers by Alice Feeney

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying. When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Rape, sexual assault & grooming
  • Dementia
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide & self harm
  • Death of a child from SIDS
  • Blackmail
  • Animal abuse & cruelty
  • Bullying

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Sexual assault
  • Statutory rape
  • Rape recounted
  • Student-teacher relationship
  • Suicide
  • Disordered eating mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Nonconsensual drugging (roofies)
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder
  • Car accident recounted
  • Kidnapping
  • Blackmail
  • Animal death
  • Bullying
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