Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco 

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a travelling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & autopsies
  • Murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Hanging
  • Poisoning
  • Blackmail
  • Animal attack

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco 

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine… and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Panic attack
  • Drug abuse mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & autopsies
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Fire

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco 

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practise of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & autopsies
  • Needles
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug abuse
  • Psychiatric hospital
  • Murder
  • Physical assault

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Alcohol consumption & drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Graphic murder
  • Home invasion

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

It’s winter in the Catskills and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing–maybe even romantic–weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity–and all contact with the outside world–the guests settle in and try to make the best of it… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Bury Your Gays trope
  • Gang rape recounted
  • Infidelity
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Death of a wife, fiancée & husband
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a son
  • Murder & attempted murder by strangulation and poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Death from a fall
  • Death from exposure to the cold
  • Drowning
  • Military service recounted

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bury Your Gays trope
  • Gang rape recounted
  • Cheating
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Death of a wife & husband
  • Death of a fiance
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a son
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Strangulation
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Death from a fall
  • Death from exposure to the cold
  • Drowning
  • Military service recounted

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind. There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape by coercion*
  • Cheating recounted
  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Amnesia & memory loss (theme)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse discussed
  • Infertility
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies and hospitalisation
  • Death of an ex-husband
  • Murder (off-page)
  • Gun violence (off-page)
  • Car accident
  • Disappearance of a spouse
  • Incarceration
  • Home invasion
  • Blackmail
  • Stalking

Five ​Dark Fates by Kendare Blake 

Five ​Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

After the grim confrontation with Queen Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’s legion curse has been unbound, and it is up to Arsinoe to find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist lies heavy on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared.

Katharine’s reign remains intact—for now. When Mirabella arrives, seemingly under a banner of truce, Katharine begins to yearn for the closeness that Mirabella and Arsinoe share. But as the two circle each other, the dead queens hiss caution—Mirabella is not to be trusted.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Suicide
  • Self harm mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Amputation
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Sword violence
  • Poisoning
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Death of newborns by drowning mentioned
  • Animal attack

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake 

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake

Queen Katharine has waited her entire life to wear the crown. But now that she finally has it, the murmurs of dissent grow louder by the day. There’s also the alarming issue of whether or not her sisters are actually dead—or if they’re waiting in the wings to usurp the throne.

Mirabella and Arsinoe are alive, but in hiding on the mainland and dealing with a nightmare of their own: being visited repeatedly by a spectre they think might be the fabled Blue Queen. Though she says nothing, her rotting, bony finger pointing out to sea is clear enough: return to Fennbirn… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Childbirth
  • Death of newborns from exposure & drowning mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Poisoning
  • Sword violence
  • Shipwreck

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injury & illness
  • Dead body
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • Death of a pet cat

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Magic rules the city of Creije Capital and Tavia Syn knows just how many tricks she needs up her sleeve to survive. Selling dark magic on the streets for her kingpin, she keeps clear of other crooks, counting the days until her debt is paid and she can flee her criminal life.

But then, one day, with her freedom in sight, Tavia uncovers a sinister plot that threatens to destroy the realm she calls home. Desperate to put an end to her kingpin’s plan, Tavia forms an unlikely alliance with three crooks even more deadly than her: Wesley, the kingpin’s prodigy and most renewed criminal in the realm… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Indentured servitutde
  • Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
  • Child abuse
  • Estrangement
  • Hallucinations
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drugging
  • Blood depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Dead bodies
  • Plague mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Gang violence
  • Strangulation
  • Physical assault, on-page (fight ring)
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Loss of autonomy
  • War themes & battle scenes recounted
  • Poverty discussed
  • Homelessness recounted