Tag Archives: Murder & Attempted Murder

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of murder and attempted murder.

See also Genocide and mass murder, and War themes & military violence.

Real Dirty by Meghan March

Real Dirty by Meghan March

I have everything a guy could want—a new single burning up the charts, more money than a man could spend, and a woman I’m planning to marry. Until she doesn’t show up for my proposal. The life I thought was so perfect, isn’t. The guy who thought he had everything, doesn’t. I’ve got my heart on lockdown, but life sends me straight into the path of a mouthy bartender who puts me in my place. I thought I was done with love, but maybe I’m just getting started.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating mentioned
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Murder of a parent

Snotgirl, Volume Two by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Leslie Hung

Snotgirl, Vol. 2: California Screaming by Bryan Lee O’Malley and illustrated by Leslie Hung

From the creator of SCOTT PILGRIM! Lottie Person is a glamorous fashion blogger living her best life in L.A. — at least that’s what she wants you to think. CALIFORNIA SCREAMING finds Lottie putting the past behind her and trying to make the best of a bad situation — her life! Lottie’s new bestie is an emotional roller coaster: first she died, and then she killed someone. Who will Caroline hurt next, and what is her brother Virgil doing here? What secret is Detective John Cho seeking in the desert? Why did Cutegirl ghost her sister? Is Normgirl really going to marry Ashley? And what in god’s name did Sunny ever see in Charlene?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Coming out themes
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drugging
  • Blood depiction
  • Coma
  • Hospital
  • Murder
  • Stalking
  • Death of a pet

The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot

The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot

A swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met, and a shocking account of a crime committed over twenty-five years ago. With her mother’s words etched in her mind and in the pages tucked into her jacket pocket, Adele delays joining her fiancé for a new life abroad and returns to Reedstown, the last place her mother, Marianne, was seen alive. She has one purpose: to find those who carried out the devastating attack on her mother. Born into a Mother and Baby home run by Gloria Thornton, Adele needs to first unlock the disturbing chain of events… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Child abandonment
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping of a child

Hush by Dylan Farrow

Hush by Dylan Farrow

Seventeen-year-old Shae has led a seemingly quiet life, joking with her best friend Fiona, and chatting with Mads, the neighborhood boy who always knows how to make her smile. All while secretly keeping her fears at bay… Of the disease that took her brother’s life. Of how her dreams seem to bleed into reality around her. Of a group of justice seekers called the Bards who claim to use the magic of Telling to keep her community safe. When her mother is murdered, she can no longer pretend. Not knowing who to trust, Shae… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Medical experimentation
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Fire

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there’s only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god–and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it. Drawn into a world... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia
  • Misogyny
  • Racism
  • Coming out themes
  • Graphic attempted rape, on-page
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Domestic abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Cheating recounted
  • Cancer & remission discussed
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a grandmother, off-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gang violence
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (possession, theme)
  • Poverty themes

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

If you find one, he’s already found you. A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago. A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted? To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Anti-immigration rhetoric
  • Paedophilia & rape of a child
  • Child pornography
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Mutilation
  • Torture
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping & disappearance of a child
  • Stalking
  • Fire

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

The islands of Lake Wranglestone are a safe haven in a world filled with the Restless Dead. But as the lake freezes over, there’s nothing to stop them from crossing the ice. Peter’s has never really felt at home in a place where practicality and grit are valued above all else. He’s nothing like rancher, Cooper, the boy he’s always watched from afar. But when he’s is ordered to join him out on the mainland to help herd the Dead from their shores, they find more than just each other. There they unearth a dark secret about Wranglestone’s past. One that forces the pair to question everything they’ve ever known.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Decapitation
  • Physical injuries, including eyeball trauma
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Gun violence
  • Animal death recounted

Beneath the Wreckage by Catherine Cowles

Beneath the Wreckage by Catherine Cowles

It was supposed to be a summer we’d never forget.
Instead, everything was stolen from me. The best friend was more like a sister. The innocent way I looked at life. Leaving me with only unanswered questions. Returning to the island is the second chance I didn’t know I needed. And Hunter is the surprise that knocks me sideways. There’s a hurt in him that calls to my own.
A strength I find in sharing our scars. Igniting a spark that turns to flame. There’s a hurt in him that calls to my own. A strength I find in sharing our scars. Igniting a spark that turns to flame.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Panic attacks
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Physical injury (gunshot wound)
  • Murder
  • Disappearance of a friend

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighbourhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr King to find out. Then comes the day Justuce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up-way up, sparking the fury of a white off… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism (theme)
  • Domestic violence
  • Police brutality & racial profiling
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Incarceration mentioned

Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer

Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer

To save their kingdom, they must embark on a dangerous journey… The kingdom of Kandala narrowly avoided catastrophe, but the embers of revolution still simmer. While King Harristan seeks a new way to lead, Tessa and Prince Corrick attempt to foster unity between rebels and royals. But the consuls who control the Moonflower will not back down, and Corrick realizes he must find a new source for the lifesaving Elixir. When an emissary from the neighbouring kingdom of Ostriary arrives with an intriguing offer, Tessa and Corrick set out on an uncertain journey as they attempt to mend their own fractured relationship. This… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping