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.

Stepbrothers’ Darling by KA Knight

Stepbrothers’ Darling by K.A. Knight

Life is never what you expect it to be. I never thought I would end up here, moving halfway across the country on my mother’s whim, and then I meet them… My new stepbrothers. Cyrus, Bray, Asher. Sin incarnate, dangerous, dark and deadly. Everything I crave in a man, but they are off-limits and they make that perfectly clear. However, when my past comes back with a bang, the rules begin to mean nothing and lines start to blur. The only way we will survive this is together. They are my Crew and I’m about to be their Darling. I’m going to make them mine.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Drug & alcohol abuse
  • Murder of a mother
  • Murder of a friend, on-page
  • Torture, on-page
  • Imprisonment mentioned
  • Stalking

Rage by KA Knight

Rage by K.A. Knight

My husband killed me. Then he screwed his way through the city, the only problem? I didn’t stay dead. It seems killing me woke something deep inside, something so dark and buried so deep I never knew it was there. I  don’t know what I am, I don’t really care. All I can think about is revenge, even as the monsters in the dark start to surround me. Their horns and black eyes, mouths filled with fangs claiming I am theirs. My monsters will have to wait, he will regret the day he crossed me. Are you scared of the dark? You should be.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape, on-page*
  • Necrophilia*
  • Domestic abuse
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Medical experimentation
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping

*Context : The protagonist is raped while she dies (from her husband murdering her).

Blade of Iris by KA Knight

Blade of Iris by K.A. Knight

I was sold to my enemies. The Volkovs are the nightmares they warned me of as a child, the ones they spoke of in the dark in hushed tones. Traitors, killers, the boogeymen themselves sent to scare children like me. Children of their enemies. A Kelly. A family that they have been at war with since before I was born, and now? Now I am to marry into the Bratva Pigs. To become their blushing bride. My father’s plan, theirs as well. A marriage to create peace. To unite the families and end the bloodshed once and for all. We are a symbol of hope, of the future, of harmony.. I have… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Forced arranged marriage
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Knife & gun violence
  • Organised crime (mafia)

Den of Vipers by KA Knight

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel—The Vipers. They run this town and everyone in it. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant. These men, they look at me with longing. Their scarred, blood-stained hands holding me tight. They want everything I am, everything I have to give, and won’t stop until they get just… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Parent with alcoholism mentioned
  • Self-harm
  • Blood & gore depiction including blood play
  • Graphic mutilation
  • Death of a relative from terminal cancer recounted
  • Death of a parent from suicide recounted
  • Death of a parent from a drug overdose recounted
  • Graphic murder & attempted murder
  • Graphic torture
  • Gun & knife violence and play
  • Physical assault
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Car accident (on-page)
  • Organised crime (mafia)

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

With a flick of her paintbrush, Isobel creates stunning portraits for a dangerous set of clients: the fair folk. These immortal creatures cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and they trade valuable enchantments for Isobel’s paintings. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—Isobel makes a deadly mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes, a weakness that could cost him his throne, and even his life. Furious, Rook spirits Isobel away to his kingdom to stand… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-injury
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy discussed (magic)
  • Animal attack

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, already counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism
  • Murder

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

It’s something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn’t do as she’s told, the boy will die. “You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last.” Rachel is now part of The Chain… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Military Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug abuse & use, on-page
  • Protagonist with cancer
  • Death and resuscitation of a child for anaphylactic shock
  • Murder
  • Gun violence & threats of gun violence
  • Kidnapping & captivity of children, on-page (theme)
  • Disappearance of a daughter
  • Stalking
  • Physical assault with a wrench and physical assault of a child
  • Animal hunting

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

Charlie Jordan is being driven across the country by a serial killer. Maybe. Behind the wheel is Josh Baxter, a stranger Charlie met by the college ride share board, who also has a good reason for leaving university in the middle of term. On the road they share their stories, carefully avoiding the subject dominating the news – the Campus Killer, who’s tied up and stabbed three students in the span of a year, has just struck again. Travelling the lengthy journey between university and their final destination, Charlie begins to notice discrepancies in Josh’s story. As she… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide & attempted suicide mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Blood depiction
  • Murder
  • Stabbing, on-page
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident, on-page & mentioned

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Self-injury
  • Cancer
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Graphic body horror
  • Dead bodies (theme)
  • Emesis mentioned
  • Death of children
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Genocide & mass murder
  • Infanticide
  • Child soldiers

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles. But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking
  • Slavery
  • Antisemitism
  • Queermisia
  • Rape mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking and medicinal drug use mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction including broken bones and knife wounds
  • Depiction of corpses
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Genocide recounted
  • Torture mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Knife violence
  • Drowning
  • Fire
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • War themes
  • Animal death