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| The Intern by Michele CampbellIn this richly detailed legal thriller Harvard law student Madison Rivera gets the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to clerk for her idol Judge Kathryn Conroy. Things sour quickly after Madison learns Judge Conroy presided over a flawed case that ripped her family apart, and while digging for more she uncovers a web of corruption that could put her life in imminent danger. |
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I Love It When You Lie
by Kristen Bird
What it is: a dramatic, intricately plotted story of sisters, secrets, and the ties that bind a family together, for good or for ill.
How it starts: with sisters Tara, June, and Clementine returning to their small Alabama hometown to bury their recently deceased grandmother -- and to plan the demise of a man who's done them wrong.
For fans of: Three Single Wives by Gina LaManna; Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic.
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| The Fiction Writer by Jillian CantorOlivia Fitzgerald's debut novel was a huge success, but now she's in a sophomore slump. To turn things around her agent gets her a ghostwriting gig for a famous billionaire who believes that Daphne DuMaurier stole Rebecca from his grandmother, and the more time Olivia spends with him the more her life becomes stranger than fiction. Read-alike: The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. |
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The St. Ambrose School for Girls
by Jessica Ward
What it's about: After some mental health struggles, fifteen-year-old Sarah Taylor's hopes for a fresh start at her new boarding school are dashed thanks to relentless bullying from St. Ambrose queen bee Greta Stanhope. Deciding to gain the upper hand, Sarah sets off a chain of event s unanticipated, deadly consequences.
Who it's for: readers who appreciate dark academia vibes and unreliable narrators.
About the author: Novelist Jessica Ward is best known for the Black Dagger Brotherhood paranormal romance series, published under the name J.R. Ward.
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| The Other Mothers by Katherine FaulknerFreelance journalist and stay-at-home mother Natasha Carpenter becomes an unlikely friend to a clique of well-heeled mothers shortly before a nanny is found murdered in their neighborhood. As Natasha's journalistic instincts lead her to start looking into the case, the behavior of her new "friends" grows increasingly suspicious, leaving her to ask troubling questions about who is watching who. |
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What the Neighbors Saw
by Melissa Adelman
The setup: After the birth of their son, Alexis and her husband Sam buy a fixer-upper in an upscale neighborhood near the Potomac River.
What goes wrong: Beyond the stress that renovation can put on any marriage, Alexis feels isolated as the only Black person in the community. She befriends the widow of a well-regarded resident, but when the death is ruled a homicide, Alexis soon discovers a tangled web of secrets that lead to the appalling truth behind the murder.
For fans of: Never Ask Me by Jeff Abbott; The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson; and The Block Party by Jamie Day.
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| Five Bad Deeds by Caz FrearHarried wife and mother Ellen Walsh is just managing to juggle her family, social commitments, and thriving tutoring business, but only just. Then she starts to receive menacing anonymous messages, followed by the spread of reputation-ruining rumors that could destroy the comfortable life she worked so hard to create for herself. Read-alike: Keep Your Friends Close by Lucinda Berry. |
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Girls and Their Horses
by Eliza Jane Brazier
What it is: an intricately plotted and compelling portrait of the glamorous world of showjumping, where the competition between the equestrian equivalent of "stage moms" can be literally cutthroat.
What's inside: cliques, dark secrets, and suspicious "accidents" in and around the stables, all of which culminate in a gruesome murder.
About the author: Girls and Their Horses is the 3rd standalone novel by Eliza Jane Brazier, following Good Rich People and If I Disappear.
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Goodbye Earl : a revenge novel by Leesa Cross-SmithThe award-winning author of Half-Blown Rose returns with a story based on the popular female empowerment song, following four best friends through two unforgettable summers as they fight the abusive men in their lives.
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The Drowning Woman
by Robyn Harding
What it is: an action-packed, fast-paced story of two women used to looking over their shoulders for very different reasons, the unexpected bond they form, and the secrets they keep from each other even as they grow closer.
Starring: Lee Gulliver, a failed restaurateur living in her car and trying to stay off the radar of the dangerous people she owes money to; Hazel Laval, a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship who asks for help disappearing after Lee foils her suicide attempt.
Try these next: Last Flight by Julie Clark; The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger.
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| Distant Sons by Tim JohnstonIn a small Wisconsin town in the 1970s, three boys disappeared, and the case remains unsolved to this day. At least until the arrival of a young drifter, whose decision to stay in town after his truck breaks down will set off an explosive chain of events that will drag the truth out into the open with unexpected, fatal consequences. |
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You Can Trust Me
by Wendy Heard
What it's about: Best friends Summer and Leo make a living grifting wealthy Californians with relative ease. After Leo gains the attention of billionaire Michael Forrester, she accepts an invitation to his private island for the chance at a big score. When Leo vanishes, Summer sneaks onto the island in search of her friend -- and the truth.
Read it for: the likeable and well-characterized protagonists and the strength of their bond.
Reviewers say: "Readers will want to ride with Summer and Leo all the way to the end" (Publishers Weekly).
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The coworker
by Freida McFadden
Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone at work thinks so. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m. So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell--beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running--is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything... Now, Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim? But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.
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Sing Her Down
by Ivy Pochoda
What it is: a haunting, stylistically complex story about the unstable and obsessive relationship between two former cellmates and the collision course of their lives on parole.
Starring: Florida Baum, who took a plea agreement for arson but in private claims she was an innocent bystander; Diosmary Sandoval, who was convicted of assault after an act of self-defense and believes that there is much, much more to Florida than meets the eye.
Reviewers say: "This searing, accomplished page-turner deserves a wide audience" (Publishers Weekly).
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| The Engagement Party by Darby KanePart psychological suspense and part locked room mystery, The Engagement Party follows a group of college friends gathered for the titular event in rural Maine. Will, Alex, Mitch, Jake, and Cassie are still haunted by the death (allegedly by suicide) of Emily, a fellow student at their college, and their doubts about what happened -- and each other -- will push them all to their breaking point before the weekend is over. |
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Speak of the Devil
by Rose Wilding
How it starts: on New Year's Eve, with seven women gathering at a seedy hotel around midnight.
What unites them: their tangled web of connections to the same manipulative man, whose severed head is discovered in the room with them. Each had ample reason to want him dead, each maintains her innocence, and none of them will be safe until they figure out what really happened.
Reviewers say: "This cautionary tale satisfies in its culmination of long-overdue justice for spurned women" (Library Journal).
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| What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun KimThe Kims, a Korean American family in Los Angeles, are still reeling after the mysterious disappearance of Sunny, their matriarch, a year ago. Then a stranger's body is discovered buried in their backyard carrying a letter to Sunny, raising even more questions about what happened to her and if she was even the wife and mother they thought they knew. |
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The Guest Room
by Tasha Sylva
What it is: "A slow burn of a psychological thriller wrapped up in mysterious ambiguity" (Kirkus Reviews).
The premise: In order to pay the mortgage on her recently deceased sister's London home, Tess begins renting a spare room to short-term guests. Among her other poor grief-related coping mechanisms, Tess starts snooping through her guests' things, only to make a discovery about her current lodger that might send her spiraling out of control.
For fans of: flawed yet sympathetic characters navigating difficult moments in their lives and relationships.
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| The Death of Us by Lori Rader-DayFifteen years ago, a woman showed up on Liss Kehoe's doorstep, handed her a newborn baby, and promptly disappeared without a trace. But when the missing woman's car turns up in a suspicious place, the world as Liss knows it gets turned upside down and she'll have to fight tooth and nail to protect her family, her reputation, and her relationship with her son. |
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| There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini SinghNew Zealand paranormal romance author Nalini Singh dips her toe into psychological suspense in this atmospheric tale of friends gathering for a somber weekend together. Strange happenings, blizzard conditions, and, and long-buried secrets combine to create a locked room thriller filled with menace. Read-alike: One by One by Ruth Ware. |
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The Dance of the Dolls
by Lucy Ashe
Life begins to parallel art in uncomfortable ways in this haunting and richly detailed story of twin ballet dancers Olivia and Clara, whose wildly divergent outlooks on life, love, and career draw very different men to each sister, setting off an unanticipated chain reaction of consequences for everyone involved.
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The Girl in the Vault
by Michael Ledwidge
After treachery costs her the chance for a paid position at the bank where she has been working as an unpaid intern, Faye Walker decides to play her own rigged game after discovering the bank keeps $10 million in cash just in case of kidnapping -- like the kidnapping she's about to stage to gain access to the money for herself.
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The Helsinki Affair
by Anna Pitoniak
Career ambitions clash harshly with personal concerns when CIA agent Amanda Cole's newest assignment leads her to discover shocking information about her retired agent father and his activities during the Cold War, which she must decide whether or not to reveal to her superiors.
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Beirut Station
by Paul Vidich
While trying to prevent the assassination of an American official, Lebanese-American CIA agent Analise Assad forms complex personal connections with the grandson of a Hezbollah militant, and with a Mossad agent who shares her goals but has his own ideas about civilian collateral damage.
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The Trade Off
by Sandie Jones
Novice reporter Jess Townsend lands her dream job at British tabloid The Globe, hired by an editor who makes promises about helping the paper shed its sleazy reputation. But taking anyone in the office at their word will have dire consequences for both Jess and the celebrities whose private lives the paper goes to such great lengths to pry into.
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Someone you trust
by Rachel Ryan
Taking a nannying job in picturesque West Cork, Amy, welcomed with open arms by the Carroll family, soon discovers things are not as they seem in the idyllic rural community and with the Carroll's themselves—and the refuge she sought could be the most dangerous place of all.
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