Here are 79 books that The Good Samaritan fans have personally recommended if you like
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Throughout my teenage and early adult years, I experienced episodes of mental illness. Thankfully, it seems to be behind me, but it's not something I’ll ever forget, and I find myself deeply intrigued by the manifestations of those darker aspects in others. Some people hurt themselves and some hurt others, the common thread is the presence of pain and suffering. As heartrending as this reality is, it holds a certain fascination for me, both in real life and in literature. That’s why I write about it; that’s why I read about it.
I liked this book, not just because I’m a fan of detective stories, whodunnits, and the like, but more so for the deep dive into the understanding of why the antagonist, Francis, became what he became.
It’s hard to make a character believable when that character does things that, to most of us, are unthinkable, but the author here succeeds and wraps it up into a decent read.
From the author of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Black Sunday", this is the book that introduces the most famous serial killer of them all - Hannibal Lecter.
I’ve always been fascinated by the sea. I grew up near the gentle waters of England’s Kent coast, then went to St Andrews University, surrounded by the treacherous North Sea. Finally, I discovered the Devon shores, which inspired Agatha Christie. In island thrillers like hers, the power of the sea becomes overwhelming. It holds suspects at bay, becomes a murder weapon, and constrains both innocent and guilty until justice is done. For me, this is the ‘locked room’ mystery in its purest form: an isolated location and a limited number of suspects–causing unlimited amounts of tension. I hope you love these stories as much as I do.
I found this book sinister and compelling, playing as it does with ideas of madness and sanity, innocence, and guilt.
It is full of layers and constantly made me second-guess my theories on where the plot was heading. I also liked the fact that the author said he was inspired by the works of the Brontë sisters, whom I studied at university.
I could feel echoes of their work in the claustrophobia and chaos of this book.
The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, “Startlingly original.” The Washington Post raves, “Brilliantly conceived and executed.” A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the reader into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia andis unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
Throughout my teenage and early adult years, I experienced episodes of mental illness. Thankfully, it seems to be behind me, but it's not something I’ll ever forget, and I find myself deeply intrigued by the manifestations of those darker aspects in others. Some people hurt themselves and some hurt others, the common thread is the presence of pain and suffering. As heartrending as this reality is, it holds a certain fascination for me, both in real life and in literature. That’s why I write about it; that’s why I read about it.
I recommend this book because, to me, it is unique–I’ve never read a book like it. It’s an interesting plot, end-of-the-world stuff, with some very unlikeable, low-life characters. It’s set in a very dark version of London that I know and love, in a pub environment similar to the one that I grew up in.
There is murder on the cards throughout the story, but the author still manages to squeeze in some humor. It’s just a different style of writing that I think people should give a try.
London Fields is Amis's murder story for the end of the millennium—"a comic murder mystery, an apocalyptic satire, a scatological meditation on love and death" (The New York Times).
The murderee is Nicola Six, a "black hole" of sex and self-loathing intent on orchestrating her own extinction. The murderer may be Keith Talent, a violent lowlife whose only passions are pornography and darts. Or is the killer the rich, honorable, and dimly romantic Guy Clinch?
Here, Amis is "by turns lyrical and obscene, colloquial and rhapsodic." —Michiko Kakutani
I love a good short story that can convey character, emotion, and complexity. While a novel allows the writer (and the reader) to delve into the chaotic complexity of a single set of characters, a good short story collection can explore a range of humanity and a diversity of moods or feelings. This was my motivation in writing my book. I believe a good short story collection on a well-grounded theme (such as the contributions to this list by Doerr, Kundera, and Munro) can often reveal more about human nature than an excellent novel.
While I ordinarily do not gravitate toward excessively packaged stories that are written for the inevitable twist, I make an exception for Dahl because of his mastery of the genre. His characters, such as Mary Maloney, the police detective wife whose misdeed is the focus of the title story, or Boggis, the scheming antique dealer in Parson’s Pleasure, are meticulously rendered with compassion and humor.
And, although the twists are far from unexpected, the very credible, human delivery makes these stories delightful to read and paragons of the craft of short story writing.
Lamb to the Slaughter: Un salotto perfetto e accogliente, una moglie premurosa, innamorata e incinta di sei mesi, e un marito poliziotto che, di punto in bianco, le comunica che sta per lasciarla. A questo punto, un cosciotto surgelato di agnello può diventare un’arma impropria, nelle mani della mogliettina sotto shock...
The Wish: Ci vuole una notevole forza di volontà per decidere di attraversare quell'enorme tappeto colorato, i cui disegni rossi nascondono carboni ardenti in grado di incenerirti sul posto, e quelli neri serpenti velenosi pronti a mordere e uccidere. Solo gli spazi gialli sono sicuri, ma ce ne saranno…
I wear so many hats that if I murdered you, you wouldn’t know which one of me struck. I am a crime fiction writer, a producer, a public speaker, and an entrepreneur. I have to admit I am an accidental writer who wanted to leave a legacy behind and, ergo, wrote a book in 2010. But I found writing crime fiction so addictive I became a serial killer…err…writer. In my spare time, I read—spoiler alert!—crime fiction and binge-watch crime shows. I am an avid golfer, I love music and traveling, and I find something in the sound of water that encourages me to write and murder a few more people (fictionally, of course).
Once in a while, every author reads a book they wish they had written. This book is the one for me.
Jannie, a once-bestselling-now-struggling crime writer, unable to lend authenticity to her plots and voice, decides to carry out a multi-million-dollar heist to give a fact-based and realistic account. However, to accomplish her plan, she teams up with her partner to recruit men from the wrong side of town. Together the team members scout targets and rehearse the various escape routes. Jannie’s plan is to call off the make-believe caper a day before the heist. But…the hustlers she’s recruited won’t take orders from her any longer, not when over a million dollars are within touching distance.
In the words of Sanders himself: “Crime never felt so good!”
My first book love was Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The game between author and reader that centers a whodunit has always delighted me. The breadcrumb trail of clues, the misdirection, the inevitable I should have seen it! are my jam. Now an author of whodunits—I have one series published and a second on the way, along with several short stories – I read mysteries with greater scrutiny—in admiration and with a selfish desire to learn from other authors’ envious talents. Each of the books on my list excited me for their excellent storytelling. In the end, I found them just plain entertaining. I hope you do too!
Up for a small-town Southern church lady amateur sleuth that kicks ass? After reading Danielle Arceneaux’s cozy-defying debut, my answer is yes!
Story hero Glory Broussard is a small-time bookie, loyal friend, exasperating mother, and intrepid detective. I found myself shaking my head, thinking Oh, no she didn’t! And loving her for it! I admire Arceneaux for crafting Glory as a complicated, hilarious, and surprising character—in other words, a stellar protagonist who is utterly and truly unique.
And there’s more. The bayou setting, Glory’s coffee shop hangout, local criminals, and small-town gossipy intrigue all meld into a steamy, irresistible plot I couldn’t get enough of.
The first in a vivid and charming crime series set in the Louisiana bayou, introducing the hilariously uncensored amateur sleuth Glory Broussard. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club.
*A New York Times Book Review Best Crime Novel of the Year*
*A Washington Post Best Mystery Novel of the Year*
It's a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend-a nun beloved by the community-has…
I’ve been obsessed with murder mysteries and psychological thrillers for as long as I can remember. My father’s bookshelves were full of anthologies on serial killers, which piqued my curiosity at a very early age (probably too early, but we’re not here to judge my dad’s parenting skills, okay?). As I familiarized myself with the likes of Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, and John Wayne Gacy, I became enthralled by the psychology behind what makes people commit heinous acts. Now as an author myself, these same stories fuel my inspiration and keep me motivated to write books that further explore the darker side of human nature.
This book was full of nail-biting suspense that left me thirsting for more every time I was forced to put it down. And that ending—holy cow! I was not expecting such a shocking twist after what already turned out to be a thrilling showdown between the main character and the villain.
I could easily see this becoming a hit horror/thriller movie; it was just that captivating. I’ve already added All The Lies by this same author to my reading list so I can continue devouring her work!
Joanne knows how lucky she is, Richard is a wonderful husband, Evie is the most gorgeous baby girl, they live in a beautiful house, life couldn't be better. But then Richard's twenty-year-old daughter Chloe turns up. Chloe hasn't spoken to her father since the day he married Joanne two years ago. But with the arrival of her baby sister Evie, Chloe wants to make peace. Richard is delighted, and since Joanne is struggling with the new baby, he suggests Chloe could move in and help. It sounds like the perfect solution, even if Chloe doesn't seem to like Joanne very…
When I started writing mysteries, beginning with St. Martin’s Malice Award-winning Southern Fried,I wanted to get the medical, investigative, and courtroom details right. What better resource than good first-hand accounts from professionals who do those things every day? I must admit that, over several decades now, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. Real life is full of stories that, if told as fiction, would leave readers rolling their eyes in disbelief. The gruesome and cruel don’t interest me. I’m drawn to the storytellers who can capture the worst moments and turn them into finely written, compelling, accurate stories, showing us the complexity of life.
This collection features a range of stories, a range of time and places, written by many of the best true-crime writers. Goodman, himself a master storyteller, has pulled together a wide sampling of all manner of crimes stories, all well-told. Goodman wisely included his own likely solution to one of my favorite unsolved crimes, the Liverpool case of Julia Wallace, which has fascinated novelists from Raymond Chandler to Dorothy L. Sayers and P.D. James.
More than 32 accounts of murder by crime historians and fiction writers as well as analyses of how criminals are brought to justice, of how others get away with it, a section on executions and executioners, the perils of eye-witness evidence and a discussion of what makes a good murder.
Garrett Epps is the author of two published novels and five works of non-fiction about the U.S. Constitution. He graduated from Duke Law School in 1991; since then he has taught Constitutional Law at the American University, the University of Baltimore, Boston College, Duke University, and the University of Oregon. For ten years he was Supreme Court Correspondent for The Atlantic, and covered from close up cases involving the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage, and the Trump Administration’s immigration policies. He is now Legal Affairs Editor of The Washington Monthly, and at work on a novel about crime and justice during the years of Southern segregation.
This novel is in many ways the precise opposite of a “courtroom thriller.” The murder trial depicted is not upended by surprise evidence, witnesses do not blurt out confessions, and the outside world takes little notice of what is transpiring in the courtroom. But prosecutor Abner Coates is a memorable portrait of a man for whom the law has become an entire world. A powerful courtroom moment punctures Abner’s professional irony, when he imagines looking at himself through the eyes of the defendants, and he realizes that despite his good nature and intentions, to them he is a savage enemy trying to kill them.
In The Just and the Unjust, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Gould Cozzens examines the ways in which freedom under the law operates in a democracy when a murder trial dominates the life of a small town.
I’ve written four true crime books about Texas murders. The first, Wasted, was about the murder of a rich lesbian in Austin, Texas. It was a New York Times bestseller. My last, The Fortune Hunter, was about the murder of a multi-millionaire media mogul. It was the basis of the Lifetime TV movie Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer. I have since started writing memoir. Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality was about my journalistic exploration into the worlds of alternative sex practices, written through my uptight, prudish Texan, wide-opened eyes. It was featured on Katie Couric’s talk show, Katie.
After reading a lot of true crime, I need a break from reality. That’s when I escape into murderous thrillers by May Cobb, an author many people call the Jackie Collins of Texas.
Whereas Jackie wrote about the glamorous and cosmopolitan, May writes about the small-town scions of East Texas, who thinkthey’re glamorous and cosmopolitan.
A Likeable Woman, which comes out July 11, 2023, revolves around Kira, who has believed since she was 12 years old that her mother was murdered. Everyone else in Longview, Texas, including her grandmother and sister, knows that Sadie Foster committed suicide.
Decades later, Kira learns that her grandmother holds an unpublished memoir written by Sadie that indicates Kira might have been right all along.
A Likeable Woman contains everything that drives my writing passions—murder, memoir, and East Texas—and reads at breakneck speed.
Kira’s back in her affluent hometown for the first time in years and determined to unravel the secrets of her mother’s death--hidden in the unpublished memoir she left behind-- even if it kills her. . . .
After her troublemaker mother’s mysterious death, Kira fled her wealthy Texas town and never looked back. Now, decades later, Kira is invited to an old frenemy’s vow renewal celebration Though she is reluctant to go, there are things pulling her home. . . like chilled wine and days spent by the pool . . . like her sexy teenage crush, Jack. But more…
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