81 books like The Institution

This may be one of my favorite mysteries; I could barely put the book down. Granted, this title is not full of examples of faith precisely, but Agatha Christy was a devout Anglican (like C.S. Lewis). If one is going to write mysteries, one must appreciate Agatha Christy. She was an incredibly prolific author of some truly high-quality fiction. 

This was the first title I read of hers, and it set me on a path to begin collecting her books. This tale has so many elements that build tension and create a great mystery—from the isolation of the setting to suspicion and general confusion. It is a masterpiece of a whodunit.

This island mystery is set on a chilly resort off the coast of Ireland, so you won’t need sunscreen here, but you will need stamina as you’re once again trapped.

I loved this cast of characters attending the wedding of a glamorous and famous bride and groom. Media celebrities are so much fun to read about. But the real star of the show is the hostile setting and the menacing characters who are all there for something, some cleverly hiding their true motives until the very end.

A fast, propulsive read. 

During lockdown I was invited to take part in an online event with three other authors, one of whom was Phoebe Morgan.

I read all three authors’ books in preparation and was quickly drawn into The Wild Girls. The locked room in this case is a luxury lodge in Botswana, the cast of characters four friends who have avoided each other for the past couple of years.

And then one of the four invites the others to celebrate her birthday with a trip to Africa, all expenses paid. But when the trio arrives the hostess is nowhere to be seen. Nor are there any staff and the lodge itself is isolated.

And then the promised party becomes a nightmarish fight for survival.  

I first met Laura at Theakston’s Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate not long after reading her debut novel, Friend Request and I’ve been a fan of her writing ever since.

And so, when I was offered an advance copy of My Husband’s Killer, I jumped at the chance. Laura does interpersonal relationships brilliantly and I knew I was in for an intriguing read.

The novel opens as the victim’s widow prepares for his funeral, having learned a shocking secret about her husband who drowned off the Amalfi coast.

What she thought had been an accident now looks very different and so we go back in time, gradually filling in the gaps until the truth emerges.

This is an older dark romantic suspense but well worth the read, especially if you like conflict.

A serial killer and two wounded souls. The conflict and suspense are off the pages. It is an older book, but I re-read at least once a year. Superb writing. Superb storyline. Jack and Laurel are broken in different ways.

Jack is the bad boy you want to cheer for and Laurel the wounded former prosecutor who sees the good that Jack believes doesn’t exist. All this whle a serial killer plays cat and mouse with Laurel.

Bad Jack wants no one to care for but can’t help being drawn to Laurel.

There’s nothing scarier than answering personal ads to a complete stranger in my opinion. Women in Loves Music, Loves to Dance who answers a personal ad find themselves the next victim of a serial killer. What makes this particularly frightening is that the situation actually happens in real life. This book might make you rethink answering that personal ad in the newspaper or online. That’s what makes this book a nail-biter and keeps you up until all hours of the night. It is a fun read, and I highly recommend it. 

Deeper than the Dead is so well written! It took me a bit to get into since it jumps around a bit, and there are a ton of characters, but the budding romance between Anne and Tony kept me hooked through the entire thing!

This one is more of a police procedural, but I really enjoyed the start of their relationship! This book is part of a series, which I absolutely love as well! The longer I can stay in a setting, the better! The suspense in this one was a little more of the focus, but I still had to include it! I read it in 2023, and it has stayed with me!

A romantic suspense with an unlikely hero with a dark, murderous past and a female FBI agent with a history that haunts her.

It is packed with action and an ending that will shock you. It’s a story of redemption, self-forgiveness, and righting wrongs. A real page-turner.

Alex Parker has become one of my all-time favorite characters. A former CIA agent and now a computer wizard is forced to kill those that escape justice to settle a debt. 

It may be a cliche but my first experience with nordic noir was The Killing (Forbrydelsen). This Danish TV series in which inspector Sarah Lund goes in search of the murderer of a young girl fascinated me enormously. Not only because of the oppressive atmosphere that grabs you by the throat at times, but also because of the fantastic character development. The series was created by Søren Sveistrup, the author of the equally magisterial The Chestnut Man. The book begins when a young woman is found horribly mutilated in a playground on a chilly October morning. Next to her is a doll made of chestnuts and sticks. When a chestnut man is also found at the scene of a subsequent murder, it is clear that a serial killer is at work.

I read this long ago, but its sensual southern essence stays with me. Less action but definitely suspenseful, it pairs a chilly violinist needing some time to hide away with a sexy southern charmer from a wealthy family who may be her undoing…or he may be a killer. I like, and have written, these kinds of stories with heroes who are also suspects. In a romantic suspense, though, we readers *know* that the hero is *not* going to be the killer. Where’s the HEA in that??? But we can be uneasy about him, which is all part of the ride!