Here are 100 books that The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond fans have personally recommended if you like
The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond.
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I’m a full-time novelist now, but for twenty-plus years, I was a practicing attorney. I was a business litigator, representing companies that were suing or being sued by other companies. I toiled away in high-rise office buildings, danced around office politics, and got up close and personal views of how people of every stripe navigate their work and lives in the office. I witnessed sexual harassment, bloodless coups, financial scandals, and professional disgrace—but I also enjoyed the support and encouragement and lifelong friendships that can come from collaborative work experiences. I like to think of the office environment as a petri dish to examine the full range of human behavior.
All Her Little Secrets brings the office thriller into the 21st century. Gone is the stereotypical white male protagonist. Ellice Littlejohn is a woman and an Ivy-educated Black lawyer with a harrowing back story full of poverty, abuse, and addiction. This novel doesn’t shy away from tackling institutionalized corporate racism, but make no mistake: it’s a thriller through and through. It’s wildly entertaining to follow Ellice in a climactic chase scene through office cubicles that are almost as adrenaline-spiked as Vertical Run.
“All Her Little Secrets is a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space.” —Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author
In this fast-paced thriller, Wanda M. Morris crafts a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss . . . A debut perfect for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng, with shades of How to Get Away with Murder…
Bestselling author Candace Havens has published more than 25 books. Her novels have received nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion, Write Touch Reader Awards, and National Reader’s Choice Awards. She is a Barbara Wilson Award winner. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities from George Clooney to Chris Pratt. Candace runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews with Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.
Rachel Howzell Hall keeps the reader guessing in These Toxic Things. Her protagonist Mickie Lambert creates digital scrapbooks, but when her latest client ends up dead, she's determined to find out why someone wants the peculiar objects the woman had given Mickie to preserve. To find the answers, she ends up crossing paths with a serial killer. It's twisty fun, and Hall's characters are ones you won't forget.
A dead woman's cherished trinkets become pieces to a terrifying puzzle.
Mickie Lambert creates "digital scrapbooks" for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren't forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman's last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d'art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain-twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.
But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving…
I have been a writer for almost as long as I have been a reader, and I have always been attracted to the darker side of ordinary life. I write psychological suspense thrillers, always featuring a family in crisis. I am fascinated by what happens behind closed doors and what the headlines do not tell you about a situation. Most people love a good secret exposed, and I am no different. I look at those around me and wonder, ‘What are you hiding?’ because everyone is hiding something. And I want to know what it is.
This domestic suspense novel explores a less traditional family.
Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are foster children who end up together on an idyllic farming estate, but their lives are filled with manipulation, secrets, and lies. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, is a complicated and scary character, and her abuse of her young charges is difficult to read.
SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.
But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three…
I adore suspense, mystery, and romance, but more so, I love books that inspire me and also aren’t necessarily easy to figure out. I’m a published and Christy award-winning author in this genre myself, but I have been reading this genre for over thirty-three years. I would definitely have to say my qualifications as a reader of suspense and mystery far outweigh those of an author. When I read suspense and romance, I look for two key elements: hard-to-figure out suspense and believable romance. I’m not out for bells and whistles as a reader, but instead look for well-crafted stories that are more like a puzzle that must be solved.
This was the first book I read from Natalie Walters and it was fabulous! She is an auto-buy for me with a riveting story that is not only crime-centric but with relatable and real characters! Her romance is light and expertly woven through a story that will keep you guessing, biting your fingernails, and skipping dinner!
In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name--but no one knows your secret. At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.
Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.…
I am a queer writer whose early love of science fiction and fantasy gave me an outlet for my creativity and new ways of seeing myself in the world. It was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Timeline by Michael Crichton that first introduced me to time and space travel in fiction, but it was the new Doctor Who and shows like Twelve Monkeys that made me realize how mad and wonderful stories about time and space travel could be. And once I came to terms with my own queer identities, I saw an obvious space for my own contribution to the time travel canon.
The Space Between Worlds is less time travel than it is parallel dimensional travel but I think it’s worth fibbing for.
Cara is a traverser – someone who can travel between different versions of her world. She retrieves data about those worlds – what went wrong and what went right – and brings it back to her own for study. She can do this because the Caras in these worlds are all dead. Except when one isn’t, royally mucking up her job.
This book is gritty and queer (though I’m not going to promise an ending wrapped up in a bow) and the method of travel the author created makes for a unique and thought-provoking read.
The Sunday Times bestseller. Winner of the Kitschies Golden Tentacle award.
A stunning science fiction debut, The Space Between Worlds is both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.
'My mother used to say I was born reaching, which is true. She also used to say it would get me killed, which it hasn't. Not yet, anyway.'
Born in the dirt of the wasteland, Cara has fought her entire life just to survive. Now she has done the impossible, and landed herself a comfortable life on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley…
I’ve been hooked on true crime podcasts ever since Serial burst onto the scene in 2014. My favourites are set in remote locations and breathe life into long-forgotten cases, giving victims’ families hopes of resolution and delivering justice. Initially dispassionate podcasters often find themselves sucked into the stories they cover, continuing for years in a bid to discover the truth. I’m fascinated by what motivates the men and women behind the microphones, which inspired me to write my own podcast novel. Now Unsolved is out there, I love reading other authors’ takes on true crime podcasters and these are five of my favourites – dark and sinister with buckets of atmosphere!
One of the things that appeals to me about true crime podcasts is the idea that people who have harboured secrets for decades can be ready to set them free.
In Beneath Devil’s Bridge, young true crime podcaster Trinity Scott wants to make a name for herself and interviewing the killer locked up for the shocking murder of a local teenager is her way to do that. Despite having confessed to the crime, he now claims he wasn’t the killer after all.
The revelations aired in the podcast episodes force ex-police officer Rachel Walczak to question everything she thought she knew. Beautifully written, the characters in this book got right under my skin and the small-town backdrop is the perfect setting.
A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.
True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley. More than two decades ago, the respected family man and guidance counselor confessed to the brutal murder of teenage student Leena Rai. But why he killed her has always been a mystery.
In a series of exclusive interviews from prison, Clayton discloses to Trinity the truth about what happened…
I’ve written several action thrillers about main characters who defy the rules. In my opinion, the key to these stories is giving your protagonist a good cause to break the rules for. Readers don’t want to get behind someone who wreaks havoc just to entertain himself. However, readers can identify with someone who’s pursuing an admirable goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it. These stories shouldn’t motivate anyone to break the law in real life. They serve as a metaphor for going against convention to overcome obstacles. Hopefully, my books, and those of other authors, encourage people to take on challenges in ways they haven’t yet considered.
Like various action thrillers, The 6:20 Man features a former Army Ranger protagonist. However, unlike many action stories, this one is set in the world of Manhattan’s finance sector. Pretty unique.
Travis Devine, a former soldier turned low-level investment employee, becomes wrapped up in the investigation of a coworker’s mysterious death. He’s forced to apply a combo of deductive reasoning and physical maneuvering to get to the truth and keep himself alive, all while resisting the demands of his employer and the local police.
I feel this book has all the suspense of an action thriller, plus gives an interesting look at a dark corner of the finance industry. I really liked how calm and collected Devine stays through the story, regardless of the crazy things that come his way.
A cryptic murder pulls a former soldier turned financial analyst deep into the corruption and menace that prowl beneath the opulent world of finance, in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from David Baldacci.
Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the…
I’m a writer, and an enthusiastic reader, of crime fiction. And although I love dark fiction, I’ve realised that subtle humour is the spice that takes a book to the next level for me. Whether it’s a turn of phrase that makes me guiltily cheer along or an interaction with a partner or colleague that makes me wince with recognition, I love dark books that make me smile! These are some of my favourites – I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Set in a vividly described location in the Swiss Alps, Flowers Over the Inferno features a most refreshing protagonist. Teresa Battaglia is in her sixties, stocky, diabetic, and extremely grumpy. What’s not to like? The plot is dark, the location stunning, and the crimes intriguing, but it’s Teresa’s character that made it a stand-out book for me.
A TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH ONE OF M. W. CRAVEN'S BOOKS OF 2019
A ruthless killer is spreading panic in a quiet village in the Italian Alps.
Police Inspector Teresa Battaglia is the only one who can stop them.
But how can you catch a monster when you're slowly losing your mind?
PREPARE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH TERESA BATTAGLIA, A POLICE INSPECTOR LIKE NO OTHER:
'Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, a criminal profile expert, is in her sixties, overweight, lonely, diabetic, full of the ailments of ageing - and delightful. It's rare that a character like Teresa Battaglia enters…
I’ve always loved books and reading, so it’s no surprise I’m an author and blogger. However, feeling strongly about justice and truth, I’ve also been active in the feminist and anti-racist movements. Additionally, I founded The Asian Women Writers Workshop (later known as the Asian Women Writers Collective), whose work has been archived by South Asian Diaspora Arts Archive (SADAA). I’ve been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at several British universities and am a member of PEN International. As a writer of colour (South-Asian heritage), I'm intrigued by the work of diverse writers, their interpretation and focus.
A brilliant novel with more than one mystery at its heart, with more than one truth about human emotions. Beautifully written, unflinching in its depiction of corruption and cruelty; lyrical in its evocation of loss and longing, love and survival. Faraz Ali, a young Pakistani police officer is sent to Shahi Mohalla, the red-light district of Lahore, where a girl has been murdered: not to solve the crime, but to cover it up. However, Faraz Ali has his own tormented history with the Mohalla. And, unknown to him his dimly remembered sister, the beautiful and fiery Rozina, is facing the stark prospect of her own return. A fantastic read, the characters staying in the mind long after the book has been closed.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AND NPR
“Stunning not only on account of the author’s talent, of which there is clearly plenty, but also in its humanity.” —New York Times Book Review (cover)
Sent back to his birthplace—Lahore’s notorious red-light district—to hush up the murder of a girl, a man finds himself in an unexpected reckoning with his past.
Not since childhood has Faraz returned to the Mohalla, in Lahore’s walled inner city, where women continue to pass down the art of courtesan from mother to daughter. But he still remembers the day…
Puzzles intrigued me since I was a three-year-old. Puzzle pieces that fit into pre-sized spaces. Then, disassembling and reassembling small 3-D animal shapes. Crosswords were next. Finally, Nancy Drew entered my life. I was addicted. Sherlock and Agatha became my mentors. But I loved to paint as well, so art was my first major at Michigan State University. Changed it to advertising in my senior year. Shortly after, Leo Burnett hired me to write print and radio media for Buster Brown shoes. Television was next. I solved many advertising puzzles at Foote, Cone & Belding, but after retiring, mystery re-entered my life when I wrote my first book.
Life throws us many curves. How some of us deal with them at times forces an action that is unforgivable. Others take pains to hide the act and watch as another is punished for it.
However, in some cases circumstances recall the unforgivable act and the realization that the ‘guilty’ one who died in prison was also a victim. No matter how much time may pass, or how close the friendship, the threads of secrets unravel. No protagonist crime fighter here, just a friend searching for the truth to discover the real who and the why.
*** PRE-ORDER RUTH WARE'S THRILLING NEW NOVEL, ZERO DAYS, COMING IN PAPERBACK SPRING 2024 ***
THE RICHARD & JUDY PICK
'Deliciously dark and utterly addictive - my favourite Ruth Ware yet' LUCY FOLEY
Everyone wanted her life Someone wanted her dead
It was Hannah who found April's body ten years ago. It was Hannah who didn't question what she saw that day. Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?
She needs to know the truth.
Even if it means questioning her own friends. Even if it means putting her own life at risk.
