Domestic Crime

Two gripping novellas from the number one international best-selling author. Women Without Mercy and Truth or Dare.

Everything seems picture-perfect in the town of Fairview, Connecticut, until one night the unthinkable happens: a young woman, Jenny Kramer, is brutally attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately thereafter, Jenny is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, she wrestles with her raging emotional memory.

Julia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. So when Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. But a sudden attack leaves the campus stunned—and only Julia’s quick actions save Cora’s life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn’t as random as everyone believes?

Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. But when Lisa meets some of the locals and hears some disturbing rumours about the house, she realises it might not be the sanctuary she thought. What secret has Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? And what will Lisa have to do to survive when her own past finally catches up with her?

On the day Nina and Conrad Best move into their new home in picture-perfect Willow Close a body is discovered. Hurrying inside with their belongings, they see horrified neighbours gather by the police cordon - one of the residents has been attacked and brutally killed in the woods. Believing someone must have seen the murderer, the police interview all the residents of the Close. They soon find out that each neighbour harbours their own secrets.

Set against a ticking clock, this "haunting" and "atmospheric" thriller pits a ruthless cult against a mother's love, revealing that our darkest secrets are the hardest ones to leave behind (Sally Hepworth, New York Times best-selling author of The Good Sister).

We all know someone like Becca. She has the job everyone wants, a designer wardrobe, a hot-shot lawyer boyfriend, holidays to exotic locations. And she flaunts her perfect life all over social media. It drove her colleague Lizzie mad, but she couldn't stop looking. They were never really friends - and yet Lizzie knew everything about her. Or did she? When chance and a terrible mistake pull Lizzie back into Becca's orbit years after they lost touch, she'll realise that you can't always believe what you see online...and that finding out the truth might be the worst thing you can do.

Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand-new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and quiet is interrupted by an urgent call from Social Services. A man has been stabbed, and Social Services need to find an emergency placement for his little girl. Maggie is used to children arriving on her doorstep at all times of the day and night, but nothing can prepare her for the sight of 11-year-old Nancy.

Le quartier est sous le choc en apprenant la mort d'Amanda Grayson. La veille au soir, elle avait pris part avec son mari, Zach, à une soirée libertine, mais chacun était rentré de son côté. Entre la mare de sang et le club de golf au pied de l'escalier, personne ne croit à l'accident. Incarcéré à Rikers Island, Zach fait appel à Lizzie, qu'il a fréquentée à l'époque où ils faisaient leurs études de droit. Il jure qu'il n'a pas tué sa femme, et elle est, semble-t-il, la seule à pouvoir le sortir de là.

Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives when they accept an offer to stay in a luxurious cabin in the Norwegian fjords. Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and when they meet the couple from the neighbouring cabin, Karin tells a little white lie – a lie that grows ever bigger, entangling her and Kai in a nightmare series of deceits with absolutely no means of escape.

NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex - a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD - got away with murder. When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case.

Profiler and therapist Kes Lashibi is shocked when she finds a baby on the backseat of her car, with an unsigned note asking her to take care of him. Kes has a pretty good idea who the mother is - Brandee, a popular social media star with a troubled background, who once lived in Kes's house. Recently, the seemingly bright and bubbly Brandee's videos changed in tone before she completely dropped out of the limelight. Kes is beginning to understand why. And if the internet rumours are true, Brandee's life could be in real danger.

Kicking off season three of their hit reality TV show Domestic Partners is a home renovation project with an irresistible hook. Woods Hall is a lavish 1913 manor home in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, once belonging to the town's founding family. It also comes with its own ghost. Twenty-five years ago during a Halloween night party, automotive heiress and beauty queen Emma Wheeler-Woods, wearing a white Princess Diana wedding gown as a costume, fell from a third-floor balcony to her death. Or was she pushed?

Sadie Wilson’s heart stops the moment the phone rings. Deep in her soul, she knows what’s coming, and the voice on the other end only confirms her fears: Emma never made it to school. Her sweet, scared five-year-old climbed onto the bus for her very first day of kindergarten…and then vanished.

When Hannah and Jasper move to Silverbanks, a luxury gated neighbourhood, it’s a dream come true. This house, with its floor-to-ceiling glass doors, direct access to the sandy beach, and close-knit, caring community, will be the perfect place to raise their precious daughter, Pia. And then Hannah meets her next-door neighbour. The flicker of recognition in his eyes only lasts for a second, but it’s enough. Suddenly, her safe haven has become the most dangerous place she could be. Unless she does something about it.

"If anything ever happens to me, promise me that you will see that there is an investigation...And find Ann Rule and ask her to write my story," Sheila Blackthorne Bellush told her sister after she divorced multimillionaire Allen Blackthorne. Now, in perhaps the first book ever written at a victim's request, America's best selling true-crime writer, Ann Rule, untangles a horrific web of lies that culminated in Sheila's savage murder more than 10 years after she left Blackthorne.

Alison is happily married to Graham, or at least she is until she discovers that he has been cheating on her. Her husband has broken the vows that he made on their wedding day. How could he do it? It takes Alison a while to figure it out, but at least she has time on her side. Only that is where she is wrong. A devastating diagnosis means the clock is ticking faster now, and the betrayed wife must act fast if she wants revenge on her cheating partner. Alison does just that, implementing a dangerous and deadly plan, and it's one that will have far-reaching consequences.

Sally Proulx and her young boy have mysteriously disappeared in the stormy town of High River. Clare is hired to track them down, hoping against all odds to find them alive. But High River isn’t your typical town. It’s a place where women run to—women who want to escape their past. They run to Helen Haines, a matriarch who offers them safe haven and anonymity. Pretending to be Sally’s long-lost friend, Clare turns up and starts asking questions, but nothing prepares her for the swirl of deception and the depth of the lies.

It was an ordinary school day, the day I lost my little brother. One moment he was on the roundabout and then was gone. Gone. Missing. They all blamed me. I was in charge. Even though I was only ten years old. They sent me away. The hurt, the shame, the questions. The not knowing. I tried to move on. It’s been nineteen years in exile and now somebody wants me back. Someone with a dark secret.

Bella has the perfect life with her husband Jack and their two children – until the ex who stalked her years ago is released from prison. Now Bella is convinced he’s back to hurt her, and sees him everywhere – but no one else can see that anything is wrong. With her family away for the weekend, Bella determines to leave the past in the past – but she’s about to discover the danger is closer to home than she ever imagined.