This book represents the first serious consideration of the 'domestic noir' phenomenon and, by extension, the psychological thriller. The only such landmark collection since Lee Horsley's The Noir Thriller, it extends the argument for serious, academic study of crime fiction, particularly in relation to gender, domestic violence, social and political awareness, psychological acuity, and structural and narratological inventiveness. As well as this, it shifts the debate around the sub-genre firmly up to date and brings together a range of global voices to dissect and situate the notion of 'domestic noir'. This book is essential reading for students, scholars, and fans of the psychological thriller.

In this chilling psychological thriller debut, one woman’s dark past becomes another’s deadly future. In 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She’d been enjoying her summer break: working at a fast-food restaurant, crushing on an older boy and shoplifting with her best friend. Mysteriously ominous things began to happen—a presence in her room at night, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched—though Bec remained oblivious of what was to come. Eleven years later she is replaced. A young woman, desperate after being arrested, claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the impostor is living Bec’s life. Sleeping in her bed. Hugging her mother and father. Learning her best friends’ names. Playing with her little brothers. But Bec’s welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the impostor dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter—and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger. Praise for Only Daughter “Twisty, slippery, and full of surprises, this web of lies will ensnare you and keep you riveted until you’ve turned the final page.” —Lisa Unger, New York Times–bestselling author of Ink and Bone “[A] dark and edgy debut. . . . Truly distinctive and tautly told, Only Daughter welcomes a thrilling new voice in crime fiction.” —Mary Kubica, New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Girl “Snoekstra’s excellent debut stands out in the crowded psychological suspense field with smart, subtle red herrings and plenty of dark and violent secrets. Recommend to genre aficionados and readers who enjoyed Lisa Lutz’s The Passenger.” —Library Journal (starred review)

How far would you go to protect your secrets? Greece, 1980 Emma takes part in a shattering, violent event. An event to which she is anything but an innocent bystander. She is only eighteen, but this marks her fall from innocence. It will haunt her for the rest of her life. London, now Kate has the perfect existence: a glossy image, a glamorous home, a perfect family. But there are cracks. All is not what it seems. And now the two worlds are about to collide. Somebody's out for revenge. Someone who has been waiting thirty years...

'It seemed simple at first - folding one lie over the next. She had become expert at feathering over the cracks to ensure her life appeared the same. But inside, it didn't feel fixed.' It happened the day of the Moon Festival. It could have been left behind, they all could have moved on with their lives. But secrets have a habit of rising to the surface, especially in small towns. Two couples, four ironclad friendships, the perfect coastal holiday town. With salt-stung houses perched like lifeguards overlooking the shore, Lago Point is the scene of postcards, not crime scenes. Wife and mother Abbi, town cop Blake, schoolteacher Hannah and local doctor Will are caught in their own tangled webs of deceit. When the truth washes in to their beachside community, so do the judgements: victim, or vigilante, who will forgive, who will betray? Not all relationships survive. Nor do all residents.

The greatest noir romance of all time, Laura won lasting renown as an Academy Award-nominated 1944 film: “an intriguing melodrama. . . . A top-drawer mystery.” (The New York Times) A brutal murder. A tough detective. And a woman who kept men spellbound—even after her death. Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms—not even the hardboiled NYPD detective sent to investigate her murder. As this cop probes the mystery of Laura’s death, he finds himself drawn to the mere idea of her. As the circumstances surrounding her death become more intriguing, he comes to a startling realization—he’s in love with a dead woman. But is she even dead? Vera Caspary’s equally haunting novel is remarkable for its stylish, hardboiled writing, its electrifying plot twists, and its darkly complex characters—including a woman who stands as the ultimate femme fatale. Femmes Fatales restores to print the best of women’s writing in the classic pulp genres of the mid-20th century. From mystery to hard-boiled noir to taboo lesbian romance, these rediscovered queens of pulp offer subversive perspectives on a turbulent era.

Drawing on cases, Stark identifies the problems with our current approach to domestic violence, outlines the components of coercive control, and then uses this alternate framework to analyse the cases of battered women charged with criminal offenses directed at their abusers.

A gripping, twisty new thriller from the bestselling author of The Ice Beneath Her, perfect for fans of Will Dean's Dark Pines. A case as cold as the season. A profiler who can't remember. A killer ready to strike again. Psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön and her partner, investigator Peter Lindgren are invited to the small, sleepy industrial town of Ormberg to investigate a cold case: ten years earlier a five-year-old girl's remains were found in a cairn near the town. But when a recurring memory problem resurfaces, Hanne struggles to keep track of the case. She begins keeping a diary, noting down everything she is likely to forget to keep up appearances so she doesn't lose her job. When the body of a woman is found at the cairn and one of Hanne's shoes is found nearby covered in the victim's blood, can Hanne's diary hold the key to what happened? How does this new murder connect to their old one? How can you put together what happened when the pieces keep fading away?

'Wow what a book... I stayed up late into the night to find out what happened' Goodreads reviewer ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Wayland family - Lara and Marcus and their three children - leave England to spend a long, hot summer in Trout Island, Upstate New York. Lara, still reeling from an abortion that Marcus insisted on, hopes the summer away from home will give her time to learn to love her husband again. A chance meeting at a party reacquaints the family with Marcus's old actor friend, Stephen, with whom Lara once had an affair. Lara feels herself drawn towards Stephen and they pick up their secret relationship where they left off. Lara knows she's playing a dangerous game; what she doesn't know is that it's also a deadly one. A dark and gripping psychological thriller with a twist you won't see coming, perfect for fans of Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly and Gillian Flynn. Why readers love Every Vow You Break: 'Dangerously addictive' Erin Kelly 'Great book with a twist at the end that I didn't see coming!' Goodreads reviewer ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Crouch excels at creating atmosphere... An entertaining rollercoaster of a read' Guardian 'A twisting beast of a plot with a building sense of menace and a shocking climax' Stylist 'I thoroughly enjoyed this book and did not want to put it down' Goodreads reviewer ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'There is never a dull moment' Goodreads reviewer ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Hot on Sophie Hannah's heels' Mirror

Fourteen chilling tales from the pioneering women who created the domestic suspense genre Murderous wives, deranged husbands, deceitful children, and vengeful friends. Few know these characters—and their creators—better than Sarah Weinman. One of today’s preeminent authorities on crime fiction, Weinman asks: Where would bestselling authors like Gillian Flynn, Sue Grafton, or Tana French be without the women writers who came before them? In Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, Weinman brings together fourteen hair-raising tales by women who—from the 1940s through the mid-1970s—took a scalpel to contemporary society and sliced away to reveal its dark essence. Lovers of crime fiction from any era will welcome this deliciously dark tribute to a largely forgotten generation of women writers.

A life-changing secret destroys an unlikely friendship in this "magnetic" psychological thriller from the Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Turnout (Meg Wolitzer). You told each other everything. Then she told you too much. Kit has risen to the top of her profession and is on the brink of achieving everything she wanted. She hasn't let anything stop her. But now someone else is standing in her way: Diane. Best friends at seventeen, their shared ambition made them inseparable. Until the day Diane told Kit her secret -- the worst thing she'd ever done, the worst thing Kit could imagine -- and it blew their friendship apart. Kit is still the only person who knows what Diane did. And now Diane knows something about Kit that could destroy everything she's worked so hard for. How far would Kit go to make the hard work, the sacrifice, worth it in the end? What wouldn't she give up? Diane thinks Kit is just like her. Maybe she's right. Ambition: it's in the blood . . . Shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award