Irish Psychological Thrillers

Isobel McKenzie is an experienced and intuitive psychotherapist who is on sabbatical while recovering from illness. Reluctantly she goes to London to help out an old friend, solicitor Peter Wright, who is uneasy about the partisan nature of a proposed divorce settlement. He asks her to meet the couple, Thomas and Anne Banks, to assess the situation. Is Anne, a recovering alcoholic, possibly being coerced into signing an agreement which not only gives Thomas control of all their assets but also sole custody of their son? Isobel immediately senses that something is awry and, despite herself, ...

Sara Keane's husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a "fresh start" in the wake of her nervous breakdown. But three sleepless nights into their new life, Sara understands it's not an entirely fresh start after all: Damien's new boss is his ex-con father, whose contracting business is run with violence and tinged by paramilitary association. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless - all but a prisoner in her own house.

Three years after they narrowly escaped the IRA’s worst punishment for informing, Northern Irish sisters Tessa and Marian Daly have built a new life in Dublin with their young children. Though Tessa is haunted by the abrupt and violent end to her old life, she does her best to immerse herself in the joys of Finn’s childhood and the rhythms of her new job at The Irish Observer. It’s a small island, though, and just as quickly as they disappeared, figures from the sisters’ past surface to drag them back into the conflict.

Lucy, stunning lead singer of a local band, is found dead on a beach. Everyone assumes it’s suicide or accidental death. However, band member Tony thinks his sister Olivia might be involved. Not only was she insanely jealous of Lucy, but her husband Barry died in suspicious circumstances too. Detective Sergeant Kerry Lawlor isn’t convinced its suicide either. The more she looks into the case, the more ‘accidental’ deaths she discovers. As she digs deeper, she finds motive and intrigue at every turn. Following in Lucy’s footsteps is drop-dead gorgeous Roxie. Will Olivia’s ...

A phone call from Belfast shatters Isobel McKenzie’s sleep and her peace. Her nephew, Jack, is safe but two of his friends from Queen’s University are not. Michael is dead and Charlene is in a coma. Isobel leaves for Belfast immediately. The PSNI suspect theft as the motive for the crime but, as Isobel and Jack investigate, they uncover other possible motives: an online bully, a drug connection and ultimately a web of organised crime. A cross-border drug task force is set up and, amidst politics and talk of corruption, the case becomes more and more complicated. Help arrives from London...

'Fans of L J Ross and Elly Griffiths will love this.' A sinister and systematic crime – the hunt for a meticulous and elusive villain. Isobel McKenzie, a psychotherapist, discovers the body of a young woman along the banks of the Shannon. She has been raped and strangled. As the news spreads, other rape victims contact Isobel confidentially. Their stories are so shockingly similar that it is clear a serial rapist is at large. Garda Detective Inspector Eoin Ryan and Sergeant Alanna Finnegan are on the case. As Isobel shares the details of the unreported rapes with them, they realise that a...

A wealthy couple is found brutally murdered. Their young son is missing. And one detective is about to be dragged back into a past he thought he'd buried. Detective Sergeant Conal Brophy is struggling to stay afloat—personally and professionally. When a high-profile double murder shakes the quiet Irish town of Woodstown, Brophy is handed the case that could either redeem his career—or destroy it. But nothing about the crime scene adds up. No witnesses. No motive. And the missing boy, Sean, has vanished without a trace. As Brophy digs deeper, a familiar name from an old, unsolved case ...

‘Chilling, compulsive and beautifully written.’ Brian McGilloway Thrown out of university, green-tea-drinking, meditation-loving Scott McAuley has no place to go but home: County Down, Northern Ireland. The only problem is, his father is there now too. Duke wasn't around when Scott was growing up. He was in prison for stabbing two Catholic kids in an alley. But thanks to the Good Friday Agreement, big Duke is out now, reformed, a counsellor. Squeezed together into a small house, with too little work and too much time to think about what happened to Scott's dead mother, the tension grows...

A new family moves in over the road. The new family is acting strange. This new family has some secrets. From the author of Audible's Thriller of the Year, Silent Child, comes another psychological thriller to keep you guessing until the very end. Performed by Sophie McShera, (Daisy Mason, Downton Abbey), enter the world of a family broken by lies, a woman traumatised by a dark past, and a child caught in the crossfire.

Susan has everything she ever wanted. A loving husband, an angelic daughter and the cottage of her dreams in County Cork. Her picture-perfect life seems too good to be true. And it is. At a housewarming party with their new neighbours, her daughter Amelia goes missing. As friends become suspects, Susan’s life spirals out of control. And when Amelia’s yellow cardigan is dredged from the lake, every parent’s worst nightmare suddenly seems horribly real. In the aftermath of Amelia’s disappearance Susan and her husband Paul are not themselves. Someone is hiding something.

When the past comes calling....run To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven... It's 1959, Detective Nick Jellicoe is posted from the London Met to a quiet seaside town following the loss of his wife. Within a week of his arrival, Colonel Masterson, a local magistrate, is murdered, and his grandson is kidnapped. Rather than demand a ransom, the kidnapper begins to send cryptic messages that suggest his real motive is something else: revenge. Meanwhile a war is brewing between the two main criminal gangs in the town. Jellicoe's trip to the seaside is ...

On the night of a fierce storm, Reilly seeks refuge from the elements in the imposing abode of Manor Lannigan. There, over dinner, the current Lord recounts the tale of his ancestors Alice and Edward. When Lannigan's story ends and bedtime beckons, will it all end well for Reilly? With Five Stars from Readers' Favorite, The Cries of Manor Lannigan is a marvelous and haunting tale of the supernatural that will linger in the imagination long after you've finished reading.

Ronald Byrne, a teacher in in a 1980s Dublin school is the debating society's founder. He is fastidious in appearance, reliable, and never out sick. He dyes his hair, and almost always looks the same. However, he also possesses the condition of being unmemorable. Everyone knows little-to-nothing about his private life. Plus, they aren't the least bit inquisitive. Fr. Noel O'Loughlin, is an art teacher in the same school. He is cruel and sadistic, and punishes anyone who appears to have blemished the white walls of his classroom, which he paints himself. On the night of the season's opening ...

In rural Ireland, Jeremiah Kildare lives alone in the house he was born in. His is a simple life marked by isolation and loneliness where everyday routines on the farm occupy him from dawn to dusk. Then, while on a break from his usual habits, out recovering an illicit stash of poteen from the bog, he makes a startling discovery. What happens next is the stuff of nightmares. With Five Stars from Readers' Favorite, Jeremiah Kildare is yet another remarkable story from award-winning author, Robert E. Kearns. Now with a Five Star editorial review from Readers' Favorite

A Modern day suspense thriller based around the dangers of social media, what we share, and how we never really know who is watching. A single photo taken in college defined Eve Kelly’s entire life. The iconic image of the falling girl in a red dress brought her unintentional fame. Twenty years later, @beli’EVE, a successful model turned influencer, is a reluctant leader. Over a million people follow her every move but sharing images of a #perfectlife can be dangerous, especially when you have secrets. When someone begins to scratch beneath the glossy surface she presents to the world, ...

Devastated by a broken engagement, Stella Jackson leaves her old life behind for a new start in rural Scotland. But when she arrives in the remote coastal village of Arisaig, nothing is what she expected. At the edge of Arisaig sits Munro House; grand, imposing and said to be cursed by a string of tragic deaths. No less intriguing is its eccentric and handsome young owner, Jamie Munro, who hires Stella as his assistant while he pursues a seemingly impossible aim.

At the Tan Yards, Victor Prizeman bends everyone to his will. Then he surprises them by saying his forefathers worked there as tanners. Next the narrator tells a tale about the Prizeman clan, and how their patriarch met his end. And back in the present, history appears to be repeating itself when Victor demands that he light the annual Halloween bonfire. The Tan Yards is a story that will delight fans of horror, as well as those with a special place in their hearts for Halloween. Now with a Five Star editorial review from Readers' Favorite

For generations, in the shadowed heart of a small Irish town, O’Leary Funeral Directors have been renowned as the silent custodians of death. Their name synonymous with solemn expertise and an eerie, unbroken lineage of undertakers. But beneath their impeccable suits and stoic facades lies a chilling legacy that defies the natural order. When twin brothers Christopher and Andrew are born, the family’s rigid traditions begin to fracture. One boy embraces the macabre with a fervor that borders on obsession. The other recoils from the darkness that defines their trade. As the twins come of...

Budgie has a fondness for funerals. And whenever the opportunity arises, he makes certain to attend. But unknown to everyone, he is also in the habit of making them happen. Hammer 26 is the story of a boy, and then a man with a peculiar penchant for death and its associated rituals. In a patch of wasteland he calls his church, he performs ceremonies as though he were a priest. And later, when it all takes a dark and sinister turn, he brings with him for burial the instrument of bloody murder.

In the idyllic backdrop of Ballycross, County Cork, Seren once reveled in the bliss of marriage to Frenchman André while managing their quaint wine shop. A perfect world, it seemed, until an unforeseen tragedy shattered everything. Determined not to be a mere pawn in the game of fate, Seren takes charge of her destiny. In this journey, she discovers the stark difference between fate and faith—realizing that control is a powerful force. The revelation of an enigmatic email destined for her husband propels Seren into a harrowing mystery. Abandoning the comforts of Ballycross, she ventures ...