Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Psychological

Sara is lonely. No one talks to her - not even her bad-tempered workaholic husband or her two beloved sons. Her solace is her house, the biggest in the village, hidden away behind high hedges. Then she strikes up a friendship with Katie, a college student living nearby, and a new world opens up. Her neighbours have been dying to get to know her, and they rush to help when Sara is devastated by a terrible accident.

Sam Cooper has a happy life: a good job, a blossoming relationship. Yet, there's something he can never forget - the image seared into his mind of his mother, Laurie, dying when he was a child. His father allowed his grief to tear them apart, and Sam hasn't seen him in years. Until an unexpected call from Firwood hospital, asking Sam to come home, puts in motion a chain of devastating events. On his deathbed, Sam's father makes a shocking confession.

Two weeks ago: I woke up in a hotel room next to a dead man, with no memory of the night before. Panicked, I cleared up any trace that I was there and fled. One week ago: I was offered the perfect escape: the chance to housesit a gorgeous villa in a remote corner of Italy. Desperate to get away, I jumped at the chance. Now: The owners have unexpectedly shown up at the house. The only problem? They're the family of the man I woke up next to, two weeks ago.

When Amaya is invited to Kaavi's over-the-top wedding in Sri Lanka, Amaya is surprised and a little hurt to hear from her former best-friend after so many years of radio silence. But when Amaya learns that the groom is her very own ex-boyfriend, she is consumed by a single thought: she must stop the wedding from happening, no matter the cost. But Amaya might not be the only one with a plan to keep the bride from getting her happily ever after. When Kaavi goes missing and is presumed dead, the evidence points towards Amaya.

During a summer heatwave, teenagers are going missing. Junior officer Alex Finn takes the case and fears that the disappearances are linked. In a race against the clock to find and rescue the children alive, Finn and his team are only partially successful. Two of the children are saved, but they were too late for Oliver. And the killer got away. DI Alex Finn is still tormented by the cases of his youth - none more than so than the 2009 kidnappings. And it seems someone else has not forgotten either.

Sara seems to have it all - a thriving practice as a trauma counsellor, a comfortable home, a loving husband and two children. A world away from her troubled past. She's the only one who knows that her entire life is built on a lie. Until a new patient confesses to a crime that hits too close to home. Sara is thrown into a quest to hide the truth: from her family, her co-workers, and most importantly, the police.

New York in the 1990s - impoverished writer Jonathan Dainty takes his wife, Maddie, out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger's car and allowed it to drive her away. More than 20 years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life. Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people.

After dumping her boyfriend, Sadie can't help but say yes when she's invited to visit an island just off the coast of Fiji. The island is exactly what Sadie imagined: paradise. Beautiful sunsets, gorgeous white beaches and with no wifi, Sadie can finally try to escape her past. But she quickly discovers that there's more to the island than meets the eye. Why are only women able to visit? Why is a section of the island off limits? And why does no one seem to want - or be able - to leave? As Sadie begins to question everything, she starts to uncover a dark secret that lurks in this haven.

Ana and Nan are lost after the death of their mother, a renowned author who seemingly killed herself by jumping out of a window. Everyone knows who drove Elena to suicide - her long-time literary critic, Eben. But the twins need proof if they're going to get their revenge. When Eben requests access to Elena's diaries at the National Library where the twins work, desperate to clear his name, they see an opportunity. With careful planning and just a little outside help, the twins lock down the labyrinthine building, trapping their colleagues, the public and most importantly Eben inside.

Newlyweds Lina and Cain don't make it out to their vacation home on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they'd like, so when Cain suggests they rent the property out on weekends, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been special to her family for generations, their neighbours are all signing up to host renters, and to be honest, she and Cain could use the extra money. What could go wrong? At first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up to spend a weekend - and at how much they're willing to pay.

Popular kids Rachel, Penny, Tom and Jake love it when the fun fair comes to their seaside town every year. This year is extra special: it's the last fun fair before the high-flying group leaves for university and they plan to make it a fun fair to remember. Rachel still lives in town, caring for her mother, avoiding everyone. There are rumours about her: how she was supposed to go places, how she never accepted her prestigious scholarship. Before long, the memories from that last carnival come back to haunt them... and Rachel is right back in the House of Horrors once again.

Nuala knows nothing of her husband James' past. He made her swear that she would never contact his family and never, ever visit the place he was from. But now James is dead, and Nuala is alone. Grieving and desperate, she decides to ignore his warning. Nuala is about to find out that some secrets are better left buried - and that uncovering the truth about the man she married will have terrible consequences....

Sam is catapulted back to those teenage years spent with her best friends, teasing out each other's secrets by announcing things they had never, ever done. Pushing each other's boundaries, growing closer and growing up. If only they had stopped there. But they added their own rules. They went from sharing secrets to sharing firsts. First kisses, first drinks, first fake IDs. And that was before it all went spiralling out of control. Before that day in the woods ended it all.

Single White Female meets the psychological suspense of Samantha Downing. When Eleanor Hardwicke's beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by the discovery of a gut-wrenching secret: the man she's grieving isn't her biological dad. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks out the family she never knew she had, finding an infuriatingly enviable half-sister. Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. And this gets Eleanor thinking - aren't good sisters supposed to share?

Where to hide when there's nowhere left to run? Sandrine is asked to empty her late grandmother's house on a small island near the Normandy coast. She soon discovers that its elderly inhabitants haven't left the island since their arrival as children during World War II. Sandrine can tell they are terrified of someone, or something. Yet, they refuse to leave the island. What happened to the children from the holiday camp that was suddenly shut down in 1949? And who was Sandrine's grandmother really?

Maggie is a husband watcher. A snooper, a marriage doctor, a destroyer of dreams, a killer of happy ever afters. She runs her own private detective agency specialising in catching those who cheat. Helene is a husband catcher. A beautiful wife, a doting stepmother, a perfect homemaker and a dazzling presence at parties. She has landed herself with one of the most eligible bachelors in town - handsome property developer Gabe Moreau. Alice is just a teenager. A perfect daughter to Gabe, a kind stepchild to Helene, a tragic girl to a dead mother.

Rebecca Bray has moved on from a childhood she wants to forget. She has the dream fiancé, a loving stepdaughter and a career she's proud of. But with a move back to her hometown of Cornwall, everything she wanted to bury starts to surface. And when her stepdaughter goes missing at a New Year's Eve party, Rebecca must finally face the ghosts of her past - or Ava might never come home safely.

When Lizzie calls off her wedding in the south of France only a week before the big day, not even her closest friends know why. But since the chateau is already paid for, they figure it's the perfect place to take Lizzie's her mind off her suddenly single state. But when the group arrives, the wedding is waiting for them - food, flowers and all. The next day, Lizzie wakes to find her friends have drunkenly revelled in the wedding-that-wasn't - but not all their antics were benign. Someone is set on tormenting Lizzie, and she can't think who.

When Pax, a middle-aged second-rate actor, scores an audition for a blockbuster, he is convinced fate has taken pity on him and he will finally get to spend some time in the limelight. He leaves his flat in a hurry, ignoring the alarming sounds coming from the apartment above. He is beside himself when he learns what devastating consequences his decision had: not only was his neighbour Alex assaulted and left for dead, he is also his girlfriend Emi's son....

When Afrah arrives at Ravenswood Lodge Care Home for the first time, she feels far from home. Her daughter, Amira, didn't want to send her away from the comfort and familiarity of her surroundings but she's struggling to cope. Ravenswood Lodge was meant to be a safe space for Afrah. But when her belongings start vanishing, her family photographs, her jewellery, her pill boxes, Amira and the staff say it's just Afrah's imagination, it's just her failing memory. But Afrah is adamant someone is playing games with her. She knows Ravenswood Lodge isn't safe for her. Someone wants her gone.