So I took some time and went through all the books that I have marked 'Read' on my GR, mainly for the Romantic Suspense square--it is my comfort, go-to genre after all.  But along the way, I found some books I'd like to list as possibilities for other squares as well.

I'm a wimp when it comes to horror, but imagine my surprise when I found how many books I've already read that could be considered horror--either because tagged at GR, or because they just seem to have horror elements.

Anyway...

I've got lists of books to recommend for Romantic Suspense, but I'm going to narrow it down to books I've personally enjoyed, that also might have a bit of a dark, gritty, chilling atmosphere.

First of all, I would recommend anything written by Laura Griffin--her murder mysteries are pretty gritty, and her characters are tough and great to follow.  Not everything she's written is a murder mystery, and there are a couple military romances slipped into her Tracers series.  But for the most part, I've pretty much enjoyed every books of hers I've read.  I personally like to read books in order if it's a series, but her books can be read out of order or as stand-alones.  Untraceable is the first book in her Tracers series, and some of my personal favorite installments include: Snapped, Twisted, Exposed, Shadow Fall, and Deep Dark.  There's also a stand-alone book called Far Gone that's not bad either.

For a more supernatural experience, I would recommend Kay Hooper's Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series, which follows unit of FBI agents who are all psychic.  The truth is, the first few sub-trilogy arcs are pretty good--the most recent ones are kind of draggy.  I personally liked the first four sub-trilogies, and here are some of my personal favorites:

-- Stealing Shadows, Hiding in the Shadows, Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Sleeping Fear.

Hunting Fear has a haunted hotel setting; Stealing Shadows is the first book in the series; Out of the Shadows is the strongest book of the series and has a serial killer.

Kylie Brant's Mindhunter series is also a personal favorite--they can be read as stand-alones as well, but brief references to previous characters will sometimes come up.  

• The first book, Waking Nightmare is not a murder mystery, but a mystery nonetheless with a serial rapist.  
• The second book, Waking Evil has some very subtle paranormal stuff and some significance to do with the woods; also takes place in a small town.
• The third book, Waking the Dead has a serial killer.
• The fourth book is about a kidnapping.
• The fifth book, Deadly Dreams, is my personal favorite, with some paranormal stuff, and a serial arsonist/killer.
• The sixth book is my least favorite, but involves murder.

Cynthia Eden has a trilogy called Deadly that involves teams from a special FBI violent crimes unit.  All three books feature a serial killer, and the first book takes place in a small town:  Deadly Fear, Deadly Heat, Deadly Lies.

Leslie A. Kelly wrote two series I personally enjoyed a lot:  Black CATs and Extrasensory Agents.

Black CATs follows an FBI team that specializes in cyber crimes, and all three books involve a serial killer.  The first book takes place in a small town:  Fade to Black, Pitch Black, Black at Heart.

Extrasensory Agents follows a group of psychic paranormal investigators, so these books may apply to the 'Amateur Sleuth' square as well as 'Supernatural.'  The first and third books take place in a small town.  Cold Sight, Cold Touch, Cold Memory.

I would also like to mention Maggie Shayne's Brown and de Luca series, which was phenomenal!  The first book is called Sleep with the Lights On, and follows Rachel de Luca who, after a corneal transplant, begins to see visions of people being murdered.  So this book would work for the 'Serial/Spree Killer' square, the 'Supernatural' square, and 'Amateur Sleuth' square, since Rachel is a book author.

A non-series book I would recommend is Maggie Shayne's The Gingerbread Man, which really just works for 'Romantic Suspense' and 'Terror in a Small Town.'

I wish I had more stand-alone books to recommend, but it looks like I've mainly been reading series books.  Some other romantic suspense authors I would suggest, however, would be Nora Roberts (duh) and Jayne Ann Krentz and Linda Howard.

 I don't read as many Cozy Mysteries as MbD does, but I DO have a couple particular cozy series I happened to like:

Heather Wells by Meg Cabot -- the first book is Size 12 Is Not Fat

Lucy Valentine by Heather Webber -- the first book is Truly, Madly

Both series are five books long and very enjoyable.

I'm personally planning on reading either the Crocodile on the Sandbank or The Camelot Caper, both books by Elizabeth Peters.  If the library happens to pick up one of my book recommendations before the game ends, I've also requested Devil May Care and The Jackal's Head... which will mean I'll have too many books to choose from...

This book has probably already been mentioned, as it will fit for several other squares, but I read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (actually listened to it as a full-cast audio), and absolutely loved it.  There's murder, ghosts, supernatural... so many possibilities!

Meanwhile, I'm also going to recommend The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, which is a children's ghost story, involving, well, the titular haunted dollhouse.  I read this when I was in middle school and it scared the crap out of me... but I'm a weenie, so that means nothing.

The Ghost Bride is also an excellent book for these two squares, but like The Graveyard Book, it can fit in several other squares as well:  Supernatural, Magical Realism, Chilling Children, Terrifying Women, Diverse Voices... and if the Ox-Headed Patrol Guards from the Underworld count as Monsters, then it can go in that square as well.  And at the risk of giving away some of the end of book stuff, there's a mythological creature in there somewhere too.

Phantom Evil is the first book in Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunters, another series about paranormal law enforcement in the FBI--a bunch of psychics are gathered into a team to investigate murders that might involve ghostly happenings or a haunted house.

I didn't think I'd have anything to contribute to this square, but apparently I've read enough Amanda Quick historical romance/mysteries to have a few recommendations!

'Til Death Do Us Part, The River Knows, Wait Until Midnight, and any of her Arcane Society historical novels would go in this square.  The Arcane Society books also count for 'Supernatural.'  

I consider Deanna Raybourn's books all 'Gothic', though some of them would also fit into the 'Darkest London' square.  I think Silent in the Grave, The Dark Enquiry, and her Veronica Speedwell books all take place in London.  All the books from both Lady Julia Grey and Veronica Speedwell would count towards 'Amateur Sleuth' as well.

• Julia Grey series:  Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Silent on the Moor, The Dark Road to Darjeeling, and The Dark Enquiry
• Veronica Speedwell series:  A Curious Beginning and A Perilous Undertaking

Amanda Stevens' The Graveyard Queen is another great series, considered Gothic, with ghosts and hauntings and murder and mayhem.  I've only read the first three books, but recently learned that there are now six total.  The first book is The Restorer, and while this book would also fit the 'Romantic Suspense' square, there really isn't a whole lot of romance in it.  I would even consider this series to be 'horror' as well.  The second book, The Kingdom, takes place in a small town.

I've only got one author I can think of to recommend for this square: Juliet Marillier.  She loves to use a forest or woods as her setting for a lot of books.  For instance, her young adult high fantasy series, the Shadowfell trilogy (Shadowfell, Raven Flight, The Calling) involve a lot of travel back and forth a forest, and there are fairy creatures significant to the forest.

Moonlight has already mentioned Daughter of the Forest in a previous post, a book that I've been meaning to read forever now, and has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least three years.

Another young adult fantasy by Marillier is Wildwood Dancing, which involves anything from the supernatural, to talking frogs, to vampires, to a Gothic setting in a Transylvanian castle, to a significant forest with fairy creatures and a witch named Draguta.

***

Now that I've rambled on forever, I'm going to hop on over to Murder by Death's Halloween Bingo reading lists and put some of these suggestions there.  This post had been started mainly for the 'Romantic Suspense' square, and there are a lot of other Rom-suspense books I would recommend, but I wanted to focus more on the murder mysteries if I could.

If anyone has missed it, here is a link to MbD's compiled list of links to the Halloween Bingo reading lists.

I read the novella, The Abandoned, and really liked it. This didn't disappoint either! Amelia restores old cemeteries. She can also see ghosts. A body is dumped in a cemetery she is currently working in. This introduces her to detective John Devlin. He is also haunted by 2 ghosts. Amelia gets involved with the investigation.
I was intrigued by this world. In this world, ghosts are parasitic and shouldn't be acknowledged. Amelia was raised to do so. She finds herself breaking these long held rules. She is also drawn to John, and he to her. His ghosts are intriguing. I thought the who-done-it was both interesting, but also a little disappointing and a little anti-climatic.
This definitely is a first in a series book. There is some romance, but not as much as I thought I would get when I started. (Some kissing). Amelia's father has Secrets. I think her mother does too. So, family Secrets. There are MANY unanswered questions (including the Secret Society, and the dark entity she shes- I have questions!). I was glad I read this during the day- creepy!

My father’s rules. I’ve never broken them…until now.

My name is Amelia Gray. I’m a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman’s brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer―and to his other victims―lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy.

To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

Review 4*

This is the first book in the Graveyard Queen series. I really enjoyed it!

Amelia Gray is a wonderful character. I really liked her. She is a grave restorer with a secret. She can see ghosts. However, she has rules that she lives by: Never acknowledge them, speak to them or let them sense your fear. Never stray too far from hallowed ground. Keep away from those who are haunted and never tempt fate. When she stumbles across the body of a young woman in a cemetery, her life is turned upside down. As danger threatens she finds herself attracted to Detective John Devlin, the policeman leading the investigation. Unfortunately, he has his own ghosts haunting him.

I have a passion for ghost stories and when this book was recommended to me by Amazon way back in 2011, I added it to my wish list. It was only in 2014 that I managed to purchase a copy but, due to my large reading list, I hadn't been able to read it until recently.

I started to read this book and didn't put it down until I had finished it. I found myself intrigued with Amelia's career choice. Restoring old cemeteries takes patience and dedication. (I know of a few cemeteries near me that could do with some TLC come to think of it). Adding to her career choice is her ability to see ghosts. This makes her life a little harder and turns her into a bit of a loner, as she is afraid of accidentally attracting the ghosts into her life and harming the ones she loves.

I enjoyed getting to know John Devlin a lot more, as he has a past that is tragic. But, I think that both Amelia and Devlin make a wonderful couple, even if he is haunted by his dead wife and daughter.

This story is a mix of mystery, thriller, police procedural, supernatural ghost story and romance. I found myself holding my breath on occasion as the mystery, suspense and danger had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It is thrilling in places and scary (think spiders and rats and dark places) in others. I also found myself on a roller coaster ride of emotion as the story unfolded. I had tears running down my face during certain scenes. However, I was a little disappointed at the ending even though I knew it was the first book in the series. There were a few loose ends not tied up and, even though it didn't end in a cliffhanger, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied, which, as a reader, I hate. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to continuing this series and reading the next book, The Kingdom, as soon as I can.

Amanda Stevens has written a wonderful start to a series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow of the story is wonderful. Her characters seem realistic and come alive on the page. I would definitely consider reading more of her books in the future.

Due to some scenes of violence and some gore, I do not recommend this book to younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love horror/mysteries/thrillers/police procedural's/supernatural ghost stories or paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton