Killing Me Softly: A twisty small-town psychological thriller with a shocking final twist

by Emma Jane King

Genres: Psychological Thrillers

Synopsis

From the author of The Other Father comes a twisty small-town psychological thriller about obsession, murder, and the dangerous lies people tell for love.

On the Fourth of July, no one heard the scream.

Delilah Morrison has never forgotten Theo Jameson.

He was her high school crush. The golden boy. The one person she always believed was good.

So when Theo’s beautiful wife, Mary Jo, vanishes on Independence Day and is later found dead, Delilah refuses to believe what everyone in their small Texas town is whispering.

Theo killed his wife. They had problems.

When Mary Jo’s murder becomes the case everyone wants to solve, Delilah sees her chance to prove Theo’s innocence, become someone important, and get close to the man she has wanted for years.

But Yoakum is full of secrets. Jamie, Delilah’s old friend turned police officer, knows more than he is saying. Mary Jo’s villainous half-brother, Donnie Styles, has an obsession of his own. And Theo, grieving and accused, may not be the wounded innocent man Delilah remembers.

The deeper Delilah digs, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between truth and fantasy, justice and desire, love and possession.

Because someone killed Mary Jo on the Fourth of July.

And the closer Delilah gets to Theo, the more she risks becoming the next woman who disappears.

A gripping psychological thriller packed with small-town secrets, dangerous obsession, and a final twist you won’t see coming. For readers of Freida McFadden, Kiersten Modglin, and Gillian Flynn.

Release date: October 27, 2026

Publisher: Emma Jane King