Skip to main content

Heather Gudenkauf

Biography

Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf is the Edgar Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 10 novels. Her debut novel, THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE, was an instant New York Times bestseller and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Gudenkauf’s critically acclaimed novels have been published in over 20 countries and have been included in many Best Of lists, including Seven Thrillers to Read This Summer by the New York Times, the 10 Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2017 by The Washington Post, Amazon Best Book of 2022, GoodReads Most Anticipated Mysteries of 2022.

Heather was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing loss (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her). Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father’s students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket and flashlight, close the lid and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.

Heather lives in Iowa with her family and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, swimming and hiking. She is currently working on her next novel.

Books by Heather Gudenkauf

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive. Five contestants have been chosen to compete for $10 million on the game show “One Lucky Winner.” The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live-streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated. When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show. Someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace. As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls --- haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Twenty-five years ago, the body of 16-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa --- discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold. For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

For 12-year-old Cora Landry and her friends, Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover --- movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences. Later that night, Cora is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life, her friends nowhere to be found. Soon their small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora, and why? In an investigation that leaves no stone unturned, everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted --- not even those closest to Cora.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

When a tragic accident leaves nurse Amelia Winn deaf, she spirals into a depression that ultimately causes her to lose everything that matters. Now, two years later and with the help of her hearing dog, she is finally getting back on her feet. But when she discovers the body of a fellow nurse in the dense bush by the river, deep in the woods near her cabin, she is plunged into a disturbing mystery that could shatter the carefully reconstructed pieces of her life all over again. As clues begin to surface, Amelia finds herself swept into an investigation that hits all too close to home. But how much is she willing to risk in order to uncover the truth and bring a killer to justice?

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager. The case rocked the small farm town of Penny Gate, Iowa, where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the puzzling rabbit hole of Jack's past. But the farther in she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a deadly truth she may not be prepared for.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity --- the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system for which she works.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction

When the body of a woman is discovered in a local park --- with her bewildered four-year-old son sitting beside her --- veteran social worker Ellen Moore is called in to assist in the police investigation. Positioned beneath a statue of Leto, the goddess of motherhood, the crime is weighted with meaning and, Ellen discovers, remarkably similar to one from a decade past.

by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction, Suspense

In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.