SOLVED. Man goes hunting for people with secrets (a particularly disturbing 'secret') [s]

[Hulttio]

Please forgive me if this is has been requested before. I tried looking through the shelves but I may have missed it still. I believe the book was definitely geared to adults and a work of fiction. The genre was a slight mystery/suspense type. The premise of the book may have been about a man looking for people in the aftermath of an accident that is being kept classified. These people have secrets that they are willing to take to their grave, but he has to investigate them. I originally thought it was by Sidney Sheldon, and that part does sound awfully like his book 'The Doomsday Conspiracy'.

However... the next part is what I couldn't find in the book and leads me to think that I may be mixing up details and am looking at the wrong book entirely.
**SPOILERS START**
(view spoiler)[One of the men in question has a secret that he kills himself over. When his wife and child (possibly children?) are out, he wears his wife's undergarments and seems to derive sexual pleasure from wearing them. Distraught by his actions, he ends up killing himself. It may have been by shutting his head in the oven, but while I cannot declare that with certainty, I know that he killed himself in the kitchen. That's how he was found later. (hide spoiler)]
**SPOILERS END**

It's mostly the part concerning spoilers I'm looking for, as I think the original details have gotten mixed in my brain somehow with a different novel entirely. I'm hoping someone can recall this really (odd) circumstance.

As you can guess, it's definitely a book intended for adults. The publication may have been late 20th century (1960s-1980s perhaps?), as I bought a reprint in a foreign country a few years ago. It's definitely not modern. It may be another mixed up detail, but I feel like the setting changed as the people with secrets lived in various places. I'm not sure.

I hope that's enough detail, because at this point my brain is fuzzy on any more details... and I think some might be confabulation, because the details keep interchanging. I've been searching for this title for a few years, so the details are shaky. The scene mentioned in spoilers is the most certain of my post (it stuck out as distinctly memorable).

Thank you so much for reading through this!

[HeavyReader]

What you say happens in the kitchen reminds me of a scene in Firestarter by Stephen King.

I read that book recently, but don't have a copy with me to check out what I'm remembering.

What I'm remembering is a guy who (view spoiler)[ dresses in women's underwear and kills himself in the kitchen by sticking his hand/arm down the garbage disposal and turning it on. It is possible that I am making two characters into one and one guy wears women's underwear and a different guy kills himself via garbage disposal. (hide spoiler)]

Classified information and "accidents" are consistent with the plot of Firestarter too.

I hope my memories are helpful.

[Hulttio]

Thank you so much HeavyReader! I'm certain now that it was actually Firestarter where I saw that bit. I can't believe I've finally found it after spending so many years wondering where that particular scene was from.

I'll go ahead and mark it as solved!

[HeavyReader]

Glad I could help. I just recently read Firestarter, and I never saw the movie. Anyway, because I recently read the book, your scene was fresh in my mind. Cheers!

[Hulttio]

It was still fresh in my mind after all this time, hah (although slightly convoluted...)!

I do hope I added the book to the bookshelf right and everything.

Thank you!