Fiction The Third

On September 3rd 2020 almost 600 books will be published in hard back alone! So, I’ve collated a list of ALL the books that are being published that day.

There are too many to fit in one post so I’m turning them into three: Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction and Children/YA Fiction. This first post is what is being released in Adult Fiction. There are a handful of books that have already been released in Hardback but are being released in paperback that will be included in another blog post.

So, here are all the new fiction books I could find that are out on September 3rd, 2020:

A Girl Made of Air by Nydia Hetherington

A lyrical and atmospheric homage to the strange and extraordinary, perfect for fans of Angela Carter and Erin Morgenstern.

This is the story of The Greatest Funambulist Who Ever Lived…

Born into a post-war circus family, our nameless star was unwanted and forgotten, abandoned in the shadows of the big top. Until the bright light of Serendipity Wilson threw her into focus.

Now an adult, haunted by an incident in which a child was lost from the circus, our narrator, a tightrope artiste, weaves together her spellbinding tales of circus legends, earthy magic and folklore, all in the hope of finding the child… But will her story be enough to bring the pair together again?

Beautiful and intoxicating, A Girl Made of Air brings the circus to life in all of its grime and glory; Marina, Manu, Serendipity Wilson, Fausto, Big Gen and Mouse will live long in the hearts of readers. As will this story of loss and reconciliation, of storytelling and truth.

Published by Quercus. Buy here

The Harpy by Megan Hunter

From the acclaimed author of The End We Start From, The Harpy is a fierce tale of love, betrayal and revenge.

Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy works from home but devotes her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a shattering message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy’s husband, he wants her to know.

The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but in a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage, she will hurt him three times. Jake will not know when the hurt is coming, nor what form it will take.

As the couple submit to a delicate game of crime and punishment, Lucy herself begins to change, surrendering to a transformation of both mind and body from which there is no return.

Told in dazzling, musical prose, The Harpy by Megan Hunter is a dark, staggering fairy tale, at once mythical and otherworldly and fiercely contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.

Published by Pan Macmillan. Buy here

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.

But when a local property developer shows up dead, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

The four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be octogenarians, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

Published by Michael Joseph. Buy here

After The Silence by Louise O’Neill

Nessa Crowley’s murderer has been protected by silence for ten years.
Until a team of documentary makers decide to find out the truth.

On the day of Henry and Keelin Kinsella’s wild party at their big house a violent storm engulfed the island of Inisrun, cutting it off from the mainland. When morning broke Nessa Crowley’s lifeless body lay in the garden, her last breath silenced by the music and the thunder.

The killer couldn’t have escaped Inisrun, but no-one was charged with the murder. The mystery that surrounded the death of Nessa remained hidden. But the islanders knew who to blame for the crime that changed them forever. 

Ten years later a documentary crew arrives, there to lift the lid off the Kinsella’s carefully constructed lives, determined to find evidence that will prove Henry’s guilt and Keelin’s complicity in the murder of beautiful Nessa.

In this bold, brilliant, disturbing new novel Louise O’Neill shows that deadly secrets are devastating to those who hold them close.

Published by Riverrun. Buy here

House of Correction by Nicci French

She’s a murderer. 

Everyone knows she killed Stuart Rees – why else would his dead body be found in her shed?
So now Tabitha is in prison, awaiting trial.

Coming back to the remote coastal village where she grew up was a mistake. She didn’t fit in then, and she doesn’t fit in now.

That day is such a blur, she can’t remember clearly what happened. There is something she is missing, something important… She only knows one thing. She is not capable of murder.

And the only one she can trust to help her out of this situation is herself.
So she must fight. Against the odds.

For her life. 

Published by Simon & Schuster Ltd. Buy here

Love Orange by Natasha Randall

An extraordinary debut novel by Natasha Randall, exposing the seam of secrets within an American family, from beneath the plastic surfaces of their new ‘smart’ home. Love Orange charts the gentle absurdities of their lives, and the devastating consequences of casual choices.

While Hank struggles with his lack of professional success, his wife Jenny, feeling stuck and beset by an urge to do good, becomes ensnared in a dangerous correspondence with a prison inmate called John. Letter by letter, John pinches Jenny awake from the “marshmallow numbness” of her life. The children, meanwhile, unwittingly disturb the foundations of their home life with forays into the dark net and strange geological experiments. 

Jenny’s bid for freedom takes a sour turn when she becomes the go-between for John and his wife, and develops an unnatural obsession for the orange glue that seals his letters…

Love Orange throws open the blinds of American life, showing a family facing up to the modern age, from the ascendancy of technology, the predicaments of masculinity, the pathologising of children, the epidemic of opioid addiction and the tyranny of the WhatsApp Gods. The first novel by the acclaimed translator is a comic cocktail, an exuberant skewering of contemporary anxieties and prejudices.

Published by Riverrun. Buy here

The Heatwave by Kate Riordan

Elodie was beautiful. Elodie was smart. Elodie was troubled. Elodie is dead.

In Provence, under a sweltering sun, Sylvie returns to the crumbling family home of La Reverie with her youngest daughter Emma.

Yet every corner of the house is haunted by the memories of Elodie, her first child – memories she has tried to forget, but whose long-ago death the villagers certainly haven’t.

As temperatures rise, and forest fires rage through the French countryside, memories of Elodie spread further through Sylvie’s mind . . .

Because there’s something Sylvie’s been hiding about what happened to Elodie all those summers ago.

And it could change everything.

Published by Michael Joseph. Buy here

Truth Be Told by Kia Abdullah

ARE YOU READY TO START THIS CONVERSATION?

Kamran Hadid feels invincible. He attends Hampton school, an elite all-boys boarding school in London, he comes from a wealthy family, and he has a place at Oxford next year. The world is at his feet. And then a night of revelry leads to a drunken encounter and he must ask himself a horrific question.

With the help of assault counsellor, Zara Kaleel, Kamran reports the incident in the hopes that will be the end of it. But it’s only the beginning…

Powerful, explosive and important, Truth Be Told is a contemporary courtroom drama that vividly captures today’s society. You will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.

Published by HQ. Buy here

Orfeia by Joanne Harris

Take a deep breath and immerse yourself in this stunning new novella from #1 Bestselling author Joanne Harris.

When you can find me an acre of land,
Every sage grows merry in time,
Between the ocean and the sand
Then will you be united again.
(Inspired by The Child Ballads 2 & 19)

So begins a beautiful and tragic quest as a heartbroken mother sets out to save her lost daughter, through the realms of the real, of dream, and even into the underworld itself.

But determination alone is not enough. For to save something precious, she must give up something precious, be it a song, a memory, or her freedom itself . . .

Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, this is a stunning and original modern fairytale.

Published by Orion. Buy here

Charlotte by Helen Moffett

For fans of Longbourn and The Other Bennet Sister, this beautifully told story of marriage, duty and friendship follows Charlotte’s story from where Pride and Prejudice ends. Everybody believes that Charlotte Lucas has no prospects. She is unmarried, plain, poor and reaching a dangerous age. But when she stuns the neighbourhood by accepting the proposal of buffoonish clergyman Mr Collins, her fortunes change. Her best friend Lizzy Bennet is appalled by her decision, yet Charlotte knows this is the only way to provide for her future. What she doesn’t know is that her married life will propel her into a new world: not only of duty and longed-for children, but secrets, grief, unexpected love and friendship, and a kind of freedom.

Published by Manilla Press. Buy here.

The Night of the Flood by Zoe Sommerville

An atmospheric literary thriller set during the devastating North Sea flood of 1953, in which a love triangle turns murderous.

Her heart beat hard. There was a crazed beauty to the storm. It was almost miraculous, the way it took away the mess of life, sweeping all in its path…

No-one could have foreseen the changes the summer of 1952 would bring. Cramming for her final exams on her family’s farm on the Norfolk coast, Verity Frost feels trapped between past and present: the devotion of her childhood friend Arthur, just returned from National Service, and her strange new desire to escape.

When Verity meets Jack, a charismatic American pilot, he seems to offer the glamour and adventure she so craves, and Arthur becomes determined to uncover the dirt beneath his rival’s glossy sheen.

As summer turns to winter, a devastating storm hits the coast, flooding the land and altering everything in its path. In this new, watery landscape, Verity’s tangled web of secrets, lies and passion will bring about a crime that will change all their lives forever.

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here

For When I’m Gone by Rebecca Ley

Because there’s never enough time to say goodbye…

Sylvia knows that she’s running out of time. Very soon, she will exist only in the memories of those who loved her most and the pieces of her life she’s left behind.

So she begins to write her husband a handbook for when she’s gone, somewhere to capture the small moments of ordinary, precious happiness in their married lives. From raising their wild, loving son, to what to give their gentle daughter on her eighteenth birthday – it’s everything she should have told him before it was too late. 

But Sylvia also has a secret, one that she’s saved until the very last pages. And it’s a moment in her past that could change everything…

Published by Orion. Buy here

An Inconvenient Woman by Stephanie Buelens

She says he is a killer. He says she is delusional. Somebody is lying.

When Claire Fontaine learns that her ex-husband Simon is marrying again, to a woman with a teenage daughter, her blood runs cold. She is sure that years ago Simon molested her own daughter and was responsible for her mysterious death. She can’t let him get away with it a second time. Vandalism, harassment; whatever it takes, Claire will expose him.

Simon doesn’t know where Claire got this delusion from; her daughter’s death was ruled a suicide, but she has always blamed herself – is she just lashing out? Wanting to protect his new fiancee, he hires Sloane Wilson, an ex-cop turned ‘sin-eater’, whose job it is to handle delicate cases without getting the police involved, to get Claire off his back.

Sloane must navigate the wreckage of Claire and Simon’s marriage to discover the truth. Two people with conflicting stories and a whole lot of reasons to want to hurt each other. Is she crazy or is he manipulative? And can Sloane stay clear-headed enough to figure it out?

Published by Quercus. Buy here

To Cook A Bear by Mikael Niemi

The legendary Laestadius becomes a kind of Sherlock Holmes in this exceptional historical crime novel.

It is 1852, and in Sweden’s far north, deep in the Arctic Circle, charismatic preacher and Revivalist Lars Levi Laestadius impassions a poverty-stricken congregation with visions of salvation. But local leaders have reason to resist a shift to temperance over alcohol.

Jussi, the young Sami boy Laestadius has rescued from destitution and abuse, becomes the preacher’s faithful disciple on long botanical treks to explore the flora and fauna. Laestadius also teaches him to read and write – and to love and fear God.

When a milkmaid goes missing deep in the forest, the locals suspect a predatory bear is at large. A second girl is attacked, and the sheriff is quick to offer a reward for the bear’s capture. Using early forensics and daguerreotype, Laestadius and Jussi find clues that point to a far worse killer on the loose, even as they are unaware of the evil closing in around them. 

To Cook a Bear explores how communities turn inwards, how superstition can turn to violence, and how the power of language can be transformative in a richly fascinating mystery.

Translated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner

Published by Quercus. Buy here

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (Puffin Clothbound Classics)

Puffin Clothbound Classics – stunningly beautiful hardback editions of the most famous stories in the world.

Heathcliff, an orphan, is raised by Mr Earnshaw as one of his own children. Hindley despises him but wild Cathy becomes his constant companion, and he falls deeply in love with her. But when she will not marry him, Heathcliff’s terrible vengeance ruins them all. Yet still his and Cathy’s love will not die.

Published by Penguin. Buy here.

Daddy by Emma Cline

The stories in Emma Cline’s stunning first collection consider the dark corners of human experience, exploring the fault lines of power between men and women, parents and children, past and present. A man travels to his son’s school to deal with the fallout of a violent attack and to make sure his son will not lose his college place. But what exactly has his son done? And who is to blame? A young woman trying to make it in LA, working in a clothes shop while taking acting classes, turns to a riskier way of making money but will be forced to confront the danger of the game she’s playing. And a family coming together for Christmas struggle to skate over the lingering darkness caused by the very ordinary brutality of a troubled husband and father.

These outstanding stories examine masculinity, male power and broken relationships, while revealing – with astonishing insight and clarity – those moments of misunderstanding that can have life-changing consequences. And there is an unexpected violence, ever-present but unseen, in the depiction of the complicated interactions between men and women, and families. Subtle, sophisticated and displaying an extraordinary understanding of human behaviour, these stories are unforgettable.

Published by Vintage Publishing. Buy here

Us Three by Ruth Jones

Meet Lana, Judith and Catrin. Best friends since primary school when they swore an oath on a Curly Wurly wrapper that they would always be there for each other, come what may. 

After the trip of a lifetime, the three girls are closer than ever. But an unexpected turn of events shakes the foundation of their friendship to its core, leaving their future in doubt – there’s simply too much to forgive, let alone forget. An innocent childhood promise they once made now seems impossible to keep …

Packed with all the heart and empathy that made Ruth’s name as a screenwriter and now author, Us Three is a funny, moving and uplifting novel about life’s complications, the power of friendship and how it defines us all. Prepare to meet characters you’ll feel you’ve known all your life – prepare to meet Us Three. 

Published by Transworld Publishing. Buy here

Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

Hawaii, 1947

Journalist Janey Everett arrives at a remote village on the island of Kauai, determined to solve one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

Ten years earlier, renowned pilot Sam Mallory left to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He never returned.

Now Janey has tracked down the woman she believes to be Mallory’s former flying partner, the legendary Irene Foster, and the one person who might know what really happened to him.

But Irene is hiding a story of her own. The story of an extraordinary life and a secret love she’s not quite ready to reveal…

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn

Following the hugely successful Sunday Times Bestseller, Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize nominee and Costa shortlisted, The Salt Path, Raynor Winn returns with her second brilliant book.

This time the narrative explores the difficulties surrounding the return to mainstream life after a period of homelessness.

Recovering self-esteem and trust, in herself and in others, is harder than she expected. Raynor and her husband Moth continue to face his debilitating illness, until an incredible gesture by someone who read The Salt Path changes everything.

This book is about readjusting to life after homelessness, but also about recovering trust and self-belief after a traumatic event – feelings that can translate to many episodes in the life of any of us.

Published by Penguin. Buy here

The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie

Deceit runs in the family . . .

Chris Morrison is facing his worst nightmare.

His wife is in a coma.

His daughter is missing.

And the only thing more unsettling than these two events . . . is what might connect them. Some secrets can change a family for ever.

Published by Welbeck Publishing. Buy here

You Can Trust Me by Emma Rowley

You can trust me.
But can I trust you?

Olivia is the domestic goddess who has won millions of followers by sharing her picture-perfect life online. And now she’s releasing her tell-all autobiography.

For professional ghostwriter Nicky it’s the biggest job of her career. But as she delves deeper into Olivia’s life, cracks begin to appear in the glamorous facade. From the strained relationship with her handsome husband, to murky details of a tragic family death in her childhood, the truth belies Olivia’s perfect public image.

But why is Olivia so desperate to leave an old tragedy well alone? And how far will she go to keep Nicky from the truth?
Published by Orion. Buy here

The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley

This is not a typical love story, but it’s our love story.

Anna wasn’t looking for love when Adam swept her off her feet but there was no denying their connection, and she believed they would be together forever.

Years later, cracks have appeared in their relationship. Anna is questioning whether their love can really be eternal when a cruel twist of fate delivers a crushing blow, and Anna and Adam are completely lost to one another. Now, Anna needs Adam more than ever, but the way back to him has life-changing consequences.

Is a second chance at first love really worth the sacrifice? Anna needs to decide and time is running out…

Published by HQ. Buy here

Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre

Winner of the Comedy Women in Print Prize‘Inspired and stylish’ Jenny Eclair‘Original and witty’ Helen Lederer

When her father falls ill, Billie returns home to the Yorkshire farm which she left behind for life in London. The transition back to country lass from city girl isn’t easy, not least because leaving London means leaving her relationship with Joely Chevalier, just as it was heating up.

And when she gets to Yorkshire, Billie’s shocked to discover the family dairy farm is in dire straits – the last thing Billie expected was a return to the life of a farmer but it isn’t long before she’s up at 5am with manure up to her wellies.

Battling misogyny, homophobia and some very unpredictable dairy cows, Billie must find a way to keep the cows happy, save the farm and save herself…

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

Our Story by Miranda Dickinson

Otty has just landed her dream job. She’s about to join the writing team of one of the most respected showrunners in TV. And then the night before her first day, she’s evicted from her flat.

Joe has been working with Russell for years. He’s the best writer on his team, but lately something has been off. He’s trying to get his mojo back, but when his flatmate moves out without warning he has other things to worry about.

Otty moving into Joe’s house seems like the perfect solution to both their problems, but neither is prepared for what happens next. Paired together in the writing room, their obvious chemistry sparks from the page and they are the writing duo to beat. But their relationship off the page is an entirely different story, and neither of them can figure out why.

And suddenly the question isn’t, will they, or won’t they? It’s why won’t they?

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

We Are Family by Nicola Gill

You can’t choose your family…

Jess and Laura might be sisters, but they’re very different people. Laura is laid-back, eats cheese in bed, and takes life as it comes. Jess, meanwhile, is the classic overachiever: Chief of Chivvying, Queen of all WhatsApp groups. They’re family, but they’re not exactly friends.

…but you can let them in.

When their mum dies, the sisters struggle to agree on anything, from where to scatter the ashes to whether “passed away” is an acceptable term. But as life forces them together, Laura and Jess realise: the only way through this is as a team. After all, they’re stuck with each other – and drinking wine is more fun as a pair…

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

One Step Behind by Lauren North

Jenna is a wife, a mother, a doctor. She’s also the victim of a stalker.

Every time she leaves her house, she sees him. Disturbing gifts are left at her door. Cruel emails are sent to her colleagues. She has no idea who this man is but she feels powerless against him.

Until the day he is brought into her hospital after a serious accident, and Jenna is given the chance to find out once and for all why this man is tormenting her. Now, the power is all hers.

But how many lines is she willing to cross to take back control of her life?

Published by Transworld Publishing. Buy here

My Darling by Amanda Robson

A new couple moves in next door. 
And nothing will ever be the same again…

I watched you move in and thought we might be friends.

I saw you watching from the window – and knew I’d have to keep you away from my husband.

I started to trust you. Confide in you.

I started to mistrust you. Suspect you.

I was confused when I blacked out after an evening at your place. Was I really that drunk?

I came up with a plan. A plan to make you both pay . . .

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh

Two sisters on trial for murder. They accuse each other.
Who do YOU believe?

‘911 what’s your emergency?’

‘My dad’s dead. My sister Sofia killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.’

‘My dad’s dead. My sister Alexandra killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.’

One of them is a liar and a killer.

But which one?

Published by Ortion. Buy here

Wrecked by Louisa Reid

Joe and Imogen seem like the perfect couple – they’ve been in a relationship for years and are the envy of their friends at school. But after accidentally becoming involved a tragic fatal accident, they become embroiled in a situation out of their control, and Joe and Imogen’s relationship becomes slowly unravelled until the truth is out there for all to see … Structured around a dramatic and tense court case, the reader becomes both judge and jury in a stunning and page-turning novel of uncovering secrets and lies – who can be believed?

Published by Guppy Publihsing Ltd. Buy here

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

She came from nothing.

Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future.

Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why.

They had everything.

Now she must move into the mansion she’s inherited.

It’s filled with secrets and codes, and the old man’s surviving relatives – a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got ‘their’ money.

Now there’s only one rule: winner takes all.
Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing.
But just how far will they go to keep their fortune?

Published by Penguin. Buy here

Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher

The recipe for the perfect murder…

Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart.

Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it’s only belladonna found in her tea, and it’s only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail.

Desperate for help, Belle reaches out to her estranged friends to prove her innocence, but who can she trust? Someone is lying and when the tangled web of secrets and betrayal is finally unwound, what lies at its heart will change the group forever.

Published by Simon & Schuster. Buy here

The Watcher by Kate Medina

Some secrets can’t be hidden.

The Fullers are the picture-perfect family, a wealthy couple with a grand home in the middle of remote woodland. But even they have something to hide – and it will prove fatal.

Some crimes can’t be forgotten.

Psychologist Dr Jessie Flynn and DI Marilyn Simmons arrive at the Fuller’s home to find a suburban nightmare. A crime scene more disturbing than anything they have ever encountered.

Some killers can’t be stopped.

Jessie knows that this is no random act of violence. And if she can’t unlock the motivation behind the crime and shine a light into this killer’s mind, the Fullers won’t be the only family to die…

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson

One house, two women, a lifetime of secrets…

Following the death of her mother, Becky begins the sad task of sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope post-marked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother’s elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home.

Becky arrives at Chynalls to find the beautiful old house crumbling into the ground, and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Though daunted by the enormity of the task, Becky sets to work. But as she peels back the layers of paint, plaster and grime, she uncovers secrets buried for more than seventy years. Secrets from a time when Olivia was young, the Second World War was raging, and danger and romance lurked round every corner…

The Sea Gate is a sweeping, spellbinding novel about the lives of two very different women, and the secrets that bind them together.

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here

The Queen’s Rival by Anne O’Brien

One family united by blood. Torn apart by war…

England, 1459: Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, is embroiled in a plot to topple the weak-minded King Henry VI from the throne. But when the Yorkists are defeated at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Cecily’s family flee and abandon her to face a marauding Lancastrian army on her own.

Cecily can only watch as her lands are torn apart and divided up by the ruthless Queen Marguerite. From the towers of her prison in Tonbridge Castle, the Duchess begins to spin a web of deceit – one that will eventually lead to treason, to the fall of King Henry VI, and to her eldest son being crowned King Edward IV.

This is a story of heartbreak, ambition and treachery, of one woman’s quest to claim the throne during the violence and tragedy of the Wars of the Roses.

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here

The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahnuiuk

Chuck Palahniuk returns with the chilling tale, in classic Palahniuk tradition, of a father in search of his daughter, a young woman with a secret, and a malicious recording that can make “the whole world scream at the exact same time.”

Private detective Foster Gates is a father is in search of his missing daughter, and sound engineer Mitzi harbors a secret that may help him solve the case. It’s Mitzi’s job to create the dubbed screams used in horror films and action movies. She’s the best at what she does.

But what no one in Hollywood knows is the screams Mitzi produces are harvested from the real, horror-filled, blood-chilling screams of people in their death throes–a technique first employed by Mitzi’s father and one she continues on in his memory–a deeply conflicted serial killer compelled beyond her understanding to honor her father’s chilling legacy.

Soon Foster finds himself on Mitzi’s trail. And in pursuit of her dark art, Mitzi realizes she’s created the perfect scream, one that compels anyone who hears it to mirror the sound as long as they listen to it–a highly contagious seismic event with the potential to bring the country to its knees.

Published by Little Brown Book Group. Buy here

The Darkest Evening (Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves

DCI Vera Stanhope returns in The Darkest Evening, the ninth novel in Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves’ enduringly popular series.

Driving home during a swirling blizzard, Vera Stanhope’s only thought is to get there quickly.

But the snow is so heavy, she becomes disoriented and loses her way. Ploughing on, she sees a car slewed off the road ahead of her. With the driver’s door open, Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but when she inspects the car she is shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat.

Afraid they will freeze, Vera takes the child and drives on, arriving at Brockburn, a run-down stately home she immediately recognizes as the house her father Hector grew up in.

Inside Brockburn a party is in full swing, with music and laughter to herald the coming Christmas. But outside in the snow, a young woman lies dead and Vera knows immediately she has a new case. Could this woman be the child’s mother, and if so, what happened to her?

A classic country house mystery with a contemporary twist, Ann Cleeves returns with a brilliant Vera novel to savour.

Published by Pan Macmillan. Buy here

Afterland by Lauren Bukes

Three years after a virus wiped out 99% of the men on earth, a mother and son are on the run . . .

All Cole has left in the world is her boy, Miles.

With men now a prized commodity, keeping him safe means breaking hastily written new rules – and leaving her own sister for dead.

All Miles has left in the world is his mother.

But is one person enough to save him from the many who would kill to get their hands on a living boy?

Together, Cole and Miles embark on a journey across a changed, hostile country, towards a freedom they may never reach. And when Cole’s sister tracks them down, they’ll need to decide who to trust – and what loyalty really means in this unimaginable new world.

Published by Michael Joseph. Buy here

All of Us by A. F. Carter

Meet the Grands:

Martha – a home-maker. 
Victoria – a social butterfly. 
Serena – a free spirit. 
Kirk – a hot-blooded man. 
Eleni – a risk taker. 
Tina – a young girl with a dark past.

They’d get along fine, if they didn’t share a body.

Carolyn Grand’s traumatic childhood led to her developing six distinct personalities. The man responsible was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to thirty years in jail. The man responsible was her father, Hank Grand.

28 years later, when Hank Grand is released early from prison, Martha, Victoria, Serena, Kirk, Eleni and Tina must confront the man who made them.

But now Hank Grand is dead, murdered and Carolyn is the police’s primary suspect. Or suspects. Who really did it? Martha, Victoria, Serena, Kirk, Eleni and Tina don’t even know themselves. But one of them may be lying…

A chilling psychological thriller with a unique cast of characters, this is sure to have you hooked to the very last page.

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here.

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

From the widely renowned author Andrew O’Hagan, a heartbreaking novel of an extraordinary lifelong friendship.

Everyone has a Tully Dawson: the friend who defines your life. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, James and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit.

With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth: a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently.

Thirty years on, half a life away, the phone rings. Tully has news.

Mayflies is a memorial to youth’s euphorias and to everyday tragedy. A tender goodbye to an old union, it discovers the joy and the costs of love.

Published by Faber & Faber. Buy here

The World Does Not Require You by Rion Amilcar Scott

Welcome to Cross River, Maryland. Established by the leaders of the country’s only successful slave revolt in the mid-nineteenth century, its residents thump out a beat that echoes its violent founding. Among them – spanning decades, perspectives, and species – are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God’s last son; Tyrone, a ruthless Ph.D student channelling the insurrections of his forebears through a childhood game; Jim, a Robot Personal Helper desperate to escape the master who enslaves him; and James-my-man, who travels the path of the Underground Railroad year after year. Not to forget the water women who lure men to their watery graves and the screecher birds who cry out for sacrificial flesh… 

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here.

Private Moscow (Private 15) by James Patterson

An invitation from an old friend draws Jack Morgan into a deadly conspiracy . . .

On a cold January morning, Jack Morgan stands inside the New York Stock Exchange with his former US Marine comrade whose company is being launched onto the market, eagerly awaiting the opening bell.

But before the bell rings, a bullet rips through the air and finds its mark.

In the aftermath of the murder, the victim’s wife hires Jack to find the killer. As the head of Private, Jack has at his disposal the world’s largest investigation agency. What he discovers shakes him to his core.

Jack identifies another murder in Moscow that appears to be linked. So he heads to Russia, and begins to uncover a conspiracy that could have global consequences.

With powerful forces plotting against him, will Jack Morgan make it out alive?

Published by Cornerstone. Buy here

The Memory of Souls – A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons

The city of Atrine lies in ruins. And now Relos Var has revealed his plan to free the monstrous god, Vol Karoth, the end of the world is closer than ever.

To buy time for humanity, Kihrin and his friends need to convince a king to perform an ancient ritual. The power released would imprison the god for an age to come. But this may come at too high a price for the King of the Vane, as the ritual would strip his people of their immortality. As a result, some will do anything to prevent this ritual – including assassinating those championing this solution. 

Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with a horrifying possibility. It seems his connection to Vol Karoth is growing in strength . . . but what does it mean? And how can Kihrin hope to save his world, when he might be the greatest threat of all?

Published by Pan Macmillan. Buy here

The Interpreter from Java by Alfred Birney

Alan Noland discovers his father’s memoirs and learns the truth about the violent man he despised.

In this unsparing family history, Alan distils his father’s life in the Dutch East Indies into one furious utterance. He reads about his work as an interpreter during the war with Japan, his life as an assassin, and his decision to murder Indonesians in the service of the Dutch without any conscience. How he fled to the Netherlands to escape being executed as a traitor and met Alan’s mother soon after. As he reads his father’s story Alan begins to understand how war transformed his father into the monster he knew.

Birney exposes a crucial chapter in Dutch and European history that was deliberately concealed behind the ideological facade of postwar optimism. Readers of this superb novel will find that it reverberates long afterwards in their memory.

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here

Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze

This life is like being in an ocean. Some people keep swimming towards the bottom. Some people touch the bottom with one foot, or even both, and then push themselves off it to get back up to the top, where you can breathe. Others get to the bottom and decide they want to stay there. I don’t want to get to the bottom because I’m already drowning. This is a story of a London you won’t find in any guidebooks.

This is a story about what it’s like to exist in the moment, about boys too eager to become men, growing up in the hidden war zones of big cities – and the girls trying to make it their own way. This is a story of reputations made and lost, of violence and vengeance – and never counting the cost. This is a story of concrete towers and blank eyed windows, of endless nights in police stations and prison cells, of brotherhood and betrayal. This is about the boredom, the rush, the despair, the fear and the hope. This is about what’s left behind.

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here.

Call of the Raven by Wilbur Smith

The action-packed and gripping new adventure by number one bestselling author, Wilbur Smith, about one man’s quest for revenge. ‘The right of the cat over the mouse, of the strong over the weak. The natural law of existence.’ Mungo St John, A Falcon Flies The son of a wealthy plantation owner and a doting mother, Mungo St John is accustomed to the wealth and luxuries his privilege has afforded him. That is until he returns from university to discover his family ruined, his inheritance stolen and his childhood sweetheart, Camilla, taken by the conniving Chester Marion.

Fuelled by anger, and love, Mungo swears vengeance and devotes his life to saving Camilla – and destroying Chester. Camilla, trapped in New Orleans, powerless to her position as a kept slave and suffering at the hands of Chester’s brutish behaviour, must learn to do whatever it takes to survive. As Mungo battles his own fate and misfortune to achieve the revenge that drives him, and regain his power in the world, he must question what it takes for a man to survive when he has nothing, and what he is willing to do in order to get what he wants

Published by Zaffre. Buy here

The Four Symbols by Giacometti

A secret Nazi organisation.

Four swastikas with occult powers.

A spy.

In a Europe on the verge of collapse, the Nazi organisation Ahnenerbe is pillaging sacred landmarks across the world. Their aim is to collect treasures with occult powers, which will help them establish the Third Reich. 

The organisation’s head, Himmler, has sent SS officers to search a forgotten sanctuary in the Himalayas, while he tries to track down a mysterious painting. Which ancient power do the Nazis believe they hold the key to?

Meanwhile, in London, Churchill has discovered that the war against Germany will also be a spiritual one: their light must fight the occult if they are to win . . .

Published by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here.

Grave Secrets by Alice James

Toni Windsor is trying to live a quiet life in the green and pleasant county of Staffordshire. She’d love to finally master the rules of croquet, acquire a decent boyfriend and make some commission as an estate agent. All that might have to wait, though, because there are zombies rising from their graves, vampires sneaking out of their coffins and a murder to solve. And it’s all made rather more complicated by the fact that she’s the one raising all the zombies. Oh, and she’s dating one of the vampires too. Really, what’s a girl meant to do?

Published by Rebellion. Buy here.

The Diver and The Lover by Jeremy Vine

Soaked in sunlight, love and the mysteries surrounding a famous artist The Diver and the Lover is a novel inspired by true events.

It is 1951 and sisters Ginny and Meredith have travelled from England to Spain in search of distraction and respite. The two wars have wreaked loss and deprivation upon the family and the spectre of Meredith’s troubled childhood continues to haunt them. Their journey to the rugged peninsula of Catalonia promises hope and renewal.

While there they discover the artist Salvador Dali is staying in nearby Port Lligat. Meredith is fascinated by modern art and longs to meet the famous surrealist.

Dali is embarking on an ambitious new work, but his headstrong male model has refused to pose. A replacement is found, a young American waiter with whom Ginny has struck up a tentative acquaintance.

The lives of the characters become entangled as family secrets, ego and the dangerous politics of Franco’s Spain threaten to undo the fragile bonds that have been forged.

A powerful story of love, sacrifice and the lengths we will go to for who – or what – we love.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here

Unquiet by Linn Ullmann

He is a renowned Swedish filmmaker and has a plan for everything. She is his daughter, by the actress he directed and once loved. Each summer of her childhood, the daughter visits the father at his remote Faro island home on the edge of the Baltic Sea.

Now that she’s grown up – a writer, with children of her own – and he’s in his eighties, they envision writing a book together, about old age, language, memory and loss. She will ask the questions. He will answer them. The tape recorder will record.

But it’s winter now and old age has caught up with him in ways neither could have foreseen. And when the father is gone, only memories, images and words — both remembered and recorded – remain. And from these the daughter begins to write her own story, in the pages which become this book.

Heart-breaking and spell-binding, Unquiet is a seamless blend of fiction and memoir in pursuit of elemental truths about how we live, love, lose and age.

Published by Penguin Books Ltd. Buy here.

The Wolves of Venice by Alex Connor

Venice, 16th century.

The staggering wealth of Venice contrasts the brutal lives of those in the ghetto. Opportunistic merchants arrive to make their fortune. Deception, malice and perversion thrive, leading to the emergence of a dark society: The Wolves of Venice.

Drawn into the Wolves’ plots are the innocents – including Marco Gianetti, assistant to Tintoretto; Ira Tabat, a Jewish merchant; Giorgio Gabal, an artist’s apprentice; and Giovanni Spoletto, the doomed castrato – all manipulated by the likes of Pietro Aretino, the courtesan Tita Boldini and the spy Adamo Baptista.

The lives of these characters criss-cross one another. Their destinies intermingle in a Venice corrupted by spies lingering in the shadows, working for paymasters that change allegiance with the wind. As the betrayals, murders and tragedies continue, will anyone be able to bring the Wolves of Venice to justice?

Published by Aries. Buy here.

The Bench by Saskia Sarginson

It begins at the end.

It begins on a bench, on a heath, where a woman waits for a man. 

Ten years ago, they made a pact:

On this bench, on this day, they will end a love affair that’s spanned three decades, or start again.

They should never have met. They should never have fallen in love.

But they did, until a lie separated them for a lifetime.

Can they fix the mistake, forgive the lie, erase the years in-between?

Can what was lost ever truly be found?

Published by Little Brown Book Group. Buy here

How To Raise An Elephant: No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Catch up on the latest from Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and other favourites in this new instalment of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

As the temperature rises in Gaborone, Precious Ramotswe, founder of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, wonders whether the heat could be the reason that business is particularly slow. Luckily, a slower pace in life is her natural preference, unlike her colleague Mma Makutsi, who is alert to every passing observation and inclined to making snap decisions. With fewer cases to handle, Precious has time to contemplate her new neighbours, a couple who, by the sounds of it, have a rather volatile relationship . . .

But then a distant cousin of Mma Ramotswe’s comes to the agency with a plea for help, and the ladies decide to pursue the issue together. Armed with Mma Ramotswe’s circumspection and Mma Makutsi’s sharp eye, they proceed with confidence and open hearts. What, after all, could be more straightforward than a family matter?

Meanwhile, their colleague Charlie is behaving oddly, borrowing Mma Ramotswe’s van and returning it in an unusual condition. Digging a little deeper, the explanation is both strange and extraordinary, and takes Charlie, along with Mma Ramotswe’s husband, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, on a hair-raising night-time expedition.

In the end, Precious is reminded of the need to view a picture from every angle, to accept the imperfections in people and situations, and then find a solution – preferably over a delicious slice of her friend Mma Potokwani’s fruit cake.

Published by Little Brown Book Group. Buy here.

Red Pill by Hari Kunzru

‘From now on when you see something, you’re seeing it because I want you to see it. 
When you think of something, it’ll be because I want you to think about it…’

And with those words, the obsession begins.

A writer has left his family in Brooklyn for a three month residency at the Deuter Centre in Berlin, hoping for undisturbed days devoted to artistic absorption.

When nothing goes according to plan, he finds himself holed up in his room watching Blue Lives, a violent cop show with a bleak and merciless worldview. One night at a party he meets Anton, the charismatic creator of the show, and strikes up a conversation.

It is a conversation that leads him on a journey into the heart of moral darkness. A conversation thatthreatens to destroy everything he holds most dear, including his own mind.

Red Pill is a novel about the alt-right, online culture, creativity, sanity and history. It tells the story of the 21st century through the prism of the centuries that preceded it, showing how the darkest chapters of our past haunt our present. More than anything, though, this is a novel about love and how it can endure in a world where everything else seems to have lost all meaning.

Published by Simon & Schuster. Buy here.

He: Shorter Writings of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka

This is a Kafka emergency kit, a congregation of the brief, the minor works that are actually major. Joshua Cohen has produced a frame that refuses distinctions between what is a story, a letter, a workplace memo and a diary entry, also including popular favourites like The Bucket Rider, ThePenal Colony and The Burrow. Here we see Kafka’s preoccupations in writing about animals, messiah variations, food and exercise, each in his signature style.

Cohen’s selection emphasises the stately structure of utterly coherent logic, within an utterly incoherent illogical world, showing how Kafka harnessed the humblest grammar to metamorphic power until the predominant effect ceases to be the presence of an unreliable narrator, but the absence of the universe’s only reliable narrator. Who is God.

Published by Quercus. Buy here.

American Royals 2: Majesty by Katharine McGee

The New York Times bestselling series returns! Your favourite royal family are back for another thrilling instalment of gossip, drama and romance . . .

Beatrice Washington now rules America as its first ever queen, but her family are more concerned about rushing through her arranged marriage to a man she barely knows. No one can know that her heart really belongs to her bodyguard – but even their love is under threat.

Meanwhile, Princess Samantha is under more scrutiny than ever before – and she still longs to be with her sister’s fiancee. But with no sign of Bea’s wedding being called off, she’s surprised to find someone else catching her eye.

Nina Gonzalez is also tangled up with someone she never expected to be. She and Ethan are both nursing broken hearts, and it’s not long before they find themselves pulled irresistably together.

Luckily for Daphne Deighton, Prince Jeff’s grief for his father makes him a prime target for her attentions. She’s the closest she’s been in years to getting what she wants . . . so why can’t she let the idea of her and Ethan go?

As the royal wedding of the century creeps ever closer, will these four young women get what they want – or will their hearts be broken forever?

Published by Penguin Random House. Buy here

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

A brand-new chilling horror novel from the bestselling author of Alice and Lost Boy

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in her hometown, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won’t find the killer. After all, the year before her father’s body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on.

Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids. So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can’t just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the centre. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

Published by Titan Books Ltd. Buy here

Back To School by Jack Sheffield

The year is 1969 and Jack Sheffield is a young teacher in need of a job. In a room full of twenty-nine other newly qualified teachers, he’s overjoyed when he’s appointed to Heather View Primary. Jack is excited to start his first year there and to begin shaping young minds in a beautiful new location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

But Heather View isn’t as idyllic as it first sounds. In fact, it looks more like a prison than a primary school. With less than adequate funding and a head teacher who doesn’t seem to care, it’s no easy task to give the kids the education they deserve. But Jack’s determined to do just that.

Full of warmth and good humour, Back to School is like taking a nostalgic walk through the past to a simpler time…

Published by Transworld Publishing. Buy here

Lessons (Maggie Adair) by Jenny Colgan

Lessons is the third novel in Jenny Colgan’s beloved Maggie Adair series.

As the summer holidays start, scandal hits Downey House. The attraction between Maggie Adair, the fiery, committed English teacher at Downey House and David McDonald, a teacher at the local boys’ school, has escalated – and now both are facing an uncertain future. 

The girls of Downey House – mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice and shy, dependable Simone – are facing long summers at home. But the new term is not far away – and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh new challenges . . .

Published by Little Brown Book Group. Buy here.

A Year at Appleyard Farm by Emma Davies

Down a winding lane lined with strawberry trees and wildflowers lies Appleyard Farm, a beautiful orchard in the English countryside. And in a little farmhouse in the furthest corner, a young woman has a difficult decision to make…

Life on Appleyard Farm is all Freya Sherbourne has ever known. Having spent her childhood playing in the emerald green meadows and berry picking until sunset, Freya intends to call the farmhouse home forever. But when her father suddenly passes away and Appleyard Farm goes up for sale, Freya’s world comes crashing down.

Holding back the tears, she starts packing boxes while waiting for a buyer. Now the river no longer sparkles, and the apples taste a little less sweet. Until Freya learns the exciting news that her best friends Merry and Willow are moving nearby to open a local shop. And when someone from her past re-emerges, handsomer than ever and offering to mend the cracks in her broken heart, Freya’s eyes begin to twinkle once again.

But falling in love is scary, especially when you don’t know what the future holds. And when Freya discovers that her new love has been keeping a secret, one that threatens both their fragile relationship and the farm, she risks losing everything.

With the clock ticking, will Freya choose to follow her heart or save the farm? Or can she find a way to do both?

Published by Bookouture. Buy here.

Someday at Christmas by Lizzie Byron

Shell Smith is the most popular make-up artist on the ART counter at Duke & Sons, a beautiful but old-fashioned department store in her hometown. But whilst Shell’s love life is looking up, now that her long-time crush Nick is back in town and business is booming in the beauty department, the rest of the store is noticeably quiet . . .

The owner’s grandson Callum has come up with some creative ways to keep Duke & Sons afloat this Christmas, including allowing a production company to film a romcom after hours. When Shell discovers the secret, Callum recruits her to help out and, in the process, Shell finds there is more to Mr Duke Jr. than sharp suits and a business-like demeanour. 

Change is coming and romance is in the air for Shell during this most wonderful time of the year.
Except real life is nothing like a Christmas romcom . . . right?

Published by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here.

A Mother’s Sacrifice by Jennie Felton

Will she be able to save her children?

Martha Packer is much loved by everyone in the village of Hillsbridge. As the landlady of The Three Feathers, she runs a respectable establishment and is known for her generosity and care for her family and others around her – she even took in two orphan girls to save them from a life of cruelty in the workhouse. 

So when Martha announces that she has killed her son, Garth, the community is shocked. Garth was undoubtedly a bad seed, but they knew how much Martha adored her first-born. What could have driven Martha to such extreme actions?

Martha refuses to give a reason but her other children cannot believe their mother is capable of murder and they begin to believe that she is protecting someone – maybe even one of them… 

Published by Headline. Buy here.

Broadwater by Jac Shreeves-Lee

Welcome to Broadwater Farm, one of the most well-known housing estates in Britain. A place where post-war dreams of concrete utopia ended in riots, violence and sub-standard housing. In this collection, Tottenham-born Jac Shreeves-Lee gives voice to the people of Broadwater Farm. With evocative language and raw storytelling, she compassionately portrays their shared sense of community. A community with a rich cultural heritage, comprising over forty nationalities, generations old.

Published by Fairlight books. Buy here.

Love at the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea by Jane Linfoot

It’s the most romantic day of the year but the girls aren’t just gearing up for Valentine’s Day and a busy wedding season ahead, it’s also the 10 year anniversary of their beloved shop!

Jess is planning the party of the decade and with the champagne and cocktails flowing, sparks are going to fly…and not just from the fireworks display!

Published by One More Chapter. Buy here.

The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane: Part One by Helen Rolfe

A little kindness can go a long way . . .

Veronica’s cottage is the neatest house on Mapleberry Lane. A place for everything, and everything in its place – that’s her motto. But within her wisteria-covered walls, Veronica has a secret: she hasn’t left her perfect home in years.

Then her granddaughter arrives on the doorstep, and Veronica’s orderly life is turned upside down. Ever since her parents’ divorce, Audrey has struggled to find her place in the world. ButWith a little help from the residents of Mapleberry Lane, Audrey forms a plan to give her gran the courage to reconnect with the community: a kindness club, with one generous action a day to make their world a better place – and perhaps help each other at the same time.

As their small acts of kindness begins to ripple through the village, both Veronica and Audrey find that with each passing day, they feel a little braver. There’s just one task left before the end of the year: to make Veronica’s own secret wish come true…

Published by Orion. Buy here.

Christmas at Lock Keeper’s Cottage by Lucy Coleman

Imogen Tolliman never knew her mother. And when an accident robs Immi of her father too, she goes to live with her grandfather, Tollie, in his picturesque lock-keeper’s cottage by the Aysbury marina.

Tollie is the star of the Santa Ahoy Special each Christmas – a festive boat ride along the canal that enthralls both children and adults alike. And as Immi grows up, she starts to appreciate the magical community she is lucky enough to live in.

When Immi meets Gray Adams, she instantly realises he’s someone special. And as their relationship gets serious, they start to plan for the Christmas to beat all Christmases.

But as the day approaches, and the romantic snow showers turn into blizzards, their dream of a Christmas to remember, looks set to be one they’ll never forget – for all the wrong reasons. Can they salvage the festivities, or will old secrets that are finally uncovered turn Immi’s life upside down forever?

Published by Boldwood Books. Buy here.

Cut Short by M. W. Craven

In The Killing Field, Poe and Tilly are having breakfast, wondering how to spend the rest of their holiday, when their presence is requested at a Cumbrian airfield. An airfield that, during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, was known as the killing field . . .

In Why Don’t Sheep Shrink?, a global pandemic forces Poe and Tilly to self-isolate together. Things don’t go well. They’re bickering and on the verge of falling out until Poe finds an old case file: a locked room mystery he’s been mulling over for years. Step forward, Tilly Bradshaw . . .

Dead Man’s Fingers sees Poe, Tilly and Edgar, Poe’s English springer spaniel, enjoying a picnic at a nature reserve. When Edgar chases a rabbit, and Poe and Tilly chase after him, they stumble upon a twenty-year-old mystery, a mystery that couldn’t be solved until now . . .

Published by Constable. Buy here.

The Innocent Girls by B.R. Spangler

Tears stream down her face as she feels the cold blade press against her neck. The sweet scent of her daughter’s favorite strawberry pancakes all around, her last thought is for her beautiful girl. Please, please let Lisa have escaped.

When Detective Casey White is called early one morning to a beachside vacation campsite in the Outer Banks, she finds the bodies of Carl and Peggy Pearson side-by-side, their throats cut, and their thirteen-year-old daughter Lisa nowhere to be found. Haunted by memories of her own missing girl, Casey fears this could soon become a triple murder: because without the medication found in the bathroom cabinet, Lisa has just days to live.

As her team struggle to untangle the meaning of the cryptic symbol carved into the victims’ skin, Casey searches the area for signs of Lisa: and is rewarded when she finds her blistered and barefoot, staggering along the highway. The girl barely has breath left to whisper ‘he invited me’ before blacking out.

Days later, another couple is found murdered on a vacation yacht. A different symbol is etched on their bodies, and their teenage daughter is also missing. Casey’s only clue is an unsettling ‘invitation’ found on the girl’s phone, to a secluded building out in the cornfields.

Desperate to uncover who is luring these innocent families to their deaths, and certain forensics have missed something vital, Casey matches up the crime scene photos herself. The symbols combine to form an upcoming date. The killer is taunting them with the timing of the next murder.

Racing to follow the invitation in time, when Casey arrives she is shocked to glimpse not the missing girls from this case, but her own missing daughter…

Published by Bookouture. Buy here.

Her Husband’s Grave by P. L. Kane

A hint of gold glistened in the sand. It was a watch, no doubt about it. A watch… attached to a body.

Criminal psychologist Robyn Adams is at breaking point after a previous case resulted in an attempt on her own life. But as she sits in the car about to head home, her phone rings. It’s Robyn’s cousin, Vicky Carter, who she hasn’t seen or heard from in years.

Vicky’s voice cracks down the phone. Her husband, Simon, has been found buried on Golden Sands beach. Desperate to help and determined not to let her last case get the better of her, Robyn returns to the coastal village where she spent summers with Vicky as a child.

Robyn knows that she has let Vicky down in the past and is set on making up for lost time. Throwing herself into the case, she combs through evidence, intent on discovering a lead that will help the local police.

But there is clearly someone who wants Robyn gone. She is convinced someone is watching her and when she begins to receive threatening notes, Robyn knows that she could be risking her life…

But Robyn won’t leave again – she owes it to Vicky to stay.

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here.

Nightingale House by Steve Frech

The Nightingale House is a new beginning for widower Daniel Price and his young daughter Caitlyn. After months of grief, this will be the place where they start their life as a family of two.

But something is wrong-Daniel can’t settle. There’s an odd, cold feeling in the master bedroom, and a mysterious dripping noise that seems to move from room to room. Whispers of I can’t sleep echo through the corridors, long into the night.

And then Daniel uncovers the chilling story of the family who lived in the house years before, of betrayal, tragedy, and murder. Could the Nightingale House be not the home Daniel dreamed of for his daughter-but a place that will bring their worst nightmares to life?

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here.

Braywatch by Ross O’Carroll-Kelly

‘If I’ve learned one thing,’ the late, great Father Fehily used to say, ‘it’s that life, families and rugby balls don’t always behave the way you want them to!’ Looking at my life, I’d have to say, the dude wasn’t wrong. My old man had been caught rigging a General Election. My old dear was about to become a seventy-year-old mother of six. And Honor was walking around in a yellow rain mac, telling everyone that the end of the world was coming. It was enough to drive a man to the brink. The only simple thing in my life was my new job as the Head Coach of Presentation College Bray – which is saying something given that I had to try to turn a collection of jokers, chokers and forty-a-day smokers into a team capable of winning the school’s first Leinster Schools Senior Cup in nearly ninety years. And while Father Fehily would have been spinning in his grave, I soon found myself falling in love – with the town I loathed so well.

Published by Penguin. Buy here.

Witch Child by Celia Rees (20th Anniversary Edition)

An updated edition of this outstanding historical novel, in a stunning new package to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication. When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days – paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.

Published by Bloomsbury. Buy here.

Sorceress by Celia Rees

As Witch Child ends so Sorceress begins. Alison Ellman is still searching for information about Mary Newbury; she has a diary and some scattered information about other people in Mary’s life, but Mary has disappeared into the forests and Alison has no way of following her. But when she meets Agnes Herne, Alison encounters the person who is going to tell her all about Mary’s life after she leaves Beulah. Agnes is a descendant of Mary’s and has a special skill which allows her to be in touch with Mary in the spirit world. And Mary has a story to tell. A story of love and friendship, sadness and loss. A story that takes her across the New World in an epic search for a home. We fell under the spell of Mary in Witch Child and now at last we find out what happened to her after her ill-fated time in Beulah. Just as Mary’s story has to be told to Agnes, it has to be read by us for it is passionate, compelling and utterly wonderful.

Published by Bloomsbury. Buy here

As the Shadow Rises by Kate Rose Pool

As the Shadow Rises is the spectacular second novel in Katy Rose Pool’s Age of Darkness trilogy – a modern fantasy blockbuster packed with magic, prophecy and adventure.

Katy Rose Pool ‘s showstopping fantasy debut There Will Come a Darknessbegan an epic tale of thrilling magic, ancient prophecy and five lives who could stop the approaching Age of Darkness – or unleash it.

Now the adventure continues in As the Shadow Rises, as the forces of light and darkness collide – and the end of the world begins.

Published by Little Brown Book Group. Buy here.

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.

The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.

Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens-and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.

Published by Harper Collins. Buy here.

Venus in the Blind Spor by Junji Ito

A “best of” collection of creepy tales from Eisner award winner and legendary horror master Junji Ito.

This striking collection presents the most remarkable short works of Junji Ito’s career, featuring an adaptation of Rampo Edogawa’s classic horror story “Human Chair” and fan favorite “The Enigma of Amigara Fault.” With a deluxe presentation-including special color pages, and showcasing illustrations from his acclaimed long-form manga No Longer Human-each chilling tale invites readers to revel in a world of terror.

Published by Viz Media. Buy here.

Through the Moon by Peter Wartman

Don’t miss this exclusive, original story set between seasons 3 and 4 of the hit animated series The Dragon Prince! The Dragon Prince has been reunited with his mother, the Human Kingdoms and Xadia are at peace, and humans and elves alike are ready to move on. Only Rayla is still restless. Unable to believe Lord Viren is truly dead, and haunted by questions about the fate of her parents and Runaan, she remains trapped between hope and fear. When an ancient ritual calls her, Callum, and Ezran to the Moon Nex-us, she learns the lake is a portal to a world between life and death. Rayla seizes the opportunity for closure-and the chance to confirm that Lord Viren is gone for good. But the portal is unstable, and the ancient Moonshadow elves who destroyed it never intended for it to be reopened. Will Rayla’s quest to uncover the secrets of the dead put her living friends in mortal danger? Don’t miss this exclusive, original graphic novel from Peter Wartman and Xanthe Bouma, with story by The Dragon Prince creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond!

Published by Scholastic US. Buy here

The Time-travelling Caveman by Terry Pratchett

*A brand new collection of short stories from the incredible Sir Terry Pratchett!*

Imagination is an amazing thing.

It can take you to the top of the highest mountain, or down to the bottom of the deepest depths of the sea.

This is where it took Doggins on his Awfully Big Adventure: a quest full of magic and flying machines. (And the world’s best joke – trust me, it’s hilarious.)

It took three young inventors to the moon (where they may or may not have left a bottle of lemonade) and a caveman on a trip to the dentist.

You can join them on these adventures, and many more, in this incredible collection of stories . . .

From the greatest imagination there ever was.

Written for local newspapers when Terry Pratchett was a young lad, these never previously published stories are packed full of anarchic humour and wonderful wit.

Published by Penguin Random House. Buy here.

Victoria Stitch: Bad and Glittering by Harriet Muncaster

‘The crystal keeper gazed around him at the shards of impure crystal, glittering furiously on the floor, and shivered with a terrible sense of foreboding.’

Twins, Victoria Stitch and Celestine, are denied their royal birth-right. Celestine accepts the decision with good grace, but Victoria Stitch is consumed with her obsession for power.

The twins are like moonlight and sunshine – could it be possible to break free of the role you have been given, rewrite your story, and change your own destiny?

Published by Oxford University Press. Buy here.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James

What if death is only the beginning?

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a world of ghosts with magical powers – shape-shifting, hypnosis, even the ability to possess the living. Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome her into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

Published by Walker Books. Buy here.

Kidnap on the California Comet by M. G. Leonard

Board the California Comet and help Harrison Beck to solve another heart-stopping mystery in the second Adventures on Trains story, Kidnap on the California Comet, from prize-winning M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman.

After the excitement of his adventures aboard the Highland Falcon Thief, Harrison Beck can’t wait for the opportunity to go on another amazing train journey. So when his Uncle Nat invites him aboard the California Comet, the iconic three-day train journey from Chicago to San Francisco, he leaps at the chance to travel. But when the daughter of billionaire entrepreneur August Reza goes missing en route, Hal finds himself with another mystery to solve. Can he uncover the kidnapper before the journey’s end?

An adrenaline-fuelled journey across America from bestselling author M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman in the second mystery adventure in the major Adventures on Trains series.

Published by Pan Macmillan. Buy here.

The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas.
Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is headed to an arranged marriage she dreads. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian. Neither expects to fall in love.

Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, double agents, and the all-encompassing Sea herself.

Deftly entwining swashbuckling action and quiet magic, Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s inventive debut novel conjures a diverse cast of characters seeking mastery over their fates while searching for answers to big questions about identity, power, and love.

Published by Walker Books. Buy here.

Kicking Off: Dick, Kerr Girls by Evie Ainsworth

The remarkable story of the Dick, Kerr Ladies is brought to young readers for the very first time by award winning and CILIP Carnegie nominated Eve Ainsworth. It’s 1917, and Britain is at war. Shy teenager Hettie wants to help the war effort, and signs up to work in the local Dick, Kerr & Co. munitions factory. She’s nervous, but she has no idea quite how much her life is about to change … For, inside this factory are young women who are about to make sporting history. Can Hettie find the courage to join them, and in doing so, find her own place in the world? Based on the thrilling true story of the Dick, Kerr Ladies team – football’s forgotten legends.]

Published by UCLan Publishing. Buy here.

The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman

Kate wasn’t expecting much when she wrote to her wealthy estranged uncle to ask for a birthday present. Certainly she wasn’t expecting a colossal steam train called the Silver Arrow to arrive on her doorstep.

Despite parental misgivings, curiosity overwhelms Kate and her brother Tom and they climb aboard, only for the train’s engine to roar into life. Soon they reach a train station where an assortment of strange and beautiful creatures are waiting with tickets in their mouths, and Kate and Tom begin to understand that their job will be to see them safely home – if they can.

Lev Grossman’s first children’s book is a journey you’ll never forget: a rip-roaring adventure from desert plains to snow-covered mountains and everything in between. Packed with exciting creatures from the indignant porcupine to the lost polar bear and the adorable baby pangolin, The Silver Arrow is a classic story about saving our endangered animals and the places they live.

Published by Bloomsbury. Buy here.

Hercules by Benjamin Hulme-Cross

Hercules wants to be famous forever and the only way to do that is to complete the tasks the King sets him. The tasks won’t be easy; in fact, Hercules will have to face some of the most terrifying and dangerous creatures that live on earth – and in hell! Join Hercules as he wrestles a man-eating lion, tricks the god Atlas, and tries to kidnap Hades’ ferocious guard dog. Bloomsbury High Low books encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate and illustrated stories for struggling and reluctant readers, those with dyslexia, or those with English as an additional language (EAL). With bonus bits at the back of the book, including reading notes and exciting facts, these are perfect for sparking discussion and engaging young readers. Printed on tinted paper with a dyslexia-friendly font, Hercules is aimed at readers aged 10+ and has a manageable length (96 pages) and reading age (8+). Produced in association with reading experts at Catch Up, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties. Catch Up offers intervention programmes proven to significantly improve the achievement of learners who find literacy or numeracy difficult.

Published by Bloomsbury. Buy here.

King Arthur by Benjamin Hulme-Cross

Arthur has no thoughts of being king – he’s a squire and that’s that. But the old king is dead and Merlin the wizard has set up a sword, pushed halfway into a rock. The one who pulls out the sword will be the new king – and soon, that’s Arthur! Follow King Arthur as he battles giants and knights, and learns to be a true king. Bloomsbury High Low books encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate and illustrated stories for struggling and reluctant readers, those with dyslexia, or those with English as an additional language (EAL). With bonus bits at the back of the book, including reading notes and exciting facts, these are perfect for sparking discussion and engaging young readers. Printed on tinted paper with a dyslexia-friendly font, King Arthur is aimed at readers aged 10+ and has a manageable length (96 pages) and reading age (8+). Produced in association with reading experts at Catch Up, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties. Catch Up offers intervention programmes proven to significantly improve the achievement of learners who find literacy or numeracy difficult.

Published by Bloomsbury. Buy here.

Odysseus by Benjamin Hulme-Cross

Odysseus is a hero but all he really wants to do is defeat the Trojans and go home. The trouble is both those tasks will take a bit longer than he hoped, and he’ll need all his cunning to get there. What’s more, once he does, there will be more challenges in store! Bloomsbury High Low books encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate and illustrated stories for struggling and reluctant readers, those with dyslexia, or those with English as an additional language (EAL). With bonus bits at the back of the book, including reading notes and exciting facts, these are perfect for sparking discussion and engaging young readers. Printed on tinted paper with a dyslexia-friendly font, Odysseus is aimed at readers aged 10+ and has a manageable length (96 pages) and reading age (8+). Produced in association with reading experts at Catch Up, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties. Catch Up offers intervention programmes proven to significantly improve the achievement of learners who find literacy or numeracy difficult.

Publihsed by Bloomsbury. Buy here.

The Tindums of Rubbish Island by Sally Gardner

The tiny Tindims are like the Borrowers-on-Sea, who turn our everyday rubbish into treasure. Mother-and-daughter duo, prizewinning Sally Gardner and Lydia Corry, create a fun new world of characters and adventures in their empowering new series for 5-8 year olds inspiring conservation and inventive ways to recycle.

‘What is rubbish today is treasure tomorrow.’ Discover Rubbish Island which the Tindims have built entirely from things we have thrown away. Captain Spoons, Mug, Jug, Brew, Skittle and friends are busy recycling when Ethel B Dina is blown out to sea and the Tindims must launch a rescue operation with the help of some friendly fish and surprises along the way.

Printed in dyslexia-friendly font with pictures on every page and perfect for the reluctant reader, the Tindims show keen young ecologists how to help protect our planet for the future.

Published by Head of Zeus. Buy here.

Dog Man 9: Grime and Punishment by Dav Pilkey

The next great Dog Man adventure from the worldwide bestselling author and artist Dav Pilkey. You’ll howl with laughter!

The Supa Buddies bamboozled the baddies, but all’s not right in the world. Dog Man has a new problem to pound, and he’s going to need his entire pack to help him. Will he go barking up the wrong tree?

Dav Pilkey’s wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of doing good.

Published by Scholastic US. Buy here.

The Great Realisation by Tomos ‘Tomfoolery’ Roberts

We now call it The Great Realisation
and, yes, since then there have been many. 
But that’s the story of how it started … 
and why hindsight’s 2020.

First performed online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Tomos Roberts’ heartfelt poem, with its message of hope and resilience, has been viewed over 60 million times and translated into over 20 languages.

Written in the form of a bedtime story, The Great Realisation is a celebration of the many things from simple acts of kindness, to applauding the heroic efforts of our key workers that have brought us together at a time of global crisis. It has captured, with magical resonance, the thoughts and feelings of millions in lockdown, as we adapt to a new way of life, find joy in unexpected places, cast aside old habits and reflect on what truly matters to us.

The Great Realisation is a story for any reader, young or old, who dares to dream of a brighter future of a fairer, kinder, more sustainable world. It is a timely reminder that, even during our most challenging moments, there is always hope.

Published by Egmont. Buy here.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! – An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year: National Trust – Poetry Collections by Fiona Waters

A glorious and ambitious sequel to I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree – winner of Waterstones Children’s Gift of the Year 2018 and Red Magazine‘s Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year 2019

This lavishly illustrated gift book treasury of 366 animal poems – one for every day of the year – ranges from unforgettable classics to contemporary works from around the world, including poetry in translation. The spectacular range of poems for children includes work by Roger McGough, William Blake, Dick King-Smith, Ted Hughes, Grace Nichols, Lewis Carroll, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson.

Britta Teckentrup’s breathtaking illustrations bring together all the richness and wonder of the animal kingdom, making this poetry anthology a perfect gift that will be treasured by generations. With sumptuous finishes including cloth binding, full colour illustrations throughout, textured paper jacket, ribbon marker, and head and tail bands. The perfect gift for any child or adult to treasure.

Published by Nosy Crow Ltd. Buy here.

You Choose Fairy Tales by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart

Make up your very own fairy tale adventure where YOU CHOOSE what happens next!

Which fairy tale hero would you like to be today? Where will you go on your fairy tale quest? And what fairy tale baddy would you least like to meet?

The possibilities are infinite in this captivating creative toolkit which will inspire children from three up to make their own stories again and again.

A magical sequel to YOU CHOOSE, YOU CHOOSE YOUR DREAMS and YOU CHOOSE IN SPACE – it’s spell-binding!

Published by Penguin Random House Childrens. Buy here.

Magical Fairy Tales by Enid Blyton 

Hold on to your lucky charms and delve into this bewitching collection of 30 fairy tales and magic stories, retold by the world’s best-loved storyteller. Perfect for children aged 5 and up! Watch out for cats in boots, three bears who live in the woods and strange unicorns in this magical collection of short stories by Enid Blyton. From lost slippers and fairy curses to imps without names and a dragon called Mr Wumble, there’s fairy magic brewing. Who will live happily ever after? These traditional tales are ideal for younger children being read to and for newly confident readers to read alone. Each story stands alone and is the perfect length for reading at bedtime or in the classroom. Enid Blyton remains one of Britain’s favourite children’s authors and her bumper short story collections are perfect for introducing her to the latest generation of readers. Read all of Enid Blyton’s bumper short story collections. New in 2020: Nature Stories Stories of Rotten Rascals Magical Fairy Tales Christmas Wishes

Published by Hachette Children’s Group. Buy here.

Oi Aardvark! by Kes Gray

Armadillos sit on pillows, bunnies sit on honey and cheetahs sit on fajitas… Let Frog, Dog and Cat guide you through the alphabet from Aardvark to Zebra in this hilarious new picture book from the creators of Oi Frog! With a special fold-out surprise! The laughter never ends with Oi Frog and Friends!

Published by Hachette Children’s Group. Buy here.