Published June 19th, 2025 by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Domestic Fiction
Welcome to my review for this sensational thriller. Thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
There’s your side. My side. And the truth.
Lisa Jewell meets Jodi Picoult in a story of betrayal and deception in the aftermath of family tragedy.
She must face justice. As her sister it kills me to say it. As his mother I demand it.
When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.
To celebrate her sister’s wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.
With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?
Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .
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MY REVIEW:
Jen Miller’s beloved son, Teddy, dies while in the care of the very people she should have been able to trust most. And now she needs justice for his death. Even if her sister is the one who has to pay.
Told in multiple timelines by multiple narrators, there’s a lot going on in this book; there are long-buried family secrets, trauma, deception and betrayal. The story starts as Jen is getting ready for the first day of her sister’s trial and then jumps back to the days leading up to the tragedy, when the Kellaway sisters are coming together to celebrate her wedding. And when the worst happens, Detective Saul Anguish is called in to investigate, discovering secrets and lies that will change everything for this family once they are revealed.
Holy twists, Batman! Nerve-shreddingly tense and full of unexpected twists, Some of Us Are Liars totally pulled me in and had me hooked. Exquisitely written, deftly plotted and cleverly interwoven, Fiona Cummins has crafted a sensational thriller. Intricate and complex, it had me on a knife-edge and I stayed up until the early hours to finish it as I knew there’d be no sleep for me without answers. But I was not prepared for those answers! Every time I thought I knew where it was going I’d be hit by another twist that took things in a new direction. My heart was pounding so much it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. And that final twist! Wow. It is going to take me some time to get over that one.
Richly drawn, compelling and memorable, I loved the characters in this book. I enjoyed the realistic sibling dynamics between the Kellaway sisters and felt most connected to Jen. Winter was fascinating as her celebrity life is so far removed from what most of us know and I felt for Alyssa as she tried to adjust to new motherhood. I hadn’t realised before starting this book that it was the third in a series featuring Detective Saul Anguish and Dr Clover March, AKA Blue. Saul is a tormented soul who has many secrets and I enjoyed reading a more complex detective. Meanwhile, Blue is trying to come to terms with trauma, something I could relate to that made me really feel for her. But despite all I’d missed, I never felt confused reading this as a standalone as Ms. Cummins succinctly catches the reader up on what happened in the previous books. But I definitely want to read the first two books as I want to get to know them both better, particularly after that heart-stopping cliffhanger that has me impatiently waiting for book four.
Dark, suspenseful, affecting and surprising, this first-class thriller is a must for your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. Fiona lives with her family in Essex.
June is almost upon us, so it’s time for my most anticipated June releases. There’s some exciting debuts from authors including Charlotte Runcie, Jemimah Wei, Mel Pennant, Jennifer Treveylan, Anne Senes and Xenobe Purvis. And there are fantastic new releases from authors I love, including Taylor Jenkins Reid, C.L. Taylor, A. A. Chaudhuri, Sarah Pinborough, V. E. Schwab, Riley Sager, Will Carver, Caroline Lea, Fiona Cummins, Karin Slaughter, Beth Morrey, Lucy Vine and Ruth Hogan.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published June 3rd by Hutchinson Heinmann Psychological Fiction, Romance, Lesbian Literature
BOOK DESCRIPTION: AN EPIC NOVEL SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE 1980S SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM ABOUT THE EXTRAORDINARY LENGTHS WE GO TO LIVE AND LOVE BEYOND OUR LIMITS.
In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond; mission specialists John Griffin and Lydia Danes; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she believes about her place in the observable universe.
Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.
Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love – this time among the stars.
Published June 3rd by Headline Historical Fiction,Gaslamp Fantasy, Fantasy Anthologies
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Avallon Hotel offers unrivalled luxury in the wild Appalachian Mountains, its curative sweetwater washing away the troubles of high society. June ‘Hoss’ Hudson, a local girl turned general manager, has known its power since she first stepped through the century-old doors – and into the fold of the Gilfoyle family, the hotel’s aristocratic owners.
But in 1942, the real world intrudes. War comes to the Avallon dressed in fine furs and government suits. Under the State Department’s watchful eye, the Gilfoyle heir welcomes three hundred enemy diplomats and Nazi sympathisers. And June must play host.
As dark alliances and unexpected desires crack the Avallon’s polished veneer, not every guest is who they seem. Not least Agent Tucker Minnick, listening for secrets through the hotel walls, whose coal tattoo threatens to betray his past and undo June. And more troubling is the secret she has guarded for years – that the mountain waters can harm as much as heal…
The extraordinary, genre-defying debut adult novel by the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author.
Published June 5th by Avon Books Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Welcome to Lowbridge. Where secrets hide behind every door…
When newly divorced Jude arrives in the small town of Lowbridge, she is soon drawn to widower Will, the father of her young daughter’s best friend.
But Will’s past is shrouded in tragedy, with questions that no one knows the answer to – and after two tragedies tore his life apart in just a few short years, gossip and rumours abound about what really happened to the women he loved.
As whispers of murder surround Will, Jude becomes determined to uncover the truth – and with her own father’s tragic fate haunting her, she refuses to let another innocent man suffer.
Yet in Lowbridge the darkness runs deep, and nothing is as it seems. Can Jude protect Will from a community out for blood? Or will she become the next victim in this web of deceit?
Because whilst one dead wife is tragic, two starts to look like murder…
Published June 5th by Hera Books Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Noir Ficiton, Urban Fiction, Domestic Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: First comes gossip … then comes revenge
When single mum Lola Martinez’s son, Luca, starts school, she feels that she’ll never fit in with the yummy mummies in the playground. Confident, married to wealthy men, with ample free time, they are everything she isn’t.
However, Lola is invited into the inner circle, surrounded by seemingly friendly people, even if Lola’s silence about her child’s father puzzles them. Despite herself, Lola quickly becomes involved in playground politics, making as many enemies as friends.
But then Lola is brutally murdered, her death rocking the close-knit community. As the police investigate the case, they discover that Lola was hiding many secrets – as are the mums in her new social circle. But who had the most reason to kill her? And who else might unwittingly hold the answers to what happened that night?
An addictive psychological thriller with an end twist that will make you gasp, for fans of Lisa Jewell, T.M. Logan and Frieda McFadden. If you loved Big Little Lies, you’ll adore this.
Published June 5th by Pan Macmillan Crime Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Lesbian Literature
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Why would my best friend want to destroy my life? Girl Falling is an atmospheric, psychological mystery from the award-winning author of Dirt Town.
Finn and her closest friend Daphne grew up in the imposing shadow of Australia’s Blue Mountains. Their uneasy bond forged from both losing their sisters at a young age. Now in their twenties, Daphne is at university, while Finn remained in the mountains, falling in love with newcomer Magdu. A young woman with troubles of her own.
After tensions arise during Magdu and Daphne’s first meeting, Finn is looking forward to a day of rock climbing and bonding for the three women on the cliffs near their town. But nothing goes as planned, and in a horrific accident, Magdu falls to her death.
In the aftermath, the friends become the focus of a police investigation. Was it really an accident? Or did something far more sinister play out that day?
Bold, dramatic and utterly compelling, Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor forces us to confront the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love.
Published June 5th by Avon Books Crime Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural, Legal Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Don’t miss the gripping crime novel in which a heroic act ends up ripping a small town apart with devastating consequences…
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HE RUNS INTO THE FLAMES A HERO.
Steve thought he had left his troubled past behind. Living a quiet life with his wife and children, everything changes the night he rescues a baby from a burning house, becoming an unexpected national hero.
HE EMERGES FROM THE ASHES A SUSPECT.
But as the spotlight shines brighter, so does the scrutiny, and a shocking accusation is made – that Steve is the man responsible for an unsolved murder in Beachbrook years prior.
BUT WHICH ONE IS HE REALLY?
As his world unravels, public opinion is firmly divided. Steve pleads his innocence, but DS Sue Willmott is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened all those years ago.
Published June 5th by Sphere Mystery, Crime Fiction, Women Sleuths
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A remote Icelandic island. A diplomatic dinner party. And a murderer in the midst.
The stakes at dinner couldn’t be higher.
The Canadian embassy are visiting a remote Icelandic island and the great and the good have gathered to welcome them. But beneath the glamour, tensions are bubbling.
When the deputy Canadian ambassador is poisoned at dinner, suspicion falls on everyone present, but particularly on the ambassador himself. Jane, the ambassador’s wife, knows that she has to solve the murder if she is to save her husband and her marriage. But Jane knows better than anyone that, when it comes to protecting scandalous secrets, there are no lengths to which people won’t go.
So soon the question becomes: can she track down the killer before they strike again?
Published June 5th by Orion Thriller, Suspense, Gothic Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Ghost Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: If their new new home doesn’t break them, their secrets will…
When Emily wakes from a coma following an accident that nearly kills her, she finds herself agreeing to move from London to the wild moors of Devon with her husband Freddie. A fresh start is exactly what their marriage needs.
As their car pulls up to Larkin Lodge, their dream country home, Emily’s heart sinks. Outside, everything is covered in an icy gray mist. Inside, the air is filled with dust and abandonment.
And then she finds the empty suite on the second floor. A room so bleak, so cold, so void of anything good. Something bad happened in here. Someone dies in here. Why can’t Freddie feel the darkness that stirs within its walls?
There’s something wrong with the house, this strange house, where the floorboards creak at night, the doors rattle, the windows slam shut, the taps turn on and off – and on and off.
But if the house is hiding something, so are Emily and Freddie…
Published June 5th by HQ Thriller, Suspense, Horror Ficiton, Supernatural Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Evil has a one track mind…
Celebrated children’s author and illustrator Annie Blunt has had a dreadful year. Her husband was killed in a tragic accident, then one of her children’s books ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her young son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.
But Annie’s year is about to get worse.
Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed in the grounds of their new house. While Annie is pleased to see Charlie happy, there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night – she’s sure she can hear a train in the middle of the night, although there isn’t an active line for miles. And then bizarre things start happening in the neighbourhood. But even stranger, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book…
Grief plays tricks on the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…
Sunday Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a fiendishly twisted supernatural chiller.
Published June 5th by Hemlock Press Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Suspense, Horror Ficiton, Ghost Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: England, May 1945
Monkshill Park School for Girls seems a world away from the violence that engulfed Europe during World War II. Yet its lonely, decaying grounds have witnessed a murder.
Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, left for the holidays and never came back. Both teachers and girls assume she simply walked out, but the truth is quite different. Her body tumbled from the Maiden’s Leap, a viewpoint on the clifftop Gothic Walk, and was washed out to sea.
But Annabel herself is still trapped at Monkshill, unable to move on. As she haunts the grounds and school, she discovers a hidden world – students, staff and servants are riven with deadly rivalries and dangerous tensions.
Published June 5th by Apollo Mystery, Contemporary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Time has forgotten this remote corner of West Cornwall, and left its many secrets undisturbed. Until now…
Ezra Curnow has lived in the little cottage on the Trengrose estate all his life. He was born there, as was his father, and his grandfather before that. It is his own little Cornish paradise.
Then the mistress of the estate, Eliza, dies without leaving a will, putting the cottage’s ownership into question. London financier Toby and his wife Minty are soon enticed by Trengrose’s charm and, worse still, see a lucrative rental opportunity in Ezra’s cottage.
But Ezra is prepared to battle to save his beloved home, and has a number of secret weapons in his armoury. What Ezra doesn’t know is that Eliza also took some secrets to her grave – and she doesn’t intend to rest quietly until they come to light…
A sumptuous Cornish tale packed with heart, relationships and mysteries from the past, from the bestselling author of The Sea Gate.
Published June 5th by The Borough Press Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Urban Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A one woman show A one night stand A one star review
Theatre critic Alex Lyons made his name from his brutal, brilliant reviews.
So when he sees Hayley Sinclair’s dismal one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe, he thinks nothing of dashing off another of his trademark one-star pans for the newspaper. He also thinks nothing of taking her home after the performance, failing at any point to mention who he is.
What he doesn’t expect is for Hayley to revamp her show into a review of Alex’s entire life, exposing what an awful person he really is. Worse, the show is a smash hit, and Alex is about to become national news. But can Hayley bring the establishment down without taking herself with it?
Funny and thrilling, Bring the House Down gives you a front row seat to the downfall of the people who tell us what to think. It’s about art, performance, female rage, and how while revenge may be sweet, it can also be perilous.
Published June 5th by Fourth Estate Psychological Ficiton, Romantic Comedy, Literary Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: What if your perfect life was a charade?
It is August, and eight old friends have gathered at a country house for a writers’ retreat. By day, there is reading beside the pool or writing in the shady corners of the estate. In the evenings – drinks, dinner outdoors, games, midnight swimming.
But as temperatures rise in the stifling last days of summer, tensions do too. Old jealousies, new temptations and bitter rivalries bubble to the surface. By the end of the week, friendships – and lives – will have changed forever.
Astute, witty and page-turning, The Book Game is a novel about ambition, competition, regret and desire; about paths not taken and last chances suddenly seized; about the games people play. It asks what it means, in all senses, to be in the middle of life.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: WHO WOULD YOU SACRIFICE AT THE ALTAR OF AMBITION? A dazzling story of ambition and sisterhood in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore by National Book Award ‘5 Under 35’ honouree Jemimah Wei?
Singapore, 1996. Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in Bedok, she is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead.
At once collaborators and sisters, Gen and Arin grow up inseparable, navigating the intensity of life in working-class Singapore – where urgent insistence on achievement demands self-immolation in the realms of imagination, work, and play. But as the rapidly modernising, winner-takes-all world threatens to leave one behind as the other’s star rises exponentially, the sisters must weigh their allegiances and bonds, the cost of success and ultimately reckon with who they’ve become. What results is a story that cracks open the fault lines of Singaporean society, our desperate need for acceptance and our yearning to be loved.
Vivid and visceral, The Original Daughter is a breathtaking act of empathy by a new literary star.
Published June 5th by Doubleday Literary Fiction, Translated Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: DISCOVER YOUR NEXT FEELGOOD JAPANESE NOVEL, BY THE AUTHOR OF THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES
Over 1.4 million copies sold in Japan _________
The contents of each traveller’s heart is a mystery known only to themselves
Trundling through the scenic countryside of Kyoto and Osaka is the Hankyu line, a burgundy-coloured electric train that has been carrying its commuters to their destinations for decades.
Over the course of a single journey in springtime, and the return journey six months later just as the leaves begin to fall:
– a young man meets the woman who happens to take out the last copy of the library book he was about to borrow; – an angry wedding guest dresses in a white gown to upstage the bride; – a university student leaves home for the first time; – a twenty-something finally grows the courage to walk away from an abusive partner – a widow learns independence, as she and her granddaughter meet their new dog.
As the seasons and the landscapes change, passengers jostle and connect, as this gentle timeless train carries each one forward towards the person they intend to become.
Published June 5th by Zaffre Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The brand-new standalone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight, Julie Clark. Perfect for fans of Gillian McAllister, Lisa Jewell and Claire Douglas.
“I know what your dad did.”
I set down my sandwich. “He wrote a book.”
The boy, whose name I no longer remember, had shaken his head, eyes sparkling with glee to be the one to tell me. To shatter my childhood right there in the school cafeteria. “Your dad killed his brother and sister. Murdered them in their own home.”
Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels, but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings.
On the brink of financial ruin, Olivia reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite her father’s last book, not realising that she will be forced to reckon with the ghosts that live at the centre of her family. Because after fifty years of silence, Vincent Taylor is finally ready to talk. But is he ready to tell the truth?
Published June 5th by Hemlock Press Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural, Noir Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: He’s tracking people down one by one
And you’re next on the list…
A MAN MURDERED, LIVE ON CAMERA
When a DVD is delivered in the dead of night, DCI Cara Elliott hits play on a horrifying showreel of violence… This is death, on demand.
A KILLER COUNTING DOWN
Avid viewers are paying for the killings, with twisted specifications. A request, an abduction, a murder. And always in a forty-eight-hour pattern.
A MISSING DETECTIVE
But when the killer finds out they’re being investigated, they reveal their next target. In forty-eight hours, a police officer will be the one in front of the camera. The hunters have become the hunted, and the clock is ticking…
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Published June 10th by Tor Fantasy Fiction, Dark Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Lesbian Literature
BOOK DESCRIPTION: From V. E. Schwab, the No. 1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying, unforgettable novel to sink your teeth into.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532. London, 1837. Boston, 2019.
Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots.
One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild.
Published June 10th by Viper Books Mystery, Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Adventure Fiction, Western Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: * A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK *
Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me…
Canada, 1898. The gold rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they’re lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.
In its midst, three women are trying to survive on the edge of civilisation. Journalist Kate has travelled hundreds of miles after receiving a letter from her sister, who fears that her husband will kill her. Martha’s hotel is under threat from the local strongman who is buying up the town. And down by the river, Ellen feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find the gold they risked so much to seek.
When a woman is murdered, Kate, Martha and Ellen find their lives, fates and fortunes intertwined. But to unmask her killer, they must navigate a desperate land run by dangerous men who will do anything for a glimpse of gold…
Rich in its setting and characters, The Rush is a gripping historical crime novel perfect for readers of Stef Penney by way of Kristin Hannah and C Pam Zhang.
Published June 12th by Baskerville Mystery, Crime Fiction, Cozy Mystery
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Death has come to her doorstep . . .
Retired nurse, avid gardener, renowned cake maker and fearless sleuth Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet Birmingham suburb, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she’s been short-changed on turmeric before she’s even taken her first bite of a beef patty. Thirty-five years of nursing have also left her afraid of nobody – be they a local drug dealer or a priest – and an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance.
Miss Hortense uses her skills to investigate the investments of the Pardner network – a special community of Black investors, determined to help their people succeed. But when an unidentified man is found dead in one of the Pardner’s homes, a Bible quote noted down beside his body, Miss Hortense’s long-buried past comes rushing back to greet her, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life, one which her community has never let her forget.
It is time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her, and the community she loves, tested to their limits.
Published June 12th by Hodder & Stoughton Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Horror Fiction, Hardboiled, Political Thriller
BOOK DESCRIPTION: One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.
‘A locked room thriller at its best! Nonstop suspense with twists and turns that will leave your head spinning’ FREIDA MCFADDEN
In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.
Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of fourteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.
But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge-and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.
With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them-even though it means putting her own life at risk.
Published June 12th by Viking Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Saga
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Every family’s story starts somewhere. Alice and Tom’s begins here.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen collects her treasures – the keepsakes, figurines and mementoes that help her make sense of her fragile family. But the next day her heart is broken, and the final treasure, a gift from her father, is lost. Two years later, Alice answers a phone call from a stranger and runs away to New York, and tries to forget her last golden summer at the orchard on the banks of the Hudson.
Tom Raven can’t understand why he keeps losing so many of the things and people that really matter to him, but he knows for certain that something important is missing from his life. One day, he remembers a forgotten letter and makes a phone call, then leaves Sevenstones, the only place that feels like home, for a strange city…
Harriet Evans’s gorgeous new novel is the unputdownable story of Alice, Tom, and Sevenstones. Of a family and a house over fifty years and three generations, of their beginning and their ending, and of finding the treasures that symbolise the most important memories in our lives.
Published June 12th by Virago Speculative Romance, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: There’s no such thing as an ordinary love story
When Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever.
Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack’s controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.
Now, despite Emily’s fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen’s career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love?
A sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Published June 12th by Doubleday Coming-of-Age Story, Urban Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: From the author of the Sunday Times Number One Bestseller, The Versions of Us. A novel about six lifelong friends and one unforgettable year.
Zoe, Al, Rachel, Rob, Yas and Indie. Six friends who were inseparable at university, who have all had their secret or not so secret passions for each other, their hopes and fears.
Over the years, they have gone their separate ways. Rob is a history teacher, with a string of broken relationships behind him. Yas is a surgeon and very much her own woman. Indie is married and a successful coffee entrepreneur. Rachel is a stay at home mum with two children. Al, widowed young, is about to take over his father’s funeral business.
When Rob’s engagement party throws the gang together once more, some passions are reignited, old connections and resentments resurface. Over the next twelve months, there will, among the friends, be a birth, a marriage, and a death – but whose?
BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES is an era-spanning, globe-trotting novel about love, friendship, and how to stay at least relatively sane in an ever crazier world. It’s about a group of friends growing older, the possibility of second chances, about kindness and joy. It’s about births, deaths, marriages… and everything in between.
Published June 12th by Constable Mystery, Crime Fiction, Dark Comedy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A hilarious and whip-smart crime novel by the multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Horrible Histories. The perfect mystery for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Richard Osman and Janice Hallett.
Four strangers on a train. An unlikely introduction:
‘Actually, I’m a murderer.’
It is 1973 and the lives of four people are thrown into turmoil when sharing a carriage with an unremarkable little man with glasses, on the night train back to Newcastle.
By the end of the following day, one of them will be dead, one will turn blackmailer and another forced to commit a crime. And all of them will be under the astute observation of Aline, the local police officer with her own agenda to fulfil.
When the body count begins to rise, the question is: just how many murderers are out there… and who will be the next victim?
Published June 17th by Quercus Historical Fiction, War Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Hong Kong, 1941. Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family flee to Hong Kong.
As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a sheltered – if lonely – existence overseeing her daughter Qiang and managing the household alongside her devoted maid, Biyu.
But when the Japanese army invade, the three women are scattered. Mingzhu is coerced into working for a Japanese captain. Qiang and Biyu escape the island, only to be forced into factory work then separated after an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters.
The longer the brutal occupation lasts, the more determined the women are to resist. And as war rages around the world, each is holding onto the hope that the other is alive.
Beautifully told and compulsively written, When Sleeping Women Wake is an utterly transporting story of female resistance and untold bravery, at once epic and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful. Perfect for fans of Lisa See, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Kristin Hannah.
Published June 19th by Orenda Crime Fiction, Psychological Ficion, Medical Ficiton, Alternative History, Dystopian Ficiton, Political Thriller, Metaphysical Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A Japanese scientist thwarts an international plot to release a deadly virus by mutating it to make people kinder, but something goes horribly wrong … A darkly funny, mind-blowing speculative thriller from the ‘most original writer in Britain’ (Daily Express)…
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Compassion may be humanity’s deadliest weapon…
The threat of nuclear war is no longer scary. This is much worse. It’s invisible. It works quickly.
And it’s coming.
The scourge has already infected and killed half the population in China and it is heading towards the UK. There is no time to escape. The British government sees no way out other than to distribute ‘Dignity Pills’ to its citizens: One last night with family or loved ones before going to sleep forever … together. Because the contagion will kill you and the horrifying news footage shows that it will be better to go quietly.
Dr Haruto Ikeda, a Japanese scientist working at a Chinese research facility, wants to save the world. He has discovered a way to mutate a virus. Instead of making people sick, instead of causing death, it’s going to make them… nice. Instead of attacking the lungs, it will work into the brain and increase the host’s ability to feel and show compassion. It will make people kind.
Ikeda’s quest is thoughtful and noble, and it just might work. Maybe humanity can be saved. Maybe it doesn’t have to be the end.
But kindness may also be the biggest killer of all…
Published June 19th by Michael Joseph Historical Fiction, Gothic Ficiton, Historical Mystery, Regency Romance, Biographical Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A suspense-filled retelling of the summer that should have broken Mary Shelley – but inspired her to write Frankenstein instead . . .
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Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, 1816.
The dark summer that birthed a monster . . .
Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire. Tormented by Shelley’s betrayals, haunted by the loss of their baby and suspicious of her sister’s intentions, Mary seeks sanctuary.
But Lord Byron’s villa, lying under ominous, ash-shrouded skies, feels more like a trap. When Byron suggests each guest write a supernatural tale, Mary is as drawn to the challenge as she is, unexpectedly, to Byron himself.
And so an idea begins to form in her mind . . .
It spills out of her in thick, black ink. A thing given life is before her.
Day and night, she is possessed. Heart and mind. Body and soul.
But is she in control, or is it?
In this hauntingly evocative feminist retelling, Caroline Lea delves into the female rage, creative madness and steamy scandal that bore the world’s most famous work of gothic fiction. Perfect for fans of The Essex Serpent and TheManningtree Witches.
Published June 19th by Manilla Press Historical Fiction, Gaslap Fantasy, Contemporary Horror, Fantasy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Two women. An extraordinary power. An explosive bond. In a time of revolution, their fates will lie in the turn of a card . . .
It is the early days of the French Revolution and, on the streets of Paris, terror reigns.
Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand is a young woman with an extraordinary power – through her tarot cards, she can commune with the dead, revolutionaries and the aristocracy alike seeking her out to divine their fortunes. Lenormand is loyal to Marie Antoinette and the dauphin of France, but she has seen the queen’s fate in the cards and must take care that it doesn’t become her own.
Then, one fateful day, she comes across Cait, a scullery maid from Ireland who has travelled to Paris for love. Cait has powers too – she can read people’s pasts as Lenormand reads their futures. The two young women share an electrifying connection, drawn to each other’s abilities. But Cait is hiding something. What will she do – and who will she betray – to bring revolution to the shores of her beloved Ireland too?
Inspired by the astonishing true story of Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand, The Tarot Reader of Versailles is a sweeping, powerful novel where allegiances, betrayals and even fate itself can be forged or broken by the turn of a card . . .
Published June 19th by Harper Collins UK Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Political Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Don’t miss the brand-new gripping thriller and courtroom drama full of twists and turns that will keep you up at night!
* * * *
Lily and Safa were best friends growing up. Now, Lily is the nation’s favourite breakfast TV presenter and Safa, once a renowned journalist, is reeling from a recent fall from grace.
When news breaks about suspicious bruises on Lily’s body, Safa attempts to rekindle their old friendship. But Lily claims the bruises are nothing to worry about.
And then one night the police are called to Lily’s home. Lily is strangely calm – and a body lies dead at her feet.
Lily pleads not guilty, and then says nothing more. Driven by her desire to give a voice to all victims, Safa begins her own investigation into what happened that night.
But Safa is not prepared for what her quest for justice will uncover …
Published June 19th by Harper Collins UK Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Psychological Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The gripping and exciting first book in a brand new crime thriller series from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author.
***
Welcome to North Falls. A small town where everyone knows everyone. But nobody knows the truth.
Emmy Clifton has lived here all her life. She thinks she knows her neighbours. She’s wrong.
She thinks it’s just another hot summer night: a night like any other. She’s wrong.
When her best friend’s daughter asks for help, she thinks it’s just some teenage drama. She thinks it can wait. She’s never been more wrong in her life.
As the town ignites in the wake of the girls’ disappearance, Emmy throws herself into the search. But then she realises: You never really know a town until you know its secrets.
Published June 19th by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Domestic Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: There’s your side. My side. And the truth.
Lisa Jewell meets Jodi Picoult in a story of betrayal and deception in the aftermath of family tragedy.
She must face justice. As her sister it kills me to say it. As his mother I demand it.
When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.
To celebrate her sister’s wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.
With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?
Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .
Published June 19th by Raven Books Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: You know who. You don’t know why.
The play date started well. The children happy in one room while their mothers relaxed and drank wine in another.
But then the stranger appeared at the window. And then he was inside the house. And then he grabbed the knife…
Alice only means to stop him. She doesn’t mean to hit him so hard. She didn’t mean to kill him.
The police conclude that she acted in self-defence, but wracked with guilt, Alice sets out to apologise to Linda, the mother of the young man she killed – only to find she is unable to come clean about who she really is. But as Alice learns more about Ezra and why he was at her house, she starts to wonder whether she really has the full picture about what happened that day…
This latest simmering suspense novel from the internationally bestselling Katherine Faulkner is a unputdownable must-read that will have you hooked from the first twist to the last.
No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah
Published June 19th by Bedford Square Publishers Mystery, Susupense, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Adventure Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: You think it will never happen to you: the ring of the bell, the policeman on the doorstep. What he says traps you in a nightmare that starts with the words, ‘I’m afraid…’
Sally Lambert is also afraid, and desperate enough to consider the unthinkable. Is it really, definitely, impossible to escape from this horror? Maybe not. There’s always something you can do, right?
Of course, no one would ever do this particular something – except the Lamberts, who might have to.
No one has ever gone this far. Until Sally decides that the Lamberts will…
Published June 19th by Orenda Books Crime Fiction, Psycholgoical Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Translated Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: When his life falls apart after a horrific tragedy, a composer returns to his native France, where he creates an AI machine with his dead wife’s voice, with unexpected, devastating consequences…
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London, late 1990s. Stan, a young and promising French composer, is invited to arrange the music for a theatrical adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The play will never be staged, but Stan meets Liv, the love of his life, and their harmonious duo soon becomes a trio with the birth of their beloved daughter, Lisa. Stan’s world is filled with vibrant colour and melodic music, and under his wife and daughter’s gaze, his piano comes to life.
Paris, today. After Liv’s fatal accident, Stan returns to France surrounded by darkness, no longer able to compose, and living in the Rabbit Hole, a home left to him by an aunt. He shares his life with Babette, a lifeguard and mother of a boy of Lisa’s age, and Laïvely, an AI machine of his own invention endowed with Liv’s voice, that he spent entire nights building after her death.
But Stan remains haunted by his past. As the silence gradually gives way to noises, whistles and sighs – sometimes even bursts of laughter – and Laïvely seems to take on a life of its own, memories and reality fade and blur… And Stan’s new family implodes…
For readers who love Laura Kasischke, David Nicholls and Kazuo Ishiguro
Published June 19th by Mantle Suspense, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Discover this breathtaking debut novel of family secrets and searing atmosphere set over one long, hot summer on the New Zealand coast.
In the past, we had always spent our summer holidays in remote places. That had always been my mother’s preference. This year was different . . .
As the long summer holiday stretches ahead, ten-year-old Alix wants to spend every second on the beach and in the water. But, with her parents unusually distracted and her older sister now more interested in boys, she finds herself alone.
Then she meets Kahu at the beach and he tells her about The Mystery. Two years ago, a girl went missing and none of the adults could find her. So the new friends decide to investigate – because people don’t just disappear.
But, as Alex and Kahu search for clues, they stumble upon secrets they wish they’d left alone. Is Alix’s holiday house as safe as it seems? And is her sister putting her trust in the wrong people?
Brilliantly page-turning and tensely atmospheric, Jennifer Trevelyan’s A Beautiful Family will leave a lump in your throat and a hole in your heart.
Published June 19th by Bantam Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: In the sleepy seaside sleepy town of Waverly, Rosie and Seb Kent are happily married. Now that Seb has achieved his dream of becoming headmaster of the local school, their lives couldn’t be any better.
Then Abi arrives.
Abi, a young, single mother, has come to Waverly for a fresh start. She plans to reinvent herself and give her children a new life.
Then she sees Seb.
As their complicated hidden past threatens to destroy them both, they try their hardest to keep it contained. But in a small town, secrets don’t stay hidden for long and soon, what should be their private business becomes a very public scandal. How far will everyone – them, their families and the whole community – go to protect everything they hold dearest?
Published June 19th by Bantam Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: How many times would you let your child get away with murder?
The new break-out thriller from Sam Lloyd, author of Richard & Judy Book Club pick The Memory Wood.
When you look down at your newborn baby, you realise they were right, those smug parents you’ve always rolled your eyes at: you’d do literally anything for your child. To make them happy, keep them safe.
So when Joseph Carver wakes one night to find his teenage son Max scrubbing the kitchen, hands wet with blood and panic flooding his voice as he promises it was an accident, he didn’t mean to do it, Joseph does the only thing he can. He helps Max bury the body.
Joseph thinks that’s the end of the nightmare. Until he finds Max with stricken eyes and bloody hands once again . . .
You’d do anything for your child – even cover up a murder.
Published June 19th by HarperNorth Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Fairy Tale, Horro Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: *A SUNDAY INDEPENDENT HOT DEBUT AUTHOR OF 2025*
Into the woods.
Count to ten.
Only one of us comes home again.
1995, Ireland. Panic grips the village of Drumsuin when a teenage girl goes missing in the nearby forest.
Saoirse is not the first girl to disappear in those woods. And when it’s revealed she was playing the Counting Game that day – a ritual believed to ward off the forest’s evils – old superstitions send the community into turmoil.
One person saw what happened to Saoirse. But 9-year-old Jack won’t tell the Gardai. Freya, an English psychotherapist with her own history of grief, is brought in to help the investigators break his silence.
As the race to find Saoirse alive accelerates, can Freya make Jack talk? Why is he keeping the forest’s secrets? And who is hell bent on driving Freya out of Drumsuin before the truth is discovered?
The Counting Game is a deeply haunting, atmospheric and emotional mystery, from an unmissable new voice in Irish crime fiction, perfect for fans of Tana French, Erin Kelly and Belinda Bauer
When Daphne confesses to killing a number of men throughout her lifetime, she chooses Ruth to produce the podcast reporting her story. Each episode charts Daphne’s humble beginnings from the Dust Bowl in Canada to her glittering life in 70s New York – and a string of murders in her wake.
Daphne tells her story. Ruth listens. And edits it.
The public are hooked. Is she a feminist icon taking revenge on bad men? Or just a ruthless criminal? Then, as the podcast finale approaches, it becomes clear that neither woman has been entirely honest with the other. Who has been controlling the narrative?
After all, the truth doesn’t always make for the best story…
A darkly witty thriller, sparking conversations around true crime and female serial killers, for fans of Janice Hallett, Bella Mackie and Katy Brent.
Published June 19th by Orion Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The greatest journey is the one you least expect…
Long before Dorothy visits Oz, her aunt, Emily Gale, sets off on her own unforgettable adventure much closer to home…
When news reaches Kansas that her beloved sister has tragically died, Emily Gale must become a mother overnight. Her sister’s orphaned child, Dorothy, desperately needs a home.
But Emily doubts her ability to fill her sister’s shoes; her life on the barren Kansas prairies is no place for a child.
On the unforgiving plains, Emily’s courage is endlessly tested. The prolonged drought and relentless dust storms threaten to destroy everything – including her home and her marriage.
Can Emily overcome her grief and let Dorothy heal her heart?
From the promise of Chicago in the 1920s to the harsh beauty of the Kansas prairie during the dust bowl of the 1930s, this is a story of family, duty and one woman’s journey of self-discovery.
Published June 19th by Harper Collins UK Literary Fiction, Humorous Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Isabella’s NOT dead.’
Every time someone asks Gwen about her best friend – you know, the one who ghosted them all fifteen years ago – this is what Gwen tells them.
But where is Isabella? Why did she leave, just when Gwen needed her the most?
Setting out to solve the mystery, in an adventure that takes Gwen across the country then across Europe; that tests her friendships and strains her marriage, Gwen searches for Isabella.
But Isabella’s not the only one who’s lost. Is Gwen also searching for… herself?
Published June 19th by Scribner UK Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, LGBT Literature
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘There was a painting my family set on fire. It burned to ashes, and then it came back.’Oxfordshire, 1899. Grace Inderwick grows up on the peripheries of a once-great household, an unwanted guest in her uncle’s home. She has unusual skills and unusual predilections: for painting, though faces elude her; for lurking in the shadows; for other girls.
Then a letter arrives, postmarked Saint Helena. After years missing at sea, Grace’s cousin Charles is ready to come home. When Charles returns, unrecognisable and uncanny, a rift emerges between those who claim he is an imposter and Grace’s aunt, who insists he is her son. And Grace, whose intimate knowledge of forgeries is her own closely-guarded secret, must decide who and what to believe in, and what kind of life she wants to live.
Deftly-plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens’s distinctive intelligence, style and wit, THE ORIGINAL is a novel about the value of authenticity in art and in love, and what it means to be a true original.
Published June 19th by Simon Schuster UK Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Jemma has lived a thousand lives through books. The only life she isn’t living is her own. That is, until the day she finds a note from a stranger in her favourite library book. When she replies, the pair begin a longhand conversation about their love of novels that sees Jemma finally coming out of her shell. Is she ready to fall in love for the first time – with someone she’s never met?
Clara has always run away from her problems, but this might finally be one she can’t escape. Everyone wants to know what happened to Clara in America – but Clara isn’t talking. Instead she’s focusing all her energy obsessing over a hot new actor, starring in the TV adaptation of her twin Jemma’s favourite book. Soon, Clara is reading every interview, trawling his social media, and following him to showbiz parties in the hopes he’ll notice she’s The One.
As the sisters fall hard for two men they’ve never met, it’s time to ask the question: Can either relationship survive the real world?
Published June 19th by Chatto & Windus Romance, Humorous Fiction, Medical Romance
BOOK DESCRIPTION: What if your mother knows you better than you know yourself?
On remote Tuga de Oro, vet Charlotte Walker has been taken to the islanders’ hearts and, between days on the farms and nights with a new love interest, she’s content to remain in blissful retreat from her real life, in London.
Just for now, obviously.
Until real life hits the island with the force of a tropical storm: Charlotte’s mother arrives.
Lucinda Compton-Neville knows an identity crisis when she sees one, and has come to haul her daughter back on course: back to England, back to her career, back home where she belongs.
Funny, moving, and hope-filled, Island Calling is the joyous second novel in the Tuga Trilogy – about mothers and daughters; about holding on and letting go.
The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon
Published June 19th by Pan Macmillan Literary Fiction, Psychological Ficiton, Crime, Mystery, Translated Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Holding on to the belief that life had meaning and must go on, I, too, would carry on.’
In this million-copy bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in a homeless man who does a good deed – a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighbourhood.
Seoul Station is home to Dokgo, a man with no memories of his past. Until one day his subdued existence is disrupted when he stumbles upon a lost wallet, triggering a chain of events that will change the course of his life.
Enter Mrs. Yeom, a retired teacher turned convenience-store owner, who, upon discovering Dokgo’s act of kindness in returning her purse, offers him a meal as a token of her gratitude. Their chance encounter blossoms into an unexpected alliance when the man’s bravery saves the store from ruin, earning him not just a job but a place in the heart of the neighbourhood.
But just when things are looking up for Dokgo, Mrs. Yeom’s troubled son, eager to sell the store, hires a detective to dig into the mysterious man’s past and unearth what he seems to be trying so hard to forget . . .
The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon, translated form Korean by Janet Hong, is a moving and joyful story of a woman fighting for her community and a man who has lost everything except the will to try again.
Published June 26th by Corvus Romance Novel, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Every flame tells a story…
George McGlory has been struggling since the death of his beloved wife, Audrey. But when he witnesses a public health funeral – with no flowers and no mourners – he is inspired to create The Light a Candle Society.
As George and his friends join together to celebrate forgotten lives, their care, compassion, humour and friendship become gifts not only to the people they are remembering, but to each other.
And the kindness of strangers gives them strength to confront the secrets of their own histories, forging joyful and unexpected new connections…
Published June 26th by Hutchinson Heinmann Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Domestic Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The season of strangeness has begun . . .
Many stories are told about the five Mansfield sisters. They are haughty, thinking themselves better than their neighbours in the picturesque village of Little Nettlebed. They have taken the death of their grandmother hard. They are liars, troublemakers, untamed and dangerous… Accounts of their behaviour differ, but the villagers all agree that the girls are odd.
One long summer, a heatwave descends. Bloated sea creatures wash up along the parched riverbed, animals grow frenzied, ravens gather on the roofs of those about to die. As the stifling heat grips the village, so does a strange rumour: the Mansfield sisters have been seen transforming into a pack of dogs.
With the witch trials only a recent memory, hysteria sets in. Slowly but surely, the villagers become convinced that something strange is taking root in Little Nettlebed. And when a bark finally leads to a bite, the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.
Visceral and richly atmospheric, The Hounding plunges its reader into 18th century Oxfordshire, where the power of a man’s word is absolute, and it is safer to be a wild animal than an unconventional young woman.
I’m a bit late with sharing this month’s list of anticipated books, but it’s a fantastic month of new releases with some of my most anticipated books of the year being released.
Here are the ones I’m most anticipating:
Edith Holler by Edward Carey
Published October 3rd by Gallic Books Historical Fiction, Gothic Ficiton, Fairy Tale, Coming-of-Age Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘An extraordinary achievement’ A. L. Kennedy
Edward Carey’s witty and entrancing story of a young woman trapped in a ramshackle English playhouse – and the mysterious figure who threatens its very survival.
Norwich, 1901. Edith Holler spends her days among the eccentric denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave.
Fascinated by tales of the city she knows only from afar, young Edith decides to write a play of her own about Mawther Meg, a monstrous figure said to have used the blood of countless children to make the local delicacy, Beetle Spread. But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar woman named Margaret Unthank, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play – the one thing that’s truly hers – from the newcomer’s sinister designs.
Teeming with unforgettable characters and illuminated by Carey’s trademark illustrations, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control and craft her own creative destiny.
A Pirate’s Life For Tea (Tomes & Tea 2) by Rebecca Thorne
Published October 3rd by Tor Fantasy Fiction, Romance Novel, Romantic Fantasy, Lesbian Literature, Gay Ficiton, Fantasy Series
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The heart-warming sequel to Rebecca Thorne’s instant Sunday Times bestseller, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea. For fans of Bookshops & Bonedust and Our Flag Means Death.
Queer pirates will discover if enemies actually can become lovers . . .
Kianthe and Reyna are hunting for dragon eggs to save their hometown. To secure their prize, they must strike a deal with the local lord – who in turn wants Serina, notorious river pirate, and scourge of his supply chains. Surely, they can handle one small abduction in the name of justice?
Begrudgingly, the couple join forces with Bobbie, one of the lord’s constables. Bobbie is determined to capture Serina, but lawmaker and lawbreaker have a complicated history – and it might jeopardize everything. As Bobbie and Serina become reacquainted, Kianthe and Reyna watch this relationship-wreck from afar. Luckily, matchmaking is Reyna’s favourite pastime. The dragon eggs may just have to wait.
Take a break with this gloriously cosy sapphic fantasy rife with mischief and steeped in fun.
Published October 3rd by Doubleday Magical Realism, Urban Fiction, Literary Fiction, Translated Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The sensational Korean bestseller For fans of WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY and THE ALCHEMIST _______________________-
Welcome to the Marigold Mind Laundry where we wash away the stains from your heart.
After young Jieun accidentally misuses her powers, causing her beloved family to vanish, she lives a million restless lives in search of them.
Overnight, in the village of Marigold on top of a hill, she conjures up her Mind Laundry, where she cleanses painful experiences from the heart, transferring them into stains on a T-shirt and turning them into dazzling red petals.
We meet five wounded souls: a frustrated young filmmaker; a tortured social-media influencer; a distraught mother who has discovered her husband’s other family; a young woman two-timed by her lover, and Yeonghui, a victim of bullying, who works as a delivery man to escape his pain in routine.
After washing the pain and ironing their creases, Jieun discovers an astonishing revelation that will change her life.
As we laugh, wonder and grow, MARIGOLD MIND LAUNDRY shows how we too can tap into the positivity and magic that lies in us all.
Published October 3rd by Del Rey Romance Novel, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy, New Adult Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A cosy and spicy spellbinding fantasy romance, about a kitchen witch cursed to hurt anyone who falls for her. Perfect for fans of Talia Hibbert and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. As a skilled kitchen witch, she runs her very own London café, serving magic-infused pastries to her loyal customers. But only a select few friends know about her magical abilities or the hex that has plagued her love life. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is guaranteed to have a string of bad luck.
Scott Mason is back from traveling the world and is excited to begin his new job as a curator at the British Museum. After leaving London to heal from a brutal breakup two years ago, Scott only now realizes how much he missed out on. Now that his best friend’s wedding is right around the corner, Scott is determined to be the most amazing best man ever, but he doesn’t expect to be bewitched by the maid of honour, who also happens to be the owner of his new favourite café and, perhaps more surprisingly, a witch.
After a weekend in the countryside full of peculiar hedge mazes, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But there’s just one problem: The hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger.
Can Dina break the spell before it breaks both their hearts?
Published October 3rd by Oneworld Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A searingly original novel about sisterhood, art, and a community of women who refuse to be silenced.
‘A gripping and spellbinding novel about a sisterhood ripped apart by violence, narrated by a ghostly chorus. An unforgettable debut.’ Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half
Nine-year-old Graciela is raised in the shadow of El Salvador’s Izalco volcano, until the day she is taken to the capital city by the country’s fearsome – and fearsomely superstitious – dictator, who believes her to be a muse capable of foreseeing the future.
There, Graciela meets Consuelo, the sister she never knew existed. Consuelo is everything she is not – volatile, dreamy and teenaged – yet despite their differences, the sisters form an unlikely bond. When the dictator’s brutality is finally unleashed, El Salvador is forever changed. Graciela and Consuelo survive the massacre, but most of their community are not so lucky.
From San Salvador to Los Angeles, Paris to San Francisco, the sisters create a new future for themselves. But the story of those they left behind is not yet over. Their voices, once just a whimper, now shout louder than ever. Listen.
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (The Kamogawa Food Detectives 2) by Hishashi Kashiwai
Published October 3rd by Mantle Literary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers, Women Sleuths, Translated Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the second book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and follows on from The Kamogawa Food Detectives.
Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner. Running this unique establishment are a father-daughter duo who serve more than just mouth-watering feasts.
The pair have reinvented themselves as ‘food detectives’, offering a service that goes beyond traditional dining. Through their culinary sleuthing, they reconstruct beloved dishes from the memories of their customers, creating a connection to cherished moments from the past.
Among those who seek an appointment is a one-hit wonder pop star, finally ready to leave Tokyo and give up on her singing career. She wants to try the tempura that she once ate to celebrate her only successful record. Another diner is a budding Olympic swimmer, who desires the bento lunch box that his estranged father used to make him.
The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve meals – it revives lost recipes and rekindles forgotten memories. It’s a doorway to the past through the miracle of delicious food.
The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
Published October 3rd by Bloomsbury True Crime, Murder Biographies, Serial Killers
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Once more, Kate Summerscale shatters our preconceptions of a classic crime’ Val McDermid
‘A gripping account of murder, misogyny and spectatorship’ Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith
From Britain’s top-selling true crime writer and author of Sunday Times #1 bestseller THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER…
London, 1953. Police discover the bodies of three young women hidden in a wall at 10 Rillington Place, a dingy terrace house in Notting Hill. On searching the building, they find another body beneath the floorboards, then an array of human bones in the garden. But they have already investigated a double murder at 10 Rillington Place, three years ago, and the killer was hanged. Did they get the wrong man?
A nationwide manhunt is launched for the tenant of the ground-floor flat, a softly spoken former policeman named Reg Christie. Star reporter Harry Procter chases after the scoop. Celebrated crime writer Fryn Tennyson Jesse begs to be assigned to the case. The story becomes an instant sensation, and with the relentless rise of the tabloid press the public watches on like never before. Who is Christie? Why did he choose to kill women, and to keep their bodies near him? As Harry and Fryn start to learn the full horror of what went on at Rillington Place, they realise that Christie might also have engineered a terrible miscarriage of justice in plain sight.
In this riveting true story, Kate Summerscale mines the archives to uncover the lives of Christie’s victims, the tabloid frenzy that their deaths inspired, and the truth about what happened inside the house.
‘A forensic reappraisal of a grimy episode in postwar British history … Shocking, impeccably researched, lucidly written and always utterly compelling’ Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of His Bloody Project
‘A masterclass in true crime storytelling … As relevant now as it was in the 1950s’ Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
Identity Unkown (Kay Scarpetta Book 28) by Patricia Cornwell
Published October 8th by Sphere Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Medical Thriller, Crime Series
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.
The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano’s skin is strangely red. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead’s secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.
As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .
Published October 10th by Michael Joseph Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The #1 New York Times Bestseller
‘Stunning. So interesting, clever, educational and moving. One of the best books I’ve read in recent times’ GILLIAN McALLISTER ‘A timeless classic from one of our great storytellers’ CHRIS WHITAKER
‘Had me absolutely captivated . . . I loved all the questions this novel raised about who gets to tell which stories and how complex that can become. Jodi Picoult is a genius’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life. Book clubs will embrace this rich, inspiring story’ KRISTIN HANNAH
‘A blend of historical fiction and modern-day settings, the novel gives us timelines that intertwine and surprise. Picoult has done her research’ HARPER’S BAZAAR
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What if the greatest writer of all time isn’t who we think he is? What if he isn’t even a he? Step back four hundred years and discover the female author who hid behind the mask of the man we know as William Shakespeare . . .
In Elizabethan London, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her education has endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but still she is allowed no voice of her own.
Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees the theatre, Emilia discovers the power of stories to beguile audiences. Secretly, she forms a plan to bring a play of her own to the stage – by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.
In modern-day Manhattan, playwright Melina Green finds a woman’s voice is still worth less than a man’s. But, inspired by the life of her ancestor Emilia Bassano, Melina takes a lesson from history and submits a play under a male pseudonym . . .
Moving between Elizabethan England and modern day Manhattan, By Any Other Name is a beautifully written, compelling novel that explores the theme of identity and the ways in which two women, centuries apart―one of whom might just be the real author of Shakespeare’s plays―are both forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard.
Published October 10th by Doubleday UK Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Discover the new gripping and atmospheric thriller from the global No.1 bestselling author of The Girl on the Train and A Slow Fire Burning.
‘A masterpiece! Gorgeous and chilling, and I couldn’t put it down.’ SHARI LAPENA ‘The best Paula Hawkins yet, by a tense and haunting mile.’ LEE CHILD ‘An atmospheric, stylish puzzle box of a thriller’ – LIZ MOORE
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She no longer sleeps when the tide is out, she only rests when the sea separates her from the land. When she knows no one can sneak up on her.
Eris, an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out.
Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day.
Once home to Vanessa. A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.
Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.
But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.
Published October 10th by Harper Collins UK Thriller, Suspense, Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Supernatural Ficiton
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Chilling and beautifully written … C.J. Cooke’s finest novel yet’ Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward
Four hundred years separate them.
One book binds them.
Glasgow 2024: Clem waits by her daughter’s hospital bed. Erin was found on an idyllic beach in Fynhallow Bay, Orkney with catastrophic burns and only one memory: her name is Nyx.
But how did she get these burns? And how did her boyfriend end up burned alive?
Orkney 1594: accused of witchcraft, Alison Balfour awaits trial. The punishment? To be burned alive.
Separated by four hundred years but bound by the Book of Witching, two women stand imperilled. Can they unlock a centuries-old mystery? And will Fynhallow Bay give up its secrets before someone else dies?
Published October 10th by Michael Joseph Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Six friends. One remote hotel. A long-overdue reunion. Welcome to The Hitchcock Hotel…
‘Fans of Knives Out, Agatha Christie, and (of course) Alfred Hitchcock, rejoice! The Hitchcock Hotel is cool, classy – but such fun; reverent – yet so original.’ A.J. FINN
‘As twisty as a Hitchcock film’ ALEX MICHAELIDES
‘A scream from start to finish’ JANICE HALLETT
— Alfred Smettle adores Hitchcock.
And who better to become founder, owner and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a remote, sprawling Victorian house sitting atop a hill in the beautiful White Mountains, New England. There, guests can find movie props and memorabilia in every room, round-the-clock film screenings, and an aviary with fifty crows.
For the hotel’s first anniversary, Alfred invites the five college friends he studied film with. He hasn’t spoken to any of them in sixteen years. Not after what happened. But who better to appreciate Alfred’s creation?
His guests arrive, and everything seems to go according to plan. Until one glimpses someone standing outside her shower curtain.
Another is violently ill every time she eats the hotel food. Then their mobile phones go missing.
You should always make the audience suffer as much as possible, right?
The guests are stuck in the middle of nowhere, and things are about to get even worse. After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a dead body.
Dark As Night (An Arora Investigation, 4) by Lilja Siguardardottir
Published October 10th by Orenda Books Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime Series, Suspense, Noir Ficiotn, Icelandic Noir. Romance Novel
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘A terrific tale with twist after twist … Lilja Sigurdardottir is fast becoming my favourite Icelandic crime writer’ The Times Book of the Month
When Áróra receives a call telling her that a child she’s never met is claiming to be her missing sister reincarnated, she is devastated … as ridiculous as the allegations might seem. For three years she has been searching for her sister without finding a single clue, and now this strange child seems to have new information.
On the same day, Icelandic detective Daníel returns home to find a note from his tenant, drag queen Lady Gúgúlú, giving notice on her flat and explaining that she has to leave the country. Daníel is immediately suspicious, and when three threatening men appear, looking for Lady, it’s clear to him that something is very wrong…
And as Iceland’s long dark nights continue into springtime, that is just the very beginning…
Twisty, intricately plotted and atmospheric, Dark as Night is the highly anticipated fourth book in the addictive An Áróra Investigation series, as Áróra and her friends face unimaginable danger and extraordinary experiences that may change everything, forever…
Published October 10th by Pushkin Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Young Adult Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF BEARMOUTH, COMES THIS HAUNTINGLY MAGICAL NEW NOVEL, HAILED BY READERS AS A MODERN CLASSIC______
‘Hauntingly beautiful’ Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear
‘The Twelve reads like a modern classic, with echoes of Alan Garner, Marcus Sedgwick, and C.S. Lewis.’ Essie Fox
‘Dark, dreamy, surreal and beautiful.’ Katya Balen, author of October, October______
It’s supposed to be a treat for Kit, a winter holiday by the coast with her sister Libby and their mum. But when Libby vanishes into thin air, and no one else remembers her, Kit is faced with a new reality – one in which her sister never existed.
Then she meets Story, a local boy who remembers Libby perfectly. Together they embark on a journey beyond their wildest imagination into a world steeped in ancient folklore. Can Kit and Story uncover the secret of the Twelve and rescue Libby before Time runs out?
Published October 10th by Black & White Publishing Fairy Tale, Gothic Ficiton, Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Kier Sealgair is the only daughter of a family of seal hunters. But as catches decline and the seals are dying the seal hunters and fishermen of the small town are struggling. Kier cannot kill and in hard times she is a burden to her family, especially now that her father is ailing. Her only friend is Fie, son of the town’s tailor, living with the knowledge that his father hoped for a daughter.
Near the town, high on the cliffs, is Erskine Manor. Servants come from the manor to the town to buy supplies but the family is never seen and rumours abound about them. Did the Lord kill the Lady? Are the five towers of the manor for the five daughters? Are the children of the manor even human, or are they taloned and spine-toothed monsters set to roam the overgrown walled grounds?
And then one day a woman arrives in Fie’s shop wanting an impossibly expensive dress for one of her daughters. She can only be Lady Erskine. And later, on the rocky shore Kier meets the same woman who offers her a bargain, one that could save Kier’s father.
The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw
Published October 10th by HQ Famtasy Fiction, Magical Realism, Contemporary Fantasy, Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance
BOOK DESCRIPTION: There is an old tale that weaves through the mountain town of Woodsmoke.
It whispers of a stranger who appears as the snow falls, only to disappear in spring.
Leaving behind a broken heart…
Carrie Morgan expects trouble when she returns to Woodsmoke after ten years.
What she does not predict is the beautiful stranger who walks into her life with the first frost and with whom Carrie begins to fall in love.
Bound to her family’s book of spells and a deep magic that flows from the mountains, Carrie’s family warn that her new love is a curse who will disappear when the frost thaws.
If Carrie is to embrace the power a Morgan woman carries, she must trade something in return.
Published October 10th by Bantam Literary Fiction, Medical Fiction, Biographical Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘I laughed. And I cried. And then I thought about the meaning of life. A jewel of a book.’ JOJO MOYES
‘The bravest book you’ll read all year.’ JODI PICOULT
From Number One bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story – by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming – of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew.
‘What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.’ ― Sophie Kinsella
Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumour growing in her brain.
As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again ― and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children ― she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights and always buying that dress when she sees it.
Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This extraordinary novella is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humour – it will both break your heart and put it back together again.
‘Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.’ – Sophie Kinsella
Published October 10th by Simon & Schuster Romance Novel, Romantic Comedy, Comedy Drama, Holiday Novel
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Bella is living her best life in Wynbridge, with her beloved Spaniel, Tink. She’s found a way to keep the house she inherited from her grandparents while expanding her dream business – Away With the Fairies – and she’s ecstatic that Christmas is on the horizon!
In fact, everything is perfect until family friend, Catherine Connelly asks Bella if she’d be willing to rent part of the house to freelance author, Jude who is researching the history of the Connelly Clan and Wynthorpe Hall ahead of turning his findings into a book. The plan had been for Jude to stay at the hall, but he can’t cope with the chaos and Bella reluctantly agrees to open her door to him.
Initially, the pair clash but then friendlier feelings begin to grow and Bella finds herself wondering if Jude could become more than just another guest before it’s time for him to leave. That is, until he announces he has no time for Christmas!
With her favourite time of the year suddenly in jeopardy, will Bella ever feel like she’s home for Christmas?
Published October 10th by Dialogue Books Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Welcome to Curdle Creek. We’re dying to make you feel at home.
Osira, a forty-five-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America governed by a tradition of ominous rituals designed to keep the residents safe.
Curdle Creek has one particularly strict policy: one in, one out.
And one day, it is Osira’s turn.
Forced into the great unknown. The sinister reality of her birthplace unravels around her. As she comes face-to-face with those she believed were lost, Osira must reckon with all she has ever been told and confront the insidious cruelties of inheritance.
Published October 17th by Sphere Gothic Ficiton, Horror Fiction, Ghost Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Powerful, haunting and truly terrifying’ CHRIS WHITAKER, author of We Begin at the End
‘Beautifully written and epically scary’ ROSIE ANDREWS, author of The Leviathan ‘Carly Reagon is one to watch’ C. J. COOKE, author of A Haunting in the Arctic
DISCOVER THE GHOST STORY THAT WON’T LET YOU GO . . .
Kyle can barely remember his grandfather. So when they inherit his old house – a damp, secluded tower on the edge of a Welsh mountain village – Kyle and his wife, Lydia, feel they are moving into the home of a stranger.
From the start, Lydia hates the house: the disturbing paintings in the attic, the hostility of the locals, the peculiar light that pours through the kitchen window. Kyle thinks Lydia needs a break from London, from the nightmares and the panic attacks. But over the coming weeks, Lydia’s sense of dread only becomes more insistent, whilst Kyle is drawn to the house in ways he cannot explain.
Yet as winter approaches, cutting them off, the house must become their refuge. For outside, on the mountain, something is calling to them.
Something that has waited decades, and wants to be let in.
Published October 17th by Doubleday UK Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: **Soon to be a major Netflix TV series, starring Gong Yu and Seo Hyun-jin**
Read the gripping international feminist satire for fans of KIM JIYOUNG BORN 1982, CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN and YELLOWFACE.
‘So this is the world we live in, where even spouses can be rented’
Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love.
When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their elite clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji’s assignments involve a wedding, some sex and a spot of housework. It’s all tailored exactly to the client’s desires – no legal battles, no fights, no emotional baggage.
In no way is Inji interested in finding real love, because accidents happen when you mistakenly assume that you are somehow special.
When one of Inji’s old husbands, a mysterious high-profile music producer, requests her back for another year of marriage, Inji’s own dark past will begin to unravel – as well as the sinister underbelly of the NM management, who will stop at nothing to preserve their reputation – and that of their wealthiest clients …
Published October 17th by Hodderscape Fantasy Fiction, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Romantic Fantasy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘An absolute joy to read’ TJ Klune ‘A whip-smart, lusciously atmospheric adventure’ Frances White ‘Fantastic and fresh’ Wesley Chu
In Belle Epoque Paris, a monster is murdering powerful men. Stopping it may be a woman’s job.
When the Gendarmes ask the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena for help, they don’t expect them to send Samantha Harker.
She’s a researcher, more used to papercuts than knife fights. Sam is also the daughter of Dracula’s killer and can see into the minds of monsters. It’s a perilous power, one that could help her crack this case ─ or have her thrown into an asylum.
Dr Helena Moriarty is Sam’s reluctant partner, the Society’s finest agent who has forged a formidable path in her notorious father’s shadow. Professor Moriarty is in hiding, but he still makes his presence known: Hel’s partners have a way of dying in mysterious circumstances.
From Paris’ glittering opera house to its darkest catacombs, the investigation pits Sam and Hel against magic, monsters, and men. And beneath their tenuous partnership, something else is growing . . .
But is trusting Hel the key to solving the murders? Or is Sam just another pawn in a Moriarty game?
With characters drawn from the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Strange Beasts is a twisty puzzle box of a historical fantasy ─ perfect for fans of Freya Marske, Theodora Goss, and Gail Carriger.
Published October 17th by Tor Fantasy Fiction, Fairy Tale, Romantic Fantasy, Poetry, Short Stories
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Dazzling stories of love, magic and betrayal . . .
A sensational collection from internationally bestselling author Olivie Blake.
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the spirit tethered to a magical bridge rapidly approaches burnout – and craves her freedom. Elsewhere, Congress enacts a complex auditing system designed to un-waste your youth. We also follow a banished fairy, as she answers a Craigslist ad. And we meet a Victorian orphan, who gains literacy for her occult situationship. In another time and place, a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away.
Escape the slow trudge of mortality with these magical ruminations on life, death and the love (or revenge) that outlasts both. This collection also features modified fairy tales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry and at least one set of actual wedding vows.
Januaries is collection of new and existing short stories from the internationally bestselling author Olivie Blake.
Published October 22nd by Titan Mystery, Historical Mystery, Festive Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: 18 festive stories of murder and mystery in the grand tradition of Christmas crime fiction, from the masters of the genre.
Including the New York Times bestselling JT Ellison, USA Today bestseller Sam Carrington, Sunday Times bestseller C.L. Taylor, and many more…
The award-winning Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane invite you to a festive gathering of bestselling, critically acclaimed and award-winning writers in tribute to classic crime stories.
From locked room mysteries on Christmas Eve to devilish whodunits and tales of simmering rivalries unfolding at the dinner table, these eighteen seasonal tales will delight and shock at every twist and turn.
So, unwrap the presents, pour a mug of mulled wine and follow the bloodstained footprints through the freshly fallen snow as winter descends and darkness lurks in the shadows.
Featuring stories by:
Fiona Cummins Angela Clarke A. K. Benedict Susi Holliday J. T. Ellison David Bell Sarah Hilary Claire McGowan Tina Baker Sam Carrington Liz Mistry C. L. Taylor Helen Fields Russ Thomas Tom Mead Vaseem Khan Samantha Hayes Belinda Bauer
Published October 22nd by Hodderscape Fantasy Ficiton, Fairy Tale, Romantic Fantasy, Fantasy Series, Coming-of-Age Story
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The #1 Sunday Times bestseller is back with a festive winter treat, set in the world of the bestselling Caraval series! With gorgeous interior illustrations by Rosie Fowinkle.Snowflakes are falling.Invitations are arriving.And holiday magic is swirling in the Capital City of the Meridian Empire.It’s Great Holiday Eve Eve. Scarlett Dragna is planning a spectacular Holiday celebration for the city.Donatella is searching for the perfect gift. Julian is looking ridiculously handsome in green.And Legend . . .Well, sadly Legend is not a fan of the Great Holiday. Tella is hoping her perfect gift will change his mind. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found this perfect gift just yet. But it is Great Holiday Eve Eve . . . surely there’s some holiday magic swirling around.Welcome, welcome back to the world of Caraval, where even holidays are not as they seem.Set after Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series, this delightful novella will take readers on the ultimate holiday adventure, full of clockwork boys, poisoned candy, impish snow globes, merriment, and-if Tella gets her way-love.Complete with gorgeous illustrations, this is the perfect edition for collectors, readers, dreamers, and lovers of holiday magic.
Published October 22nd by Hodder & Stoughton True Crime, Biography
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Ten wrongful conviction cases. Twenty-one innocent people. Framed tells ten stories with a truth more shocking than fiction.
John Grisham, the master of the legal thriller, teams up with Jim McCloskey, who has dedicated his life to exonerating innocent people, to uncover stories that shine an astonishing light on miscarriages of justice. All the cases in this book are simply extraordinary. And all are true. Joe Bryan suffered the unbearable tragedy of his wife’s murder, only to be tried and found guilty of the crime himself – despite being 120 miles away at the time it was committed.
Clarence Brandley spent nine years on Death Row, coming to within six days of execution, before new evidence cleared him of all charges.
And in the case of the Norfolk Four, police and prosecutors continued to arrest innocent people until not one but four men were behind bars.
Impeccably researched and told with page-turning conviction, in Framed, these cases are finally laid bare. Most importantly, they show how truth can prevail and how freedom can be won when all seems lost.
‘Each of these stories is told with astonishing power. They are packed with human drama, with acts of shocking villainy and breathtaking courage. But these are more than just gripping true stories – they are a clarion call for reforming the tragic flaws in our criminal justice system’ David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon
Published October 24th by HQ Thriller, Mystery, Dark Comedy, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Crime Series
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Sweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell coming out on Sky Atlantic in October!
Readers LOVE C J Skuse
‘Perfect for fans of a snarky narrative’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I absolutely loved it’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sweetpea is coming home at last…
Newly married, with a loving family surrounding her, everything’s coming up roses for ex-serial killer Rhiannon Lewis, right?
Wrong.
Her husband has just been shot, and the daughter she left behind in the UK is desperately ill. She’s got no choice but to flee the States and return home, back to her roots, where she’s in danger of being recognised and arrested at any moment.
Only nothing is quite as it seems…
With a series of bad choices in front of her, and the authorities right behind, Rhiannon’s in a hell of a hole and she needs to dig herself out of it pronto. But help can come from the most unlikely places. And even more unlikely people…
Published October 24th by Zaffre Mystery, Satire, Dark Comedy, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Marina is a divorced mother of three preschoolers. Lilah is a shy and lonely librarian. Opal is a broke post-menopausal fitness guru.
These three strangers have nothing in common-except for the man who’s been lying to all of them. And who they are now holding hostage in a basement.
EAT, SLAY, LOVE is a book about making friends, finding joy, and discovering the woman you really are . . . though sometimes, becoming your best self involves committing abduction and murder.
Published October 24th by Orenda Thriller, Mystery, Dark Comedy, Noir Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A top saleswoman at a Finnish sauna company must outwit the police and a murderer when her boss is found dead … in a sauna. A darkly funny, tense new thriller from ‘The funniest writer in Europe’ (The Times)
‘The best comic crime novel you’ll read this year’ Abir Mukherjee
‘Showcases Antti’s trademark deadpan humour and crime plots focused on intriguingly quirky individuals. An utter delight’ Vaseem Khan
‘Just what you want from Antti Tuomainen, the brilliant moulding of apparent mundanity into a which-way-now thrill ride, with humour drier than a desert snake’s belly’ Ian Moore
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Saunas, love and a ladleful of murder…
A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?
The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim’s successor at Steam Devil.
And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren’t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all – before it’s too late…
From the international bestselling author of The Man Who Died and The Rabbit Factor, comes a darkly funny, delightfully tense new thriller that showcases humanity at its most bare – in middle age, suspected of murder and, of course, in a sauna…
Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani
Published October 24th by Zaffre Mystery, Cozy Mystery
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The brand new Christmas murder mystery from the author of The Twelve Days of Murder. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Alexandra Benedict and Janice Hallett’s The Christmas Appeal.
Christmas shopping can be murder.
It’s Christmas Eve at the Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London’s winding streets, where a select few shoppers are browsing its handcrafted delights.
But when they go to leave, they find the doors are locked and it isn’t long before they realise this is no innocent mix-up. The shoppers have been trapped here by someone who knows their darkest secrets, who will stop at nothing until they have all been unwrapped – and there is a gruesome gift waiting in Santa’s grotto . . .
For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember.
Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
Published October 24th by Michael Joseph Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Holiday Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Fun and diverting, with a plethora of red herrings’New York Times
My name is Ernest Cunningham.
I’m not a detective. I just happen to have a knack for what makes mysteries – and murderers – tick. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any killers out there might be willing to take a break for the holidays.
I was wrong.
So here I am, backstage at the Christmas show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. From the magician’s assistant to the hypnotist, my suspects are all professional tricksters. Masters in the art of misdirection.
My clues are even more of a mystery:
A suspect covered in blood, with no memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know. It’s Christmas.
Solving the murder is the only gift I want this year. But can I catch a killer, and make it home for Christmas alive?
Published October 24th by HQ Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: A sumptuous, shocking, steamy thriller set in the vineyards of California’s Napa Valley. What happens when the husband you thought died years ago shows up alive?
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Ten years ago, June’s beloved husband drowned on their honeymoon. Josh’s body was never found. Now, a decade later, June is finally ready to move on. She owns a natural wine bar in Brooklyn and is engaged to a patient, supportive man named Kyle. She’s excited to begin a new chapter in her life, enjoy a picture-perfect wedding, and start a family.
But out of the blue, she sees…him. Josh, her first husband. Is this just a hallucination from the guilt June carries about finally moving on, or is it possible that her husband never died in the first place?
June tries to forget about this vision, chalking it up to grief and nerves, but soon enough, she stumbles across a website for a winery in Napa, and the owner in the photo is identical to her dead husband. With her upcoming wedding looming and a fiancé who’s already worried she hasn’t left her past behind, June flies to Napa for answers. But she’s not prepared for all the secrets she’s about to unlock, because everything she thought she knew about her first love is a lie.
Till Death Do Us Part is a simmering, page-turning thriller brimming with revelations, betrayals, and shocking twists.
Published October 24th by Bantam Fantasy Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Ghost Story, Paranormal Fantasy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: ‘Saturated with violence, desire, and power. It’s a book with blood on its lips, and I loved it completely.’ ALIX E. HARROW
‘Alexis Henderson is one of the best Gothic writers out there.‘ HANNAH WHITTEN
‘Dark academia stunner infused with Henderson’s signature style – it’s lush, atmospheric, imaginative and impossible to put down.’ RACHEL HARRISON
‘A modern-day Anne Rice, Henderson has a gift for creating a world engorged with desire and death.’ THE NEW YORK TIMES
Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.
Until she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to sit the entrance exam for somewhere very few have heard of – Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah.
Lennon has been chosen because – like everyone else at the school – she is special. She possesses the innate gift of persuasion: the ability to wield her will like a weapon and to use it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself. After passing the gruelling exam, Lennon must now learn how to master this devastating power. While persuasion takes a heavy toll on her body and her mind, she is captivated by all that surrounds her – her studies, Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, her brilliant classmates and, most of all, by Dante, the charismatic adviser who both intimidates and enamours her.
But as Lennon becomes more adept at wielding her uncanny abilities, she uncovers more about the unsettling history of Drayton and Dante’s tragic and violent past, and is increasingly disturbed by what she finds.
For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption and darkness . . . and it’s a test she’s terrified she is going to fail.
Published October 24th by William Morrow Horror Fiction, Thriller, Lesbian Literature
BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Other Black Girl meets Midsommar in this spine-chilling, propulsive psychological adult debut from highly acclaimed author Vincent Tirado, in which a married couple moves into a gated “community” that slowly creeps into a pervasive dread akin to the social horror of Jordan Peele and Lovecraft County—We Came to Welcome You cleverly uses the uncanny to illuminate the cultish, shocking nature of systemic racism.
Where beauty lies, secrets are held…ugly ones.
Sol Reyes has had a rough year. After a series of workplace incidents at her university lab culminates in a plagiarism accusation, Sol is put on probation. Dutiful visits to her homophobic father aren’t helping her mental health, and she finds her nightly glass of wine becoming more of an all-day—and all-bottle—event. Her wife, Alice Song, is far more optimistic. After all, the two finally managed to buy a house in the beautiful, gated community of Maneless Grove.
However, the neighbors are a little too friendly in Sol’s opinion. She has no interest in the pushy Homeowners Association, their bizarrely detailed contract, or their never-ending microaggressions. But Alice simply attributes their pursuit to the community motto: “Invest in a neighborly spirit”…which only serves to irritate Sol more.
Suddenly, a number of strange occurrences—doors and stairs disappearing, roots growing inside the house—cause Sol to wonder if her social paranoia isn’t built on something more sinister. Yet Sol’s fears are dismissed as Alice embraces their new home and becomes increasingly worried instead about Sol’s drinking and manic behavior. When Sol finds a journal in the property from a resident that went missing a few years ago, she realizes why they were able to buy the house so easily…
Through Sol’s razor-sharp tongue and macabre sense of humor, Tirado explores the very real pressures to assimilate with one’s surroundings to “survive,” while also asking the question: Is it survival when you’re no longer your true self? Because in Maneless Grove, either you become a good neighbor—or you die.
The Many Ghosts of Donahue Byrnes by Laura McLoughlin
Published October 24th by Black & White Publishing Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Not all guests know when to check out . . .
A young waitress at a country hotel finds herself with a decades’ old mystery to solve – one she hopes will help rid the hotel of its most troublesome guests. Its ghosts.
***
When Ballinadrum Hotel’s elderly owner Donahue Byrnes dies, twenty-two-year-old Mia Anne Moran discovers the spectral rumours that have long plagued the place are all too true. Meanwhile, Donahue’s son, Cormac, wants to sell up as soon as possible but finds his plans thwarted by the ghostly goings on.
Propelled by the belief that Donahue Byrnes intended to entrust her with the task, Mia strikes a deal with Cormac. She will act as concierge to the dead – keeping the hotel’s ghosts in line, as Donahue did previously – and in return, Cormac will sell the business in its entirety, ensuring the future of both the building and its employees.
But what drew Mia’s errant charges to Ballinadrum Hotel in the first place? If she can work out that, she might be able to send them on their way at last. Life is rarely straightforward though – especially when it involves the dead – and as Mia tries to solve the hotel’s ghostly conundrum, she begins to find hers changed in ways she couldn’t have anticipated . . .
Published October 24th by HQ Mystery, Crime Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Humorous Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION: It takes an organised mind to solve a well-planned crime …
❄️❄️❄️
Alice Beeton never meant to wind up single and childless on the wrong side of fifty. Like her distant relative Mrs Beeton – yes, that Mrs Beeton – she had hoped to have her own spic-and-span household by now. In reality, she lives in an immaculate but dingy basement flat in a rather shabby block in Kensington with Agatha, her fiercely intelligent, if rather over-territorial, corgi-Jack Russell cross.
Now Alice runs the Good Household Management Agency, providing discreet domestic staff to extravagant townhouses and sprawling country piles. So when Camille Messent calls in urgent need of a new housekeeper, Miss Beeton sends out new hire Enya. She’s rather forward but she does come with impeccable references and is fluent en français.
But in the early hours of New Year’s Day, Alice is rudely awakened with the news that Enya has been found dead. As the intriguing, if somewhat scruffy, Detective Rigby struggles to drum up an adequate investigation and the wealthy family and their party guests close rank, Miss Beeton takes it upon herself to solve the crime…
Published October 24th by Bloomsbury Fantasy Ficiton, Historical Fantasy
BOOK DESCRIPTION: From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting and haunting Christmas short story
**Named a book to look out for in 2024 by the Sunday Times, Guardian and BBC**
**A small hardback edition featuring an afterword by the author**
‘A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They’re the same thing really.’
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees – and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.
One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst – and the path of her life is changed forever.
‘Like Hilary Mantel, Clarke has made the very notion of genre seem quaint’ Guardian ‘A miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling’ Madeline Miller
Published October 29th by Sphere Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Serial Killers
BOOK DESCRIPTION: We assume we can spot a psychopath from across the room…
Nineteen years ago, Ruth-Anne Baker’s childhood friend was murdered by convicted killer, Ethan Oswald. With Oswald dead and the case closed, everybody tells Ruth it’s time to move on – but she believes there is more to the story.
And only the wilfully ignorant or easily duped would fall for their charms.
When another young girl goes missing from their small town, Ruth becomes convinced that Oswald had an accomplice, someone the police overlooked.
If no one has told you this yet – it’s not quite that simple.
So begins a journey that will draw Ruth across continents and perilously close to three women, each connected to Oswald in a different way. The deeper she delves, the more she suspects one of them knows the truth. About her childhood friend. About the missing girl. And, perhaps most dangerously of all, about Ruth herself…
Blending blisteringly taut suspense with a moving exploration of the ways in which violent crime ricochets through the lives of those left behind, Leave the Girls Behind is a darkly beautiful read that will linger long after you’ve turned the final page, for fans of Bright Young Women and Notes on an Execution.
Just before head into July I’m sharing the books out next month that I’m most anticipating. There’s a whopping 45 books in this list, including some exciting debuts such as The Housekeepers, Talking At Night, The Revels, and My Husband, as well as some new releases from some of my must read authors such as The Song of Me and You by Mike Gayle, None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell,One by Eve Smith, The Whispers by Ashley Audrain, Eye For An Eye by M. J. Arlidge, and A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh.
********
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Published July 4th by Hodder & Stoughton Gothic Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Everyone believes that Lenora Hope is a mass murderer.
When the Hope family was massacred decades ago, she was the only one left after that tragic night.
Mute, paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora has never been able to tell her side of the story.
Until her new live-in caregiver Kit brings her a typewriter.
And with one working finger Lenora begins to type:
Published July 4th by Quercus Historical Fiction, LGBT Literature
SYNOPSIS: In Paris 1870, three wandering souls find themselves in a city set to descend into war.
‘Exquisite, relevant and immersive’ ANNA MAZZOLA
‘Hypnotically readable . . . Stef Penney is a mesmerising storyteller’ AMANDA CRAIG
Anne is a former patient from a women’s asylum trying to carve out a new life for herself in a world that doesn’t understand her. Newcomer Lawrence is desperate to develop his talent as a photographer and escape the restrictions of his puritanical upbringing. Ellis, an army surgeon, has lived through the trauma of one civil war and will do anything to avoid another bloodbath.
Each keeps company with the restless beasts of Paris’ Menagerie, where they meet, fight their demons, lose their hearts, and rebel in a city under siege.
A dazzling historical epic of love andsurvival, Stef Penney carries the reader captivated through war-torn Paris.
Published July 6th by Wildfire Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery
SYNOPSIS: ‘Flawless, lawless fun’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave, bestselling author of The Mercies
‘Prepare to grow hungrier for justice with every page you turn’ Nina de Gramont, bestselling author of The Christie Affair
—
UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON. DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.
When Mrs King, housekeeper to the most illustrious home in Mayfair, is suddenly dismissed after years of loyal service, she knows just who to recruit to help her take revenge.
A black-market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs King’s predecessor, who has been keeping the dark secrets of Park Lane far too long.
Mrs King has an audacious plan in mind, one that will reunite her women in the depths of the house on the night of a magnificent ball – and play out right under the noses of her former employers…
THEY COME FROM NOTHING. BUT THEY’LL LEAVE WITH EVERYTHING.
Published July 6th by Hodder & Stoughton Romance Novel, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Mike Gayle: emotions you’ll never forget, stories you’ll want to share.
Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways.
Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life.
And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become.
Can you ever go back?
For Helen and Ben, so much has happened in the years between. But just to sit in the kitchen for a while and talk – that would be nice.
Before the world comes crashing in.
Friendship, love, heartache and hope collide in this unforgettable emotional journey, from the author of Half A World Away.
Published July 6th by Chatto & Windus Historical Fiction, Literary Ficion, War Story
SYNOPSIS: The captivating new novel from the internationally-bestselling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words – A Reese’s Book Club Pick
‘Vivid and moving … I absolutely loved it!’ Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things ‘Charming, original and beautifully researched’ Rachel Hore, author of A Beautiful Spy
‘Your job is to bind the books, not read them.’
When the men of Oxford University Press leave for the Western Front, Peggy, her twin sister Maude and their friends in the bookbindery must shoulder the burden at home. As Peggy moves between her narrowboat full of memories and the demands of the Press, her dreams of studying feel ever more remote. She must know her place, fold her pages and never stop to savour the precious words in front of her.
From volunteer nurses to refugees fleeing the horrors of occupation, the war brings women together from all walks of life, and with them some difficult choices for Peggy. New friends and lovers offer new opportunities, but they also make new demands – and Peggy must write her own story.
‘Afresh, exciting new voice in historical fiction’ Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife ‘A compelling homage to the transformational power of books‘ Daisy Wood, author of The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris
Published July 6th by Century Fantasty Fiction, Magical Realism, Contemporary Fantasy, Horror Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery
SYNOPSIS: Not all books should be opened.
A spellbinding, edge-of your seat thriller, Ink Blood Sister Scribe follows a family tasked with guarding a trove of magical but deadly books, and the shadowy organisation that will do anything to get them back . . . even murder.
‘Follow where this novel leads and you will be lost in a bewitching spell, a book of magic about books of magic, and the people who reel from reading them. Go beyond the magic and you’re left with a heartbreaking tale of family where truth blurs with lies, and blood isn’t thick enough. A bold, new novel from an extraordinary new voice.’ Marlon James, New York Times bestselling author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf ____________
Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books that will allow someone to walk through walls or turn water into wine. Books of magic.
Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness.
But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger.
If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden from them – secrets that span centuries and continents, and could cost them their lives …
Published July 6th by Tinder Press Contemporary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Sharp as a skewer about the devices and desires in many modern marriages. I loved it’ Amanda Craig ‘Charming, very touching and very funny. Taut and full of surprises’ Tessa Hadley
I shall explain about our marriage. We have a modern version of a long-distance relationship. We share a house, but live in different historical eras…
What happens in a relationship when your partner only has eyes for their new phone?
What happens when you lose a treasured possession – a hoard of love letters documenting a relationship that never really ended – and this loss becomes an obsession?
Speak to Me is the story of a woman’s quest, in a world ruled by screens and devices, for a conversation that will unlock who she once was, and what she really wants now. Keenly observed, tender and sharply funny, this is a book about all the ways we say, and don’t say, the things in our hearts.
Published July 6th by Headline Humorous Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: FOURTEEN DAYS, THREE SISTERS AND THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES
—–
Reeva Mehta is thriving. Consumed in her career as one of London’s top divorce lawyers, she doesn’t bat an eyelid when her mum calls to tell her that her dad is dead. Because he’s been dead since she was five . . . hasn’t he?
If finding out her dad was alive – until last week – wasn’t bad enough, his last request was for his daughters to spend fourteen days in mourning at his house. Which means Reeva must spend a fortnight stuck with the people who betrayed her when she needed them the most – her sisters.
Navigating her absent Bollywood megastar mother, newly dead father and scheming sisters with only a temperamental boyfriend – and even more temperamental cat – by her side, it’s no wonder Reeva’s hair is falling out. Could confronting the truth help the Mehtas put aside their differences, or will attending a funeral be the death of this family?
A fresh, funny and oh-so-relatable novel about trying to be the grown up when your magnificently messy family seems set to sabotage everything. Get ready to laugh, cry and fall in love with this addictive read.
Published July 6th by HQ Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Fiction, LGBT Literature, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: She’s stayed quiet for too long. Now it’s time to speak her truth.
Until twenty-four hours ago, Mickey Hayward was living the life she’d always dreamed of:
– Working as a full-time writer for a trendy media company (tick) – In a committed, loving relationship (tick)
Now she’s fired, tossed aside for a younger, more ‘agreeable’ Black writer. Sick of always being overlooked and undervalued, she responds with an online letter detailing the racism she’s faced within the industry. But when it’s met with overwhelming silence, and her girlfriend suggests they go on a break, Mickey’s carefully crafted life starts to fall apart.
As Mickey flees to her hometown, the simplicity of her old life – and the arms of an old flame – are all too tempting. But her life in New York refuses to be forgotten. And when a media scandal turns Mickey’s post into a viral sensation, suddenly everyone wants to hear what she has to say.
It’s what Mickey’s always wanted – isn’t it?
Intimate, witty, and deeply sexy, Homebodies is a testament to those trying to be heard and loved in a world that refuses to make space for them.
Published July 6th byAtlantic Books Crime Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘A gritty heartbreaker of a thriller… Part heartfelt coming-of-age tale, part brutal Irish noir, this is a spectacular read for Donna Tartt and Tana French fans’ Kirkus
In the seaside town of Kinlough, on Ireland’s west coast, three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They – Helen, Joe and Mush – were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group’s white-hot centre. Soon after that summer’s peak, Kala disappeared without a trace.
Now it’s fifteen years later: Helen has reluctantly returned to Ireland for her father’s wedding; Joe is a world-famous musician, newly back in town; and Mush has never left, too scared to venture beyond the counter of his mother’s café. But human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. And as past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala’s disappearance, and to try to stop Kinlough’s violent patterns repeating themselves once again…
Against the backdrop of a town suffocating on its own secrets, in a story that builds from a smoulder to a stunning climax, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.
You Can’t See Me (Forbidden Iceland 4) by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir
Published July 6th by Orenda Books Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Icelandic Noir, Holiday Fiction, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: A wealthy Icelandic family is investigated and dark secrets are exposed when a body is found on the lava fields outside the hotel where they’ve gathered for a reunion … the chilling, gripping prequel to the addictive Forbidden Iceland series
The wealthy, powerful Snæberg clan has gathered for a family reunion at a futuristic hotel set amongst the dark lava flows of Iceland’s remote Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Petra Snæberg, a successful interior designer, is anxious about the event, and her troubled teenage daughter, Lea, whose social-media presence has attracted the wrong kind of followers. Ageing carpenter Tryggvi is an outsider, only tolerated because he’s the boyfriend of Petra’s aunt, but he’s struggling to avoid alcohol because he knows what happens when he drinks … Humble hotel employee, Irma, is excited to meet this rich and famous family and observe them at close quarters … perhaps too close…
As the weather deteriorates and the alcohol flows, one of the guests disappears, and it becomes clear that there is a prowler lurking in the dark.
But is the real danger inside … within the family itself?
Masterfully cranking up the suspense, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir draws us into an isolated, frozen setting, where nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted, as the dark secrets and painful pasts of the Snæberg family are uncovered … and the shocking truth revealed.
A Golden Age mystery for the 21st Century, with a shocking twist.
Published July 6th by Bantam Press Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Stanhope – a safe neighbourhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.
Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbours become increasingly unhinged.
Published July 6th by Phoenix Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: THERE IS POWER IN SILENCE
East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant, has lived for more than four decades in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater. Everyone knows Martha, but no one has ever heard her speak.
One Autumn morning, the peaceful atmosphere of Cleftwater is shattered by a sinister arrival and Martha becomes a silent witness to a witch-hunt. As a trusted member of the community, she is enlisted to search the bodies of the accused women. But whilst Martha wants to help her friends, she also harbours a dark secret that could cost her own freedom. In desperation, she revives a wax witching doll that she inherited from her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll’s true powers are unknowable, the tide is turning, and time is running out . . .
An immersive and deeply moving novel inspired by true events, The Witching Tide breathes new life into history whilst holding up a mirror to the world we live in now. A story of loyalty and betrayal, fear and obsession, the impact of misogyny and the power of resistance, it is a magnificent debut from a striking new literary voice.
Published July 6th by Michael Joseph Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance
SYNOPSIS: Will and Rosie meet as teenagers.
They’re opposites in every way. She overthinks everything; he is her twin brother’s wild and unpredictable friend. But over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer – destined to be one another’s great love story.
Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and their future together is shattered.
But as the years roll on, Will and Rosie can’t help but find their way back to each other. Time and again, they come close to rekindling what might have been.
What do you do when the one person you should forget is the one you just can’t let go?
Published July 6th by Electric Monkey Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Romantic Mystery, Coming-of-Age Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Sex Education meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this darkly hilarious YA murder mystery by Comedy Women in Print Prize and Carnegie Medal nominated author, Kate Weston.
Fiercely funny, feminist and FUN! I bloody loved it’ M.A. KUZNIAR
There’s never a good time to find a dead body. But finding a dead body while you’re trying to kiss your crush?
Dead awkward.
All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, her BFF Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth-form party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.
On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather’s second in command – suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer . . . period.
Published July 6th by Pushkin Press Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A spellbinding, darkly poetic literary novel that plunges us into the inner life of America’s first female serial killer
‘This fascinating, off-kilter novel about a female serial killer is an unexpectedly thrilling read’ Karl Ove Knausgaard
Seventeen-year-old Brynhild is in a fever – she can’t quiet the screaming world inside her. When an intense affair ends brutally, she flees Norway for America at the end of the nineteenth century in search of a new life. Changing her name first to Bella, later to Belle, she is driven from any potential refuge by an unbearable tension that won’t let her keep still. As Belle seeks release in a series of men, her yearning for an all-consuming love erupts into violence.
In this breathtaking novel, Victoria Kielland imagines her way into the tumultuous inner life of the Norwegian woman who became Belle Gunness – America’s first known female serial killer. Written in prose of wild, visceral beauty, My Men is a radically empathetic and disquieting portrait of a woman capable of ecstatic love and gruesome cruelty.
Beyond the Story: 10 Year Record of BTS by BTS and Myeongseok Kang
Published July 9th by Pan Macmillan Music Biography
SYNOPSIS: THE FIRST EVER OFFICIAL BOOK― Published in celebration of BTS’s 10th Anniversary, stories that go beyond what you already know about BTS, including unreleased photos, QR codes of videos, and all album information.
After taking their first step into the world on June 13, 2013, BTS will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut in June 2023. They have risen to the peak as an iconic global artist and during this meaningful time, they look back on their footsteps in the first official book. In doing so, BTS nurtures the power to build brighter days and they choose to take another step on a road that no one has gone before.
BTS shares personal, behind-the-scenes stories of their journey so far through interviews and more than three years of in-depth coverage by Myeongseok Kang, who has written about K-pop and other Korean pop culture in various media. Presented chronologically in seven chapters from before the debut of BTS to the present, their vivid voices and opinions harmonize to tell a sincere, lively, and deep story. In individual interviews that have been conducted without a camera or makeup, they illuminate their musical journey from multiple angles and discuss its significance.
In addition, portrait photos that show BTS as individuals and artists open the book, and throughout there are concept photos, tracklists of all previous albums, and over 330 QR codes. As digital artists, BTS has been communicating with the world through the internet and this book allows readers to immediately access trailers, music videos, and more online to have a rich understanding of all the key moments in BTS history. Complete with a timeline of all major milestones, BEYOND THE STORY is a remarkable archive―truly everything about BTS in one volume.
Published July 11th by Headline Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
SYNOPSIS: As the bombs began to fall, the book club kept their hopes alive…
The most emotional, uplifting and captivating story of wartime London and the extraordinary power of books to shine a light and draw people together in the darkest of days, inspired by true events.
London, 1938. Bookseller Gertie Bingham is facing difficult times, having just lost her beloved husband, Harry, and with a lingering sadness at never having been able to have a child of her own. Struggling to face running the bookshop she and Harry opened together, Gertie is preparing to sell up and move away when she is asked if she would be willing to take in a young Jewish refugee from Germany. Gertie is unsure and when sullen teenager Hedy Fischer arrives, Gertie fears she has nothing left to give the troubled girl.
But when the German bombers come and the lights go out over London, Gertie and Hedy realise that joining forces will make them stronger, and that books have the power to bring young and old together and unite a community in need in its darkest hour…
*Annie Lyons was shortlisted for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award*
Published July 13th by Michael Joseph Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: There are two sides to every story – and every marriage in crisis . . .
Malcolm, bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar, and when his boss finally retires, he seizes his chance.
His wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career, but after years of trying for a baby, she’s struggling to accept the idea that motherhood might not be in her future. She finds herself slipping away from both her career and her marriage. The bar is Malcolm’s dream, and as she feels her youth start to fade, she wonders how to reshape her own life.
When a blizzard hits their upstate New York town on the same day that Malcolm learns some shocking news about Jess, and a regular at the bar goes missing, everyone is frozen in place for a single, pivotal week, forcing Malcolm and Jess to confront their uncertain future.
The Half Moon carefully explores a marriage in crisis, what it takes to make a life with another person, and the true meaning of family.
Published July 13th by Pan Macmillan Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psyhological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Sarah Hilary, Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year winner and author of Fragile, returns with Black Thorn, another compulsive psychological thriller that questions how much you know about the people who live next to you . . .
‘An astonishingly gifted writer’ Marian Keyes
Blackthorn Ashes was meant to be their forever home. For the first six families moving into the exclusive new housing development, it was a chance to live a peaceful life on the cliffs overlooking the Cornish sea, safe in the knowledge that it had been created just for them.
But six weeks later, paradise is lost. Six people are dead. And Blackthorn Ashes is left abandoned and unfinished, its dark shadows hiding all manner of secrets.
One of its surviving residents, Agnes Gale, is determined to find out the truth about what happened. Even if that truth is deadlier than she could have ever believed possible . . .
Published July 13th by Viking Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A rich, compassionate tale of four sisters and the love affair that fractures their family
Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls are seen as inseparable by everyone in their close-knit Italian-American neighbourhood. Julia, the eldest, is the ‘rocket’ of the family – she always has a destination in mind and clear plans for how to get there. Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book, dreaming of the kind of love you only read about in literature. Cecelia and Emmeline, the twins, are the artist and the caregiver. From childhood, the four sisters complete each other.
When Julia falls in love with William Waters, a history student and college sports star, she’s delighted by the way her plans for adulthood are coming to fruition: a husband, a house, a family of her own. But when darkness from William’s past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who becomes his closest confidante – and the ensuing betrayal tears the sisters apart.
Heart-breaking and heart-mending, HELLO BEAUTIFUL paints a vivid portrait of the unique bond and devastating betrayals of sisterhood.
Published July 20th by Michael Joseph Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The second novel from the author of THE PUSH, 2021’s most explosive Sunday Times bestseller!
‘Spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering.Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audrain, she really is in a league of her own’ Lisa Jewell
‘Deeply thrilling and provocative . . a truly masterful novel’ Nita Prose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Maid
***
The whispers started long before the accident on Harlow Street . . .
Was it at the party, when Whitney screamed blue murder at her son?
Or after neighbour Blair started prowling Whitney’s house, uninvited?
Or once Rebecca and Ben’s childlessness finally puts a crack in their marriage?
But on the terrible night of the accident, the whispers grow louder, more insistent.
Neighbours gather round. Questions are asked. Secrets are spilled. And the gloss on everything begins to rub off. Everyone is drawn into the darkness.
Because there’s no smoke without fire. No friendship without envy. And no lie that does not conceal a devastating truth . . .
The Whispers is a darkly psychological portrait of couples in crisis and families in free fall.
Published July 20th by Century Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for Alix’s series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Alix agrees to a trial interview. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep digging.
Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life – and into her home.
Soon she begins to wonder who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
Published July 20th by Orenda Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Science Fiction, Political Fiction, Dystopian Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A powerful, prescient speculative thriller: a woman’s job of enforcing climate-emergency Britain’s one-child policy is compromised when she discovers a personal link to an illegal sibling on the ministry hit-list, leading to a shocking discovery that changes everything…
One law. One child. Seven million crimes…
A cataclysmic climate emergency has spawned a one-child policy in the UK, ruthlessly enforced by a totalitarian regime. Compulsory abortion of ‘excess’ pregnancies and mandatory contraceptive implants are now the norm, and families must adhere to strict consumption quotas as the world descends into chaos.
Kai is a 25-year-old ‘baby reaper’, working for the Ministry of Population and Family Planning. If any of her assigned families attempt to exceed their child quota, she ensures they pay the price.
Until, one morning, she discovers that an illegal sibling on her Ministry hit-list is hers. And to protect her parents from severe penalties, she must secretly investigate before anyone else finds out.
Kai’s hunt for her forbidden sister unearths much more than a dark family secret. As she stumbles across a series of heinous crimes perpetrated by the people she trusted most, she makes a catastrophic discovery that could bring down the government … and tear her family apart.
Published July 20th by Orion Crime Fiction, Legal Thriller
SYNOPSIS: RIGHT OR WRONG? Only nine criminals in the UK have been granted lifelong anonymity. Their crimes so heinous that their identities are permanently changed for their own safety.
CRIMINAL OR VICTIM? Upon release, they’re given a second chance: new identities and new homes with new neighbours who have no idea. Because, by law, they cannot be named as who they are – or were…
REDEMPTION OR REVENGE? But what if someone started systematically exposing their true identities? Not to the press, or the public, but to the families of their victims.
A Game of Lies (DC Ffion Morgan 2) by Clare Mackintosh
Published July 20th by Sphere Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: They say the camera never lies. But on this show, you can’t trust anything you see.
Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they’ve signed up for.
Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won’t just be eliminated – they’ll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they’d ever imagined, and they’re trapped.
The disappearance of a contestant wasn’t supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she’s watched on screen, and find out who these people really are – knowing she can’t trust any of them.
And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi . . . and a secret worth killing for.
All Of Us Are Broken (Detective Saul Anguish 2) by Fiona Cummins
Published July 20th by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: The electrifying new crime novel from the award winning author, Fiona Cummins, author of Into the Dark and Rattle.
It’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted.
When DC Saul Anguish is called to investigate the shooting of an ex-police officer in Midtown-on-Sea, Essex, he quickly discovers that this is the first in a string of killings by Missy and Fox, a damaged young couple hell-bent on infamy, their love story etched in blood. In pursuit, Saul follows their trail north.
The paths of the Hardwickes’ and the deadly couple are about to collide. When Saul and his forensic linguist partner, Blue, arrive on the scene, they witness the unthinkable: a mother forced to make an impossible choice.
Saul must uncover the truth about the couple. But can he find the strength to lay the ghosts of his past to rest before they break him?
Published July 20th by Zaffre Mystery, Suspense, Dark Comedy, Satire, Psychological Fiction, Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance
SYNOPSIS: WHEN IT COMES TO BAD MEN, THERE’S ONLY EVER ONE CHOICE . . .
‘I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a thriller this much’ – ERIN KELLY
Saffy has a secret. A secret that she is deeply ashamed of. It’s not the fact that she’s a serial killer in her free time. In fact, she’s quite proud of that. After all she’s only killing the bad men. She is making the world a better place.
No, her secret is far worse than that. Saffy has a messy, inexplicable, uncontrollable crush. So while she’s busy plotting her next murder, she also has the much harder task of figuring out how to get a boyfriend.
But if there’s one thing Saffy knows, it’s how to get her man . . .
Published July 20th by Penguin Fantasy Fiction, Greek Mythology, fFantasy Romance,Coming-of-Age Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: To hell with love, this goddess has other plans…
Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.
The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn’t taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld’s annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.
But consequences can be deadly, especially when you’re already in hell . . .
A fierce, fresh and enormously fun YA fantasy re-imagining from a growing TikTok superstar.
“Bring[s] to life timeless gods, the complex intimacy of family bonds, a fierce protagonist, and a passionate slow-burn romance.” Sue Lynn Tan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
Published July 20th by Fourth Estate Psychological Fiction, Literary Fiction, Political Fiction
SYNOPSIS: *SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES*
‘Topical, heartfelt, provocative and wise’ Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other
‘The perfect summer read: intelligent, funny, topical and impossible to put down’ Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
‘Phenomenal. Brilliantly written and incredibly clever’ Abi Daré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice
From award-winning journalist and bestselling co-author of Slay in Your Lane, Yomi Adegoke, comes The List, a sensational, page-turning debut novel about secrets, lies and our lives online.
Ola Olajide, a high-profile journalist at Womxxxn magazine, is marrying the love of her life in one month’s time. Young, beautiful, successful – she and her fiancé Michael are the ‘couple goals’ of their social networks and seem to have it all.
That is, until one morning when they both wake up to the same message:
‘Oh my god, have you seen The List?’
It began as a crowdsourced collection of names and somehow morphed into an anonymous account posting allegations on social media. Ola would usually be the first to support such a list―she’d retweet it, call for the men to be fired, write article after article. Except this time, Michael’s name is on it.
Compulsively page-turning, wildly entertaining and piercing with fearless insight, The List is perfect for fans of Such A Fun Age, My Dark Vanessa and Magpie. The List by Yomi Adegoke is set to be the most hotly debated debut novel of 2023.
Published July 20th by HQ Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Horror Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The stage is set and the witch-hunt is about to begin…
‘I am no witch. I have not sold my soul to the devil for powers. What I am has never openly been whispered of, yet it is enough that people would hang for it.’
England, 1645. After his half-brother dies, aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival, an infamous former witch-hunter who is under pressure to resume his old profession.
In a country torn apart by civil war, with escalating tensions between Catholics and Protestants, Royalists and Roundheads, and rumours of witchcraft, Nicholas hides a secret: the dead sing. He hears their secrets, but will he find the courage to speak up to save innocent lives, even if it means putting himself in great danger?
A spellbinding debut novel perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Laura Purcell and Bridget Collins.
Published July 20th by Michael Joseph Historical Fiction, Romance Novel, Historical Mystery
SYNOPSIS: ‘An incredibly vivid rendering of post-war London and the complicated lives of three woman whose fates intersect at a boarding house . . . emotional, immersive and utterly absorbing’ Jennifer Saint
‘Once again, Julie Owen Moylan has created a world that feels completely real and vivid. A hugely enjoyable book’ Jodie Chapman
When Edie Budd arrives at a shabby West London boarding house in October 1958, carrying nothing except a broken suitcase and an envelope full of cash, it’s clear she’s hiding a terrible secret. And she’s not the only one; the other women of 73 Dove Street have secrets of their own . . .
Tommie, who lives on the second floor, waits on the eccentric Mrs Vee by day. After dark, she harbours an addiction to seedy Soho nightlife – and a man she can’t quit.
Phyllis, 73 Dove Street’s formidable landlady, has set fire to her husband’s belongings after discovering a heart-breaking betrayal – yet her fierce bravado hides a past she doesn’t want to talk about.
At first, the three women keep to themselves. But as Edie’s past catches up with her, Tommie becomes caught in her web of lies – forcing her to make a decision that will change everything . . .
Published July 20th by Viking Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Holiday Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Six friends. The holiday of their dreams. One night that changed it all . . .
1989: The tunes are loud and the clothes are louder when a group of friends arrives in Mallorca for a post-graduation holiday of decadence and debauchery at a luxury villa.
A beach party marks the pinnacle of their fun, until it isn’t fun any longer. Because amidst the wild partying – sand flying from dancing feet and revellers leaping from yachts – an accident happens. Suddenly, the night of a lifetime becomes a living nightmare.
Now: The truth about that summer has been collectively buried. But someone knows what happened that night.
And they want the friends to pay for what they did.
Published July 20th by Bantam Press Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Welcome to paradise. We hope you survive your stay…
‘It really is The Beach for a new generation – a hot contender for best travel thriller of 2023.’ Janice Hallett
‘The Dive turns paradise into a nightmare… and I loved every minute of it.’ Amy McCulloch
‘Utterly compelling.’ Lucy Clarke
Escape to paradise. Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…
Leave your secrets behind. By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.
But don’t get lost for ever… Because this isn’t the first mysterious death on the island, and it won’t be the last. Someone is making sure that backpackers stay in paradise for ever – one murder at a time…
The Clearing (Rees &TannahillBook 2) by Simon Toyne
Published July 20th by Harper Collins UK Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: From the author of the Sanctus series comes a brilliant new serial killer thriller featuring forensic specialist Dr Laughton Rees and Detective Chief Inspector Tannahill Khan
‘The tension is almost unbearable… the ending is genuinely one of the most jaw-dropping ones I’ve read in a long time. Absolutely superb.’ M.W. Craven
Women are going missing Something deadly lurks in the forest around Cinderfield. Locals put the unusually high number of disappearances down to transients or runaways; some even blame the Cinderman, a figure of local legend rumoured to haunt the woods looking for unsuspecting victims.
Vanishing without a trace Forensic specialist Laughton Rees doesn’t believe in monsters. Already investigating the area’s history of missing women, news of the latest ‘runaway’ Maddie Friar brings her to Cinderfield to find out the truth.
No one’s talking But, from the gruff leader of an off-grid commune to the mysterious Earl who presides over the crumbling abbey in the heart of the forest, everyone in Cinderfield has something to hide
But what lies in the shadows? As Laughton searches for answers, with the help of DCI Tannahil Khan back in London, someone is watching – cataloguing her every move, prepared to do anything to keep their dark secrets from coming to light
Published July 20th by Quercus Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When Finn Hensen gets a call from his sister Jess to say their father has died, neither is heartbroken. Their parents divorced many years ago, after which their father, Jimmy, continued to live a bohemian lifestyle in sun-soaked Mallorca.
Ownership of his beautiful but dilapidated farmhouse in the mountains now passes to Finn and his sister. The only problem is that Jimmy recently remarried and his new wife, Ruensa, is still living there.
The pair agree that Finn should go to Mallorca and tactfully take possession of their inheritance. When he arrives, however, Finn is surprised to find that Finca Siquia has been completely transformed into a chic Mediterranean bolthole by Ruensa and her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Roze. The Spanish police, meanwhile, are asking awkward questions about Jimmy’s death . . .
Are Ruensa and Roze the helpless victims of circumstance? Or will they stop at nothing to get Finca Siquia for themselves?
Published July 20th by HQ Contemporary Romance, Holiday Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: Escape to Italy this summer with The Little Italian Hotel, the uplifting new book from Phaedra Patrick, the bestselling author of The Library of Lost and Found.
‘The perfect book to read when you want to give your heart a holiday’ Sally Page, bestselling author of The Keeper of Stories
Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio host and relationship expert, prides herself on knowing what’s best for others. So, she’s sure her husband, Adrian, will love the special trip to Italy she’s planned for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. But when Ginny presents the gift, he surprises her with his own very different plan: a divorce.
Beside herself with heartache, Ginny impulsively goes live on air to invite four heartbroken listeners to join her instead. From hiking the hills of Bologna to sharing a gondola in Venice and dancing until dawn, Ginny and her guests embark on a holiday of full of fun, hope and healing.
Sunny, tender and brimming with charm, The Little Italian Hotel explores love, the importance of friendship, and reclaiming the present moment – even if it means leaving the past behind.
You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza
Published July 20th by HQ Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Sits squarely at the tender intersection of race, class, and ethics – wrapped in beautiful prose and a killer plot that keeps you turning the pages’ JODI PICOULT
Is the truest family the one we’re born into, or the one we make for ourselves?
Cinnamon Haynes has fought hard for everything she has – her marriage, a stable job as a career counsellor, and home of her own. She’s overcome the difficult circumstances of her childhood to build this life, and yet, she can’t help but wonder . . . is this all there is?
Just nineteen years old, Daisy Dunlap has already faced her share of hardships, but she has big dreams for her future. A future which is threatened when she gets unexpectedly pregnant and, desperate and alone, she makes a drastic decision with devastating consequences.
When Cinnamon finds an abandoned baby in the park, she takes the newborn into her home, not realising the chain reaction this will set off. Cinnamon must deal with the shocking judgements from friends, strangers, even her own husband, about why a Black woman like her would take in this blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby, but all Cinnamon wants is to do right by this innocent child. Then, Cinnamon’s fragile hold over the baby is threatened and she must fight for the family she wants – even if that costs her everything she once held dear . . .
Published July 25th by Daphne Press Fantasty Fiction, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Horror Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: Enter a lush world inspired by the history and mythology of South America, where twisted family politics deceive, dark magics thrive, and fantastical creatures roam.
Reina is desperate.
Stuck living on the edges of society, her only salvation lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never known. But the journey is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.
Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn―and keep―her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.
Eva Kesare is unwanted.
Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.
Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet, it’s hard to deny power when it has always been denied to you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And, in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.
Immortal Longings (Flesh and False Gods 1) by Chloe Gong
Published July 25th by Hodder & Stoughton High Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy Series
SYNOPSIS: ‘Each page is fierce and filled with yearning – I loved it’ Andrea Stewart
The only way to win, is to survive.
Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the dangerously dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, where the palace hosts a set of deadly games. Those confident in their ability to jump between bodies can enter a fight to the death – for the chance to win unimaginable riches.
Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been in hiding for five years, ever since she murdered her parents to free the people of Talin from her tyrannical family. Only one person stands in her way of finishing the job: her reclusive uncle King Kasa. However, she knows he always greets the victor of the games. If she wins, she will finally get the chance to kill him.
Enter Anton Makusa, whose childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace. He’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Which means his last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.
When Anton proposes an unexpected alliance with Calla, they quickly find their partnership spiraling into something all-consuming. But before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for – her lover or her kingdom. For no matter what, only one of them can walk out alive . . .
#1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong’s adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is a fiery collision of power plays, spilled blood, and romance amidst a set of deadly games.
Published July 25th by Dutton Historical Fiction, Greek Mythology, High Fantasy, War Story
SYNOPSIS: Four women. Four threads spinning on a single loom. Can they reweave the tapestry of fate? Troy is not just a legend born of myth and poetry, but a historical place where real people schemed and defended, loved and lost. Unlike other retellings, this novel explores the earlier days of the Trojan war, digging deep into the story of those trapped behind the city’s walls. This Troy is not a playground of gods and goddesses, but a political and physical battleground where ordinary people and strong, yet misunderstood women take center stage: Andromache is cast as the doting wife of Prince Hector, yet her Amazonian name means ‘battler of men.’ When her struggle to produce a male heir endangers Hector’s position as Troy’s future king, she must gather a band of outcasts and become the military commander she was born to be, while protecting the secret life growing within. Rhea is a war refugee and a horse whisperer who finally earns a place, and sense of belonging, in Hector’s stables. When the Greek hordes come banging at the city gates, Rhea must become an unlikely spy, while facing a forbidden love that will test all her loyalties. Helen is blamed by all for starting the Trojan War, but no one knows her real story. To escape her abusive husband and foil a plot to undermine Hector, Helen must risk everything and reveal her true face to the one who despises her most. Cassandra is tormented by the truth about Troy’s fate as she watches helplessly from her tower. All of Troy believes that her prophecies are those of a mad woman, but that is about to change.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
Published July 25th by Titan Fairy Tale, Hisotrical Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: Two stepsisters encounter the gods and giants of Norse mythology, as they face their intertwining destinies and an ominous prophecy in this powerful novel from the acclaimed author of The Witch’s Heart.
Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children, and they could not be more different. Oddny longs for a quiet, peaceful life. Gunnhild, on the other hand, burns for power, secretly longing to harness the magic that flows inside of her, and one day become queen. But after a visiting wise woman makes an ominous prophecy that involves them both, the girls take a blood oath to help each other always.
When Oddny’s mother is killed and her sister kidnapped by Viking raiders, she finds herself set adrift from the life she imagined. Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is on her way to her exalted destiny. When they find each other again, their bond will be tested in ways they could never had imagined in this rich novel of magic, history, and sworn sisterhood.
Published July 27th by Hutchinson Heinmann Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER PRIZE WINNER OF FRANCE’S FIRST NOVEL AWARD
‘One of the most daring, provocative, unnervingly intimate thrillers I’ve read in years. Few writers besides Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith can evoke domestic unease with such sangfroid; fewer still can make it such delirious fun‘ A. J. Finn, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
‘What a wonderfully tense, obsessive, enveloping novel – almost like a feminist, introspective spin on Fatal Attraction! Ventura’s deftly spun debut is a sharply observed dissection of marriage that will haunt you for days’ Virgina Feito
‘In this wry, psychologically complex debut, a meticulously manicured wife is obsessed with her husband. For the past 13 years, she’s made a science of meeting his needs, putting them before her own or even their children’s. Her love is a stranglehold; something’s gotta give. The winner of France’s First Novel Prize, this riveting emotional thriller requires serious willpower to not devour in a single sitting’ Oprah Daily
From the outside, she has an enviable life: a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she’s never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated.
Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him – setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met.
Until one day she realizes she may have gone too far . . .
With the surprise of Gone Girl, the bleakness of The Talented Mr Ripley and the sinister charm of the Netflix thriller You, My Husband is a bold and exhilarating story of passion and the dark secrets that lie beneath a seemingly healthy marriage.
Published July 27th by Michael Joseph Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: I’ll show you what a woman can do . . .
‘Artemisia’s life was extraordinary, and so is this book. I was swept away by lush, evocative prose. An unforgettable, moving and important story told with great skill and care’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘Outstanding. A powerful novel about women who are shamed and silenced, and how they learn to survive. A literary knockout’ ANNA MAZZOLA, author of The Clockwork Girl
‘An unforgettable book – visceral and lush and fierce. The last few pages left me gasping. An absolute triumph’ EVE CHASE
Rome 1611.
A jewel-bright place of change, with sumptuous new palaces and lavish wealth on display. A city where women are seen but not heard.
Artemisia Gentileschi dreams of becoming a great artist. Motherless, she grows up among a family of painters – men and boys. She knows she is more talented than her brothers, but she cannot choose her own future. She wants to experience the world, but she belongs to her father and will belong to a husband.
As Artemisia patiently goes from lesson to lesson, perfecting her craft, she also paints in private, recreating the women who inspire her, away from her father’s eyes.
Until a mysterious tutor enters her life. Tassi is a dashing figure, handsome and worldly, and for a moment he represents everything that a life of freedom might offer. But then the unthinkable happens.
In the eyes of her family, Artemisia should accept her fate. In the eyes of the law, she is the villain.
But Artemisia is a survivor. And this is her story to tell.
Published July 27th by Penguin Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Romantic Mystery
SYNOPSIS: *Squid Game at an American High School – the twisty YA thriller that everyone will be talking about in 2023.* Twelve girls. Three rounds. One ultimate prize . . . for the last one left alive.
Edgewater Academy is a school for the very rich and very powerful.
Adina Walker is neither of those things. Alone and outcast, when she gets into a fight with a fellow student (and former friend), her scholarship to a top college is revoked, and her world falls apart.
Until she’s invited to The Finish.
Annual games for the brightest and the best, hosted by power-family The Remingtons, the winning prize for The Finish is everything Adina wants. This is her chance at the life she’s dreamed of.
Then the contestants start to die.
Love, revenge, pride – all are on the line. This isn’t a game any more . . .
Horrific and engrossing in equal measure, THEIR VICIOUS GAMES is also a thoughtful and clever commentary on race and class. Ace of Spades meetsThe Inheritance Games, this is a game you’ll want to see through to the finish.
Today I have another list of exciting 2023 releases for you. Thrillers are one of my favourite and most read genres so this was always going to be an extensive list. There are books here from much loved authors, auto-buy authors, favourite series, and authors I’m still yet to read.
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I’ll Never Tell by Philippa East
SYNOPSIS: Gripping new suspense from the author of Little White Lies
Keep your family close, and your secrets closer…
To the outside world, the Goodlights are perfect.
Julia is a lawyer, Paul a stay-at-home dad who has dedicated his life to helping their daughter Chrissie achieve her dreams as a talented violinist.
But on the night of a prestigious music competition, which has the power to change everything for Chrissie and her family, Chrissie goes missing.
She puts on the performance of a lifetime, then completely disappears. Suddenly every single crack, every single secret that the family is hiding risks being exposed.
Because the Goodlights aren’t perfect. Not even close.
SYNOPSIS: Old bones sink – but secrets always rise to the surface. ‘A commanding, consuming and outright thrilling mystery. Chris Hammer’s first-class series goes from strength to strength.’ – Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of We Begin at the End
Newly-minted homicide detective Nell Buchanan returns to her hometown, annoyed at being assigned a decades-old murder – a ‘file and forget’.
But this is no ordinary cold case, her arrival provoking an unwelcome and threatening response from the small-town community. As more bodies are discovered, and she begins to question how well she truly knows those closest to her, Nell realises that finding the truth could prove more difficult – and dangerous – than she’d ever expected.
The nearer Nell comes to uncovering the secrets of the past, the more treacherous her path becomes. Can she survive to root out the truth, and what price will she have to pay for it?
Gripping and atmospheric, Dead Man’s Creek is a stunning multi-layered thriller from Chris Hammer, the award-winning author of Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year Scrublands (2019) and Times Crime Book of the Month Opal Country (January 2022).
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett
SYNOPSIS: *** THE NEW MYSTERY PHENOMENON FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE APPEAL AND THE TWYFORD CODE ***
Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?
Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.
Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby’s trail.
As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over..
SYNOPSIS: From the bestselling author of The One, now an eight-part Netflix series. Set in the same world as The One, The Marriage Act is a dark, high-concept thriller.
‘One of the most exciting original thriller writers’ Simon Kernick
What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey?
Britain. The near-future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills – the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single.
But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is monitoring every aspect of our personal lives, monitoring every word, every minor disagreement . . . and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honour and obey.
Black Mirror meets thriller with a dash of Naomi Alderman’s The Power.
Published January 19th by Pan Macmillan. Buy here*
The Drift by C.J. Tudor
SYNOPSIS: Survival can be murder . . .
During a deadly snowstorm, Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors.
Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She’s in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board.
Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet’s depths looms larger.
Outside, the storm rages. Inside one group, a killer lurks.
But which one?
And who will make it out alive?
Published January 19th by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah
SYNOPSIS: You can choose your house. Not your neighbours.
WELCOME TO YOUR DREAM HOME… Salma Khatun is extremely hopeful about Blenheim, the safe suburban development to which she, her husband and their son have just moved. Their family is in desperate need of a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like the place to make that happen.
MEET YOUR NEW NEIGHBOURS… Not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbour, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in their front garden. She chooses not to confront Tom because she wants to fit in. It’s a small thing, really. No need to make a fuss. So Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window instead. But the next morning she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint.
AND PREPARE FOR THE NIGHTMARE TO BEGIN… This time she does confront Tom, and the battle lines between the two families are drawn. As things begin to escalate and the stakes become higher, it’s clear that a reckoning is coming… And someone is going to get hurt.
A gripping thriller about nightmare neighbours, Those People Next Door explores the loss of innocence and how far we’re prepared to go to defend ourselves and the people we love.
SYNOPSIS: There’s the obvious story. And then there’s the truth.
Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most outgoing guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.
That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . . .
As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.
And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed.
And it still isn’t.
Published February 2nd by Simon & Schuster Pre-order here*
The Murder Gameby Tom Hindle
SYNOPSIS: One house. Nine guests. Endless motives for murder…
In the seaside town of Hamlet Wick, nine guests assemble for a New Year’s Eve party to remember.
The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play.
But the game has barely begun when one guest is found dead – killed by a fatal injury to the head.
With no phone signal and no way out of the house, the others are trapped with a killer in their midst.
Someone is playing by their own rules. And in a close-knit community, old rivalries run deep…
SYNOPSIS: They think as one. They act as one. They kill as one.
The residents of Garrett Island are part of a visionary experiment. Their cars have been sent to the mainland and for one month, they’ve got self-driving vehicles called Arrivals. With just a voice command, an Arrival will take you where you want to go, and as the cars are all aware of each other, road accidents should be a thing of the past.
As the world’s press arrives for a glimpse of this driverless future, islander and single mom Sandra Montrose preps for the huge media event. She’s ready for this new world. Her husband died when he fell asleep at the wheel, and she’s relieved her two teens, Archie and Katie, may never need driver’s licenses.
But as the day gets underway, there are signs all is not well. A member of the press has vanished. There are rumours of industrial sabotage.
Before long, the sleek driverless cars are no longer taking orders. They’re starting to organize. They’re starting to hunt. And they’ve got the residents of Garrett Island in their sights.
SYNOPSIS: A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night.
Her baby lies alone in the pram, her mother’s possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes.
A year later, Kim Gillespie’s absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations on a rare break from work is federal investigator Aaron Falk, who begins to suspect that all is not as it seems.
As he looks into Kim’s case, long-held secrets and resentments begin to come to the fore, secrets that show that her community is not as close as it appears.
Falk will have to tread carefully if he is to expose the dark fractures at its heart, but sometimes it takes an outsider to get to the truth…
An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors.
Published February 2nd by Pan Macmillan Pre-order here*
What July Knew by Emily Koch
SYNOPSIS: A moving mystery about family secrets, grief and growing up
Summer, 1995.
July Hooper knows eighteen things about her mother.
Like number thirteen: she loved dancing on the kitchen table. And number eight: she was covered in freckles.
And then there’s number two: she died after being hit by a car when July was small.
She keeps this list hidden in a drawer away from her father. Because they’re not allowed to talk about her mother. Ever.
But an anonymous note slipped into July’s bag on her tenth birthday is about to change everything she thinks she knows about her mum.
Determined to discover what really happened to her, July begins to investigate, cycling around the neighbourhood where her family used to live. There she meets someone who might finally have the answers.
July wants her family to stop lying to her, but will the truth be harder to face?
Published February 9th by Harvill Secker Pre-order here*
Make Me Clean by Tina Baker
SYNOPSIS: She will leave your surfaces sparkling. But she may well leave you dead…
Maria is a good woman and a good cleaner. She cleans for Elsie, the funny old bird who’s losing her marbles, with the terrible husband. She cleans for Brian, the sweet man with the terrible boss. She cleans for the mysterious Mr Balogan, with the terrible neighbours.
If you’re thinking of hiring her, you should probably know that Maria might have killed the terrible husband, the terrible boss and the terrible neighbours. She may also have murdered the man she loved.
She didn’t set out to kill anyone, of course, but her clients have hired her to clean up their lives, and she takes her job seriously – not to mention how much happier they all are now. The trouble is, murder can’t be washed out. You can only sweep it under the carpet, and pray no one looks too closely…
Darkly funny and completely gripping from the first page to the last, Make Me Clean is one thriller you won’t be able to scrub from your mind. Perfect for fans of Harriet Tyce, Fiona Cummins and My Sister the Serial Killer.
SYNOPSIS: Over a hundred years ago, the citizens of F- did something rather bad. And local school teacher Catherine Evans has made writing the definitive account of what happened when Ilsbeth Clark drowned in the well her life’s work.
The town’s people may not want their past raked up, but Catherine is determined to shine a light upon that shameful event. For Ilsbeth was an innocent, after all. She was shunned and ostracised by rumour-mongers and ill-wishers and someone has to speak up for her. And who better than Catherine, who has herself felt the sting and hurt of such whisperings?
But then a childhood friend returns to F -. Elena is a successful author whose book, The Whispers Inside: A Reawakening of the Soul, has earned her a certain celebrity. In search of a new subject, she takes an interest in the story of Ilsbeth Clark and announces her intention to write a book about the long-dead woman, focusing on the natural magic she believes she possessed.
And Elena has everything Catherine has not, like a platform and connections and no one seems to care that Elena’s book will be pure speculation, tainting Ilsbeth’s memory rather than preserving it. Catherine is determined that something must be done and plots to blunt her rival’s pen. However she had not allowed for the fact that the past might not be so dead after all – that something is reaching out from the well, disturbing her reality.
Before summer’s over, one woman will be dead, the other accused of murder . . . but is she really guilty, or are there other forces at work? And who was Ilsbeth Clark, really? An innocent? A witch? Or something else entirely?
Published February 23rd by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
SYNOPSIS: Forgetting is terrifying. Remembering is worse…
Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished.
Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.
Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.
The Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives for a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.
Published February 28th by HQ Pre-order here*
The Institution by Helen Fields
SYNOPSIS: They’re locked up for your safety. Now, you’re locked in with them.
Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer.
On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.
Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the girl – before it’s too late.
But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?
A claustrophobic, haunting crime thriller that will keep you up at night, perfect for those who couldn’t put down The Sanatorium and Amy McCulloch’s Breathless.
SYNOPSIS: From the Number 1 bestselling author of Our Little Cruelties and Skin Deep
Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.
Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.
But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged . . .
SYNOPSIS: ON THE TOUGHEST REALITY SHOW ON TELEVISION A KILLER IS HIDING OUT OF SHOT
Frozen Out is set to be a TV sensation. On a small ship off the coast of Greenland, eight contestants will push themselves to breaking point for a £100,000 prize.
The show is Tori Matsuka’s baby. After years working her way up the ladder, she’s finally launching her own production company with Frozen Out, and the late nights, the debts, the strain on her relationship will all be worthwhile. Everything is riding on the next twelve days. For camerawoman Dee, it’s a chance to start again after the tragedy that tanked her undercover journalism career. Not even Tori, her oldest friend, knows the full truth of why Dee left her previous job, and she plans to keep it that way.
But as errors and mishaps mount on set, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And when one of the contestants is found dead, only Dee realises the death wasn’t natural – and from what she’s seen from behind the camera, it won’t be the last. As the Arctic ice closes in around them and all chance of escape is cut off, it becomes clear that although the world outside wants them dead, it’s the secrets inside the ship that might cost them their lives.
Packed with suspense from the first page to the last, Freeze is a must-read for fans of Shiver, The Sanatorium and One By One. This thriller isn’t just chilling: it’s sub-zero.
Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.
Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.
The media will say whichever gets them the most views.
But whose side are you on? #SaveMelanie #HelpPeter
Told via interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a shocking and addictive thriller about fame, power and the truth behind the headlines.
‘#FreeBritney meets The Appeal in this addictively unique thriller. Get ready to be utterly hooked’ Jack Jordan, author of DO NO HARM
Published March 16th by Bantam Press Pre-order here*
End of Story by Louise Swanson
SYNOPSIS: Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing
It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government.
Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.
But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding?
And who can be trusted?
Published March 23rd by Hodder & Stoughton Pre-order here*
The Half Burnt House by Alex North
SYNOPSIS: ARE YOU READY TO ENTER THE HALF BURNT HOUSE?
The spine-tingling new thriller from the internationally bestselling author of THE WHISPER MAN, a Richard and Judy pick.
*****
Katie always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris – until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they’re adults, and they haven’t spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page.
Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion – but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof.
Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer?
But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago. But she can’t possibly imagine just how much danger he’s in…
Published March 30th by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
The Favour by Nicci French
SYNOPSIS: A good deed Can turn deadly…
When Liam unexpectedly turns up in Jude’s life after ten years of no contact, asking her for a favour, she just can’t say no. He was her first love, and even though she is now a successful doctor and about to get married, he will always be someone special to her. But after she does the favour, she is contacted by the police, informing her that Liam has been found dead, and suddenly she is caught up in a murder investigation.
And she realises this one decision could cost her everything – even her life…
Published March 30th by Simon & Schuster Pre-order here*
Every Happy Family by Sarah Stovell
SYNOPSIS: The closer you are, the more damage they do.
Minnie and Bert are over the moon to have their three grown-up children home for the first time in a decade. But having Lizzie, Jess, Owen and the grandchildren under one roof isn’t without its dramas.
Lizzie is off the alcohol (although emergency gin doesn’t count), Jess is juggling a toddler and a newborn, but it’s Owen who has the power to throw a grenade into everything.
It all stems from an incident that happened years ago. And it involves Nora Skelly – a name you don’t mention in front of Minnie.
With Nora also back in town, the past is about to come crashing into the present. And what better time to revisit old secrets and resentments than around the family dinner table?
SYNOPSIS: Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her former professor, Patrick is much older than J.B.. But when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and J.B. is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his. For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. There is nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits and Patrick falls off the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick – and the truth about their marriage – begins.
A Truth For A Truth by Carol Wyer (Detective Kate Young 4)
SYNOPSIS: DI Kate Young’s team is hunting for a killer. What they don’t know…is that the killer is her.
DI Kate Young has known for years that her boss, Superintendent John Dickson, is a violent and evil man. But when she finally confronts him and accidentally shoots and kills him, she’s forced to cover her tracks before anyone can pin his death on her. With revelations about his corruption soon to become public knowledge, Kate sets up a trail of evidence to make it seem that Dickson has conveniently vanished…
But Kate knows the corruption doesn’t end with Dickson. As she heads up the team investigating his supposed disappearance, she also pursues other loose ends. Stanka, the sex worker who supplied the evidence against Dickson, leads her to crucial information on another corrupt officer, DI Harriet Khatri, and her dubious involvement with sex traffickers.
As the noose starts to tighten on Kate, she finds herself targeted by traffickers, the bent cops on her force and even her own team of detectives. Can she stay one step ahead of them all and bring Harriet to justice? Can she trust anyone around her? And can she possibly get away with murder?
Published April 4th by Thomas & Mercer Pre-oder here*
Her Sweet Revenge by Sarah Bonner
SYNOPSIS: THE SENSATIONAL NEW THRILLER FROM SARAH BONNER – REVENGE IS BEST SERVED SWEET.
Secrets and lies ruin lives
Two women receive an anonymous note.For one it’s a threat.For the other it’s an invitation for revenge.Helena is beautiful, successful, and living in married bliss in Exeter. But she’s hiding a secret that could tear her perfect life apart. When the notes begin to arrive, she realises someone else must know her secret. But what might her husband and his overbearing family do if they find out the truth?Thea is reeling from her best friend Helena’s death. But when she starts digging into the circumstances, she receives a threatening note warning her to stop. She knows her friend’s death wasn’t an accident. This was murder. And she is determined to get revenge . . .
Published April 6th by Hodder & Stoughton Pre-order here*
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
SYNOPISIS: The new dark thriller from the bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street
In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the killer that stalked their small New England town. Of the body they found, the horror of that discovery echoing down the decades. And of Sky, Wilder’s one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, The Sound and the Dagger.
This book will be Wilder’s revenge on Sky, a man who betrayed his trust and died without ever telling him why. But as he writes, Wilder begins to find notes written in Sky’s signature green ink and events in his manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. Is Sky haunting him? Did Wilder have more to do with Sky’s death than he admits? And who is the woman drowning in the cove, whom no-one else can see?
No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to wonder: is he writing the book, or is the book writing him?
Published April 20th by Viper Pre-order here*
The Fall by Louise Jensen
SYNOPSIS: She promised she wouldn’t tell. They made sure she couldn’t…
At her surprise 40th birthday party, Kate Granger feels like the luckiest woman in the world but just hours later her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious underneath a bridge when she should have been at school.
Now, Caily lies comatose in her hospital bed, and the police don’t believe it was an accident. As the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall.
Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up. Someone is desperate to protect the truth and it isn’t just Caily’s life that is in danger.
SYNOPSIS: HE TRUSTS HIS LAWYER WITH HIS LIFE . . . HE SHOULDN’T
Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept and burning their house to the ground.
When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could make her career.
A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must throw the case or the secret about her husband’s disappearance will be revealed. Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about, until she does as she is told.
Neve must make a choice – go against every principle she has ever had, or the people she loves will die.
For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, this is the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.
Published June 22nd by Simon & Schuster Pre-order here*
Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
SYNOPSIS: OLIVIA: 22 years old. No history of running away. Last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again. Missing for one day and counting . . .
Julia is the detective heading up the case.
She knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her daughter.
But Julia has no idea how close to home it’s going to get.
Because her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia – and must frame somebody else for her murder . . .
What would you do?
Published May 11th by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
The Last Passenger by Will Dean
SYNOPSIS: The electrifying new stand-alone thriller from the author of THE LAST THING TO BURN and FIRST BORN.
My phone has no reception, something we’ve been told to expect from time to time out here, and my stomach feels uneasy. Maybe it’s the motion of the waves or maybe it’s the fact that Pete didn’t leave a note or a text. He usually leaves a note with a heart. I pull on jeans and a jumper and scrunch my hair on top of my head and take my key card and step out into the corridor. Thirty seconds later it hits me. All the other cabin doors are wedged open. Every single one is unoccupied and unlocked. My heart starts beating harder. I break out into a run. At the end of the long corridor I take a lift down to the Ocean Lobby. There’s nobody here. My mouth is dry. It’s like I’m trapped on a runaway train. No, this is worse. The RMS Atlantica is steaming out into the ocean and I am the only person on board.
This was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime for Cas. Now she just needs to survive.
With the drama of The Woman in Cabin 10 and the tension of And Then There Were None , The Last Passenger is a psychological thriller set aboard a cruise ship about a woman whose seemingly ordinary life is suddenly thrown dramatically off course. Will Dean is The Master of Intense Suspense and this novel is full of his trademark twists and turns.
Published May 11th by Hodder & Stoughton Pre-order here*
The Final Party by A. A. Chaudhuri
SYNOPSIS: SIX FRIENDS.
In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration.
ONE BODY.
Before the week is out, one of them is dead.
COUNTLESS LIES.
Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the group starts receiving anonymous messages, threatening to expose a dark secret from their university days.
As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried…
A heart-racing psychological thriller that will hook you from the very first page, with twist after twist that will make your jaw drop. Fans of B.A. Paris, My Husband’s Killer and Lucy Foley won’t be able to put this down. If you were hooked by The White Lotus or The Watcher, you’ll love this.
SYNOPSIS: One of TIME’s most anticipated books of 2023
Athena Liu is a literary darling. Juniper Hayward is literally nobody.
White lies When Athena dies in a freak accident, Juniper steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name June Song.
Dark humour But as evidence threatens Juniper’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
Deadly consequences… What happens next is entirely everyone else’s fault.
Published May 25th by The Borough Press Pre-order here*
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal
SYNOPSIS: We are invisible: we clean your houses, we look after your children, we know your secrets. But now you know one of ours…
Rules for being a maid: • No smoking • No boyfriends • No visitors • And most importantly: be invisible…
Corazon, Angel and Donita have all come to Singapore to work for a living. The thing that unites them? Their labour must remain unseen.
But when a friend is accused of murdering her employer, everything changes. The accused could be any of them; they all know the stories of women who were scapegoated or even executed for crimes they didn’t commit.
Each woman has secrets to keep, yet they must gather every ounce of bravery, fearlessness and complete audacity to clear the name of one of their own.
After all, no-one knows the secrets of Singapore’s elite quite like the women who work in their homes…
Published May 25th by Harper Collins Pre-order here*
Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards
No synopsis available
Published May 30th by Thomas & Mercer Pre-order here*
The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner
SYNOPSIS: The outstanding new thriller from the author of international bestseller and Waterstones Thriller of the Month pick, Greenwich Park
Ex journalist Tash has been searching for a story to launch her freelance career. But she has also been searching for something else. New friends to help her navigate motherhood.
She sees them at her son’s new playgroup. The other mothers. The sleek, the sophisticated, the successful mothers. The women she wants to be.
And then one day they welcome her into their circle and Tash discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of; their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills.
These families seem to have everything. But they also have their secrets.
And it’s soon clear that not everyone at the playgroup can be trusted.
SYNOPSIS: The Woman Inside is a breathless page-turner from international master of suspense M. T. Edvardsson. Three suspects, two deaths and the truth that binds them together.
Three Suspects.
Bill, a widowed single dad, has urgent bills to pay when he rents out a room in his apartment to Karla.
Karla left home to study law and, in need of cash, begins working as a cleaner for a doctor and his wife. But inside their palatial house it’s clear that something is wrong with the wife who never leaves her bedroom.
Jennica is single and career-less when she meets her perfect match on Tinder. But just as she thinks her luck is changing, she finds out that he is hiding secrets of his own . . .
Two murders.
In a few short weeks, the doctor and his wife will be found dead in their home and the questions will begin . . .
One truth.
Ordinary people will do things they never thought possible when faced with extraordinary circumstances, and the woman inside the house will hold the key to it all . . .
Published June 15th by Pan Macmillan Pre-order here*
Midnight by Amy McCulloch
SYNOPSIS: When she’s gifted a once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise, Olivia has never been anywhere so spectacular.
Huge cliffs of ice loom up to the sky. The sun never sets over the sparkling sea. And there’s a killer on board…
Unable to sleep in the endless eerie daylight, Olivia has no idea who she can trust. And if she can’t figure it out soon, she won’t make it back alive…
Publsihed June 22nd by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin
SYNOPSIS: Vivvy Bouchet saved a boy’s life when she was a child, after a premonition. That boy is now a Texas police officer, who has always believed Vivvy is psychic.
He convinces her to help him solve a high-profile cold case: three-year-old Lizzie Solomon disappeared in broad daylight from her home. A body was never found, but the child’s mother, Nicolette, is in prison for the disappearance, loudly proclaiming her innocence.
When a popular podcaster hears of Vivvy’s involvement in the case, his conspiracy theories about the missing child, and Vivvy too, have an army of fans hanging on every dangerous word.
But when it becomes clear there may be a kidnapper – or killer – still on the loose, Vivvy knows there’s more to lose than her reputation.
Because the difference between the truth and a lie can mean life or death . . .
Night Will Find You is a sharply observed psychological thriller exploring the dangerous meeting of conspiracy theories and our need to believe.
Published June 22nd by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
The Launch Party by Lauren Forry
SYNOPSIS: Agatha Christie meets Andy Weir in the ultimate locked room mystery set in the first hotel on the moon. Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Anthony Horowitz and Hanna Jameson.
FEATURED IN THE EVENING STANDARD‘S BOOKS TO WATCH IN 2023
THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME. YOU’D DIE TO BE THERE.
Ten lucky people have won a place at the most exclusive launch event of the century: the grand opening of the Hotel Artemis, the first hotel on the moon. It’s an invitation to die for. As their transport departs for its return to Earth and the doors seal shut behind them, the guests take the next leap for mankind.
However, they soon discover that all is not as it seems. The champagne may be flowing, but there is no one to pour it. Room service is available, but there is no one to deliver it. Besides the ten of them, they are completely alone.
When one of the guests is found murdered, fear spreads through the group. But that death is only the beginning. Being three days’ journey from home and with no way to contact the outside, can any of the guests survive their stay?
SYNOPSIS: Six friends. The holiday of their dreams. One night that changed it all . . .
1989: The tunes are loud and the clothes are louder when a group of friends arrives in Mallorca for a post-graduation holiday of decadence and debauchery at a luxury villa.
A beach party marks the pinnacle of their fun, until it isn’t fun any longer. Because amidst the wild partying – sand flying from dancing feet and revellers leaping from yachts – an accident happens. Suddenly, the night of a lifetime becomes a living nightmare.
Now: The truth about that summer has been collectively buried. But someone knows what happened that night.
And they want the friends to pay for what they did.
SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Stanhope – a safe neighbourhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declare her missing.
Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbours become increasingly unhinged.
Who took Avery Wooler?
Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
Published July 6th by Bantam Press Pre-order here*
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
SYNOPSIS: Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for Alix’s series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Alix agrees to a trial interview. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep digging.
Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life – and into her home.
Soon she begins to wonder who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
SYNOPSIS: The second novel from the author of THE PUSH, 2021’s most explosive Sunday Times bestseller!
‘Utterly addictive’ Paula Hawkins on The Push
***
One morning on Harlow Lane, four families’ lives are changed forever.
Whitney Loverly can only sit by her son’s hospital bed after he falls from his bedroom window in the middle of the night. She refuses to speak to anyone.
Back at home, the Loverlys’ neighbours must reckon with their own roles in the tragedy – their selfless best friends who live across the street, the ambitious Goldsteins who desperately want a family of their own, and the quiet elderly couple who spend their days people watching on the front porch.
But what happens next, when over the course of a week, the hidden and explosive truths that connect these families must come out?
Exploring envy, motherhood and the intuitions that we silence, this is a novel that asks what happens when good people make bad choices.
Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies.
Published July 20th by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins
No synopsis available
Published July 20th by Pan Macmillan Pre-order here*
Three sisters find themselves lost in a storm at night, and seek safety at Moirthwaite Manor, where their mother once worked. They are shocked to find the isolated mansion that loomed so large through their troubled childhoods has long been abandoned. Drawing straws to decide who should get help, one sister heads back into the darkness. With the siblings separated, the deadly secrets hidden in the house finally make themselves known and we learn the unspeakable secret that binds the family together.
SYNOPSIS: From the bestselling author of My Lovely Wife comes a reckless, delicious thriller about a young couple that gives a whole new meaning to the dangers of modern dating.
Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They’ve never felt anything like it. It’s the kind of romance people write stories about.
But what kind of story?
Because when it’s good, it’s great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears.
But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconnections needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy–and she’s a detective.
There’s something Wes and Ivy never talk about–in good times or bad. The night of their worst breakup, when one of them took things too far, and someone ended up dead.
If they can stick together, they can survive anything–even the tightening net of a police investigation.
Because one more breakup might just be their last…
Published August 3rd by Penguin Books UK Pre-order here*
DC Ffion Morgan Book 2 by Clare Mackintosh
SYNOPSIS: DC FFION MORGAN AND DS LEO BRADY RETURN IN THE THRILLING SEQUEL TO THE LAST PARTY
Published August 3rd by Sphere Pre-order here*
The Good Daughter by Laure van Rensburg
SYNOPSIS: Abigail is a proud member of the New America Baptist Church. Living miles away from the nearest town in South Carolina, she is safe from the depraved modern world.
She is a good daughter. A valued member of the community.
So when she is the sole survivor of a fire that burns her family’s home to the ground, it seems like a tragic accident.
Until a surprising discovery is made: before the fire, Abigail let a stranger in.
Who was the stranger? What started the fire? And was the outside world always the threat – or did danger lurk within the community’s walls?
Published August 3rd by Michael Joseph Pre-order here*
These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald
SYNOPSIS: Two women struggle toward a dark truth as a killer avenges the sins of the past in a twisting novel of suspense by the USA Today bestselling author of Do No Harm, Behind Every Lie, and The Night Olivia Fell.
After a violent home invasion, Neve Maguire returns with her daughter to Black Lake, her childhood summer home, hoping for a fresh start. But when the body of a woman is found floating among the reeds in the lake behind her house, she fears she has made a horrible mistake.
Neve is hiding secrets, though. Detective Jess Lambert can tell. Recently back after her own personal tragedy, Jess knows what it’s like to live with skeletons in your closet, and she’s sure Neve has a few of her own.
When another woman’s body is found, Jess and Neve are forced to confront a horrible truth. Because one thing is clear: the darkness of the past is waiting. And the secrets of Black Lake are only just beginning to surface.
Published August 8th by Thomas & Mercer Pre-order here*
I’m Not Done With You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto
SYNOPSIS: Some friends–and friendships–are worth killing for in this dark, twisty suspense novel by national bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto.
Jane is unhappy.
A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house–a life–she’s never really wanted.
There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life–cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night that should have bound Thalia to Jane forever but instead made her lose her completely. Thalia disappeared without a trace, and Jane has been unable to find her since.
Until now.
Because there she is, her name at the top of the New York Times bestseller list: A Most Pleasant Death by Thalia Ashcroft. When she discovers a post from Thalia on her website about attending a book convention in New York City in a week–“Can’t wait to see you there!”–Jane can’t wait either.
She’ll go to New York City, too, credit card bill be damned. And this time, she will do things right. Jane won’t lose Thalia again.
Published August 17th by HQ Pre-order here*
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What do you think of my list? Are any of these on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below.
Welcome to April’s anticipated treasures. There are new releases from authors I love as well as excitingdebuts and some of my most anticipated of the year such as Elektra, Lessons in Chemistry, The No-Show, Nobody But Us, First Born and Theatre of Marvels. It’s an incredible month and I had a hard time narrowing it down to the twenty-eight on this list. Yes, twenty-eight books. I think that is the most I’ve included on an Anticipated Treasures list but I just couldn’t bring myself to take any of these off the list. So, without further ado, here are the thirty books I’m most excited about being released in April:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Published: April 5th Publisher: Doubleday Genre: Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.
But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (‘combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride’) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo. Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott.
Published: April 7th Publisher: Virago Genre: Biography, Autobiography
SYNOPSIS: I am in a bar in Brooklyn listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether or not my life was worth living.
So begins Chloé Cooper Jones’s bold account of moving through the world in a body that looks different than most. Born with a rare congenital condition called sacral agenesis, she must contend not only with her own physical pain, but the emotional discomfort of others.
It is only when she unexpectedly becomes a mother that she confronts the demand to live life fully, propelling her on a journey across the globe, reclaiming the spaces she’d been denied, and denied herself.
From Roman sculptures to a Beyoncé concert, from a tennis tournament to the Cambodian Killing Fields, Jones interrogates the myths of beauty with spiky intelligence, aesthetic philosophy, love and humor, inviting us to find a new way of seeing.
Published: April 12th Publisher: Quercus Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance Novel
SYNOPSIS: The funny, heart-breaking and uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of The Flatshare
Three women. Three dates. One missing man…
8.52 a.m. Siobhan is looking forward to her breakfast date with Joseph. She was surprised when he suggested it – she normally sees him late at night in her hotel room. Breakfast on Valentine’s Day surely means something … so where is he?
2.43 p.m. Miranda’s hoping that a Valentine’s Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. It’s a fresh start and a sign that her life is falling into place: she’s been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn’t he shown up?
6.30 p.m. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane’s fake boyfriend at an engagement party. They’ve not known each other long but their friendship is fast becoming the brightest part of her new life in Winchester. Joseph promised to save Jane tonight. But he’s not here…
Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.
The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heart-breaking and joyful new novel from Beth O’Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tearjerker of a book, this is O’Leary’s most ambitious novel yet.
SYNOPSIS: *** From the acclaimed author of THE LAST THING TO BURN comes a new thriller about identity, rivalry and deceit. ***
THE LAST THING A TWIN EXPECTS IS TO BE ALONE … Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.
Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.
But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.
Delivering the same intensity of pace and storytelling that made THE LAST THING TO BURN a word-of-mouth sensation, FIRST BORN will surprise, shock and enthral.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Crime Fiction Police Procedural
SYNOPSIS: Into the Dark is the new dark and gripping crime thriller from Fiona Cummins about revenge, greed, ambition and the true cost of friendship.
THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.
THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family – Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie – has vanished from the house without a trace.
THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.
One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.
In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:
Published: April 14th Publisher: The Borough Press Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
SYNOPSIS: THE AERIALISTS is a rich historical novel based on the true story of Louisa Maud Evans, a fourteen-year old girl who died during the Great Exhibition in Cardiff, 1896, and whose demise – tumbling 8,000 feet into the Bristol Channel – captured the imagination of the city.
Paris, 1891 Laura is living on the streets, far from the American Prairies where she was born. When aerialists Ena and August Gaudron, believing Laura to be English, decide to rescue her, she soon finds herself ensconced in the family hot air balloon business, and offered the chance to learn how to fly.
Cardiff, 1896 The Gaudrons accept an invitation to be part of the Cardiff Fine Art, Industrial and Maritime Exhibition, presenting a show of balloon ascents and parachute descents. Late one night, a young girl, Grace Parry, knocks on the door. She is desperate to fly, whatever the cost.
As Grace’s dreams begin to take wing, can Laura be the one to keep her grounded? Histories real and invented intertwine as the novel explores the many risky ways girls are expected to perform.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Trapeze Genre: New Adult Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story, Urban Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘This isn’t a book you read, but a book you step into . . . mesmerising’ Emma Gannon
Since the death of her best friend Grace, twenty-six-year-old Eve has learned to keep everything and everyone at arm’s length. Safe in her detachment, she scrapes along waiting tables and cleaning her shared flat in exchange for cheap rent, finding solace in her small routines.
But when a chance encounter at work brings her past thundering into her present, Eve becomes consumed by painful memories of Grace. And soon her precariously maintained life begins to unravel: she loses her job, gets thrown out of her flat, and risks pushing away the one decent man who cares about her.
Taking up life-modelling to pay the bills, Eve lays bare her body but keeps hidden the mounting chaos inside her head. When her self-destructive urges spiral out of control, she’s forced to confront the traumatic event that changed the course of her life, and to finally face her grief and guilt.
Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends, Raven Leilani’s Luster, and Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Genre: Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Lesbian Literature
SYNOPSIS: We join San in 1970s rural South Korea, a young girl ostracised from her community. She meets a girl called Namae, and they become friends until one afternoon changes everything. Following a moment of physical intimacy in a minari field, Namae violently rejects San, setting her on a troubling path of quashed desire and isolation.
We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop’s mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, and the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman and a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San’s moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind.
A story of desire and violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating and sensual read, full of tragedy but also beauty in its lush, vibrant prose.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Orenda Genre: Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Scarred by their pasts, Jenna and Luke fall in love, brimming with hope for a rosy future. But someone has been watching, with chilling plans for revenge … An emotive, twisty, disturbing new psychological thriller by the critically acclaimed author of A Suitable Lie and In the Absence of Miracles.
_____________________________
Jenna is trying to rebuild her life after a series of disastrous relationships.
Luke is struggling to provide a safe, loving home for his deceased partner’s young son, following a devastating tragedy.
When Jenna and Luke meet and fall in love, they are certain they can achieve the stability and happiness they both desperately need.
And yet, someone is watching.
Someone who has been scarred by past events.
Someone who will stop at nothing to get revenge…
Dark, unsettling and immensely moving, Quicksand of Memory is a chilling reminder that we are not only punished for our sins, but by them, and that memories left to blacken and sharpen over time are the perfect breeding ground for obsession, and murder…
SYNOPSIS: It’s New Year’s Eve and the stage is set for a lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes. It’s a moment for old friends to set the past to rights – and move on.
The night sky is alive with fireworks and the champagne is flowing. But the celebration fails to materialise.
Because someone at this party is going to die tonight.
Midnight approaches and the countdown begins – but it seems one of the guests doesn’t want a resolution.
Published: April 14th Publisher: HQ Genre: Romance Novel, Magical Realism, Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Romance
SYNOPSIS: A brand new timeless romance with a sprinkling of magic from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author – coming April 2022
If you knew how your love story ends, would you dare to begin?
From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die.
Lorelai has never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was eighteen.
Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t…or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?
Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance Novel, Medical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Jessica Jackson has hit all the milestones for turning 30 – the career, the loving boyfriend and a cosy London flat they share with their cat. But a shock diagnosis of breast cancer turns Jess’s world upside down, and her contented life implodes with it.
Around her, her friends’ lives continue to follow the script, with the big white weddings and the baby scans. With her own future so uncertain, the only thing Jess is sure of is that she’s being left behind.
In the midst of it all, she meets Annabel, an enigmatic twenty-seven year old with incurable cancer. But while Annabel may not have long left, she understands much more about living than anyone Jess has ever met. And she’s determined to show Jess how to make every day count . . .
Frank, funny and poignant, Single Bald Female by Laura Price is a completely unforgettable story of love and friendship.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Picador Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When a mother allows her thirty-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants for her what many mothers might say they want for their child: a steady income, and, even better, a good husband with a good job with whom to start a family.
But when Green turns up with her girlfriend, Lane, in tow, her mother is unprepared and unwilling to welcome Lane into her home. In fact, she can barely bring herself to be civil. Having centred her life on her husband and child, her daughter’s definition of family is not one she can accept. Her daughter’s involvement in a case of unfair dismissal involving gay colleagues from the university where she works is similarly strange to her.
And yet when the care home where she works insists that she lower her standard of care for an elderly dementia patient who has no family, who travelled the world as a successful diplomat, who chose not to have children, Green’s mother cannot accept it. Why should not having chosen a traditional life mean that your life is worth nothing at all?
In Concerning My Daughter, translated from Korean by Jamie Chang, Kim Hye-jin lays bare our most universal fears on ageing, death, and isolation, to offer finally a paean to love in all its forms.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Bloomsbury Genre: Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt.
There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.
As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like ‘petrol bomb’ and ‘rubber bullets’. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.
Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.
Breakneck Point by T. Orr Munroe (CSI Ally Dymond Series Book 1)
Published: April 14th Publisher: HQ Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: A gripping new crime series for fans of Val McDermid, Jane Casey, Cara Hunter and Mare of Easttown
CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast.
Then the body of nineteen-year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe, and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.
But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison.
Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Welbeck Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: A young journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centred around a Nazi-looted masterpiece, forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth.
After talking her way into a job, rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual assignment: locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier. The painting? None other than legendary artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum wants this portrait of a mysterious woman for deeply personal reasons, but Jules doesn’t have much time; the famous designer is dying.
Meanwhile, in Europe, provocative and powerful Margaux de Laurent also searches for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux is a cunning gallerist who gets everything she wants. The only thing standing in her way is Jules. Yet Jules has resources of her own, including Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux.
A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice, Woman on Fire tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Oneworld Publications Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A Vulture ‘Book We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022’
From the 2014 Caine Prize winner comes an astonishing new novel, riven through with mystery and magic, about a daughter’s quest to save her mother
The Manor Mabel Brown looms high over Mapeli Town, its rickety gate flanked by stone angels with severed heads, its yard full of tangled thorns and wildflowers. Inside these ramshackle walls lives Ayosa, twelve years old and the loneliest girl in the world.
With her mother prone to frequent disappearances, Ayosa’s only companions are the ghosts and spirits who wander through her Kenyan village. She craves escape, but more than that she longs for the love of her fearsome mother, Nabumbo Promise.
When a new friend arrives in the shape of Mbiu, Ayosa is forced to choose between protecting her mama and seizing a life of her own.
Okwiri Oduor’s stunningly original debut novel sings with Kenyan folklore and myth as it traces the fragile, intoxicating bond between a mother and daughter like no other.
SYNOPSIS: An exciting and equally lyrical new retelling from Jennifer Saint, the Sunday Times bestselling author of ARIADNE
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
Clytemnestra The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon – her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them and determines to win, whatever the cost.
Cassandra Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.
Elektra The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?
SYNOPSIS: Behind the spectacle there are always secrets.
Unruly crowds descend on Crillick’s Variety Theatre. A black, British actress, Zillah, is headlining tonight. An orphan from the slums of St Giles, her rise to stardom is her ticket out – to be gawped and gazed at is a price she’s willing to pay.
Rising up the echelons of society is everything Zillah has ever dreamed of. But when a new stage act disappears, Zillah is haunted by a feeling that something is amiss. Is the woman in danger?
Her pursuit of the truth takes her into the underbelly of the city – from gas-lit streets to the sumptuous parlours of Mayfair – as she seeks the help of notorious criminals from her past and finds herself torn between two powerful admirers.
Caught in a labyrinth of dangerous truths, will Zillah face ruin – or will she be the maker of her fate?
A deliciously immersive tale, Theatre of Marvels whisks you on an unforgettable journey across Victorian London in this bold exploration of race, class and gothic spectacle.
Published: April 28th Publisher: Picador Genre: Science Fiction, Contemporary Horror, Time Travel Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The award-winning author of Station Eleven returns with a story of time travel that precisely captures the reality of our current moment . . .
In 1912, eighteen-year-old Edwin St. Andrew crosses the Atlantic, exiled from English polite society. In British Columbia, he enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and for a split second all is darkness, the notes of a violin echoing unnaturally through the air. The experience shocks him to his core.
Two centuries later Olive Llewelyn, a famous writer, is traveling all over Earth, far away from her home in the second moon colony. Within the text of Olive’s bestselling novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.
When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in time, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an aristocrat driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel is a novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities, that plays with the very line along which time should run. Perceptive and poignant about art, and love, and what we must do to survive, it is incredibly compelling.
Published: April 28th Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Historical Thriller, Gothic Romance, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: Lauren, Kat and Flora are half-sisters who share a famous artist father – and a terrible secret.
Over the years they’ve lived wildly different lives, but their father has unexpectedly summoned them to Rock Point, the cliff house where they once sat for his most celebrated painting Girls and Birdcage.
Rock Point is a beautiful, windswept place, thick with secrets and electrically charged with the catastrophic events of a summer twenty years before, the day of the total solar eclipse. It’s the first time they’ve dared return.
When the sisters arrive, it is clear that someone is determined not to let the past lie. Someone who is watching their every move. Who remembers the girls in the painting, and what they did. . .
Set on the rugged Cornish coast, The Birdcage is a twisty, spellbinding novel with unforgettable characters who must piece together their family’s darkest secrets.
Lena Aldridge is wondering if life has passed her by. The dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn’t worked out. Instead, she’s stuck singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho and her married lover has just left her. She has nothing to look forward to until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York.
After a murder at the club, the timing couldn’t be better and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. Until death follows her onto the ship and she realises that her greatest performance has already begun.
Because someone is making manoeuvres behind the scenes, and there’s only one thing on their mind…
MURDER
Miss Aldridge Regrets is the exquisite new novel from Louise Hare. A brilliant murder mystery, it also explores class, race and pre-WWII politics, and will leave readers reeling from the beauty and power of it.
SYNOPSIS: Award-winning historical novelist and playwright John Spurling draws on his lifelong love and knowledge of Classical Greek drama and poetry to reanimate, with vivid wit and zest, five great male–female pairings of Greek myth.
The Greek myths, refined by the great poets and playwrights of Ancient Greece, distil the essence of human life: its brief span, its pride, courage and insecurity, its anxious relationship with the natural world – earth, sea and sky, represented by powerful gods and monsters.
Taking inspiration from the incomparably beautiful and intense poetry of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, Spurling – a lifelong classicist and an award-winning playwright and historical novelist – spins five more myths for contemporary readers. These captivating tales centre on male-female pairs – Prometheus and Pandora, Jason and the sorceress Medea, Oedipus and his daughter Antigone, Achilles and his mother Thetis, Odysseus and Penelope – that destroyed dynasties, raised and felled heroes, and sealed the fates of men.
SYNOPSIS: A dark house filled with darker secrets…
Winter 1954, and in a dilapidated apartment in Brooklyn, Sam Cooper realises that she has nothing left. Her mother is dead, she has no prospects, and she cannot afford the rent. But as she goes through her mother’s things, Sam finds a stack of hidden letters that reveal a family and an inheritance that she never knew she had, three thousand miles away in Yorkshire.
Begars Abbey is a crumbling pile, inhabited only by Lady Cooper, Sam’s ailing grandmother, and a handful of servants. Sam cannot understand why her mother kept its very existence a secret, but her newly discovered diaries offer a glimpse of a young girl growing increasingly terrified. As is Sam herself.
Built on the foundations of an old convent, Begars moves and sings with the biting wind. Her grandmother cannot speak, and a shadowy woman moves along the corridors at night. There are dark places in the hidden tunnels beneath Begars. And they will not give up their secrets easily…
A chilling read that will keep you turning the pages late into the night, Begars Abbey is a must-read for fans of Laura Purcell and W.C. Ryan.
Published: April 28th Publisher: HarperCollins UK Genre: Crime Thriller, Erotic Suspense, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: “Guilty Women’s already stamped it’s razor sharp, blood stained stiletto heel firmly in the lead to be 2022’s ‘book of the year.” The Daily Mirror
Can they get away with murder?
On a beautiful island off the English coast, four TV actresses gather. Their fifth member is missing – and only they know why she was killed. As the secret between them threatens to come out, tensions on set run high. The women are determined that the show must go on – no matter what it costs. But one of them is on the edge of telling the truth – and no show in the world could survive this scandal…
All of the women have something to hide – but the question is, are they all guilty?
The cast of RUTHLESS WOMEN is back – but this time they’re in trouble…
Dimple Pennington knew of her half siblings, but she didn’t really know them. Five people who don’t have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad’s gold jeep, and some pretty complex abandonment issues.
Dimple has bigger things to think about. She’s thirty, and her life isn’t really going anywhere. An aspiring lifestyle influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend, Dimple’s life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she’s never felt more alone.
That is, until a catastrophic event brings her half siblings Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie and Prynce crashing back into her life. And when they’re all forced to reconnect with Cyril Pennington, the absent father they never really knew, things get even more complicated.
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of QUEENIE comes a propulsive story of heart, humour, homecoming, and about the truest meaning of family you can get when your dad loves his jeep more than he loves his children.
Published: April 18th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a secret.
1907: Twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of his time locked in an attic room of a large house by the sea. Taken from his homeland and treated as an unpaid servant, he dreams of his family in Africa even if, as the years pass, he struggles to remember his mother’s face, and sometimes his real name . . .
Decades later, Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege, will find herself banished to the same attic. Lying under the floorboards of the room is an old porcelain doll, an unusual beaded claw necklace and, most curiously, a sentence etched on the wall behind an old cupboard, written in an unidentifiable language. Artefacts that will offer her a strange kind of comfort, and lead her to believe that she was not the first child to be imprisoned there . . .
Lola Jaye has created a hauntingly powerful, emotionally charged and unique dual-narrative novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging, seen through the lens of Black British History in The Attic Child.
We aren’t even out of 2021 yet, but 2022 is overflowing with so many exciting books that I have had to create three lists to share the ones I’m most anticipating: Back Again, The Debuts and Next in Series.
I’m starting by sharing my list of books by authors I love or who have already had a book published, the ones who are back again – hence the title. There are a lot of books on this list, 47 in total even after narrowing it down as much as possible. And doing that was no simple task. It took me days!
So, without further ado, here are the books I’m most looking forward to being released in 2022:
The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
SYNOPSIS: A darkly beautiful dual-timeline novel with a captivating mystery, for fans of Diane Setterfield and Kiran Millwood Hargrave
When Tartelin Brown accepts a job with the reclusive Marianne Stourbridge, she finds herself on a wild island with a mysterious history.
Tartelin is tasked with hunting butterflies for Marianne’s research. But she quickly uncovers something far more intriguing than the curious creatures that inhabit the landscape.
Because the island and Marianne share a remarkable history, and what happened all those years ago has left its scars, and some terrible secrets.
As Tartelin pieces together Marianne’s connection to the island, she must confront her own reasons for being there. Can the two women finally face up to the painful memories that bind them so tightly to the past?
Atmospheric and deeply emotional, The Unravelling is the captivating novel from the author of The Illustrated Child.
SYNOPSIS: From the author of the modern classic A Little Life, a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia.
‘To Paradise is a transcendent, visionary novel of stunning scope and depth. A novel so layered, so rich, so relevant, so full of the joys and terrors – the pure mystery – of human life, is not only rare, it’s revolutionary.’ – Michael Cunningham
In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him – and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances.
These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.
To Paradise is a fin–de–siecle novel of marvellous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love – partners, lovers, children, friends, family and even our fellow citizens – and the pain that ensues when we cannot.
SYNOPSIS: It’s time to solve the murder of the century…
Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to solving a puzzle, and that a message in secret code ran through all Twyford’s novels. Then Miss Iles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her.
Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today?
Desperate to recover his memories and find out what really happened to Miss Iles, Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn’t just a writer of forgotten children’s stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn’t the only one trying to solve it…
Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Alex Pavesi and S.J. Bennett, The Twyford Code will keep you up puzzling late into the night.
SYNOPSIS: I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unravelling from an upper window, and the terrace bathed in a hectic orange light . . . Now I see that the decision I made at Polneath was the only decision of my life. Everything marred in that one dark minute.
By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy – one whose death decades ago haunts her still.
For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.
But once you open a door to the past, can you ever truly close it again?
From the award-winning author of The Witchfinder’s Sister comes a captivating story of burning secrets and buried shame, and of the loyalty and love that rises from the ashes.
SYNOPSIS: One extraordinary woman. One hundred years of history. One unforgettable story.
Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first daughter in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.
Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling.
In a letter to someone she loves above all others, Violeta recounts devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy, and a life shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics. Through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humour will carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.
Published January 25th by Bloomsbury Publishing. Buy here*
The Couple at the Table by Sophie Hannah
SYNOPSIS: You’re on your honeymoon at an exclusive couples-only resort.
You receive a note warning you to ‘Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours’. At dinner that night, five other couples are present, and none of their tables is any nearer or further away than any of the others. It’s as if someone has set the scene in order to make the warning note meaningless – but why would anyone do that?
You have no idea.
You also don’t know that you’re about to be murdered, or that once you’re dead, all the evidence will suggest that no one there that night could possibly have committed the crime.
So who might be trying to warn you? And who might be about to commit the perfect impossible murder?
Published January 27th by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
Em and Me by Beth Morrey
SYNOPSIS: A mother. A daughter. A secret waiting to be discovered.
‘Glorious! A wonderful book, such a joy!’ Clare Pooley
For too long – since the sudden death of her mother as a teenager, since the birth of her daughter, Em, when she was just seventeen – Delphine has been unable to let go of the past, obsessed with protecting Em and clinging to a secret that could ruin everything. She’s been living life in safe shades of grey.
The day that Delphine finally stands up for herself is the day that changes everything.
Delphine begins to remember what it’s like to want more: rediscovering her singing voice, opening herself to friendship, and reviving not only her mother’s roots, but her mother’s memories. As her life begins to fill with colour, can she be brave for herself and for Em? And what would happen if she finally told the truth?
A big-hearted, hopeful novel about finding second chances – and taking them.
Published February 3rd by Harper Collins. Buy here*
The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn
SYNOPSIS: It is 1665 and the women of Eyam keep many secrets.
Isabel Frith, the village midwife, walks a dangerous line with her herbs and remedies. There are men in the village who speak of witchcraft, and Isabel has a past to hide. So she tells nobody her fears about Wulfric, the pious, reclusive apothecary.
Mae, Wulfric’s youngest daughter, dreads her father’s rage if he discovers what she keeps from him. Like her feelings for Rafe, Isabel’s ward, or that she studies from Wulfric’s forbidden books at night.
But others have secrets too. Secrets darker than any of them could have imagined.
When Mae makes a horrifying discovery, Isabel is the only person she can turn to. But helping Mae will place them both in unspeakable peril.
And meanwhile another danger is on its way from London. One that threatens to engulf them all . . .
Based on the real history of an English village during the Great Plague, The Hemlock Cure is an utterly beguiling tale of fear and ambition, betrayal, self-sacrifice and the unbreakable bond between two women.
SYNOPSIS: When a one-night stand leads to a long-desired pregnancy, Susan will do anything to ensure her husband won’t find out … including the unthinkable. But when something horrendous is unleashed around the globe, her secret isn’t the only thing that is no longer safe…
––––––––––––––––––––––––
A longed-for baby An unthinkable decision A deadly mistake
In an all-too-possible near future, when genetic engineering has become the norm for humans, not just crops, parents are prepared to take incalculable risks to ensure that their babies are perfect … altering genes that may cause illness, and more…
Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when an impulsive one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to keep her daughter and ensure her husband doesn’t find out … including the unthinkable. She believes her secret is safe. For now.
But as governments embark on a perilous genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms – even taking their own lives – something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common, and people are starting to ask questions…
Bestselling author of The Waiting Rooms, Eve Smith returns with an authentic, startlingly thought-provoking, disturbing blockbuster of a thriller that provides a chilling glimpse of a future that’s just one modification away…
SYNOPSIS: IT’S ICE COLD. YOU’RE MILES FROM HELP. AND ONE OF YOU WILL BE NEXT . . . Pre-order next year’s most gripping thriller now, and ensure you’re the first to read the book that everyone will be talking about
‘A high-altitude, high-stakes thriller that combines fascinating, authentic mountaineering experience with pure thriller entertainment. I loved it’ MATT HAIG, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY ________
When struggling journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains, it seems like the chance of a lifetime.
She doesn’t realise how deadly the climb will be.
As their small team starts to climb, things start to go wrong. There’s a theft. Then an accident. Then a mysterious note, pinned to her tent: there’s a murderer on the mountain.
The higher they get, the more dangerous the climb becomes, and the more they need to trust one another.
And that’s when Cecily finds the first body . . .
Published February 17th by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
The Gifts by Liz Hyder
SYNOPSIS: The luminous debut adult novel from the Waterstones Prize Winner, perfect for fans of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, The Essex Serpent and The Doll Factory
In an age defined by men, it will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are . . .
October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders.
Meanwhile, when rumours of a ‘fallen angel’ cause a frenzy across London, a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grip of a dangerous obsession, one that will place the women he seeks in the most terrible danger . . .
THE GIFTS is the astonishing debut adult novel from the lauded author of BEARMOUTH. A gripping and ambitious book told through five different perspectives and set against the luminous backdrop of nineteenth century London, it explores science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society and the dark danger of ambition.
Published February 17th by Manilla Press. Buy here*
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
SYNOPSIS: Deadly storms. An ancient curse. Will her sacrifice save them all?
For generations, deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curse them with death and despair. To appease him, each year a maiden is thrown into the sea, in the hopes that one day the ‘true bride’ will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe Shim Cheong – Mina’s brother’s beloved – to be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is sacrificed, Mina’s brother follows her, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina finds the Sea God, trapped in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man and a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits, Mina sets out to wake him and bring an end to the storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: a human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking . . .
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is a magical feminist retelling of a classic Korean legend, perfect for fans of Uprooted and Miyazaki’s SpiritedAway.
Published February 22nd by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
Nasty Little Cuts by Tina Baker
SYNOPSIS: WHO WILL SURVIVE THE NIGHT?
A nightmare jolts Debs awake. She leaves the kids tucked up in their beds and goes downstairs. There’s a man in her kitchen, holding a knife. But it’s not an intruder. This is her husband Marc, the father of her children. A man she no longer recognises.
Once their differences were what drew them together, what turned them on. Him, the ex-army officer from a good family. Her, the fitness instructor who grew up over a pub. But now these differences grate to the point of drawing blood. Marc screams in his sleep. And Debs hardly knows the person she’s become, or why she lets him hurt her.
Neither of them is completely innocent. Neither is totally guilty. Marc is taller, stronger, and more vicious, haunted by a war he can’t forget. But he has no idea what Debs is capable of when her children’s lives are at stake…
A powerful exploration of a relationship built on passion, poisoned by secrets and violence. Perfect for readers of Blood Orange and Big Little Lies.
In the midst of an icy winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, chambermaid Madeleine Chastel arrives at the home of the city’s celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter.
Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose: to discover the truth of the clockmaker’s experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.
For as children quietly vanish from the Parisian streets, rumours are swirling that the clockmaker’s intricate mechanical creations, bejewelled birds and silver spiders, are more than they seem.
And soon Madeleine fears that she has stumbled upon an even greater conspiracy. One which might reach to the very heart of Versailles…
A intoxicating story of obsession, illusion and the price of freedom.
SYNOPSIS: Part ghost story, part novel of suspense The Marsh House is the haunting second novel from the author of The Night of the Flood where two women, separated by decades, are drawn together by one, mysterious house on the North Norfolk coast.
December, 1962. Desperate to create a happy Christmas for her young daughter, Franny, after a disastrous year, Malorie rents a remote house on the Norfolk coast. But once there, the strained silence between them feels louder than ever. As Malorie digs for decorations in the attic, she comes across the notebooks of the teenaged Rosemary, who lived in the house thirty years before. Trapped inside by a blizzard, and with long days and nights ahead of her, Malorie begins to read. Though she knows she needs to focus on the present, she finds herself inexorably drawn into the past…
July, 1931. Rosemary lives in the Marsh House with her austere father, surrounded by unspoken truths and rumours. So when the glamorous Lafferty family move to the village, she succumbs easily to their charm. Dazzled by the beautiful Hilda and her dashing brother, Franklin, Rosemary fails to see the danger that lurks beneath their bright façades…
As Malorie reads Rosemary’s diary, past and present begin to merge in this moving story of mothers and daughters, family obligation and deeply buried secrets.
SYNOPSIS: You can’t escape the desert. You can’t escape Sundial.
Rob fears for her daughters. For Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. For Annie, because she fears what Callie might do to her. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.
Callie is afraid of her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely. To tell her secrets about her past that both disturb and excite her. And Callie is beginning to wonder if only one of them will leave Sundial alive…
From the bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street comes a stunning thriller exploring the toxicity of the mother-daughter bond, and the power of the past to twist the present.
SYNOPSIS: An immersive and compelling novel that explores the struggle by two women, divided across centuries, for control over their lives, set against a beautiful historical backdrop.
‘An echo of Daphne du Maurier’ Independent
Yorkshire, 1890. Having lost her father and brothers in tragic circumstances, Olwen Malkon is forced to leave her childhood home to live with her uncle’s family. In his chill vicarage, however, she fears that she is also losing her mind, as strange dreams take her into the life of Ælfwyn, a woman from a distant past whose fate is overshadowed by menace and betrayal.
In the grip of these afflictions, Olwen finds sympathy with the local doctor, John Osbourne, who is intrigued by her case. Suspecting darker undercurrents are at work, John comes into conflict with Olwen’s family, who dismiss her as a hysteric and, when he seeks to protect her, with the law.
As the dreams intensify, danger awaits them both. But when they begin to mirror reality, she and John start to suspect that it is these visions of the past which hold the answers . . .
Published March 17th by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
First Born by Will Dean
SYNOPSIS: THE LAST THING A TWIN EXPECTS IS TO BE ALONE … Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.
Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.
But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.
Delivering the same intensity of pace and storytelling that made THE LAST THING TO BURN a word-of-mouth sensation, FIRST BORN will surprise, shock and enthral.
Published April 14th by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
Into the Dark by Fiona Cummins
SYNOPSIS: Into the Dark is the new dark and gripping crime thriller from Fiona Cummins about revenge, greed, ambition and the true cost of friendship.
THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.
THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family – Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie – has vanished from the house without a trace.
THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.
One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.
In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:
SYNOPSIS: An exciting and equally lyrical new retelling from Jennifer Saint, the Sunday Times bestselling author of ARIADNE ‘Saint’s immersive novel thrusts the reader straight into the heart of Greek mythology’ ipaper on Ariadne
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
Clytemnestra The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon – her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them and determines to win, whatever the cost.
Cassandra Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.
Elektra The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?
SYNOPSIS: The funny, heart-breaking and uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of The Flatshare
Three women. Three dates. One missing man…
8.52 a.m. Siobhan is looking forward to her breakfast date with Joseph. She was surprised when he suggested it – she normally sees him late at night in her hotel room. Breakfast on Valentine’s Day surely means something … so where is he?
2.43 p.m. Miranda’s hoping that a Valentine’s Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. It’s a fresh start and a sign that her life is falling into place: she’s been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn’t he shown up?
6.30 p.m. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane’s fake boyfriend at an engagement party. They’ve not known each other long but their friendship is fast becoming the brightest part of her new life in Winchester. Joseph promised to save Jane tonight. But he’s not here…
Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.
The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heart-breaking and joyful new novel from Beth O’Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tearjerker of a book, this is O’Leary’s most ambitious novel yet.
When half-sisters Kat, Flora and Lauren are unexpectedly summoned to Rock Point, the remote Cornish house where they spent their childhood summers, it is the first time they have been there together since their artist father painted them in the celebrated Girls and Birdcage.
Since then they have drifted apart into wildly different lives, each one determined to forget the fateful summer of twenty years ago.
But when they arrive at Rock Point it is clear they are not alone.
Someone is lurking in the shadows, watching their every move. Someone who remembers what they did, and has been waiting for their return.
As the events of that summer rise closer to the surface, will the three sisters escape unscathed for a second time? Or are some secrets too powerful to remain under lock and key?
An emotional mystery full of dark secrets and twists, transporting the reader to the rugged remote landscape of north Cornwall.
SYNOPSIS: From the author of This Lovely City comes a new historical murder mystery, this time set on board the Queen Mary
London, 1936
Lena Aldridge is wondering if life has passed her by. The dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn’t worked out. Instead, she’s stuck singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho and her married lover has just left her. She has nothing to look forward to until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York.
After a murder at the club, the timing couldn’t be better and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. Until death follows her onto the ship and she realises that her greatest performance has already begun.
Because someone is making manoeuvres behind the scenes, and there’s only one thing on their mind…
MURDER
Miss Aldridge Regrets is the exquisite new novel from Louise Hare, the author of This Lovely City. A brilliant murder mystery, it also explores class, race and pre-WWII politics, and will leave readers reeling from the beauty and power of it.
SYNOPSIS: A dark house filled with darker secrets…
Winter 1954, and in a dilapidated apartment in Brooklyn, Sam Cooper realises that she has nothing left. Her mother is dead, she has no prospects, and she cannot afford the rent. But as she goes through her mother’s things, Sam finds a stack of hidden letters that reveal a family and an inheritance that she never knew she had, three thousand miles away in Yorkshire.
Begars Abbey is a crumbling pile, inhabited only by Sam’s crippled grandmother, Lady Cooper, a housekeeper and a handful of servants. Sam cannot understand why her mother kept its very existence a secret, but her diaries offer a glimpse of a young girl growing increasingly terrified. As is Sam herself.
Built on the foundations of an old convent, Begars moves and sings with the biting wind. Her grandmother cannot speak, and a shadowy woman moves along the corridors at night. For there are dark places in the hidden tunnels beneath Begars. And they will not give up their secrets easily…
Perfect for readers of Laura Purcell and Natasha Pulley, Begars Abbey will keep you up at night.
SYNOPSIS: ‘Follow your heart and speak your truth.’
For Samantha Miller’s young fans – her ‘girls’ – she’s everything they want to be. She’s an oracle, telling them how to live their lives, how to be happy, how to find and honour their ‘truth’.
And her career is booming: she’s just hit three million followers, her new book Chaste has gone straight to the top of the bestseller lists and she’s appearing at sell-out events.
Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans, she’s written an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa. She’s never told a soul but now she’s telling the world. The essay goes viral.
But then – years since they last spoke – Lisa gets in touch to say that she doesn’t remember it that way at all. Her memory of that night is far darker. It’s Sam’s word against Lisa’s – so who gets to tell the story? Whose ‘truth’ is really a lie?
‘You put yourself on that pedestal, Samantha. You only have yourself to blame.’
Riveting, compulsive and bold, IDOL interrogates our relationship with our heroes and explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online. And it asks us to consider how two memories of the same event can differ, and how effortlessly we choose which stories to believe.
SYNOPSIS: ‘Shot through with spirit and hope, it’s one hell of a book’ Stylist, Books You Can’t Miss in 2022
A nurse at the Family Planning Clinic in Montgomery Alabama, Civil Townsend is passionate about putting choice into women’s hands. She brings the option of birth control to their doorsteps, and with it the right to determine their own destinies. Or so she believes.
When she is assigned to administer birth control to two school-age Black girls, the Williams sisters, who live off an old unpaved road in a shack without running water, Civil can’t help but feel uneasy. She grows close to the family and becomes fiercely invested in their well-being. And then she makes a shocking discovery: the girls have been involuntarily sterilized. Civil is horrified that such a terrible mistake could have taken place, and vows to get to the bottom of it. She soon learns that this is no isolated event but a pattern, far more serious than she could ever have imagined, targeting poor Black women. Could her clinic be responsible? Had she and her fellow Black nurses been complicit? No matter how ugly, Civil is determined for the truth to be brought to light.
Based on true events, Take My Hand brims with hope, compassion, and the burning pursuit of justice.
SYNOPSIS: In Strasbourg, in the boiling hot summer of 1518, a plague strikes the women of the city. First it is just one – a lone figure, dancing in the main square – but she is joined by more and more and the city authorities declare an emergency. Musicians will be brought in. The devil will be danced out of these women.
Just beyond the city’s limits, pregnant Lisbet lives with her mother-in-law and husband, tending the bees that are their livelihood. Her best friend Ida visits regularly and Lisbet is so looking forward to sharing life and motherhood with her. And then, just as the first woman begins to dance in the city, Lisbet’s sister-in-law Nethe returns from six years’ penance in the mountains for an unknown crime. No one – not even Ida – will tell Lisbet what Nethe did all those years ago, and Nethe herself will not speak a word about it.
It is the beginning of a few weeks that will change everything for Lisbet – her understanding of what it is to love and be loved, and her determination to survive at all costs for the baby she is carrying. Lisbet and Nethe and Ida soon find themselves pushing at the boundaries of their existence – but they’re dancing to a dangerous tune . . .
From Kiran Millwood Hargrave, the bestselling author of The Mercies, The Dance Tree is a heart-stopping story of family secrets, forbidden love and women pushed to the edge.
SYNOPSIS: My son has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice… Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see him again.
The man lies on the table in front of me. As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him. As a mother, I know I must kill him. You might think that I’m a monster. But there really is only one choice. I must get away with murder. Or I will never see my son again.
I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES. WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?
DON’T MISS THE HEART-STOPPING THRILLER OF 2022 #DONOHARM
Published May 26th by Simon and Schuster. Buy here*
Madwoman by Louisa Treger
SYNOPSIS: In 1887 young Nellie Bly sets out for New York and a career in journalism, determined to make her way as a serious reporter, whatever that may take.
But life in the city is tougher than she imagined. Down to her last dime and desperate to prove her worth, she comes up with a dangerous plan: to fake insanity and have herself committed to the asylum that looms on Blackwell’s Island. There, she will work undercover to document – and expose – the wretched conditions faced by the patients.
But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself in a place of horrors, governed by a harshness and cruelty she could never have imagined. Cold, isolated and starving, her days of terror reawaken the traumatic events of her childhood. She entered the asylum of her own free will – but will she ever get out?
An extraordinary portrait of a woman way ahead of her time, Madwoman is the story of a quest for the truth that changed the world.
SYNOPSIS: He thinks it’s fate. She set the whole thing up.
Mara wants to believe in fate – she’s just never had a good reason to. Until now…
After a case of mistaken identity, and the appearance of Joe – a gorgeous Austrian cellist – Mara has the chance to set up her own destiny. But life is complicated… The lido where she works is under threat and her new housemate, Mike, proves to be more than she bargained for.
Will Mara manage to arrange her own happiness? And what if true love is closer to home than she thinks?
SYNOPSIS: There’s a darkness inside all of us and The Bay has a way of bringing it out. Everyone here has their secrets but we don’t go looking for them. Because sometimes it’s better not to know.
The waves are to die for at The Bay. It’s a paradise they would kill to keep. The Beach meets Point Break in the thriller of the summer by Allie Reynolds.
Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend, shocked to hear she’s going to marry a guy she’s only just met. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride.
Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and disappear from life. How will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced?
As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees the extremes they are prepared to go to for the next thrill. And everyone seems to be hiding something. What has her best friend got involved in and how can she get her away? But one thing is rapidly becoming clear about The Bay: nobody ever leaves.
SYNOPSIS: KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE. WHATEVER THE COST…
Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby.
With a few weeks to go, they head off for a final weekend break in a remote part of the North Pennines. The small and peaceful guesthouse is the ideal location to unwind together before becoming parents. Upon arrival, they are greeted by Barry and Fiona, the older couple who run the guesthouse. They cook them dinner and show them to their room before retreating to bed themselves.
The next morning, Jamie and Victoria wake to find the house deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked. Both their mobile phones and car keys have disappeared. Even though it’s a few weeks early, Victoria knows the contractions are starting.
The baby is coming, and there’s no way out.
Published June 23rd by Orion. Buy here*
The Guilty Couple by C.L. Taylor
SYNOPSIS: The Sunday Times and million copy bestseller returns with her most pulse-pounding, page-turning book yet.
Five years ago, Olivia Sutherland was wrongfully convicted of plotting to murder her husband.
Now she’s finally free, Olivia has three goals: repair her relationship with her teenage daughter, clear her name, and bring down her husband – the man who framed her.
Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her? Because his lies run deeper than Olivia could ever have imagined – and this time it’s not her freedom that’s in jeopardy, but her life…
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant, thought-provoking but ultimately uplifting story of memory and love, grief, loss and the things we leave behind. It is another brilliant novel from an author who seems to have the absolute knack of writing topical, engaging, heartwarming stories which really connect with readers.
Published July 7th by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson
SYNOPSIS: What if your murderous fantasies start to come true?
Someone is trying to frame me for murder.
They’re hurting people in the ways I write about – and making sure I’m the prime suspect.
I think I know why.
But I can’t tell the police or even use my rock-solid alibi . . .
Because then I’d have to confess about my other husband.
A series of terrifying murders. A set of complex lies.
And a woman with no way to clear her name.
My Other Husband is the latest gripping thriller from the Queen of The Big Reveal.
SYNOPSIS: 12-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.
When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murders, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free — or bury her deeper?
SYNOPSIS: Things We Do in the Dark is a brilliant new thriller from Jennifer Hillier, the award-winning author of the breakout novels Little Secrets and Jar of Hearts. Paris Peralta is suspected of killing her celebrity husband, and her long-hidden past now threatens to destroy her future.
When Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom–covered in blood, holding a straight razor, her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub behind her–she knows she’ll be charged with murder. But as bad as this looks, it’s not what worries her the most. With the unwanted media attention now surrounding her, it’s only a matter of time before someone from her long hidden past recognizes her and destroys the new life she’s worked so hard to build, along with any chance of a future.
Twenty-five years earlier, Ruby Reyes, known as the Ice Queen, was convicted of a similar murder in a trial that riveted Canada in the early nineties. Reyes knows who Paris really is, and when she’s unexpectedly released from prison, she threatens to expose all of Paris’s secrets. Left with no other choice, Paris must finally confront the dark past she escaped, once and for all.
Because the only thing worse than a murder charge are two murder charges.
SYNOPSIS: Most are here to recharge and refresh. But someone’s here for revenge . . .
The addictive new thriller from the global bestselling author of The Sanatorium. ___________________________________
An eco-wellness retreat has opened on an island off the coast of Devon, promising rest and relaxation – but the island itself, known locally as Reaper’s Rock, has a dark past. Once the playground of a serial killer, it’s rumoured to be cursed. DS Elin Warner is called to the retreat when a young woman’s body is found on the rocks below the yoga pavilion, in what seems to be a tragic fall. But the victim wasn’t a guest – she wasn’t meant to be on the island at all.
When a man drowns in a diving incident the following day, Elin starts to suspect that there’s nothing accidental about these deaths. But why would someone target the retreat – and who else is in danger?
Elin must find the killer – before the island’s history starts to repeat itself . . .
SYNOPSIS: It’s usual, they say, for a young person coming to London for the first time to arrive with a head full of dreams. Well, Endurance Proudfoot did not. When she stepped off the coach from Sussex, on a warm and sticky afternoon in the summer of 1757, it never occurred to her that the city would be the place where she’d make her fortune; she was just very annoyed to be arriving there at all.
Meet Endurance Proudfoot, the bonesetter’s daughter: clumsy as a carthorse, with a tactless tongue and a face she’s sure only a mother could love. Durie only wants one thing in life – to follow her father and grandfather into the family business of bonesetting. It’s a physically demanding job, requiring strength, nerves of steel and discretion – and not the job for a woman.
But Durie isn’t like other women. She’s strong and stubborn and determined to get her own way. And she finds that she has a talent at bonesetting – her big hands and lack of grace have finally found their natural calling.
So, when she is banished to London with her sister, who is pretty, delicate and exactly the opposite to Durie in every way, Durie will not let it stop her realising her dreams. And while her sister will become one of the first ever Georgian celebrities, Durie will become England’s first and most celebrated female bonesetter. But what goes up must come down, and Durie’s elevated status may well become her undoing…
Published August 4th by Simon and Schuster. Buy here*
The Last Party by Clare Macintosh
SYNOPSIS: On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.
His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties.
But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.
On New Year’s Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects.
The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, friends and family – and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.
With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead . . . but who finally killed him.
In a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.
SYNOPSIS: Daisy Darker is an all-consuming tale of psychological suspense with a spectacular twist from the internationally bestselling author Alice Feeney Daisy Darker’s family were as dark as dark can be, when one of them died all of them lied and pretended not to see . . .
Daisy Darker is arriving at her grandmother’s house for her eightieth birthday. It is Halloween, and Seaglass – the crumbling Cornish house perched upon its own tiny private island – is at one with the granite rocks it sits on. The Darker family haven’t all been in the same place for over a decade, and when the tide comes in they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. When the tide goes back out, nothing will ever be the same again, because one of them is a killer . . .
SYNOPSIS: From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for… it may just come true.
By the pricking of my thumbs…
At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse.
It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees.
What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in nature. On stage, it’s as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the Muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumours are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
SYNOPSIS: When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, broken-hearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly pensioner Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like her own. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery, but Frank lost the ticket with her number written on it. For the past sixty years, he’s ridden the same bus trying to find her.
Libby is inspired by the story and, with the help of an unlikely companion, she makes it her mission to help Frank’s search. As she begins to open her guarded heart to strangers and new connections, Libby’s tightly controlled world expands. But with Frank’s dementia progressing quickly, their chance of finding the girl on the number 88 bus is slipping away.
More than anything, Libby wants Frank to see his lost love one more time. But their quest also shows Libby just how important it is to embrace her own chances for happiness – before it’s too late.
A beautifully uplifting novel about how one chance meeting can change the course of your life
April is almost upon us, so it’s time for another month of anticipated books.
April is a busy month in the publishing world and a lot of books I’m looking forward to are being released. That made this month’s list extremely difficult to compile and is the reason that my ‘slimmed down’ list still stands at a whopping twenty-five books!
Are any of these on your tbr? Let me know in the comments…
Girl in the Walls by A. J. Gnuse
Published: April 1st, 2021 Publisher: Fourth Estate Genre: Gothic Fiction, Suspense, Bildungsroman, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: She doesn’t exist. She can’t exist.
‘A uniquely gothic tale about grief, belonging and hiding in plain sight’ Jess Kidd, author of Things in Jars
’Those who live in the walls must adjust, must twist themselves around in their home, stretching themselves until they’re as thin as air. Not everyone can do what they can. But soon enough, they can’t help themselves. Signs of their presence remain in a house. Eventually, every hidden thing is found.’
Elise knows every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. She knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It’s home, after all. The home her parents made for her. And home is where you stay, no matter what.
Eddie calls the same house his home. Eddie is almost a teenager now. He must no longer believe in the girl he sometimes sees from the corner of his eye. He needs her to disappear. But when his older brother senses her, too, they are faced with a question: how do they get rid of someone they aren’t sure even exists?
And, if they cast her out, what other threats might they invite in?
Published: April 1st, 2021 Publisher: Two Roads Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Madame Burova – Tarot Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant is retiring and leaving her booth on the Brighton seafront after fifty years.
Imelda Burova has spent a lifetime keeping other people’s secrets and her silence has come at a price. She has seen the lovers and the liars, the angels and the devils, the dreamers and the fools. Her cards had unmasked them all and her cards never lied. But Madame Burova is weary of other people’s lives, their ghosts from the past and other people’s secrets, she needs rest and a little piece of life for herself. Before that, however, she has to fulfill a promise made a long time ago. She holds two brown envelopes in her hand, and she has to deliver them.
In London, it is time for another woman to make a fresh start. Billie has lost her university job, her marriage, and her place in the world when she discovers something that leaves her very identity in question. Determined to find answers, she must follow a trail which might just lead right to Madame Burova’s door.
In a story spanning over fifty years, Ruth Hogan conjures a magical world of 1970s holiday camps and seaside entertainers, eccentrics, heroes and villains, the lost and the found. Young people, with their lives before them, make choices which echo down the years. And a wall of death rider is part of a love story which will last through time.
SYNOPSIS: When seventeen-year-old Emma leaves her best friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes, like most girls her age, that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, but Emma will never see her friend again.
Abi’s disappearance cracks open the façade of the small town of Whistling Ridge, its intimate history of long-held grudges and resentment. Even within Abi’s family, there are questions to be asked – of Noah, the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of Jude, the shining younger sibling who hides his battle scars, of Dolly, her mother and Samuel, her father – both in thrall to the fire and brimstone preacher who holds the entire town in his grasp. Then there is Rat, the outsider, whose presence in the town both unsettles and excites those around him.
Anything could happen in Whistling Ridge, this tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark – the truth of what really happened that night out at the Tall Bones….
London, 1665. Hidden within the growing pile of corpses in his churchyard, Rector Symon Patrick discovers a victim of the pestilence unlike any he has seen before: a young woman with a shorn head, covered in burns, and with pieces of twine delicately tied around each wrist and ankle.
Desperate to discover the culprit, Symon joins a society of eccentric medical men who have gathered to find a cure for the plague. Someone is performing terrible experiments upon the dying, hiding their bodies amongst the hundreds that fill the death carts.
Only Penelope – a new and mysterious addition to Symon’s household – may have the skill to find the killer. Far more than what she appears, she is already on the hunt. But the dark presence that enters the houses of the sick will not stop, and has no mercy…
SYNOPSIS: 1906: Being a woman is dangerous, being different is deadly.
Maud Lovell has been at Angelton Lunatic Asylum for five years. She is not sure how she came to be there and knows nothing beyond its four walls. She is hysterical, distressed, untrustworthy. Badly unstable and prone to violence. Or so she has been told.
When a new doctor arrives, keen to experiment with the revolutionary practice of medical hypnosis, Maud’s lack of history makes her the perfect case study. But as Doctor Dimmond delves deeper into the past, it becomes clear that confinement and high doses are there to keep her silent.
When Maud finally remembers what has been done to her, and by whom, her mind turns to her past and to revenge.
Published: April 1st, 2021 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fairy Tale
SYNOPSIS: Betrayal. Magic. Murder. A tale of three siblings and three deadly sins.
In a magical ancient Britain, bards sing a story of treachery, love and death. This is that story.
For fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Lucy Holland’s Sistersong retells the folk ballad ‘The Two Sisters.’
King Cador’s children inherit a land abandoned by the Romans, torn by warring tribes. Riva can cure others, but can’t heal her own scars. Keyne battles to be seen as the king’s son, although born a daughter. And Sinne dreams of love, longing for adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky – bringing Myrdhin, meddler and magician. The siblings discover the power that lies within them and the land. But fate also brings Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.
Riva, Keyne and Sinne become entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, and must fight to forge their own paths. It’s a story that will shape the destiny of Britain.
Sistersong is a powerfully moving story, perfect for readers who loved Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.
Published: April 1st, 2021 Publisher: The Borough Press Genre: Historical Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction, LGBTQ Literature
SYNOPSIS: 1921: a boy, a girl, a moonlit midnight kiss.
A terrible, repulsive kiss.
Bettina and Bart have grown up as best friends, so surely they will end up together? After all, Bettina is young, rich, headstrong…. and gay. Bart is young, rich, charismatic… and also, definitely, gay. Any doubts are dispelled by, in short order: that ghastly kiss; a torrid encounter for Bettina in the school boiler-rooms; and an eye-opening Parisian visit for Bart.
Society will never stand for it. What else can they do but enter into a ‘lavender marriage’ and carry on indulging their true natures in secret? As the ’20s and ’30s whizz past in a haze of cigarettes, champagne and casual sex, Bart and Bettina have no idea that they are hurtling, via Hollywood and Egypt, Paris and London, towards tragedy and bloodshed…
SYNOPSIS: Gunpowder and treason changed England forever. But the tides are turning and revenge runs deep in this compelling historical thriller for fans of C.J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor’s Ashes of London, Kate Mosse and Blood & Sugar.
1606. A year to the day that men were executed for conspiring to blow up Parliament, a towering wave devastates the Bristol Channel. Some proclaim God’s vengeance. Others seek to take advantage.
In London, Daniel Pursglove lies in prison waiting to die. But Charles FitzAlan, close adviser to King James I, has a job in mind that will free a man of Daniel’s skill from the horrors of Newgate. If he succeeds.
For Bristol is a hotbed of Catholic spies, and where better for the lone conspirator who evaded arrest, one Spero Pettingar, to gather allies than in the chaos of a drowned city? Daniel journeys there to investigate FitzAlan’s lead, but soon finds himself at the heart of a dark Jesuit conspiracy – and in pursuit of a killer.
SYNOPSIS: Swan Lake is divided into the black acts and the white acts. The Prince is on stage for most of the ballet, but it’s the swans audiences flock to see. In early productions, Odette and Odile were performed by two different dancers. These days, it is usual for the same dancer to play both roles. Because of the faultless ballet technique required to master the steps, and the emotional range needed to perform both the virginal Odette and the dark, seductive Odile, this challenging dual role is one of the most coveted in all ballet. Dancers would kill for the part.
Ava Kirilova has reached the very top of her profession. After years and years of hard graft, pain and sacrifice as part of the London Russian Ballet Company, allowing nothing else to distract her, she is finally the poster girl for Swan Lake. Even Mr K – her father, and the intense, terrifying director of the company – can find no fault. Ava has pushed herself ahead of countless other talented, hardworking girls, and they are all watching her now.
But there is someone who really wants to see Ava fall . . .
SYNOPSIS: In 1901, the word ‘bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.
Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary.
Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutter to the floor unclaimed.
Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Published: April 15th, 2021 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-one years ago, Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were killed in what has become the most infamous double murder of the modern age.
Their ten year-old daughter – nicknamed the Angel of Death – spent eight years in a children’s secure unit and is living quietly under an assumed name with a family of her own.
Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down her older sister, compelling her to break two decades of silence.
Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and journalist Brinley Booth, a childhood friend of the Carter sisters, is tasked with covering the news story.
For the first time, the three women are forced to confront what really happened that night – with devastating consequences for them all.
SYNOPSIS: A book to watch out for from a stunning new voice in thriller writing, as selected by the i, Daily Mail, Grazia, Culture Fly and her.ie.
Helen has it all…
Daniel is the perfect husband. Rory is the perfect brother. Serena is the perfect sister-in-law.
And Rachel? Rachel is the perfect nightmare.
When Helen, finally pregnant after years of tragedy, attends her first antenatal class, she is expecting her loving architect husband to arrive soon after, along with her confident, charming brother Rory and his pregnant wife, the effortlessly beautiful Serena. What she is not expecting is Rachel.
Extroverted, brash, unsettling single mother-to-be Rachel, who just wants to be Helen’s friend. Who just wants to get know Helen and her friends and her family. Who just wants to know everything about them. Every little secret.
Masterfully plotted and utterly addictive, Greenwich Park is a dark, compelling look at motherhood, friendships, privilege and the secrets we keep to protect ourselves.
Published: April 15th, 2021 Publisher: Picador Genre: Literary Fiction, Saga
SYNOPSIS: Five generations of women, linked by blood and circumstance, by the secrets they share, and by a single book passed down through a family, with an affirmation scrawled in its margins: We are force. We are more than we think we are.
1866, Cuba: María Isabel is the only woman employed at a cigar factory, where each day the workers find strength in daily readings of Victor Hugo. But these are dangerous political times, and as María begins to see marriage and motherhood as her only options, the sounds of war are approaching.
1959, Cuba: Dolores watches her husband make for the mountains in answer to Fidel Castro’s call to arms. What Dolores knows, though, is that to survive, she must win her own war, and commit an act of violence that threatens to destroy her daughter Carmen’s world.
2016, Miami: Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, is shocked when her daughter Jeanette announces her plans to travel to Cuba to see her grandmother Dolores. In the walls of her crumbling home lies a secret, one that will link Jeanette to her past, and to this fearless line of women.
From nineteenth-century cigar factories to present-day detention centres, from Cuba to the United States to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt follows Latina women of fierce pride, bound by the stories passed between them. It is a haunting meditation on the choices of mothers and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their truth despite those who wish to silence them.
SYNOPSIS: They only want a kindness, but beware, for if you have no coin, they will curse you black and blue.
1620s Lancashire. Away from the village lies a small hamlet, abandoned since the Plague, where only one family dwells amongst its ruins. Young Sarah Haworth, her mother, brother and little sister Annie are a family of outcasts by day and the recipients of visitors by night. They are cunning folk: the villagers will always need them, quick with a healing balm or more, should the need arise. They can keep secrets too, because no one would believe them anyway.
When Sarah spies a young man taming a wild horse, she risks being caught to watch him calm the animal. And when Daniel sees Sarah he does not just see a strange, dirty thing, he sees her for who she really is: a strong creature about to come into her own. But can something as fragile as love blossom between these two in such a place as this?
When a new magistrate arrives to investigate the strange ends that keep befalling the villagers, he has his eye on one family alone. And a torch in his hand.
Cunning Women is the powerful reckoning of a young woman with her wildness, a heartbreaking tale of young love and a shattering story of the intolerance that reigned during the long shadow of the Pendle Witch Trials, when those who did not conform found persecution at every door.
Published: April 27th, 2021 Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: They are the Beautiful Ones, Loisail’s most notable socialites, and this spring is Nina’s chance to join their ranks, courtesy of her well-connected cousin and his calculating wife. But the Grand Season has just begun and already Nina’s debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis: the haphazard manifestations of her powers have long made her the subject of gossip – malicious neighbours even call her the Witch of Oldhouse.
But Nina’s life is about to change, for there is a new arrival in town: Hector Auvray, the renowned entertainer, who has used his own telekinetic talent to perform for admiring audiences around the world. Nina is dazzled by Hector, for he sees her not as a witch, but ripe with magical potential. Under his tutelage, Nina’s talent blossoms – as does her love for the great man.
But great romances are for fairy-tales, and Hector is hiding a secret bitter truth from Nina – and himself – that threatens their courtship.
The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.
SYNOPSIS: Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with four-hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The sky is clear, star-stamped and silvered by the waxing gibbous moon.
No planes have flown over the islands tonight; no bombs have fallen for over a year. ___________
Orkney, 1940. Five hundred Italian prisoners-of-war arrive to fortify these remote and windswept islands. Resentful islanders are fearful of the enemy in their midst, but not orphaned twin sisters Dorothy and Constance. Already outcasts, they volunteer to nurse all prisoners who are injured or fall sick.
Soon Dorothy befriends Cesare, an artists swept up by the machine of war and almost broken by the horrors he has witnessed. She is entranced by his plan to build an Italian chapel from war scrap and sea debris, and something beautiful begins to blossom.
But Con, scarred from a betrayal in her past, is afraid for her sister; she knows that people are not always what they seem.
Soon, trust frays between the islanders and outsiders, and between the sisters – their hearts torn by rival claims of duty and desire. A storm is coming…
In the tradition of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Metal Heart is a hauntingly rich Second World War love story about courage, brutality, freedom and beauty and the essence of what makes us human during the darkest of times.
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural, Hardboiled, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: The latest novel by the author of FIREWATCHING, by ‘a bold and brilliant new voice in crime fiction’
Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens – an oasis of peace in a world filled with sorrow, confusion and pain. And then, one morning, a body is found in the Gardens. A young woman, dead from a stab wound, buried in a quiet corner. Police quickly determine that the body’s been there for months. It would have gone undiscovered for years – but someone just sneaked into the Gardens and dug it up.
Who is the victim? Who killed her and hid her body? Who dug her up? And who left a macabre marker on the body?
In his quest to find her murderer, DS Adam Tyler will find himself drawn into the secretive world of nighthawkers: treasure-hunters who operate under cover of darkness, seeking the lost and valuable… and willing to kill to keep what they find.
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: Wildfire Genre: Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale
SYNOPSIS: Xxx A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS.
‘ARIADNE gives voice to the misused Princess of Crete who betrayed her father to save Theseus from the Minotaur. Relevant and revelatory.’ – Stylist
As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
ARIADNE gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.
SYNOPSIS: You come to Soul Shrink to be healed. You don’t expect to die.
Two years ago, Fran’s sister Jenna disappeared on a wellness retreat in Gozo that went terribly wrong.
Tom Wade, the now infamous man behind Soul Shrink Retreats, has just been released from prison after serving his sentence for the deaths of two people. But he has never let on what happened to the third victim: Jenna.
Determined to find out the truth, Fran books herself onto his upcoming retreat – the first since his release – and finds herself face to face with the man who might hold the key to her sister’s disappearance. The only question is, will she escape the retreat alive? Or does someone out there want Jenna’s secrets to stay hidden?
The master of suspense is back. Prepare yourself for the latest heart-in-mouth rollercoaster ride from the Sunday Times bestseller.
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: HQ Genre: Dark Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Humorous Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Romance Novel
SYNOPSIS: Your family would kill to see you happy
‘ARE YOU…DEAD?’ OH MY GOD. I THINK HE IS. When Meddy Chan accidentally kills her blind date, she turns to her aunties for help. Their meddling set her up on the date so they kind of owe her.
WELL, THAT DIDN’T QUITE GO TO PLAN. Although hiding this goddamn dead body is going to be harder than they thought especially when her family’s wedding business has THE biggest wedding of the year happening right now.
IT’S PRETTY BAD TIMING REALLY. It turns out the wedding venue just happens to be managed by Meddy’s ex, aka the one who got away. It’s the worst time to see him again, or…is it? Can Meddy finally find love and make her overbearing family happy?
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: Pushkin Press Genre: Thriller, Suspense
SYNOPSIS: They would rather die than become mothers.
A serial killer is on the loose in Tel Aviv. Each victim is found tied to a chair with a baby doll glued to their hands, the word ‘mother’ carved into their forehead like a mark of Cain.
Stowed away between the wax figurines of the Bible museum where she works, Sheila Heller knows both victims. She suspects the killings have something to do with a pact their group all made at university – to never have children.
What Sheila doesn’t know is who is committing these gruesome acts of ritualistic violence, and whether she herself might be the next target.
Published: April 29th, 2021 Publisher: Mudlark Genre: True Crime
SYNOPSIS: Totally gripping and brilliantly told, Murder: The Biography is a gruesome and utterly captivating portrait of the legal history of murder.
The stories and the people involved in the history of murder are stranger, darker and more compulsive than any crime fiction.
There’s Richard Parker, the cannibalized cabin boy whose death at the hands of his hungry crewmates led the Victorian courts to decisively outlaw a defence of necessity to murder. Dr Percy Bateman, the incompetent GP whose violent disregard for his patient changed the law on manslaughter. Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in England in the 1950s, played a crucial role in changes to the law around provocation in murder cases. And Archibald Kinloch, the deranged Scottish aristocrat whose fratricidal frenzy paved the way for the defence of diminished responsibility. These, and many more, are the people – victims, killers, lawyers and judges, who unwittingly shaped the history of that most grisly and storied of laws.
Join lawyer and writer Kate Morgan on a dark and macabre journey as she explores the strange stories and mysterious cases that have contributed to UK murder law. The big corporate killers; the vengeful spouses; the sloppy doctors; the abused partners; the shoddy employers; each story a crime and each crime a precedent that has contributed to the law’s dark, murky and, at times, shocking standing.
Choosing the books I’m most excited about being released this year has taken forever. 2021 already has a vast array of books scheduled for release that I can not wait to read. I decided to cheat a little and have created two lists: this one with books by already published authors, and another I’ll post in the coming days with the debuts I’m most looking forward to.
While all of these authors have already been published, some of them are new to me, such as Catriona Ward and Yaa Gyasi. Then there are the authors I discovered last year or with their debut, such as Elizabeth Macneal, C. J. Tudor and Sarah J. Maas. Finally, we have some of my auto-read authors such as Stacey Halls, C. J. Skuse, C. L. Taylor, Mark Edwards and Beth O’ Leary.
Here are the 21 books I’m most excited for this year:
The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor
Published: January 21st, 2021 Publisher: Michael Joseph Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Horror Fiction
SYNOPSIS: 500 years ago: eight martyrs were burnt to death 30 years ago: two teenagers vanished without trace Two months ago: the vicar committed suicide
Welcome to Chapel Croft.
For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it’s supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn’t easily forgotten.
And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft’s history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome.
Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns.
Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls? Who’s sending them sinister, threatening messages? And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself?
Chapel Croft’s secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn’t touch them if not for Flo – anything to protect Flo.
But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft – and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest . . . Pre-order here.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Mass
Published: February 16th, 2021 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Fantasy Fiction, High Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, richly imagined A Court of Thorns and Roses series continues with the journey of Feyre’s fiery sister, Nesta
Nesta Archeron has always been prickly – proud, swift to anger and slow to forgive. And since the war – since being made High Fae against her will – she’s struggled to forget the horrors she endured and find a place for herself within the strange and deadly Night Court. The person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred, winged warrior who is there at Nesta’s every turn. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. And when they are forced to train in battle together, sparks become flame. As the threat of war casts its shadow over them once again, Nesta and Cassian must fight monsters from within and without if they are to stand a chance of halting the enemies of their court. But the ultimate risk will be searching for acceptance – and healing – in each other’s arms. Pre-order here.
Dead Head (Sweetpea 3) by C. J. Skuse
Published: February 18th, 2021 Publisher: HQ Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Dark Comedy, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Book Series
SYNOPSIS: Victim. Murderer. Serial Killer. What next? The third darkly comic thriller in the highly addictive Sweetpea series featuring serial killer Rhiannon Lewis.
Can a serial killer ever lose their taste for murder?
Since confessing to her bloody murder spree Rhiannon Lewis, the now-notorious Sweetpea killer, has been feeling out-of-sorts.
Having fled the UK on a cruise ship to start her new life, Rhiannon should be feeling happy. But it’s hard to turn over a new leaf when she’s stuck in an oversized floating tin can with the Gammonati and screaming kids. Especially when they remind her of Ivy – the baby she gave up for a life carrying on killing.
Rhiannon is all at sea. She’s lost her taste for blood but is it really gone for good? Maybe Rhiannon is realising that there’s more to life than death…
The third book in the critically-acclaimed series following Sweetpea and In Bloom featuring everyone’s favourite truly original girl-next-door serial killer Rhiannon Lewis. Pre-order here.
Nighthawking by Russ Thomas
Published: February 18th, 2021 Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Hardboiled, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens – an oasis of peace in a world filled with sorrow, confusion and pain. And then, one morning, a body is found in the Gardens. A young woman, dead from a stab wound, buried in a quiet corner. Police quickly determine that the body’s been there for months. It would have gone undiscovered for years – but someone just sneaked into the Gardens and dug it up.
Who is the victim? Who killed her and hid her body? Who dug her up? And who left a macabre marker on the body?
In his quest to find her murderer, DS Adam Tyler will find himself drawn into the secretive world of nighthawkers: treasure-hunters who operate under cover of darkness, seeking the lost and valuable… and willing to kill to keep what they find.
That which was lost… will always be found again Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: As a child Gifty would ask her parents to tell the story of their journey from Ghana to Alabama, seeking escape in myths of heroism and romance. When her father and brother succumb to the hard reality of immigrant life in the American South, their family of four becomes two – and the life Gifty dreamed of slips away.
Years later, desperate to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother’s life, she turns to science for answers. But when her mother comes to stay, Gifty soon learns that the roots of their tangled traumas reach farther than she ever thought. Tracing her family’s story through continents and generations will take her deep into the dark heart of modern America.
Transcendent Kingdom is a searing story story of love, loss and redemption, and the myriad ways we try to rebuild our lives from the rubble of our collective pasts. Pre-order here.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
SYNOPSIS: This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies.
You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, something lies buried. But it’s not what you think… Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-one years ago, Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were murdered in what has become the most infamous double murder of the modern age.
Ten-year-old Sara Carter – nicknamed the Angel of Death – spent eight years in a children’s secure unit and is living quietly under an assumed name with a family of her own.
Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down her older sister Shannon Carter, compelling her to break two decades of silence.
Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and journalist Brinley Booth, a childhood friend of the Carter sisters, is tasked with covering the news story.
For the first time, the three women are forced to confront what really happened on that blood-soaked night – with devastating consequences for them all.
When I Was Ten is a chilling page-turner by Fiona Cummins. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with four hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan? Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: You come to Soul Shrink to be healed. You don’t expect to die.
Two years ago, Fran’s sister Jenna disappeared on a wellness retreat in Gozo that went terribly wrong.
Tom Wade, the now infamous man behind Soul Shrink Retreats, has just been released from prison after serving his sentence for the deaths of two people. But he has never let on what happened to the third victim: Jenna.
Determined to find out the truth, Fran books herself onto his upcoming retreat – the first since his release – and finds herself face to face with the man who might hold the key to her sister’s disappearance. The only question is, will she escape the retreat alive? Or does someone out there want Jenna’s secrets to stay hidden?
The master of suspense is back. Prepare yourself for the latest heart-in-mouth rollercoaster ride from the Sunday Times bestseller. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: The sky is clear, star-stamped and silvered by the waxing gibbous moon.
No planes have flown over the islands tonight; no bombs have fallen for over a year. ___________
Orkney, 1940. Five hundred Italian prisoners-of-war arrive to fortify these remote and windswept islands. Resentful islanders are fearful of the enemy in their midst, but not orphaned twin sisters Dorothy and Constance. Already outcasts, they volunteer to nurse all prisoners who are injured or fall sick.
Soon Dorothy befriends Cesare, an artists swept up by the machine of war and almost broken by the horrors he has witnessed. She is entranced by his plan to build an Italian chapel from war scrap and sea derbis, and something beautiful begins to blossom.
But Con, scarred from a betrayal in her past, is afraid for her sister; she knows that people are not always what they seem.
Soon, trust frays between the islanders and outsiders, and between the sisters – their hearts torn by rival claims of duty and desire. A storm is coming…
In the tradition of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Metal Heart is a hauntingly rich Second World War love story about courage, brutality, freedom and beauty and the essence of what makes us human during the darkest of times. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: 1866. In a coastal village in southern England, Nell picks violets for a living. Set apart by her community because of the birthmarks that speckle her skin, Nell’s world is her beloved brother and devotion to the sea.
But when Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders arrives in the village, Nell is kidnapped. Her father has sold her, promising Jasper Jupiter his very own leopard girl. It is the greatest betrayal of Nell’s life, but as her fame grows, and she finds friendship with the other performers and Jasper’s gentle brother Toby, she begins to wonder if joining the show is the best thing that has ever happened to her.
In London, newspapers describe Nell as the eighth wonder of the world. Figurines are cast in her image, and crowds rush to watch her soar through the air. But who gets to tell Nell’s story? What happens when her fame threatens to eclipse that of the showman who bought her? And as she falls in love with Toby, can he detach himself from his past and the terrible secret that binds him to his brother?
Moving from the pleasure gardens of Victorian London to the battle-scarred plains of the Crimea, Circus of Wonders is an astonishing story about power and ownership, fame and the threat of invisibility. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: A lifetime holding it together. One party will bring it crashing down.
Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud-because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own-including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.
SYNOPSIS: A golden summer, and six talented friends are looking forward to the brightest of futures – until a daredevil game goes horribly wrong, and a woman and two children are killed.
18-year-old Megan takes the blame, leaving the others free to get on with their lives. In return, they each agree to a ‘favour’, payable on her release from prison.
Twenty years later Megan is free. Let the games begin . . . Pre-order here.
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
Published: May 27th, 2021 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Format: Hardcover, Kindle Genre: Magical Realism, Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Alternate History
SYNOPSIS: Come home, if you remember.
The postcard has been held at the sorting office for ninety-one years, waiting to be delivered to Joe Tournier. On the front is a lighthouse – Eilean Mor, in the Outer Hebrides.
Joe has never left England, never even left London. He is a British slave, one of thousands throughout the French Empire. He has a job, a wife, a baby daughter.
But he also has flashes of a life he cannot remember and of a world that never existed – a world where English is spoken in England, and not French.
And now he has a postcard of a lighthouse built just six months ago, that was first written nearly one hundred years ago, by a stranger who seems to know him very well.
Joe’s journey to unravel the truth will take him from French-occupied London to a remote Scottish island, and back through time itself as he battles for his life – and for a very different future. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there’s something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.
Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family – and she should know.
Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, weaving an enthralling story of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception. Set against the atmospheric landscape of West Yorkshire, Stacey Halls’ third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times. Pre-order here.
Truth or Dare (Helen Grace 10) by M. J. Arlidge
Published: June 24th, 2021 Publisher: Michael Joseph Format: Hardcover, Kindle Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Hardboiled, Police Procedural, Crime Fiction, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: The unmissable brand new Helen Grace thriller from million-copy bestseller M. J. Arlidge. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: MY DAD SAYS BAD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN I BREAK IT…
Daniel is looking forward to his birthday. He wants fish and chips, a big chocolate cake, and a comic book starring his favourite superhero. And as long as he follows The Rule, nothing bad will happen.
Daniel will be twenty-three next week. And he has no idea that he’s about to kill a stranger.
Daniel’s parents know that their beloved and vulnerable son will be taken away. They know that Daniel didn’t mean to hurt anyone, he just doesn’t know his own strength. They dispose of the body. Isn’t that what any loving parent would do? But as forces on both sides of the law begin to close in on them, they realise they have no option but to finish what they started. Even if it means that others will have to die…
Because they’ll do anything to protect him. Even murder. Pre-order here.
The Hollows by Mark Edwards
Published: July 8th, 2021 Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Format: Paperback, Kindle Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the bestselling author of The House Guest comes a chilling story set deep in the woods…
With his marriage over and his career in freefall, journalist Tom decides to reconnect with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Frankie. Desperate to spend precious time together now that they live an ocean apart, he brings her to Hollow Falls, a cabin resort deep in the woods of Maine.
From the outset there’s something a little eerie about the place―strange whispers in the trees, windchimes echoing through the forest―but when Tom meets true-crime podcasters David and Connie, he receives a chilling warning. Hollow Falls has a gruesome history: twenty years ago this week, a double slaying shut down the resort. The crime was never solved, and now the woods are overrun with murder-obsessed tourists looking to mark the grim anniversary.
It’s clear that there’s something deeply disturbing going on at Hollow Falls. And as Tom’s dream trip turns into a nightmare, he and Frankie are faced with a choice: uncover the truth, or get out while they still can. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: What if all your neighbours’ secrets landed in a diary on your doorstep?
What if the woman who gave it to you was murdered by one of the people in the diary?
What if the police asked if you knew anything?
Would you hand over the book of secrets?
Or … would you try to find out what everyone had done?
I Know What You’ve Done
The blistering new novel from Queen of The Big Reveal. Pre-order here.
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
Published: July 22nd, 2021 Publisher: Century Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
SYNOPSIS: DON’T GO NEAR THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS…
It’s late at night and Kim is waiting. Her daughter, Tallulah, is out on a date, and hasn’t returned.
Desperate to find out where she might be, Kim contacts her friends, and discovers that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the woods.
The locals call it Dark Place.
Two years on, the mystery of Tallulah’s disappearance remains unsolved. But could a note discovered in the woods lead to the truth about what happened that night?
That’s another month wrapped! We’re now almost half way through the year and Summer is nearly here.
So how has May been for everyone? I’ve had a great month and managed to read 14books. Also this month I went to my first author event and book signing since joining bookstagram. I still plan to do a blog post about it but as with some of the reviews I’m a little behind so please bear with me.
So let’s take a look at what I read in May:
‘The Corset’ by Laura Purcell⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain? This is what Dorothea Truelove doesn’t know when she begins to visit the alleged murderess in prison. A dark, haunting, atmospheric and chilling gothic novel this book was impossible to put down. While telling a great story the author also highlights important issues and takes an interesting look at mental health and women’s roles in society in Victorian times. With this book Laura Purcell has solidified her place in my top authors list. Out Now
‘The Au Pair’ by Emma Rous⭐⭐⭐⭐ – This family saga that echoes the writing style of V. C. Andrews and combines it with the mysteries of Gillian Flynn. Twins Seraphine and Danny Mayes are the first twins born on their family’s estate in years. But the same day they’re born their mother plunges to her death and the au pair disappears. Ever since, whispers of folklore have followed the twins and left Seraphine feeling like she doesn’t belong. Who is she? And what exactly happened the day she and her brother were born? My review for this novel will be published closer to the release date but I will say that this is a book full of surprising twists that kept me guessing throughout. Published July 11th
‘The Flat Share’ by Beth O’Leary⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This was a refreshing, witty novel that wasn’t your average chic lit. Full of soul, heart, courage and spirit, this is a book that not only deals with romance but also the heavier topics of toxic relationships and PTSD. It perfectly balances the whimsical and the darker sides making it relatable and uplifting. This book has been everywhere and actually lives up to all the hype. Out Now
‘After The End’ by Clare Macintosh⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – A heartbreaking and impossible dilemma is handled in a beautiful, sensitive and original way in this emotional novel. This isn’t the kind of book you expect from this Ms Macintosh but it could be her best yet. My review will be posted on publication day. Published June 25th
‘The Neighbour’ by Fiona Cummins⭐⭐⭐⭐ – FOR SALE: A lovely family home with a good-sized garden and trees occupying a plot close to woodland. Perfect for kids, fitness enthusiasts, dog-walkers…And, it seems, a perfect hunting ground for a serial killer. This tense, gripping thriller is one I’m behind on the review for. Out Now
‘For The Love Of Books’ by Graham Tarrant⭐⭐⭐.5 – A book about books! This is a light-hearted and quick read that biblophiles will enjoy. While I did find some parts a little tedious, this was overall a fun read. Published June 4th
‘Hello My Name Is May’ by Rosalind Stopps⭐⭐⭐⭐- This book was not what I expected, but in a good way. Told in dual timelines, present-day May is sharp, witty, scathing and frustrated at the loss of her ability to speak and control her body after a stroke. Back in the late ‘70s young May is a woman living in fear who feels trapped in her life and too terrified to change it. This is a book that is enjoyable but also hard to read as it tackles domestic and elder abuse in a raw and honest way. A gripping and touching read with a ending that shook me to the core.Out now
‘Someone You Know’ by Olivia Isaac-Henry⭐⭐⭐⭐ – When the body of Tess’s twin sister, Edie is found two decades after she disappeared Tess decides it’s finally time to discover the truth about what happened to her beloved sister. A captivating thriller full of twists and turns. Out Now
‘The Missing Years’ by Lexie Elliott⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The eerie and bizarre is woven throughout this tale about family and self-discovery from the outset. Atmospheric, haunting, creepy and macabre with shocking twists and an ending that I wasn’t prepared for. This is a steady-paced and engrossing read that’s perfect for anyone who loves a good thriller.Published June 6th
‘Lying Next To You’ by Gregg Olsen⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – I devoured this addictive, fast-paced novel and would have read it in one sitting if not for that pesky thing called sleep…The bombshell finale had my jaw on the floor and it is a testament to the writing how I can instantly recall lines that now have a completely different meaning and were a subtle foreshadowing of the truth. Lying Next To Me is a story about family, love, lust, sex, secrets, betrayal, desperation and revenge. I highly recommend this dramatic, layered, tense and twisty thriller. Just make sure you have plenty of time spare as you won’t want to put it down. Out Now
‘The Queen of Hearts’ by Kimmery Martin⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I loved this book so much that I could read it every day and it would bring me joy. This debut novel is not just a pretty book, it’s a spectacular novel that had me savouring every word and completely immersed in the pages. The author has created the perfect amalgamation of her two loves: medicine and literature. Intelligent, funny, mesmerising and at times gut-wrenching, I highly recommend this to everyone. Out Now.
‘Before She Was Found’ by Heather Gudenkauf⭐⭐⭐.5 – Three twelve year old girls walked into a train yard and two come out unscathed… Having your child attacked and almost killed is every parents worst nightmare. Or is it? What if your child was suspected of attempting to kill their friend? This was a twisty, readable thriller that opens with a chilling first chapter and keeps it’s secrets right up until the final pages. Published June 13th
‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I’ve yet to publish my review for this novel but this could have easily been my book of the month. This is one of those books that reaches into your soul. It tells the story of Frances Langton, a former slave who is awaiting trial for the murder of her Master and Mistress. Frannie says she couldn’t have done it because she loved her Mistress. This book deals with important issues from the era , some of which are still relevant today. A spectacular debut novel that I highly recommend. The review will be up on the blog soon. Out Now
‘The Last Widow’ by Karin Slaughter⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – An exciting, absorbing, and frighteningly real thriller, this novel is an example of why Ms Slaughter is one of the world’s most acclaimed authors. The story begins with an abduction in a shopping centre car park and then jumps forward to a month later. The rest of the story takes place over a tense three days. I’m currently in the process of writing the review for this book and it should be up on the blog in the next few days, but trust me when I say this is a thriller you don’t want to miss. Published June 13th
My favourite book this month was The Queen of Hearts, although The Confessions of Frannie Langton is so good they almost tie as my favourites.
Have you read any of these books or are they in your TBR pile? What was your favourite book in May? Comment below.
Thank you to Kimmery Martin, Atlantic Books, Corvus Books, Quercus Books, Harper Collins UK, Little Brown Book Group UK, Thomas & Mercer, HQ, Avon Books UK, Skyhorse Publishing and NetGalley for my copies of these novels in exchange for an honest review.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 