Published February 15th by Hutchinson Heinmann Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
Here’s my review for a book you HAVE to read. Thank you Hutchinson Heinemann for the proof copy.
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SYNOPSIS:
THE BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
‘To read it is to feel that little bit better about life‘ ELIZABETH DAY
‘A beautiful mystery with heart’ ROB RINDER
‘This is a heart-warming book’ EMMA HEALEY
‘A gorgeous, page-turning book’ I PAPER
Yorkshire, 1979
Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South.
Because of the murders.
Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv’s mum stopped talking. Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all?
So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don’t.
But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families – and between each other – than they ever thought possible.
What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home?
THE PERFECT DEBUT NOVEL TO DISCUSS IN BOOK CLUBS
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MY REVIEW:
‘We’ll make a list,’ I said. ‘A list of the people and things we see that are suspicious. And then… And then we’ll investigate them.’
If you’ve not read The List of Suspicious Things then you need to add it to your TBR right now! A coming-of-age meets slice of life and mystery novel, this debut was a good book that became SPECTACULAR with its conclusion. So much so that I sat hugging it to my chest for ages just repeating ‘Wow’ after finishing it.
Yorkshire, 1979. Margaret Thatcher is the new Prime Minister, mills are closing, and a terrifying serial killer is stalking local women. It is against this bleak backdrop that The List of Suspicious Things is set, following twelve-year-old Miv as she and her best friend, Sharon, set out to find the Yorkshire Ripper in order to stop Miv’s family moving ‘down south’. But are they prepared for what they will discover?
What a book! Jennie Godfrey is a masterful storyteller and a talent to watch, crafting an unforgettable story about family, friendship, community, secrets, suspicion, and the loss of innocence. And how could this Yorkshire girl, born in 1979, resist that premise? The familiar dialect places and characters created a sense of home for me, and I loved the feelings of nostalgia it evoked. Miv is a great protagonist who I related to from the start. She took me right back to being that age with all the same feelings and confusion about the world. I loved the child-like innocence and wide-eyed wonderment about the world that shines through in Miv’s chapters, something that is balanced by the adults’ points of view, which not only give us a greater perspective, but also help add to the sense of community that flows throughout the book. There are a number of sensitive and difficult subjects explored in this book and I liked that Godfrey handled them with honesty and compassion. One example is the ever-looming presence of the Yorkshire Ripper. I appreciated that Godfrey focuses on the impact of his crimes and the atmosphere of fear, danger, suspicion and distrust he created rather than the man himself.
A phenomenal debut that left me reeling, everyone needs to read this book.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jennie Godfrey was raised in West Yorkshire and her debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, is inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. Jennie is from a mill-working family, but as the first of the generation born after the mills closed, she went to university and built a career in the corporate world. In 2020 she left and began to write. She is now a writer and part-time Waterstones bookseller and lives in the Somerset countryside.
Published February 1st, 2024 by Wildfire Humorous Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction
Welcome to my review for the unmissable Frank and Red, which is February’s Squadpod Book Club pick. Join us on February 18th for a live chat with author Matt Coyne to discuss his outstanding debut. Thank you to Ollie at Wildfire for the proof copy of this book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Sometimes, the friend you need is the one you never saw coming.
‘Simply perfect’ Daily Mirror | ‘Hilariously funny… and beneath it all really quite lovely’ The Metro | Brilliant, just brilliant’ Huffington Post
Frank and Red are a mess.
Frank is a grumpy old curmudgeon. A recluse whose only company is the ‘ghost’ of his dead wife, Marcie. He is estranged from his friends, his son, and the ever-changing world beyond his front gate.
And then Red moves in next door.
Red is six. A boy struggling to adjust to the separation of his mum and dad, a new school, and the demonic school bully. Red is curious, smart, he never stops talking, and he’s got a trampoline. From the moment Red’s blonde mop appears over the top of the fence that divides their two gardens, the unlikeliest of friendships is born.
. . . And it is a friendship that will change both of their lives forever.
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MY REVIEW:
Meet Frank and Red… a curmudgeonly old man with agoraphobia who lives with the ghost of his late wife and a friendly six-year-old boy with a very active imagination who strike up an unlikely friendship that starts over their shared garden fence. This is one of those books you know you’re going to love from the first page, capturing my heart and soul immediately and making me laugh out loud from the second page. A truly magnificent debut, it has gone straight onto my list of all-time favourite books.
Frank and Red is a book for everyone. No matter what genre you usually read and the kind of books you usually don’t bother with, I think you will love this book and its characters. Reading it feels like a warm hug, the gorgeous story enveloping you in its arms and making everything feel better for a time. This is Matt Coyne’s first fiction book and I’m an instant fan. It’s brilliantly written, Matt Coyne filling the pages with raw honesty, cracking comedy, heartfelt emotion, insightful social commentary, and an irresistible charm. It’s one of those books you both want to devour whole and want to savour because you never want it to end and I couldn’t stop thinking about it whenever I wasn’t reading.
What am I going to do without Frank and Red? It is impossible not to fall for these characters completely and they stole my heart from the first page. Achingly real, compelling and memorable, they come to life in vivid technicolour. Frank is a blunt, brash and bull-headed old bugger who has shut the world out ever since his wife Marcie’s death. He lives alone, apart from Marcie’s ghost, and is terrified to go beyond his front gate in case she isn’t there when he comes back. And then there’s Red, the adorable, outgoing and precocious little boy who moves in next door to Frank with his mum, Sarah, and turns Frank’s world upside down. This unlikely duo taught each other so much and I loved their friendship. It was an absolute joy to read and I’ve not stopped thinking about them since I finished the book.
One of my favourite things about this book is how Coyne doesn’t diminish children or their experiences. Instead Coyne highlights how very real and important their stresses and emotions are whatever their age. For example, Red is trying to come to terms with his parents’ divorce, moving home and school, trying to make new friends, bullying, and his dad’s new girlfriend and her annoying twins. Coyne perfectly balances Red’s childish innocence and honesty with the weights on his shoulders, reminding us of the importance of listening to our children when they tell us their problems rather than brushing them off as unimportant compared to adult worries.
Unmissable, and unforgettable, Frank and Red is a phenomenal debut that will lift your spirits and warm your heart. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Man vs Baby’s Matt Coyne is from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. In September 2015, Matt’s life was turned upside down by the arrival of his son Charlie. After three months of parenthood, he logged on to social media and wrote about his experience of having to live with ‘a furious, sleep-murdering, unstable and incontinent, breasts-obsessed midget lodger’. Within days, his post about surviving the first few months of parenthood was shared by millions all over the world.
Following this, Matt created his popular blog Man vs Baby, which now has over 370,000 followers on social media. And has written two Sunday Times bestselling books based on his parental triumphs and disasters, the first entitled: ‘Dummy’ and the second ‘Man vs Toddler’.
He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph and GQ Magazine and is the current Vuelio Parenting Influencer of the Year and Blogosphere Parent Influencer of the Year.
Matt lives in Sheffield with his son Charlie, his partner Lyndsay and a Jack Russell terrier with ‘issues’ called Eddie.
Published January 18th, 2024 by Bantam Press Thriller, Suspense, Spy Fiction, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Pensioners in the Pages, Book Series
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Spy Coast, the exhilarating new thriller from Tess Gerritsen. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Bantam Press for the proof copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘The Spy Coast is The Thursday Murder Club on steroids’ SAGA Magazine
‘I loved it. A hugely entertaining read!’ ANN CLEEVES
Maggie Bird is many things. A chicken farmer. A good neighbour. A seemingly average retiree living in the seaside town of Purity. She’s also a darned good rifle shot. And she never talks about her past.
But when an unidentified body is left on Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a calling card from old times. It’s been fifteen years since the failed mission that ended her career as a spy, and cost her far more than her job.
Step forward the ‘Martini Club’ – Maggie’s silver-haired book group (to anyone who asks), and a cohort of former spies behind closed doors. With the help of her old friends – and always one step ahead of the persistent local cop – Maggie might still be able to save the life she’s built.
The Spy Coast is the first novel in the Martini Club series.
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MY REVIEW:
“If they knew her name, then they must know about the others as well. The past, it seemed, was about to catch up with them all. So much for a comfortable retirement. It was time to go back to work.”
Tess Gerritsen has been one of my go-to thriller authors ever since I read The Surgeon and I am a huge fan of her Rizzoli and Isles books in particular. I’ll read anything she writes, but I will admit to being very excited when I read the synopsis of The Spy Coast and discovered she was writing a new series about a retired group of spies. After reading the author’s note at the beginning of my proof copy where she shared her inspiration for the book I was even more hyped and knew that this was going to be a book I loved.
The Spy Coast introduces us to Maggie Bird, a retiree who you couldn’t glance twice at. A couple of years ago, Maggie moved to Blackberry Farm and settled into her new life in the quiet seaside town of Purity, Maine where she works as a chicken farmer and attends a book group with her friends called the ‘Martini Club’. But while these pensioners can be sweet as honey, they also have a vicious sting in their tails and these five friends are actually a cohort of former spies. When the body of an unidentified woman is left in her driveway, it seems Maggie’s past has come back to haunt her, and the ‘Martini Club’ combine their skills and experience to try and track down the person who wants her dead. Also on the case is Purity’s tenacious police chief, Jo Thibodeau, who is at first exasperated by the Martini Club, but soon begins to wonder who this group of pensioners really are. They must keep one step ahead of her if they want to keep their secrets safe.
“We may have dubbed these meetings our ‘book club’ evenings, but what we’ve really come for are the martinis. And the gossip.”
I’m a big fan of the current trend for ‘pensioners in the pages’ and Maggie and the Martini Club are a fantastic group of new characters that I adored. As you’d expect for a former spy, Maggie holds her cards close to the vest and struggles to trust even those closest to her. Flashbacks slowly reveal her history and offer clues to the person they are searching for, while in the present Maggie has to learn to share her secrets if the Martini Club are going to find the person who wants her dead. These characters were so much fun to read and a great reminder that we aren’t over the hill just because we reach a certain age or retire, and that we shouldn’t underestimate someone on the basis of those things either.
This book is exactly why Tess Gerritsen is one of my favourite crime authors. Mysterious, thrilling, twisty, and action-packed, she had me in her thrall from the first page and kept me guessing as I tried to predict what would happen. A crime fiction powerhouse, I know I can rely on Gerritsen to deliver a fast-paced, scalpel-sharp page turner that is skillfully written and cleverly plotted. And while a story about a group of retired spies might sound like a cosy mystery, this is classic Gerritsen, and has a much darker, gritty edge. I couldn’t get enough but also never wanted it to end and ‘just one more chapter’ was the constant refrain in my head as I struggled to put the book down so I could sleep.
Suspenseful, propulsive, unexpected and addictive, The Spy Coast promises to be the first in a riveting new espionage series and I can’t wait for the next instalment. If you loved The Thursdays Murder Club but also enjoy darker mysteries, then this is the book for you.
Rating: 🔎🔎🔎🔎🔎
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.
While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel, Call After Midnight, was published. It was just the first of 32 suspense novels that she’s written over a 36-year writing career. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess’s 1996 medical thriller, Harvest, marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list and her novels have hit bestseller lists around the world ever since. Among her titles are Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, Listen to Me, and her upcoming spy thriller, The Spy Coast, which has just been optioned by Amazon Studios for a television series. Her books have been translated into 40 languages, and more than 40 million copies have been sold around the world.
Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
Published January 18th, 2024 by Orenda Books Mystery, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Humorous Fiction
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this nerve-shredding thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Orenda Books for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
On her first shift at an Edinburgh halfway house for violent offenders, a young woman is taken hostage … and that’s just the beginning… The twisty, shocking, darkly funny thriller by award-winning author Helen FitzGerald.
‘A new novel from Helen Fitzgerald is always a major event … magnificent’ Mark Billingham
‘Outrageous, hilarious and dark as hell – this is Helen FitzGerald on absolute top form’ Doug Johnstone
‘[Lou] is irresistible and very funny … The set-up is fascinating, the narrative is both fast-moving and convincing’ Literary Review
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They’re the housemates from Hell…
When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.
Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…
And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.
Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…
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MY REVIEW:
“She’d never been scared of him, but she should have been. She should have been scared of them all.”
In a halfway house in Edinburgh Lou O’Dowd is learning the ropes of her new job after relocating from Australia in the hopes of a new start after the end of her detrimental last relationship. The gothic townhouse is currently home to five high-risk offenders: two murderers, a celebrity paedophile, a sex offender and a paranoid drug dealer. What could possibly go wrong…
Fair warning: don’t start this book late at night because you WILL lose sleep. Utterly consuming and totally brilliant, I inhaled this book. I read it in one short sitting, losing myself in its pages and unable to stop reading until I’d reached the end. I was so transfixed thatI didn’t even notice it was 4am. But I didn’t regret a thing. Not even with the bizarre dreams that night and tiredness the next day because this book is INCREDIBLE and has secured a spot on my list of favourite thrillers of all time.
This book has it all: danger, dark humour, suspense, spice, humanity and heart. So even if this isn’t your usual kind of read I think you’ll find something you like in this story. Helen Fitzgerald has outdone herself with this book and taken things to another level of masterful storytelling with her razor-sharp, unapologetic and wickedly funny writing. The story explores a variety of topics, including toxic relationships, addiction and trauma, but it never feels too heavy or bleak, using humour to lighten tone. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments and it’s the small details that make the book great for me. Although, I do have one complaint: why was there so much delicious food in the first half of this book? I was so hungry reading it and haven’t been able to stop thinking about either yum yums or caprese salad since!
One of the things that makes this book so good is Lou. The girl has issues and is one of those characters you know you shouldn’t like, but Fitzgerald has written her with an irresistible charm and you can’t help but like and root for her. She’s feisty, strong, scathing and funny— the life and soul of the party who cares about being remembered, not being liked, and has a quick comeback for any put-down. She has questionable morals, seems to enjoy saying inflammatory and hurtful things, has few friends and is emotionally detached. Slowly we begin to see beyond her tough veneer, Fitzgerald using flashbacks to reveal how her past has left her hurt, damaged, and unable to trust. The other characters are just as richly drawn and compelling and the residents of the halfway house are an eclectic group who have committed some truly awful crimes. Unsurprisingly, these men gave me the ick. Creepy, dangerous, unstable and shifty, these are the kind of people you’d cross the street to avoid. They set the tone inside the house perfectly and you really get the sense that Lou was locked in with the housemates from hell.
Claustrophobic, chaotic, propulsive, savagely funny and nerve-shredding, Halfway House is a fiendishly good thriller that’s not to be missed.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband.
Welcome to the first anticipated treasures of 2024. Yes, this is a little late, but December was crazy and I didn’t get around to posting this until now.
There is an array of exciting new books out this month, including some I’ve been lucky enough to read already (The Actor, One of the Good Guys and First Lie Wins). There are lots of debuts I’m excited to explore such as The Beholders, Miss Austen Investigates, Loot and The Knowing, which is our Squadpod Book Club pick. I’m also very excited to get reaquainted with Rhiannon Lewis in the newest Sweetpea installment, Thorn In My Side and to read the latest offering from the fabulous Polly Crosby with her first YA book This Tale is Forbidden.
So, here are the books I’m most anticipating this month:
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Published January 2nd by Headline Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Everything she is about to tell them is a lie…
Evie Porter has everything a girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a picket fence, a fun group of friends.
The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
First comes the identity. Once she’s given a name and location by her employer, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it.
Then the mark: Ryan Sumner.
The last piece of the puzzle is the job. For Evie, this job feels different. Ryan has gotten under her skin and she’s started to picture another kind of life for herself – one where her boss doesn’t pull the strings. But Evie can’t make any mistakes. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to – her real identity – just walked right into this town. A woman, who looks just like her, has stolen her name – and she wants more. As Evie’s past begins to catch up with her, can she stay one step ahead to save her future?
Published January 4th by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS: If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?
Cole is the perfect husband: a romantic, supportive of his wife, Mel’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.
So when Mel leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him.
Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life where he meets reclusive artist Lennie.
Lennie has made the same move for similar reasons. She is living in a crumbling cottage on the edge of a nearby cliff. It’s an undeniably scary location, but sometimes you have to face your fears to get past them.
As their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, it soon becomes clear that they don’t know each other very well at all.
This is what happens when women have had enough . . .
Published January 4th by HQ Dark Comedy, Suspense, Crime, Mystery, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Sweetpea soon to be a major TV series starring Ella Purnell
Everyone’s favourite serial killer is back, and she’s more unpredictable than ever… _____________
Sometimes, you can be your own worst enemy…
Rhiannon Lewis thought she finally had it all: thanks to the pandemic she’s had to keep a much lower profile but has found happiness with her fiancé Rafael and his family. For once, she is surrounded by people who love her for who she is (or who they think she is).
After over 800 days without murdering anyone, the woman formerly known as the Sweetpea Killer thinks she might have finally turned over a new leaf.
That is until her soon-to-be sister-in-law has a run in with her abusive ex, and Rhiannon rediscovers her taste for revenge. This time, with a loving family in tow, the stakes are much higher. Wedded bliss and life as a normal person are finally within Rhiannon’s reach, but you can never keep a good serial killer down.
Published January 4th by Scholastic UK Urban Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Control the story, control the world…
Nesta believes in the fairy tales – the true stories of powerful magical women who shaped and ruled the world decades ago.
But the world has changed since then, and now, she is forbidden from wandering too far from the isolated woodland cottage where she lives with her grandmother. Nesta longs more than anything to see the city that lies beyond the forest, and when her grandmother is abducted, she gets her chance, journeying there in the hope of rescuing her.
But once there, she is horrified to see her grandmother’s warnings were true: girls are forced to wear certain clothes and punished if they don’t behave in certain ways. The city’s Authorities have rewritten history, replacing the fairytale heroines with weak girls who must rely on men.
Worse still – everyone believes this is how the world has always been.
Only Nesta knows the truth. But truth is a dangerous thing, and suddenly she finds herself a target. Can she evade the Authorities long enough to rescue her grandmother and liberate everyone else, bringing magic back into the world?
The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Brother’s Grimm in this thrilling dystopian fantasy
A feminist fairy tale retelling which will make you rethink traditional stories forever
YA debut from Polly Crosby, the much-loved author of Vita and the BirdsThe Unravelling and The Illustrated Child
A stunning cover by Noma Bar, the illustrator of Margaret Atwood’s book covers
Published January 4th by Manilla Press Literary Fiction, Romance, Travel Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the international bestselling author of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World: a powerful, moving novel of grief, hope, friendship and love based around a real archive on an island in Japan, where people travel to record their heartbeats.
To find what you have lost, you must listen to your heart . . .
On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is a library of heartbeats, a place where the heartbeats of visitors from all around the world are collected. In this small, isolated building, the heartbeats of people who are still alive or have already passed away continue to echo.
Several miles away, in the ancient city of Kamakura, two lonely souls meet: Shuichi, a forty-year-old illustrator, who returns to his home-town to fix up the house of his recently deceased mother, and eight-year-old Kenta, a child who wanders like a shadow around Shuichi’s house.
Day by day, the trust between Shuichi and Kenta grows until they discover they share a bond that will tie them together for life. Their journey will lead them to Teshima and to the library of heartbeats . . .
Published January 4th by Century Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Obsession. Intrigue. Revenge. Get ready for one of the most twisty-turny novels you will read this year.
‘Compulsive, clever and gasp out loud twisty, I absolutely loved it’ Lisa Jewell ‘This brilliantly written and unique novel had me turning the pages through the night‘ Heidi Perks _____________
A woman falls to her death from a London bank’s twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace.
You’re arrested for her murder.
You tell the police that you only met the victim the previous night at your office party. She was threatening to jump from the roof, but you talked her down.
You’ve got nothing to do with this tragedy. You’re clearly being framed.
So why do the police keep picking holes in your story? Even your lawyer doesn’t seem to believe you.
It soon becomes obvious that you’re keeping secrets.
Published January 4th by The Borough Press Thriller, Horror Fiction, Domestic Ficiton, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Supernatrual Ficiton, Religious Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Unique, bold and unsettling’ Aiwanose Odafen
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My name is Ikemefuna Nwosu, and I am your wife.
One day in Lagos, young dancer Ikemefuna is put on a plane to Houston to meet her new husband, Nna. Promises are made to her – about her education, about the man she will marry, about her freedom.
None of them are kept.
A few months later, self-professed feminist Nna finds a beautiful woman cooking in his parents’ kitchen. They tell him Ikemefuna is his wife, there to give them the grandson they’ve been waiting for. She appears obedient, malleable.
But she is no ordinary wife.
In the Texas heat, patience runs on short supply and the atmosphere in the house becomes increasingly strained, increasingly violent. Desperation makes people do strange things…
Unpredictable and unsettling, HOUSE WOMAN is a delicious thriller you will never be able to forget.
‘Haunting . . . a neo-gothic thriller, complete with a magnificently horrifying villain’ Daily Mail
Published January 4th by Hodder & Stoughton Historical Fiction, War Story
SYNOPSIS: Her decision changed history. Now her family must survive it.
British Malaya, 1930s Discontented housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and the glorious future he is promising for ‘independent’ Malaya, free from British colonialism. As she becomes further embedded as his own personal spy, she unwittingly alters the fate of her country by welcoming in a punishing form of dictatorship under the Japanese in WWII.
Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945 Cecily and her family are barely surviving. Her children, Jujube, Abel and Jasmin, are surrounded by threat, and look to their mother to keep them safe. But she can’t tell them about the part she played in the war – and she doesn’t know how to protect them. Can Cecily face up to her past to save her children? Or is it already too late… ?
The Atlas Complex(Atlas Six Trilogy,Book 3) by Olivie Blake
Published January 9th by Tor Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Adventure Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The Atlas Complex marks the much-anticipated, heart-shattering conclusion in Olivie Blake’s trilogy that began with the internationally bestselling dark academic phenomenon, The Atlas Six.
Only the extraordinary are chosen. Only the cunning survive.
An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.
Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities; elsewhere, an unlikely pair partner to influence politics on a global stage.
And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them ― while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power ― and who will be destroyed along the way.
Discover the stunning finale to The Atlas Six trilogy that fans are dying to read
Published January 18th by Bantam Press Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Spy Fiction, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: Maggie Bird is many things. A chicken farmer. A good neighbour. A seemingly average retiree living in the seaside town of Purity. She’s also a darned good rifle shot. And she never talks about her past.
But when an unidentified body is left on Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a calling card from old times. It’s been fifteen years since the failed mission that ended her career as a spy, and cost her far more than her job.
Step forward the ‘Martini Club’ – Maggie’s silver-haired book group (to anyone who asks), and a cohort of former spies behind closed doors. With the help of her old friends – and always one step ahead of the persistent local cop – Maggie might still be able to save the life she’s built.
The Spy Coast is the first novel in the Martini Club series.
The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid Book 2)by Nita Prose
Published January 18th by Harper Collins UK Mystery, Thriller, Literary Fiction, Book Series, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: *The sparkling new novel from the award-winning, million-copy bestselling author of The Maid*
‘Witty, joyful and utterly unique’ A J FINN ‘Captivates from page one’ JANICE HALLETT ‘A flawless and brilliant read’ LIZ NUGENT _________________________________________________________________
A new mess. A new mystery. Molly the maid returns . . .
Molly Gray wears her Head Maid badge proudly for every shift at the Regency Grand Hotel, plumping pillows, sweeping up the guests’ secrets, silently restoring rooms to a state of perfection.
But when a renowned guest – a famous mystery writer – drops very dead in the grand tea room, Molly has an unusual clean-up on her hands.
As rumours and suspicion swirl in the hotel corridors, it’s clear there’s grime lurking beneath the gilt. And Molly knows that she alone holds the key to the mystery. But unlocking it means thinking about the past, about Gran, and everything else she’s kept tidied away in her memory for so long.
Because Molly knew the dead guest once upon a time – and he knew her . . .
Published January 18th by Headline Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Two men. Twenty years of friendship. One love.
‘Matt’s books just keep getting better and better and One Love is rich, funny, poignant and unflinchingly honest portrayal of friendship, love and everything in between’ Ruth Hogan
2002
Danny arrives at Manchester University determined not to hide from the world any longer. This is the year his life will begin.
He locks eyes with a handsome stranger across the hall at the Freshers’ Fair. It starts with a wink and soon Danny and Guy are best friends.
2022
Now, both single for the first time in years, Danny and Guy return to the confetti-covered streets of the Gay Village for Manchester Pride.
After years of shared adventures and lost dreams, Danny finally plans to share the secret he has been keeping for two decades. He has always been in love with Guy.
Could this weekend be the end of a twenty-year friendship . . . or the start of something new and even more beautiful?
Published January 18th by Orenda Books Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Historical Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Political Fiction, War Story
SYNOPSIS: On her first shift at an Edinburgh halfway house for violent offenders, a young woman is taken hostage … and that’s just the beginning… The twisty, shocking, darkly funny thriller by award-winning author Helen FitzGerald. _______
They’re the housemates from Hell…
When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.
Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…
And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.
Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…
Published January 18th by Bedford Squard Publishers Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Alternative History, LGBTQ Romance
SYNOPSIS: In the slums of 19th-century New York.
A tattooed mystic fights for her life.
Her survival hangs on the turn of a tarot card.
Powerful, intoxicating and full of suspense. The Knowing is a darkly spellbinding novel about a girl fighting for her survival in the decaying criminal underworlds. It is a hard-hitting story of love, obsession and betrayal.
Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist in the slums of 19th-century New York, Flora meets Minnie, an enigmatic circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse that is home to the menacing and predatory Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing – an ability to summon the dead. Caught in a dark love triangle between Minnie and Chester, Flora begins to unravel the secrets inside their house. Then at her first public séance in the infamous cathouse Hotel du Woods, Flora hears the spirit of a murdered boy prostitute and exposes his killer, setting off a train of events that leaves her fighting for her life.
The Knowing is a stunning debut inspired by real historical characters including Maud Wagner, one of the first known female tattoo artists, New York gang the Dead Rabbits, and characters from PT Barnum’s circus in the 1800s.
Published January 18th, 2024 by Fourth Estate Historical Fiction, Gothic Ficiton, Thriller, Mystery, Suspsense, Crime Fiction, Adventure Fiction
SYNOPSIS: SOME HOUSES ARE HAUNTED BY THE LIVING
June, 1878. The body of a boy is pulled from the depths of the River Thames, suspected to be the beloved missing child of the widely admired Liberal MP Ralph Gethin.
Four months earlier. Harriet is a young maid newly employed at Finton Hall. Fleeing the drudgery of an unwanted engagement in the small village where she grew up, Harriet is entranced by the grand country hall; she is entranced too by her glamorous mistress Clara Gethin, whose unearthly singing voice floats through the house. But Clara, though captivating, is erratic. The master of the house is a much-lauded politician, but he is strangely absent. And some of their beautiful belongings seem to tell terrible stories.
Unable to ignore her growing unease, Harriet sets out to discover their secrets. When she uncovers a shocking truth, a chain of events is set in motion that could cost Harriet everything, even her freedom…
Published January 18th by Michael Joseph Suspense, Thriller, Mysteyr, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS, HE MUST SACRIFICE EVERYTHING . . .
Discover 2024’s most original new thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession…
‘GRABS YOU FROM THE OPENING LINE AND WON’T LET YOU GO’ ALEX MICHAELIDES, AUTHOR OF THE SILENT PATIENT
‘MASTERFULLY PLOTTED’ ERIN KELLY ‘WOW, JUST WOW’ BIBLIOTREASURES
‘A BARNSTORMING PERFORMANCE’ THE TIMES
*****
At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he’s given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost.
Because Adam subscribes to “the method”. It’s the secret that the world’s greatest actors swear by – digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life.
And Adam’s greatest trauma is worse than most. Losing his mother when he was just a boy. A forced choice between the success he craved and the girl he loved. And that night back in drama school, the night of Adam’s darkest secret, when everyone knows about the dead body, but nobody suspects the truth.
And then he gets a message: someone knows. And if they tell, everything Adam’s worked for will come crashing down.
Published January 18th by Viper Books Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Cozy Mystery
SYNOPSIS: ‘A solid gold revival of the golden age whodunnit, with a delicious Danish twist’ JANICE HALLETT ______________
A snowstorm. A country house. Old friends reunited. It’s going to be murder…
Torben Helle – art historian, Danish expat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers – has been dragged to a remote snowbound Northumbrian mansion for a ten-year reunion with old university friends. Things start to go sideways when their host, a reclusive and irritating tech entrepreneur, makes some shocking revelations at the dinner table. And when these are followed by an apparent suicide, the group faces a test of their wits… and their trust.
Snowed in and cut off, surrounded by enigmatic housekeepers and off-duty police inspectors, not to mention a peculiar last will and testament, suspicion and sarcasm quickly turn to panic. As the temperature drops and the tension mounts, Torben decides to draw upon all the tricks of Golden Age detectives past in order to solve the mystery: how much money would it take to turn one of his old friends into a murderer? But he’d better be quick, or someone else might end up dead…
This witty murder mystery puts a modern spin on the classic country house whodunnit. A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman and Janice Hallett.
Published January 18th by Century Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS: One happy couple. Two divided families. A wedding party to die for.
On the private island of Castello Fiore – surrounded by the glittering waters of Lake Garda – the illustrious Heywood family gathers for their son Laurence’s wedding to Italian influencer Eva Bianchi.
But as the ceremony begins, a blood-curdling scream brings the proceedings to a devastating halt.
With the wedding guests trapped as they await the police, old secrets come to light and family rivalries threaten to bubble over.
Published January 18th by Harper Voyager Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Adventure Fiction, Contemporary Literature, Supernatural Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FINAL STRIFE, comes an enchanting new trilogy.
DIVIDED BY BLOOD. IMPRISONED BY FATE. BOUND BY DESIRE.
WELCOME TO THE INTOXICATING WORLD OF THE FAE.
‘A stunning new spin on fae that will leave you gasping . . . an epic romance that’s brimming with heart’ KATE DYLAN, bestselling author of Mindwalker
‘The most imaginative take on a steamy faerie court I’ve read in forever, with a cascade of epic twists’ LAURA STEVEN, award-winning author of The Society for Soulless Girls
Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future.
When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae court.
The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world – torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . .
Published January 18th by Fig Tree Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: An exhilarating, fiercely original story of brotherhood, war and art, and of daring to dream of something bigger than ourselves.
‘Bold and totally unexpected, I loved this book’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘A very special, very clever, very entertaining novel’ Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha
***
It’s 412 BC, and Athens’ invasion of Sicily has failed catastrophically. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are held captive in the quarries of Syracuse, starving, dejected, and hanging on by the slimmest of threads.
Lampo and Gelon are local potters, young men with no work and barely two obols to rub together. When they take to visiting the nearby quarry, they discover prisoners who will, in desperation, recite lines from the plays of Euripides for scraps of bread and a scattering of olives.
And so an idea is born: the men will put on Medea in the quarry. A proper performance to be sung of down the ages. Because after all, you can hate the Athenians for invading your territory, but still love their poetry.
But as the audacity of their enterprise dawns on them, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between enemies and friends. As the performance draws near, the men will find their courage tested in ways they could never have imagined …
Published January 18th by Michael Joseph Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy, LGBTQ Literature
SYNOPSIS: An exhilarating, fiercely original story of brotherhood, war and art, and of daring to dream of something bigger than ourselves.
‘Bold and totally unexpected, I loved this book’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘A very special, very clever, very entertaining novel’ Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha
***
It’s 412 BC, and Athens’ invasion of Sicily has failed catastrophically. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are held captive in the quarries of Syracuse, starving, dejected, and hanging on by the slimmest of threads.
Lampo and Gelon are local potters, young men with no work and barely two obols to rub together. When they take to visiting the nearby quarry, they discover prisoners who will, in desperation, recite lines from the plays of Euripides for scraps of bread and a scattering of olives.
And so an idea is born: the men will put on Medea in the quarry. A proper performance to be sung of down the ages. Because after all, you can hate the Athenians for invading your territory, but still love their poetry.
But as the audacity of their enterprise dawns on them, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between enemies and friends. As the performance draws near, the men will find their courage tested in ways they could never have imagined …
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Published January 18th by Orbit Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Fairy Tale. Viking & Norse Mythology
SYNOPSIS: ‘Forget dark academia: give me instead this kind of winter-sunshined, sharp-tongued and footnoted academia, full of field trips and grumpy romance’ Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light
An intrepid professor must uncover faerie secrets in the delightful and heart-warming second instalment of the Sunday Times bestselling Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore, and has catalogued many secrets of the Hidden Folk in her encyclopaedia with her infuriatingly charming fellow scholar, Wendell Bambleby, by her side.
But Bambleby is more than just a brilliant and unbearably handsome scholar. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, in search of a door back to his realm.
By lucky happenstance, Emily’s new project, a map of the realms of faerie, will take them on an adventure to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new friendships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.
Published January 18th by Orenda Books Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Dark Comedy, Translated Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A young couple are entangled in a nightmare spiral of lies when they pretend to be someone else …Exquisitely dark psychological suspense by the international bestselling author of The Bird Tribunal
‘A delightfully insightful and wicked little read … Like the cabin, it’s so minimalist and stark and at the same time so compelling’ Elizabeth Haynes
________
It started with a lie…
Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.
Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less-than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…
Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…
Simmering with suspense and dark humour, The Guests is a gripping psychological drama about envy and aspiration … and something more menacing, hiding just below that glittering surface…
Published January 18th by Raven Books Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: By night, Vivian Parry performs the role of Manhattan’s sharpest theatre critic, immersing herself fully in every show she sees. By day, she uses work, sex, and psychotropic drugs to keep her comfortably numb.
Desperate for a promotion and at the urging of her editor, she agrees to an interview with David Adler, an enigmatic graduate student. When he later disappears, Vivian soon learns from his devastated fiancée that she was the last person to have seen him alive. The police refuse to investigate his disappearance and Vivian finds herself obsessed with what happened, assuming the role of amateur investigator.
But as she gets closer to the truth about David Adler, she finds that the boundaries between theatre and reality are more tenuous than even she could have believed.
Published January 18th by The Borough Press Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Adventure Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Sublime, elegant and exciting. The House on Rye Lane is beautifully written and entirely gripping. I’m a big fan of Susan Allott’ CHRIS WHITAKER
‘The lovechild of Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests and Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs… confirms Susan Allott as a huge talent’ ERIN KELLY
They thought they’d found their dream home. They were wrong.
2008. The house Maxine and Seb have just bought was a bargain – a huge Georgian townhouse on the edge of Peckham Rye, it needs a lot of work but Max couldn’t resist it. Now they are in, though, nothing seems to be going right – and as the problems mount up, Max starts to doubt her relationship as well as her decision. Is Seb all he seems to be? And why are the neighbours so evasive about the house’s previous owner?
1994. Cookie and his parents have been forced by his dad’s gambling debts to move into the attic room of a big old house, as lodgers. Tensions run high between them and their elderly landlady, and there’s something odd about the place that Cookie can’t quite put his finger on…
1843. Horatio built this house for his beloved wife, who then died in mysterious circumstances. After a second death on the premises, both his servants and the locals are starting to talk. Horatio’s grief is tinged with shame and guilt. What is he hiding? And will the house ever be free of his legacy?
THE HOUSE ON RYE LANE is a tense, taut, beautifully crafted novel about the treachery of secrets and the many ways the past can echo into the present, from the acclaimed author of THE SILENCE.
Published January 18th by HQ Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the author of Little White Lies ’Masterful, clever, surprising at ever turn; a proper page-turner and a one-sitting read. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Sublime’ Andrea Mara
‘I was gripped by the simmering tension and the layers of secrets’ Louise Jensen
‘A truly gripping thriller filled with teenage nostalgia and vividly rendered toxic friendships. It had me turning pages late into the night’ Heather Darwent
2003: Carrie and her friends spend their days studying at boarding school, and their nights sneaking out to the woods. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
2019: When Finn receives a shocking call from his estranged wife, Mhairi, informing him of their friend Kate’s death, neither is prepared for the secrets they will uncover. The trail leads them to the events at a boarding school many years before.
They are on the verge of unearthing the whole story – but someone will do anything to keep it buried.
‘A skilful, layered and ultimately emotional read. East is at the top of her game!’ Louise Swanson
Published January 18th by Orion Mystery, Suspense, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘WOW! If this isn’t a book to brag about I don’t know what is… I started The Favourite late last night. Never did I anticipate I would be closing the book at 3am left in complete shock… This book was insane! It was twisted, it was heart-breaking but it was so darn good! A must-read… I strongly encourage you to pre-order this book!‘ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 STARS
Her teacher’s pet, or his worst nightmare?
Jessica Mooney seems like any other student at her university. She’s talented, driven, and looks set to be this year’s ‘favourite’ in charismatic Professor Crane’s Law and Literature class. But unlike the other students competing for his good opinion, Jessica isn’t what she seems. She’s carrying a dark secret.
Her sister is dead. Crane’s to blame. And she’s the only one who can bring him to justice.
Will Jessica be able to get the answers and justice she seeks, or will her search for revenge destroy her first?
Read what everyone is saying about The Favourite:
“‘Juicy and dark… a standout dark academia thriller, with shades of Donna Tartt’s modern classic The Secret History and Emerald Fennell’s revenge fantasy film Promising Young Woman… Jessica is a firecracker of a protagonist… Thanks to Hennigan’s strong voice and full embrace of the bumpy, twisty nature of retribution and revenge, The Favourite positively sings.” BookPage
“It had such an evocative academic atmosphere… felt very original… Beautifully done… brilliant foreshadowing… A truly propulsive read that I ended up gobbling up in one sitting” Heather Darwent, author of instant Sunday Times bestseller, The Things We Do to our Friends
Published January 18th by Simon & Schuster UK Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Literary Fiction, Romantic Comedy
SYNOPSIS: ‘Hannah Richell’s The Search Party is a compelling thriller told with real emotional insight and depth. An absolute page-turner!’ Lucy Clarke
Five old friends. One glamping weekend. A storm that will change everything.
Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. They invite old university friends – TV star Dominic, doctor and new mum Kira, and free-spirited Jim and Suze – and their children for a trial weekend but the reunion quickly veers off-course. First, there’s The Incident around the campfire on the first night. The following afternoon, a storm quickly develops off the rugged North Coast. When one of their group goes missing, all hell breaks loose. And as the winds batter the bell-tents, emotions run high and tension mounts for all the characters. Who is lying in hospital, who has gone missing and who is the body on the beach below the cliffs . . .?
Gripping, cleverly structured and brimming with secrets and lies, this is a masterclass in narrative tension and a chilling exploration of the ways in which aspiration and anxiety collide. It will keep you guessing until the last page.
Published January 18th by Orion Thriller, Historical Fiction, Humorous Ficiton
SYNOPSIS: Revenge is a dish best served old… ‘Not all heroes wear capes, some wear M&S cardigans! A triumph!’ MIKE GAYLE ‘A sublime mix of comedy, drama and adventure’ JILL MANSELL ‘Just pure joy from start to finish.’ ALEXANDRA POTTER
Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain’s most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their nineties, Josephine and Penny are in demand, popping up at commemorative events all over the country. Despite their age, they’re in great form-sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next “excitement.” This time it’s a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d’honneur, accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, Archie.
Keen historian Archie believes his great aunts had minor roles in the Women’s Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, but that’s only half the story. There’s a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with a brolly.
This trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have quietly trailed the sisters since the war. Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last heist before the curtain comes down on their illustrious careers. Acharming, uplifting and cosy mystery about two national treasures hiding official secrets and double lives – perfect for fans of THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB.
Published January 18th by Penguin UK Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Historical Mystery, YA Fiction
SYNOPSIS: And Then There Were None meets The Inheritance Games, with a heavy dash of The Woman in Black, in this gloriously gothic YA mystery-thriller.
When eighteen-year-old Helena is sent to be a governess at Archfall Manor – a beautiful but crumbling manor house, perched at the edge of a causeway in the North Sea – she feels confident she will know how to deal with the esteemed but eccentric Cauldwell family who own it. But it quickly becomes clear that the Cauldwells are hiding more than Helena could ever have dreamed of.
A series of sinister events come to a head with a gruesome death – swiftly followed by another. Worse still, with the path back to the mainland cut off by a terrible storm, and no way to get help, suspicions and paranoia quickly run rampant.
But the Cauldwells aren’t the only ones keeping secrets. Helena has some very important ones of her own – and soon she begins to wonder whether dark powers beyond her control might be forcing her to twist the fate of the family – and her own destiny – forever.
Praise for A Dark Inheritance: “A powerful, heart-racing story of family, fate, and writing your own destiny. Intricately plotted and luminously written – I loved it”Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls
Published January 25th by Michael Joseph Historical Fiction, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Historical Mystery, Regency Romance
SYNOPSIS: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every good mystery is in need of a brilliant sleuth . . .
Welcome to Hampshire, 1795, where a young Jane Austen has her sights set on securing a marriage proposal from the dashing Tom Lefroy at a local ball.
But when a shocking discovery is made – a milliner’s lifeless body tucked away in a linen closet – Jane finds herself embroiled in an unexpected murder mystery.
As she races against the clock to clear her beloved brother Georgy’s name, Jane uses her sharp wits to navigate the treacherous waters of society, unmasking secrets and unearthing hidden motives along the way. With every twist and turn, Jane’s determination to solve the case deepens. And if she fails, her brother will face the ultimate punishment – the hangman’s noose . . .
Join Jane on her quest for justice as she faces down danger, deceit, and scandal amidst her own friends and neighbours. Will she uncover the truth in time, or will the real killer go free? One thing’s for certain – in Hampshire, nothing is as it seems . . .
*** BETWEEN THE MATCH-MAKING AND MATRIMONY LIES MURDER . . . . ***
Published January 25th by Harvill Secker Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, US Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: An epic tale of plundered treasure, savage empire, lasting love and a young man’s dream to make his mark on the world.
Meet Abbas. Woodcarver, toy maker, dreamer. Abbas is seventeen when he is whisked away to Tipu Sultan’s glorious palace in Mysore. Apprenticed to the clockmaker Monsieur Du Leze, he is ordered to create an ingenious musical tiger to delight Tipu’s sons.
In the eccentric Du Leze, Abbas finds an unexpected friend who encourages his skill and hunger for learning, and through whom he also meets the unforgettable Jehanne, who has questions and ambitions of her own.
But when British soldiers attack and loot Mysore, Abbas’s world is turned upside down and his prized tiger is shipped off to a country estate in England. In order to carve out his place in the world, he must follow.
A hero’s quest, a love story, an exuberant heist novel that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across the world, Loot is a dazzling, wildly inventive and irresistible feat of storytelling from a writer at the height of her powers.
Published January 25th by Doubleday Literary Fiction, Contemporary Ficiton, Psychological Fiction, Absurdist Fiction,
SYNOPSIS: Her life is so full, so why is she hungry?
‘A high-wire exploration of control, pleasure and desire’ Chloë Ashby ‘A book that tears at the surface of things to reveal the vast, messy truth of a body with a beating heart’ Catherine Newman
——————-
For Piglet – an unshakable childhood nickname – getting married is her opportunity to reinvent. Together, Kit and Piglet are the picture of domestic bliss – effortless hosts, planning a covetable wedding … But if a life looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Thirteen days before they are due to be married, Kit reveals an awful truth, cracking the façade Piglet has created. It has the power to strip her of the life she has so carefully built, so smugly shared. To do something about it would be to self-destruct. But what will it cost her to do nothing?
As the hours count down to their wedding, Piglet is torn between a growing appetite and the desire to follow the recipe, follow the rules. Surely, with her husband, she could be herself again. Wouldn’t it be a waste for everything to curdle now?
Piglet is the searing, unforgettable and original debut which is set to take readers by storm in 2024.
Published January 25th by Hodderscape Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy, Urban Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Curses are made to be broken.
‘A DARK DREAM . . . WELCOME TO THE CITY OF STARDUST. ENJOY – AND ALSO BEWARE. THIS FAIRY TALE IS DEADLY’LAINI TAYLOR
Filled with magic, stardust, and a shockingly dark heart, this is a stunning standalone fantasy perfect for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
For centuries, Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor is a woman named Penelope, who never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.
Ten years ago, Violet Everly’s mother left to break the curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.
Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.
Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel to the edges of the world to find her mother and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began . . .
A Soul For A Soul (Detective Kate Young 5) by Carol Wyer
Published January 30th by Thomas & Mercer Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: The syndicate have taken everything from her. It’s time to take them down―or die trying.
DCI Kate Young never meant to shoot Superintendent John Dickson at the reservoir that night―even if, as a scheming corrupt cop and head of the shady syndicate, he probably had it coming. But now Kate has photographic evidence that someone else knows her terrible secret…
Tormented by guilt and the voices of the dead, Kate is desperate to unmask the rest of the corrupt officers before her own sins catch up with her. When DI Harriet Khatri, awaiting trial for the murder of Kate’s mentor, claims she was framed by Dickson’s syndicate, Kate reluctantly agrees to help in the hope of finding answers.
Meanwhile, DI Emma Donaldson finds herself on the hunt for a double murderer―a man who incapacitates his victims with a powerful narcotic called Devil’s Breath. Desperate to measure up to her role-model boss, Emma finds herself hurled into the deep end in more ways than one…
While Kate’s grip on reality wavers and the syndicate closes in, and with the mystery killer taking a special interest in Emma, could this be the case that defeats both detectives?
Published January 30th by Bloomsbury Publishing Literary Fiction, LGBTQ Literature, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: ‘I couldn’t put it down, and I didn’t want to either’ EMILY HENRY ‘A page-turning pleasure – stylish, sharp and breathtakingly smart’ DAISY BUCHANAN
Everything comes at a price. But not everything can be paid for.
Millie wants to graduate, get a job and buy a house. She’s slowly saving up from her job on campus, but when a visiting professor offers her an unusual opportunity to make some extra money, she jumps at the chance.
Agatha is a writer, recovering from a break-up while researching attitudes towards weddings and money for her new book. She strikes gold when interviewing the girls in Millie’s dorm, but her plans take a turn when she realises that the best material is unfolding behind closed doors.
As the two women form an unlikely relationship, they soon become embroiled in a world of roommate theatrics, vengeful pranks and illicit intrigue – and are forced to question just how much of themselves they are willing to trade to get what they want.
Sharp, intimate and provocative, Come and Get It takes a lens to our money-obsessed society in a tension-filled story about desire, consumption and bad behaviour.
Published January 30th by Hot Key Books Fantasy Fiction, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: “A gorgeously twisted modern fairy tale that shimmers with magic and mystery” – Karen McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying.
FIVE WOMEN ARE DEAD. The killer leaves no fingerprints, no DNA. Police are utterly stumped. In a world where only women can use magic and the men who know about it seek to eradicate them, three damaged young women – one cursed, one hunted, one out for revenge – will team up to track down and take out a brutal supernatural killer.
Jude Wolf is rich as sin and handsome as the devil. But she’s also cursed. Her immortal soul is tethered to a rather hateful demon – and she wants the hell out of the deal. What Jude needs is a cursewriter – and she thinks the string of dead women, all of whom she suspects are messing with the occult, might just be able to lead her to one.
Zara Jones has also been tracking the murders since they began. Her older sister was the killer’s first victim. Zara doesn’t just want revenge, she wants to find a way to bring her sister back. What Zara needs is a witch, a sorcerer, a necromancer – in fact, what Zara needs is a cursewriter. At the apartment of the fifth victim, Jude and Zara meet by chance, and there they find a clue that brings their paths crashing together: a strange business card bearing three words. Emer Byrne. Cursewriter.
Published January 2nd, 2024 by Headline Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Horror Thriller
Welcome to my review for the mind-blowing First Lie Wins. Thank you to Caitlin at Headline for the gifted proof in exchange for an honest review.
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SYNOPSIS:
You meet a stranger at a party. She looks like you. Even has your name. What does she want? And how far would you go to protect it?
‘The best cat and mouse suspense I’ve read. I’m still breathless’ LISA GARDNER ‘I devoured it. Absolutely brilliant’ HEIDI PERKS ‘Unexpected and pacy. A brilliant central character’ HARRIET TYCE ‘A clever, high-stakes now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t thriller’ A J FINN ‘An absolute CRACKER of a book’ RACHEL ABBOTT
** MAJOR TV SERIES OF FIRST LIE WINS IN DEVELOPMENT ** —–
Everything she is about to tell them is a lie…
Evie Porter has everything a girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a picket fence, a fun group of friends.
The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
First comes the identity. Once she’s given a name and location by her employer, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it.
Then the mark: Ryan Sumner.
The last piece of the puzzle is the job. For Evie, this job feels different. Ryan has gotten under her skin and she’s started to picture another kind of life for herself – one where her boss doesn’t pull the strings. But Evie can’t make any mistakes. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to – her real identity – just walked right into this town. A woman, who looks just like her, has stolen her name – and she wants more. As Evie’s past begins to catch up with her, can she stay one step ahead to save her future?
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MY REVIEW:
“There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with little to no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is deliberate. The lie that sets the stage for everything that comes after it. And once the lie is told, it’s what most people believe to be true.”
2024 is shaping up to be the year for first-class thrillers. And this one is another corker. A propulsive game of cat and mouse that packs a suspenseful punch, First Lie Wins is a mind-blowing thriller you need on your TBR.
Evie Porter seems to have it all: the doting boyfriend, the nice house, fancy friends and tickets to the best events in town. But things aren’t what they seem and Evie Porter doesn’t actually exist. Her identity has been created for her by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, her boyfriend, Ryan, is her mark and she will shed this life and identity as soon as her job is complete. But when she meets a woman who looks just like her that is claiming to have her real identity she starts to suspect that this job isn’t like the others and she could be in real danger. It is soon apparent that while Evie is playing her game, others are playing theirs. Is she prepared? And can she stay one step ahead and uncover the truth before it’s too late?
When the Squadpod were offered the chance to read First Lie Wins I was excited as this sounded right up my street. But when I heard that it had been chosen as Reese’s Book Club pick for this month I knew I was in for a real treat. Expertly written, fast-paced, cleverly plotted and unpredictable, Ashley Elston has shown she’s a talent to watch with this outstanding debut. A thriller lover’s dream, it is one of those books that grabs you by the throat and throws you to the floor when it’s done with you. I devoured this one quickly, Elston holding me in her thrall until the final page.
“I should have seen this coming. It’s been a long time since I’ve been blindsided.”
I love a book that gives up its secrets slowly, and this one does just that. We know from the start that there is much more to Evie than meets the eye. We know she’s keeping secrets and telling Ryan and his friends strategic lies that are part of something much bigger but have no idea who she really is or exactly what she’s hiding. Despite her morally grey character, I couldn’t help but root for Evie, something that was helped by her backstory, which humanises her; revealing a soft and broken side to the strong and unflinching woman she is today. After Evie meets the woman using her real name we discover she isn’t the only one with secrets and I loved trying to figure out which of the other characters were genuine and who was part of the complex web of lies Mr. Smith had spun. Elston gives up her secrets piece by piece, teasing us with intriguing flashbacks, little breadcrumbs of information and surprising curveballs that slowly unveil the truth. And when it was revealed I was left reeling and in awe at how cleverly this was written.
Jaw-dropping, unexpected and consuming, First Lie Wins is a sensational thriller that you don’t want to miss. Highly recommended.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ashley Elston is the author of several novels, including THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING (a finalist in the Best Young Adult Novel category of the International Thriller Awards) and 10 BLIND DATES. Her work has been translated into 23 languages. She graduated with a Liberal Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Ashley worked for many years as a wedding photographer before turning her hand to writing. Ashley lives in Louisiana with her husband and three sons.
Published January 4th, 2024 by Pan Macmillan Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction
Welcome to my review of One of the Good Guys, the unsettling new thriller from Araminta Hall which was my first Squadpod Reviews read of the year. Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the proof copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘Araminta is one of the most daring and intriguing writers working today. This is a resonant, razor-laced and dangerously glittering novel’ Gillian Flynn
‘An absolutely thrilling tale, full of breathless cliffside terror and fresh feminist theory masked in tight, propulsive mystery. I devoured this book’ Lisa Taddeo
********* If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?
Cole is the perfect husband: a romantic, supportive of his wife, Mel’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.
So when Mel leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him.
Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life where he meets reclusive artist Lennie.
Lennie has made the same move for similar reasons. She is living in a crumbling cottage on the edge of a nearby cliff. It’s an undeniably scary location, but sometimes you have to face your fears to get past them.
As their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, it soon becomes clear that they don’t know each other very well at all.
This is what happens when women have had enough . . .
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MY REVIEW:
“Sometimes I wonder if that’s all life is, especially when you’re a woman, continuously running from fear until it finally overtakes you.”
Deeply unsettling but totally brilliant, One of the Good Guys is a book that demands to be read. Desperation, depravity, danger, dark deeds and disturbed relationships saturate the page of this powerful and all-too familiar tale. This was an amazing start to my 2024 reading and fantastic first Squadpod pick for the year.
Cole has moved to the countryside for a fresh start after the end of his marriage and it’s here that he meets Lennie, an artist who has also recently moved to the area. The pair begin what he hopes is the start of a much healthier relationship, but things aren’t what they seem…
This is one of those books where it’s best to go in blind and just enjoy the ride, so I’ll not say any more about the plot. But I will say you should prepare yourself for a journey to some bleak and troubling places.
“I felt ridiculous, but also a little angry. I was being driven to behave in a stupid, reckless way because my wife had a vendetta against me. Or maybe against men in general. I don’t know any more. Maybe all women hated all men. Maybe they had good reason? At that moment nothing seemed clear. And I know, historically, it’s been hard to be a woman, but, my God, it’s hard to be a man right now.”
Timely, thought-provoking and relatable, this is a book that will spark conversation and become the latest topic around the water cooler at work or over coffee with friends. Armainta Hall is not holding back, taking us to some of the darkest parts of the human psyche in this unnerving and uncomfortable tale. It feels like she’s talking directly to you and you will see yourself or someone you know on these pages. It’s hard-hitting and may be triggering for some readers. I admit that it felt like I was reading my own first (abusive) marriage play out on the pages, but I found it relatable and representative of a truth that needs to be addressed, rather than triggering. But there is also a unique beauty to this book that lies in it being a cunningly crafted and expertly written illusion where Hall uses smoke and mirrors to put the reader off kilter and hold them in her thrall. Masterfully written, the complex layers are intricately woven and every detail is carefully and cleverly choreographed, drip-feeding us information before pulling the rug from under us. Bravo, Ms. Hall. Bravo.
I love an unreliable narrator and I didn’t trust any of the characters on these pages. From the start there was a feeling that something was not quite right and I was suspicious despite the fact that Cole was saying all the right things. Foreboding permeated the pages, and as the story went on there were little things that didn’t sit right or add up to me that contributed to the feeling. It felt like there was something much darker lurking under the surface waiting to emerge. It was chilling. As was the voyeuristic atmosphere that lingers over much of the story and adds to the feeling of malevolence and unease.
Darkly atmospheric, unsettling and addictive, One of the Good Guys is the kind of ink-black thriller I adore. Don’t miss the book everyone will be talking about this year.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Araminta Hall has worked as a writer, journalist and teacher. Her first novel, Everything & Nothing, was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. Her second, Dot, was published in 2013.
She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children. She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic.
Our Kind of Cruelty, was published by Penguin Random House in 2018. It is a deeply unsettling thriller of a love story, in which a secret game between lovers has deadly consequences…
Her book, Perfect Strangers, was published in August 2020 by Orion. The hardback and US edition (FSG) were published as Imperfect Women.
Her novel, Hidden Depths, was published by Orion in March 2022.
Her new novel, One of the Good Guys, will be published by Zando in the US, and Macmillan in the UK in February 2024.
2023 has been an amazing year for reading. I’ve read a total of 113 books and there were so many that stood out that it was difficult to get my list down to just thirty.
So, here’s my 30 favourite books I’ve read this year. You can find links to my reviews by clicking on the title. Read to the end to find out my overall favourite of the year.
This gothic thriller was a fantastic way to start out my reading year. Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye hoping to leave his past behind him but discovers the past will always catch up to you in this dark, hypnotic and unnerving debut. Published January 19th, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
C. J. Tudor is back with another unmissable heart-pounding thriller. A group of students find themselves stranded in a snowstorm while a killer rages. The start of my review perfectly sums it up: “C. J. Tudor has done it again. Chilling, tense and twisty, this is one f****d-up rollercoaster ride that packs a punch from the first page.” Published January 19th, 2023 by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
Almost a year after reading, just thinking about this book makes me smile. It follows 43-year-old Ted who is happily married to his husband of twenty years, Giles. Or so he thinks until the day Giles announces he’s leaving him and shatters his whole world. Forced to reflect on not only his relationship, but his whole life, Ted decides that maybe now is the time to finally become who he was always meant to me. Joyful, heartwarming and uplifting, this fabulous story reminds us it is never too late to follow our dreams. Published January 19th, 2023 by Headline. Buy here*
Sassy and spirited, this feels like Jane Austen with a modern flare, following Kitty Talbot as she searches for a husband with a fortune to save her family. Perfect for fans of historical fiction and romance, this is a glorious debut. Published May 12th, 2022 by Harper Collins UK. Buy here*
Tokyo, many years in the future, and 17-year-old John, a tech prodigy, meets Neotina at a cafe late one night. The sparks are instant but both are hiding a secret that they are terrified of being discovered. Mesmerising, dreamlike and unforgettable, this is a masterpiece story for all of those who have never fit in. Published March 16th, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
This atmospheric Victorian gothic mystery was our March Squadpod Book Club pick. It follows newly widowed Margaret Lennox as she takes up her new position as governess at Hartwood Hall and discovers a place filled with dark secrets. A phenomenal debut by an author to watch. Published March 30th, 2023 by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
Catriona Ward did it again, scaring me silly and leaving my jaw on the floor. Best read blind, this is another original, terrifying and surprising thriller from one of the most unique voices in fiction. Published April 20th, 2023 by Viper Books. Buy here*
Jennifer Saint tells the heroic story of the only female Argonaut in this lush, atmospheric and enthralling novel, telling us the famous story of Jason and the Argonauts from a new persepective. Unmissable. Published April 13th, 2023 by Wildfire. Buy here*
The Squadpod Book Club pick for April was another deliciously dark debut. Death of a Bookseller tells the story of Roach, a bookseller, loner and true crime obsessive who becomes obsessed with social butterfly Laura when she starts working at the bookshop. Quirky, sinister and addictive, this grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until the last page. Utterly brilliant. Published April 27th, 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
Polly Crosby shows why she’s one of my favourite authors with this mesmerising historical thriller. Vita and the Birds tells the story of two women whose lives are inextricably linked by decades-old secrets. Hauntingly atmoshpheric, luminous and unsettling, this story consumed me and was a contender for my book of the year. Published May 25th, 2023 by HQ. Buy here*
A deliciously dark slice of Victiorian gothic, this is a story about life’s outsiders and oddities. Filled with an eclectic cast of memorable characters, it tugged at my heart strings, made me rage and gave me hope. A gorgeous story that all historical fiction fans need to read. Published June 22nd, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
Jack Jordan is one of the best modern thriller writers and Conviction shows us why. Another unbearably tense and addictive thriller, it follows Barrister Neve Harper as she’s faced with an impossible choice: put an innocent man behind bars or everyone she loves will be killed. A nerve-shredding moral dilemma thriller, this is the kind of book you cancel plans to stay home reading. Published June 22nd, 2023 by Simon & Schuster UK. Buy here*
Set in a future where a catastophic climate emergency has left our world in chaos and the UK is now run by the Nazi-esque ONE Party. Everything is heavily monitored, there are consumption quotas in place. Kai Houghton, one of the ‘baby reapers’ in charge of enforcing the ONE Partie’s one child policy, recieves an alert that turns her world upside down and forces her to choose between her family and the policies she believes in. Thought-provoking, gripping and uncompromising, this is one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year. Published July 20th, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
I was lucky to be one of the first bloggers to read The Actor, a riveting thriller with a bigger Oscar night controversy than Will Smith and Chris Rock. This is going to be a huge hit when it’s released in 2024. Published January 18th, 2024 by Michael Joseph. Pre-order here*
Antoher Squadpod Book Club hit, The Good Daughter is the second novel from Laure van Rensburg and there’s no sign of sophmore syndrome in sight in this sensational thriller. It’s a story of cuts, indoctrination, dark secrets and trauma that sinks its claws into you at the start and doesn’t let go until it’s jaw-dropping finale. An absolute must-read. Published August 3rd, 2023 by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
This is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. Sassy and unputdownable, it follows Dr. Miriam Price as she tries to solve her own murder from beyond the grave. It’s one of those books I knew I’d love from the first page and reading it was like a big warm hug. I can’t wait to read more from Maz Evans. Published August 3rd, 2023 by Headline. Buy here*
I read this with the Historical Fiction Book Club and what a joy it was. Endurance Proudfoot is an unusual girl with an unusual dream: she wants to be a bonesetter. But that isn’t a job for girls and Durie faces an uphill struggle to prove herself in a man’s world. Thank you Frances Quinn for introducing the world to this original and wonderful heroine. Published July 21st, 2022 by Simon & Schuster UK. Buy here*
This has been a great year for darkly funny books and amazing anti-heros. You’d Look Better As A Ghost is a deliciously unhinged and hilarious thriller about a hammer-wielding murderess who was the best serial killer I’ve read since Rhiannon from the Sweetpea sereis. One of my favourite books this year. Published September 21st, 2023 by Viper Books, Buy here*
Gorgeously gothic and eerie, this was my favourite Squadpod Book Club pick of the year. Emily Blackwood arrives at Castle Parras to begin a new comission cataloguing a collection of creatures for sale. The remote house is inhabited by a perculiar nonagerianan and haunted by the disappearance of a woman fifty years earlier. After she finds a hidden diary, Emily sets out to solve the mystery in its pages. Can she find out the truth before the darkness entraps her? A twisty puzzle that was also a contender for book of the year, this is a must for any gothic lover. Published June 22nd, 2023 by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
I was so mad at myself for letting this book languish on my shelves for so long. A unsettling and sinister story from the modern queen of gothic mysteries, I listened to this on audiobook and was completely enthralled as the lines between what is real, imaginary and supernatural were experly blurred. One of Ms. Purcell’s best books yet. Published September 19th, 2019 by Raven Books. Buy here*
This was book I wish I’d read sooner. Shamefully, it was my first time reading a book by Johana Gustawsson and I am an instant fan. She lives up to her title of ‘Queen of French Noir’ with this cunningly crafted gothic thirller. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Published September 15th, 2022 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
It’s been the year for gorgeous gothic fiction, and Fyneshade was the most huanting and disquieting of all. A story of betrayal, temptation and dark secrets, this is a story where the monsters not only lurk in the shadows, but inside your own mind. Marta is a wonderful protagonist who was nothing like I expected and everything I could have wanted. Filled with mystery and suspense, this is a bewitching novel you won’t want to put down. Published May 18th, 2023 by Viper Books. Buy here*
A haunted house story with a dash of fantasy, Starling House was gorgeously dark sotry filled with magic, monsters and mystery. Dreamlike and bewitching, this is a book that lives up to the hype. Published October 31st, 2023 by Tor. Buy here*
Paul Cleave just keeps getting better. Menacing and mind-blowing, I couldn’t put this book down. I loved that Cleave never did what we expected, giving me book whiplash from the many twists and turns.A must read for any thriller-lover. Published November 9th, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
The Wolf Den Trilogy comes to a bittersweet end in one of my most anticipated books of the year. Will Amara and her friends survive the eruption of Versuvius? You’ll have to read to find out. Published November 9th, 2023 by Head of Zeus. Buy here*
Will Carver delivers another original and deliciously diabolical thriller in this prequel to The Beresford. Just read it. You’ll thank me. Published November 9th, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
I’m ashamed that it has taken me until I’m almost 45 to read this classic, but the advantage of that is I got to read it in a buddy read with author Polly Crosby that was so much fun. I now get the hype. If you haven’t ever read this one, I suggest giving it a try. Published September 27th, 2018 by Chiltern Publishing. Buy here*
Anna O hasn’t opened her eyes since the night four years ago when her two best friends were found brutally murdered and she was discovered in a deep sleep. Anna is the only suspect but ever since the debate has raged: is she innocent or guilty? Doctor Benedict Prince is the man charged with waking her so the world can finally decide. This astonishing debut is best described as Sleeping Beauty meets The Silent Patient and is going to be the thriller everyone is talking about it 2024. This is one you don’t want to miss. Published February 1st, 2024 by Harper Collins UK. Pre-order here*
This heart-pounding thriller was my favourite audiobook this year. A gripping thriller filled with delicious anticipation and sucker-punch twists, it keeps you on your toes from start to finish. Just make sure you’ve got a lot of free time when you pick this up as you’ll not want to put it down until you’re finished. Published July 20th, 2023 by Century. Buy here*
It’s safe to say I’m a certified Johana Gustawsson fan after this year. A story of unsolved murder, dark secrets and Norse mythology, Yule Island is an addictive thriller with a jaw-dropping twist I’m still trying to recover from. A must read for fans of thrillers and gothic fiction, this was a sensational start to a new series. Published November 23rd, 2023 by Orenda Books. Buy here.
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So, what is my favourite book of 2023? Drumroll please….
It’s Fyneshade! This was a hard decision as so many books could have taken the title.
Have you read any of these books? What was your favourite read this year?
Published January 18th, 2024by Michael Joseph Psychological Thriller, Suspense
I’m finally sharing my review for this sensational thriller that is being released next month. I had the honour of not only reading an early copy, but being quoted on the cover of the book and in it’s description online (under my Twitter username of Bibliotreasures). Trust me when I tell you this is not one you want to miss! Thank you to Jen at Michael Joseph for the invitation to review this one and the proof copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS, HE MUST SACRIFICE EVERYTHING . . .
Discover 2024’s most original new thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession…
‘GRABS YOU FROM THE OPENING LINE AND WON’T LET YOU GO’ ALEX MICHAELIDES, AUTHOR OF THE SILENT PATIENT
‘MASTERFULLY PLOTTED’ ERIN KELLY ‘WOW, JUST WOW’ BIBLIOTREASURES
*****
At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he’s given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost.
Because Adam subscribes to “the method”. It’s the secret that the world’s greatest actors swear by – digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life.
And Adam’s greatest trauma is worse than most. Losing his mother when he was just a boy. A forced choice between the success he craved and the girl he loved. And that night back in drama school, the night of Adam’s darkest secret, when everyone knows about the dead body, but nobody suspects the truth.
And then he gets a message: someone knows. And if they tell, everything Adam’s worked for will come crashing down.
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MY REVIEW:
“I answered and for a moment there was nothing. A click on the end of the line. Static silence. Then a voice I hadn’t heard for two decades. A voice that couldn’t be on the end of a phone because dead people can’t speak. ‘How could you?’ it said.”
Sinister, haunting, addictive and utterly mesmerising, The Actor is a riveting thriller with a bigger Oscar night controversy than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. I was in its thrall from the start, my heart pounding with nerve-shredding chills. It was so tempting to stay up all night and read this in one sitting, but, in the end, sleep got the better of me and I finished it quickly the next day.
Adam Sealey has given the performance of a lifetime and finally has the Oscar he’s dreamed of in his reach. All of his hard work and sacrifice looks like it’s about to pay off. Because Adam is a student of ‘the method’, an acting approach that means digging intoyour greatest trauma and pain to breathe life into your character. Adam was taught ‘the method’ at drama school by his controversialmentor Jonathan Dors. And Adam’s greatest trauma is also hisdarkest secret. A secret that someone is now threatening to expose and bring his world crumbling down.
“It felt magnificent…there’s an extraordinary rush in wilful self-destruction. Destroying the sacred self seemed to me the ultimate form of empowerment.”
Wow. Just, wow. When I was asked to be one of the first bloggers to read this book I was excited yet totally unprepared for the rollercoaster I was about to ride. Skillfully written, fast-paced, tense and twisty, Chris MacDonald had me in the palm of his hand from the first page until the last. MacDonald goes deep in this book, exploring the darker side of ‘the method’, and asking if it could be damaging to the mental health of those who use it. His examination of the correlation between unresolved trauma, mental illness and ‘the method’ brought to mind how Heath Ledger immersed himself in the role of The Joker, and the discussions that this could have played a part in his untimely death.
Told in dual timelines, the story moves between past and present. In the present Adam is trying to find out who knows his secret and is threatening to reveal it, the past tells us the story of Adam’s days at drama school and events leading up to the night that still haunts him, long-held secrets are slowly revealed. My mind was a whirlwind of questions and I had no idea what would happen next as MacDonald pulled the rug from under me again and again. And that ending! I’m still reeling from the jaw-dropping shock of it all.
“The ripples of what I did had turned into high-walled waves.”
The characterisation in this book is nothing short of spectacular. Adam is a fantastic protagonist. Flawed, fractured, tortured and troubled,he’s living a life most of us can’t imagine, yet MacDonald succeeds in making him totally relatable. He’s a lost soul who is looking for acceptance and to make his mark, but as he falls deeper into ‘the method’ he loses his way, turning his back on those who are truly there for him to chase his dream. We see that life has become one long acting role and Adam is either unwilling or unable to be himself, always searching for the right character to inhabit in every situation. It seems like he’s lost who he is in the many characters he’s inhabited during his career. The supporting cast were equally as compelling. Standout characters for me were Jonathan, who was the perfect, elusive villain, and Nina, who was an ideal leading lady. I was really rooting for Nina and Adam and loved their relationship.
A breathtaking thriller that oozes menace and foreboding, The Actor is sure to be a huge hit in 2024. Add it to your TBR now!
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Readers, hello.
I’m a novelist, playwright, screenwriter and actor. I live in Margate with my wife, two children and a co-dependent cockapoo.
My new book is called The Actor and I’m very proud of it. It’s gripping, psychologically complex and draws on my time at drama school and has the most exciting Oscars scene since, well probably only a couple of years ago because Will Smith, WILL SMITH, hit Chris Rock in the face. Then there was the Moonlight thing a couple of years before. The Oscars really is a dumpster fire. Love it.
Thank you in advance for reading if you do. And if you don’t, I hope you’re enjoying whatever you’re consuming these days.
These are my all time favourites: Book – 1984, Remains of the Day Film – Chinatown, Step Brothers TV – Succession, Arrested Development Album – Hunky Dory Play – The Seagull Computer game: Football Manager (I know. Awful.) Ice-cream – rum-raisin Pasta shape – Penne
Published February 1st, 2024 by Harper Collins UK Crime Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Medical Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thriller,
Welcome to my review for Anna O, the phenomenal thriller that is set to be everywhere in 2024. Thank you to the Tandem Collective for arranging the readalong and offering me a place, and Harper Collins UK for the proof copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
ANNA O – THE WORLD WILL KNOW HER NAME
‘Certain to be one of the year’s best thrillers’ LEE CHILD
‘Reads like a dream but unsettles like a nightmare’ A J FINN
________________________________________________
*The instant global phenomenon*
*Publishing in over 30 territories*
*The thriller that will wake up the nation*
________________________________________________
ANNA O HASN’T OPENED HER EYES FOR FOUR YEARS
Not since the night she was found in a deep sleep by the bodies of her best friends, suspected of a chilling double murder.
For Doctor Benedict Prince, a forensic psychologist on London’s Harley Street, waking Anna O could be career-defining. As an expert in sleep, he knows all about the darkest chambers of the mind; the secrets that lie buried in the subconscious.
As he begins Anna O’s treatment – studying his patient’s dreams, combing her memories, visiting the site where the horrors played out – he pulls on the thread of a much deeper, darker mystery.
Awakening Anna O isn’t the end of the story, it’s just the beginning.
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MY REVIEW:
“Anna O, Sleeping beauty, a figure of myth and reality.”
Anna O hasn’t opened her eyes since the night four years ago when her two best friends were found brutally murdered and she was discovered in a deep sleep. Anna is the only suspect but ever since the debate has raged: is she innocent or guilty? And was she sleeping or awake? Answers are needed and time is running out, so the Ministry of Justice charges Doctor Benedict Prince, a forensic psychologist and expert in sleep, with the task of finally waking Anna from her long sleep in order to get them. If he succeeds, his part in the Anna O case will be a defining moment in his career, but will his theory finally wake the woman her detractors call Sleeping Beauty? After all, waking Anna O isn’t the end of the story but the beginning…
WHAT. A. BOOK! Quite simply, Anna O is a masterpiece. Sleeping Beauty meets The Silent Patient, this astonishing debut left my jaw on the floor. Deliciously dark, atmospheric and unnerving, this has bestseller and blockbuster movie written all over it. From the moment I first heard about Anna O I knew it was a book I needed to read so I jumped at the chance to take part in a 100-strong readalong organised by the Tandem Collective. Before reading we were asked to vote if we thought Anna was sleeping or awake. I voted for sleeping, but would I be proven right? Or was Anna actually awake that night?
There’s always a danger with a much-hyped novel that you will be disappointed, but this one exceeded all my high hopes. Matthew Blake writes like a veteran of the genre and I am still in awe that this is a debut novel. He expertly intertwines masterful storytelling, compelling characters and vivid imagery to create this tour-de-force. He then adds references to real crimes, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Shakesphere, Hitchcock, and real conditions such as resignation syndrome that all add that feeling of authenticity, making it feel like you’re reading a true crime novel rather than a work of fiction. It is a Russian doll of a mystery; the many layers and multiple mysteries all hidden inside one another and then slowly revealed alongside the cleverly placed red herrings that held me in his thrall and kept me guessing. The multiple points of view and timelines in mixed media heightened the tension as Blake drops clues like breadcrumbs for us to follow. I HAD to know the truth and confess that I raced ahead of the reading schedule, but I was unprepared for a twist so shocking it threw me to the ground, stamped on me and left me for dead followed swiftly by that unforgettable finale. I’m still reeling.
Dealing with both the aftermath and build-up to a brutal crime, the book explores the ripple effect violent crimes have on not just those who knew the victims, but those who knew the person accused of the crime. A beautiful woman accused of a brutal crime and an enigma because she has been sleeping since that night, Anna is the epitome of a ‘femme fatale’ and leads perfectly into Blake’s examination of our prejudices and preconceptions about those who kill. He also examines our fascination with true crime, asking what it is that makes a murder capture the public’s imagination and attain infamy. Most unsettling of all, he shifts the fabric of our reality and turns our dreams into nightmares as he explores the things we don’t remember from while we are sleeping and the darker side of the human psyche.
Suspenseful, twisty, cryptic and unputdownable, this phenomenal debut is destined to be THE thriller of 2024. A must-read for your TBR next year, pre-order this now to discover if Anna is innocent or guilty.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
After discovering that the average person spends thirty-three years of their life asleep, Matthew Blake felt the pull of a story. He began extensive research into sleep-related crimes and into the mystery illness known as resignation syndrome, research that sparked a thrilling question: if someone commits murder while sleepwalking, are they innocent or guilty? And so his novel Anna O was born.
Before writing fiction, Matthew worked as a researcher and speechwriter at the Palace of Westminster. He studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford and now lives in London.
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