Isolation Island (2024) Louise Minchin "Reality TV is supposed to be fun, but this one turns deadly. Addictive, dark, and darkly funny, too. This deserves to be huge."
After the Storm (2024) G D Wright "Tense and emotional... A dark beating heart of a novel, a murder mystery but also an examination of the pressures of the police and justice system: those who come up against it, but, more importantly, those who work in it and bear the consequences of that trauma."
Breaking the Dark (2024) (Marvel Crime, book 1) Lisa Jewell "Breaking The Dark is Jewell at the height of her powers: the pace doesn't let up, the characters never once slip. I actually know nothing about the Marvel universe, but I was utterly beguiled by Jessica's investigation into a pair of mysterious adolescents. Lisa Jewell writes excellent teenagers, and here she has levelled up, with supernatural teenagers. Tricksy, endlessly interesting and pure entertainment, don't miss this one."
Things Don't Break on Their Own (2024) Sarah Easter Collins "I will be thinking about [this book] for years ... I loved it ... There were such echoes of Meg Mason ... It's a beautiful debut, thoughtful, quirky, rich in character. A clever thriller told through the lens of memory ... It deserves to be huge"
The Burial Plot (2024) Elizabeth Macneal "The always-brilliant Macneal levels up once again in this tour de force of a gothic thriller. I devoured it."
Finding Sophie (2024) Imran Mahmood "This novel is so smart and the plot twists blew me away. Imran Mahmood is the only author writing about a missing person who deals with grief this well. I loved it."
Nightwatching (2024) Tracy Sierra "I loved Nightwatching. It is the most gripping thriller I have ever read."
The Wake-Up Call (2023) Beth O'Leary "This is Beth O'Leary at the height of her powers. Hypnotically good, fresh, fun and moving, with one-liners that made my sides hurt, characters I want to take out to dinner, and one of the best endings I've read in some time. This is not just a great rom com, this is a Beth O'Leary rom com, and in my opinion there is no better writer out there."
The Short Straw (2023) Holly Seddon "An addictive read that takes place over one unforgettable night where one family's secrets rise to the surface - Patricia Highsmith meets Shirley Jackson."
The Trap (2023) Catherine Ryan Howard "Topical, twisty, and with a real heart stopper of a moment halfway in that'll make you turn the lights back on."
The Forgetting (2023) Hannah Beckerman "Emotional, smart and with one of the best endings I've read in quite some time."
The Mother (2023) T M Logan "A thriller that goes to the very heart of what it means to be a family."
The Skeleton Key (2022) Erin Kelly "Moody, propulsive, and one of the most intriguing set ups I've read in years. Erin Kelly doesn't put a foot wrong in this atmospheric, original thriller."
Your Word Or Mine (2022) Lia Middleton "Lia Middleton is a great writer. I loved Your Word Or Mine: a thoughtful exploration of the effect a historic crime has on a family, with several huge and elegant twists."
Meredith, Alone (2022) Claire Alexander "I laughed, I cried, and I bowed down to the brilliant author of this brilliant book."
The Key to My Heart (2022) Lia Louis "I loved THE KEY TO MY HEART: moving, wise, and funny. Lia Louis is rom com note perfect."
One of the Girls (2022) Lucy Clarke "I loved One Of The Girls: beautiful writing, suffused with menace, complicated female heroines, and an ending I couldn't predict."
The Damage (2021) Caitlin Wahrer "A brilliantly-observed novel. . . a damning and humane exploration of family, brotherhood and upbringing. To say I loved it is a wild understatement."
The End of Men (2021) Christina Sweeney-Baird "A tour de force--a feminist reimagining of society but, really, a gripping story about real women. I could not think about anything else."
Last One at the Party (2021) Bethany Clift "I adored this book . . . It's about who you are with nobody to witness you, what it means to be human, and how to live (the answer is getting plastered in Harrod's, something we can all relate to)."
The Sight of You (2020) Holly Miller "This book stole my heart. It reminds me of how I felt when I first read The Time Traveler's Wife. Special, inventive, heartbreaking and empathetic, it's a book about whether it's better to have loved and lost, or never to have loved at all. Women's fiction at its finest."
Very Nearly Normal (2020) Hannah Sunderland "Very Nearly Normal is a love story with a difference: dark and at times painfully astute, uplifting and unusual."
I Made a Mistake (2020) Jane Corry "'Corry often explores darker themes, and those living on the fringes of society and this book is no exception: gritty, real, interesting and clever. Highly recommended."
Strangers (2020) C L Taylor "Clever, surprising and nuanced – C.L. Taylor is at the top of her game."
The Ex Girlfriend (2019) Nicola Moriarty "I thought it was fresh, atmospheric, feminist and had me turning the pages into the small hours. A total treat."
On My Life (2019) Angela Clarke "I loved it. A searing take on the treatment of women in prison as well as a fast-paced and smart thriller."
The Suspect (2019) (Kate Waters, book 3) Fiona Barton "A fast-paced whodunnit with heart, characters I feel I know and a deliciously dark twist. Superb writing, often blackly funny, and a scene that made me cry into my pillow."
Let Me Lie (2018) Clare Mackintosh "Brilliant. Tense and surprising but heartbreaking and sensitively written . . . I expect no less from Clare but she seems to get better with each novel."
Exhibit Alexandra (2018) Natasha Bell "I adored Exhibit Alexandra. I thought it was a smart, original page turner which really brought something different to the thriller genre. It kept me up half the night!"
From the Shadows (2017) (Dan Grant and Jayne Brett, book 1) Neil White "A lively, accurate and absolutely compelling legal thriller; stand-out in both its prose and its plot. The characters are still with me, two days after finishing it. I couldn't put it down."
