Don’t Wake Up
by Liz Lawler
(1 Review)
Alex Taylor wakes up tied to an operating table. The man who stands over her isn't a doctor. The choice he forces her to make is utterly unspeakable. But when Alex re-awakens, she's unharmed - and no one believes her horrifying story. Ostracised by her colleagues, her family and her partner, she begins to wonder if she really is losing her mind. And then she meets the next victim. So compulsive you can't stop reading. So chilling you won't stop talking about it. Don't Wake Up is a dark, gripping psychological thriller with a horrifying premise and a stinging twist. A pitch-black bestselling psychological thriller for fans of Friend Request by Laura Marshall and I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  1st August 2025

The Loney
by Andrew Michael Hurley
(1 Review)
Two brothers. One mute, the other his lifelong protector. Year after year, their family visits the same sacred shrine on a desolate strip of coastline known as the Loney, in desperate hope of a cure. In the long hours of waiting, the boys are left alone. And they cannot resist the causeway revealed with every turn of the treacherous tide, the old house they glimpse at its end... Many years on, Hanny is a grown man no longer in need of his brother's care. But then the child's body is found. And the Loney always gives up its secrets, in the end. The Loney was the winner of the 2015 Costa First Novel Award and the British Book Awards Book of the Year 2016... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  1st August 2025

Lightseekers
by Femi Kayode
(1 Review)
When three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town, their killings - and their killers - are caught on social media. The world knows who murdered them; what no one knows is why. As the legal trial begins, investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo is contacted by the father of one of the boys, desperate for some answers to his son's murder. But Philip is an expert in crowd behaviour and violence, not a detective, and after travelling to the sleepy town that bore witness to the horror, he soon feels dramatically out of his depth. Will he finally be able to uncover the truth of what happened to the Okriki Three? Winner of the 2019 UEA Crime Writing Prize, Lightseekers is the start of a major new crime series introducing investigative psychologist Dr Philip Taiwo... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  1st August 2025

Murder in the Family
by Cara Hunter
(1 Review)
It was a case that gripped the nation. Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved. In October 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything. Now, secrets will be revealed - live on camera. Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime show - with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on? Or does the truth lie closer to home? Can you solve the case before they do? The truth will blow your mind. Murder in the Family was a #7 Sunday Times bestseller and a Financial Times Best Book of 2023... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  15th July 2025

Who’s That Girl?
by Mhairi McFarlane
(1 Review)
Edie thought she was in love… until he told her he was marrying someone else. Then, when he kisses her on the day of his wedding, life really starts to unravel. Labelled a homewrecker, overnight Edie is the office outcast. To help, her boss offers a chance to get out of town, and she jumps at it. But when this fresh start unexpectedly throws her into the path of Hollywood heartthrob Elliot Owen and the limelight, the question on everyone’s lips is: who’s that girl? Edie is about to find out. Who's That Girl is a sparkling laugh-out-loud romcom - the perfect summer read... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  3rd June 2025

Hope to Die
by Cara Hunter
(1 Review)
Midnight. A call out to an isolated farm on the outskirts of Oxford. A body shot at point-blank range in the kitchen. It looks like a burglary gone wrong, but DI Adam Fawley suspects there's something more to it. When the police discover a connection to a high-profile case from years ago, involving a child's murder and an alleged miscarriage of justice, the press go wild. Suddenly Fawley's team are under more scrutiny than ever before. And when you dig up the past, you're sure to find a few skeletons. Hope to Die is the sixth twisty, up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling Cara Hunter... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair  3rd June 2025

Blacklands
by Belinda Bauer
(1 Review)
Steven Lamb is 12 when he writes his first letter... to a serial killer Every day after school, whilst his classmates swap football stickers, twelve-year-old Steven digs holes on Exmoor, hoping to find a body. His uncle disappeared aged eleven and is assumed to have fallen victim to the notorious serial killer Arnold Avery - but his body has never been found. Steven's Nan does not believe her son is dead. She still waits for him to come home, standing bitter guard at the front window while her family fragments around her. Steven is determined to heal the widening cracks between them before it's too late - even if that means presenting his grandmother with the bones of her murdered son. But when Steven realises this is an impossible task, he crafts a careful letter to Arnold Avery in prison. And there begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game between a desperate child and a bored psychopath... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 20th May 2025

Remainders of the Day
by Shaun Bythell
(1 Review)
The Bookshop in Wigtown is a bookworm's idyll - with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the bookshop cat. You''d think after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to the customers by now. Don''t get him wrong - there are some good ones among the antiquarian porn-hunters, die-hard Arthurians, people who confuse bookshops for libraries and the toddlers just looking for a nice cosy corner in which to wee. He''s sure there are. There must be some good ones, right? Filled with the pernickety warmth and humour that has touched readers around the world, stuffed with literary treasures, hidden gems and incunabula, Remainders of the Day is Shaun Bythell's latest entry in his bestselling diary series... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 20th May 2025

The House We Grew Up In
by Lisa Jewell
(1 Review)
When a tragedy breaks a family apart, what can bring it back together? The Birds seem to be the perfect family: mother, father, four children, a picture-book cottage in the country. But one Easter weekend, something happens - something so unexpected, so devastating, that no one can bring themselves to talk about it. The family shatters, seemingly for good. Until, years later, they are forced to return to the house they grew up in, and to confront what really broke the family apart...
The House We Grew Up In is an unforgettable story about a family with a terrible secret. From the #1 bestselling author of Then She Was Gone, The Night She Disappeared and The Family Upstairs... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 20th May 2025

She’s Not There
by Joy Fielding
(1 Review)
'I think my real name is Samantha. I think I'm your daughter.' When Caroline Shipley's two-year-old daughter disappeared, her whole world came crashing down. Now, fifteen years later, Caroline receives a phone-call that could change everything. But could this stranger really be her daughter? And what happened all those years ago to make her vanish without a trace? As Caroline pieces together the events of that ill-fated holiday, she begins to question whether the answers could lie dangerously close to home. She’s Not There is a gripping novel from a queen of psychological suspense and New York Times bestselling author, Joy Fielding... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 20th May 2025

The Stalker
by Kate Rhodes
(1 Review)
She thinks she understand stalkers. Until she becomes a target... Elly is an expert in stalking – an academic at Cambridge University and a popular media pundit. She knows the subject intimately: what motivates a stalker, how they behave, how to rehabilitate them. But now it’s personal. Someone is following her, making silent phone calls and sending her ominous notes. The message is always the same – me or you. Elly can’t trust anyone – not her family, her friends or her colleagues. She knows that her stalker must be someone close to her. And when they suddenly turn violent, she realizes she’s running out of time to find out who it is. Because it looks like only one of them will survive. A terrifying cat-and-mouse chase, told from the perspective of the stalker and the stalked - a roller-coaster ride with an ending you won’t see coming... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 11th March 2025

The Reunion
by M. J. Arlidge & Steph Broadribb
(1 Review)
A skull looks up at Jennie from the trench, but it's not the chalk-white bone and grimacing teeth that send her reeling. It's the heart-shaped gold pendant, its delicate chain snapped in two. The necklace Hannah never took off. It can't be Hannah. But it is. When Jennie Whitmore arrives at her school reunion, she immediately regrets her decision. The only person who truly looked out for her all those years ago was charming, beautiful Hannah. Until the day she disappeared. Jennie is ready to finally put White Cross Academy behind her, the old school building demolished the morning after the party. But with the demolition comes a call: a teenage girl's remains have been found on the grounds. The instant drop in Jennie's gut tells her that the remains might be Hannah's, but when she's called in to examine them, the truth becomes undeniable. Hannah didn't run away and abandon Jennie thirty years ago; in fact, she never left White Cross at all. The Reunion is a gripping mystery perfect for fans of The Sanatorium, Lucy Foley, and Ruth Kelly... more»»
Review by Adam Colclough  1st August 2025

The Last Pebble
by Alex Horne
(2 Reviews)
Trader and his grandpa have combed the beach of Bognor Regis for as long as he can remember, and every time they find a beautiful or special stone, it’s added to the treasure collection. But when Trader finds a particularly special pebble, he stumbles on a secret that was supposed to be kept for ever... Can Trader and his new friend Charlotte unravel the mystery of this treasure, and return it to its rightful home? From the creator and presenter of Taskmaster The Last Pebble tells the story of a young boy’s connection with his grandpa – and a mystery that may come between them... more»»
Review by Amanda J & TK Lawrence  1st August 2025

Tales of Aradia:
The Last Witch (Volume 1)
by L.A. Jones
(1 Review)
Unknown to the humans who hanged innocent people at the Salem Witch Trials, real witches of the hidden race were slaughtered on the belief that they had betrayed the hiddens to the humans. Not one witch survived the genocide, or so it was believed for more than three hundred years. One day a girl named Aradia moves to Salem, Massachusetts, and all that changes. This is Book 1 of 6: Tales of Aradia: The Last Witch... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen  1st August 2025

The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle
by Nick Louth
(1 Review)
Fifty years. Two deaths. One detective to solve an impossible case... DI Jan Talantire is called to a cottage in the quiet Devon town of Ilfracombe. The female occupant has been found dead, her body impaled with a crucifix. Documents at the house provide clues to the victim's identity, but while her name means nothing to the young PC who found her, DI Talantire knows this cannot be the body of Ruth Lyle, despite what the evidence suggests. Fifty years earlier, sixteen-year-old Ruth Lyle was murdered – stabbed by a crucifix, in the same location. To track down a violent killer, DI Talantire must solve the ultimate riddle: how can a woman die twice. The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle is a twisty and unputdownable crime thriller. Perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths and Kate Ellis... more»»
Review by Adam Colclough  15th July 2025

The Doomsday Brunette
by John Zakour and Lawrence Ganem
(1 Review)
In the deco-inspired, pop-culture-obsessed future, Zachary Nixon Johnson has made a name for himself as the last private eye on Earth. Now the wise-cracking PI and his supercomputer sidekick, HARV, are hired by Ona Thompson, one of four genetically-engineered super women known collectively as the Thompson Quads. Ona’s sister has been murdered, and she needs Zach to locate the killer. The list of suspects is long - including a butler, security experts, a giant monkey, and even Ona herself. And the list of motives is even longer. Vengeance, envy, wealth, and fun could all be at play. It isn’t long before Zach’s fedora is filled to the brim with danger and destruction in The Doomsday Brunette, the thrilling follow-up to The Plutonium Blonde... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen  3rd June 2025

Son of Sedonia
by Ben Chaney
(1 Review)
Imagine growing up in the largest slum on the planet in the year 2080AD. Twenty million people are your neighbors, huddled together in an ocean of rusted dwellings made from whatever Sedonia City, the towering metropolis in the distance, decides to throw away. Gang members, known as the T99s, are the heads of your community: smuggling tech, trafficking drugs, and fighting a constant guerilla war against the City’s bio-augmented EXO police force. There is little hope for survival. None for escape to a better life beyond the half-mile high Border between city and slum. This is Matteo’s world. A bright kid, but sick and weak since childhood, he is painfully dependent on Jogun: loving older brother, and hardened soldier for the T99s. When a luxury transport from Sedonia’s aerial traffic crash-lands in Rasalla, it threatens to change Matteo and Jogun’s fate forever. Son of Sedonia is an action-filled science fiction epic with a soul and a clear message. Its characters live, breathe, suffer, and love in their different worlds, each brought to the brink as the Third-World collides with the First. Their future could well be ours... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen  3rd June 2025

Wildcatter
by Dave Duncan
(1 Review)
Throughout human history wildcatters, the first great explorers and prospectors to lay claim to newly discovered lands, have marched to the beat of a different drummer - motivated by a deep yearning to be the first to walk on uncharted land and benefit from treasures yet to be discovered. In the future, wildcatters in space will travel to exoplanets, located in The Big Nothing, to search for new chemicals which, when transformed into pharmaceuticals, might bring untold wealth and fame to the individuals and corporations that stake their claim for exclusive exploitation rights. Such is the quest of the crew of the independent starship Golden Hind, whose mission is to travel a year and a half to "Cacafuego", beat the larger corporations to the exoplanets' resources, and strike it rich for themselves. Wildcatter is a raucous tale of mystery, greed and passion, told by master story teller Dave Duncan, once himself a real wildcatter... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen 20th May 2025

Milligan and Murphy
by Jim Murdoch
(1 Review)
There are no reasons for unreasonable things. So the protagonists of this novel are told having found themselves setting out on an adventure that they really didn't plan. Like many people, Murdoch has always had a great affection for the two lead characters in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Have you ever wondered what Didi and Gogo were like when they were young and what led them to end up waiting for a man who would most likely never turn up? That's basically the premise Murdoch set out to explore in Milligan and Murphy but that was not the question he finally answered. Milligan and Murphy are not Didi and Gogo, nor are they Mercier and Camier, Beckett's less-well-known "pseudo-couple" - they are very much themselves - but after an unexpected encounter on the road out of the town with an old man who has decided that searching for someone that will never be found is better than waiting for someone who will never turn up, they suddenly find themselves with big questions to answer and they're not very good with questions, big or small... more»»
Review by Paul Lappen 20th May 2025

The Harbour
by Katrine Engberg
(1 Review)
When fifteen-year-old Oscar Dreyer-Hoff disappears, it's assumed he's another teenage runaway - an overlooked middle child who will turn up within 24 hours. But as the hours, and then days, tick by and the family become more frantic, Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner begin to dig deeper into Oscar's life. Who has been sending the family malicious notes? What secrets is Oscar's best friend keeping? And what's really going on down at the harbour? With every passing hour and little evidence, the odds of finding a missing person grow dimmer and dimmer in Kørner and Werner's toughest case yet. The third thrilling installment in the internationally bestselling Copenhagen-set Kørner and Werner series, from a rapidly rising star in crime fiction. Combining pin-sharp storytelling and a rollercoaster investigation, The Harbour is an absorbing mystery thriller for fans of Jo Nesbo and Tana French... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 20th May 2025

The Commitments
by Roddy Doyle
(1 Review)
Barrytown, Dublin, has something to sing about.  The Commitments are spreading the gospel of the soul. Ably managed by Jimmy Rabbitte, brilliantly coached by Joey 'The Lips' Fagan, their twin assault on Motown and Barrytown takes them by leaps and bounds from the parish hall to the steps of the studio door. But can The Commitments live up to their name... more»»
Review by Ben Macnair 11th March 2025