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Find out moreAll engrossing, pure escapist, nail-biting anxiety, mind bending terror and psychological twists. We’re not sure why it’s so appealing. Good though, isn’t it! You might also like to browse our Crime and Mystery category.
You just have to say Oslo Detectives series and it conjures up everything you need to know, this is Nordic Noir with knobs on! Detective Frolich investigates a simple missing person case, but as a killer strikes, so the complexity rises. This could be read quite successfully as a standalone novel as Frolich has turned private investigator and it suggests a beginning. Do pop Faithless and The Ice Swimmer on your list though and start with these if you can! Kjell Ola Dahl writes with such crisp clarity, and translator Don Bartlett is on point as it feels as though not a word has been wasted. Short, sharp sentences pounce. I love how the story builds, the plot almost turns itself inside out, and yet is kept as tight as can be. There are no easy tick-box answers on offer here. Bang up-to-date, Sister is a raw, real, and fabulous read.
This brilliant novel will be released in April 2020. Click here to pre-order a copy! Well! This is an absolute corker of a debut, different and intelligent, it wormed its way into my thoughts and then proceeded to hunt them down. Narrator Jane tells of her friendship with Marnie, and the seven lies that change that friendship forever. This is Jane’s chance to be honest, and if she had told the truth to start with, Marnie’s husband might still be alive. The introduction to each lie hits with hammer hard precision, there are truths waiting ready to trip you up. Elizabeth Kay has the ability to blur lines, and I found myself stopping, questioning, considering my thoughts. She quite simply made me look at things in a different way. I write notes as I read, and these were peppered with ‘Crikey!’, ‘Blimey!’, and an awful lot of exclamation marks! Provocative, thoughtful, and so very clever, Seven Lies deserves to be a huge hit. A debut of the month and a LoveReading Star Book, Seven Lies comes with a tremendous thumbs up from me.
Chock-a-block with chills, this supernatural thriller also beautifully evokes teenage feelings of uncertainty and how they travel with us into adulthood. Theatre usher Chloe witnesses the iconic musical Dust returning to the stage after 20 years, the very stage said to be haunted by the leading actress who was murdered in her dressing room. It feels as though this book, which crosses genres so successfully, could only have been written by Louise Beech. Her ability to delve into the deepest of emotions and describe them so they land with acute precision in your own thoughts, is handfasted with her knowledge of the theatre. The past collides with the present and boy does the tension increase with each time switch. I felt as though I was a teenager again, and with all the buckets full of feelings that Chloe has to manage, I could have gathered her into the hugest hug. While this is spooky as heck, it is also hugely considerate of emotional heartache and distress. Compelling, original, and unmistakably Louise Beech, I Am Dust glides onto my Liz Robinson picks of the month.
The Gilded Cage by Camilla Lackberg is an intriguing psychological thriller and disturbing domestic noir. Faye seems to have it all – the perfect husband, the perfect daughter, the perfect house, the perfect life... Yet she’s spent much of her life running away from her very dark past. The book shows that no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors and who people really are. The book is set in the Swedish city of Stockholm. Its beautiful vivid descriptions are perfect for audiobook – I felt as though I could see the characters and their surroundings just as much as I could hear them. The narrator has a chilling voice, which certainly adds atmosphere, and the narrative makes astute observations of people’s mannerisms and interactions, bringing the characters and story to life. The book does contain quite a bit of explicit sexual content though, so maybe check who’s listening in the background! The Gilded Cage switches between the past and present, following Faye and her husband Jack from the moment they met until the present day. This is a tale of love, friendship, betrayal and revenge, featuring secrets, lies, manipulation and shocking revelations. Faye certainly isn’t who her friends and family think she is – she’s craving love and attention from her often-distant husband and will do anything to get it. She’s very mixed up and very chilling – a character that’s difficult to warm to and one that you’ll love to hate. But is she really a psychopath and how much has she been shaped by her past? The Gilded Cage is a book that will thrill, shock and entertain its readers – and certainly not for the fainthearted!
Achingly painful and stunningly beautiful, be prepared to fall long and hard for We Begin at the End. This is a crime novel that will stay with me, and is now firmly ensconced on my list of favourite books. Duchess, full of awareness of the difficulties of life at just 13 years old, throws her family’s life into chaos when Vincent King is released from prison after 30 years. The first few sentences caught and held me, the prologue sets a shiver inducing scene. By the time the first chapter began I was already in thrall to Chris Whitaker’s writing. I felt, really felt the pain, the love, the joy, the desolation, each feeling clamouring to have its say. Duchess has stamped her way into my mind and will remain there, occasionally elbowing my attention into remembering. I adore her, she feels vibrantly alive to me. The ending felt truly perfect, and not that I would deface a book of course, but imagine ‘Highly Recommended’ stamped all over We Begin at the End. We have chosen this as a Book of the Month, Liz Pick of the Month, and a LoveReading Star Book too, because it is so completely gorgeous. I’m just sad that I don’t have the opportunity to experience it again for the very first time.
The Gilded Cage by Camilla Lackberg is an intriguing psychological thriller and disturbing domestic noir. Faye seems to have it all – the perfect husband, the perfect daughter, the perfect house, the perfect life... Yet she’s spent much of her life running away from her very dark past. The book shows that no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors and who people really are. The book is set in the Swedish city of Stockholm. Its beautiful vivid descriptions. I felt as though I could see the characters and their surroundings. The narrative makes astute observations of people’s mannerisms and interactions, bringing the characters and story to life. The book does contain quite a bit of explicit sexual content though, so maybe check who’s listening in the background! The Gilded Cage switches between the past and present, following Faye and her husband Jack from the moment they met until the present day. This is a tale of love, friendship, betrayal and revenge, featuring secrets, lies, manipulation and shocking revelations. Faye certainly isn’t who her friends and family think she is – she’s craving love and attention from her often-distant husband and will do anything to get it. She’s very mixed up and very chilling – a character that’s difficult to warm to and one that you’ll love to hate. But is she really a psychopath and how much has she been shaped by her past? The Gilded Cage is a book that will thrill, shock and entertain its readers – and certainly not for the fainthearted!
A blistering, gripping, and absolutely fascinating novel. Set aside plenty of quality time as I was consumed, and read it all in one heady, breathtaking go. It’s based on the true story of Nancy Wake, named by the Gestapo as The White Mouse, as she evaded their capture by slipping through check points in France during The Second World War. It is almost impossible to comprehend the wartime life of Nancy, it feels as though all of it is brilliant but astonishing fiction. Darby Kealey and Imogen Robertson have created a living, breathing, headstrong woman and I shook my head in wonder and shock at some of her escapades. She’s not perfect, she makes mistakes and at times appears somewhat gung-ho, with no apparent regard for the safety of herself or her team, yet this woman was quite simply incredible. The authors have made changes to timelines and invented some episodes which they fully explain in the Historical Notes. A major film production is underway, and I recommend reading the book just as soon as you can (before the film) as it is fabulous. Nancy Wake has entered my heart, and we just had to choose Liberation as a LoveReading Star Book.
You really couldn’t pack any more action into this captivating and thoroughly entertaining novel. I’ve been in on the Orphan X series from the beginning and it’s a must-read series for me. Evan Smoak, former government assassin codenamed Orphan X, now known as the Nowhere Man, takes on one last mission. This is the fifth book in what has been an outstanding series so far, will it be the last? As usual, the first chapter hits hard and keeps running, I was on high alert throughout and in the back of my mind I was wondering just how it was all going to end. There are some lovely light notes in the form of Dog, and the interaction with Joey adds some zing. The plot keeps expanding, and I was almost out of breath trying to keep up with Evan. Into The Fire by Gregg Hurwitz is just as enthrallingly enjoyable as the rest of the series has been.
Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. But when Lisa meets some of the locals, and hears some disturbing rumours about the house, she realises it might not be the sanctuary she thought. What secret has Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? And what will Lisa have to do to survive, when her own past finally catches up with her?
A WORLD HALF IN DARKNESS. A SECRET SHE MUST BRING TO LIGHT. 2059. The world has stopped turning. One half suffers an endless frozen night; the other, nothing but burning sun. Only in a slim twilit region between them can life survive. In an isolationist Britain, scientist Ellen Hopper receives a letter from a dying man. It contains a powerful and dangerous secret. One that those in power will kill to conceal…
'Downtime Shift' is an intriguing, complex and chilling work of science fiction by Robert Holding. Set in the twenty-first and twenty-ninth centuries, it paints a frightening picture of a future in which mankind is totally controlled by artificial intelligence. Evelyn, the main character, is a 'Shifty', that is someone who has been trained to survive and carry out tasks for the 'EYE' when travelling 800 years into the planet's past to alter its future for the better. Questioning these tasks, Evelyn returns to her own time to find that many of the remaining population want to take back control of their lives but that the 'EYE' also has more forces under her control than had been reckoned with. This is a very challenging read on many levels and so plausible in general that it is truly terrifying. The characters are well-defined and the plot fast-paced. The author does leave us with a light at the end of a horrendously turbulent tunnel. I would certainly recommend this book, especially to anyone feeling disillusioned with the way modern life seems to be heading. Drena Irish, A LoveReading Ambassador
This highly original, dark (v v dark) and sinister thriller breaks all the rules; such as switching from 1st, 2nd and 3rd person and having a highly fragmented timeline, but it delivers something thrillingly different. Four friends set up an agency to say ‘sorry’ and allow company executives to be absolved of guilt - but does that mean anyone can be absolved of anything with a simple transfer of cash?
March 2012 Book of the Month. This highly original, dark (v v dark) and sinister thriller breaks all the rules; such as switching from 1st, 2nd and 3rd person and having a highly fragmented timeline, but it delivers something thrillingly different. Four friends set up an agency to say ‘sorry’ and allow company executives to be absolved of guilt - but does that mean anyone can be absolved of anything with a simple transfer of cash?
The chilling new thriller by the author of SORRY When a snowstorm halts traffic on a German autobahn, drivers are forced to spend the night in their cars. As day breaks, scores of people are found dead. Theories are rife. Was it an argument? Was it drugs, revenge or madness? At first everyone agrees that several people must have acted together. No-one could have committed such an atrocity alone. It is only over time that theories come to focus on an individual perpetrator, and the Traveller is born. As he makes his way across a country gripped by fear, he's searching for his next victim...You
Don’t you just love the title? And it’s so true, Zane manages to paint really vivid pictures of the Icelandic landscape – very dramatic. It takes a while to get into the plot but then it builds to a good, exciting twist. However, this is a literary thriller and, in between, the passages of love, loss and persistent light are beautifully told.Comparison: Christopher Brookmyre, James Hawes, Colin Bateman.Similar this month: Andrew Greig, Anthony Horowitz.
Ever wondered whether your partner is being less than honest and is leading another life? What would you do if you then found out? Here, Bonavero, a first time novelist, has written a disturbing yet riveting story that you’ll find hard to put down.
Ever wondered whether your partner is being less than honest and is leading another life? What would you do if you then found out? Here, Bonavero, a first time novelist, has written a disturbing yet riveting story that you’ll find hard to put down.
April 2015 Book of the Month. In Iceland grandparents and a young child go to the port to meet a yacht with the girl’s family on board (parents and twin sister). The yacht smashes into the quay empty. So begins this terrific thriller. In alternating chapters of the yacht with seven people on board coming across from Lisbon and arriving empty and the police investigation in Iceland we, the reader, are drip-fed the mystery with our hearts in our mouths. The crew and passengers have simply disappeared. It’s creepy, chilling, compulsive and very, very good. I so dreaded being fobbed off at the end but no, the outcome was completely feasible and very satisfying. Do read it. In Iceland, Sigurdardottir is crime royalty, alongside Arnuldur Indridason and her series featuring local lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir has always been a personal delight. Offsetting the sometimes grim northern landscape with meticulous sleuthing, she brings a new, unique dimension to the genre. When a luxury yacht arrives in Reyjkavik harbour with no passengers left onboard, Marie Celeste-like, Thora is recruited by a relative to solve the mysterious case. As usual this is just the beginning and an inevitable trail of bodies soon has Thora dashing in all directions. Chilling, spooky and at times gruesome, Sigurdardottir's books (she also writes the occasional horror tome) are compulsive page-turners and prove fascinating eye-openers into the complexities of Icelandic life and its bleak exoticism.
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title. In Iceland, Sigurdardottir is crime royalty, alongside Arnuldur Indridason and her series featuring local lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir has always been a personal delight. Offsetting the sometimes grim northern landscape with meticulous sleuthing, she brings a new, unique dimension to the genre. When a luxury yacht arrives in Reyjkavik harbour with no passengers left onboard, Marie Celeste-like, Thora is recruited by a relative to solve the mysterious case. As usual this is just the beginning and an inevitable trail of bodies soon has Thora dashing in all directions. Chilling, spooky and at times gruesome, Sigurdardottir's books (she also writes the occasional horror tome) are compulsive page-turners and prove fascinating eye-openers into the complexities of Icelandic life and its bleak exoticism. Sarah Broadhurst's view... In Iceland grandparents and a young child go to the port to meet a yacht with the girl’s family on board (parents and twin sister). The yacht smashes into the quay empty. So begins this terrific thriller. In alternating chapters of the yacht with seven people on board coming across from Lisbon and arriving empty and the police investigation in Iceland we, the reader, are drip-fed the mystery with our hearts in our mouths. The crew and passengers have simply disappeared. It’s creepy, chilling, compulsive and very, very good. I so dreaded being fobbed off at the end but no, the outcome was completely feasible and very satisfying. Do read it.
A creepy, compelling thriller, SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME is the fifth novel from Yrsa, 'Iceland's answer to Stieg Larsson' (Daily Telegraph). Berglind hurried to her son and pulled him forcefully from the window. She held him close and tried at the same time to wipe the windowpane. But the haze couldn't be wiped away. It was on the outside of the glass. He looked up at her. 'Magga's outside. She can't get in. She wants to look after me.' He pointed at the window and frowned. 'She's a little bit angry.' A young man with Down's Syndrome has been convicted of burning down his care home and killing five people, but a fellow inmate at his secure psychiatric unit has hired Thora to prove Jakob is innocent. If he didn't do it, who did? And how is the multiple murder connected to the death of Magga, killed in a hit and run on her way to babysit?
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title. A sinister thriller that grabs you from its very beginning, This is the Water is both chilling and unputdownable. A killer is swimming in a public pool and carefully observing his possible future victims while in the stands a mother follows her children's race team. Told by an unnamed but unsettling narrator, their tales soon intersect with dazzling results. Fable-like and poetic but totally entrancing this a book that will possibly divide people but I was completely sold on its premise and possibly unreliable narration. On one hand, you have a delicately engineered mystery with a powerful sense of dread and the unfolding inevitable while underneath lurks a disturbing world of uncertainty and mystery. Make your own mind up. Sarah Broadhurst's view... There is a style to this novel that takes a bit of getting used to. The title is the clue; This is the water, so the rest of the tale is reported thus: This is you, Annie; This is the killer; This is … and so on. An interesting rendering for a tense thriller with the killer identified early on and you too frightened to reveal him until … Well, it’s certainly different and works well.
A rare example of contemporary Chinese crime and thriller fiction. Based in Shanghai in 1931 it provides us with an invaluable historical perspective and sense of period on both Chinese politics of the time and an exotic landscape teeming with intrigue. An important Nationalist politician is shot on his return from Hong Kong, and Leng, his beautiful wife disappears. Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer is entranced by Leng's beauty and is drawn to the affair, only to uncover the treachery of his own mistress, White Russian Helene, an arms dealer linked to a terrorists with a strong connection to the assassination. Xiao Bai brings a whole world to life in colourful ways as well as evoking the complex networks of politics, passion and war. Literary noir well worth a look. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title. A rare example of contemporary Chinese crime and thriller fiction. Based in Shanghai in 1931 it provides us with an invaluable historical perspective and sense of period on both Chinese politics of the time and an exotic landscape teeming with intrigue. An important Nationalist politician is shot on his return from Hong Kong, and Leng, his beautiful wife disappears. Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer is entranced by Leng's beauty and is drawn to the affair, only to uncover the treachery of his own mistress, White Russian Helene, an arms dealer linked to a terrorists with a strong connection to the assassination. Xiao Bai brings a whole world to life in colourful ways as well as evoking the complex networks of politics, passion and war. Literary noir well worth a look. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
Picture it. You’re going on holiday. The bags are packed and the family is ready, you’re at the gate, the plane is boarding, you’ve decided to start your brand new, especially purchased thriller right away. Suddenly, you’re immersed into the corridors of intrigue, conspiracy, murder, espionage and you don’t know who to trust. The plane has left without you. So has the family. You haven’t even noticed. At least you have a good book … and the whole house to yourself for a week!
This section is crammed with dangerously compelling adventures that will have your nails bitten and nervous system tested to the full. From Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson and James Patterson to Fred Vargas, Bernard Minier and C.J Sansom, there’s enough here to keep you ‘head-down and out-of-it’ for years. There’s certainly time to read one more before the family gets back from Torremolinos … and that’s where we come in!