I Let You Go
This excellent debut is not the work of a novice writer, but of an experienced and established journalist. A clever combination of police procedural and psychologocal thriller, it begins with a scene that will chill every parent’s soul to its core. One momentary lapse of…
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
With a tagline reading ‘Someone’s getting married, someone’s getting murdered’ on its cover, this debut novel by Ruth Ware is one of Harvill Secker’s big releases this summer. It’s a story of broken friendships, tense reunions and the sheer silliness of that social construct called…
Those We Left Behind by Stuart Neville
When the police burst their way into the neat Belfast suburban house, after an alarm call from neighbours, they walk straight into a scene from hell. Two children, brothers, clutch each other on the bed, while on the floor is the ruined body of their…
Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
This rather short (200-page) psychological thriller is told as a first-person narrative by successful mystery author Andrew J Rush. Rush thinks of himself with quote marks around his name, perhaps because he’s beginning to realise identity is more ephemeral than he’s heretofore believed. We soon learn he’s…
Only We Know by Karen Perry
The author Karen Perry is, in fact, a crime-writing double act hoping to follow the success of Nicci French. Paul Perry and Karen Gillece are a poet and novelist who teamed up to pen psychological thrillers about familiy guilt and secrets. The Irish duo’s suspenseful…
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
I Let You Go might be Clare Mackintosh‘s crime debut, but as a journalist she is an established writer. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Sainsbury’s Magazine, Good Housekeeping and WI Life. If you’re into suburban or kitchen sink noir, this sounds like a very…
Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) remembered
It was just five months ago that Ruth Rendell spoke on BBC Radio 4 to pay tribute to PD James, who died last November. Rendell’s recollections of a friend, crime-writing colleague and fellow parliamentarian (they both sat in the House of Lords) turned out to…