Newest Thrillers Reviews

Review of The Last Passenger by Will Dean Thrillers Caroline Riley (she prefers 'Caz') is middle-aged and has found herself somewhat surprisingly in love with Pete. They're off on a cruise to New York on Atlantica. Caz's sister, Gemma, reckons that Pete is going to propose but Caz hasn't spotted a ring-shaped bulge in his suit pocket and she doesn't know whether she's relieved or disappointed. They've not been a couple for that long and the trip will be an excellent opportunity to get to know him a bit better. Meanwhile, Gemma is looking after Caz's cafe as well as their mother who has dementia. It's going to be good, isn't it? Full Review

Review of Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards Thrillers Matthew and Helena are in Iceland, rekindling their university romance some twenty-odd years after they first met. The alien-landscape of the lava fields and black beaches is breath-taking and Helena seems intent on getting the perfect photograph to encapsulate the joy she is feeling in this moment, even if it kills her… which it nearly does when the edge of a ravine gives way and Helena finds herself clinging to the rockface with just the snagged strap of her rucksack between her and a 500 foot drop to certain death below. Convinced she is going to die, Helena must purge herself of the shocking secret she has been keeping and makes a panicked, cryptic declaration to Matthew. Just moments later their heroic, and frankly very well prepared, Icelandic tour guide swoops in and hauls Helena to safety and Matthew is left wondering what he just learned about Helena. Full Review

Review of Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen and Megan E Turney (translator) Thrillers Hannah presents as an unlikeable, bitter woman, an author of failing if well-regarded literary short novels. Sorry to leave her bottles of red wine behind her for an afternoon at a book fair, she flukes her way into a public argument with the latest hot shot in the world of crime fiction, saying he's populist trash and only writing what anyone could write. Cue the bet that she cannot live up to that accusation. Her publisher duly books her flights from Denmark to Iceland, where she is put up for a wintry month away from it all. Just on the point of despairing – about her writing, about the people and the lack of stimulus for her plot, more or less about everything – word comes that the landlady's nephew has been found dead… Full Review

Review of Twin Truths by Jacqueline Sutherland Thrillers Belle and David's twin daughters are just coming to the end of their first term at university. Kit's been at Bristol and Jess's in Exeter. It's not only the first time they've been away from their parents for any length of time - but they've also been apart from each other. Belle can't wait to have them all to herself for a while. Then Kit rings up - can she bring her boyfriend home with her? Belle would prefer that he didn't come but doesn't want to upset Kit. Ivo's apparently 'older': he's twenty-four to Kit's eighteen but Belle figures that she can cope with that. And they'll be sharing a bedroom. Full Review

Review of Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni Crime Patrick Duggan & Associates has been the life's work of Patsy Duggan – rather charmingly nicknamed 'The Irish Brawler' due to his reputation for no holds barred courtroom performances in defence of his clients. Along with an indisputable talent for the law, Patsy also has a gift for drinking himself to oblivion and inevitably the latter was beginning to overshadow the former. Enter Keera Duggan, former competitive chess prodigy and proven Seattle Prosecutor who finds herself in the hideous position of asking her father for a job at the family firm because a romantic entanglement with a senior colleague, Miller Ambrose, had gone, rather spectacularly, south. Full Review

Review of Expectant (Detective Sam Shephard) by Vanda Symon Crime Detective Sam Shepherd is approaching the start of her maternity leave when there is a brutal, shocking murder of an expectant woman in Dunedin. Suddenly she finds herself embroiled in the hunt for a killer targeting pregnant women, with all the extra pressure that entails being pregnant herself. Finding herself put on desk duties, which she rails against, she just can't let the case go and she starts to follow every thread to uncover what's actually happening, and the increasingly disturbing worry of just what might happen next. Full Review

Review of What July Knew by Emily Koch Thrillers When we first meet July Hooper on 20 July 1995 she's just ten years old. She's a careful, meticulous child. The care has been taught by her father, Mick Hooper, who is not prepared to discuss the death of his wife, July's mother, and any hint that the conversation is heading that way will lead to the necessity of a Lesson. Other infractions of his requirements also lead to these Lessons and he's not even careful about whether or not the injuries are visible. July's teacher is concerned and brings up the possibility of abuse with the head but her worries are dismissed: Mick has been good to the school, has he not? The playground wouldn't have been resurfaced but for him. Full Review

Review of All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham Crime Isabelle Drake hasn't really slept for a year - well, apart from the odd occasion when she lost track of time or drifted off for a moment. It's now a year since her son, Mason, was stolen from his bed in the middle of the night and Izzy is consumed with guilt that she heard nothing and particularly about her relief in the morning when she thought he was sleeping in. In that year she's done everything she could to raise awareness about the case. She does interviews and when we meet her, she's just been to TrueCrimeCon where she gave a keynote presentation. On the plane back, she's approached by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who points out that she could do a podcast and get to so many more people than she could by giving speeches to a few hundred people at conferences. Full Review

Review of Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica Thrillers The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not. Just the Nicest Couple is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake Hayes. The connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra. The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing. Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wives. Lily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant. She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public. Full Review

Review of The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz Thrillers Roza Vallo. Anyone in the world of publishing knows the name. Writers want to be her, agents want to represent her. She's something of a legend with an impressive, if compact, back catalogue of works that started with her breakthrough novel, published when she was barely out of childhood. Alex, a writer-slash-editor, is more than a little obsessed with Roza, and is stunned when, following a series of unexpected events, she is invited to be part of her month-long writers' retreat. Full Review

Review of The Lensky Connection by Conrad Delacroix Thrillers When we first meet Major Valeri Grozky, it's June 1995 and he's at the Serafimov Cemetry in St Petersburg. He's a pallbearer for his elder brother, Timur, whose death was drug-related. Valeri and Timur's father, Keto, is also a pallbearer and he's disgusted by what his son had become. Valeri thinks differently: he's determined to make his own stand against organised crime and avenge Timur's death. Within a matter of months, his obsession will have cost him his marriage to Marisha and created a dubious link with Natassja Petrovskaya, a journalist. She's determined to expose any and all corruption - and she's less concerned than she ought to be about her own safety. To her, he's a good source. For him, it's a way to get information published, which wouldn't otherwise be possible. Full Review

Review of The Sanctuary by Emma Haughton Thrillers It was the quiet which woke Zoey up - or, rather, the absence of the noise which was a constant in New York. Here it was silent and the heat was overwhelming. When she looked out of the window all she could see was the desert. How did she get here? Zoey was house-sitting for Uncle Dan and his two Manx cats and she remembered that she'd been out with Franny and Rocco last night. She knew that she'd had quite a lot to drink but how could she have got to the desert from New York? She had no memory of getting on a plane but as she thought back, a memory of sirens, flashing lights and of being pushed into a car snagged on the edge of her mind. Full Review

Review of The Dark Room by Lisa Gray Crime What if you knew someone was dead, because you'd watched them die several years ago, but then you come across a photograph that seemed to show their murder happened in a different place and time? This is what happens to Leonard in this story. He is an ex-crime reporter for a newspaper, and since leaving journalism he's found himself an unusual hobby where he finds old, undeveloped rolls of film and develops them in his own dark room at home. One of these photographs turns out to show the murder scene of a young woman he met some years ago, and who he thought he had watched die in front of him one night in a hotel. He'd felt guilty ever since that night, and lost everything because of it - his fiancee and his career - but now finds himself wondering if she hadn't really died the night she was with him, what on earth actually happened? Full Review

Review of The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly Thrillers The Golden Bones is going to follow me around for the rest of my life. How can I trust anyone? It all leads back to you! Nell didn't want to go to the reunion to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Golden Bones. She'd had no benefit from it - in fact, it had made her life precarious and unbelievably challenging. I'd better explain. The Golden Bones was a treasure quest book painted and written by Frank and Cora Churcher. The story revolved around murdered Elinore whose golden and bejewelled bones were hidden around the country. The clues - some of them quite tortuous - were disguised in the words and pictures of the book - and all the parts were discovered except for the pelvis. As with such quests, some people were obsessive and the theories became more and more outlandish. Full Review

Review of Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurdardottir and Quentin Bates (translator) Thrillers When Flosi’s wife goes missing, all the evidence seems to point towards her having been kidnapped. The ransom note tells him not to have any contact with the police, so instead he enlists the help of Arora, a financial investigator. She manages to persuade Flosi that they will need the help of the police, and she calls her detective friend, Daniel, whom she met when he was investigating her sister’s disappearance. Together, they start to secretly investigate Gudrun’s disappearance, trying not to arouse the suspicion of anyone, since they have no idea who the kidnappers might be, yet the more they uncover, the more confusing things become. Full Review

Review of The Bone Road by N E Solomons Thrillers Heather Bishop, the former Olympic cyclist, flew to Bosnia to surprise her boyfriend, cycling journalist Ryan Mackinnon. She even took their bikes so they could have a few days' break in the region. It was a little worrying that he didn't seem exactly pleased to see her: she even wondered if he had a woman in the hotel room. Heather had to give up competitive cycling after a traumatic brain injury four years before: she was still fit but her reactions and her memory were not up to the standard she would need to race again. Sometimes she couldn't be certain about what she had or hadn't done and she simply couldn't cope in difficult situations. She didn't entirely trust herself. Full Review

Review of The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre Thrillers Many of them didn't know each other, one of them didn't know anybody, including Jen, one of them quite possibly hated her, and two of them definitely hated each other. What could possibly go wrong? That's the round-up for Jen's hen party which is to take place on Clachan Geal an island just south of Barra. They're all staying in The Cliff House, hosted by Lauren, and it's the utmost in luxury living but then Jen can afford it. She's just sold her muffin business for millions but is staying on to run it. She's got her doubts about the long weekend: fiance Zaki Hussain has been acting a little strangely of late and wouldn't explain to her what the email he was hurriedly deleting was about. Added to that, he's just about forced her to bring his sister, Samira, whom Jen's never met, on the trip, on the grounds that she's been stuck at home with newborn twins for the last six months and desperately needs the break. Full Review

Review of The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell Thrillers In July 2019, Jason Mott was mud larking on the banks of the River Thames when he came across a bag of what appeared to be human bones. Detective Inspector Samuel Owusu and Saffron Brown from forensics were there to investigate. The bones were indeed human: a young woman had been killed by a blow to the head many years ago - probably as long as twenty-five - but the bones had not been in the river longer than a year. There was no identification but the bag contained vegetation, some of which was quite unusual. Full Review

Review of Confidence by Denise Mina Thrillers We're back in the world of podcasters Anna and Fin, whom we first met in Conviction. It was Anna who'd organised the 'family' holiday: her ex, Hamish, is now with her best friend, Estelle and her children are living with them. Fin (who was married to Estelle) is there too and it was Anna who invited his girlfriend, Sofia. It's not long before everyone realises that was a bad mistake. Sofia's difficult and with everyone trapped inside their holiday accommodation - a lighthouse, in a storm - she begins talking about Anna's past, including her real name and the rape. This was something which Anna had intended to tell the girls - twelve-tear-old Jess and ten-year-old Lizzie - when the time was right. And this wasn't the right time. Full Review

Review of Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen Crime We're in Boston with Amy. When she set out for university this morning it was a spring day and she wore her new, buttery-leather pumps but as she comes out of the library she knows that they're going to be ruined - and unsafe - in the snow that's now falling. As she crosses the road, a car comes out of nowhere and hits her. It doesn't stop. Two months later, we're with Angela Rizzoli, mother of Detective Jane Rizzoli, and a keen defender of the suburb of Revere, north of Boston, where she lives. Nothing gets past her and whilst her boyfriend, Vince Korsak, is in California, looking after his sister, she has the time to watch what's happening in the neighbourhood. The people who are moving in at no 2533 have aroused her suspicions. Full Review

Review of One Last Secret by Adele Parks Thrillers Natalya is an escort. Well, her name's not actually Natalya: that's her professional name but it is a nod to her Serbian heritage. She's actually thirty-one-year-old Teodora Dziewulski, usually known as Dora Wulski. If you're thinking of 'escort' as being a polite description of a prostitute, run by a pimp, who's turning tricks to fund a drug habit, forget it. Dora is a professional in all senses of the word. She has an agent, Elspeth, who takes 30% of her income and deals with the payments but checks out the clients to see that Dora is going to be safe. Dora describes herself as a self-employed clairvoyant to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Full Review

Review of A Stranger on Board by Cameron Ward Thrillers Right from the beginning, we know this will not turn out well. Eight days into the trip to deliver the superyacht Escape to Antigua, all 300 tonnes and six decks will be floundering without power in the Atlantic. Those of the crew who are left will be cowering in fear a fellow crew member tries to pick them off, one by one. Some are already dead. They are three days from shore and there is no way of making contact. But let's go back to when all this started, in Southampton. Full Review

Review of We All Have Our Secrets by Jane Corry Thrillers Harold Gentle advertised for live-in help as he was failing to cope at Willowmead House on his own. His advert was fairly specific: he was a retired lawyer needing help but he also spoke of the ability to cook a good steak, enjoy decent wine and be free from any food fads. The first person who came to the house was Francoise, a French woman in her early twenties, who fit the bill perfectly. She got the job but Francoise didn't know about the advert: she was there for a completely different reason. Emily Gentle is Harold's daughter and she came to Willowmead House because she was running away from a problem in London. Emily's a midwife and her last shift had seen her lacking concentration and a complaint had been made. Full Review

Review of Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham Thrillers Elias Haven murdered his parents and his twin sisters two days after his nineteenth birthday. Voices told him to do it. Only two people survived the carnage - Elias, who was sent to Rampton, and his thirteen-year-old brother, Cyrus, who hid in a shed until the police found him. Twenty years later, Cyrus is a forensic psychologist and he's been told that his brother is being released. Can Cyrus forgive the sinner whilst having to live on a daily basis with the results of the crime? Can he bear to have Elias living in the same house? How will his lodger, twenty-one-year-old Evie Cormac, cope? Full Review

Review of The Birdcage by Eve Chase Thrillers It's the 7th of January 2019 and we know that a body has been pulled out of the sea at Zennor in Cornwall. We don't know whose body it is. Four days earlier, Flora, Kat and Lauren had gathered at Rock point at the request of their father, Charlie Finch, a famous artist. The girls are actually half-sisters and their dates of birth are embarrassingly close. Finch was known for his fecundity, if not for his fidelity. It's been a long time since the girls have been at Rock Point together: just over twenty years ago, at the time of the total eclipse, something happened. Kat and Flora were obviously involved but Lauren was a victim and it's left her very wary of her sisters. Full Review

Review of Faceless by Vanda Symon Thrillers In this book told from multiple viewpoints, several troubled people are thrown into the same story thanks to just one mis-step. Set in New Zealand, the first of our characters is Bradley, a middle aged man struggling with an overbearing boss, a weighty mortgage, and what he feels is an unappreciative wife. Then there’s Billy, a homeless teenage girl who is a street artist working as a prostitute sometimes in order to pay for the materials she needs. And then we have Max, who is also living on the streets and who keeps an eye on Billy. He is a shell of a man, barely able to take any care of himself, and yet we can sense that he was once something more than he is now. One night, Bradley finds himself half-crazed with stress and anxiety, driving down the street looking for a prostitute. He picks up Billy, and then with one thoughtless decision finds his life thrown into turmoil and a spiral away from the person he thought he was into someone very different. Full Review

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