Top list: Crime

"A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.

""As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.""

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Performed by David Cui Cui, Khaya Fraites, Zeke Alton, Alejandro Ruiz, Aure Nash, Bradley Foster Smith, Holly Adams, Megan Dorminy, Natalie Van Sistine, Michael John Casey, Rayner Gabriel, Shanta Parasuraman, Tanja Milojevic and Wyn Delano."

This stunning blend of historical romance and time-traveling adventure has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world and catapulted author Diana Gabaldon to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Outlander

introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and breathtaking thrills—as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love.

In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion is shattered when she touches a boulder in an ancient stone ruin and is instantly transported to 1743

Scotland, a place torn by war and raiding border clans. Will Claire find her way back to her own time, or is her destiny forever linked with Clan MacKenzie and the gallant Jamie Fraser?

The New York Times No.1 bestselling and multi award-winning YA crime thriller and TikTok sensation that everyone is talking about. Now a major BBC series!

‘A taut, compulsively readable, elegantly plotted thriller', GUARDIAN

'Prepare to be murdered by this book. Dark, dangerous – my heart literally pounded', LAURA STEVEN, author of bestselling Infinite Fates

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?

I hate finding corpses. For some reason, my enemies think dead bodies work as a communication method. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a letter.

When I find a pulverized gargoyle on my lawn, I can’t help but think things are about to get rocky. The gargoyles don’t expect me to look into the death, but who can ignore murder on their doorstep? Ex-soldier Greg Manners knows all about violence and he thinks that the ogres are involved. Deadly or not, I’ll go toe-to-toe with their lethal king if I need to. I’m determined to find justice–but just when I start investigating, one of the pack’s children is snatched.

I’m in a race against time to find him when it turns out that Bobby isn’t the first stolen child. I’ll have to navigate Other world politics to work out what the purloined children have in common. Maybe if I know why they’ve been taken, I’ll discover who took them. Because the clock is ticking and I am all out of suspects.

Esme and I have to work together to find the kids, before it’s too late….

Don't miss all the books set in the Other Realm!

The Glimmer Series

Glimmer of the Other

Glimmer of Hope

Glimmer of Death

Glimmer of Deception

The Other Wolf Series

Protection of the Pack

Guardians of the Pack

Saviour of the Pack

The Court Series

Challenge of the Court

Betrayal of the Court

Revival of the Court

The Other Witch Series

Rune of the Witch

Hex of the Witch

Coven of the Witch

Familiar of the Witch

Destiny of the Witch

I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time.

I’m Jinx. As a private investigator, being a walking, talking lie detector is a useful skill - but let’s face it, it’s not normal. You’d think it would make my job way too easy, but even with my weird skills, I still haven’t been able to track down my parents' killers.

When I’m hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar - yet my gut tells me there’s more to this case than a party girl gone wild. Firstly, she’s a bookish soul who’s as likely to go off the rails as Mother Theresa. Secondly, I’m not the only one on her trail; she’s also being tracked by the implacable and oh-so-sexy Inspector Stone.

Stone and I team up, and he shoves me into a realm where magic is real – a place where there are vampires and werewolves, dragons and trolls. And where my skills are more than just detecting lies…

Oh, and my dog? He’s a freaking hellhound who can manipulate the magical realms themselves.

I need to find the girl. I need to discover who killed my parents. And I need to find out more about the attractive but mysterious Zachary Stone…

***Don't miss the second book in the series, Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), out now!***

Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…

'Vera Wong is my new favourite sleuth' Elle Cosimano

Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.

USA Today Bestseller and Edgar Award Winner

Readers LOVE Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers

'This is the perfect book for fans of found family, humour and mystery – full of warmth, heart, good food and well-meaning meddling' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Fans of The Thursday Murder Club and other cosy mysteries with great characterisation will love this book' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This was ABSOLUTELY my cup of tea' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I need a Vera (and her cooking) in my life! This book is potentially my favourite read of the year' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read by the author, Tracy Whitwell.

The Accidental Medium is the first audiobook in a hilarious series from Tracy Whitwell featuring Tanz, the accidental medium who, with the help of the dead, is about to become an unwilling crime-solver.

'Spooky and hilarious and brimming with oddball characters, I love this book!' – Mandasue Heller

Tanz is a wine-loving, straight-talking, once-successful TV actress from Gateshead, whose career has shrivelled like an antique walnut. She is still grieving for her friend Frank, who died in a car crash three years ago, and she has to find a normal job in London to fund her cocktail habit. When she starts work in a ‘new age’ shop, Tanz suddenly discovers that the voices she’s hearing in her head are real, not the first signs of madness, and that she can give people ‘messages’ from beyond the grave. Alarmed, she confronts her little mam and discovers she is from a long line of psychic mediums.

Despite an exciting new avenue of life opening up to Tanz, darkness isn’t far away and all too soon there’s murder in the air . . .

Continue the Adventures of an Accidental Medium series with Gin Palace.

From New York Times bestselling author John Connolly, a wonderfully strange and brilliant novel about a boy and his dog and their journey to escape the fires of hell.

“Roald Dahl meets Harry Potter”* in this wonderfully strange and brilliant novel about a boy, his dog, and their struggle to escape the wrath of demons.

Young Samuel Johnson is in trouble. Not only is his eyesight so poor that he mistakenly asks out a letter box on a date but an angry demon wants revenge for Samuel’s part in foiling the invasion of Earth by the forces of evil. When Samuel and his faithful dachshund, Boswell, are pulled through a portal into the dark realm, home of the Infernals, it gets its chance.

Catching Samuel won’t be easy, for the Infernals have not reckoned on the bravery and cleverness of a boy and his dog; a hapless demon’s loyalty to the duo; or the presence of two clueless policemen and an unlucky, if cheerfully optimistic, ice-cream man.

Most of all, no one has planned on the intervention of an unexpected band of little men who also have recently found themselves in the underworld. If you thought demons were frightening, just wait until you meet Mr. Merryweather’s Elves. . . .

*My Shelf Confessions

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SENSATION

WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025

A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK

‘A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat’

THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘A cult phenomenon’

iNEWS

‘Took the literary world by storm’

BBC

‘A killer Japanese novel’

THE TIMES

'I have been glued to Butter’ NIGEL SLATER

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story, and translated by Polly Barton.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body. Might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, 'The Konkatsu Killer', Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

Longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award 2025

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it’ OBSERVER

‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ DAILY MAIL

‘I really enjoyed it’ MEERA SYAL, on BBC Between the Covers

'Compelling, delightfully weird' PANDORA SYKES

'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY

'You’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time’

STYLIST

‘Nothing short of ingenious’ iNEWS

‘Ambitious and unsettling’

GUARDIAN

'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP

'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER

"Artificial Condition is the follow-up to Martha Wells's Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times bestselling All Systems Red.

It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Performed by David Cui Cui, Elena Anderson, Alejandro Ruiz, Bradley Foster Smith, Carolyn Kashner, Eric Messner, Jeri Marshall, Ken Jackson, Marni Penning, Michael John Casey, Rayner Gabriel, Scott McCormick, Shanta Parasuraman and Yasmin Tuazon."

Most college-aged girls go to Europe to experience their sexual awakening. All I had to do was go home. Ford Dalton isn’t the kind of man I’d look at twice—because I can’t stop looking at him at all. We can’t take our hands off each other in the bar. Back at his house, it’s our lips. And in his bed? There isn’t a single part of us that’s not on fire. One night would never be long enough for Ford to show me every delicious thing he can do to my body. But there’s something he’s keeping from me: he’s already met the love of his life, his daughter Everly. And there’s something I’m keeping from him: I just applied for the job of my dreams, being Everly’s new nanny.

From New York Times Bestseller and BookTok sensation Rina Kent comes a captivating age-gap billionaire romance filled with power, desire, and betrayal.

Nothing is fair in love.

This is my kingdom. My territory.

I own everything and control everyone,

Aurora included.

She shouldn’t have barged into my world with no armor.

She shouldn’t have caught my attention with no warning.

Alas, she did.

Then she thought she could disappear.

If a battle is what it’ll take to protect and own her, I’ll shed blood.

Wars aren’t fair, and neither am I.

Rise of a Queen is the second part of a duet.

©2020 Rina Kent (P)2020 Rina Kent

Only a few months have passed since the day Kester Lanner forced an angry ghost through the spirit door, but business prospects for Dr. Ribero's supernatural agency haven’t improved. Things are looking grim when the agency lands a contract that they must share with a rival agency headed by Dr. Ribero’s sworn enemy, Larry Higgins. Desperate for the job, the team accepts and begins to investigate the seaside town of Lyme Regis, where elderly victims are dying.

The same mysterious clue links the horrendous deaths: the victims all see a double of themselves before dying. The teams wonder if they are dealing with a rogue doppelgänger, one that isn’t content just predicting deaths but wants to carry them out as well. The victims’ connection to an ancient grave site leads to speculation that they may have disturbed a spirit more powerful than the two agencies can handle.

For fans of The Silent Patient and Gone Girl, a razor-sharp and Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller about two ordinary women who make a dangerous pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink.

One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you.

In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?

Intricate, heart-racing, and from an author who “is the real deal” (Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Kill for Me, Kill for You will keep you breathless until the final page.

A killer haunts Prophet, and this time it's personal

The discovery of a body at the Thompson Cabins sets off a chain of events that hits too close to home for Sheriff Gabriel Thompson. When his brother Sam becomes a prime suspect in the murder investigation, Gabriel is forced to keep secrets from Tiber and call in outside help as he fights to prove Sam's innocence. It's a nightmare that becomes all consuming.

Tiber Russo, animal whisperer, is dealing with problems of his own. A stalker threatens him and his entire menagerie of pets. With Gabriel wrapped up in the new case, Tiber tries to solve the mystery on his own. Who in the sleepy town of Prophet wants to do him harm? But when the threats turn lethal, Tiber finds himself in over his head.

Tiber and Gabriel have solved two murders together and started a deep relationship. But this time the forces ranged against them are personal and the target is on them and on the backs of everyone they love. With each of them isolated trying to protect the other, their strength is diminished. Even with the love they share, can they make it out of this alive?

Return to the world of the Farseers…

Robin Hobb’s best loved characters, Fitz , The Fool and Nighteyes the wolf, face new adventures and trials in the first book of The Tawny Man trilogy.

When Assassin’s Quest closed, Fitz was living in self-imposed exile. Wracked with pain, he had chosen to discard the magical gifts that had seen him survive the wonders and torments of navigating the legendary city of the Elderlings, and of raising a dragon.

Now, in this the first of a new trilogy, we are returned to the world of the Six Duchies and the lives of those who managed to survive the events of the first Assassin trilogy.

Fifteen years have passed and events are about to sweep Fitz out of his quiet backwater life and into the main political current again. Persecution of the Witted has become rampant throughout the Six Duchies despite Queen Kettricken’s effort to damp it. The Witted themselves have begun to strike back. So when 15 year old Prince Dutiful disappears, is it only because he is nervous about his betrothal ceremony to an Outislander princess, or has he been taken hostage by the Witted? Worse, is he perhaps another ‘Piebald Prince’, a Farseer tainted by Wit magic? As the desperate situation worsens, Kettricken has no choice but to summon Fitz to Buckkeep, for who better to track the young prince down than another gifted with the Wit, together with his bonded companion, the wolf Nighteyes?

My mum told me I could be anything I wanted to be–and it turns out that I want to be an alpha werewolf. I’m finally starting to get a hang of this alpha malarkey when destiny sticks her oar in once again.

There’s a prophecy about me, and it’s time for me to find out what it says. So when my best friend Jess cooks up a hare-brained scheme to get hold of the prophecy through fair means or foul, I’m along for the ride before you can say "bail money".

Getting my wolfy paws on the prophecy is only the beginning, though, because I’m not the only one aware of its existence. Some of my enemies will stop at nothing to prevent the prophecy from coming true. I’ve a battle on my hands, so it’s lucky that I have super soldier Greg Manners by my side.I’m a pretty chilled-out alpha, but when unknown wolves slink onto my land and attack my unicorn, all bets are off. No one attacks my murderous little Ares and gets away with it.

Beckett Frost is coming my way with vengeance in mind; the black witch is still free, ready to steal powers and destroy lives; I have enemies piling up around me–so I do what any girl would do and call in my family, my weirdly Other birth family. I need allies, and fast, because war is coming to Home Counties Pack whether we’re ready or not.

Luckily, Esme was born ready.

Bring it on.

Don't miss all the books set in the Other Realm!

The Glimmer Series

Glimmer of the Other

Glimmer of Hope

Glimmer of Death

Glimmer of Deception

The Other Wolf Series

Protection of the Pack

Guardians of the Pack

Saviour of the Pack

The Court Series

Challenge of the Court

Betrayal of the Court

Revival of the Court

The Other Witch - An Amber DeLea grimoire

Rune of the Witch

Hex of the Witch

Coven of the Witch

Familiar of the Witch

Destiny of the Witch

A haunting and heartbreaking novel narrated from heaven as a young girl watches over her family and killer.

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

In heaven, Susie Salmon can have whatever she wishes for – except what she most wants, which is to be back with the people she loved on earth.

In the wake of her murder, Susie watches as her happy suburban family is torn apart by grief; as her friends grow up, fall in love, and do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But as Susie will come to realize, even in death, life is not quite out of reach . . .

An astonishing novel about life and death, memory and forgetting, and finding light in the darkest places.

Alice Sebold's book inspired the Peter Jackson film, starring Susan Sarandon and Saoirse Ronan.

'Moving and compelling . . . I sat down in the morning to read the first couple of pages; five hours later, I was still there, book in hand, transfixed' – Maggie O'Farrell (author of The Marriage Portrait), Sunday Telegraph

Aimee Nicole Walker presents Books 1-3 in the Zero Hour series. Contains mature themes.

I’m Jinx, a private investigator, a truth seeker, and a wizard. You'd think of all those skills would make it so easy for me to get to the heart of things. And honestly? I thought I knew what had happened to my parents that night—I thought I finally knew the truth about how they'd died. But I've taken a tumble down the rabbit hole and everything I thought I knew was topsy turvy.

I'm trying to get my head screwed on right, but some rude SOB keeps trying to kill me. Worse, I think it's the same guy that targeted my parents. I need to stay alive long enough to bring him to justice. The only problem with that is that it looks like we've got a mole; someone betrays us in the worst way, and we need to find out who.

I need to find my would-be assassin and stop him before he puts the nails in my coffin.

I need to locate the leak—and plug it—permanently.

Oh and I probably need to stop the rampaging ouroboros too, with Emory's help, of course.