Top list: Suspense

The tumultuous political events of recent days have left I-sei Province looking for leadership, but there are obstacles everywhere they turn. Gyokuen’s sons refuse to rule, while Gyoku-ou’s oldest child is unpredictable and violent. Jinshi decides to tutor Gyoku-ou’s other sons in the ways of politics, but they’re going to discover that it’s an even more dangerous business than they ever anticipated. Maomao, as ever, just wants to live her life, but she might not be able to ignore the escalating perils around her. In fact, they might not ignore her...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Speaking in Bones, the first Temperance Brennan novel in the “cleverly plotted and expertly maintained series” (The New York Times Book Review).

Her life is devoted to justice—even for those she never knew.

In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Temperance detects an alarming pattern—and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her—her best friend and her own daughter—in mortal danger…

“A genius at building suspense” (Daily News, New York), Kathy Reichs’s Temperance Brennan books are ripe with intricate settings and memorable characters” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

#1 New York Times Bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book * An NPR Best Book of the Year

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and resourceful characters, returns in this chilling “exploration of grief and delusion, just pure undistilled evil” (New York magazine) as she uncovers the truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency, hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly Gibney is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just passed away. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny’s desperate voice makes it impossible to turn her down.

Meanwhile, mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are also harboring a shocking, unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to…for they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless. Now Holly must summon all of her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver these unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries in this chilling and unforgettable masterwork from Stephen King.

From New York Times Bestseller and BookTok sensation Rina Kent comes a gripping arranged marriage mafia romance, the first generation of the Legacy of Gods series.

When powers clash…

In the mafia world, women don’t reign.

I’m the exception of that rule.

I didn’t choose this life, it chose me.

I have a legacy to protect, a power to snatch, and no one will stop me.

If an arranged marriage is what it’ll take to lead, then so be it.

What I don’t count on is that my chosen husband is a ghost from my past.

Kyle Hunter.

He was once my guard, my protector. Now, he’s after my kingdom.

The road to the throne is paved with thorns, blood, and casualties.

To win, I’ll risk it all. My heart included.

This book is part of a duet and is not standalone.

©2020 Rina Kent (P)2020 Rina Kent

She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She's seen it all: men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can't shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn't get to the truth, she'll be the killer's next victim…

He took her voiceShe took it back

Don’t miss the next nerve-shredding instalment in the DCI Matilda Darke Thriller series…

A CENSURED DETECTIVE WITH NO LEADS

DCI Matilda Darke and her team have been restricted under special measures after a series of calamitous scandals nearly brought down the South Yorkshire police force.

A BRUTAL ATTACK WITH NO WITNESSES

Now Matilda is on the trail of another murderer, an expert in avoiding detection with no obvious motive but one obvious method.

A DEPRAVED KILLER WHO LEAVES NO TRACES

When his latest victim survives the attack despite her vocal cords being severed, Matilda is more convinced than ever of the guilt of her key suspect. If only she had a way to prove it…

is an unputdownable crime thriller with twists that will make your jaw drop – perfect for fans of Kathy Reichs and Ann Cleeves.Silent Victim

Tense, twisty, emotional and grippinga huge 5 stars‘. Will definitely be reading more from Matilda Darke and this gets from me!’ Angela Marsons

excellent‘Matilda Darke is an character’ BA Paris

explosive‘This novel is already making a bang – with reviewers comparing Michael’s work to that of his heroes Val McDermid and James Oswald’Sheffield Star

going places‘DCI Matilda Darke is ’ James Oswald

Crackling dialogue, dark wit and an exciting ending‘. Recommended if you liked ’ Mark EdwardsHappy Valley

Budge up Jed Mercurio‘ … when you are done working on I think it is time for you to meet Matilda’ LJ, Read and Rated Book Review BlogLine of Duty

Excellent plottingirresistible read‘. The twists keep on coming making this an ’ Michael J. Malone

really enjoyed‘I getting to know DCI Matilda Darke’ Robert Bryndza

the perfect heroine‘DCI Matilda Darke is ’ Elly Griffiths

Praise for the DCI Matilda Darke Series:

I-sei Province is still reeling in the aftermath of the insect plague. Jinshi resolves to do everything in his power to help the people of this land—but how far does his power really go in the western capital? And will he regret his efforts when all the credit seems to go to Gyoku-ou? The local lord seems to have an agenda of his own, but Jinshi still doesn’t know what it might be. Meanwhile Maomao must deal with problems of her own, from finding relief for a sick child to unraveling the mystery around the freak strategist’s favorite Shogi opponent. Somehow, each answer only seems to lead her to a bigger question...

Joanne knows how lucky she is—Richard is a wonderful husband, Evie is the most gorgeous baby girl, they live in a beautiful house—life couldn't be better. But then Richard's twenty-year-old daughter Chloe turns up. Chloe hasn’t spoken to her father since the day he married Joanne two years ago. But with the arrival of her baby sister Evie, Chloe wants to make peace. Richard is delighted, and since Joanne is struggling with the new baby, he suggests Chloe could move in and help. It sounds like the perfect solution, even if Chloe doesn’t seem to like Joanne very much. But Joanne understands it’s not easy for her, and she's prepared to give her time. But then things happen that make Joanne feel like she’s losing her mind. She misplaces things, misses important appointments, gets dates wrong… Could Joanne be going mad, just like her own mother? Or is something more sinister happening? Is Chloe really here to help? Or has Joanne made a terrible mistake by letting her move in? And is it too late to ask her to leave?

Moral fantasy novel by Oscar Wilde, published in an early form in Lippincott's Magazine in 1890. The novel had six additional chapters when it appeared in book form in 1891. An archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, the novel was a romantic exposition of Wilde's aestheticism. Dorian Gray is a wealthy Englishman who gradually sinks into a life of dissipation and crime. Despite his unhealthy behavior, his physical appearance remains youthful and unmarked by dissolution. Instead, a portrait of himself catalogues every evil deed by turning his once handsome features into a hideous mask. When Gray destroys the painting, his face turns into a human replica of the portrait, and he dies.Gray's final negation, "ugliness is the only reality," neatly summarizes Wilde's aestheticism, both his love of the beautiful and his fascination with the profane. Publication of the novel scandalized Victorian England, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was used as evidence against Wilde in his 1895 trial for homosexuality. The novel became a classic of English literature.

A new, jaw-dropping thriller from the instant #1 New York Times bestseller of The Boyfriend and The Housemaid!

There's no place like home…

Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone he shares with his fiancée, he's desperate to make ends meet.

Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?

Because something isn't quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets...

Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden knocks at your door with a gripping story of revenge, privilege, and secrets turned sour…

“I don’t just want to hear her laugh, I need to earn it. Every time I gain a little ground, I want more. I want to break out of the shade and back into her light. Without even realizing it, I’ve become addicted to it. To her.”

From the author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird comes the second book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a hate-to-love dark romantic comedy packed with danger, chaos, and heat.

Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.

And they can’t stand each other.

Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.

There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.

And this one has come for blood.

Tropes:

Hate-to-love

Marriage of convenience

Grumpy / sunshine

He falls first

Groveling, but make it psycho

Touch her/him and die

The New York Times bestselling novel, from the author of Station Eleven.

'A damn fine novel . . . haunting and evocative and immersive' George R R Martin, author of A Game of Thrones

Vincent is the beautiful bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass-and-cedar palace on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. New York financier Jonathan Alkaitis owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it’s the beginning of their life together. That same day, a hooded figure scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: ‘Why don’t you swallow broken glass.’ Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune-Avramidis, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later, just after a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of a Neptune-Avramidis ship.

Weaving together the lives of these characters, Emily St. John Mandel's The Glass Hotel moves between the ship, the towers of Manhattan, and the wilderness of remote British Columbia, painting a breathtaking picture of greed and guilt, fantasy and delusion, art and the ghosts of our pasts.

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.

THE NUMBER 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER AWARD 2025

'A masterclass in suspense' PAULA HAWKINS

‘A spellbinding nightmare’ FERNANDA MELCHOR

‘A book of intense power’ PHILIPPE SANDS

'A compelling book, with a tightly coiled power' PANDORA SYKES

The shockingly compulsive new literary thriller from the International Booker-shortlisted author of The Remainder.

Clean begins with an inescapable fact: a girl has died. Told by Estela, a maid to a wealthy, middle class family who speaks to us from a locked room, we hear of her plight and the circumstances that led to this moment. As we enter into her account of her daily existence, we see how her apparently simple life begins to sour, but would that drive her to the unthinkable?

Disturbing and profound, Clean explores domestic work, class and violence, against the backdrop of Chile’s changing political landscape. This is one of the most daring and compelling thrillers in international literature.

'Uncomfortable and provocative … a chilling account'

FINANCIAL TIMES

'I hardly paused for breath' ALICE SLATER, author of Death of a Bookseller

'Remarkable, gripping' SARAH BERNSTEIN, author of Study for Obedience

'Terrifying, explosive and exhilarating' KATIE KITAMURA, author of Intimacies

‘Beautifully written and profound’ LUCIE WHITEHOUSE, author of Last Witness

Number 1 Bestseller in Sweden

A terrorist cell based in China called Dark Cloud has devised a plan to release a deadly poison on entire nations using rocket technology. In true six degrees-of-separation style, Agent Sydney Bristow's friend from graduate school, Keiko Terajima, happens to be the daughter of a prominent Japanese physicist, and Dark Cloud needs his top-secret knowledge to carry out its devious plan. What's more, Keiko's married to Franklin, the son of an old colleague Jack Bristow killed years ago to protect Sydney. When APO learns that Franklin is part of an elite group of agents who marry women to gain access to information, Sydney begins to question his true intentions with Keiko.

Tracing the connections leads deeper and deeper into the terrorists' plot -- with Keiko's father and husband at the centre. Suddenly, Sydney finds herself on a mission not only to prevent the poisonous rain from devastating a country, but to save her loved ones as well.

In this “skillfully penned tale of murder and cover-up that will keep readers enthralled until the powerful finish” (Fresh Fiction), family secrets and a serial killer from the past converge in this electrifying thriller.

In 1985, Edward Shank famously gunned down the Beacon Hill Butcher, ending the serial killer’s reign of terror over the city of Seattle. But now in his eighties, Edward’s action-packed glory days are long behind him. The decorated former Seattle police chief has given up his high-maintenance Victorian home to his grandson Matt for a quiet life at the nearby Sweetbay Village Retirement Residence, where mac-n-cheese Wednesdays have become the highlight of his week.

Though it’s hard to watch his grandfather get older, Matt is thrilled to inherit the large house he grew up in. Already an accomplished chef with a popular restaurant and a TV show in the works, Matt’s dream life is finally within reach…until he discovers a crate buried in the backyard that holds a secret about his grandfather so terrible, it threatens to ruin all their lives if it ever gets out. Especially his girlfriend Sam’s, whose mother was killed when she was only two years old.

As Matt struggles with his dark family secret, Sam’s obsession with solving her mother’s murder continues to grow. A true crime writer now working on a book about the Butcher, Sam has always suspected her mother was one of his victims, even though she was killed two years after the Butcher was supposedly gunned down.

But when new victims begin to turn up, their murders eerily similar to the Butcher’s all those years ago, Sam realizes she might be right. The more she digs into the old murders, the more dangerous it gets…and the truth is closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

“A tense, suspenseful, thoroughly creepy thriller” (Booklist), The Butcher sinks its teeth in you from the very first page.

INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

For fans of Bunny and Yellowface, this razor-sharp debut thriller blends biting satire with chilling suspense, as a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life—only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything—except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier barely scraping by, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL).

When Julie discovers Chloe’s body, she doesn’t call the police. Instead, she slips into her dead sister’s meticulously curated life: luxury fashion, high-end skincare, and a devoted online following who never noticed they weren’t quite the same.

At first, the transformation is seamless. Julie relishes the perks of influencer fame, but quickly learns that behind Chloe’s flawless feed lay secrets far darker than she imagined. Her sister’s final days were shadowed by paranoia, manipulation, and something far more sinister.

Now, trapped on a private island retreat with Chloe’s inner circle—an elite clique of influencers obsessed with status and secrecy—Julie is forced to keep up the act while being haunted by her sister’s untimely death. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.

Darkly funny, fiercely paced, and full of sharp commentary on identity, fame, and the cost of visibility, Julie Chan Is Dead is a twisted thrill ride where fitting in could be fatal—and the people behind the posts are the real danger.

'This is David Baldacci at his best' - Michael Connelly

'I couldn’t stop turning the pages, fascinated, moved, horrified' – Alex Michaelides

'A Tour de Force' – S.A. Cosby

'May be the best novel David Baldacci has ever written' - Scott Turow

'A tale of high tension, false assumptions and stubborn humanity' - Stacey Abrams

Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a murder case sets a duo of Black and white lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama from the number one bestselling author David Baldacci.

Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.

Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in town. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.

Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.

From New York Times Bestseller and BookTok sensation Rina Kent comes the captivating Deception Trilogy, the first generation of the Legacy of Gods series.

My husband. My Tormentor.

The most notorious man in the city offers me a job.

Act as his dead wife.

Adrian Volkov isn’t the type of person who takes no for an answer.

He commands with an iron fist and all his orders are met.

When he approaches me with the offer, I have two options.

Go to prison or put myself under his wrath.

I choose to have a roof over my head. What’s so hard about acting, right?

Wrong.

The moment I step into his wife’s shoes, everything spirals out of control.

My only way of survival is through Adrian.

Or is it?

Vow of Deception is book one of a trilogy and is not standalone.

©2021 Rina Kent (P)2021 Rina Kent

What's in a name? Apparently everything.

A killer is targeting women in the Los Angeles area who share a name with Sydney Bristow's former aliases. Sydney wants the case, but she's already hot on the heels of a terrorist armed with a secret formula for a super-explosive.

While Sydney and Dixon try to prevent the terrorist from creating a man-made tsunami aimed at the United States, Weiss and Nadia are tasked with catching the Alias Killer. Jack and Vaughn quietly embark on their own investigation into the alias killings and begin to suspect that the murderer may be an ex-coworker resentful of Sydney for shutting down the shadow organization SD-6 years ago.

As Sydney struggles to stay focused and stop a ruthless man with mass destruction on his mind, she can't help but wonder, Will APO find the Alias Killer before another one of my unsuspecting namesakes pays the price?