Well! 2025 has began with a bang! A bang of ‘Great Reads’.
Out of the 10 books I read in January these are my ‘Top 5’ five star reads. In no particular order.
Every Last Suspect by Nicola Moriarty
Manipulative, irresistible, monstrous.
Love or hate her, Harriet Osman is impossible to turn down. But someone in her life has finally snapped, leaving her face-down in a pool of her own blood. Harriet isn’t one to die quietly though, and she is determined to reveal her killer before she goes.
Was it her devoted husband, Malek, with a violent past? Her best friend and lover, Victoria, with a deadly secret only Harriet knew? Or the new woman in her life, fellow school mum Karen? The one with an impeccable reputation … or so she says.
Bullying, friendships and games (in and out of the bedroom) combine with envy, lust and revenge, creating a darkly twisted tale of drama and suspense where the question isn’t who killed Harriet, but why did it take them so long to do it?
Nicola Moriarty’s books just keep getting better, and better!
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.
Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.
Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.
Murder, revenge, retribution.
This one stayed with me longer after I finished reading it.
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…
For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.
But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.
Beautiful! Had me hooked from the very first page. I am officially a Evie Woods fan!
One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress …
Everyone in the small town of Thorncombe knows the tales of the haunted woods where the birds don’t sing and a girl in a white dress roams, luring people to their deaths. But when a girl in white is found dead the morning after Halloween, her body carefully arranged at the bottom of an old stone folly, the community is thrown into turmoil.
With a teenage daughter of his own, police detective Ben Chase knows how high the stakes are. Was the girl the victim of a party prank gone wrong, or does her death represent something more sinister and ritualistic?
As the investigation unfolds and the noose tightens around Chase’s own family, the only thing anyone can be sure of is that no one is safe until this violent killer is caught.
How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?
Hannah Richell never falls to write amazing stories.
The Ledge by Christian White
When human remains are discovered in a forest, police are baffled, the locals are shocked and one group of old friends starts to panic. Their long-held secret is about to be uncovered.
It all began in 1999 when sixteen-year-old Aaron ran away from home, drawing his friends into an unforeseeable chain of events that no one escaped from unscathed.
In The Ledge, past and present run breathlessly parallel, leading to a climax that will change everything you thought you knew. This is a mind-bending new novel from the master of the unexpected.
Another gripping thriller from Christian White.
I hope you find another great read to add to your TBR pile.
Happy Reading.
Jody
