January 2025
Family Doctor is by J M Dalgliesh. I have three days to kill a patient. If I fail, my daughter will die… As the only doctor on a stunning remote Scottish island, I finally feel safe and happy. Here, nobody knows about my troubled past except my teenage daughter Lauren. I'm a single mother, so it’s just the two of us now, and Lauren is my world. Caring for every person on the island, from birth to death, I know all their fears and secrets. But they don’t know mine, and for the sake of my daughter, I must keep it that way… Everything is going perfectly until I am sent a link to a live video stream of my beautiful daughter Lauren, her wide blue eyes terrified. And there’s a voice: ‘Three rules. Three days. You must murder one of your patients. You must not tell another soul. You must not get caught. If you fail, your daughter dies…’
I know it’s him. He says we’ve never met. Why would he lie? Her - When I see him, my heart stops dead. I tell myself it’s impossible, but I would recognise those striking pale blue eyes anywhere. It’s him. The high-school boyfriend I adored… Until the day he vanished without a trace. I run towards him, my pulse racing. He turns, politely, a puzzled look on that familiar face. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Do I know you?’ I need answers. I’m certain he’s lying. I just have to prove it. Him - Of course you recognised me. Always so keen, always trying to do right by everyone. It’s typical of my bad luck that we happened to run into each other. I left this place for a reason – one you never knew. And now I’m back, I have plans. And I’m afraid, my dear, that you’re getting in my way… The Perfect Boyfriend is by S E Lynes.
What Kind of Mother is by Anna-Lou Weatherley. My son and his girlfriend stand there, two terrified teenagers shivering in the doorway, and say the unthinkable. ‘I think we killed someone.’ Now, I have to decide exactly what kind of mother I am… It was never my dream to clean the Levinsons’ mansion for a living, particularly as Helen Levinson and her daughter Paris are oddly secretive about which rooms I can go into.But none of that matters the night Paris and my son Conor come begging for help, their clothes spattered with blood. They say it was an accident, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time… Now, Helen and I have to make a terrible choice. Do we tell the truth and risk losing our children forever? Or do we lie to keep them safe? We will do anything to protect our children, but one wrong move could cost us everything. Lying to the police was a risk, and now Helen is acting more unpredictable by the day – turning up at my house unannounced, harassing my husband, telling lies about my past… The only way to save my family is to uncover the truth about that night. I’m convinced the answers lie hidden inside the Levinsons’ house. I’d do anything for Conor, but am I prepared for what I might find behind locked doors? But when your son is in danger, you find out what kind of mother you are…
She’s perfect. Too perfect… Wife: For twenty-five years, my husband and I have been the ideal couple. I’m shy, but he’s always been the life and soul of the party, a charmer, so I didn’t worry the first time I caught him a little too close to my best friend, Wendy. Mother: Then our darling son says he’s taking Wendy’s daughter to prom, the girl I never trusted because she’s too much like her mother. As I snap photos of them, I have a smile plastered on my face, but inside my head I’m screaming at him to stay away from her. Liar: As flashing lights slice the darkness around our home, my worst nightmare comes true with the shocking news that one of our children is dead. And I can tell my husband, my best friend are both lying about where they were. But none of their secrets compares to mine. And nobody knows just how far I’d go to protect my family… Wife, Mother, Liar is by Sue Watson.
Gripping the phone, my hands tremble with fear. I look at my son and wonder how my darling blue-eyed boy could have done this. But as my eyes focus down on the body, I know what I must do. I know it will destroy our lives forever. 'Hello? I need help. It’s my child. He’s killed someone.' As my son looks at me, his eyes pleading for help, all I can think in that moment is that I will do whatever it takes to protect him. A young girl’s lifeless body lies on the ground and my heart breaks when I realise I’m already too late to save her. Our family will never be the same again. I know I should call for help. But looking towards the phone table I see an old picture of the children playing in the garden. Our children and hers. We used to be so close, I thought our families would be together for a lifetime. But in a moment of rage, the life I imagined has been snatched away. But if I’m honest, I’ve been kidding myself about how perfect our lives were. I’m a mother. I should be able to keep my children safe. But what I see in front of me cannot be denied. No one else is here. My son’s guilty. How far will I go to protect him? The Mother's Phone Call is by Victoria Jenkins.
May Day should mark the start of spring. But this year, it means murder… Fortunately antique store owner and amateur detective Bella Winter is on the case! Everyone in Hope Eaton climbs the hill to Sweet Agnes’ Spring on May Day, to greet the dawn and leave tokens among the flowers. Antique store owner Bella Winter grumbles about the early start, but she has to admit that watching the sun rise over the flower-strewn grove is worth it. And her interest deepens when she sees that one of the offerings this year is a little doll stuck all over with pins… a perfect replica of Mary Roberts, who lives nearby. Determined to find out what lies behind this bizarre threat, Bella dives into a murky mess of strange events. Mary’s house is up for sale, but someone’s trying to wreck the deal, leaving rotting weeds on her front step. And Mary claims she’s seen a cloaked figure watching her from the woods… Bella’s half convinced this is all nonsense, but then Mary is found dead, her prized carving of the spring stolen from her dresser. The police say it was a heart attack, but was she literally scared to death? Soon Bella has uncovered a string of further mysteries. Why is Mary’s nearest neighbour missing? Who graffitied her boss’s house with a warning the night she died? And why would anyone want Mary’s carving? All paths lead back to the spring itself… but does it hold answers or more danger? And can Bella track the killer down before she’s cut off at the source? The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder is by Clare Chase.
The Husband is by Daniel Hurst. Is the man you love a killer? I’ve been married to my kind, loving husband Lachlan for over twenty years. He’s my everything. We have two teenage children, a beautiful home and I feel so lucky to live this perfect life. Until my best friend says something that makes me doubt everything… She whispers it’s strange Lachlan has lived nearby to two unsolved murder cases. First, the murder of the woman in the small, Scottish village where he grew up and more recently the shocking death of a woman who lived round the corner from us. The thought makes my head spin. It’s just a coincidence, surely? But at home, I can’t help but notice that Lachlan’s becoming angry, not at all like his usual self. It makes me wonder if he’s hiding something from me. It makes me wonder if he could be guilty. I push the thought away, but no matter what, I can’t get rid of this niggle of doubt. The only way to find out is to go to Scotland and get my husband to face his past. But when secrets start to unravel in the remote Scottish Highlands, I realise the truth is more complicated than I thought, and more than one person could be a killer. Now my children and I are in terrible danger. And coming here might be the last mistake I ever make.
“Megan, you need to call me. Wallace was here. He left a message to say please don’t worry. He’s coming for you soon.” As I hang up the call, my blood runs cold. I’ve spent a lifetime running from this man. But as I look down at his next victim, their face frozen in one final moment of fear, I can’t escape the feeling that I will be next to die. When the body of Detective Susan Dupont is discovered lying across the dividing line of two counties, Detective Megan Carpenter is immediately called to the scene. When her body is examined they find a sharp piece of metal has been lodged in her eye. A detail that takes Megan back to a deeply-buried memory which she has long been running from. Twenty-four hours later, retired Detective Riley Denton is found dead at home. His death is deemed a tragic accident. He fell down the stairs and had no enemies. Why would anyone want him dead? But Megan feels sure there is a link to the deaths and there is only one person she can trust with her theory. Calling in the help of her partner Detective Ronnie Marsh, they start to piece together a link that places Megan right at the centre of a deadly plot. As they race to find the killer before they strike closer to home, a string of murder victims going back years starts to emerge. And when Megan discovers how the murders are linked, she has to finally accept a dark truth she has spent her life running from. A killer from her past is back just like they promised and they will stop at nothing to take everything she loves. Can Megan stop them dead in their tracks or will she pay the ultimate price? Final Victim is by Gregg Olson.
Stolen Baby is by L G Davis. I told everyone she is my baby. I lied. My life changes forever when my little girl appears in a basket on my doorstep, her long lashes fluttering, only a few hours old. She’s so tiny and precious; my heart is hers in an instant. My husband Tom and I have always longed for a child, so we agree not to tell the authorities. We won’t risk them taking her away. And I know if they find out my history, they’d never let me keep her… I’m so grateful to have my beautiful baby, who we call Daisy. But while Tom refuses to talk about it, I can’t stop wondering who her biological parents are and why they left her with us? Then someone sends me a message, enclosing it in a funeral programme I find on my kitchen table. Now I know the terrible truth about what happened to Daisy’s parents, and it’s closer to home than I could ever have imagined. I thought I could protect us all, despite my past mistakes. But when the secrets I uncover put my family’s lives at risk, how far will I go to keep the little girl I love?
I’m home,’ she says, standing at my door with a sky-blue backpack clutched tightly to her chest. I haven’t seen my granddaughter in years. But I know she’s hiding a deadly secret…It’s been ten years since I last saw Stephanie, but looking into her haunted eyes, she looks just as innocent as she did as a baby. I remember the photo of her wrapped in a little pink blanket; how my heart hurt not to hold her on the day she was born. Pulling her in to a tight embrace, I promise her that although she’s lost her mother, I will take care of her from now on. No matter what… But as I usher her inside, I can’t help wondering if Stephanie knows my secrets. The real reason I hadn’t seen her mother in years… or why she wasn’t ever allowed to visit me at my house. Did my daughter take our family secrets to the grave? Stephanie’s heart breaks when she talks about her mother. But soon details slip out about the night she died, and I begin to realise that my granddaughter is just as good a liar as I am… Stephanie says my daughter's death was an accident, but I’m not so sure. If I uncover my granddaughter’s secrets, will I be next? The Perfect Guest is by Casey Kelleher.
Her Hiding Place is by Shannon Hollinger. “Okay sweetheart,” I whisper, giving my little girl Alice a final kiss. “Now remember, after I’ve locked the door, be quiet like a mouse. I’ll come back later, I promise.” Her little face crumples as I turn to leave and my heart breaks. But I have no choice. I have to work, and I have to keep her hidden. It’s just ten days until the new hotel opens. As I push my cleaning cart into the chandeliered honeymoon suite, I wonder how it would feel to stay here as a guest. To watch the sun rise over the ocean, to fall asleep with no fear. I’ll never know, of course. Instead, I work twelve-hour days as a maid, constantly frightened of discovery. Alice is just three, and she’s already seen more than any child should. Hiding on this isolated island resort, where she can only come out at night, is so hard for her. But the other staff can’t know she’s here, let alone the guests when they arrive. And no one can know my secret—or what we’re really running from. But when a massive storm cuts the island off from the mainland, my darkest fears become real. A body is found and in the shocking aftermath, someone finds out about Alice… With no means of escape, I know we are stuck on the island with a killer. Someone has been hiding in plain sight, waiting for an opportunity to make their move. Then my worst nightmare comes true and Alice disappears. I know I can trust no one. How far will I have to go to find her? And what will happen when they find out who Alice really is…?
