January 2026
'Of all the creatures in the
world, only humans have the capacity for evil . . . ' Small animals – a rat, a
rabbit, a squirrel – have been turning up throughout Charlotte, North Carolina,
mutilated and displayed in the same bizarre manner. But one day, as Tempe is
relaxing at home alongside her aimless, moody great-niece Tory, she’s diverted
by a disturbing call. Now, it seems, the perp is upping the ante. This find is
larger. Could the remains be human? Tempe visits the scene and discovers that
the victim is a dog. Someone’s pet. As someone who has always found animal
cruelty deeply abhorrent, Tempe vows to help apprehend the person responsible
for the killings, and due to Tory’s especially layered knowledge of animal
behaviour, the young woman turns out to be a valuable ally in the hunt for
answers. Oddly, Tempe discovers that semi-retired homicide detective Erskine
‘Skinny’ Slidell is equally outraged and committed. Needing a better
understanding of possible motives, Tempe and Skinny seek input from a forensic
psychologist. The doctor has no definitive answer but offers several
possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests even
more macabre discoveries – and that the perp’s focus may soon shift to humans. And
then it happens. A woman is found disfigured and posed in a manner that mimics
the earlier killings. As Tempe and Slidell follow the horrifying clues to a
shocking conclusion, they’re forced to confront an increasingly terrifying
question: ‘What is pure evil?’ Evil Bones is by Kathy Reichs.
February 2026
What Happened That Night is by
Nicci French. After nearly thirty years in prison for the murder of his
university friend Leo Bauer, Tyler Green is finally free. Meeting up with the
group of friends who were there the night that Leo died, Tyler is looking to
reconnect – but he’s also looking for answers. When another friend is found
dead that night, his new found freedom is put in jeopardy. Detective Maud
O’Connor is called to investigate – but can she discover the truth, or is Tyler
Green never going to be free?
When Jamie’s best friend drags
her to a speed-dating event, she knows what to expect . . . mediocre men and
the opportunity to eat her feelings later. She’s not expecting a blackout and
for her date to be gruesomely killed at their table. After the lights come back
on, Jamie sees more bodies on the floor. Knowing there’s strength in numbers;
she pulls together a band of would-be survivors to escape. Armed with makeshift
weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher movie –
starting with not splitting up – the group try to find a way
out whilst the killer stalks them. But is he simply picking them off or is he
playing some sick game to woo one of the daters and turn them into his
real-life Final Girl? Nothing speeds up love like fighting for your life and
Jamie somehow finds herself in a love triangle despite the potentially deadly
consequences. Has she finally found true love or does the prospect of death via
machete-wielding psychopath mean she’s already met her match? How to Kill a Guy
in Ten Dates is by Shailee Thompson.
The Institute is by Katherine
Bradley. Birds of a feather flock together but never underestimate the instinct
to survive. A group of students jump off a train platform into the path of an
arriving train. The lone survivor, Billie, cannot recall the incident, but is
adamant that she and her friends weren’t suicidal. Desperate for answers,
Billie agrees to sign herself into the care of the Arbor Institute, a
mysterious, corporate-backed research body investigating a disturbing rise in
similar incidents around the globe. At the Institute, Billie learns more about
‘flock phenomena’, where people band together to self-destruct. She is told
that she’s at risk of ‘re-flocking’, and if she does, she will likely die.
But not everything is as it
seems. When Billie discovers that she and her fellow survivors have been
completely cut off from the outside world, she realizes they may not be safe.
And as she sets her sights
on survival, the Institute may regret taking her under their wing. Because this
wounded fledgling might turn out to be a bird of prey…
March 2026
Based on a True Story is by Sarah
Vaughan. A lavish 70th birthday party. A body found
on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that
someone is dying to tell... Famed
children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and
friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her
birthday – and her latest number one bestseller in her series of
books based on a mother fox and her cubs. But the night before
the party, Eleanor receives an email: an email that threatens to
expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century. Someone
knows her secret. Is it her estranged
literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer
speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago,
who always did have a knack for storytelling?
Or is it one of her three daughters, all of
whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...
With a TV crew arriving to film a documentary of
her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email – and preserve her
multimillion-pound career. But when push comes to shove, and it's
time to tell the truth – will anyone actually believe her?
A twenty-year-old mystery. A
teenage girl struck by lightning and the righting of past wrongs. ‘Just wait
until I tell you all about what lightning can do . . .’ Some called her the
lightning girl. The one who survived the storm. I called her my best friend. Everyone
remembers the day Gen was struck by lightning. Few remember what really
happened after she disappeared, leaving behind a town full of secrets. Now I’m
back, and the whispers about that summer are haunting me again. I can see the
truth taunting me in the shadows. I need answers. Someone out there knows
what happened to the girl who vanished. Someone wants those secrets to stay
buried. Whatever it takes. The Lighting Girl is by Sam Ripley.
Death at Daffodil Inn is by R L Killmore. Spring is blooming in Cinnamon Falls and the annual Daffodil Jubilee is in full swing. Morgan Taylor, who is reluctantly helping her parents host the event at the Daffodil Inn, wishes she could be left alone to daydream about Will, the dangerously hot single dad she can’t seem to get out her head. As the Jubilee draws to a close with the Petals and Promises dance, Morgan’s finally finds herself face to face with Will. But their magical moment is swiftly shattered by a bloodcurdling scream. A guest has been found dead in the inn’s garden maze, and whispers ripple through the crowd: Murder. With the inn’s future at stake, Morgan teams up with Will to solve the mystery. Can they uncover the truth before it’s too late, or will their search only end in heartbreak?
April 2026
Dublin, summer 1970. Nicoletta
Sarto is juggling work as the women’s editor at the Irish
Sentinel with twin baby girls at home. When she’s approached by a
barrister, Louise Leonard, whose aunt has just died, she’s drawn into a story
that could have dangerous consequences. Was Helen Leonard murdered, as her
niece thinks? And who was the mysterious nurse who has now vanished, but to
whom Helen left everything? As Nicoletta investigates, she has to fight not
only her own family’s disapproval of her being a working mother, but also
society’s. And as she slowly unpicks the mystery of Helen Leonard’s
death, she’s unaware that danger lurks around every corner… Among
the Ruins is by Claire Coughlan.
Bodies of Lies is by Jo
Callaghan. Human suspicion. AI manipulation. Who can you trust when truth has no meaning? DCS Kat Frank returns to
work at the Future Policing Unit after a tragic loss, only to find herself
thrust into a new high-profile case. On the night of Halloween, a local MP is
found murdered, with a taunting message written in binary code that seems to
target Kat specifically: Catch me if you can. The victim’s anti-AI
sentiments suggest a political motive, and as Kat investigates with her partner
AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – she finds herself once again
battling her own prejudices about the technological future he represents. But when
a cyberattack takes out the National Grid, Kat and Lock have to race against
the clock to track down the hacker before thousands die. Tangled in a web of
suspicion and deception, Kat must choose who and what to believe when the truth
seems to defy both instinct and logic. Can she set aside her old doubts and put
her faith in her AI partner one last time? Or will this case send Lock down a
path she just can’t follow – a path that will leave humanity behind for good?
Paw & Order is by Blake Mara When
a young homeless man is found murdered in the playground of their local park,
the Pack – a group of friends who meet regularly to walk their dogs together –
leap into action, determined to get justice for him even if they have to bark
up every tree in the neighbourhood. But the discovery of another body, this
time by the canal, suggests the killer may only be getting started. And when
one of their own is targeted, it’s clear that whoever it is has a bone to pick
with the Pack. With the trail getting closer to home, can Louise and the gang
find the murderer in time, and bring them to heel?
May 2026
A novel of death and identity
where C. B. Everett himself is under suspicion. Ten years ago, the bestselling and critically
acclaimed literary author Jonathan Durward disappeared without a trace . . .
and without a final novel. Now, that missing manuscript has surfaced, but it’s
not another genius work of literary fiction, but an espionage novel full of
all-too-stereotypical spy craft and James Bond-like twists. His former
publisher has asked the author’s best friend - and fellow author - C.B.
Everett, to annotate the novel with details from real life to give the novel
context. But as C.B. reads, he finds the espionage thriller is filled with
references to events and people who feel a little too familiar, and soon he’s
wondering if the novel might in fact be a key to his missing friend’s
disappearance. There’s text and subtext aplenty, and C.B. is determined to
learn once and for all what happened to Jonathan through solving the mystery
woven into the pages. But the final chapter may hold secrets darker and more
threatening than anyone anticipated. The Final Chapter is by C B Everett.
138 Main Street is by Gavin
Bell. An address to die for… The
heart of every town in America. Just became a target. There is a killer on the
loose. He has committed four murders in four weeks, each of which have only one
thing in common. The victims’ address: 138 Main Street. For FBI Special Agent
Ben Walker and his rookie colleague, Officer Zoe Hill, the case is unlike any
they have seen before. They already know where the murderer will strike: the
problem is that there are over seven thousand Main Streets in the USA. And they
have no clue which one will be next. But these attacks are only the
beginning. When the Main Street Killer’s manifesto is released to the media,
his demands become clear, as do the consequences if they aren’t met. With
every town in the country at imminent risk, the pressure is mounting on Ben and
Zoe to stop the killer before he can carry out his threat. But with their
target always several steps ahead, and over three and a half million square
miles of ground to cover, they’ll have to find him first.
When beloved celebrity gardener
Finn O’Leary returns to his hometown of Abbeyford in Ireland to care for his
aging mother, he is naturally roped into the Tidy Towns committee. The Tidy
Towns is a competition fanatically fought over by every town and village in the
land. And for his best friend’s sister, Aoife, it’s a competition she’s
determined to win. With everyone’s favourite gardener on board, she is sure
that this year Abbeyford will take home the prize. But Finn’s not been
back long when an alto-baritone at his mother’s choir practice drops dead
during a rendition of ‘What the World Needs Now’. With more
at stake than just winning Tidy Towns, Finn soon finds himself trying to solve
a murder – or two. For one of his many qualities is that people tend to confide
in him…With his mother, her Nigerian carer and Aoife in tow, Finn sets out to
discover just who has brought murder to Abbeyford. And so it begins. A Plot to
Die For is by Ardal O’Hanlon.
June 2026
Deception is by Jack Jordan. Emma
and Miles are targeted by a mysterious syndicate called The Levels, who offer
them the chance to complete a series of tasks in order to earn money to afford
their son's life-saving treatment. The catch? Each task is a crime, and as
they escalate in intensity so will the payout. As the levels get darker,
they must ask themselves how far they’ll go and how much they’ll risk to save
their child.
2016. Hannah Miller has begun her
senior year at The Prescott Academy of New York alongside the rich and famous
of the Upper East Side. Or at least, their children. Among the trust funds
and penthouse parties, there’s one rule for survival: staying out of the way of
Queen Bees Madison DuPont and Elle Harrington. For Hannah, being a
scholarship student makes her invisible. Or so she thinks. 2026. The Academy's
alumni have gathered for a glittering charity gala. Only Madison DuPont could
host an event this grand. But what starts as a champagne-fuelled party
soon descends into chaos when Madison is found dead moments after her speech.
It doesn't take long for fingers to point at Hannah – everyone saw her talking
to Madison only moments before she died. She shouldn't even be at the gala.
She's not really one of them. The truth is that everyone had a reason to
want Madison dead. To clear her name, Hannah must unearth the secrets that this
crowd would kill to keep buried. Murder on the Upper East Side is by Gigi
Waldorf.
The Death Row Club is by V A
Vazquez. Some things run in the blood… A darkly twisted and wonderfully
original debut thriller for fans of Riley Sager and Jessica Knoll – at an
annual weekend getaway for the adult children of serial killers, the
participants begin to wonder if somebody's continuing the family tradition when
one of their number turns up dead. Plenty of people have lousy parents, but
Nicola Fischer’s father has just been convicted of murdering five young women,
including her best friend. Fired from her job and hounded by reporters, Nicola
passes the time by doom-scrolling and drunk-dialling Greer Woods, the alluring
host of the hit show To Catch a Killer, who cracked the case and
turned Nicola's life upside down before disappearing along with her so-called
‘best intentions’. When an email from Greer finally shows up in Nicola's inbox,
there’s no apology or explanation, just a cryptic invitation. The Death Row
Club is an annual weekend getaway for the adult children of serial killers –
and Nicola is the newest reluctant member. Desperate to escape her small town,
she accepts the offer with barely a second thought, forging tentative bonds
with her fellow club members, most of whom seem intriguing, and only slightly
unhinged. But when an uninvited guest shows up at their remote wilderness
retreat, everyone is put on high alert, and the next morning paranoia turns to
outright fear. Because one of their own is dead, and the rest of them are left
with only one question. If the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, which
of them is the bad seed?
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