Kate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege. She should be making her way home, working on appearing normal, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn't be, with a man she definitely doesn't love. How will she begin to tell Vic what she is doing here? If her body is found, will it give up the secret of what she's been up to? She's been so careful hiding the evidence of her affair: write nothing down, leave no trace. Will he begin to understand why? For now, Kate can only hide, take a deep breath, and reflect on the series of choices she's made that have brought her to this moment. What will her marriage and her life look like, if she makes it out? Room 706 is by Ellie Levenson
Anatomy of an Alibi is by Ashley Elston. Everyone at Chantilly's Bar noticed out-of-towner Camille Bayliss. Red lips, designer heels, sipping a Negroni. But that woman wasn't Camille Bayliss. It was Aubrey Price. Camille Bayliss appears to have the picture-perfect life; she's married to hotshot lawyer Ben and is the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana family. Only nothing is as it seems: Camille believes Ben has been hiding dirty secrets for years, but she can't find proof because he tracks her every move. Aubrey Price has been haunted by the terrible night that changed her life a decade ago, and she's convinced Benjamin Bayliss knows something about it. Living in a house full of criminals, Aubrey understands there's more than one way to get to the truth - and she may have found the best way in. Aubrey and Camille hatch a plan. It sounds simple: For twelve hours, Aubrey will take Camille's place. Camille will spy on Ben, and the two women will get the answers they desperately seek. Except the next morning, Ben is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.
The Nowhere Girls is by Carmel Harrington. On a cold afternoon in December 1995, two young girls are found abandoned on a platform at Pearse Station in Dublin. Thirty years later, investigative journalist Vega is determined to find out what happened to the so-called 'Nowhere Girls'. Where did their mother go? Why did no one come forward to claim them? And where are they now? Searching for answers takes her on a journey with twists she never could have imagined. And one that could put everything else she knows at risk; including her new relationship, her career, and her life as she knows it. 
February 2026
Two teenage girls. One murdered classmate. And a modern-day witch trial that will divide the nation. When 18-year-old Christian Shaw is found dead in an Edinburgh park, the city reels - and the shock only deepens when police charge her best friends, Eliza Lawson and Isobel Smyth, with her murder. As social media explodes and headlines scream for justice, rumours of bullying spiral into something darker: whispers of rituals, obsession, and a teenage pact gone wrong. Matthew Phillips, a respected heart surgeon, is reluctantly called for jury duty on the case. But as the trial unfolds - and the girls reveal a chilling defence no one saw coming - he begins to question everything: the motives, the evidence, even his own judgement. Who's telling the truth? Who can be trusted? And what really happened to Christian Shaw? Let the Witch Trial begin . . Witch Trial is by Harriet Tyce.
The Other Child is by Amy Carver. You'd know your son anywhere . . . wouldn't you? Louise has never felt the deep bond with her son, Alfie, that other mothers talk about. Now three, Alfie is volatile, difficult - and Louise can't help but blame herself. Then he makes a new friend, Jacob, and everything changes. Alfie becomes calmer. Happier. Louise should be thrilled - until she meets Jacob's mother and starts noticing strange coincidences: the same hospital, same birth date. . . and Jacob looks eerily like Louise's husband. As doubt spirals into obsession, Louise's suspicions deepen. With Jacob, she feels a bond she's never had with Alfie - an unsettling, impossible connection. And soon, she's forced to confront the unthinkable: What if her child isn't really hers?
March 2026
Whidbey is by T Kira Madden. You want to know who did it, but that was never the question. Or, it was never the right one. Birdie Chang doesn't know much about Whidbey Island, only that it is far. On the ferry, she has an unnerving encounter with a stranger, where she finds herself telling him everything: how she was sexually abused as a child, how the perpetrator now walks free, how the calls and emails from him haven't stopped and she is on the run; how she wants to kill him. The stranger poses a shocking question - if she agrees, he will murder the man who hurt her, with no strings attached. She gives him a name. On the other side of the country, Mary-Beth receives a phone call from the police: her only son has been murdered. What follows is a complex story of three women connected through one man: Birdie, a woman on the run from her past and her abuser; Mary-Beth, the abuser's loving mother; and Linzie, a former reality star turned bestselling memoirist, and another victim of the same man. Whidbey is a gripping whodunnit and a searingly perceptive and astonishingly original novel that asks the crucial question of who has real power over a story: the one who lives it, or the one who tells it? Women are rarely in receipt of what they are owed.
When MJ Hudson, an old work acquaintance, shows up at Dr Kez Lanyon's house in the middle of the night, Kez knows she has no choice but to help. At the prestigious boarding school that MJ's daughter attends, a teacher has been killed and a pupil is missing. And it seems that the same thing happens every few years. Only this time, the school haven't been able to cover things up and MJ's daughter and her group of nice, quiet friends are right at the heart of the scandal. Undercover as the new school therapist, Kez quickly realises there are some seriously powerful, well-connected forces at play. And by continuing to investigate the mystery, perhaps even stepping outside the law to do so, Kez risks putting her own family in serious danger. Because no one wants their secrets aired. And some will go to any length to keep them buried. The Quiet Girls is by Dorothy Koomson.
Romania, 1989: a grey place of mysterious queues, ubiquitous informers and daily news flashes about a man-eating bear that is terrorising the country. Amidst the daily drudge of work, rationing and careful conversation with neighbours, two lives unexpectedly collide when an idealistic police detective, Constantin, is tasked with solving a string of grisly murders, and a rebellious school child, Lia, is unwittingly drawn into her elderly neighbour's seditious plot. Astronaut is by Oana Aristide
April 2026
Welcome to the Family is by Kate Gray. Holiday with your in-laws can be murder . . . Rosie Riley is nervously excited about meeting the Fraser family. She's head-over-heels for her boyfriend Theo and she hopes that spending a fortnight with the Frasers at their luxury Tuscan villa is a good sign of where their relationship is headed. Fenna Fraser has been part of the family for years. She's always enjoyed the glam annual holiday, but this year she's especially tired with a new baby in tow and she fears her mother-in-law will be more critical than ever. No one is good enough for her sons. It starts as the perfect family holiday. It ends with one of these women arrested for murder. Who is guilty? Who is the victim? And did they deserve it? . . .
When murder strikes at Bathory College's 25-year reunion, the clues to the killing can be found a quarter of a century ago on Graduation Day 2000. As the secrets, tragedies and betrayals from twenty-five years before played out at the reunion, someone from the Class of 2000 was taught a deadly lesson. Twelve witnesses - or are they suspects? - from the Bathory students and staff recount events in the years 2000 and 2025 while the murder trial unfolds before us. But who is the victim? Who is accused of being the killer? And is the right person even on trial? The truth will be uncovered... but only by degrees. A Degree of Truth is by Maz Evans.
The Perfect Accident is by Tess Stimson Could you sacrifice one life to save many? What if that life was your son's? This year, for the first time, the high school prom will be held on a luxurious cruiser on the lake. Sisters Amy and Iris are excited to be chaperones at the event, seeing their sons all dressed up. It's a proud moment. But, tonight, the boat will sink. And as darkness falls, secrets unravel and the air starts to run out, one of the sisters will be forced to make a split-second decision - to save her own son and let her nephew and twenty-one other teenagers drown. And then, a year later, one of the teenagers will wake up from her coma, ready to tell everyone what really happened at the bottom of the lake. And someone needs to keep her quiet - for good. A pulse-pounding novel of small-town secrets, lies and betrayal - with a twist you won't see coming.
The Writer and the Traitor: Graham Greene, Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal is by Robert Verkaik. The friendship between Graham Greene and Kim Philby is one of the most mysterious of the twentieth century. Greene, the internationally lauded novelist who wrestled with the themes of faith and betrayal in his work. Philby, the British intelligence-officer-turned-spy for the Soviets, and one of the most reviled men of his era. The two men met as young MI6 officers in war-torn London, working together to defeat the Nazis. But after Greene suddenly resigned just days before D-Day, questions started to arise. He turned back to literature, using his experience in the intelligence services as a backdrop for his novel Our Man in Havana and the screenplay of The Third Man. Lurking within the pages lay suspicions of his friend, with characters and plots echoing Philby's life. Was Philby the real 'third man'? Did Greene's work contain coded messages and warnings of betrayal to M16?
May 2026
As the youngest of three sisters, Charity Wills is used to getting what she wants. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with the dashing bad boy next door and married him. If she wants something beautiful and expensive in a shop, she discreetly puts it in her bag - the Old Bill be damned. If she has enemies that need seeing to, her father-in-law can pull some strings to make the problem go away. So when Charity finds herself suddenly on her own - her beloved Little Danny in prison and no sign of a much-wanted pregnancy on the way - she is at a loss. She wants to start pulling her weight in her influential crime family. But as she works to pull off a plan that will fly under the radar of the law, an old enemy of the Wills family grows ever nearer, determined that Charity will not have her happily ever after . . Charity is by Linda Calvey
Serpent's Tongue is by Barbara Nadel. As the youngest of three sisters, Charity Wills is used to getting what she wants. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with the dashing bad boy next door and married him. If she wants something beautiful and expensive in a shop, she discreetly puts it in her bag - the Old Bill be damned. If she has enemies that need seeing to, her father-in-law can pull some strings to make the problem go away. So when Charity finds herself suddenly on her own - her beloved Little Danny in prison and no sign of a much-wanted pregnancy on the way - she is at a loss. She wants to start pulling her weight in her influential crime family. But as she works to pull off a plan that will fly under the radar of the law, an old enemy of the Wills family grows ever nearer, determined that Charity will not have her happily ever after . .
June
The Midnight Guests is by Alex Hay. 1923. Diana Gold, owner and impresario, throws open the doors to the most opulent new hotel in London. As the champagne flows and the chandeliers shimmer, millionaires and gamblers rub shoulders with film stars and royalty. Everyone who's anyone is here. Everyone, that is, except two guests due at midnight. Powerful and dangerous, they've dragged Diana from the gutter and taught her all she knows. Her fate rests in their hands. If everything goes right, a whole new life awaits. One mistake will cost her everything. For this is much more than a hotel - it's the heart of Diana's intricate masterplan. Over twenty-four fateful hours, her guests will learn why they're really here. And Diana will take perfect care of them - unless they take care of her first. But when a body is found in the depths of the hotel, Diana's lavish opening night suddenly spirals out of control. . .
Every traitor was once trusted. Jamie Tulloch and Sam Li never intended to be spies. Jamie, a former exec at a tech company, found himself caught up in a mission and discovered a taste for the secret world while Sam, a burnt-out corporate lawyer, was unexpectedly talent spotted by MI5. When both are plunged into covert training, they find themselves pitted against each other for their final evaluation - Exercise Red Poacher. Every year, MI6 trainees must evade capture, infiltrate sensitive sites and report back with the right intel, while their peers at MI5 try to stop them. But things take a sinister turn when they witness the apparent murder of one of their fellow recruits. Is it all part of the exercise? Or is someone trying to weaponise this game of spies into something far more deadly? Solitary Agents is by David Goodman.
