20 Books I Can't Wait to Read in 2020 - Part I - Mysteries & Thrillers.

I love making a list and checking it twice, don't you? No, wait, Santa's been and gone, I got that all wrong! I do love compiling reading lists, though, mainly so I can look back at them at year's end and lament all the shiny new books I was so excited to read that are now beginning to gather dust on my bookshelf. I have form when it comes to this. My TBR boasts dusty books dating  way back to 2010 (The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - in case you were wondering). But let's not talk about that. I have good intentions. And I intend to read all of the following books. Let's see if that happens. Spoiler alert: it totally won't.

Over the next few days I'll be listing twenty books I can't wait to read in 2020. Part I is mysteries and thrillers (because I read those most), followed by Part II -  Adult Fiction (not including mysteries and thrillers) and Part III  - YA Fiction. 

Below you'll find a bunch of thrilling upcoming releases from some of my favourite authors including Sarah Pinborough and Peter Swanson along with a whole host of 2020 debuts I can't wait to read.

Enjoy - and let me know if any of my 2020 must reads are on your reading list!

*****

For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top from the New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes.

Being the second wife can be murder . . .

“Once a cheat, always a cheat,” they say. Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get where she is after the illicit affair that started her new life a few years ago. But her world of country clubs, yachts and sumptuous houses in Savannah, Georgia, isn’t easy to maintain, no matter how hard she tries. Nor is keeping her husband, Jason, truly interested.

So, when Jason’s boss brings home a hot new wife from his trip to London, the young Mrs William Radford IV isn’t quite the souvenir everyone expected. Sexy, drop-dead gorgeous and black—Keisha quickly usurps Marcie’s place as the beautiful second wife. But when Marcie sees the extra spark in the room when Keisha and Jason are together and their obvious, magnetic attraction, the gloves come off.

Revenge is best served cold, but in the steamy Savannah heat, blood runs so hot that this summer it might just boil over into murder.

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough releases February 11th 2020 from William Morrow.

*****

How well do you know your family?

Estranged for a decade, sisters Leslie and Robin must reunite if they are to claim the fortune their father left them. Leslie desperately needs that money, but when she arrives at her sister's apartment, she finds her body instead. Leslie needs another plan. Without Robin, she won't see a penny.

Mary, an aspiring actress, spends her nights slinging beers at a seedy restaurant. She'd do anything to start her life over. When Leslie offers her a huge sum of money and the chance to be someone else – to be Robin – she takes it.

But Robin's life isn't as straightforward as Mary thought it would be. And Leslie seems to have secrets and a past of her own . . .

Told from three perspectives: Leslie, Mary, Robin.

The question is: who is the better liar?

THE BETTER LIAR is clever, dark and addictive - perfect if you loved GONE GIRL and LITTLE DEATHS.

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones releases February 6th 2020 from Harvill Secker. 

*****

Twenty-five years ago, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl and her charismatic teacher disappeared without trace...

In an elite Catholic girls' boarding-school the pupils live under the repressive, watchful gaze of the nuns. Seeking to break from the cloistered atmosphere two of the students - Louisa and Victoria - quickly become infatuated with their young, bohemian art teacher, and act out passionately as a result. That is, until he and Louisa suddenly disappear.

Years later, a journalist uncovers the troubled past of the school and determines to resolve the mystery of the missing pair. The search for the truth will uncover a tragic, mercurial tale of suppressed desire and long-buried secrets. It will shatter lives and lay a lost soul to rest.

The Temple House Vanishing is a stunning, intensely atmospheric novel of unrequited longing, dark obsession and uneasy consequences.

The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue releases February 6th 2020 from Corvus.

*****

A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party.

The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

The Guest List by Lucy Foley releases February 20th 2020 from HarperCollins.

*****

Their children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering.

There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece. An affair begins, resentments flare, and despite it all the three women become closer.

Unnoticed their children run wild. The couples are so busy watching each other that they forget to watch their children. Until tragedy strikes.

But the summer wont be over until our story twists, and twists again, while three families search desperately for answers. Because while they have been looking the other way, evil has crept into their safe little world and every parent's biggest nightmare is about to come true...

Little Friends by Jane Shemilt releases February 20th 2020 from Penguin. 

*****

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookshop in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects—and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape. 

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson releases March 3rd 2020 from William Morrow.

*****

The thrilling new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of An Anonymous Girl and The Wife Between Us.

You probably know someone like Shay Miller.

She wants to find love, but it eludes her.

She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end.

She wants to belong, but her life is so isolated.

You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters.

They have an unbreakable circle of friends.

They live the most glamorous life.

They always get what they desire.

Shay thinks she wants their life.

But what they really want is hers.

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen releases March 3rd 2020 from St. Martin's Press. 

*****

Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife in this tightly drawn debut that peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships...

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.

After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.

Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.

Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...

Darling  Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel releases March 17th 2020 from Berkley.

*****

Review Round-Up: The Daughter by Jane Shemilt, Things in Half Shadow by Alan Finn, The Reunion by Amy Silver & One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis.

A bestseller when it released last year in the UK, the recent US release of Jane Shemilt’s The Daughter is set to win this taut thriller a whole new legion of fans.

Every mother’s worst nightmare….

Jenny Malcom has a full and busy life, and then some. Married to a celebrated neurosurgeon, Jenny is herself a busy doctor and mum to three teenagers: seventeen year old twins Ed and Theo, and fifteen year old ‘golden child’ Naomi. Jenny’s life might be a constant juggling act, but she prides herself in knowing what is going on in her kids’ lives. As is the way with teenagers, Jenny reasons, her kids sometimes keep to themselves, they sometimes shut her out – but they know too that she’ll always be there for them if they ever need her.  Lately Jenny has noticed that Naomi has grown moody and distant, but she puts that down to both teenage behaviour and the pressures of the school production of West Side Story, in which Naomi is starring.

One night Naomi fails to return home after her play, seemingly disappearing without a trace, and as an investigation ensues, Jenny finds out things about her daughter she never thought possible – things that just might break her heart and tear her family apart.

The Daughter is slow moving at times, focusing a little too much on the minutiae of daily life, and, for me, the ending was lacking. Nonetheless, this is a well-written, sometimes heart-wrenching, multi-layered mystery that will keep you guessing right till the end.

One for fans of Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight.

Four Stars.

Published March 3rd 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks.

Received for review.

*****

Spiritualists, séances and spooks abound in Things in Half Shadow, a well-plotted, good old-fashioned murder mystery from debut novelist Alan Finn. 

Truth is stranger than fiction on the streets of Philadelphia…

It’s 1869 and with post-Civil War America in mourning for its fallen sons, a spiritualist craze has taken hold: a craze that has spread like wildfire through American cities, a craze that sees mothers shrouded in mourning black flock to seek the guidance of those who can reach out to the ‘other side’ to contact their recently departed. Crime reporter Edward Clark sees this for what it is: an opportunistic money grabbing exercise that serves only to exploit. Clark sets out to expose the cities fake mediums, and all the tricks they employ, but he doesn’t count on meeting his match in the indomitable Ms. Lucy Collins.  He also doesn’t count on being implicated, along with Lucy, in the murder of one of the cities most revered mediums, one Leonora Grimes Pastor, who, unlike Lucy, is the real deal as far as spirit guides go. 

What stars slow, soon becomes an intriguing tale of secrets and lies, tricks of the trade, hidden pasts, and uncertain futures, as Clarke – who had his whole life with well-to-do but slightly bland fiancée Violet all planned out – finds his heart and his life plan thrown off-course by the charms of Lucy Collins as they team up to clear their names and uncover the truth behind the murder of Leonora Grimes Pastor. 

Things in half shadow is a fun but spooky, multi-layered  historical murder mystery with intriguing characters, sparky dialogue, and enough twists to keep you guessing right to the end. 

Perfect for fans of Velvet by Mary Hooper and In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters.

Four Stars.

Published December 30th 2014 by Gallery Books.

Received for review.

*****

She has hit all the bestseller lists with her psychological thriller The Girl on the Train, but before that Paula Hawkins wrote under the pen name of Amy Silver, producing, amongst several other works, this compulsively readable tale of friendship lost. 

Now, if you’re looking for another Girl on the Train, this isn’t it. The Reunion isn’t a psychological thriller. There may be skeletons in the closet, but they are not of the murderous or missing persons kind, let’s make that clear.   Rather, The Reunion is a thoughtful and absorbing study in long-term friendships, the tangled webs they weave and the forever-lasting impact that they leave on our lives. 

Jen, Andrew, Lilah, Natalie and Dan haven’t seen each other in almost twenty years; not since the carefree days of college when they shared secrets, laughter, and sometimes beds. Those days are gone; they came to an abrupt end when tragedy unexpectedly hit their circle of friends, tearing it apart in the process.  But, with major changes happening in her life, Jen needs her friends around her: she’s ready to let her friends back in - ready to talk about what happened on that fateful summer’s day so many years ago when her future was thrown off course forever.

Tensions bubble beneath the surface as the five reconvene in Jen’s French farmhouse, and as the winds howl and the snow settles, there is no escape as the friends face up to the secrets –and lies – of their shared pasts.

An absorbing –if sometimes predictable - read for a long, lazy afternoon. Fans of One Day, Swimming Pool Summer, and the TV show This Life (and its ten years later reunion!) will find lots to like in The Reunion by Amy Silver.

3.5 Stars.

Published September 12th 2013 by Arrow.

*****

Psychological thrillers in the vein of Gone Girl and recent breakout hit The Girl on the Train are the hottest books on the block right now, so when I happened upon One Step Too Far, a thriller about a woman who leaves everything behind to start a new, uncertain life in London, I knew I had to check it out.

I was intrigued by the premise of this one: Emily has the perfect suburban life – loving husband, good job, nice house, adorable son – so what makes her leave it all behind? The blurb promises that nobody has ever guessed Emily’s secret – casting an immediate challenge upon the reader. I have to say I didn’t figure this one out. The ultimate reveal had me flipping back through the pages to see if I’d missed something huge. I hadn’t. This book is written in such a way that very few (if any) will guess the twist.  Usually, such an unpredictable twist would mean high praise from me, but I have to say, with its disjointed narration and sometimes far-fetched plot twists, I didn’t love One Step Too Far. 

The book is written in such a way as to make for a somewhat uneven reading experience; flipping back and forth through time and characters. We get to know all about Emily’s childhood, her parents’ unhappy marriage, and her fractious relationship with wild child sister, Caroline. That’s OK. Emily is the main character in the book. We need to know this stuff. But then we get all this information about Angel, a character Emily meets in London, who soon becomes her flatmate. We learn all about Angel’s formative years, her life, loves and everything else.  The inclusion of the Angel chapters sends this book off course a little. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe Angel is there to distract us from the twist in the tale. Maybe. I just didn’t feel that this was ultimately relevant to Emily’s story –and it all seemed a little disorganised and even rambling at times.

One Step Too Far has an interesting premise, and it definitely shows promise; but there are better books out there in this genre.   I recommend the aforementioned Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train for some well-plotted thrills. 

3 Stars.

Published January 27th 2015 by William Morrow & Co.

Received for review.

*****