In this week’s edition of the Mirror Book Club’s best reads, Jake Kerridge picks out the summer’s best paperback thrillers.
From big names such as Robert Harris and Val McDermid, to some newer authors to might like to give a try, we’ve got the pick of the action-packed bunch for you.
Let us know what you think at the Mirror Book Club.
Cari Mora, by Thomas Harris
Arrow, £7.99
The creator of Hannibal Lecter heads in a new direction with this comic crime caper about competing gangsters searching for a dead crook’s stash of gold. Yes, there’s a cannibal, but Harris doesn’t scare you out of your wits. Beautifully written and fun.
The Truants, by Kate Weinberg
Bloomsbury, £8.99
Literature student Jess arrives at university in East Anglia and falls under the spell of privileged, outrageous Georgie and her tutor Lorna. Jess’s new friends aren’t all they seem, however, in a dark debut that may seem modern but owes a debt to the old-fashioned storytelling of Agatha Christie herself.
Part Of The Family, by Charlotte Philby
Borough, £8.99
Unsurprisingly, the granddaughter of notorious double agent Kim Philby has written a spy novel. This compelling debut combines espionage with domestic suspense, as we discover why spy Anna Witherall walked out on her husband and children for ever.
Conviction, by Denise Mina
Vintage, £8.99
Anna’s husband leaves her for her best friend Estelle, so she distracts herself by investigating the murder of an old acquaintance. She heads on a road trip round Europe with Estelle’s drippy husband Fin in a book that combines mystery with beautifully observed comedy.
We Know You Know, by Erin Kelly
Hodder, £7.99
A woman returns to live in the run-down Suffolk town where she grew up, hoping that a secret from her teenage years will remain hidden. What is the connection with a woman wrongly committed to a 1950s asylum? Previously published as Stone Mothers, this is a skilfully plotted read.
Blood Orange, by Harriet Tyce
Wildfire, £8.99
Though Madeleine is accused of murdering her husband, her life is simple compared with that of her drunken, adulterous defence barrister Alison. A blackmailer threatens to expose Alison’s secrets in a thriller that is both chilling and great fun.
The Chain, by Adrian McKinty
Orion, £8.99
In The Chain, the victims do all the work: a child is abducted and the parents must kidnap somebody else’s kid and pay a ransom before their child is returned – and so on ad infinitum. How its evil masterminds are brought down makes for a white-knuckle ride of a thriller.
Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson
Black Swan, £8.99
Atkinson’s grouchy, noble private detective Jackson Brodie, as played by Jason Isaacs in TV series Case Histories, returns. The novel’s plots encompass such topical issues as sex trafficking and paedophile rings but Atkinson’s comic genius ensures you’ll be laughing too.
The Second Sleep, by Robert Harris
Arrow, £8.99
This blisteringly intelligent, gripping thriller is set in 1468 – but not as we know it. The Church is all-powerful and the British people lead primitive, superstitious lives. But as young priest Christopher Fairfax investigates the death of a cleric, he discovers all is not as it seems.
One Way Out, by AA Dhand
Corgi, £7.99
Sikh detective DCI Harry Virdee gets caught up in a terrorist incident at City Park in Bradford. With his wife taken hostage and the government refusing to negotiate, Harry takes matters into his own hands. An exciting story which tells you a lot about modern Britain.
All The Rage, by Cara Hunter
Penguin, £7.99
Hunter’s capable cop DI Adam Fawley is rapidly usurping Morse’s claim to the title of Oxford’s best-loved detective. In this absorbing fourth entry in the series, based on a recent real-life case in Oxford, Adam senses something fishy when a teenage girl reports an assault.
How The Dead Speak, by Val McDermid
Sphere, £8.99
Criminal psychologist Tony Hill and DI Carol Jordan make a welcome return – but Tony is banged up in prison and Carol has been forced out of the police. So their team investigates when bodies are found at a former convent.
Join the Mirror Book Club
There’s never been a better time to get lost in a good book… so we’d love you to join the friendly Mirror Book Club community on Facebook.
Members share their thoughts on the chosen book of the month, they post recommendations of other books they’ve enjoyed – such as thrillers, romances and memoirs – and exchange book news and views.
So if you enjoy stories and the company of fellow bookworms then we think you’ll love our group too.
So if you enjoy books, stories and the company of fellow bookworms then we think you’ll love our group too. Mirror Book Club members have chosen The Familiars by Stacey Halls as the latest book of the month.
The year is 1612 and Fleetwood Shuttleworth, 17, is pregnant for the fourth time. But as mistress of Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child. And her doctor says she will not survive another pregnancy.
Young midwife Alice promises to help her and, after Alice is drawn into witchcraft accusations, Fleetwood risks everything to help her.
We’d love you to give The Familiars a read and let the Mirror Book Club know what you think. We’ll print your feedback on these pages on July 24.
You can share your thoughts in the Mirror Book Club Facebook group.
