Archives de catégorie : Crime & Thrillers

CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRANGERS de Krista Diamond

A modern literary noir in the tradition of Bret Easton Ellis for fans of A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan, the LA stories of Emma Cline, and Uncut Gems.

CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRANGERS
by Krista Diamond
Simon & Schuster, Fall 2026
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRANGERS follows a Las Vegas wildlife photographer who, while moving to Los Angeles to become a paparazzo, loses his relationships, his morals, and eventually his tether to reality.

A Los Vegan itching for LA, Ben is an amateur wild-life photographer and busser in a diner where tourists come to recreate a movie scene starring Jack Whitlock, “the last real movie star.” He meets a man who promises money as a paparazzo, which he likens to wildlife photography, inciting Ben to move to LA. The job is a thrill; high that he chases to increasingly damaging ends.

A year and a half later, Ben—broke, single, and receiving increasingly credible death threats from a pop star’s stans—is desperate for a win. And when scandalous photos of Jack Whitlock leak, and Ben becomes obsessed with being the first photographer to break new photos of Jack. He follows leads through the absurd horrors of celebrity LA, dodging close encounters with fans, weaving his way back to Las Vegas and the desert of his redemption or demise.

Krista Diamond is a Black Mountain Institute PhD fellow in creative writing at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her writing has been supported by Bread Loaf, Tin House, the Nevada Arts Council, and has appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Slate, Longreads, Hazlitt, Catapult, Joyland, and elsewhere. The opening of CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRANGERS was longlisted for both the First Pages Prize and the Stockholm Writers Festival First Pages Prize.

THE NEW NEIGHBOURS de Claire Douglas

You know your neighbours are plotting a crime but no one believes you . . .

THE NEW NEIGHBOURS
by Claire Douglas
Penguin UK, March 2025
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Do you trust the couple next door?

When Lena overhears a conversation between her next-door neighbours, she thinks she must have misheard.

After all, the Morgans are a kind, retired couple who have moved to a suburban street in Bristol where nothing ever happens.

But it sounded like they were planning a crime.

Her family and friends tell her she’s made a mistake.

Yet the more Lena looks into the Morgans, the darker things seem.

And the more she fears it might be linked to a secret from her own past.

Because, if her suspicions are true, then someone is in real danger.

And it might just be her…

Claire Douglas worked as a journalist for fifteen years, but had dreamed of being a novelist since the age of seven. She finally got her wish after winning the Marie Claire Debut Novel Award with her first novel, The Sisters. She is a Sunday Times bestseller and a frequent Richard & Judy Book Club pick. Her books have sold nearly two million copies in the UK alone. She lives in Bath with her husband and two children.

ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS de Hank Phillippi Ryan

Is a debut author’s blockbuster bestseller about to ruin her life? A glamorous book tour becomes a deadly cat-and-mouse chase in this new and captivating thriller by « master of suspense » (Publishers Weekly) and USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan.

ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS
by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Minotaur, September 2025
(via DeFiore and Company)

Debut sensation Tessa Calloway is on a whirlwind book tour for her instant bestseller, All This Could Be Yours. In a different city every night, Tessa receives standing ovations from adoring fans while her husband Henry and their two children cheer her on from their brand-new dream house.

But there’s a chilling problem with Tessa’s triumphant book tour―she soon discovers she is being stalked by someone who’s obsessed not only with sabotaging her career, but also with destroying her perfect family back home.

Tessa fears the fallout from an impossible decision she once made―what felt like a genuine deal with the devil―appears to be coming due. And she’s realizing that every high-stakes bargain comes with a high-stakes price. If Tessa can’t untangle who’s threatening to expose her darkest secrets, she’ll lose her career, her family―and possibly her life.

« A nail-biting thriller. » ―People

« ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS is a captivating and irresistible portrayal of the deals we make, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when the fine lines between fiction and reality blur under the searing pressure of fame, fans, family ― and a secret sinister bargain. A propulsive page-turner with a hugely satisfying reveal. »
―Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of Finlay Donovan is Killing It

USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan has won five Agatha Awards, five Anthony Awards, the Daphne, the Macavity, and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. As on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, she’s won thirty-seven Emmy Awards and many more journalism honors. A past president of national Sisters in Crime, a founder of Mystery Writers of America University, and a board member of International Thriller Writers, Ryan lives in Boston.

PAPER DOLLS d’Andrea Stewart

The daughter of a famous YouTube family – who left her past long behind her – is forced to go home to save her sister. The debut thriller from two times Sunday Times bestselling fantasy novelist Andrea Stewart that will appeal to readers of Girl A, Sharp Objects and Luckiest Girl Alive.

PAPER DOLLS
by Andrea Stewart
on submission
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Ellie Campbell grew up online: the child of YouTubers, everything from her first period to first boyfriend was put up for the world to pick over, and her family to monetise. Until she grew up. She changed her name. She changed her hair. She barely speaks to her family anymore.

But when she spots some unnerving details in her parents’ videos, and gets the news that a close family friend has gone missing – she decides that she has to go back, to make sure that her younger sister Olivia is safe.

She arrives to a house full of secrets, including one that her parents have kept from the world: Olivia has run away. But Olivia would have come to Ellie if she’d run. Ellie knows it. So where is she? And could it be connected to the disappearance of their neighbour? When a body is found, Ellie is forced to confront the realities of her childhood – and the darkness that lies beneath the perfect façade.

Andrea Stewart is the daughter of immigrants, and was raised in a number of places across the United States. She now lives in sunny California. Her debut fantasy novel, Bone Shard Daughter, was published in the US and UK by Orbit, as well as in 7 other translation territories. Bone Shard War, and the first in her next trilogy, The Gods Below, were both Sunday Times bestsellers.

THE DEADLY BOOK CLUB de Lyn Liao Butler

A member of a virtual book club is killed while the Zoom screen is frozen and the others listen in horror in this twisty and delicious popcorn thriller perfect for fans of First Lie Wins and The Housemaid.

THE DEADLY BOOK CLUB
by Lyn Liao Butler
Crooked Lane Books, October 2025

Helena, Sidney, Leigh, Kate, and Jessie are five of the most prominent book influencers in the US. Once a month, they get on a video call to sip cocktails, chat about social media campaigns and book events, and discuss their monthly book club pick. Their exclusive group is the envy of the online book world.

Until one meeting, when all of their Zoom screens freeze and they listen to gut wrenching screams as one of their friends is brutally attacked. It feels like an eternity before the video call drops—and thus begins the frantic texts and phone calls as each tries to figure out who was murdered and why.

As the investigation into their friend’s violent death unearths secrets each of the five women need to keep buried, the jealousies, hidden resentments, and trouble in their personal lives begin to surface. The remaining four women are suspicious of each other, pointing fingers to take the heat off their own indiscretions. But if they want to figure out who killed their friend, they need to band together and put past hurts behind them. Or one of them will be next.

Lyn Liao Butler is the Amazon bestselling author of thrillers What is Mine and Someone Else’s Life, and received critical acclaim for her women’s fiction The Tiger Mom’s Tale and Red Thread of Fate. She was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. Before becoming an author, she was a professional ballet and modern dancer, and is still a personal trainer, fitness instructor, and yoga instructor. She is an avid animal lover and fosters dogs as well as volunteers with rescues. Her works have been praised by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and featured in Forbes, Parade, Pop Sugar, and more.