As bookworms, we all hope that we’ll get books on Christmas Day. I didn’t think I’d get many from the conversations dropped by various family members. However, I managed to walk away from Christmas with a total of 10 books. So far, I have read 1 of them and am currently halfway through another (this was written on Saturday 28th Dec, so I might have read more by now!).

Q – What did you get for Christmas? / What are you most excited to read?

The Snow Girls by Chris Mooney

A MISSING GIRL. AN ICE COLD KILLER.

It’s been eleven years since Claire Flynn disappeared – abducted without a trace from a snowy hillside. 

Investigator Darby McCormick remembers the case. She knows there’s only ever been one suspect, Father Richard Byrne, linked inconclusively to two similar disappearances.

Finally, now terminally ill, Byrne is willing to talk. But he’ll only talk to Darby. 

She’s expecting a confession – but what she hears is far more disturbing. 

And it soon becomes clear that someone is willing to kill to keep this cold case on ice . . .

Paperback | 448 pages

Publisher: Penguin (15th November 2018)

The Burning by Jane Casey

A serial killer who wants to watch you burn…

The media call him The Burning Man, a brutal murderer who has beaten four young women to death, before setting their bodies ablaze in secluded areas of London’s parks. And now the fifth victim has been found…

Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious detective constable, keen to make her mark on the murder task force. Her male colleagues believe Maeve’s empathy makes her weak, but the more she learns about the latest victim, Rebecca Haworth, from her grieving friends and family, the more determined Maeve becomes to bring her murderer to justice. 

But how do you catch a killer no one has seen? And when so much of the evidence they leave behind has gone up in smoke?

Paperback | 496 pages

Publisher: Edbury Press (11th November 2010)

The Passengers by John Marrs

When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course. 

The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife – and parents of two – who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?

Paperback | 416 pages

Publisher: Del Rey (30th May 2019)

I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll

Every Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns.

It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.

Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.

With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?

Paperback | 308 pages

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer (10th October 2019)

The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork

Clara Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann Kahler (ah!), and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes on Christmas Eve, when Clara receives a mysterious and magical nutcracker.Whisked away to his world–an enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a prince–Clara must face a magician who uses music as spells…and the future she thought she wanted.”The Enchanted Sonata,” a retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper, will captivate readers of all ages.

Paperback | 386 pages

Publisher: The Wallworkshop (14th October 2018)

A Gift for Dying by M. J. Arlidge

WITH JUST ONE LOOK, SHE KNOWS HOW AND WHEN YOU WILL DIE . . .

Nothing surprises Adam Brandt anymore. As a forensic psychologist, he’s seen and heard everything. 

That is, until he meets Kassie. 

Because she claims to have a terrible gift – with one look into your eyes, she can see when and how you will die.

Adam doesn’t believe her, obviously. 

But then a serial killer starts wreaking havoc across the city, and only Kassie seems to know where he’ll strike next.

Against all his intuition, Adam starts to believe her. 

He just doesn’t realise how dangerous this trust might be . . .

Paperback | 480 pages

Publisher: Penguin (19th September 2019)

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

With a missing girl in the news, Claire Scott can’t help but be reminded of her sister, who disappeared twenty years ago in a mystery that was never solved. 

But when Claire begins to learn the truth about her sister, nothing will ever be the same.

Paperback | 544 pages

Publisher: Arrow (10th May 2016)

Say You’re Sorry by Melinda Leigh

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

Paperback | 335 pages

Publisher: Montlake Romance (16th May 2017)

Dying to Tell by Keri Beevis

How far would you go to keep a secret?

As the only survivor of a horrific car crash, Lila Amberson believes she is on the road to recovery after she is released from the hospital. Her memories of the accident are blurred, though and a series of unsettling incidents leave her fearing for her safety. Does she have survivor’s guilt or is something more sinister at play?

Jack Foley is reeling from the shock of losing his sister in the crash and when he first meets Lila, he lashes out, blaming her for Stephanie’s death. But when Lila gives him a locket that she believes belonged to his sister, it presents more questions than answers.

As Lila and Jack work together to find out what really happened on the night of the accident, they are unaware that someone is watching them closely. Someone who has much to lose if the truth comes out, and someone who is prepared to do everything necessary to ensure all loose ends are taken care of.

Paperback | 408 pages

Publisher: Bloodhound Book (20th September 2019)

Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Have you ever played two truths and a lie?

It was Emma’s first summer away from home. She made friends. She played games. And she learned how to lie.

Then three of her new friends went into the woods and never returned. . . 

Now, years later, Emma has been asked to go back to the newly re-opened Camp Nightingale. She thinks she’s laying old ghosts to rest but really she’s returning to the scene of a crime.

Because Emma’s innocence might be the biggest lie of all…

Hardback | 368 pages

Publisher: Ebury Press (12th July 2018)