Maximum Sentence: Winter Reading Guide

The Outsider - Stephen King

When a young boy is murdered, all clues (and, indeed, the DNA) point to the town’s most popular baseball coach, Terry Maitland. Maitland is taken to jail, his claim to innocence scorned, but he has a foolproof alibi with footage to prove that he was in another city when the crime was committed... so how could he have been in two places at the same time? A new King thriller is the perfect way to kick off your winter reading.

Shelter in Place - Nora Roberts

Simone Knox survived a shopping centre massacre in 2005 and her life was forever changed. More than a decade later and though she still struggles with grief and trauma, Simone starts to open up creatively with her flourishing art career and romantically with Reed Quartermaine, another survivor of the shooting. But someone has been watching all the survivors of the DownEast Mall massacre and they have spent years perfecting a plan to finish what was started that day… Nora’s standalone romantic suspense novels are eagerly anticipated every year and this one does not disappoint!

The Killing Habit - Mark Billingham

We all know the signs. Cruelty, lack of empathy, the killing of animals. Now, pets on suburban London streets are being stalked by a shadow, and it could just be the start. DI Tom Thorne knows the psychological profile of such offenders all too well, so when he is tasked with catching a notorious killer of domestic cats he sees the chance to stop a series of homicides before they happen. But how do you catch a killer who is yet to commit a murder?

The Tall Man - Phoebe Locke

THE TALL MAN is a gripping blend of dark psychological suspense and spine-tingling chills that will have you checking the corners of your room before bed. Loosely inspired by the Slender Man, Phoebe Locke’s debut thriller is set across three timelines that span nearly three decades. Three chilling events are connected by one shadowy figure. The Tall Man is coming …

The Other Wife - Michael Robotham

If you loved THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS by Michael Robotham then add THE OTHER WIFE to your winter TBR pile immediately. Trust us, it’s absolutely brilliant. Who is the strange woman crying at the bedside of Joe O’Loughlin's father William, covered in his blood - a friend, a mistress, a fantasist or a killer? THE OTHER WIFE is a psychological thriller of the highest order and we dare you to put it down once you’ve started reading it. (Hint: it’s impossible!)

Three Little Lies - Laura Marshall

When Sasha North comes into Ellen's life, Ellen falls under her spell. As Ellen is welcomed into Sasha's family, she doesn't see the darkness that lies beneath their bohemian lifestyle. Not until a brutal attack changes all their lives forever. Ten years later, Ellen and Sasha share a flat in London, still bound together by that night. When Sasha disappears, Ellen fears the worst. Ellen must face her past as she searches for Sasha, but someone knows Ellen is looking and they don’t want her to find out what really happened all those years ago.

Take Me In - Sabine Durrant

Picture this: you’re on holiday in Greece with your husband and your 3-year-old son. You step away from the beach to find a bathroom, tasking your husband with keeping an eye on your child, and you return to utter chaos. Your husband dozed off in the sun, and your son went into the water and nearly drowned. A stranger came to the rescue and saved your son… how do you repay him? When he shows up at your home in London many weeks later, can you turn him away? Should you? And when strange things start happening and your life begins to fall apart, how do you not blame the unsettling stranger that is now appearing everywhere you look?

A Noise Downstairs - Linwood Barclay

Paul Davis forgets things. Why he walked into a room. Who he spoke to, and what they said. But he wasn't always like this. Eight months ago, Paul was attacked - left for dead after seeing something he shouldn't have - and has been piecing his life back together ever since. During the days, therapy helps. But at night, he hears noises that no one else can. No one else believes him. Sometimes he thinks someone is in the house. Either he's losing his mind or someone wants him to think he is. Or maybe something even darker is waiting downstairs ...

Believe Me - JP Delaney

Claire Wright likes to play other people. A struggling British actress in New York without a green card, Claire needs work. She takes the only part she's offered: as a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers, hired to entrap straying husbands, catching them on tape with their seductive propositions. The firm is after evidence, not entrapment. The innocent should have nothing to hide. Then the game changes. When the police start investigating one of Claire's targets for murdering his wife - and potentially others too - they ask her to help lure their suspect into a confession. Claire can do this. She assumes a voice and an attitude, something from an old film noir. A masterclass in deception. But who's deceiving who? And that's when Claire realises she's playing the deadliest role of her life ...

Careless Love - Peter Robinson

DCI Banks is back in his twenty-fifth (!!!) book but if you’ve never read a Peter Robinson novel, don’t let that put you off. His novels are of course in a series but you do not need to have read them all to follow along. They feature the same characters but read as standalone mysteries. In this one, multiple murders that at first appear random may not in fact be random at all, and DCI Banks has to accept that an old enemy in a new guise has returned.