Must-read thrillers for dark nights

Crime aficionado Susan Swarbrick casts her eye over the latest crop of cliffhangers to hit shelves and tablets

HAVEN’T THEY GROWN Sophie Hannah

Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99

When Beth Leeson’s son has a football game in the same town where her former best friend lives, curiosity gets the better of her and she can’t help a sneak peek. As Beth parks on a private road of gated mansions and stealthily watches, Flora Braid and her children, Emily and Thomas, arrive home.

But something is terribly wrong. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three. Today, they don’t look a day older. Why haven’t they grown?

Beth delves into every possibility, from scientific to supernatural, but nothing makes sense. The more digging she does, the odder things become, and it soon becomes clear that the Braids cut ties with the

Leeson family for far more sinister reasons than Beth could have envisaged.

With its jaw-dropping hook, twisting plot and ingenious conclusion,

Haven’t They Grown, is a galloping read that will have you rattling through the pages, desperate to solve the mysterious puzzle at its heart.

WHO DID YOU TELL? Lesley Kara

Bantam Press, £12.99

If you loved Lesley Kara’s debut offering, The Rumour, then Who Did You Tell? won’t disappoint as we return to the seaside town of Flinstead with an entirely new cast of characters.

Astrid is trying to turn her life around. She’s moved back in with her mother, far from the temptations, mistakes and painful memories of her old life. The focus is on recovery. She attends AA meetings and has been sober for five months.

However, her fresh start is tempered with unease. Someone is watching from the shadows. Waiting and biding their time. When Astrid catches a fleeting glimpse of an old lover, she begins to question her sanity. It’s impossible, yet, the scent of his aftershave seems to linger around every corner.

Someone knows what Astrid is running from and it becomes clear that they intend to make her pay for the terrible deeds in her past. A deftly woven and clever thriller.

A DARK MATTER Doug Johnstone

Orenda Books, £8.99

When we first meet the Skelf family, they are carrying out the wishes of their recently deceased patriarch Jim by burning his body on a pyre in their Edinburgh back garden. The Skelfs know a lot about dealing with the dead. They are funeral directors with a sideline as private investigators.

After Jim’s departure, three generations of women – his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah – take up the reins of the businesses.

Things soon begin to rip apart at the seams: the discovery that Jim has been making secret payments to a mystery woman; dealing with the disappearance of Hannah’s best friend from university; and the perils of unravelling what had, at first, seemed like a simple adultery case.

An engrossing and beautifully written tale that bears all the Doug Johnstone hallmarks in its warmth and darkly comic undertones.

PINE

Francine Toon

Doubleday, £12.99

A modern gothic thriller that draws on the author’s own Highland childhood, according to Toon: “One day I imagined a road running through a bleak, hilly landscape in Sutherland and a woman appearing, standing in only a dressing gown, by a passing place.”

Mysteries are commonplace to 10-year-old Lauren, who lives with her father Niall on the edge of a remote pine forest. There was the trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. The locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of her mother a decade ago.

When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Hallowe’en night, Niall drives her back to their house. In the morning, she’s gone. Lauren searches for answers in tarot cards, but when troubled local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing, it is no longer clear who she can trust.

THE GUEST LIST Lucy Foley

HarperCollins, £14.99, published February 20 Last year, Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party generated a huge buzz and topped bestseller lists thanks to its fresh and effervescent take on the classic whodunnit. The Guest List is another cracking read with a gripping and twisty plot.

On a rugged island off the Irish coast, guests congregate to celebrate the nuptials of uber-glam couple Jules and Will. With all their friends and family present it should, on paper, be a perfect day. But beneath the surface lurks old grudges, dark secrets, bubbling tensions and scores to be settled.

A storm sweeps in. And then the lights go out. Someone will end up dead. But who? And what is the motive of murderer? A whip-smart, dexterous and brilliantly drawn novel that will have you holding your breath as its explosive conclusion looms.

THE MEMORY WOOD Sam Lloyd

Bantam Press, £12.99, published February 20 For 12-year-old Elijah North, the Memory Wood is the only home he has ever known. Its shadowy realms, deep within the trees, are both playground and prison.

When Elijah stumbles upon 13-yearold Elissa Mirzoyan in the dark place where her abductor is hiding her, he knows exactly what to do. The two copper half-pennies placed on his pillow – two watchful eyes – were a clear

A whip smart, dexterous and brilliantly drawn novel that will have you holding your breath