A total page-turner

Ware tells a cracking tale and, as in her breakout novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, the house itself plays a hugely menacing part in proceedings.

An ingenious suspense narrative...Ware pulls out a stunner on the penultimate page that radically alters how we interpret everything that’s come before. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.

A ghost story for the twenty-first century, a propulsive gothic thriller with characters you’ll really care about. With this book, Ruth Ware proves she’s the true heir to Wilkie Collins. Creepy, engrossing, and oh-so-hard to put down

Ruth Ware just gets better and better. The Turn of the Key is her most compelling and addictive to date; I read this in a two sitting frenzy, barely able to turn the pages fast enough.

Diabolically clever. Twisty and creepy, THE TURN OF THE KEY is Ruth Ware's best book yet. Read with a blanket nearby, because you will get shivers up your spine

The Turn of the Key is a brilliantly crafted, chilling suspense thriller. Clues are seeded through the tale like poisonous plants that you only recognise when it's far too late. Trust no one in this novel except Ruth Ware – she has come up with a totally compelling tale once again

A masterclass in tension!

The Turn of the Key is a delicious read — a sympathetic but fallible narrator is accused of a terrible crime. The clever unfolding of her story will hold you captive till the brilliant ending. Vintage Ruth Ware

Ware is an accomplished storyteller...compelling... assured neo-Gothic chiller

[Ruth Ware is] an adroit practitioner in the art of psychological suspense . . . Thoughtful and provocative

A superior slice of ghostly suspense

Eerie and tense, this left me so spooked that I slept with the lights on!

Turn of the Key is a cracking read that kept me glued until the final page

Creepily suspense-packed

There’s been something of a gothic revival in crime fiction recently… This elegant thriller skilfully updates the genre

Fabulously tense and spooky

An elegant and suspenseful Gothic chiller

The Turn of the Key is a cracking read

A page-turner… The Turn of the Key is at turns spooky, gothic and a compelling family drama. It’s also tightly-plotted throughout… propelled by a likeable protagonist and cleverly created feeling of unease

Prepare to feel suspense from the first gripping page to the last shocking twist

Søren Sveistrup, is clearly a master craftsman

Crime lovers, rejoice. This is a thrilling, fast-paced page-turner that promises to hook readers from the first page

A superb debut novel from the writer behind hit TV series The Killing. This book grips you from the out and boils and boils to an almost sickening conclusion. It just does not let up

Chilling psychological drama

This one will have your heart in your mouth

Sveistrup keeps the reader gripped until the very end

I was completely blown away by this debut novel

Sveistrup sets new standards in crime

Nerve-racking, you're sitting on the edge of your seat, and by the time you've finished the book you've got no nails left

Simply an unparalleled page-turner

Absolutely fantastic crime novel. The plot keeps you gripped, and you always end up wanting to read just one more page. Nerve-racking. Nail-biting. Thrilling. Hair-raising

Not all good scriptwriters can produce a detective story designed to be read rather than watched on TV. But Søren Sveistrup, the man responsible for The Killing, proves . . . that it can be done . . . The characters, the plot with its deep, eerie undercurrent of the unknown, and the intense, compelling manipulation of suspense are qualities reminiscent of The Killing

This nerve-racking debut novel has a brilliant plot . . .

A powerful portrait of two intriguing detectives who are here to stay . . .

Simply so well written, well constructed and suspenseful. I've read a lot of fantastic crime novels, but this is far and away the best I've read in a long time. . . . insanely suspenseful and gripping

Crime fiction of the highest quality - fascinating characters, great storytelling, and unbearable suspense. I absolutely loved it

Sveistrup is a skilled weaver of plot, able to surprise the reader and maintain a well-developed sense of pacing, tension and action. He keeps the reader hooked until the final page

The ingredients in this stew are familiar to everyone who reads crime novels. Sveistrup's great skill becomes apparent in the solid, complex plot, as well as in the pacing and impact that drives the reader onward page after page. The Chestnut Man is a demonstration of how a novel of this type should be sewn together. The result is incredibly thrilling!

While other writers come across as formulaic, Sveistrup's plot develops naturally, and he finds space amid the child abuse and harassment for enough injections of humanity that The Chestnut Man never turns into violence porn, a stumbling block for several of his Danish colleagues. The key is Thulin and Hess, the most promising pair of investigators in Nordic crime since Saga and Martin first met over a corpse on a bridge in 2011

Individual scenes in the narrative stand out knife-sharp in all their calculated evil. Their encounter with brutal reality nearly overwhelms those involved, and the reader is profoundly challenged by the novel's material. But you survive because you retain a clear sense that there must be a deep well of sorrow behind the crimes, and because the author depicts his cast of characters in such a nuanced way that you sympathise with the hard-pressed investigative team, the victims, and the person behind the terrible murders. Sveistrup keeps the reader gripped until the very end. This is professional writing in the very best sense, and I'm looking forward to more.

The Chestnut Man is an intensely gripping first novel that feels anything but debut-like. Seasoned crime fans with feel as though they're in very safe hands ... [Sveistrup] throws his hat into the ring with extreme professionalism and a talent for deploying his special tricks in precisely calibrated doses.

Praise for The Killing

Excellent . . . A shrewd mix of police procedural, political thriller and domestic drama

TV of the absolute finest quality . . . the writing shines

A gripping psychological thriller.

This is without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the year.

Featuring two entangled families and a house with the darkest of secrets, this is a compulsive new thriller from Lisa Jewell.

From the first page we were hooked. If you’ve got a lazy day planned over the Christmas break, this is the type of novel you could read in a day…It makes us shiver just sharing the plot and we guarantee you’ll be on the edge of your seats throughout.

Of the crop of great thrillers out this year, this is my pick [...] Lisa Jewell is brilliant at creating a menacing atmosphereand this is almost unbearably tense at times, with a knock-the-wind-out-of-you ending.

An enthralling tale rich in psychological suspense that mixes family saga with domestic noir.

Part family saga and part-psychological thriller, this is an exceptional read.

Breathtaking thriller

Perfect book to inhale by the fire. Had no idea how creepy and nuanced it would be but couldn’t put it down and stayed up half the night reading it. Highly recommend.