A cool, contemporary, whip-smart thriller.

A black diamond of a thriller - gleaming, sharp, deeply dark - but so much more: a cool, elegant novel with a heartbeat, a pulse, and a sting in its tail.

Clever, clever, clever. At the black heart of this story is a personal assistant - the colleague in your office who hears and knows everything about everyone - and Renée leads us on a deeply unsettling exploration of the limits of loyalty. Believe me, chats by the photocopier will never be the same . . .

A scintillating double psychological portrait . . . an arresting ending reminiscent of Rendell at her flintiest.

An explosive tale of revenge that had me completely hooked.

Truly menacing. A meticulously constructed thriller . . .

Woah, you are in for a treat with The Secretary! Dark and intriguing with utterly compelling characters. I genuinely couldn’t put it down.

An engrossing study of twisted dynamics in a relationship where one person holds all the power. Fans of Notes on a Scandal will love it.

Deceptively clever and so unsettling. I love the way she casually slips in a twist that makes you shake your head at how wrong you were!

Filled with a creeping sense of menace that intensifies beautifully as the novel unfolds. Watch out for this one . . . absolutely brilliant.

I started reading #SecretaryBook last night and couldn’t put it down . . . Such a deliciously dark, hugely satisfying read.

The Secretary is an excellent, dark and clever thriller with a compelling central character. The story draws you in from the start and builds and builds to an intense and unsettling conclusion. I loved it.

The Secretary is an absolute masterpiece of pace, plot and precision to detail. Renée Knight so deftly winches up the tension that I found I was shallow breathing by the end, desperate to see the conclusion but terrified to watch all at once. I loved Disclaimer and now with The Secretary following it, Renée Knight has become a must read author for me.

A superb read - I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

The Secretary is a dark addictive tale - utterly compelling - with characters drawn with such a subtle and subversive touch they compel you to plunge in headlong from page one to follow their twisted fate.

I totally loved #TheSecretary. Fabulous tale of the person in the room who is so often overlooked. Office politics at their most evil.

A bitter betrayal spirals into a chilling comeuppance. Readers are sure to be left breathless.

A stunning finale. Knight, whose debut, Disclaimer, was highly praised, again shows her skill in creating an absorbing psychological thriller.

A cinematic page-turner steeped in atmosphere and just awaiting its adaptation to mini-series.

Knight builds tension in this page-turning story about misplaced loyalty, secrets, manipulation, and class . . . slowly revealing what happens when one woman’s desire to be helpful and needed ruins her life. Highly recommended.

[T]here is a twist so shocking and surprising in Harris' most recent work The Second Sleep that I don't want to say anything more than: prepare to be amazed [...] Writing is deeply tricky. Harris, over decades of practice, manages to craft all the elements to ensure reader satisfaction. The description is articulated in a clear way with the dialogue managed suitably. Characters sound like real people instead of clunky dialogue which is all too common. Most importantly, events actually take place. Exposition of place, setting and context is essential [...] Harris without doubt continually does this and creates a refreshing sense of relief, which will ensure I continue to read his works for many decades to come.

Totally engrossing and I kept on thinking, one more chapter... an intelligent page-turner that makes you question everything

Truly horrifying in the most delicious way. Samantha Downing sucks you in with a great story, pitch-perfect prose and disturbingly dead-on insights into the dark side of human nature. I hope I never meet her in a dark alley....

I couldn't pull myself away from this story - a terrifying and riveting window into the mind of the perfect suburban mother with a taste for murder. Make sure you clear your schedule before you pick it up. Absolutely unputdownable

It's no mean feat to find something fresh in the crowded thriller field, but Downing pulls off an indisputable triumph with My Lovely Wife. Exemplary writing and outstanding pacing confirm Downing's talent, but it's her deliciously depraved characters that kept me flying through the pages. Couldn't get enough of this subversive love-gone-sideways tale!

Deliciously dark and twisted... It's a remarkable achievement, full stop.

Best new books to read this March

A highly original and dark look at the shifting power structure in a modern marriage. . . A funny, smart book

Darkly witty and strangely plausible, it's a read-in-one-sitting firecracker of a thriller, laced with explosive twists

A marital, psychological thriller with darkly comedic undertones

Bold and brilliant

This is a ringer of a yarn, shot through with enough tooth-clenching moments to make you have your dentist on speed dial

With a twisty plot that will leave you gasping, this deliciously dark thriller is on a par with Gone Girl

One of the best thrillers I've ever read

What. A. Book! 2019’s best thriller and a one-sitting read.

Brilliantly dark and unsettling, Lisa Jewell’s latest novel might just be her best yet.

A work of utter genius ... you’re going to love it.

Lisa Jewell is the most wonderful writer, and funnily enough we've written about a similar theme with our new books - cults, in microcosm and macrocosm. I can't rant enough about how brilliant The Family Upstairs is.

I absolutely loved The Family Upstairs. Intriguing, absorbing, unputdownable with characters so real they jump from the page.

Couldn’t put it down. Wish I’d written it. With characters that light up the pages, a twisty plot which unravels at perfect pace, and a house rammed with the darkest secrets, it’s brilliant.

Brilliantly dark and disturbing ... Absolutely couldn’t put it down, it’s so good!

‘Outstanding. So compelling, twisty-turny and riveting. I just couldn’t stop reading.’

All I want to do for the rest of the day is find out what’s at the bottom of it all. Too good.

Utterly compelling. Deliciously dark and twisty with characters who live on in your head. Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better.

Compelling and suspenseful for a long and chilly autumn night’s reading.

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.