I have to be honest and say that 2025 has been a tough year for reading for me. I lost my reading mojo in January and I’m not sure it’s fully back! I still have books from last Christmas that I haven’t read yet, as well as ones I’ve bought throughout the year. However, I have managed to read more than ten and there have been some that have blown me away this year. So, in no particular order, the first seven books.

Into The Fall by Tamara L Miller

This was a book that I got via Amazon First Reads at the beginning of the year. I deliberately held on to read it until the end of June when I went to Canada, where the book is set. It was amazing to read and see some of the locations at the same time.

For better or for worse, Sarah Anderson has it all: a thriving career, a nice home in Ottawa, two young kids…and a marriage coming apart at the seams.

Then her husband, Matthew, vanishes without a trace during a family vacation up north. Sarah and her children are nearly lost among the slumbering lakes, treacherous cliffs, and brooding forests of the Canadian Shield. A glacier-scraped realm of ancient beauty and terror, it’s a world away from the safety of the suburbs. And a big storm is brewing.

A kind rural lawman comes to their aid and takes an interest in the case. The trail goes cold, however, launching Sarah into a yearlong odyssey to find her husband. On the way, she must reconnect with her estranged sister and duck the suspicions of a slick city police officer. But that’s nothing compared to unearthing the dark secrets buried deep in the granite of her marriage—and in herself.

To buy Into The Fall, click here.

 

Little Secrets by Victoria Goldman

Using the juxtaposition of a prison and a luxury hotel, Victoria Goldman weaves her about story about an infamous prison nurse back and forth, carefully revealing details that keep you reading.

Welcome to the true-crime controversy that’s divided the media for the last twenty years. To discover the truth, we need to delve back into the past…

THEN: In June 1999, the last five prisoners at HMP Panbrook were killed just before the prison closed its doors for the final time. Anna Kendall, the nurse accused of their murders, died before the case went to court. Her motive and guilt have never been proven.

NOW: The Panbrook Prison Hotel is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Hotel manager Madeleine Batten is determined to discover what happened there twenty years earlier. But as the prison’s dark secrets are gradually exposed, danger lurks in the shadows. And someone is determined to keep the truth locked away.

Little Secrets is a compelling, atmospheric locked-room mystery set in a former prison that’s been converted into a luxury hotel.

You can buy Little Secrets here.

 

Police procedurals are my favourite crime sub-genre so it’s not surprise that there are a few in my top ten. In fact, they make up half.

 

The Castle by John Sutherland

John’s a new author to me and I had the opportunity to interview him at West Barnes Library about this book. I was swept up in this story set in the Scottish Highlands.

Alex and Pip are in desperate need of an escape. Their stressful roles as hostage negotiators are eased only by the fact that they get to come home to each other every night.

When an old friend invites the couple up to the Scottish Highlands for an extended break, Alex and Pip jump at the chance. It’s the rest they both need.

But soon after they arrive at the castle, they hear the sound of gunshots, and their perfect escape turns into a perfect nightmare. The remote mountainous landscape is now the setting for a terrifying kidnap plot targeting one of the other guests.

In the desperate hours that follow, Alex and Pip must call on all their years of negotiating experience to keep everyone alive. But with Pip gravely injured and the net closing in, it might be her life that needs saving most of all… 

To buy The Castle, click here.

 

Some Of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins

It’s fair to say that Fiona doesn’t write conventional police procedurals but then DS Saul Anguish isn’t a conventional cop.

She must face justice. As her sister it kills me to say it. As his mother I demand it.

When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.

To celebrate her sister’s wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.

With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?

Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .

To buy Some Of Us Are Liars, click here.

 

The Perfect Psychopath by Alice Hunter

Again, not a straightforward police novel but an interesting mix of main characters with Dr Eleanor Spencer and DS Sarah Knight.

The mind is a dangerous place to hide…

Dr Eleanor Spencer is a well-respected psychologist with a seemingly perfect life. But when a series of women start to vanish, it dredges up memories of her sister’s unsolved disappearance and she finds herself drawn into the investigation.

Desperate, she turns to Lucas Hayne, a convicted serial murderer who revels in mind games. But when Lucas cryptically hints the answers lie buried in her past, Ellie’s carefully constructed world begins to splinter.

Because now she faces a terrifying possibility: the real monster might just be closer than she ever imagined.

Ellie has spent her career deciphering the minds of killers―but now, one of them is inside hers.

To buy The Perfect Psychopath, click here.

 

The Red Shore by William Shaw

It’s not a top ten without William and his new police series set in the West Country has got off to a great start.

Met detective Eden Driscoll never wanted a child, but when his estranged sister vanishes from her sailboat, he is asked to look after her son Finn – the nephew he hadn’t even known existed.

Resettled in the seaside town of Teignmouth, Eden adjusts to his newfound parenthood. Then Finn disappears from school, and Eden knows something is dreadfully wrong.

When Eden’s sister’s body is finally found, floating in the sea, local police rule her death an accident, but Eden isn’t convinced. She was an experienced sailor and would never sail without a life jacket. Eden starts searching his sister’s life for answers, and what he discovers changes everything.

To buy The Red Shore, click here.

 

Shatter Creek by Rod Reynolds

We’ve waited a while for the sequel to Black Reed Bay but it’s been worth the wait!

Hampstead County Police Department is embroiled in scandal after corruption at the top of the force was exposed. Cleared of involvement and returned to active duty, Detective Sergeant Casey Wray nonetheless finds herself at a crossroads when it becomes clear not everyone believes she’s innocent.
 
Corruption

Partnered with rookie Billy Drocker, Casey works a shocking daytime double-homicide in downtown Rockport with the two victims seemingly unknown to one another. And when a third victim is gunned down on her doorstep shortly after, it appears an abusive ex-boyfriend holds the key to the killings.
 
Murder

With powerful figures demanding answers, Casey and Billy search for the suspect, fearing he’s on a murderous rampage. But when a key witness goes missing, and new evidence just won’t fit, the case begins to unravel.
 
Danger
 
With her career in jeopardy, Casey makes a shattering discovery that threatens to expose the true darkness at the heart of the murders… with a killer still on the loose…

To buy Shatter Creek, click here.

 

So, my top three books of the year! These three books didn’t just kickstart my reading mojo but also helped me through some difficult times this year. If a novel can sweep you away from your life and transport you to a different world, then the author has done a great job.

Number three is…

 

Estella’s Fury by Barbara Havelocke

This is the sequel to Estella’s Revenge and it’s fantastic to be back in Estella’s Dickensian world.

Daughter. Murderer. Saviour.

London, 1835.

To high society, Estella is the perfect lady. But her fair face hides dark secrets what has she done with her husband? And will her past crimes come back to haunt her?

Desperate to escape her troubled life, she visits her friend, Lady Taykall. But when a servant girl disappears, Estella stumbles on a horrifying web of crimes and feels the old fire for vengeance burning inside her.

To mete out her own brand of dark justice she must risk everything.

Even if it means she cannot survive.

To buy Estella’s Revenge, click here.

 

Coming in second place, is a book I mentioned to look out for when I was sharing my top reads of 2024.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

This book got me through a really stressful time at the end of last year. It’s simply beautiful.

Everyone in the village said nothing good would come of Gabriel’s return. And as Beth looks at the man she loves on trial for murder, she can’t help thinking they were right.

Beth was seventeen when she first met Gabriel. Over that heady, intense summer, he made her think and feel and see differently. She thought it was the start of her great love story. When Gabriel left to become the person his mother expected him to be, she was broken.

It was Frank who picked up the pieces and together they built a home very different from the one she’d imagined with Gabriel. Watching her husband and son, she remembered feeling so sure that, after everything, this was the life she was supposed to be leading.

But when Gabriel comes back, all Beth’s certainty about who she is and what she wants crumbles. Even after ten years, their connection is instant. She knows it’s wrong and she knows people could get hurt. But how can she resist a second chance at first love?

To buy Broken Country, click here.

 

And finally, in the top position, earning the ‘extraordinary’ spot, is…

 

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

Getting me through another tricky period and making me laugh at the same time, The Killer Question by Janice Hallett is my top read of 2025.

The answer is murder.
The question is whodunnit?

A quiet country pub stands empty, its windows boarded up. And its kindly landlords, Mal and Sue Eastwood, are missing.

What could have happened? A lot of strange events occurred in the days before the Eastwoods disappeared. A murdered man pulled from the nearby river. An eccentric couple on a houseboat who claimed to be led by a spirit guide. And a mysterious new team who suddenly appeared and began winning every round at the weekly pub quiz – much to the anger of the locals. They must have been cheating, but no one could figure out how…

Can you crack the case of the missing landlords? Someone’s not been playing fair, so get the drinks in and see if you can get a perfect score.

To buy The Killer Question, click here.

 

What books will 2026 bring? We’ll have to wait and see. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!