Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (Michael Joseph £20, 448pp)
Another cracker from the author of the global hit A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder.
Jet Mason is a law graduate who is brutally attacked and survives only to learn that she will inevitably die from her injuries within seven days.
She is the daughter of a very powerful construction family with many enemies. Her dysfunctional family includes a cold mother and cruelly ambitious brother.
Jet is determined to solve her own murder case in the days she has left.
In the hands of a less skilful writer, this plot line simply wouldn’t have worked.
But Jackson creates such a relatable character as well as the cast of suspicious characters that the reader is kept engrossed until the heartbreaking, shocking finale.
Watch Me Watch You by Lily Samson (Century £16.99, 400pp)
A lot happens very quickly in this cleverly plotted tale that also gives a tantalising glimpse into the world of publishing.
Alice wakes up alone in her London flat to find a private sex film she made with her partner being played.
Alice, who we quickly learn has a stalker, gets a job at a publishers and finds herself secretly following her female boss Mina.
But it’s when Mina, who is married to a glamorous MP, suggests that she borrows Alice’s flat that the plot really hots up.
The complex strands are pulled together in an ingenious way. Alice and Mina are odd but compelling principal characters. And the result is a smart and sexy read about attraction and power.
The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster £16.99, 400pp)
FANS will welcome this sequel to Ware’s bestseller, The Woman In Cabin 10.
The returning main character is Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist who wrote a bestseller about a murder on a cruise ship which was based on her own experiences.
Lo has just accepted an invitation to review a luxury hotel in Switzerland and the chance to interview the mysterious billionaire owner.
Alarm bells ring when three of the people who were on the cruise ship turn up here.
Soon she is involved in a convoluted drama that resurrects her past and puts her life in danger again.
Lo is particularly relatable as a vulnerable young mother struggling to re-establish her career.
Ware’s writing has all her trademarks of a tricky plot, great backdrops and convincing dialogue.
