November is already upon us and with a new month brings a host of new books being published in the coming weeks.
As the year draws to an end, there’s nothing better than cuddling up on the couch with a hot drink, candles burning and an incredible work of fiction to pass the dark evenings reading.
If you’re in need of a new book, look no further, as we’ve found our top 10 must-reads being published this month. From historical fiction and romance to mystery and thrillers, there’s something for every bookworm in our list below.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Published by Penguin Random House, Out now
On a hot day in 1960s Maine, six-year-old Joe watches his little sister Ruthie, sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of the blueberry fields, while their family, Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia, pick fruit. That afternoon, Ruthie vanishes without a trace. As the last person to see her, Joe will be forever haunted by grief, guilt, and the agony of imagining how his life could have been. In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma is growing up as the only child of unhappy parents. She is smart, precocious, and bursting with questions she isn’t allowed to ask – questions about her missing baby photos; questions about her dark skin; questions about the strange, vivid dreams of campfires and warm embraces that return night after night. Norma senses there are things her parents aren’t telling her, but it will take decades to unravel the secrets they have kept buried since she was a little girl.
The First 48 Hours by Simon Kernick
Published by Headline, Out now
A cop needs to crack a deadly case. He's a detective hunting cold-blooded killers, but does he know more than he admits? A mother has to save her daughter. She's a lawyer who must defend a murderer – but how far will she go to protect her only child? A couple will commit the perfect crime. They have a plan – but can they trust each other with their lives? Three stories. Two days. Does one secret connect them all? The first 48 hours… may also be their last.
Body of Truth by Marie Cassidy
Published by Hachette Books Ireland, Out now
Dr Terry O'Brien has recently arrived in Ireland from Scotland to take up a position as State Pathologist when a high-profile murder occurs. The victim is Rachel Reece, host of a popular true crime podcast on unsolved murders of Irish women and niece of a prominent politician. As Terry gathers evidence to help with the police investigation, she becomes convinced that they are following the wrong line of inquiry and begins her own research. She soon finds herself in the thick of cold cases of murdered Irish women. What did Rachel Reece find out about the unsolved murder of Eileen McCarthy before she died? Who is sending ominous messages to Terry and what do they mean? And why is she increasingly at odds with her superiors? Terry knows that the pathology never lies. But when her forensic skills reveal something that might hold the key to the case, little does she know the deadly risk of revealing the truth
The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes
Published by Bantam Press, Out now
If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again – by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide – and when to shoot. But some places don't play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane's experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place – a place where violence is the only way to survive. Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West – but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart.
The Edge by David Baldacci
Published by Pan Macmillan, Out now
The New Travis Devine Thriller: the follow up to The 6:20 Man. Retired from the Army’s most prestigious special ops force, Travis Devine is now part of an elite undercover team in Homeland Security. But when he’s brought in by agent Emerson Campbell to investigate the murder of a young woman, he quickly learns that this case is more personal than most. Four days earlier Jennifer Silkwell was found dead on the rocks of the Maine coastline. A high ranking analyst for the CIA, she had knowledge of national security secrets that would be valuable to a number of enemies. And her senator father once saved Emerson Campbell’s life. Knowing how much is riding on the case, Devine packs his bags and heads for the small town of Putnam in Maine. But small towns can harbour big secrets, and not everyone wants to share them with outsiders. Not when there’s a killer on the loose
Shot with Crimson by Nicola Upson
Published by Faber & Faber, Out now
September, 1939, and the worries of war follow Josephine Tey to Hollywood, where a different sort of battle is raging on the set of Hitchcock's Rebecca. Then a shocking act of violence reawakens the shadows of the past, with consequences on both sides of the Atlantic, and Josephine and DCI Archie Penrose find themselves on a trail leading back to the house that inspired a young Daphne du Maurier – a trail that echoes Rebecca's timeless themes of obsession, jealousy and murder.
Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
Published by Orion Books, Out now
Defence attorney Mickey Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer – rides the wave of freeing a wrongfully convicted man from prison. Inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence, Haller enlists the help of ex-LAPD detective Harry Bosch to find the next case which could result in a resurrection walk. When Bosch finds a needle in the haystack – a woman imprisoned for murdering her husband, a sheriff's deputy – they discover evidence that doesn't add up, and a department pushed for quick closure in the killing of one of its own. But is this rushed justice – or something more sinister? As they face a David versus Goliath court battle, the secrets which could lead to an innocent woman walking free could also mark the end of the Haller-Bosch dream team.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Published by Piatkus, Out now
The eagerly anticipated sequel to Fourth Wing. Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College – Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s gruelling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is – unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits – and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College – and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
The Orphans on the Train by Gill Thompson
Published by Wildfire on November 23
Inspired by real events, two orphaned girls and the woman who becomes their surrogate mother, are separated in the most heart-wrenching way. The girls become found family amidst the horrors of WWII in a gripping and heart-wrenching tale of friendship, loss and survival against the odds which sweeps the reader across wartime Europe to Budapest from the mountains of Scotland.
The Ball at Versailles by Danielle Steel
Published by Pan Macmillan on November 23
It’s 1958 and The Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will go down in history. It is a glamorous dusk-to-dawn ball, where a select group of debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. And for four young women, all with something to prove, it is an event they will never forget. Amelia Alexander is the daughter of a hard-working, single mother who sacrifices everything to ensure that Amelia can take every opportunity for a better life. Caroline Taylor is pursuing a passionate affair with an up-and-coming movie star ten years her senior. But does he love her, or is his interest because of her famous father? Nuclear physics student, Felicity Smith, is uninterested in fashion and socialising, but she attends the ball to please her parents and to step out of the shadow of her sister. And Samantha Walker is the beloved, over-protected daughter of a wealthy businessman, her excitement about the invitation overshadowed by a past tragedy that still haunts her.
