"What I intend to say to you will come as a shock ..." With these words, Lady Athelinda Playford -- one of the world's most beloved children's authors -- springs a surprise on the lawyer entrusted with her will. As guests arrive for a party at her Irish mansion, Lady Playford has decided to cut off her two children without a penny ... and leave her vast fortune to someone else: an invalid who has only weeks to live. Among Lady Playford's visitors are two strangers: the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard. Neither knows why he has been invited -- until Poirot begins to wonder if Lady Playford expects a murder. But why does she seem so determined to provoke a killer? And why -- when the crime is committed despite Poirot's best efforts to stop it -- does the identity of the victim make no sense at all?

"Hercule Poirot is traveling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate. Richard Devonport has summoned the renowned detective to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. Poirot will have only days to investigate before Helen is hanged, but there is one strange condition attached: he must conceal his true reason for being there from the rest of the Devonport family. The coach is forced to stop when a distressed woman demands to get off, insisting that if she stays in her seat, she will be murdered. Although the rest of the journey passes without anyone being harmed, Poirot's curiosity is aroused, and his fears are later confirmed when a body is discovered with a macabre note attached... Could this new murder and the peculiar incident on the coach be clues to solving the mystery of who killed Frank Devonport? And if Helen is innocent, can Poirot find the true culprit in time to save her from the gallows?"--

"It's December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward's mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case. As Poirot digs into the mystery, he discovers that the murdered man was a retired post office master, and by all accounts very well-liked. The local constabulary's investigation failed to uncover how someone could have entered a hospital room and killed him under the noses of the staff. Cynthia's friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital, and his wife is convinced he will be the killer's next victim, though she refuses to explain why. With no obvious motive or suspect, Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot"--

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows flees her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied -- by a man and a teenage girl. A simple mistake at the front desk but soon Cara realizes that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving natural life sentences for her murder. Cara doesn't know what to trust -- everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows flees her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied -- by a man and a teenage girl. A simple mistake at the front desk but soon Cara realizes that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving natural life sentences for her murder. Cara doesn't know what to trust -- everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

***WINNER OF THE 2023 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY*** THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ' Completely ingenious, entirely satisfying - a delight from start to finish' ALEX MICHAELIDES 'BY FAR Sophie Hannah's best one yet. Relatable, funny, high concept and so satisfying I watched in awe as the pieces fell into place' GILLIAN McALLISTER 'You'll love this brain-melting thriller!' FABULOUS 'A wise and witty portrait of modern marriage and murder' THE TIMES ' One of the best crime writers current working' THE SCOTSMAN SIX COUPLES. ONE LUXURY RESORT. AND THE PERFECT MURDER . . . You're on your honeymoon at an exclusive couples-only resort. You receive a note warning you to 'Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours'. At dinner that night, five other couples are present, and none of their tables is any nearer or further away than any of the others. It's as if someone has set the scene in order to make the warning note meaningless - but why would anyone do that? You have no idea. You also don't know that you're about to be murdered, or that once you're dead, all the evidence will suggest that no one there that night could possibly have committed the crime. So who might be trying to warn you? And who might be about to commit the perfect murder? SOPHIE HANNAH IS THE QUEEN OF THE UNGUESSABLE MYSTERY! 'Complex and satisfying outing' CRIME TIME 'A fabulously twisty and entertaining read!' My Weekly

"Pulled into a deadly game of deception, secrets, and lies, a woman must find the truth in order to defeat a mysterious opponent, protect her daughter, and save her own life in this dazzling standalone psychological thriller with an unforgettable ending from the New York Times bestselling author of Woman with a Secret and The Monogram Murders. You thought you knew who you were. A stranger knows better. You've left the city and the career that nearly destroyed you--for a fresh start on the coast. But trouble begins when your daughter withdraws, after her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. You beg the principal to reconsider, only to be told that George hasn't been expelled. Because there is, and was, no George. Who is lying? Who is real? Who is in danger? Who is in control? As you search for answers, the anonymous calls begin a stranger, who insists that you and she share a traumatic past and a guilty secret. And then the caller threatens your life. This is Justine's story. This is Justine's family. This is Justine's game. But it could be yours"--

Sophie Hannah's unguessable thrillers have readers hooked! 'INGENIOUS! I challenge anyone to unravel this clever whodunit' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sophie Hannah could well be our modern Christie, such a deliciously complicated plot. Her best yet!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This murder mystery really did blow my mind. It kept me awake at night! Absolutely brilliant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This lived up to its press for me. I loved every page -- a truly impossible puzzle!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Would you trust a complete stranger? After Chloe and her daughter Freya are rescued from disaster by a man who seems too good to be true, Chloe decides she must find him again to thank him. But instead of meeting her knight in shining armour, she comes across a woman called Nadine Caspian who warns her to stay well away from him. The man is dangerous, Nadine claims, and a compulsive liar. Alarmed, Chloe asks her what she means, but Nadine will say no more. Chloe knows that the sensible choice would be to walk away - after all, she doesn't know anything about this man. But she is too curious. What could Nadine have meant? And can Chloe find out the truth without putting herself and her daughter in danger?

Sophie Hannah's unguessable thrillers have readers hooked! 'INGENIOUS! I challenge anyone to unravel this clever whodunit' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sophie Hannah could well be our modern Christie, such a deliciously complicated plot. Her best yet!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This murder mystery really did blow my mind. It kept me awake at night! Absolutely brilliant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This lived up to its press for me. I loved every page -- a truly impossible puzzle!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ***WINNER OF THE 2023 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY*** All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home. Just because she knows that her former best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn't mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn't seen Flora Braid for twelve years. But she can't resist. She parks outside Flora's house and watches from across the road as Flora and her children, Thomas and Emily, step out of the car. Except... There's something terribly wrong. Flora looks the same, only older - just as Beth would have expected. It's the children that are the problem. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily Braid were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt - Beth hears Flora call them by their names - but they haven't changed at all. They are no taller, no older. Why haven't they grown? READERS ADORE SOPHIE HANNAH'S UNGUESSABLE THRILLERS: 'Compulsive reading literally all through the night' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Couldn't put it down! Loved it, so many twists and turns!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I thought I'd worked it out but I was nowhere near!!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I have lost sleep over this book as I couldn't bear to miss a word. I have one word for it: UNBEATABLE' 'Absolutely hooked right from the first chapter. I couldn't put it down, literally' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'It just had to be 5 stars, more if I could' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I urge you to read, you will NOT be disappointed' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A chilling, compulsively readable novel of psychological suspense from the author of Little Face and The Carrier Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she never thought she'd hear again: Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't recognize. Last year, a work trip Sally had planned was canceled at the last minute. Desperate for a break from juggling her job and a young family, Sally didn't tell her husband that the trip had fallen through. Instead, she treated herself to a secret vacation in a remote hotel. While she was there, Sally met a man--Mark Bretherick. All the details are the same: where he lives, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. Except that the photograph on the news is of a man Sally has never seen before. And Geraldine and Lucy Bretherick are both dead... With the international bestseller Little Face , Sophie Hannah established herself as a striking new voice in psychological suspense. The Wrong Mother , a riveting exploration of a mother's unspeakable betrayal, confirms her reputation as a master of the form.

Linzi Birrell and Rhian Douglas: murdered. Angela McCabe and Josh Norbury: murdered. A killer the police have dubbed Billy Dead Mates is killing pairs of best friends, one by one. Just before each murder, he sends his victim a small white book...Three regional police forces are working together to identify and catch Billy. For five months, they've been failing. Then a fifth victim, scared by what she's seen and heard on the news, comes forward to seek help. Unlike Billy's first four victims, she isn't dead. Yet.Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy's peculiar white books. A stranger gave it to her after a gig she did a year ago. Was he Billy? Now Kim's life depends on working out why she - a woman who has no close friends because she trusts no one - should attract the attention of the Best Friends Killer... And, if Billy has her in his sights, why has he waited so long to strike?

"It's past midnight, but Connie can't sleep. To pass the time, she logs onto a real estate website in search of a particular house, the address of which was mysteriously in the GPS of her car that afternoon. As she clicks through the virtual tour of 11 Bentley Grove, she's shocked to see the body of a woman, lying face down on the living room floor in a pool of blood. But when she returns to show her husband Kit moments later, there is no body, no blood- only an ordinary beige carpet in an ordinary living room. Once again featuring detectives Charlotte (Charlie) Zailer and Simon Waterhouse" --

A stand-up comedian wonders who she can trust when she anonymously receives the same token clue, a small white book, that has been found at each scene of a serial murder case.

Happiness is one of life's greatest mysteries. But what even is happiness? Why does it mean so many different things to different people? And how can we actually be happier? Drawing on decades of experience in crime writing, self-help and intensely curious observation of other people, Sophie Hannah sets out to solve the mystery. She lines up her cast of suspects and expert witnesses from ancient philosophers to modern self-help gurus, scientists to ordinary people from all walks of life. Leaving no stone unturned, she scrutinises the clues, evidence, and even the red herrings that unexpectedly lead to happiness. And she uncovers answers - from the secrets of a fulfilling relationship to the joys of boredom, or of the bliss of a cancelled meeting.