#imwayr It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 15 January 2018

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (#IMWAYR) is a weekly place to share some extra #booklove in the form of what you have read over the last week, what you are currently reading and what’s coming next, hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

In the last week, I have finished reading:

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor. I loved this book and it is one of many excellent debuts I’ve read recently. I’ll confess to totally loving (most of!) the characters, as well as both laughing out loud and trying not to cry (it was something in my eye, honest!). This one is highly recommended.

Read my full review here.

Her Last Lie by Amanda Brittany. Yet another amazing debut! 2017 and, so far already, 2018 have spoiled us with some incredible first books. This is a clever and mysterious thriller, with some creepy scenes, surprising twists and beautiful scenery. This is another book that comes highly recommended.

Read my full review here.

I am currently reading:

I am still working my way through the classic six-and-a-half hour audiobook of Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery. I do already know the story but it is great to hear Hugh Fraser bring all the characters so much to life! In my opinion, it is one of Dame Agatha’s cleverest and most fiendish plots and I do love a good (fictional) snowstorm! Plus Emily Trefusis was one of the first brilliantly ballsy female characters I ever read.

I am also reading If I Die Before I Wake by Emily Koch. I have only just started this but I’m already intrigued by the prologue (I love a good prologue and I know this has already sparked some online debate in the last week) and I am starting to get to know Alex, his background and what secrets might have led to his current terrifying situation. Top reviews are still flooding in for this book and it’s shaping up to be a good ‘un!

Next on my #TBR pile:

I am so excited to start one of my personally most anticipated books of 2018, A.J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window.

What did she see? It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside. Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours. When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers. But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?

Then, another of my potential top 18 of ’18, Jo Spain’s The Confession.

You find out who did it on the very first page. On the last page, you’ll find out why. Late one night a man walks into the luxurious home of disgraced banker Harry McNamara and his wife Julie. The man launches an unspeakably brutal attack on Harry as a horror-struck Julie watches, frozen by fear. Just an hour later the attacker, JP Carney, has handed himself in to the police. He confesses to beating Harry to death, but JP claims that the assault was not premeditated and that he didn’t know the identity of his victim. With a man as notorious as Harry McNamara, the detectives cannot help wondering, was this really a random act of violence or is it linked to one of Harry’s many sins: corruption, greed, betrayal? This gripping psychological thriller will have you questioning, who – of Harry, Julie and JP –  is really the guilty one? And is Carney’s surrender driven by a guilty conscience or is his confession a calculated move in a deadly game?

Happy January reading, everyone!