Platform Seven
Louise Doughty
Louise Doughty’s novel Apple Tree Yard, which became a BBC drama, features a woman in trouble after the man who raped her is murdered.
But in real life, abusive men tend to kill rather than be killed.
And here teacher Lisa falls for doctor Matty, a smooth-talking psycho who knows how to hurt her without leaving a bruise.
Lisa initially tries to explain away Matty’s weirdness, then bravely tries to escape the relationship – until in the course of one such attempt, she dies.
That’s not a spoiler, as we know from the start that the novel is narrated by Lisa’s ghost.
Despite a slow build-up, when Lisa starts telling us about her life rather than her afterlife, the book becomes unputdownable and finally very moving.
BY JAKE KERRIDGE
Faber, £14.99
How The Dead Speak
Val McDermid
Dr Tony Hill is behind bars and detective Carol Jordan has been put out to pasture.
But then their former colleagues discover skeletons and rotting body parts at a former convent.
Nearby, the corpses of eight men are decomposing.
The race is on to find out whether the bodies are linked and the work of a serial killer. Here McDermid shows why she still reigns supreme as the Queen of Crime.
BY STUART WINTER
Little, Brown, £8.99
How It Was
Janet Ellis
The second novel from ex-Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis is an engrossing read about a family in crisis.
As her husband lies dying, Marion reflects upon the past 40 years and a story of family secrets and twisted relationships emerges.
Toxic tension bubbles between Marion and teenage daughter Sarah, and when Marion has an affair she sparks a chain of events that push the family to breaking point.
BY MERNIE GILMORE
Two Roads, £16.99
If Only I Could Tell You
Hannah Beckerman
In this tale of a family torn in two by a devastating secret, sisters Jess and Lily have been estranged for nearly 30 years.
They live only three miles apart and have even forbidden their own daughters from meeting each other.
Their mum Audrey doesn’t know why. But when she learns she only has months to live, she’s desperate to reconcile her girls.
Keep a box of tissues nearby.
BY EMMA LEE-POTTER
Orion, £7.99
Join the Mirror Book Club!
Each month we choose a paperback we think you’ll enjoy, either fiction or non-fiction.
When you’ve read it, we’d love you to join our Facebook group and tell us what you thought, good or bad.
We’d also love to know what else you’re reading – and which books we should pick for the Mirror Book Club in future…
Current Mirror Book Club read: Normal People by Sally Rooney
