The books I read and loved in May.

The book everyone will be talking about plus three psychological thrillers.

I’ve had a particularly murder-y month bookwise and have rediscovered the joy of listening to audiobooks while travelling!

Later this week, I’ll be sending out my first response to the Recommendations Request Line — don’t forget you can comment on any post or message me if you have any specific recommendation requests you’d like to see in the newsletter.

Here are the books I couldn’t put down in May:

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

I haven’t really listened to audiobooks in years because I always felt like I was listening to a really annoying play at a community theatre.

Anyway, this is the book that got me back into audiobooks. It’s perfect for the format because about every third chapter is an episode from a podcast.

It’s a genuinely funny and entertaining psychological thriller with a protagonist you really want to root for. It follows 20-something Lucy, who left her hometown after her best friend Savannah was murdered and everyone in town suspected Lucy was the one who killed her.

She’s living a new life in LA as a secret rom-com writer when her grandmother insists she comes home for her birthday party. When Lucy arrives back in town, she discovers her grandmother has lured her back because a true crime podcaster named Ben Owens is in town making a podcast about Savannah’s murder. Lucy reluctantly agrees to work with Ben on the case and soon discovers the people closest to her know a lot more about Savannah’s murder than they’ve been letting on.

Read it if you liked: None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell or First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston.

One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall

One of the Good Guys is another psychological thriller that I listened to on Spotify.

It’s a post #MeToo thriller about male violence, toxic relationships and revenge.

It follows 40-something Cole who moves to a small town on the English coast to escape the ghosts of his failed marriage. There he meets a reclusive artist named Leanora, who seems to truly understand that he’s ‘one of the good guys’.

But when two young activists who were walking the coast to raise awareness about men’s violence disappear, Cole and Leanora find themselves in the middle of a police investigation.

With a mid-book twist reminiscent of Gone Girl, One of the Good Guys asks how far would you go to get revenge?

Read it if you liked: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan.