Every great love story deserves a great ending. And how, exactly, will Amy Neff’s debut novel, The Days I Loved You Most, play out? It’s the story of a couple who’ve known and loved each other for more than sixty years, who gather their three children to tell them of their plans. One has a severe case of rapidly worsening Parkinson’s, and the other won’t live without her. They are, they tell the children, in a year’s time going to end their lives together on their own terms … this final year is for the family to make new memories. A keep-the-tissues-handy love story. Bloomsbury Publishing
The school run can be murder. Things aren’t going well for Beth. Her husband left her. The other school mums judge her for swearing. Now she’s stuck in A&E on the first day of school. Plus … her best friend Charlotte – the only person to ever run an interesting PTA meeting, was hit by a car when out jogging and died. But was that really an accident? Beth thinks perhaps not … and with a newfound purpose and a glass of wine in hand, she sets out to discover what really happened to Charlotte. Once she’s put the kids to bed, obvs. The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace … a dark, funny murder mystery! Viper
A modern day fairytale. Jenny is not looking forward to her Class of 2007 reunion. Everyone’s done brilliantly … except her. It’s as if she didn’t get the memo. As it turns out, she didn’t. But now back at the university for the dreaded union, she’s given the memo she missed the first time around, and a second chance. One to rewrite her past and fix her life. But at what price? The Memo by Lauren Mechling and Rachel Dodes … funny, quirky, relatable. Little Brown
Lanner falcons gracefully soar over Fairview. And 50 years after Cyril Back bottled his first Shiraz under the Fairview label, this new cool climate Lanner Hill Syrah has been launched as part of the Fairview Single Vineyard range. Dark red with a bright red rim in the glass, it’s all wonderfully aromatic … generous red berries, herbal notes of rosemary, lavender and hints of cracked black pepper. Serve with cheese, pâté, charcuterie and freshly baked bread, grilled lamb with herb sauce or earthy flavoured veggies. R500 from fairviewmarketplace.co.za
Five couples. Two weeks. A luxury, albeit isolated, resort on an Indian Ocean Island. It’s the latest reality TV show – One Perfect Couple. All the couples have to do is survive the week. All sun, sea, and flirting. Until the storm arrives … cutting them off from everything. Tension runs high, water runs low … and one person is playing this game for real, and will stop at nothing to win. Ruth Ware’s books are always massively entertaining, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Simon & Schuster
How well do you really know your husband? Not very well indeed, in Martha’s case. All’s lovey dovey, until her new husband’s mask slips … and she’s suspicious that the conferences he travels the country to attend may be a cover for something far more sinister. There’s the string of dead women she discovers, and the dark side of the friend she enlists to help her discover if her lovely husband is, in fact, a serial killer. Cat and mouse stuff … Peter Swanson’s A Talent For Murder is all thrills and twists and chills. Faber
Detective Inspector Helen Grace is back in M.J. Arlidge’s Forget Me Not. In this 15th novel to feature DI Grace, (each one more thrilling than the last) she’s helping a woman trying to find her missing daughter, Naomi. However, with the police force under fire from all sides as a gang war grips the city, Helen will have to defy direct orders to search for the missing girl. Her secret investigation takes her down a dark path, one where she uncovers more people disappearing from the city streets. Orion
A man released from jail after eleven years, served for causing the death of a young boy in a hit and run. The boy’s mother. Out for revenge. The boy’s father, who knows what is wife is planning, and is determined to save her from herself, even if it means protecting the man who killed their son. Jack Jordan’s Redemption … a heartbreaking thriller. Simon and Schuster
If you’ve read Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium and The Retreat, you’ll know that with this third novel, The Wilds, you’re in for a rollercoaster of suspense. A woman escapes her dark and scarred childhood to live her life on the road. But she and her twin have never lost contact. Until on a trip in a national park, she disappears. A detective, visiting the park at the same time, hears about the disappearance, and discovers a disturbing map she left behind. The few strangers at the camp close ranks against her questions, and the park’s wild beauty turns sinister. “A one-sitting read,” says Jeffery Deaver, and who are we to argue! Sphere
All books available at Exclusive Books.
