9 books that will keep you guessing to the very end

A US army drone has been stolen, a Saharan oasis is shrinking and a supply of deadly chemicals has been stashed. Each element threatens world stability, and intense diplomacy is required. But when leaders refuse to back down, the world creeps closer to war. Three people are charged with restoring peace: a spy who is undercover with jihadis, a genius Chinese spymaster and a beleaguered US president. Ken Follet's sweeping and visionary thriller doesn't resolve till the very last page, pulling the reader into a mesmerising scenario.

This racy and heady read explores what happens when excess reaches its ultimate limits. The Home Group is a global sensation: a collection of super-exclusive private members' clubs. When they open Island Home – an obscure island turned into a luxurious retreat – everyone wants to be there. But as the first guests arrive, things turn deadly. The beautiful people are holding some very ugly secrets, and would do anything to save their reputations . . .

It's 1838. And, following a turbulent storm, a woman is found with no clothes and no memories on the wild Northumberland moors. She has no idea how she came to be there, but she can remember how to assist a woman in who is giving birth, how to treat a wound and how to speak French. Slowly she uses these skills to rebuilt her life, until tragedy strikes and she must run for her life. In London meanwhile, Dr Borthwick assists mothers and babies in the homes of the rich, and in the slums of Devil's Acre. His reputation is pure, but he is holding on to a dark secret, one which threatens his existence.

Rachel is a modest young woman from a sleepy London suburb, who takes a summer job at the stunning Villa Medici in the hills of Tuscany. Glamorous and privileged teenagers party there, in a haze of sunny days, rivalries and bedhopping. Then someone goes too far. With more than a dash of Patricia Highsmith, this simmering high summer thriller is about the life-altering choices that teenagers can make.

Trust is a literary puzzle which combines four stories in one, spinning off from the story of a tycoon and his aristocratic wife in roaring 1920s New York who have made their money at a terrible cost. A 1938 novel, Bonds, attempts to unravel the mystery of their fortune, as a woman tries to separate fact from the persuasive power of fiction. Where does the truth lie? You won't find out till the very end . . .

Daisy Darker is an engrossing story from internationally bestselling writer Alice Feeney, replete with psychological cliffhangers and a daring twist. Daisy is approaching her grandmother's house for her eightieth birthday, which is also Halloween. The house, Seaglass, is a crumbly Cornish home set on a tiny granite private island. Reunited for the first time in a decade, the Darker family are about to be cut off by the tide for eight hours. And when the tide recedes, their world has changed for ever. Because one of them is a murderer.

Charlotte Levin's If I Can't Have You  is an all-consuming story of isolation, obsession and the lengths we go for those we love. Constance Little has escaped London and past tragedies for a new start in Manchester. When she begins a relationship with a doctor at the medical practice she works at, Charlotte knows she has found the loving security she longs for. Then he ends things, and she can't let go. Obsession is just the start . . .

This is the Sunday Times bestselling, twenty-eighth and last novel in Andrea Camilleri's gripping and amusing Inspector Montalbano Mysteries series. Montalbano's phone rings in the early morning, and the caller demands his presence. His name is Riccardino, and he promptly hangs up. Later that day comes news of a brutal murder, and an assailant who escaped by motorbike. The victim's name is Riccardino. All roads lead to the local salt mine, but the case proves impossible – until Montalban's phone rings again.

In the heart of winter a little girl is abandoned on the streets of nineteenth century London. She is taken in by a stranger, and over time becomes a thief, friend, inspiration and lover. When she turns eighteen, she retreats with a group of artists to a lovely house on a sleepy bend of the Thames. Tensions rise, and one sultry afternoon a gun is fired. A woman dies, and another disappears. Over the next century, Birchwood Manor invites visitors, but keeps its secret. Until another young woman with her own family secret comes to stay.