Before the year ends: 10 outstanding novels to tick off your reading list

If you haven’t picked up a book by the million-copy bestseller Alice Feeney before, then make this your first. Acclaimed by Lisa Jewell as ‘a work of genius’, Beautiful Ugly is a jaw-dropping read that explores just how well you truly know the person you share your life with. Writer Grady Green's life shatters when his wife, Abby, vanishes, and her abandoned car is discovered perilously close to a cliff edge. A year later, still obsessed with her disappearance, Grady retreats to a remote Scottish island for solitude. But his world is turned upside down when he sees a woman who is the spitting image of his missing wife. 

Girl Dinner is a powerful and darkly witty thriller – with perhaps the most profoundly shocking twist of the year – about the deadly costs of ambition and belonging. Freshman Nina Kaur sees the exclusive sorority, The House, as her only chance for a bright future. Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley craves the seemingly perfect, high-achieving facade of the sisterhood. As both women are drawn into The House's arcane rituals, they realise that perfection may come with a bloody cost. 

This year saw the return of Ann Cleeves’ beloved Detective Jimmy Perez, back in a new, standalone investigation that trades the stark landscapes of Shetland for the wild isolation of Orkney. Perez is drawn into a deeply personal case when a ferocious storm uncovers the body of Archie Stout – a friend from childhood – and the murder weapon is discovered to be a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions. He must navigate a tight-knit community full of familiar faces, separate truth from local legend, and unmask a killer before their desperate actions threaten the new life Perez is trying to build. 

Brilliantly plotted and loaded with incomparable insider knowledge, this blockbuster legal thriller – written by the million-copy bestselling Secret Barrister – brings courtroom drama to life like no other novel. Three seventeen-year-old boys are accused of the brutal murder of an elderly teacher on New Year's Eve. Each boy denies the charge, and each points the finger at the other two. As the three high-profile defence barristers fight only to prove their own client is not guilty, they must navigate a system where the prosecutor needs to win – no matter the cost. 

A genre-defying novel from international sensation V. E. Schwab, Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil is unlike any other book you might have read this year; an unmissable tale of immortality, hunger, and revenge. Told across centuries, this gothic story follows three women in different eras – a young girl in 1532 Spain, a sheltered woman in 1827 London, and a college student in 2019 Boston – whose lives are forever bound together. Lyrical, deeply emotional, and utterly compelling, this is far more than just a vampire book; it’s a twisting tale about women who rise again to rebel, seek revenge, and fall in love. 

For a dark and unforgettable read, look no further than horror master Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, a visceral, twisted story about female rage and hidden power. In the sweltering summer of 1970, fifteen-year-old Fern arrives pregnant and alone at the strictly controlled Wellwood House, a home for ‘wayward girls’ forced to give up their babies. Desperate to escape, the girls’ lives change when a librarian gives Fern an occult book. As Fern and the other residents experiment with witchcraft, they finally seize control of their lives. But power comes at a price – and this one is usually paid in blood.

Part murder mystery, part emotional dissection, Fair Play is the puzzle-box novel you need to read. To celebrate her brother Benjamin's birthday, Abigail hires a grand house for a murder mystery party. In the morning, everyone wakes up – except Benjamin. As a determined detective arrives, Abigail must grapple not only with a locked-room mystery where everyone is a suspect, but also with the devastating question of whether the true mystery was her brother's life itself. This novel is a brilliant, heartbreaking exploration of grief and truth.

A Sunday Times Book of the Year, The Boy from the Sea is perfect for fans of emotional storytelling and vivid settings. In 1973, a baby boy is found abandoned on the beach on the west coast of Ireland. Local fisherman Ambrose, captivated by the mysterious child, adopts him, ignoring the watchful eyes of the curious community. For Ambrose’s other son, Declan, the new arrival is a source of lifelong rivalry. Spanning twenty years, this acclaimed debut explores how the boy’s presence affects the town, following a restless child trying to find his place in a world undergoing rapid change. 

This is the cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired rom com you need to cap off the year. Aiden Valentine, the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. This is beginning to cause problems until a little girl calls in asking for dating advice for her mother, Lucie Stone. The interview goes viral, instantly thrusting Aiden and Lucie into the limelight. Suddenly, all of Baltimore is scrutinising Lucie's love life. As sparks fly behind the scenes between the two, Lucie must choose between the radio-sponsored happy ending and the handsome, temperamental man in the headphones next to her. 

The Last Love Song, written by Lucinda Riley but now reworked and revived by her son and co-author of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt, Harry Whittaker, is a glorious story of love, loss, and destiny. When Sorcha O'Donovan meets struggling musician Con Daly in their small, windswept village on the West Cork coastline, their lives are forever changed. Con later finds fame with his rock band, The Fishermen, but the dark side of celebrity and secrets from the past threaten to destroy everything. Twenty years later, with Con missing, Sorcha is the only one who can find out what happened. This sweeping saga is definitive Lucinda Riley, filled with emotional depth and an unforgettable love story.