Publication: 4th April 2019 – Trapeze
When a group of urban explorers stumble across a murderer’s kill room in a derelict film studio, terror strikes. And when one of the group is found dead, the team realise – they’re being hunted.
DI Dominic Bell is investigating the murder, but as the body count rises, time is running out. The only person who can help him is a figure from his past, Clementine Starke – but Clementine is haunted by her own demons. Can the two of them pair up to catch the killer? Or is it already too late?
I started reading Stephanie Marland’s novels because I am a huge fan of her Lori Anderson series, which she writes under the name Steph Broadribb. YOU DIE NEXT is the second book in the Starke & Bell series and, even though it’s a bit darker than her other novels, I am completely addicted and I am already looking forward to the next novel.
Who are the protagonists? Clementine Starke is a researcher who studies the effects of obsession on people for her PhD. Clementine herself is her own first case study. Why? Because she has two obsessions: the murder of her father and DI Dominick Bell. Her father was a police detective that was murdered during a fire that almost killed her and left her numb to emotions. The killer was never found, but she’s enlisted the help of a true-crime online group to find out the truth. She met DI Dominick Bell while solving a case in the first book, My Little Eye, where he saved her life from a killer. This event connected them in a “special” (her word), unhealthy and dangerous (my words) way. Despite Dominick’s efforts to keep Clementine at a distance, she gets mixed up not only in his new murder investigation, but also in the case of corrupt officers that involves one of his own family.
In YOU DIE NEXT, the author explores a world that I am unfamiliar with and that, to be honest, I didn’t even know existed. Urban explorers are groups of people that film themselves while they go through abandoned and neglected buildings and, thanks to technology and social media, they have thousands of followers during their nightly adventures. During the filming, their faces are covered and they use nicknames and no one knows who they really are. One night, one of the most popular group of urban explores breaks into an old film studio and stumbles upon a scene that makes them run away scared. The fear of prosecution for the break in stops them from going to the police, but someone is leaving threatening messages for them. And when the first body turns up, they ask themselves, who dies next? As the bodies pile up, DI Dominick Bell tries to solve the case while Clementine is ready to do absolutely anything to help and protect him.
Clementine and Dominick are both intriguing characters. They both have a very dark side, they both have demons to deal with and their relationship is obsessive and a bit dangerous. I like these two flawed and engaging characters that created a story that is intense, twisty, and chilling and that kept me completely hooked until the very last word.
Publication: 4th April 2019 – HQ
I first met the protagonist, DI Meg Dalton, when, last year, I read The Devil’s Dice, the first novel in the series. After years away, she is back in the Peak District to stay closer to her mother and she finds a job in the Derbyshire Police. Now, six months after her return, she still has her ups and downs professionally and personally. Inside the police station, she has a good relationship with both her colleagues Fiona and Jai (although for the latter she has mixed feelings of friendship and romance), but she also has to suffer the jealousy of a resentful colleague and an obnoxious boss. Outside of the police station, she doesn’t have much of a social life, but she knows that she can always rely on her best friend Hannah, and family issues keep her mind busy even when she is at work. Thanks to the author’s detailed descriptions and beautiful writing, the character of Meg feels realistic: she is smart, determined, and well-developed, and her flaws, her emotions, her guilt over her job, her family, and her sister’s death make her more human and likable.
Publication: 4th March 2019 (eBook); 4th April 2019 (paperback) – HarperFiction
Publication: 4th April 2019 – Head of Zeus
Number-one bestselling author Wendy Holden was a journalist on Tatler, The Sunday Times, and the Mail on Sunday before becoming an author. She has since written ten consecutive Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. She lives in Derbyshire. Vist her website at 
Publication: 4th April 2019 – Simon & Schuster UK
James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland and lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives. He incorporates his diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. 55 is his first novel, which has been sold in 19 countries so far and optioned for film by Zucker Productions in partnership with Prodigy Pictures.
Publication: 4th April 2019 – Pan Macmillan
Publication: 26th March 2019 – Allison & Busby
Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in Kent and emigrated to the
Publication: 26th March 2019
Malia Zaidi is the author of the Lady Evelyn Mysteries. She studied at the University of Pittsburgh and at the University of Oxford. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides vicariously (if temporarily) in countries around the world.
Book After Book 