I’ve read 6 books by ‘UK’s greatest export’ — this under-rated author is just as good

I read every single day. It’s the way I wind down for the last few minutes of the day before finally turning off the light and going to sleep. I’m not a great sleeper and I think if I didn’t have books to help me de-stress, I’d probably be awake all night. 

But I find the process of reading at bedtime so incredibly important now that I worry what I’d do without it. I love fiction and non-fiction books equally for the ways they enrich my life. History books teach me things I didn’t know, self-help and advice books teach me ways I might be able to improve my life and interactions with other people, and fiction allows me to stop thinking about the stresses of everyday life.

You can find out what I consider the 10 best books I’ve read in the last 5 years here. And this is by far the best book I’ve ever read. And for more book recommendations, reviews and news, click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, The Bookish Drop, on Substack.

This year I discovered my new favourite author. Lisa Jewell has been a major name in fiction for years but I’d not heard of her. After being recommended one of her books by a colleague, I devoured it and raced through another five books too. They’re the ultimate page-turners and it’s no wonder she’s been described as the “UK’s greatest export” for lovers of mystery thriller books and has a rating of 3.96 on Goodreads from more than 4 million users who say they’ve been left “speechless” by her “bone-chilling” and “riveting” books. The six Lisa Jewell books I’ve read so far this year are:

This brilliant book centres on an abandoned mansion in Chelsea, London, where the bodies of three adults were discovered alongside a healthy baby in a cot, alive and seemingly well looked after. When that baby inherits the house 25 years later, she sets about uncovering its dark past. Buy it on Amazon here or at Waterstones here.

Laurel Mack is a mum grieving after the sudden disappearance of her youngest daughter, Ellie. Years later, with Ellie’s disappearance still a mystery, she meets a handsome and seemingly perfect man in a cafe. Then she meets his nine-year-old daughter and the first thing that strikes her is how much she looks like her missing daughter. You can buy it on Amazon here or at Waterstones here.

On a summer night, 19-year-old Tallulah and her boyfriend, Zach, go missing from a house party. A year later, with the couple’s disappearance still a mystery, a new arrival to the area discovers a sign saying “Dig Here” at the bottom of her garden and begins to unravel the mystery of what happened to the young couple. You can buy it on Amazon here or at Waterstones here.

Two middle-aged women with families meet by chance. Josie, seeking a new direction in life, convinces Alix to do a podcast based on her life, which, it soon becomes clear, is dark and unsettling. You can buy it on Amazon here or at Waterstones here.

The sequel to The Family Upstairs continues the story. It opens with the discovery of the remains of a body in a bag in the Thames. Soon, a detective is connecting them to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago. Buy it on Amazon here. 

This book tells the story of “Nick Radcliffe”, tall, handsome and seemingly the perfect man. But he often disappears for days on end, his phone switched off and his hectic “work” as his only explanation on his return. Soon, the women in his life begin to connect the dots and uncover his horrendous past. Buy it on Amazon here. 

Lisa Jewell is an established New York Times best-seller, a big hitter with 24 novels to her name, each translated into several different languages, and millions of copies sold. She is close to the peak when it comes to contemporary UK fiction writers.  

But there’s a little-known writer of crime fiction who’s just as good at getting me turning the pages. I first heard his name earlier in 2025 when one of his books was recommended by the New York Times as a “heart-pounding, high-stakes thriller”.

Much like I do with Lisa Jewell’s books, I raced through this one too. It was called The Last Visitor. It tells the story of a team of research scientists sent to explore a remote island where no human has set foot for 50 years. Except when they arrive, there is a body on the beach. And it’s not been there long. You can buy it on Amazon here. It was a great concept that had me hooked. But the next was even more chilling. 

The premise of Griffin’s The Second Stranger was so intriguing and I knew I had to buy it straight away: hotel worker Remie has one shift left at a remote Scottish Highlands hotel before she leaves for good to go travelling. Then a storm hits, temperatures plummet and phone lines go down. An injured man knocks on the door. He says he’s PC Don Gaines and is one of two survivors of a terrible accident on the nearby mountain road. The only other survivor: the prisoner he was transporting. Remie lets him in. Then a second stranger arrives. He too is hurt. He too says his name is PC Don Gaines. You can buy it on Amazon here.