Thrillers for a chilly weekend

As the weather changes and the raincoats and anoraks are taken off their respective pegs, the fires are lit or the cnetral heating is fired up the time to warm up and shelter begins again.  It's time to reach for the bookshelves and cosy up with some good thrillers.

Neither of my recent reads are new, the first having been found by chance in a pile of "recommended reads" in my local Waterstones. The Devotion Of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Abacus Paperback: £8.99) originally published in 2012 apparently and has been a big seller both in the authors home country of Japan and abroad. It's also been made into a cult movie.

This tale features a murder committed in self defence by an abused ex-wife and her young daughter when her appalling former husband comes calling after she's hidden away.  Yasuko knows not what to do when the quiet but infatuated teacher next door Ishigami comes to the rescue. He arranges to save the woman he loves from afar in a way that the police will never be able to trace back to her.

A genius he may be but he doesn't reckon with Detective Kusanagi's friendship with a former student peer of his another genius. This fascinating mystery weaves in ways the reader does not expect. A page turner indeed.



Next up is The Chalk Man, the first novel by C.J.Tudor (Penguin £8.99). I picked this fascinating little tome up after reading her latest novel and was impressed by ability to create a highly believable world full of characters so full of life and weave a mystery around the. It's no surprise the novel was a hit as a group of childhood friends find a body in the woods.

Skipping chapter by chapter from the present to the past the mystery evolves around the fate of a bully, car accidents the return of old friends and a forbidden friendship. Who was the dead girl and where is her head?

There's sub plots surrounding an abortion clinic, an anti-abortion vicar and a pregnant girl. There's poisoned dogs, missing bikes and much more as bullies prowl, friends fall out and parents fall out.

What or who is the Chalk Man?

And a little unexpected twist. Creepy.