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Original poster

If I like Lisa Jewell and Louise Candlish...

94 replies

BetsyBobbins · 09/08/2023 11:35

What could you recommend me please?

I like their books (Jewell more than Candlish) and I'm trying to find similar books. I read Nicci French the other day and I really didn't like it, I thought it was badly written and predictable.

I like my murder mysteries and thrillers like The Girl on the Train and the above, what can you recommend me please? Thanks

OP posts:
ArenaAthena · 10/08/2023 23:32

Lisa Jewell was interviewed
on the You're Booked podcast recently and listed lots of books/authors she likes.

ArenaAthena · 10/08/2023 23:31

Andrea Mara
Louise Douglas
Lauren North

AdamRyan · 10/08/2023 23:23

I let you go by Claire Mckintosh
Try Beneath the Skin by Nicci French- very good imo, don't like their other booke
Gone Girl if you haven't read it
Into the darkest corner by Elizabeth Haynes
I love Tana French- you might like Faithful Place

ClemmyTine · 10/08/2023 23:18

BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 17:32

Is that the one with the dead boyfriend and she's an alcoholic? I think I read that

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No, she's an actress and was sort of kidnapped as a child. Her husband goes missing and she is accused of killing him.

Bumpinthenight · 10/08/2023 17:52

Rachel Abbott
Sarah Pearse

Tim Weaver
Harlan Coben
Linwood Barclay

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 17:32

ClemmyTine · 10/08/2023 17:07

I've just read ' I know who you are ' by Alice Feeney,.. it was v good.

Is that the one with the dead boyfriend and she's an alcoholic? I think I read that

OP posts:
ClemmyTine · 10/08/2023 17:07

I've just read ' I know who you are ' by Alice Feeney,.. it was v good.

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 16:04

tennissquare · 10/08/2023 15:58

The Woman who lied by Claire Douglas.
Very good, similar to None of this is true by Lisa J. I read them in the same week on holiday, I live in SW London and at some points got a bit confused by all the places I knew - like was it real life???

Yes, that's why I like Jewell's and other writers books set in London, it feels familiar. I also love Ann Cleaves and her DI Perez's books make me to want to go and live in Shetland, so there's that too 🙃

OP posts:
tennissquare · 10/08/2023 15:58

The Woman who lied by Claire Douglas.
Very good, similar to None of this is true by Lisa J. I read them in the same week on holiday, I live in SW London and at some points got a bit confused by all the places I knew - like was it real life???

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 15:55

Wallabyone · 10/08/2023 15:48

Have you tried some of Lisa Jewell's older stuff? Very different to her thrillers, but also very readable and fun 😊

I'll have a look at her early works, hopefully they involve comma splicing to death and aren't anything that doesn't make me think too hard.

OP posts:
CherryMojito · 10/08/2023 15:48

Blancc · 10/08/2023 15:30

Do what you like - whether that be comma splicing yourself or reading mindless drivel and dismissing anything which makes you think too hard.

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Bitchy!

Wallabyone · 10/08/2023 15:48

Have you tried some of Lisa Jewell's older stuff? Very different to her thrillers, but also very readable and fun 😊

Wallabyone · 10/08/2023 15:47

BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 15:46

@Blancc Are you related to them? Because only that can explain the level of fandom you're displaying here.

Regular chat thread:
"Can you recommend me some books?"
"Yes, writers A, B and C"
"Aw, too bad I didn't like a book written by A"
"Cool, how about D instead?"

You:
"How dare you not to enjoy the highest form of literature of Nicci French? Highly acclaimed and awarded authors, equivalent to Shakespeare, your uneducated fool!"

Me: "Erm...maybe you should go outside and touch some grass, it's such a nice day today 👀"

🙈

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 15:46

@Blancc Are you related to them? Because only that can explain the level of fandom you're displaying here.

Regular chat thread:
"Can you recommend me some books?"
"Yes, writers A, B and C"
"Aw, too bad I didn't like a book written by A"
"Cool, how about D instead?"

You:
"How dare you not to enjoy the highest form of literature of Nicci French? Highly acclaimed and awarded authors, equivalent to Shakespeare, your uneducated fool!"

Me: "Erm...maybe you should go outside and touch some grass, it's such a nice day today 👀"

OP posts:
Blancc · 10/08/2023 15:30

BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 12:15

@Blancc Chill please, we like different things and we have to agree to disagree on that. I read one book of theirs and didn't like it, so won't be reading any other and that's that.

Do what you like - whether that be comma splicing yourself or reading mindless drivel and dismissing anything which makes you think too hard.

Papergirl1968 · 10/08/2023 15:06

I'm three quarters of the way through Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things. I've read a lot of her books but this one...well, it's the best book by any author I've read for ages. Just hope the ending lives up to the rest of it!

Ambertonix · 10/08/2023 14:57

Shari Lapena and Claire Macintosh

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 10/08/2023 12:15

@Blancc Chill please, we like different things and we have to agree to disagree on that. I read one book of theirs and didn't like it, so won't be reading any other and that's that.

OP posts:
daffodilandtulip · 10/08/2023 12:11

Claire Douglas
Gillian McAllister

Blancc · 10/08/2023 12:04

BetsyBobbins · 09/08/2023 19:06

Sorry you're a fan and I understand that their books are popular, but not everything that is popular is good. I read one of the Frieda Klein and it was so predictable that I could see the plot coming a mile off. And yes, badly written, perhaps some of the things that could have been written better escaped the proof writer

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I agree not everything popular is good; like 'The Girl on the Train', which is full of comma splices and childish descriptions. "Someone’s phone is ringing, an incongruously joyful and upbeat song. They’re slow to answer, it jingles on and on around me ... The pre-mixed gin and tonic fizzes up over the lip of the can as I bring it to my mouth and sip."

You don't have to like the Freida Klein series, but for the work of award winning authors and journalists to be generally reduced to 'badly written' is just lazy.

ImGoingThroughChanges · 10/08/2023 00:03

Lucy Foley
Catherine Cooper

Original poster
BetsyBobbins · 09/08/2023 23:52

Angelswehaveheardonhigh · 09/08/2023 23:21

Avoid B.A Parish! The writing is so awful I've often suspected the name is a pseudonym for some writing interns who thought they'd 'have a go' at writing a book.

But absolutely love Clare Mackintosh. One of her books had a twist at the end that actually made me gasp. I'm usually a quick guesser at what the twist might be but this one got me. She's a brilliant writer, builds up her characters so you actually like them and the plots are always very intriguing too.

Oooh, which book is that please ?

Another PPs further up recommended her too which is always a good sign

OP posts:
Bernadinetta · 09/08/2023 23:25

Claire Mackintosh

IWasFunBeforeMum · 09/08/2023 23:22

Claire Douglas
Andrea mara

Angelswehaveheardonhigh · 09/08/2023 23:21

Avoid B.A Parish! The writing is so awful I've often suspected the name is a pseudonym for some writing interns who thought they'd 'have a go' at writing a book.

But absolutely love Clare Mackintosh. One of her books had a twist at the end that actually made me gasp. I'm usually a quick guesser at what the twist might be but this one got me. She's a brilliant writer, builds up her characters so you actually like them and the plots are always very intriguing too.