Cracking Thriller Recommendation

[Smartypoppet]

I read The Artemis File by Adam Loxley earlier this year and am struggling to find anything to match it. So am looking for a contemporary British thriller please (the American stuff is too gung-ho for me and the Scandinavian is too dark and dreary) and obviously it should be a real page-turner with a cracking plot and lots of twists. But preferably not a psychological thriller thanks - have got a bit tired of all the samey Nicci French, Gillian Flynn type stuff.

Have you read any of the David Hunter series by Simon Beckett? The Chemistry of Death is the first. He moves around a bit, but generally UK based. Twists and turns all over the place! One of my favourite authors now.

I just came on to say I've started reading Our House and I love it! I've read the blurb before and didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but on the back of a recommendation on this thread I started reading and it's great!

Thank you for all the recommendations everyone. Please keep them coming as I'm now building a reading list to last me well into next year! But at the risk of sounding ungrateful, please don't bother with the psychological thrillers - at least not for me, I find the "weird neighbours who live upstairs/weird people who move in next door/perfect husband who turns into controlling psychopath" type stuff all so derivative and predictable. Even the book covers (yellow writing on green background) are all the same! But anything British like Gentlemen & Players, The Artemis File, Magpie Murders would be really appreciated. Thanks again.

I’ve just recommended this one on a different thread. It’s definitely not domestic noir (creepy neighbour/ husband etc). It’s honestly brilliant! This is the author’s fourth book and she’s becoming one to watch I think.

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard is hands down the best thriller I’ve read this year (and I’ve read a lot!) It’s a high concept book that delivers on every level. Clever, gripping, and genuinely scary at parts. A good book to run to in daylight!

(Two narrative POV. One a (fictionalised) true crime book by a woman who survived an attack on her family by a serial killer when she was a child. The other a late middle aged security guard who is said serial killer... The POV alternate and it unfolds so cleverly).

Thank you YouSetTheTone, that sounds like a brilliant recommendation - I will definitely follow-up and have a look at that! In return you should definitely try the Artemis File by Adam Loxley - I also read a lot of thrillers and it is the best one I have read this year by a mile. Thanks again!

Woukd definitely recommend Simon Kernick & Simon Beckett. Tess Gerritson is really good as is Kathy Reichs.

Thank you Rosy71. Probably starting at the wrong end but I've just added Simon Beckett''s The Scent of Death to my ever growing reading list - thanks to all the recommendations here!

The Rhona MacLeod series by Lin Anderson.

Stuart MacBride's Logan MacRae series set in Scotland

Hey, I've also read the Artemis File by Adam Loxley. It's really good. Hoping to see more stuff from him. I think he also wrote another decent book....Tellyos Circle or something like that? I can echo the other recommendations about Mick Herron. Have you tried Stephen Leather books? The Jack Nightingale series is pretty good.

I’m partial to a wee bit of Stuart Macbride myself. Lots of grisly humour, horrible murders, stab proof vests and unhealthy snacks in the squad car. Sort of Tunnocks police procedurals - And he’s got a cat named Cthulhu!

I always recommend the sadly unappreciated Zoe Sharp.

Also good are Jane R Goodall’s Bryony Williams books.

I’ll add J. L. Carrell’s two Shakespeare thrillers. They’re a bit unbelievable and the body count is high, but very well-written and extremely entertaining.

Thanks DanceLikeEmmaGoldman. Of those recommendations Zoe Sharp looks the most interesting to me. But a lot to choose from! Can you recommend best book to start with?

The sequel to Magpie Murders is out. I think is is the ‘Moonflower Murders’.

I love Tana French’s writing

Ooh, thank you yellowsun, I didn't realise that it was out. I normally wait for the paperback versions to be available but for Anthony Horowitz I will make an exception and buy the hardback - can't wait to read it!

More to add to library reservations list here...

Anyone else read the Orphan X series? They are American (which I know you said you'd rather not) but they race along and are hard to put down. It's like reading a Jason Bourne film

I started it (recommended by a friend) a few years ago but gave up after a few chapters. Yes, unfortunately much too American and gung-ho for me. Same experience with "I Am Pilgrim" which was even worse! Strange, as I love the Jason Bourne films (and I enjoyed a few Lee Child/Jack Reacher books before they got too samey) but I much prefer reading classic British thrillers. Have got a nice long list though thanks to the recommendations here!

I’ve loved the following two books.

Imposter - LJ. Ross
Five Bloody Hearts - Joy Ellis

Both are well written and the sort of book where you just have to read one more chapter..

@Smartypoppet you haven't mentioned Ann Cleeves, she might not fit your bill, they are very much police procedurals, but I have read all her Shetland series and enjoyed them - not so keen on Vera - and she had a new one out last year called Two Rivers which was set in Devon and seems like the start of a series.
I'm also very addicted to Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series, but they are as much about personalities and family dynamics as murders!

Couple of Australian writers - Candice Fox (Start with Crimson Lake) and Jane Harper - (start with The Dry - film release soon) very good

Have you tried anything by Denise Mina or Val McDermid? Maybe even Chris Brookmyre? VMcD writes not only "stand-alone" novels, but is possibly/probably best known for the Tony Hill (Wire in the Blood) series plus three other series of books, all of which have female leads.

Thank you everyone for your recommendations. Unfortunately I still haven't found anything to rival Adam Loxley's "The Artemis File" for sheer enjoyment but for anyone out there who has the same taste as me in thrillers; British, contemporary, action based and complex, intelligent plot structure with lots of twists, these were the pick of the bunch in my opinion:
Rubber Necker by Belinda Bauer
The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter
In The Woods by Tana French
The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd
The Spy & The Traitor by Ben MacIntyre
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
The Assistant by S K Tremayne