Books set in England

Reading lists

The best crime novels set in England

The House on the Lake

No matter how far you run . . . 
He's never far behind 
 
 
'Gripping, poignant' Rosamund Lupton 
 
'Eerily haunting' Jane Corry 
 
'I literally couldn't put it down' Emma Curtis 
 
__________________________________________ 
 
Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. 
 
But when a woman from the local village comes to visit them, Lisa realizes that she and Joe aren't as safe as she thought. 
 
What secrets have Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? 
 
And what will Lisa have to do to survive, when her past finally catches up with her? 
 
 
**BUY THE NEW SPELLBINDING THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF DAY OF THE ACCIDENT AND MY SISTER'S BONES** 
 
__________________________________________ 
 
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT NUALA ELLWOOD 
 
'Rivals The Girl on the Train (and beats it for style)' Observer 
 
'From start to finish this exciting thriller kept you guessing. What a page turner with all the unexpected twists right until the end...A thoroughly good read' Netgalley Reviewer 
 
'Brilliantly compulsive and with one hell of a twist!' Claire Douglas 
 
'Ellwood instantly creates a creepy, intense atmosphere...it is utter perfection' Netgalley Reader 
 
'Makes you question everything you thought you knew' Emma Kavanagh 
 
'What a great book! It's got everything a good thriller needs, a creepy old house, a remote location, some great complex characters and lots of perfectly timed twists and turns' Netgalley Reader 
 
'You won't see the big twist coming in this haunting thriller' Daily Express 
 
'Compelling characters and an often heart wrenching narrative' Netgalley Reader 
 
'Creepy and deliciously atmospheric, this page-turner has it all - twists and turns and a powerful emotional punch' Teresa Driscoll 
 
'Perfectly paced, Nuala takes the reader down a mysterious and gripping path of intrigue and builds the characters with such beautiful depth' Netgalley Reader

Eerily haunting with the delicious sense of danger which Nuala Ellwood is so good at creating

The House on The Lake is so tautly written, I literally couldn't put it down. Nuala Ellwood writes like a dream

Creepy and deliciously atmospheric, this page-turner has it all - twists and turns and a powerful emotional punch. Highly recommend

Iris Costello is the pseudonym of bestselling author, Nuala Ellwood. She has a BA Hons degree in Sociology from Durham University and a Master's in Creative Writing from York St John University where she is a visiting lecturer. She is the author of seven highly acclaimed novels, the most recent of which was The Secrets of Rochester Place. The Story Collector is her eighth book.

Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. 
 
But when Lisa meets some of the locals, and hears some disturbing rumours about the house, she realizes it might not be the sanctuary she thought. 
 
What secret has Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? 
 
 And what will Lisa have to do to survive, when her own past finally catches up with her?

Day of the Accident

WHAT DID YOU SEE? WHAT DID YOU DO? 
 
'Gripping, poignant...I read it in one sitting' ROSAMUND LUPTON 
 
'Brilliantly compulsive and with one hell of a twist!' CLAIRE DOUGLAS 
____________________________ 
 
Sixty seconds after she wakes from a coma, Maggie's world is torn apart. 
 
The police tell her that her daughter Elspeth is dead. That she drowned when the car Maggie had been driving plunged into the river. Maggie remembers nothing. 
 
When Maggie begs to see her husband Sean, the police tell her that he has disappeared. He was last seen on the day of her daughter's funeral. 
 
What really happened that day at the river? 
Where is Maggie's husband? 
And why can't she shake the suspicion that somewhere, somehow... her daughter is still alive? 
 
An emotional page-turner with amazing characters from the Top Ten bestselling author of My Sister's Bones, this thriller is perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh's I Let You Go and Lisa Jewell's Watching You. 
______________________________ 
 
WHAT AUTHORS AND READERS ARE SAYING: 
 
'Makes you question everything you thought you knew' EMMA KAVANAGH 
 
'You won't see the big twist coming in this haunting thriller. A worthy successor to My Sister's Bones' Daily Express 
 
'Wow! What a fantastic book that completely sucked me in. 5 stars' ***** Amazon reviewer 
 
'A stunning book. Compelling, unsettling and powerful this is a book that will stay with me for a long time' C. L. Taylor 
 
'This story absolutely blew me away' ***** Amazon reviewer 
 
'A clever, twisty plot that takes psychological mind games to a new level. Nuala Ellwood has done it again!' Jane Corry 
 
'A masterpiece' ***** Amazon reviewer 
 
'Rivals The Girl on the Train (and beats it for style)' The Guardian 
 
'This clever, multi- layered novel is simply stunning' Dinah Jefferies 
 
'A gripping rollercoaster ride of a thriller. Keeps you in there right to the last page' Christobel Kent 
 
'A twisty psychological thriller. I raced through it in one sitting!' Lucy Atkins 
 
'A dark, intense, multi-layered thriller that twists and turns until the last page' Tammy Cohen 
 
'Twisty and unpredictable. Kept me guessing until the end' Karen Cleveland 
 
'An accomplished and page-turning thriller...it's impossible to guess where it's going next' Nicholas Searle 
 
'A raw, shocking, and serpentine mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end' Nicolas Obregon, author of Blue Light Yokohama

A stunning book. Compelling, unsettling and powerful

You won't see the big twist coming in this haunting thriller. A worthy successor to My Sister's Bones

Compelling and intriguing, right from the very first page

A clever, twisty plot that takes psychological mind games to a new level. Nuala Ellwood has done it again!

The Day of the Accident had me gasping for breath and on the verge of tears from the get-go. Twisty, haunting, and completely heart-wrenching, you won't breathe until you've turned the very last page.

Grabbed me on the first page and didn't let go

Gripping, engrossing and surprising at every turn

A raw, shocking, and serpentine mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end

Nicolas Obregon, author of 'Blue Light Yokohama'

This book will take all your expectations and upend them, making you question everything you thought you knew

Twisty and unpredictable. Kept me guessing until the end

Karen Cleveland, author of 'Need to Know'

Absolutely brilliant - exciting, clever, it deserves to be a bestseller

Sixty seconds after she wakes from a coma, Maggie's world is torn apart. 
 
The police tell her that her daughter Elspeth is dead. That she drowned when the car Maggie had been driving plunged into the river. Maggie remembers nothing. 
 
When Maggie begs to see her husband, Sean, the police tell her that he has disappeared. He was last seen on the day of their daughter's funeral. 
 
What really happened that day at the river? 
 
Where is Maggie's husband? 
 
And why can't she shake the suspicion that somewhere, somehow...her daughter is still alive?

My Sister's Bones

'RIVALS THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN AS A COMPULSIVE READ' The Guardian 
 
If you can't trust your sister, then who can you trust? 
 
Kate Rafter has spent her life running from her past. But when her mother dies, she's forced to return to Herne Bay - a place her sister Sally never left. 
 
But something isn't right in the old family home. On her first night Kate is woken by terrifying screams. And then she sees a shadowy figure in the garden... 
 
Who is crying for help? 
What does it have to do with Kate's past? 
And why does no one - not even her sister - believe her? 
 
The 'shocking' 'haunting' and 'riveting' thriller about the secrets even those closest to us keep, this book will keep you turning the pages late into the night. For fans of Clare Mackintosh, C L Taylor and Erin Kelly. 
 
SOON TO BE A MAJOR ADAPTATION 
 
'For lovers of The Girl on the Train ...a tense story with multiple twists and turns' Prima 
 
'***** Wow...creeps slowly up your spine, grips you round the throat and doesn't let you go! ' Amazon reviewer 
 
'A gripping rollercoaster ride of a thriller' Christobel Kent, author of The Loving Husband 
 
'Compelling ... Brimful of tension, twists and darkness, this one grabbed me on the first page and didn't let go' Woman and Home 
 
'Twists and turns until the last page' Tammy Cohen 
 
'A stunning book. Compelling, unsettling and powerful this is a book that will stay with me for a long time.' C. L. Taylor 
 
'Nuala Ellwood has created a tale that is gripping, engrossing and surprising at every turn. I loved it' Rowan Coleman 
 
'Couldn't put the lights out until I'd finished it! Gripping, emotional and very well-written' Emma Curtis, author of One Little Mistake 
 
'An accomplished and page-turning thriller. It twists and turns in so many directions it's impossible to guess where it's going next' Nicholas Searle, author of The Good Liar 
 
'Loved I Let You Go and Behind Closed Doors? My Sister's Bones is guaranteed to be this year's most twisty and twisted read - you'll never see what's coming!' Ava Marsh, author of Untouchable 
 
'Ellwood's protagonist Kate is a female hero in the best sense, flawed but brave' Helen Callaghan, author of Dear Amy 
 
'My Sister's Bones is a tense, atmospheric, deliciously dark story' Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake 
 
'A twisty psychological thriller. I raced through it in one sitting!' Lucy Atkins, author of The Other Child 
 
'This book is amazing - harrowing and compelling' Luana Lewis

'RIVALS THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (and beats it for style)' (The Guardian) 
 
The 'shocking' 'haunting' and 'riveting' thriller about the secrets even those closest to us keep, this book will keep you turning the pages late into the night. For fans of Clare Mackintosh, C L Taylor and Erin Kelly.

'A gripping rollercoaster ride of a thriller'

Christobel Kent, author of The Loving Husband

Compelling ... Brimful of tension, twists and darkness, this one grabbed me on the first page and didn't let go

'For lovers of The Girl on the Train ...a tense story with multiple twists and turns'

Couldn't put the lights out until I'd finished it! Gripping, emotional and very well-written

Emma Curtis, author of One Little Mistake

A twisty psychological thriller. I raced through it in one sitting!

'Compelling and intriguing, right from the very first page'

Full of really clever twists, this stylish thriller really grabs you

If you loved The Girl on the Train, then this debut psychological thriller is for you ... dark, thrilling and full of unexpected twists and turns

ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO GO BACK? 
 
Kate Rafter is a high-flying war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped Herne Bay and her father. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks. 
 
But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her first night she is woken by a terrifying scream. 
 
What secret is lurking in the house? 
Is she strong enough to uncover the truth . . . and make it out alive?

Nuala Ellwood

A clever, twisty plot that takes psychological mind games to a new level. Nuala Ellwood has done it again!

Brilliantly compulsive and with one hell of a twist! I was consumed until the final heartbreaking page

Claire Douglas, on 'The Day of the Accident'

A stunning book. Compelling, unsettling and powerful this is a book that will stay with me for a long time

C. L. Taylor, on 'The Day of the Accident'

With a twist that'll make you want to read the entire book in one afternoon, we don't blame you if you struggle to put this one down!

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? 
 
Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape. 
 
That's how it started: looking round houses she couldn't possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn't. 
 
Because a man who lived in one of those houses is dead. 
 
And everyone thinks Vanessa killed him...

Nuala Ellwood

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