Read This: Books under the Radar is a weekly post written by a guest author – often a friend of mine, someone I’ve met on my writerly travels, or an author I admire who recommends three books they think deserve more recognition. If you’re interested in buying any of the books, please click on the covers and give these hidden gems some love.

Read This: Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh is a writer I hugely admire: not just for her terrific novels (and I am very much looking forward to reading her latest book which is a memoir) but also for her self-promotion. If that seems like a strange thing to admire, let me say that most authors need to get a little better at this – publishers only have so much time and resources so we need to do it ourselves without embarrassment. But Clare isn’t just about pushing her own books; she’s also incredibly supportive of others – one of the reasons why she agreed to give me her choices for Books under the Radar. Here’s a bit more about her:

Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of seven novels, including the global bestseller I Let You Go and the critically acclaimed DC Ffion Morgan series. Her books have sold more than two million copies and been translated into 40 languages. Together, they have spent more than 65 weeks in the Sunday Times top ten. In 2024, she released a memoir, I Promise it Won’t Always Hurt Like This, based on her experiences of grief following the death of her son.  

You can find her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok as @claremackwrites

Here are Clare’s recommendations:

Our Holiday by Louise Candlish

As someone who lives in an area full of second homes, I was immediately drawn to Louise Candlish’s latest thriller, which is set in the fictional coastal town of Pine Ridge. There is a rising tide of resentment from local residents towards affluent incomers, and soon petty vandalism turns into something more menacing. Louise Candlish does social tension better than any author I know, and her wry observations on class add weight to this tightly plotted thriller. The perfect summer read for when you retreat to your own luxury cliff-top villa… 

The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou

Eleni Kyriacou draws a rich cast of characters in this enthralling and wholly original novel set in the 1950s. Eva Georgiou is a Greek interpreter for the Metropolitan police, who takes on a job as translator for Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot grandmother accused of murdering her daughter-in-law. Eva becomes drawn into the investigation, horrified by the brutality of the case, but compelled to help Zina, who speaks no English. The novel is inspired by a true story, the narrative switching between Zina’s and Eva’s perspective as the reader draws closer to the truth. A superb novel I won’t stop thinking about. 

A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering

Some people would call Al a burglar. He prefers to think of himself as a house-sitter… who has to pick a few locks to get inside. He leads a quiet life in other people’s luxury homes, until something goes wrong, and someone ends up dead. Suddenly Al and his new-found friends-slash-accomplices are on the run, and life is anything but quiet. I loved this pacy, laugh-out-loud crime caper and can’t wait to read Andrew Hunter Murray’s next book. 

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It’s unusual when my guest author chooses writers that I haven’t read before at all, but it makes Read This even more fun for me – discovering writers and books new to me. All three of these sound intriguing. Any here that catch your eye? And if you’d like to be told about future Read This recommendations, you can follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter.

More Read This: Books Under the Radar

Lou Morrish author of Women of War
Francesca Ramsay author of Pinch Me
Sarah Leipciger author of Moon Road
Tim Chapman university librarian
Juliet West author of The Faithful
Lindsay Hunter author of Hot Springs Drive
Gina Chung author of Sea Change
Susmita Bhattacharya author of Table Manners
Vanessa Harbour author of Safe
Freyer North author of The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne
Judith Heneghan author of Bird Eye