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. You can see the full list of books which have been selected, as well as the author’s latest book on Bookshop.org, where you can have a browse and buy any that take your fancy. Happy reading!

Read This: Anna Mazzola

I first met Anna many years ago on a weekend writing retreat in Dorset hosted by my artist / writer friend Emma Scattergood. Anna had won a place and I think she must have been writing her first novel, which was of course picked up by a publisher, and since then she’s gone on to have five very successful novels. I’m so excited to read her next one, Notes on a Drowning. It sounds amazing. Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Anna is the author of five historical crime or Gothic novels. Some of her books have won awards. Some have lost them. Her debut, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe award. Her fourth novel, The House of Whispers, won a Fingerprint Award for Best Historical Crime. Her fifth novel, The Book of Secrets, was a Times Historical Novel of the Month. Her first legal thriller, Notes on a Drowning, will be published by Orion in January 2025 under the name Anna Sharpe. When not writing, Anna works as a human rights and criminal justice solicitor acting for survivors of crime. She lives in London, with one husband, two children, a black cat and a snake.

Find Anna online at:
http://annamazzola.com
https://www.facebook.com/AnnaMazzolaWriter/
https://www.instagram.com/annamazzolawriter/ 
Here are her recommendations:

Ace, King, Knave by Maria McCann

All writers learn to write by reading other writers. This is one of the books that helped me work out how to write historical fiction, and how to create historical voices. Ace, King, Knave is a brilliant and often funny novel of debauchery and deception set in 1760s London, where a veneer of gentility covers a city and rife with criminality. Maria McCann is such a brilliant writer and deserves to be much better known. All of her books are excellent. 

Mussolini’s Island by Sarah Day

In 1939 a series of Sicilian men were taken from their homes and imprisoned on the island of San Domino in the Adriatic Sea. Their crime? They were gay. Out of this little-known slice of history, Sarah Day created a fascinating and beautifully written novel. I read it many years ago but still think of it and the world and the characters she conjured up. Her next book, NIGHT CLIMBING, is out later in September and is equally thoughtful and poignant, again weaving a gripping story from the lives of real people. She should be more widely read.  

Degrees of Guilt by HS Chandler

I’d been looking for brilliant legal thrillers that properly reflected what happens in the courtroom and recently came across this 2019 by former barrister Helen Fields. I raced through it in two nights. Degrees of Guilt is a brilliant and terrifying depiction of a controlling and coercive relationship, and also imagines not only what happens in the courtroom, but what takes place within the jury room as they deliberate on an attempted murder case. On top of that, it’s a deft and twisty thriller. It should have been a big hit. 

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I completely trust Anna’s taste, and so these three are going on my to read list. Are you a crime, or historical thriller lover? Let me know in the comments. 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
Freya North author of The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne
Judith Heneghan author of Birdeye
Clare Mackintosh author of I Promise it won’t always Hurt like This
Barney Norris author of Undercurrent
Jo Leevers author of The Last Time I saw You
Alice Winn author of In Memmoriam
Jane Borges author of Bombay Balchão