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Top 5 secrets-won’t-stay-hidden thrillers, chosen by bestselling novelist Adele Parks

Secrets don’t stay that way for long in these tense thrillers

Multi-million selling author Adele Parks is taking part in Capital Crime, London’s biggest celebration of crime and thriller, 13-15 June. In preparation, here are her top five thrillers in which secrets are revealed.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

A disturbing novel that delves into the traumatic past of three sisters, who grew up with a cruel and controlling foster mother. Now a body is discovered under the house they grew up in.

A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey

Sixteen years ago, nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed. Now, her mother is found dead, her husband by her side. Initially it looks like a murder-suicide but it transpires the Marshalls have secrets. 

Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings

This deeply dark novel asks whether money can buy silence. Twenty-five years ago Victoria was entangled with something appalling, now she is forced to face her dark, traumatic past. 

Isolation Island by Louise Minchin

Investigative journalist Lauren Taylor is on a remote Scottish island taking part in the most gruelling reality show ever devised. The interesting array of contestants are stretched to the limit when a body is found and everyone must hide their darkest secrets.

The Grapevine by Kate Kemp  

Set in a small suburban community in Australia in the height of summer 1979, it opens with a housewife scrubbing the tiles of the bathroom floor, desperately trying to remove the blood of her murdered neighbour. 

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First Wife’s Shadow by Adele Parks is out now in paperback (HarperCollins, £9.99). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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