These Are The Very Best Reads Of (My) Year...

... Because writing about Balenciaga is just too much for my end-of-term brain!

These won't necessarily feature on any literary lists but DEFS have a good shot at getting scooped up for Netflix AKA they’re all perfect for the hols. Follow my alter ego @doesmybooklooksmart Ready? Let’s go!

Make Mine A Murder Mystery

The Ink Black Heart dives into online trolling, conspiracy theories, the psychology behind online vs offline personas, gaming, cult fandom and everything 2022 in between. So damn good, so twisty and turny and I love Cormoran Strike - the Afghan war hero who returns to London to open a detective agency.

The Maid is a debut book and if you were a fan of Eleanor Oliphant, you’ll love Molly. She’s a maid in a luxe 5-star hotel and adores her job until a guest is found dead in his bed. And Molly, through sheer naivety, is suddenly considered the prime suspect, leaving her little choice but solve the crime herself! Which of course you applaud at this point in the book! Delightful.

The Club is a chichi member’s-only club that all the global A-list want to score an invite to. When it opens its most ambitious residence to date on a remote island, everyone wants a ticket. Until they wake up after a debauched night and find a famous (infamous?) guest murdered. And everyone trapped on the island, presumably with the killer. So good, so glam, so entitled.

Make Mine Historical

Carrie Soto Is Back was one of my best for ‘22 - you don’t want to love 70s and 80s tennis superstar Carrie Soto, but by the end, you are rooting for her comeback with every ace served and advantage scored. If you grew up watching Wimbledon, do not miss this one!

The Plant Hunter is a courageous breed of Englishman who travels to unexplored corners of the world in search of never-seen-before plants, which are then sold to the nurseymen of Chelsea in the 1800s. This book starts in London but ends up in rural China - completely fascinating.

The Lost Apothecary is a story of discovery as Caroline in present day London starts unravelling a centuries-old mystery of a female apothecary who concocted poisons for women to murder the men in their lives. It slips between past and present, natural remedies and toxic brews, intent and power. And its just wonderful.

Make Mine A Crime

The Paris Apartment’s author Lucy Foley is described as The Agatha Christie Of The Instagram Era and its spot on. Locked room whodunnits are her best and this book sees all the tenants of this apartment building under suspicion when one of their own goes missing. From his front door. Without a trace. Plus they’re all shady as hell.

Counterfeit is a crime caper as two old college room mates get caught up in a luxury handbags counterfeit ring. It’s liberally littered with fash references, the snobbery around luxury fashion and it dives into minority groups’ takes on the American dream. Plus Winnie and Ava are just such great characters.

Verity is a step away from Colleen Hoover’s romances. Verity is the name of a chart-topping author who suffers an ‘accident’. Her husband and book publisher hire a young ghost writer in secret to move into the house and complete her half-finished manuscript. This book was described to me as ‘sex and psycho’ and that sums it up.

Make Mine A Romance

Should I Tell You answers the age-old question with a resounding ‘yes!’ Three childhood friends find themselves living back in the Cornish village in which they grew up. They’re successful in life but not in love, although that sums up most of the village! By the end everyone is with the right person, but it’s a delightful journey to get to this point.

Love You Madly is how I feel about this book, especially since, like it heroines-slash-sisters, I grew up in 90s South Africa, also (probably!) looking for love in all the wrong places. Its achingly funny, smart, heart-warming, nostalgic and I urge you to hunt this book down and devour it. Just adored.

To Italy With Love will make you want to book air tix immediately. Be warned! This is a book about food and love and self-discovery (and food and love) in a tiny hillside Italian village, which is where Sara-Jane finds herself in her newly singe life when her car breaks down.

Make Mine A Thriller

The Retreat is an island wellness escape with a dark past, which OBVS comes back to haunt the guests at the new retreat. Of course it does. Many of the guests, in turn, seem to have weird connections to the island and the murderous crimes committed there decades prior. So creepy.

The Last Thing He Told Me is like pulling a thread. When Hannah’s husband disappears all he leaves her is a message ‘protect her’. No note, no clues, nothing else. Hannah tries to backtrack through their past, tapping into her step-daughter’s hazy childhood memories to try and figure out the mystery of where he’s gone. And why. Eye-poppingly good.

Portrait Of An Unknown Woman sees super-spy Gabriel Allon ditch the Israeli secret service for restoring the grand masters in Venice. But he can’t seem to stay out of trouble and finds himself embroiled in an international art counterfeit ring with ties to international terrorism. For the behind-the-scenes art refs alone, it’s a good one.

Make Mine Easy Breezy BookTok

The American Roommate Experiment taps into a cross-cultural romance as romance author Rosie finds herself thrown together with her bestie’s very sexy Spanish cousin in a single apartment. It’s cute and sexy and perfect for end-of-year brain fog.

Love On The Brain is written by Ali Hazelwood who, herself, is a professor of neuroscience. She writes at the intersection of STEM and romance, so hits up NASA while also dishing brooding heroes and loads of fun facts about women in science.

When In Rome is Netflix ready… A country star escapes her commitments and ends up with car trouble in small town with hot chef. Never the small towns I visit, alas. Again, cute, sexy, funny.

So, which one first? Or have you read any of these? Spot any favourites? Let me know.