Sleeper Beach by Nick Harkaway
Cal Sounder is back! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this sequel ever since word got out the manuscript was finished, and it’s the perfect dose of beachy noir to kickstart the summer.
Our new fave private eye returns bigger than ever – literally, seeing as Cal’s now been dosed with T7 and has entered the realm of Titans. This next case takes him to the coastal town of Shearwater (think Martha’s Vineyard on a very bad day), where the body of a woman has just washed up and the lead suspect is the heir to local fortune. It’s old-fashioned, door-to-door investigating this time round, and Cal finds himself somewhere in between loyalties more often than he’d like. Where will he position himself in a feud between Titans and the everyman?
The pace has slowed down, fewer fists fly now Cal knows it’s no longer a level playing field when he’s 20% heavier than your average man, but Harkaway delivers just the right amount of funny vs. dark, with clever dialogue and Shearwater providing the perfect, eerie backdrop for dredging up some historic crimes. Cal’s new beat is a sad holiday spot well past its glory days, especially the stretch of beach lined with deckchairs where Sleepers slowly await their deaths. When the wind is just right, you can hear their collective breath… – Laura
Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford
On a bright summer’s day in 1980s New England, three-year-old Abi spots something in the garden and vanishes at a family birthday party. Her cousins embark on a quest to find her, but as they are drawn deeper into the surrounding forest, something sinister lurks – or does it?
A stunningly fresh new voice, and a fever dream of a novel. Krystelle’s writing is genuinely such a breath of fresh air. It’s exciting and playful, funny and sinister, punchy yet poetic, and above all, extremely clever. This is definitely going in the line-up of my favourite books of 2025 – and easily wins best cover! – Emma
The Knowing by Madeleine Ryan
The Knowing spans the events of one day, where twenty-something-year-old Camille has forgotten her phone on her morning commute from rural Victoria to Melbourne. Written in a stream-of-consciousness style, the lack of digital distractions allows Camille’s mind to wander naturally, oscillating between past memories, general musings, and the uneasiness of confronting what her phone typically distracts her from: unhappiness, particularly pertaining to her dream job with an oppressive, toxic boss.
This novel speaks to our reliance on phones to complete mundane tasks, the anxiety it burdens us with in its absence, and the power it has to deregulate and distract us from how we feel. The Knowing is propulsive, funny, and very bingeable from a fresh Australian author. – Nadia