Simon Mayo’s Books Of The Year

Investigative journalist, Tom Burgis, joins Simon and Matt to discuss his fascinating new book 'Cuckooland: Where The Rich Own The Truth'

They discuss the dangers involved in his job, what goes in to researching such incredible stories and why he continues to do it.

Here's more info on the book:

Everywhere, the powerful are making a renewed claim to the greatest prize of all: to own the truth. The power to choose what you want reality to be and impose that reality on the world.

For three years, Tom Burgis followed a lead that took him deeper and deeper into Cuckooland – the place where the rich own the truth. The trail snaked from the Kremlin to Kathmandu, Stockholm to the Steppe, from a blood-soaked town square in Uzbekistan to a royal retreat in Scotland. Burgis hunted down oligarchs, developed secret sources and traced vast sums of money flowing between multinational corporations, ex-Soviet dictators and the west’s ruling elites. And he found one man who wanted the power to bend reality to his will.

This book tells an astonishing story: a tale of secrets and lies that reveals how fragile that truth can be. Whether it’s in Kazakh torture chambers or the UK’s High Court, the lords of Cuckooland are seizing control of the truth. They decree what stories may be told about war and money and power, what we are permitted to know – and more importantly, what we are not.

From the bestselling author of Kleptopia, Cuckooland is a deeply reported work of non-fiction that reads like a thriller. It is a story of how globalisation and technological revolution have combined to imperil the foundation of free societies: that the truth belongs to the many, not the few.

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Bestselling author and journalist, Erin Kelly, joins Simon and Matt to answer some Questions about her writing and reading habits.

She also tells us about the last book she really really enjoyed, who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party - and answers a question from fellow author, Jane Casey.

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Journalist and author Erin Kelly joins Simon and Matt for a chat about her new novel - a follow on from her debut novel, but also a stand alone!

Erin discusses her characters, plotting and how Frasier helps her write scenes. They also chat about the email she received from Stephen King, praising her book, and why she has returned to these characters so many years later.

About the book:

In the sweltering summer of 1997, straight-laced, straight-A student Karen met Biba - a bohemian and impossibly glamorous aspiring actress. A few months later, two people were dead and another had been sent to prison.

Having stood by Rex as he served his sentence, Karen is now married to him with a daughter, Alice, who runs a vintage clothing company in London. They're a normal family, as long as they don't talk about the past, never mention the name Biba, and ignore Alice's flashes of dark, dangerous fury.

Karen has kept what really happened that summer of '97 hidden deep inside her. Alice is keeping secrets of her own. But when anonymous notes begin to arrive at Alice's shop, it seems the past is about to catch up with them all ...

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Who would John O'Farrell invite to his fantasy dinner party? Does he work best to deadlines? Which author always makes him laugh?

Find out the answers to these questions, and many more, on this Q&A episode of Books Of The Year.

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Simon and Matt are joined by screenwriter and author John O'Farrell to talk about his latest novel, Family Politics.

They discuss...politics...believe it or not, as well as the humour that can be found in all political parties, Question Time, Mrs Doubtfire the musical and what doesn't always translate from the UK to the US (and vice versa).

You could say it's a cornucopia of an episode!

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In our bonus Q&A episode, Historian, Broadcaster and Writer, Anna Keay, answers Qs about screen adaptations, writing processes, her research...and who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party.

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We may be a little late to this book, but, we want to shout about it nonetheless!

Anna Keay joins Simon and Matt for a deep dive into The Restless Republic, when for eleven years, Britain had no king.

In 1649 Britain was engulfed by revolution, but it's not a time in history that we are taught about, certainly in the UK.

Anna's book takes as its guides the people who lived through these years of restlessness. Among them is Anna Trapnel, the daughter of a Deptford shipwright whose visions transfixed the nation. John Bradshaw, the Cheshire lawyer who found himself trying the King. Marchamont Nedham, the irrepressible newspaper man and puppet master of propaganda. Gerrard Winstanley, who strove for a Utopia of common ownership where no one went hungry. William Petty, the precocious scientist whose mapping of Ireland prefaced the dispossession of tens of thousands. And the indomitable Countess of Derby who defended to the last the final Royalist stronghold on the Isle of Man.

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Kiley Reid (author of the Booker longlisted novel, Such A Fun Age) joins Simon and Matt for a Q&A. They talk about her favourite writers, deadlines, how she orders her books...and who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party.

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Bestselling author, Kiley Reid, joins Simon and Matt to talk about her new novel, Come And Get It.

She discusses her fascination with money (those who have it, those that don't and the things people might do to get it) which is a big theme in this book, and what drew her to write what she has coined a 'dorm novel'.

The book is set in the University of Arkansas, so we learn why that setting was important for Kiley, and Matt has a rant about dancers...of course he does.

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Alex Michaelides published his bestselling debut novel 'The Silent Patient' in 2019. His new novel 'The Fury', is out now.

In this episode, Alex answers questions about his writing process, characters, authors he admires, books he loves - and - there's a special appearance from a surprise author and fan.

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Alex Michaelides returns to Books Of The Year to chat with Simon and Matt about his new novel, 'The Fury'.

The screenwriter turned author talks about his inspirations (Patricia Hysmith), his love of film, putting humour into thrillers and how to try and write a twist like Agatha Christie.

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David McCloskey is an ex-CIA analyst, turned bestselling novelist.

He joined us on the pod last year, to talk about his debut novel 'Damascus Station', but now he's back - quite quickly! - with 'Moscow X'.

On this episode he answers questions about his writing process, favourite authors and who would be at his fantasy dinner party.

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David McCloskey is an Ex-CIA analyst and a bestselling author. He's also finished writing his third novel and has started his fourth. But, he's a nice guy, so we forgive him!

This is David's second appearance on Books Of The Year. In this episode, he talks to Simon and Matt about his latest novel Moscow X, his inspirations, what he can and can't write about, and who advised him on the use of ceiling fans in Cornwall!

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In this Q&A episode, Simon Mayo and Matt Williams talk to journalist and author Araminta Hall about her writing process and literary loves.

We learn which books and authors she has been reading and enjoying recently, how she gets into the minds of her characters...and who she wold invite to her fantasy dinner party!

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Araminta Hall joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams for a chat about her new novel, 'One Of The Good Guys'.

They talk about her inspirations for the book, her character creation and why she feels disappointed about the current state and impact of the #metoo movement.

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams look back on some of our favourite books of 2023.

This episode features SA Cosby, Louise Doughty, David McCloskey, Daniel Finkelstein and Cecelia Ahern.

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams chat to Simon Sebag Montefiore about the books and writers he loves, his writing processes, his research and much more besides...

We also learn who he'd invite to his fantasy dinner party!

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams welcome Author and Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore to the podcast.

They chat about TWO of his books, which are both very relevant at the moment. Firstly, 'Jerusalm: The Biography', which Simon is currently updating....and secondly, 'The World: A Family History'.

These two books are humungous in both scope and size - but they are fantastic and well worth your time.

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Simon and Matt ask John Boyne about his writing processes, favourite authors, reading habits, book shelves and inspirations.

There's also a guest question from the brilliant Irish writer, Donal Ryan.

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International bestselling author John Boyne joins Simon and Matt for a natter about his new book.

'Water' is the first of a Quartet of books, which will also include Fire, Air and Earth.

John talks about his inspirations, why he writes the characters he does and what drew him to the elements in the first place.

Here comes the science bit:

From million-copy-bestselling author John Boyne comes a masterfully reflective story about one woman coming to terms with the demons of her past and finding a new path forward.

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past.

But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all. Can you ever truly wash away your past?

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I Am Pilgrim author, Terry Hayes, answers questions about his process, who and what he likes to read, and the authors he'd have at his fantasy dinner party!

There's also a question courtesy of author, screenwriter and playwright, Anthony Horowitz.

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Terry Hayes' debut novel, I Am Pilgrim, was published in 2013. Ten years later, he has returned with his second novel.

In this episode, Simon and Matt chat to him about what has taken him so long, how he feels now it's out in the world and what is happening with the film of his first novel.

Terry also talks about the highs and lows of Hollywood, his editors notes and what he's going to work on next.

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Bestselling author Victoria Hislop answers some questions about her processes, reading habits, favourite authors and...dancing!

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Victoria Hislop joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams for a natter about her latest novel.

They discuss the draw of Greek islands, the history of Figurines and what inspired her for this latest book.

The history of Greece is vast - and Figurines are a small, but important and fascinating part of it. They're mysterious and beautiful - and they're very sought after too.

Here comes the science bit:

In her irresistible new novel, Sunday Times No 1 bestselling author Victoria Hislop shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people - and countries - will pay to cling on to them.

Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike.

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child, when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them?

Her desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection.

Helena's attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather's actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of 'home', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself.

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Simon Mayo and Matt Williams have taken a break from usual proceedings, to look back on some of the books we have featured this year so far.

They pick out some of their favourite books that we have featured (and some we haven't) and we feature a few suggestions from some of our guests too.

In case you were wondering which books and authors we have featured on the pod this year so far - here's a full list to jog your memory...

Jason Mott – “Hell Of A Book”

Cariad Lloyd – “You Are Not Alone”

Linwood Barclay – “Look Both Ways”

David McClosckey – “Damascus Station” 

Harlan Coben – “I Will Find You”

Catriona Ward – “Looking Glass Sound”

Cecelia Ahern – “In A Thousand Different Ways”

Joanne Harris – “Broken Light”

Sadiq Kahn – “Breathe”

SA Cosby – “All The Sinners Bleed”

TJ Newman – “Drowning”

Kate Mosse – “The Ghost Ship”

Daniel Finkelstein – “Hitler, Stalin, Mum And Dad”

Lisa Jewell – “None Of This Is True" 

Steve Cavanagh – “Kill For Me Kill For You”

Sebastian Faulkes – “The Seventh Son”

Adele Parks – “Just Between Us”

Louise Doughty – “A Bird In Winter”

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The bestselling author of 'Apple Tree Yard' and 'Platform Seven', Louise Doughty, joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams to answer some questions.

She talks about some of the books she has really really enjoyed recently, her research process and who she'd invite to a fantasy dinner party!

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Bestselling novelist Louise Doughty joins Simon and Matt for a chat about her new novel, 'A Bird In Winter'

She talks about going on the run herself to get into the mind of her character and meeting a real-life spy in a hotel lobby. Louise also talks about her TV adaptations and who she'd love to play Bird, if this latest book were to be adapted.

Here comes the science bit:

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, and one she's prepared for - but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next.

As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who - if anyone - she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it's actually happening.

Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?

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Bestselling author Adele Parks chats about her writing process, her characters, her reading habits and who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party!

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Bestselling novelist Adele Parks joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams to talk about her latest novel, 'Just Between Us'.

This book is, like all her novels, a stand-alone...but also a sequel. Confused? Well, luckily Adele explains all! She also tells us about the exciting new film adaptation of an earlier book, which she is involved in producing.

Here comes the science bit...

Lost. Missing. Murdered? And both her husbands are suspects.

Kylie Gillingham's disappearance has gripped the nation: the woman with a shocking secret - married to two men at the same time - is missing, presumed dead. And both her husbands are suspects.

DC Clements knows the dark side of human nature and that love can make people do treacherous things; you can't presume anything when it comes to crimes of the heart. While Kylie's two husbands remain prime suspects, her sons won't accept that she is dead. Until a body is found, this scandalous and sad case remains wide open.

Stacie Jones lives a quiet life in a small village, nursed by her father as she recovers from illness, shielded from any disquieting news of the outside world. But their reclusive life is about to be shattered.

How are these families linked, and can any of them ever rebuild their lives in the wake of tragedy?

You can buy Adele's new novel now from all good independent bookshops, Waterstones, Daunt and many more. It's also available here:

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Sebastian Faulks tells Simon and Matt about the books and authors he loves to read, the London Library and the worst piece of advice he ever received about writing.

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Bestselling author, Sebastian Faulks, joins Simon and Matt for a chinwag about his latest novel, 'The Seventh Son'.

The book is set in a not-too-distant future, which is a departure for Sebastian who we know mainly for his historical fiction. In this episode we discuss this brilliant new novel (without spoilers, we think) and where his inspiration for it came from.

We learn about the incredible amount of research he had to undertake to be able to write the book, and see if we can guess who some of his characters are based on!

Here comes the science bit:

A child will be born who will change everything.

When a young woman named Talissa answers an advert to carry a child, she cannot begin to imagine the consequences.

Behind the doors of the Parn Institute, a billionaire entrepreneur plans to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before. Through a series of IVF treatments, one they hope no one ever discovers, they set in motion an experiment that is set to upend the human race as we know it.

Seth, a baby, is delivered to hopeful parents Mary and Alaric, but when his differences start to mark him out from his peers, he begins to attract unwanted attention.

The Seventh Son is a spectacular examination of what it is to be human. Sweeping between New York, London, and the Scottish Highlands, this is an extraordinary novel about unrequited love and unearned power. It asks the question: just because you can do something, does it mean you should?

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Simon and Matt put some questions to bestselling crime author Steve Cavanagh, to find out more about his writing processes, his favourite books and some sage advice!

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Ex-Barrister turned bestselling crime writer, Steve Cavanagh, joins Simon and Matt in the studio.

They discuss his brilliant new thriller - 'Kill For Me Kill For You' - his love of James Lee Burke and how this latest book was inspired by Hysmith and Hitchcock.

Here comes the science bit:

One dark evening in New York City, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realise they have so much in common. They both feel alone. They both drink alone.

And they both desperately want revenge against the two men who destroyed their families. Together, they have the perfect plan. If you kill for me, I'll kill for you.

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Bestselling author Lisa Jewell discusses her processes, reading habits, favourite authors and - thanks to a surprise question from Adele Parks - her favourite karaoke songs!

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Simon and Matt are joined in the studio by multi-million selling author, Lisa Jewell.

They discuss why her new novel, 'None Of This Is True', was the quickest book she has ever written, and how she leaves her readers guessing until the very end.

They also talk a little about her process, how the book was influenced by an academic and author who followed Lisa's writing journey for a year - and - why she prefers instant coffee to something, well, decent.

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In our bonus Q&A episode, journalist and author Daniel Finkelstein answers questions about his research, writing processes and authors that he loves to read.

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Journalist, author and political commentator, Daniel Finkelstein, joins Simon and Matt to discuss his brilliant new book; 'Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad'

He talks about his fascinating family history, the stories he was told growing up, how he researched the book and what it means now it's finally out in the world.

This is the book Daniel has always wanted to write and hopes one day it might even make it on to the screen.

Here comes the science bit...

From longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father's devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.

Danny's mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War, is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began, in 1933, to catalogue in detail Nazi crimes. After moving his family to Amsterdam, he relocated his library to London and was preparing to bring over his wife and children when Germany invaded Holland. Before long, the family was rounded up, robbed, humiliated, and sent to Bergen-Belsen.

Danny's father Ludwik was born in Lwow, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists and sent to do hard labour in a Siberian gulag. Working as slave labourers on a collective farm, his father survived the freezing winters in a tiny house they built from cow dung.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving, personal and at times horrifying memoir about his parents' experiences at the hands of the two genocidal dictators of the 20th century. It is a story of persecution and survival; and the consequences of totalitarianism told with the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families shining through.

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Simon and Matt throw questions at bestselling author Kate Mosse, to find out more about her craft, writing processes and what she likes to read.

There's also a guest appearance from Louise Minchin...

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Kate Mosse is busy, really busy! Not only has she just published her new novel, The Ghost Ship, but has recently been on tour with her one woman show - AND - has been running the Women's Prize For Fiction (which she founded in 1996)

In this episode, the bestselling author talks to Simon and Matt about her research, her fascination with the history of France, continuing a series and why she finds ships so fascinating.

Here comes the science bit...

THE GHOST SHIP

Piracy. Romance. Revenge. Across the seas of the seventeenth century, two seafarers are forced to fight for their lives. The sequel to The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship is the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles from bestselling author Kate Mosse.

The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved by corsairs, manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy and France, Holland and the Canary Islands.

But the bravest among them are not who they seem. The stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

A sweeping and epic love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the High Seas. Most of all, it is a tale of defiant women in a man's world.

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TJ Newman knows how to write a page-turner! And in this episode, she talks about her writing processes, her love of books, who she likes to read and why she prefers to write at night.

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Flight attendant turned bestselling thriller author, TJ Newman, joins Simon and Matt to discuss her latest novel, "Drowning"

TJ wrote her first book on red eye flights when she was working, sometimes jotting ideas on napkins or scraps of paper. This formed her first book, which received 41 rejections. She talks about her writing journey and why "failure" is a positive thing.

She also discusses her writing processes and why she thinks her books will be sold in airports - despite the subject matter!

Here comes the science bit...

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors-but it's too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent - Shannon's mother and Will's soon-to-be ex-wife - who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

There's not much time.

There's even less air.

With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family's desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them - against impossible odds.

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Simon and Matt put some questions to S.A. Cosby.

They discuss his reading habits, where he writes best and his inspirations. There's also a cameo appearance from bestselling author, Ruth Ware!

Remember you can get in touch with us at anytime by emailing [email protected]

And follow us @booksoftheyear on twitter / @pickanypage on instagram

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"It's our favourite book so far this year"

Simon and Matt have called it! And with good reason, S.A. Cosby's new novel - 'All The Sinners Bleed' - is fantastic!

Shawn joins us from New York to discuss his inspirations, his made-up town of Charon, the role of Sherifs and the messages he wants readers to take from his novels.

*Please note that there are some themes discussed which listeners may find triggering or difficult to hear.

Here comes the science bit:

A BLACK SHERIFF. A SERIAL KILLER.

AND A SMALL TOWN READY TO COMBUST.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

But a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student is then fatally shot by Titus’s deputies.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus tries to project confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning.

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Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, answers questions about his reading habits and writing processes.

It turns out he's a big Richard Osman fan (well, who isn't?) and a big champion of libraries.

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In this episode, Simon and Matt are joined by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

They discuss his new book, 'Breathe', and his passion and determination to change the air pollution in London - and tackle climate change in the wider world.

Simon gets 'a bit 5 Live' and Matt asks if it's too late! (so, nice and light)

Here comes the science bit:

A seven-step guide to winning support for tough action on climate change - the first book from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

For many years, Sadiq wasn't fully aware of the dangers posed by air pollution, nor its connection with climate change. Then, at the age of 43, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult-onset asthma - brought on by the polluted London air he had been breathing for decades.

Scandalised, Sadiq underwent a political transformation that would see him become one of the most prominent global politicians fighting (and winning) elections on green issues. Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he has declared a climate emergency, introduced the world's first Ultra-Low Emission Zone, built hundreds of kilometres of new cycle lanes, led a drive for affordable insulation in council homes, and turned London into the first ever 'National Park City'.

But with every year bringing more wildfires, extreme temperatures and flooding - and with around 4,000 people still dying prematurely from London's polluted air every year, with older, working class and ethnic minority Londoners most affected - there is so much more to do.

Now, Sadiq draws on his experiences to identify the seven ways environmental action gets blown off course. And he reveals how to get it back on track, by:

- Proving to sceptics that the climate crisis is a health crisis too;

- Overcoming voters' cynicism by building coalitions across the political spectrum;

- Shaking hands with everyone from your fiercest opponents to the most steadfast climate activists (even if you're a bit worried they might superglue you).

Breathe is a call to action demonstrating how anyone - whether voter, activist or politician - can win the argument on climate. It will help create a world where we can all breathe again.

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In our bonus Q&A episode, Joanne Harris answers questions about her reading and writing habits.

We hear from bestselling author, and Chair of the Women's Prize For Fiction, Kate Moss, as well as discussing the British Library, scents and how a you don't need a physical writing shed, to have a writing shed. (eh!?)

Joanne talks about some of the authors she loves, including Shelley Parker-Chan, whose novel 'She Who Became The Sun' is the last book she really really enjoyed reading.

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Former teacher, turned bestselling novelist, Joanne Harris joins Simon and Matt to discuss her writing and her inspirations.

Her latest novel is 'Broken Light', and Joanne tells us how she came up with the idea for this new book, which in her words is 'a strange and unexpected book'. We discuss the influence of Stephen King, the joy of magic and why this is an angry book.

"Here comes the science bit!"

A tragic incident unlocks the slumbering talents of the fifty-something Bernie Moon in this powerful tale of female ambition, ageing and taking back control from the bestselling author of Chocolat.

A bold and timely novel that explores how women can feel invisible as they grow older- and what happens when they decide to take back control.

Bernie Moon's ambitions and dreams have been forgotten by everyone else - including Bernie herself. At 19 she was full of promise, but now facing 50 and going through the menopause, she's a fading light. Until the murder of a woman in a local park unlocks a series of childhood memories, and with them, a talent that she has hidden all her adult life.

What happens when the frustrations and power of an older woman are finally given their chance to be revealed?

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International bestselling novelist, Cecelia Ahern, joins Simon and Matt to talk about her writing processes and reading habits.

She tells us about her rigid schedule, why she has to write in the mornings and recommends us some great books too!

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Simon and Matt chat with multi-million selling author, Cecelia Ahern.

They discuss colours, auras, writing post natal and why should always learn to turn your computer alerts off.

Cecelia tells us the inspiration behind her new novel and how she came to name her main protagonist.

Here comes the science bit...

Finding your way is never a simple journey...

Alice sees the worst in people. She also sees the best. She sees a thousand different emotions and knows exactly what everyone around her is feeling. Every. Single. Day.

But it's the dark thoughts. The sadness. The rage. These are the things she can't get out of her head. The things that overwhelm her. Where will the journey to find herself begin?

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Bestselling and award-winning author, Catriona Ward, joins Simon and Matt to discuss her writing processes, inspirations and reading habits.

They talk about 'Watership Down', the genre of Horror, why getting on trains is a good thing for writers and how Cat's brief spell as an actor has helped her as a writer.

We also hear from fellow author - and Suede guitarist - Mat Osman!

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In this episode of Books Of The Year, Simon and Matt discuss the book sequels they would love to read.

They're also joined by bestselling author Catriona Ward to discuss her new novel, 'Looking Glass Sound'. They talk about Stephen King country, what really scares us and why Matt just won't go in the sea.

We always love to hear from you and what you have been reading and enjoying!

Get in touch via email - [email protected]

Or you can send us a message on twitter or instagram

Here comes the science bit:

In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the killer that stalked their small New England town. Of the body they found, the horror of that discovery echoing down the decades. And of Sky, Wilder's one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, The Sound and the Dagger.

This book will be Wilder's revenge on Sky, a man who betrayed his trust and died without ever telling him why. But as he writes, Wilder begins to find notes written in Sky's signature green ink and events in his manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. Is Sky haunting him? Did Wilder have more to do with Sky's death than he admits? And who is the woman drowning in the cove, whom no-one else can see?

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to wonder: is he writing the book, or is the book writing him?

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In our bonus Q&A episode, Harlan Coben answers questions about his writing process and reading habits.

Harlan famously calls himself a 'street writer' because he can write anywhere (even in the back of an Uber!)

He's a big Dennis Lehane fan and gives us a little teaser of Dennis' new novel, which will be out soon.

We also surprised Harlan with questions from some fellow fans, Richard Armitage and Richard Osman.

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He's done it again! Another Sunday Bestseller...

One of our favourite authors, Harlan Coben, joins us to talk about 'I Will Find You' - his latest thriller. He talks about his processes, his inspirations and why he admires Lee Child and Ian Rankin, but won't write the way they do.

We also discuss his screen adaptations and why it's so important not to write a novel with a TV series in mind.

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In this fascinating Q&A episode, ex-CIA analyst turned author, David McCloskey, tells us about his writing process, routines and why pepperoni pizza and scotch is the dinner of champions.

The pod also features a voice note from bestselling author Simon Sebag Montefiore, and takes a surprising turn at the very end when Simon decides to ask our guest about red lines...

We hope you enjoy it!

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Former CIA analyst, David McCloskey, joins Simon and Matt to talk about his stunning spy novel, Damascus Station.

It's already one of Matt's books of the year - and has received great praise from across the spectrum.

David talks about his time in the CIA, tells us how much he had to take out of the first draft and why authenticity is so important.

Here comes the science bit...

A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in Damascus to hunt for a killer.

CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.

But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad's spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard.

Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.

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International bestselling author Linwood Barclay answers questions on his writing and reading habits, as well as talking about his love for The Man From U.N.C.L.E

Fellow crime author, Mark Billingham, surprises Linwood with a Q about his love of model railways - and we find out whether Linwood is a completist when it comes to books, or not....

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International bestselling author , Linwood Barclay, joins Simon and Matt from his home in Toronto.

They discuss his new novel 'Look Both Ways' as well as his passion for cars, the humour in his books and why it takes so long to get an adaptation to the screen.

Simon also talks to Linwood about the mysterious balloons which have recently been spotted (and shot down) over North America, and how this (and other news items) can act as inspirations for thriller writers.

We also have your missives and book recommendations of course...which you can continue to send in on email ([email protected]) or via our social media channels...

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In our Q&A episode, writer, comedian and podcaster Cariad Lloyd talks about the bleak joy she finds in the Moomins books. She also talks about her favourite places to write, her routine and the last book she read that she really, really loved.

Cariad's new book, 'You Are Not Alone', is inspired by her award-winning podcast, Griefcast, and is out now via Bloomsbury.

When Cariad Lloyd lost her father at the age of fifteen, people didn't talk about death. Years later, when she created Griefcast, it started a conversation that people didn't realise they needed until it was there, about one of the most significant events in a person's life: its end.

In You Are Not Alone, Cariad shares all that she has learned from Griefcast. She reflects on her own grief, the grief of others, and the psychology and science behind

how our society deals with death and loss. Funmissing them - this is grief in all its sad, surprising, awkward, tender and sometimes funny forms.

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Podcaster, Comedian and writer Cariad Lloyd joins Simon and Matt to discuss her new book, 'You Are Not Alone: A New Way To Grieve'

They talk about her award-winning podcast, Griefcast, and how she has become the go-to grief expert!

We also get some of her tips on grieving, advice on what we can do now for our friends and family, and there's your book correspondence too.

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National Book Award winner, Jason Mott, joins Simon and Matt for a Q&A about his writing and reading habits.

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We're baaaaaack!

And we're kicking off 2023 with HELL OF A BOOK by Jason Mott.

This brilliant, humorous, moving, important novel is the winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, AND the National Book Award.

Jason's surrealist gem centres on a mercurial writer who has visions of a young Black boy who may or may not be the child whose recent murder by a police office has sparked protests across the country.

Simon and Matt discuss the novel, book tour nightmares, bad titles and comedic media traing sessions. They also get some writing tips and find out what some of our listeners have been reading and enjoying recently.

We always love to hear from you, and you can contact us anytime via email: [email protected] (yes, yahoo!)

And you can follow us on Instagram (@pickanypage) and twitter (@booksoftheyear)

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Ho Ho Holy Moly it's nearly the end of 2022!

And to celebrate, Simon and Matt have put together a bonus Christmas ep, for all our Books Of The Year stalwarts.

Join us for some pretty lame Christmas jokes and clips of some of our favourite bits of the pod from the year gone by...because...that's what everyone does at Christmas right?

Happy Holidays from all of us at BOTY!!!!

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Simon and Matt welcome the former Whitehall Editor of the FT (now Director of the Think Tank, Onward), Sebastian Payne, to discuss his book 'The Fall Of Boris Johnson'

We recorded this one quite late at night in a bar, so you'll also get to enjoy some thumpin' tunes in the background too, mixed in with a bit of Simon's cough, A delightful cacophony we think you'll agree!

Sebastian talks about the 'three Ps' in his book (Patterson, Pincher and Partygate). as well as how well respected Johnson is in Ukraine, his obsession with Churchill and what he had to leave out of the book.

We also have some of your correspondence and book reviews. (remember, you can get in touch at any time: [email protected])

Here comes the science bit:

The Fall of Boris Johnson is the explosive inside account of how a prime minister lost his hold on power.

Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally getting Brexit done. But within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace, leaving the country in crisis.

Sebastian Payne, Whitehall Editor for the Financial Times, tells the essential behind-the-scenes story, charting the series of scandals that felled Johnson: from the blocked suspension of Owen Paterson to partygate, and, then the final death blow: the Chris Pincher allegations. This is the full narrative of the betrayals, rivalries and resignations that resulted in the dramatic Conservative coup and set in motion events that saw the party sink to catastrophic new lows.

With unparalleled access to those who were in the room when key decisions were made, Payne tells of the miscalculations and mistakes that led to Boris's downfall. This is a gripping and timely look at how power is gained, wielded and lost in Britain today.

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Bestseller author and journalist Ben Macintyre joins us for a Q&A about his writing and reading habits.

He discusses the brilliance of 'In Cold Blood' and why he loves writing on planes.

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Bestselling author and Times columnist Ben Macintyre joins Simon and Matt to talk about his brilliant new book, Colditz: Prisoners Of The Castle.

They discuss some of the incredible characters who frequented the prison, and the range of extraordinary escape plans which took place...and mainly failed.

Here's the bumf:

In a forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany, an unlikely band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their Nazi captors. Or so the story of Colditz has gone, unchallenged for 70 years. But that tale contains only part of the truth.

The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce.

From the Indian doctor whose hunger strike and eventual escape reads like a thriller, to America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were astonishingly imaginative in their escape attempts; but there were many other ways to survive while awaiting their unknown fate. Deeply researched and full of incredible colour, this is the definitive book on one of the greatest war stories ever told.

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Join Simon and Matt, and the two bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney-Boylan, for a quick fire Q&A!

We also have a guest question from the novelist Joanne Harris.

You can hear more about Jenny and Jodi's new novel, "Mad Honey", on our previous episode where we discuss it at length...

About the book:

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business.

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.

And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can trust him completely . . .

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

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Bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan join Simon and Matt to discuss their brilliant new novel Mad Honey. 

Told from alternative narratives, the book is a suspenseful, unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become our authentic selves.

The authors talk about the highs and lows of their collaboration, and why they think this book is going to be banned in some US States. 

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Columnist and writer Marina Hyde answers some in-depth questions from Simon and Matt - as well as from listeners, and a surprise guest!

No other writer is more suited to chronicling the absurd times in which we live. In What Just Happened?! Marina Hyde slashes her way through the hellscape of post-referendum politics, where the chaos never stops.

From David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson. Marvel at the sights, from Trumpian WTF-ery to celebrity twattery. And boggle at the cast of characters: Hollywood sex offenders, populists, sporting heroes (and villains), dastardly dukes, media barons, movie stars, reality TV monsters, billionaires, police officers, various princes and princesses, wicked advisers, philanthropists, fauxlanthropists, telly chefs, and (naturally) Gwyneth Paltrow.

It's the full state banquet of crazy - and you're most cordially invited.

The book is drawn from her spectacularly funny Guardian columns, and is a welcome blast of humour and sanity in a world where reality has become stranger than fiction.

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Columnist and writer Marina Hyde joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams to talk about the news, politics, her columns and...what the hell is going to happen next!?

We're all trying to keep up with the news at the moment and it seems that every day, there's another crisis, resignation or flummoxed MP trying to change the narrative. In her latest book, Marina tries to make some sense of these turbulent times, whilst offering us some humour and valuable insight along the way.

On this episode of Books Of The Year, she talks about the ever changing news cycle, how she keeps sane and the things she would never write about.

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The last book you really, really enjoyed?

Which idea in a book do you wish you’d come up with? 

Do you work best with deadlines?

Which books stand out from your childhood?

Short chapters v long chapters. Discuss!

Favourite TV or film adaptation of a book?

How many books do you read a month?

If you could go back to university, what would you study?

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Making his 3rd appearance on the pod, best selling author Anthony Horowitz chats about his latest novel. With occasional sound effects from his builders.

Anthony has written two highly acclaimed Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk and Moriarty; three James Bond novels, Trigger Mortis, Forever and a Day and With a Mind to Kill; the acclaimed bestselling mystery novels Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders and the Detective Hawthorne novels, The Word is Murder, The Sentence is Death, A Line To Kill, and the latest A Twist of Knife is out now - in which he stars as himself.

His new play, a thriller called 'Mindgame', is about to open at the famous Vaudeville theatre in Shoreditch. Not surprisingly, Hawthorne declines a ticket to the opening night.

The play is not enjoyed by the critics. In particular, Sunday Times critic Harriet Throsby gives it a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing. The next day, Throsby is stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger which, it turns out, belongs to Anthony, and which has his fingerprints all over it.

Anthony is arrested by an old enemy . . . Detective Inspector Cara Grunshaw. She's still smarting from her failure to solve the case described in the second Hawthorne adventure: "The Sentence is Death". She blames Anthony for her failure. And now she's out for revenge.

Thrown into prison and brutally interrogated, Anthony is the prime suspect in Throsby's murder and as a second theatre critic is found to have died in mysterious circumstances, the net closes in. Ever more desperate, he realizes that only one man can help him.

But will Hawthorne take the call? 

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The last book you really, really enjoyed

Which idea in a book do you wish you’d come up?

Do you work best with deadlines?

Short Chapters v Long Chapters. Discuss!

Favourite TV or film adaptation of a book?

How many books do you read a month?

If you could go back to university, what would you study?

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1660. Colonel Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Colonel William Goffe, cross the Atlantic. They are on the run and wanted for the murder of Charles I. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, they have been found guilty in absentia of high treason.

In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is tasked with tracking down the fugitives. He'll stop at nothing until the two men are brought to justice. A reward hangs over their heads - for their capture, dead or alive.

Act of Oblivion is an epic journey across continents, and a chase like no other. It is the thrilling new novel by Robert Harris (Fatherland, Enigma, V2)

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Best selling author, multi award winning broadcaster and lifelong Torchy fan SIMON MAYO is interviewed by ITN's Tom Bradby about his new thriller Tick Tock.

It starts quietly enough. A tick-tick-ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn't. It gets worse - and then you pass it on.

Before you know it, it spreads. Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges: small outbreaks at first, but then suddenly it's a plague - and only days later it is killing people.

In an increasingly affected north London school, teacher Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even Lilly Slater, his partner and an eminent vaccinologist, can't work out what's happening. As it spreads, little by little, they are inexorably drawn into the mystery behind the illness. And what they discover will change the world as they know it...

Exciting and urgently contemporary, this piercingly insightful novel tells the story of a global catastrophe through the eyes of the three people at the heart of the storm.

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Simon and Matt chat to Jonathan Freedland about his new book The Escape Artist.

In April 1944 nineteen-year-old Rudolf Vrba and fellow inmate Fred Wetzler became the first Jews ever to break out of Auschwitz. Vrba's mission: to reveal to the world the truth of the Holocaust.

In the death factory of Auschwitz, Vrba had become an eyewitness to almost every chilling stage of the Nazis' process of industrialised murder. The more he saw, the more determined he became to warn the Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. A brilliant student of science and mathematics, he committed each detail to memory, risking everything to collect the first data of the Final Solution. After his escape, that information would form a priceless thirty-two-page report that would reach Roosevelt, Churchill and the pope and eventually save over 200,000 lives.

But the escape from Auschwitz was not his last. After the war, he kept running - from his past, from his home country, from his adopted country, even from his own name. Few knew of the truly extraordinary deed he had done. Now, at last, Rudolf Vrba's heroism can be known - and he can take his place alongside those whose stories define history's darkest chapter.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He was named Columnist of the Year in 2002, Commentator of the Year in 2016 and won an Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2014. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series, The Long View, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He is the author of 11 books, two of them non-fiction, including his first book, the award-winning Bring Home the Revolution. He has written nine thrillers under the name Sam Bourne, including The Righteous Men which was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

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Tom Bradby is a novelist, screenwriter and journalist. He has written nine previous novels, including top-ten bestselling Secret Service, and its two sequels, Double Agent and Triple Cross. As a broadcaster, he is best known as the current Anchor of ITV's News at Ten. He has been with ITN for thirty years and was successively Ireland Correspondent, Political Correspondent, Asia Correspondent (during which time he was shot and seriously injured whilst covering a riot in Jakarta), Royal Correspondent, UK Editor and Political Editor- a job he held for a decade - before being made the Anchor of News at Ten in 2015

His latest novel is Yesterday's Spy. Set against the backdrop of one of the defining events of the Cold War.

Nothing good ever comes from a midnight phone call. For washed-up spy Harry Tower, it is the worst news at the worst possible time. His son, Sean, has gone missing in troubled Iran after writing an exposé about government corruption. Their relationship has never recovered since Harry's wife's suicide, for which Sean holds his father responsible. And Harry, with his career on the verge of disintegration, needs to find him and put things right. When Harry arrives in Tehran, he finds a city on the cusp of revolution. Foreign powers are jockeying for influence, money and, most importantly, oil. The CIA are conspiring to undermine the government with an impending coup, and there are dark mutterings about opium smuggling. But the reasons for Sean's disappearance may be even more sinister than Harry first suspected. Before long, he is on the run - not only from a faceless enemy, but from his own past. Which will catch up with him first?

, Yesterday’s Spy is a story that is rich in intrigue and history and will keep readers guessing until the final pages.

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'At the Table is a hugely intelligent, emotionally astute novel about family dynamics, and Claire Powell is an incredible new talent' Marian Keyes

'I hate the artwork on my kitchen wall'

Matt Williams

Set in 2018, Claire Powell's beautifully observed debut novel follows each member of the Maguire family over a tumultuous year of lunches, dinners and drinks, as old conflicts arise and relationships are re-evaluated.

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Simon and Matt chat to presenter and journalist Justin Webb. He has been a mainstay on BBC Radio 4's Today programme since 2009.

His childhood was far from ordinary. Between his mother's un-diagnosed psychological problems, and his step-father's untreated ones, life at home was dysfunctional at best. But with gun-wielding school masters and sub-standard living conditions, Quaker boarding school wasn't much better.

And the backdrop to this coming of age story? Britain in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Free. Strikes, inflation and IRA bombings. A time in which attitudes towards mental illness, parenting and masculinity were worlds apart from the attitudes we have today. A society that believed itself to be close to the edge of breakdown.

Candid, unsparing and darkly funny, Justin Webb's memoir is a portrait of personal and national dysfunction. So was it the brutal experiences of his upbringing, or an innate ambition and drive that somehow survived them, that shaped the urbane and successful radio presenter we know and love now?

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Simon and Matt chat to debut author Jo Browning Wroe. Her book, although beginning with a terrible real life tragedy, is an inspiring, uplifting read. Among other things, they chat about the embalming process, choral music and the cost of using famous lyrics in print.

Tonight nineteen-year-old William Lavery is dressed for success, his first black-tie do. It's the Midlands Chapter of the Institute of Embalmers Ladies' Night Dinner Dance, and William is taking Gloria in her sequinned evening gown. He can barely believe his luck. But as the guests sip their drinks and smoke their post-dinner cigarettes a telegram delivers news of a tragedy. An event so terrible it will shake the nation.

It is October 1966 and a landslide at a coal mine has buried a school: Aberfan. William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job, and will be - although he's yet to know it - a choice that threatens to sacrifice his own happiness. His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to bury. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.

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John Boyne returns to the pod for his hat-trick appearance. He has written 13 novels for for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection, including The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas which was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide. As of 2021, it has spent 15 years in the New York Times Top 10 Bestsellers Chart.

His latest novel The Echo Chamber looks at the effects of social media. "To err is maybe to be human but to really foul things up you only need a phone."

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Iceland's Ragnar Jonasson is a crime writing phenomenon - and it's not even his main job. He works as an investment banker in Reykjavik, in addition to teaching law at Reykjavik University.

But is also a bestseller in Germany, France, the UK and Australia. From the age of 17, Ragnar translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic.

Ragnar is the co-founder of the Reykjavik international crime writing festival Iceland Noir. He has also been shortlisted for Novel of the Year in Sweden, The Barry Award in the US and the Petrona Award. The film rights for The Darkness have also been snapped up by Hollywood.

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Michael is the bestselling author of thirty-six novels and one work of non-fiction. With over eighty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theatres worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include Dark Sacred Night, Two Kinds Of Truth, The Late Show, The Wrong Side Of Goodbye, The Crossing, The Burning Room, The Gods of Guilt, and The Black Box. Michael’s crime fiction career was honoured with the Diamond Dagger from the CWA in 2018.

Michael is the executive producer of Bosch, an Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver. Bosch streams on Amazon Prime Video. He is the creator and host of the podcast Murder Book.

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When defence attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, the body of a client is discovered in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Haller knows he's been framed and elects to defend himself.

Best selling author Michael Connelly chats to Simon and Matt from Las Vegas. He is perhaps best known for his books featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defence attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bestselling author of 31 novels and one work of non-fiction, with over 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 foreign languages. His first novel, The Black Echo, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1997 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller.

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The best selling author of The Martian and Artemis returns with a new sci-fi thriller.

It has already had its film rights snapped up by Ryan Gosling and MGM. Tim Peake has called Project Hail Mary ‘One of the most plausible science fiction books I’ve ever read’.

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Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and worked in Brand PR for a variety of households brands before following her passion for writing.

Her experiences living in the Swiss Alps in her early twenties inspired her acclaimed debut novel, The Sanatorium, which was an instant Sunday Times and New York Times Top Ten bestseller in hardback, and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

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Abigail Dean studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and graduated with a double first in 2011. Her first job was as a bookseller at Waterstones. Abigail now works as a lawyer at Google. Ahead of her thirtieth birthday, she took time off between jobs to work on her first novel, GIRL A. The book immediately became a New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller and has sold in 31 territories including television/film.

GIRL A tells the story of Lex, better known to the world as Girl A, who escaped her family home where she and her siblings were held captive by their parents. Now, after her mother’s death, she and her siblings are left the family home. Wanting to transform the House of Horrors into a force for good, Lex must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.

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David Baddiel is an author, comedian and screenwriter. He has written and performed in a series of highly successful TV comedy shows, including Fantasy Football, The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. He is the author of four novels as well as six books for children which have sold over 1 million copies.

In Jews Don't Count David combines powerful polemic and personal testimony to investigate why, in an age of heightened awareness of the evils of systemic racism, anti-Semitism appears to have been neglected by those who consider themselves progressive and enlightened. 

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The BBC's North America Editor chats about his diary of the 2020 US Presidential Election.

It was an incredible year, which started with Joe Biden getting off to a very shaky start in the Primaries. And ended with a riot in Congress.

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When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.

Rebus fears the worst – and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.

He wasn’t the best father – the job always came first – but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?

As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast – and a small town with big secrets – he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find...

Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America’s celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the USA, and won Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and Germany’s Deutscher Krimipreis.

Ian has received an OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

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What if the weird news was the real news?!

There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank the Lord The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . .

A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable.

At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.

When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined.

Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on his books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home. His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV and has earned him a BAFTA nomination. These days he can be found happily writing his next book in the office in the back garden, with only his dog and his imagination for company.

His book 'I Have Sinned' has been nominated for the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019. Previously, his debut novel 'A Man With One of Those Faces' was nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards.

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Ben MacIntyre writes fantastic books about real life spies. Agent Sonya is another one. Ursula Kuczynski Burton was a spymaster, saboteur, bomb-maker and secret agent - who spent a large part of her career in rural Oxfordshire. Codenamed 'Agent Sonya', her story has never been told - until now.

From planning an assassination attempt on Hitler in Switzerland, to spying on the Japanese in Manchuria, to preventing nuclear war (or so she believed) by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from Britain to give to Moscow, Ursula conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century.

Simon Mayo, Matt Williams and all Books of the Year affiliates would like to make it very clear that Ben MacIntyre is not a spy and never has been a spy.

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One of the key figures in British politics for the past 30 years, Alastair Campbell tells us about his favourite books and authors.

Alastair is a British journalist, broadcaster and political aide. He worked as Tony Blair's spokesman and campaign director (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary (1997–2000) for Blair, who was then Labour Prime Minister. He then became Downing Street Director of Communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He resigned in August 2003. Since then he has been a prolific writer and speaker - and an advocate for mental health.

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"Last Christmas I almost killed myself. Almost. I've had a lot of almosts. Never gone from almost to deed. Don't think I ever will. But it was a bad almost."

Living Better is Alastair Campbell's honest, moving and life affirming account of his lifelong struggle with depression. It is an autobiographical, psychological and psychiatric study, which explores his own childhood, family and other relationships, and examines the impact of his professional and political life on himself and those around him. But it also lays bare his relentless quest to understand depression not just through his own life but through different treatments.

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. A former 'Mind Champion of the Year', he is an ambassador for several mental health charities.

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In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Richard Osman is an author, producer and television presenter. The Thursday Murder Club is his first novel. He is well known for TV shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games. As the creative director of Endemol UK, Richard has worked as an executive producer on numerous shows including Deal Or No Deal and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He is also a regular on panel and game shows such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You and Taskmaster.

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One of the world's most prolific and successful authors takes over presenting duties to interview Simon Mayo (Itch, Mad Blood Stirring, Radio 1 Roadshow).

Simon's new thriller is Knife Edge. In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift. The victims have one thing in common: they make up the investigations team at the news agency where Famie works. The question everyone's asking: what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation? As Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she must find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim...

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Lee Child, the 100 million selling author of the Jack Reacher novels, takes over presenting duties to interview fledgling author Simon Mayo about his new book Knife Edge.

In this clip they talk about the perils of rolling news. And how Jack Reacher would wear a mask

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Sabine Durrant is a former assistant editor of The Guardian and a former literary editor at The Sunday Times. She is currently a magazine profile writer for The Sunday Telegraph and a contributor to The Guardian’s family section. Her latest novel is the thriller Finders, Keepers. In our Q&A Sabine tells us about her favourite books and authors which include Georgette Heyer, Robert Harris and Jilly Cooper

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When Time Stopped -A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains

Ariana meticulously uncovers the astonishing truth of her father’s extraordinary escape from Nazi-occupied Prague and seemingly inevitable deportation to the camps. Her painstaking investigation leads her across continents and reveals his astonishing and courageous choice to assume a fake identity and live out the war undercover, spying for the allies in Berlin itself—at the heart of the Nazi empire, deep in the ‘darkest shadow’.

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Mark Billingham is one of the UK's most acclaimed and popular crime writers - selling over 5 million copies. A former actor, television writer and stand-up comedian, his series of novels featuring D.I. Tom Thorne has twice won him the Crime Novel Of The Year Award as well as the Sherlock Award for Best British Detective and been nominated for seven CWA Daggers. His standalone thriller IN THE DARK was chosen as one of the twelve best books of the year by the Times and his debut novel, SLEEPYHEAD was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade. Each of his novels has been a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller.

Mark is also a member of Fun Lovin' Crime Writers. Performing alongside Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Stuart Neville, Doug Johnstone and Luca Veste, this band of frustrated rockers murders songs for fun at literary festivals worldwide

Mark's latest novel is Their Little Secret

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QI Elf Andrew talks us through his favourite authors which include Rik Mayall, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and PG Wodehouse.

Andrew's debut novel is The Last Day - which focuses on a world which has stopped turning.

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In Sophie Hannah's latest thriller Beth sees some old friends...but "twelve years have passed and the children don't look any older...why haven't they grown?"

Sophie is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling writer of crime fiction, published in forty-nine languages and fifty-one territories. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, Sophie published a new Poirot novel, The Monogram Murders, which was a bestseller in more than fifteen countries.

In 2013, Sophie’s novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A Level and degree level across the UK. 

Sophie has recently helped to create a Master’s Degree in Crime and Thriller Writing at the University of Cambridge, for which she is the main teacher and Course Director.

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Michael Lewis is the global bestselling author of The Big Short and Moneyball - both of which were turned in to hugely successful movies. 

His latest book is The Fifth Risk, an exploration of Trump and the mechanics of The White House. It examines the transition and political appointments of the Donald Trump presidency. It’s been optioned by the Obamas for their new Netflix production company. It is both thrilling and terrifying.

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Malcolm Gladwell is a journalist, author and podcast maker. His first five books were on The New York Times Best Seller list. His sixth book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know, was released in September 2019. The book examines interactions with strangers, and covers examples that include the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath and the death of Sandra Bland. It challenges the assumptions we are programmed to make when encountering strangers, and the potentially dangerous consequences of misreading people we don't know.

His previous books are well worth checking out too - The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000); Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005); Outliers: The Story of Success (2008); What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), a collection of his journalism; and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013).

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Adele Park's latest novel Lies Lies Lies is a Sunday Times bestseller. She has written 19 novels, selling over 3.5million copies in the UK alone. In our latest pod, Adele talks us through her writing process, the planning, the research and the champagne.

In Lies Lies Lies Adele explores the darkest corners of a relationship in freefall in a mesmerising tale of marriage and secrets. After years together, the arrival of longed-for daughter Millie sealed everything in place for Simon and Matt, I mean Simon and Daisy. A happy little family of three. And so what if Simon drinks a bit too much sometimes – Daisy’s used to it, she knows he’s letting off steam. Until one night at a party things spiral horribly out of control. And that happy little family of three will never be the same again.

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Since 2007, George has been the presenter of the BBC News at Six and has also been the main presenter of GMT on BBC World News since its launch in 2010. A specialist on Africa and the developing world, Alagiah has interviewed, among others, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

George's debut novel is set in the post-apartheid South African land grabs. It’s a sharp and nuanced thriller with a strong female lead. Dealing with themes of political activism, xenophobia, the environment and, most importantly, what happens when events spiral out of control, it’s incredibly timely – and is also based entirely on events George saw but was unable to report on while a BBC correspondent there.

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Jung Chang is best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans. Published in 1991, it has sold over 15 million copies, has been translated in to 40 languages - and is one of Oprah's "Books That Defined A Generation". It is banned in China - where Jung grew up.

Her new book is Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the centre of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history.

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey from Canton to Hawaii to New York, from exiles’ quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China.

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Where are the tombs of Alexander the Great or Cleopatra? Both rulers were buried in Egypt, but their tombs have never been found despite years of intensive research and excavation. Yet we have tantalizing clues. Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt describes the quest for these and other great missing tombs those we know existed, but which have not yet been identified.

Dr Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist and the Director of the Egypt Exploration Society.

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Can you feel nostalgic for a life you've never known? Suffused with her much-loved warmth and wit, Emma John's memoir follows her moving and memorable journey to master one of the hardest musical styles on earth - and to find her place in an alien world.

Emma had fallen out of love with her violin when a chance trip to the American South introduced her to bluegrass music. Classically trained, highly strung and wedded to London life, Emma was about as country as a gin martini. So why did it feel like a homecoming?

Answering that question takes Emma deep into the Appalachian mountains, where she uncovers a hidden culture that confounds every expectation - and learns some emotional truths of her own.

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What will happen when homo sapiens is no longer the smartest being on the planet? Jeanette Winterson shows us how much closer we are to that future than we realise. Frankissstein may well terrify you. But will make you laugh.

Jeanette Winterson was born in Manchester and read English at Oxford, during which time she wrote her first novel, the Whitbread award winning Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. She has won a BAFTA Award for Best Drama, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the E. M. Forster Award, the St. Louis Literary Award, and is a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award. She has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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The Arsonist tells the real-life story behind one of Australia’s darkest days and the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australia’s history, Black Saturday.

On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to police as firebugs. However the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn’t know. 

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Michelle Paver is an international bestselling author with over 3 million copies of her books sold in 37 countries across the globe. She writes for both adults and children and her work includes two of the most critically and commercially acclaimed ghost stories of modern times, Dark Matter and Thin Air and the prize-winning, million copy selling, children’s series, Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Her new book Wakenhyrst, set in Edwardian Suffolk, was inspired by a series of real events and fuelled by secrets from her maternal past.

John Boyne returns to the show. He is best known for his phenomenal bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which has sold an astonishing 9 million copies worldwide. His latest book, My Brother's Name Is Jessica, is an urgent call to arms for better empathy and understanding around the complexity of gender identity, and is full of John’s trademark warmth, humour and emotion.

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Anita Anand tells the remarkable story of one Indian's twenty-year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Amritsar massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds. 

The Patient Assassin shines a devastating light on one of the Raj's most horrific events, but reads like a taut thriller, and reveals some astonishing new insights into what really happened. 

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Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian journalist who has written 7 thrillers under the name Sam Bourne. To Kill the Truth springs from one question. What if, in this era of post-truth, someone tried to destroy all evidence of the past – starting with the records and documents by which we know what is true and what is false? Thanks to galloping technology – which now makes fake ‘archive footage’ possible, along with bogus sound recordings of historical figures saying things they never said – and governments bent on spreading fake news, the truth is under assault like never before. It no longer seems far-fetched to imagine a plot to kill it off forever.

The result is To Kill the Truth, a novel which opens with the murder of an eminent historian. Soon more historians are found dead, along with aged survivors of some of history’s greatest crimes. And then libraries – in America, in Britain and around the world – are burned to the ground, the archives they hold turned to dust.

Once again, at the centre of the action is Maggie Costello, the former White House operative who tried to avert an assassination in Sam Bourne’s previous bestseller, To Kill the President. She understands early that it’s not just buildings and digital databases that are the target of this mysterious plot. It is an attack on the knowledge we have about our world – and the very idea of truth.

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Listen to author Alex Michaelides talk about his favourite books and authors. His debut novel THE SILENT PATIENT has been sold to over 30 countries and the film rights have been optioned by the makers of 12 Years A Slave

Alex studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara.

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The Atlas of Happiness is a round-the-world trip through 33 international happiness concepts, from the bestselling author of The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell.

Feeling terrified of that upcoming job interview? Take inspiration from the Icelanders and get some fietta reddast, the unwavering belief that everything will work out in the end. Lost your way in life? Make like the Chinese and find your xingfu, or the thing that gives you real purpose.

Too much on your plate? The Italians can help you learn the fine art of dolce far niente, aka the sweetness of doing nothing at all.

Overwhelmed by busyness and disconnected from nature? The Swedish have a solution – just find your smultronställe, or 'wild strawberry patch', your perfect escape from the rest of the world. From Australia to Wales, via Bhutan, Ireland, Finland, Turkey, Syria, Japan, and many more besides, The Atlas of Happiness uncovers the global secrets to happiness, and how they can change our lives.

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John Simpson has been the BBC's World Affairs Editor for more than half his fifty-two year career. The legendary journalist tells us about his new novel Moscow, Midnight. MP Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong. Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight - and something about his friend's death doesn't seem right. Then days after Macready's flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly 'accidental' fates. When the police refuse to investigate further, Swift gets in touch with his contacts in Moscow, determined to find out if his hunch is correct. Following the lead, he is soon drawn into a violent underworld, where whispers of conspiracies, assassinations and double-agents start blurring the line between friend and foe. But the truth will come at a price, and it may cost him everything.

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Simon and Matt find out the reading habits of authors Anthony Horowitz and Markus Zusak. Plus your tweets, letters and suggestions.

Anthony Horowitz is one of Britain's most successful writers - specialising in mystery and suspense. His work for young adult readers includes The Alex Rider series. His work for adults includes two Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty ; plus Magpie Murders and The Word Is Murder . He was also chosen to write James Bond novels by the Ian Fleming estate, starting with Trigger Mortis  which he then followed up with Forever And A Day. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War, Collision and Injustice and the BBC series New Blood.

Markus Zusak's breakthrough novel was The Book Thief. Published in 2005, it has been translated in to 30 languages, winning a host of international awards - and was made in to a film starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. His latest release - 10 years in the making, is called Bridge of Clay.

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Graham Norton pops in to catch some germs from Simon and Matt - and to talk about his latest novel A Keeper.

Graham is one of the UK's best loved broadcasters. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC1, has a weekly show on BBC Radio 2, and writes a column for the Telegraph. He is the winner of eight BAFTA awards. Born in Dublin and raised in West Cork, Norton now lives in London. 

His debut novel HOLDING was a commercial and critical success, winning Norton the Irish Independent Popular Fiction award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards in 2016.

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(The failing...) New York Times Bestseller Ben MacIntyre pops in to chat at length about his latest effort The Spy and The Traitor.

If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union’s top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6.

“The best true spy story I have ever read.”—JOHN LE CARRÉ

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John Boyne is one of a rare breed of authors who actually enjoy writing. He has written 11 adult novels - as in novels for adults, rather than the fruity kind. And 5 for young readers. His latest A Ladder To The Sky focuses on the life of an author who will stop at nothing for fame, adulation and respect.

Shaun Usher is the writer and sole custodian of the popular blogs lettersofnote.com, listsofnote.com and speechesofnote.com. As a result, he spends much of his life hunting down words he’d like to share. His books, Letters of Note; Lists of Note and More Letters of Note, were all published to widespread acclaim and became international bestsellers. His latest offering is Speeches of Note, which includes addresses The Queen and Richard Nixon were to give if Armstrong and Aldrin were stranded on the Moon - or World War 3 began.

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Kate joins Simon and Matt to chat about her new release Transcription. It tells the story of Juliet Armstrong, who is recruited as a young woman by an obscure wartime department. In the aftermath of war she joins the BBC, where her life begins to unravel.

Kate won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum.Her four bestselling novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie became the BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs. Her 2013 novel Life After Life won the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Prize, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, and voted Book of the Year for the independent booksellers associations on both sides of the Atlantic. It also won the Costa Novel Award, as did her subsequent novel A God in Ruins (2015).

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Sebastian is invited in to chat about his latest novel Paris Echo - plus an excellent Q&A about his reading habits.

Best known for the French trilogy, The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray (1989-1997) Faulks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1993 and appointed CBE for services to literature in 2002. In Paris Echo he deals with questions of empire, grievance and identity in a city in which every building seems to hold the echo of an unacknowledged past, the shadows of Vichy and Algeria.

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