Pile by the Bed reviews She Lied First by Dinuka McKenzie a standalone, Sydney-based domsetic thriller with a Sri Lankan flavour.

Pile by the Bed reviews A Killing in Lagos by Amen Alonge, a crime novel that explores and exposes the world of the Nigerian ultra-wealthy.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Watch by Emily Smith a twisty post-apocalyptic tale that is much more than it first appears.

Pile by the Bed reviews Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd a high-concept thriller which explores the exploitation of time travel tourism.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon, a heatwarming story of a plucky vacuum cleaner and fellow appliances who try to save their humans in an AI-controlled future.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Knight Watch by Thomas D Lee the second book in his loosely connected series which draws on the premise that the Knights of the Round Table can return when Britain is in peril. This book is set in World War 2 and is a “weird, enjoyable, Nazi-punching romp”.

Pile by the Bed reviews Sublimation by Isabel J Kim a science fiction novel that uses a mind-bending premise to consider iddes of individuality, agency, autonomy, homecoming and legacy.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett the third book in his excellent Shadows of the Leviathan series featuring investigators Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol.

Pile by the Bed reviews Bad Neighbours by Joanna Jenkins, the third in her series featuring lawyer and amateur detective Ruth Dawson. Bad Neighbours brings Ruth back to Sydney and a very Sydney crime involving property deals, renovations and corruption.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Cold River by Margaret Hickey, the Australian rural crime fiction sequel to her award winning book The Creeper and featuring Senior Constable Sally White.

Pile by the Bed reviews Mire by Matt Nable a crime tale set in the late 1980s centring on an Australian stock market trader who gets himself tangled up with the Mafia.

Pile by the Bed reviews The End of Romance by Maria Takolander which follows a mother and son as they navigate a bleak view of the future.

Pile by the Bed reviews Contrapposto by Dave Eggers a sprawling American novel about art and artists that follows two characters from childhood to old age.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead the final book in his Harlem crime trilogy bringing his main character, fence Ray Carney into the 1980s.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Shadow of Madness by DV Bishop, the sixth book in his always enjoyable and tense historical crime series set in Renaissance Italy and featuring Cesare Aldo.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a delightfully twisted historical noir that revolves around a con man trying to score off a boarding house owner in coastal Mexico in the 1940s.

Pile by the Bed reviews After the Fall by Edward Ashton which imagines a post alien invasion Earth in which humans have been bred to be servile.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Unicorn Hunters by KAtherine Arden historical fantasy that reminagines the life of Anne of Brittany only with unicorns and fae beings.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Tinder Box by MR Carey a more complex and satisfying reimagining of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.

Pile by the Bed reviews Heaven’s Graveyard by Grace Cutris, a follow up to her fantasy novel Idolfire but set in a future time when the events in that novel are considered to be mythology and children’s stories.