Pile by the Bed reviews Private Prosecution a debut crime thiller by Australian author Lisa Ellery.

It was a tough choice but here are Pile by the Bed’s top 5 books of 2021 and five honourable mentions.

Pile by the Bed reviews Kill your Brother – a breathless, tense and violent but compulsive thriller from Jack Heath.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Safe Place by LA Larkin – a page-turning thriller involving domestic violence, gaslighting and a serial arsonist with the tension fuelled by an encoaching megafire

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends the final John Le Carré novel Silverview which shows once again why he was considered the master of the espionage novel.

Pile by the Bed reviews Two Sisters Detective Agency, the latest collaboration between James Paterson and Candice Fox and likely start to a new series.

Pile by the Bed reviews Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a Mexican vampire novel that does new and interesting things with the genre.

Pile by the Bed reviews James Han Mattson’s second book Reprieve a thriller set around a horror-themed escape room game.

Pile by the Bed reviews Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea a thriller that uses the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 as its jumping off point.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Velvet was the Night a historical thriller by Silvia Moreno-Garcia which takes the 1971 student riots in Mexico City as a jumping off point.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz a twisty thriller within a thriller based around a morality tale

Pile by the Bed reviews The Housemate by Sarah Bailey, introducing new characters engaged in an intriguing mystery that generates plenty of tension.

Pile by the Bed reviews In Harm’s Way by Anthony Mosawi – a genre mash thriller involving spies, terrorist threats and an agent with supernatural powers of precognition.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Attack by Catherine Jinks, a tense thriller involving teens behaving badly and dealing with a history of trauma.

Pile by the Bed reviews Godspeed by Nickolas Butler, the story of the construction of an exceptional building in an unforgiving landscape that digs deep into issues facing modern America and the American dream.

Pile by the Bed reviews Rabbits by Terry Miles, based on his podcast, about a game that can change reality and its obsessive players.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Devil’s Advocate – the sixth book in Steve Cavanagh’s always page turning Eddie Flynn series of legal thrillers.

Pile by the Bed reviews Scorpion by Christian Cantrell – a technothriller with a decidedly science fiction twist.

Pile by the Bed reviews Widowland by CJ Carey a thriller set in an alternative 1950s in which Germany rules Britain and women are second class citizens.

Pile by the Bed reviews How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina – a fast paced, acidly observed romp through the highs and lows of Delhi.