PSYCHO THRILLERS  | Daily Mail Online

THE GAME

by Luca Veste (S&S £7.99, 432 pp)

This is a very disturbing tale of what happens when toxic masculinity is empowered by the equally toxic power of the internet.

It opens in a police station where a young man in handcuffs is apparently confessing to the murder of eight people. What isn’t clear is whether this is just another part of a sinister game being played by a creepy gang of online co-conspirators.

DC Mark Flynn struggles to solve this complex mystery, which explores the extremes of cyber bullying, while trying to overcome the doubts of his superiors.

Flynn’s character is central to the success of a tale that benefits enormously from the author’s own background in criminology.

The plot is twisty, edgy and dynamic enough to keep us hanging on until the chilling denouement.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT

by Michelle Davies (Orion £7.99, 320 pp)

For years, everyone has believed that Cara was responsible for killing her six-year-old brother. She was shunned by relatives and sent to a psychiatric unit.

When she is eventually released and her estranged mother dies, Cara is sucked back into the familiar orbit of her mother’s life and to the house where her brother died.

Except, this time, it is Cara’s life that is threatened. Her decision to face her old demons despite the risks means confronting uncomfortable truths about her family, her mother and her brother’s death.

Cara is a very relatable character. The damage that can be inflicted on the whole family when confronted by one scheming member is well told and the tension surrounding who caused Cara’s world to implode and why, is particularly well executed.

TRUTH GAMES

by Caroline England (Piatkus £13.99, 400 pp)

Ellie Wilson suffers from terrible recurring nightmares. She knows that, at some level, she is dealing with repressed secrets and has spent her lifetime seeking the approval of others.

But this self-awareness doesn’t protect her from the after-effects of secrets being revealed when an old university friend suddenly turns up in her life.

Her everyday worries about being the perfect wife and mother are replaced with fear that she might be in danger of losing everything she cares about. Part of England’s skill is her excellent ear for dialogue, especially between girlfriends.

Her ability to conjure the detailed ordinariness of everyday domestic life makes her writing all the more powerful when she evokes psychological menace and dramatic plot twists.