DEADLY TWISTS AND TURNS: NEW AUGUST 2025 CRIME FICTION BY STEVE CAVANAGH AND KERRY WILKINSON

August brings two really good suspense thrillers to keep you happily reading well into the night!

Steve Cavanagh’s books about New York ex-conman turned lawyer Eddie Flynn are always a twisty, fun read and his latest adventure, Two Kinds of Stranger (Headline, 29 July 2025), is no exception.

Two Kinds Of Stranger is the ninth book in Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series and opens in brisk fashion with internet celebrity Ellie Parker, famed for her random acts of kindness, having a couple of really bad days. Firstly, she catches her new husband and her best friend having sex while she is recording a Tik Tok segment, and then a random act of kindness goes terribly wrong. All of a sudden Ellie’s perfect looking life is in shreds and she finds herself in prison charged with murder.

The only person she can turn to is renowned trial lawyer Eddie Flynn, who takes on the case even though the evidence is stacked against Ellie. Unfortunately, Eddie is soon distracted from the case when his own family comes under threat and he has to battle with a shadowy enemy on two fronts.

This is a typical Eddie Flynn novel. The multi-layered plot rushes along at a hectic rate and there are plenty of twists, and some unexpected developments. The second storyline involving Eddie’s ex-wife adds a good deal of suspense and energy to the plot, and the scenes from the killer’s point of view also ramp up the tension. As always, the courtroom scenes, and the miscellaneous legal detail, are a highlight of the book and both storylines come together in concurrent court cases that really test Eddie’s skills.

Cavanagh rarely wastes a word, and the telling is short and sharp, without a lot of introspection or description. The book powers along at a good pace and the ending delivers the surprises and twists that we have come to expect, although one is a bit predictable. You could quibble over the credibility of some aspects of the story, but it is very easy to just settle back and enjoy the book from beginning to end.

Two Kinds Of Strangers is released in Australia on 29 July 2025 and in the United Kingdom on 31 July 2025. Thanks to the publishers for an advanced copy of the book to review.

Kerry Wilkinson’s The Tapes, (Bookouture, 11 August 2025), is an unassuming psychological suspense novel that delivers more page turning tension than a host of thrillers by better known, and more highly promoted, authors.

The story revolves around a reasonably simple central premise before spinning off in unexpected directions. Eve is clearing out her father’s house when she finds an old cassette player and a box of tapes. Though grieving, she smiles at the spark of nostalgia. One tape is labelled ‘Eve’ and is written in her mother’s distinctive scrawl. Her mother has been missing for more than ten years, and Eve is keen to hear her voice again. However, when she starts to listen she is shocked to hear her mother’s opening message: ‘If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.’

Desperate for answers, Eve works her way through what is left of the tapes. Her mother’s past means that she cannot readily go to the police, and when another murder occurs Eve finds that she has to try and track down the killer herself.

The Tapes is a really enjoyable mystery that quickly draws you in and keeps you interested. It opens at a good pace and the interweaving of Eve’s point of view with extracts from a true crime book about a local serial killer works well, and helps to speed the story along. Eve is an engaging, and very believable character, who has her own problems and quirks but not to the detriment of the book’s pace. The other characters are also nicely sketched, especially Eve’s troublesome daughter.

The central story is intriguing and Kerry introduces enough quirks to the plot to keep it interesting. The storytelling is largely uncluttered and the book builds to a good, surprising revelation. There is perhaps one aspect of the plot that seems unlikely, around a gun, but otherwise I could not fault the story.

In all, The Tapes is a clever and engaging psychological suspense thriller that I ended up enjoying far more than I expected to.

The Tapes will be released on Kindle in the United Kingdom and Australia on 11 August 2025. There does not seem to be a paperback edition at this stage. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review.