HOLIDAY READING: NEW 2025 BOOKS BY SULARI GENTILL, MIKE RIPLEY and DARCY COATES!
While travelling around, I have been catching up on some good holiday reads by three very different, but talented, authors.
Darcy Coates’ How Bad Things Can Get, (Poisoned Pen Press, 26 August 2025), is a good book to escape into for a few hours.
It was supposed to be the party of the century: miles of idyllic white sand beaches, lush jungle foliage…and a dark legend nobody dreamed might be all too true.
When an online influencer and several hundred of his most loyal fans land on Prosperity Island, the plan is simple: five days of elaborate games, drinking, and suntanned fun. Among the attendees is a reluctant Ruth who has been dragged along by her boyfriend and his friends. Ruth, who is the only survivor of an infamous cult, just wants to keep her head down and not draw attention. She has spent decades outrunning her blood-soaked childhood, and her identity is a closely held secret. However, when guests start disappearing and the true history of the island is revealed, it is clear that something more sinister is afoot and that Ruth has a major role in it.
This is a wild ride of a story that quickly draws you in and keeps you interested all the way to the blood-soaked finale. The pace is hectic and there are enough twists and turns to keep even the most jaded thriller fan on edge. Ruth is a very engaging narrator, and the characters are efficiently sketched and interesting. Some appear to be caricatures at the beginning, but Darcy does a good job of developing and changing them in surprising ways.
The finale is not for the faint hearted, with people being killed by a variety of weapons in often gruesome ways. The body count is very high and there is more than a touch of poignancy.
Overall, I really enjoyed How Bad Things Can Get. Some suspension of disbelief is needed, but it is well worth it!
This is the second novel by Darcy, who lives in Australia, that I have read, and I will definitely look out for more.
How Bad Things Can Get is released in Australia and the United States on 26 August 2025. It is also available on Kindle for a very good price.
Providing more restrained thrills is Sulari Gentill’s latest play on the mystery genre, Five Found Dead (Ultimo Press, 26 August 2025).
When Meredith Penvale and her writer brother, Joe, step aboard the iconic Orient Express, they’re embarking on a journey steeped in both luxury and mystery. The train, a literary legend, is a bucket-list destination for detectives and writers alike. But as the train winds through the Italian Alps, a sinister undercurrent begins to emerge. A virus has infiltrated the train in Paris, trapping its passengers and cutting them off from the world. Then, a passenger vanishes, leaving their cabin a bloody crime scene. Suddenly, the idyllic journey turns deadly. Joe and Meredith find themselves trapped with a motley crew of detectives, each with their own secrets and agendas.
Drawing on Agatha Christie’s classic Murder On The Orient Express, and a host of other classic mystery novels, Five Found Dead is a fun read that will delight crime readers. Apart from Meredith and Joe, and a pair of Australian crime podcasters, most of the characters, especially the detectives, will be familiar to fans of detective fiction. The story moves along at a good pace and there are plenty of clues, red herrings, twists and knowing winks to the reader. It is also given some substance by Sulari’s own personal experiences. Part homage and part general mystery, Five Found Dead is an enjoyable meta crime novel with a good finale.
I largely read Five Found Dead while on my own train trips around Europe (but not the Orient Express) and thought it was good fun.
Five Found Dead is released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 26 August 2025 by Ultimo Press and in the United States by Poisoned Pen Press on 19 August 2025.
Mike Ripley’s highly entertaining Buried Above Ground, (Severn House, 25 September 2025), also delights with its play on the classic mystery novel and the presence of five unreliable narrators!
Like Anthony Horowitz’s novels about book editor Susan Ryeland mysteries, Ripley’s Buried Above Ground is both a clever mystery and an amusing send-up of the publishing industry. Five far from reliable points of view tell the story, as the rights to a mystery author’s backlist turn out to be unexpectedly deadly:
The Librarian
It’s been two decades since mystery writer Duncan Torrens was last published. I should know, I was his editor. So why a blogger would turn up asking questions about the rights to his books is beyond me . . .
The Reader
That librarian Roly is a bit odd. You’d think he’d be happy with my blog’s research into a largely forgotten author, but he’s . . . resistant. If I can get into Duncan’s home – and his mysterious garden shed – I know I’ll find what I’m looking for . . .
The Publisher
Torrens’ books are crying out for a revival. I just need that blogger, Jacon, to work out who holds the rights to his backlist. Then I can acquire them before Duncan’s old publishing house realises they’ve missed a trick!
The Editor
I never worked directly with Duncan before he died, but if someone is sniffing round, there must be money involved. I just need to find out what’s happened to the rights before they do . . .
The Writer
After twenty years, will the sudden interest in this author’s forgotten mysteries reveal a dark – and deadly – twist?
It would be a crime to reveal more plot details about this surprising mystery, but let it be said that this is a very engaging and thoroughly captivating murder mystery. There are plenty of in-jokes and mystery references, all told in Ripley’s usual free flowing and engaging style, and the book delights from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
Buried Above Ground seems to be released in most places on 2 September 2025.
From me – Happy Reading from Prague!!