CULTURE EDITION April Book Club Columnist Charlotte Griffiths shares a trio of thrillers by local authors to sink your teeth into this month
GYTHA LODGE DEAD TO ME Double points for this one: not only is it the first stand-alone thriller from best-selling local author Gytha, but the action of this novel takes place in our city as well, during those last few exam-filled weeks of summer term before the colleges’ celebrations begin. Dead to Me follows two entwined protagonists: Anna – an American journalist who is pretending to be an elite rower while investigating the mysterious death of a student – and Reid, a local DI who also happens to be Anna’s ex. The two didn’t part on good terms, but as Anna’s investigation deepens, the only person who might be able to help her is Reid. She decides to reach out and sets everything out in a long email – but will Reid be too late to rescue her? Come for the perfectly paced thriller, told through a combination of slowly uncovered emails and gripping live action – it’s clear that this isn’t Lodge’s first rodeo – but stay for the pitch-perfect representation of late-summer life at Cambridge and the heady, intoxicating allure of super-rich students gliding through their frictionless world without a care. Like the swans that rowers scull past on the river, there’s lots of paddling going on beneath the surface. The text is peppered with familiar landmarks: try to stop yourself cheering when Midsummer House, Bould Brothers Coffee and Restaurant Twenty-Two appear in the action. Gytha’s detail-laden, shimmering descriptions of balmy summer life in our city, particularly the parts set out on the river as Anna trains, will leave you longing for the warmer months to come – and crossing your fingers that we get some good weather. Pre-order now ahead of its July release and you’re guaranteed a memorable summer read landing on your doorstep.
THE MAN SHE MARRIED ALISON STOCKHAM
bed says, they won’t be any help at all: she and Rob got locked down together during the pandemic and jumped into marriage, much to her parents’ horror, and they’ve cut off all contact. Beth and her family have always been so close; how could they no longer be speaking to each other? Is there more to this than everyone is letting on? The scenario is the stuff of nightmares, expertly handled by Alison’s taut and suspense-laden prose: you’ll be powering on into the small hours just to find out the truth of the situation.
Beth has regained consciousness in hospital after an awful car accident and head injury: but though she’s never left Australia, she’s woken up in Cambridge. Her husband is on the way to her bedside, but she’s not married, so have the doctors made a mistake? Beth thinks it’s 2019, but it’s 2024 and she’s being told that she’s lost her memories of the past five years. Could she have travelled and found a husband during that time? Surely her parents can straighten this out? But from what the husband at the end of her
46 APRIL 2025 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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