The Bodies

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 CWA TWISTER DAGGER AWARD

From the author of Richard and Judy Book Club pick, The Memory Wood…

Blood-chilling…The best hook of any thriller in the last few years – Helen Fields, bestselling author of The Profiler

WHEN DID YOUR CHILD BECOME A KILLER?

When you look down at your newborn baby, you realise they were right, those friends who became parents first: you’d do literally anything for your child. To make them happy, to keep them safe.

So when Joseph Carver wakes one night to find his teenage son Max covered in blood – panic flooding his voice, swearing it was a mistake - Joseph does the only thing he can.

He helps Max bury the body.

Joseph thinks that’s the end of the nightmare. Until he finds Max with stricken eyes and bloody hands once again . . .

You’d do anything for your child – even cover up a murder.But would you do it twice?

‘A twisty, relatable, endlessly gripping thriller’ – TM LOGAN, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Daughter

‘Brilliantly written and genuinely terrifying’ – thats life (Crime Scene)

‘The definition of unputdownable. A fantastic thriller.’ – LISA BALLANTYNE, bestselling author of The Guilty One

‘So tense I could barely breathe!’ – JACKIE KABLER, bestselling author of The Revenge Plot

‘A razor-sharp thriller, atmospheric, intense, unnerving and addictive, I devoured every inch of this book!’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘I was hooked after the first chapter….unputdownable!’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Never lets up with thrills…deserves 5 stars and more’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘A fabulous thriller of a book…truly nail-biting’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Praise for Sam Lloyd:
Propulsive, sinister, gripping. - ALEX MICHAELIDES

An intense, atmospheric, and truly original thriller. – SHARI LAPENA

Original, creepy, utterly addictive. - ANDREA MARA

‘Remarkable. Undoubtedly the best thriller Ive read in a long, long time.’ – LESLEY KARA

Fiendishly clever. – Sunday Times

‘A rare new thriller talent.’ – Daily Mail