The season’s turning, and the books this month match the mood. These are stories made for afternoon reading; for soft throws and half-drawn curtains. You’ll find everything from domestic dread and seasonal libraries to hurricanes. Consider this your pre-winter reading starter pack.
The Intruder | Freida McFadden
(Penguin; ₹550)
McFadden knows how to hook her reader. One chapter turns into four before you’ve noticed, and suddenly it’s midnight. This story — about a young woman riding out a violent storm in a remote cabin before she is joined by a stranger, a runaway with a past — is big, bold, and yes, sometimes over the top, but you’re not here for subtle. You’re here for heart-pounding fun. The author is also a practising physician, which gives her psychological turns that cool, clinical snap.
All of Us Murderers | K.J. Charles
(Poisoned Pen Press; ₹922 [ebook])
Locked gates, Dartmoor mist, an inheritance “game” and a weekend that curdles into bodies and betrayals; this one’s all simmering tension and biting wit, with dialogue that zings and a dark heart that still manages to feel oddly tender. Charles makes murders feel like high-stakes theatre, and you can’t look away. It helps that before writing novels, she spent years as an editor, which shows in the structural neatness of her reveals.
Love and Crime in the Time of Plague | Anuradha Kumar
(Speaking Tiger; 499)
Reading this novel feels like stepping into Bombay at the turn of another century — humid, bustling, and suddenly under siege. It is 1896 and disease slips ashore with the cargo. As the administration fights to contain the plague, anonymous threats target anyone pushing hard drugs or hygiene. In this sequel to the first ‘Bombay Mystery’, Kumar folds the panic of plague into a city thrumming with secrets, rumours, and reform.
The Secret Christmas Library | Jenny Colgan
(William Morrow; ₹520 [ebook])
No one does bookish and cosy quite like Colgan. There’s snow, secrets, a library full of odd treasures, and just the right blend of whimsy and warmth. It’s festive without being fluffy, and yes, there’s romance. Colgan once wrote a Doctor Who novel, which is why a playful genre wink often peeks through her seasonal tales.
Circle of Days | Ken Follett
(Quercus; ₹799)
Follett recreates vast, expansive worlds with bones of history and beating human hearts. In Neolithic Britain, a drought pits herders, farmers, and woodlanders against each other as a flint-miner and a priestess try to raise a stone circle. Follett builds on modern archaeological thinking to give the construction scenes behind the Stonehenge a grounded, believable edge. Every rope and pulley feels like it could have actually happened.
(A new column on popular fiction for the month.)
The writer is an independent journalist, editor, and literary curator.
Published – October 24, 2025 09:26 am IST
