Autumnal offerings for seasonal readers

As summer draws to an end in the Northern hemisphere, a certain kind of booklover prepares to shift to the next set of items on their TBR (To Be Read) list. Because whether or not you are a fan of spooky stories, the arrival of autumn–and with it, Halloween–evokes in many a sense of seasonal creepiness.

This fits perfectly with the desire to curl up with a hot drink of choice and indulge in the cosy comfort of some undisturbed reading time. Even though serious bookworms are ready to do that at any hour of the day or night, regardless of the weather, the season, or the demands of work.

Those who love horror stories especially come into their own at this time of year, with everyone from booksellers to Buzzfeed articles vying to provide them with lists of essential books to add to the incorrigible book addict's never-ending TBR list (IYKYK).

Personally, I'm not a fan of straight-up horror stories, not since Stephen King traumatised me with his 1983 novel Pet Sematary, but I do sometimes like dipping into stories that explore the hidden sides of human nature, the complexity of human behaviour being endlessly fascinating to me. Reading about it has the added benefit that it's far safer to keep odd people and encounters firmly at a distance within the pages of a book.

In this regard, the premise of Steve Cavanagh's book Witness 8 is an intriguing one. What happens when the secret observer of a murder is not only an unreliable witness, but also one with an agenda of her own?

Strap in for storytelling that effortlessly weaves multiple strands together to reveal an intricate pattern. Though, as any writer can tell you, "effortless" is really not an accurate way to characterise writing of this calibre, because as someone once put it, so-called "easy reading" invariably involves difficult writing!

Working as a nanny to rich families, Ruby Johnson knows many of the secrets that her employers would rather keep hidden. What nobody else knows is that Ruby has dark secrets of her own.

As the only witness to a killing where she recognises both the killer and the victim, Ruby finds herself in possession of a valuable secret. So, when she tips off the police about the identity of the murderer, why does she give them the wrong information? What is Ruby's motivation to point the finger at her blameless employer, John Jackson, a gifted surgeon and a well-liked man? And why does the sinister painting of the Red Priest in the Jacksons' home seem to influence Ruby's behaviour in such bizarre ways?

Ruby's actions have several consequences–both intended and unintended–in this gripping thriller, packed with memorable characters and multiple plot twists.

Caroline Mitchell is another writer who delivers compelling stories, often with a strong focus on relationships. In The Survivors, she describes the fallout when two vehicles collide on a treacherous mountain road. The women driving each car are travelling alone, but both are accompanied by their infant daughters. Only one baby survives the accident. But whose is it?

Reeling from the death of her mother, Finn was on her way to meet her aunt Maura, her late mother's estranged twin, when the accident occurred. Although she has never met her aunt before, the young woman is eager for family support for herself and her baby. Maura's mountaintop refuge is isolated and fairly basic, but Finn's desperation to fill the void created by her mother's death renders that unimportant.

The real question here is whether the surviving baby is actually hers. Kathryn, the woman in the other car, who is from an infamous Dublin crime family, thinks otherwise. And she is determined to retrieve her child. Meanwhile, the more time Finn spends with Maura, the more she realises that her aunt is unstable. Plus, Maura clearly has many secrets–and some of them could be dangerous.

Finally, there is Probable Son by Cindy Jiban, a debut novel that is more of a mystery than a thriller, which explores the undercurrents that fester beneath the surface of family life.

Elsa Vargas has experienced two major traumas in adulthood. And to her dismay, in the second case, nobody believed her. After Elsa's first child was a stillborn baby girl, everyone assumed that she was still traumatised when she insisted that the hospital had wrongly placed her second baby with another family shortly after his birth.

Because Elsa was utterly convinced that the baby she took home did not look like the newborn boy she had briefly held. And as the years passed, much as she loved her son Bird, Elsa could not disregard the nagging feeling that this child was nothing like the rest of her family. So, when Thomas, a boy with the same birthday as Bird, who also bears an uncanny resemblance to Elsa's younger son shows up in the class she teaches at school, Elsa struggles to convince herself that Thomas is not her biological son.

Unsurprisingly, things get complicated fast, and ensuing events take the reader on a fascinating journey through Elsa's personal life, her experiences of motherhood, and the eternal question of whether nurture or nature is more important when it comes to child-rearing.

This last story is quite different from the other two, in that its dilemmas are very human, and not even remotely sinister. So, if you are seeking an excellent read to curl up with to enjoy the forthcoming change of season, one of these will probably do the trick!

Farah Ghuznavi is a writer, translator, and development worker. She published a short story collection titled Fragments of Riversong (Daily Star Books, 2013), and edited the Lifelines anthology (Zubaan Books, 2012). Reach her on Instagram @farahghuznavi.