Empowering, avenging and addictive – the most compelling novel you’ll read in 2025

Would it kill you to smile, darling? Perhaps…

A men-only charity dinner. A clutch of young waitresses.

The jokes are uncomfortable. The hands linger. The collars loosen.

Behind closed doors, the wine flows.

The night is dark. The faces blur. The memories warp.

Behind closed doors, the money flows.

But revenge is sweet and justice is a burning flame.

Behind closed doors, the blood flows…

A fierce and addictive read about lust and power, the love we want versus the love we take, and the tinderbox secrets that hide so well in the heart of families, this is the searing new novel from the author of Spilt Milk.