Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wicked Girls | 2008 | Alex Marwood | Buy |
| 2 | The Killer Next Door | 2013 | Alex Marwood | Buy |
| 3 | The Darkest Secret | 2016 | Alex Marwood | Buy |
| 4 | The Poison Garden | 2019 | Alex Marwood | Buy |
| 5 | The Island of Lost Girls | 2023 | Alex Marwood | Buy |
Alex Marwood’s standalone novels are psychological thrillers with a sharp eye for the darkness beneath normal surfaces. The Wicked Girls (2008) follows two women linked by a childhood murder. The Killer Next Door (2013) traps its characters in a London boarding house with a serial killer. The Darkest Secret (2016), The Poison Garden (2019), and The Island of Lost Girls (2023) continue her trademark blend of suspense and social observation.
Each of Marwood’s novels features multiple viewpoint characters and a slow reveal of secrets. The Darkest Secret takes place at a birthday party on the Dorset coast where a child vanishes, while The Poison Garden centers on a cult compound and the people drawn into its orbit. The Island of Lost Girls moves to a Mediterranean island with a sinister history.
Marwood won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original for The Wicked Girls. Her books tend to examine how ordinary people become complicit in terrible things, and she writes ensemble casts well. The novels are standalone, so they can be read in any order.