Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 400
Released On: 26/02/2026
Natalie’s in tears in her bedroom. She’s had a huge argument with her husband. Slowly, she realises she’s already holding a knife.
She’s telling herself she doesn’t want to do it. Not again.
Because Natalie has an awful secret. Sometimes, on her worst nights, she blacks out. She loses control.
What do you do when there’s a killer in your house, and you think it might be you?
*****
Thanks to Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review. I was lucky enough to receive a proof of this at the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Festival 2025. I also met Leodora and she was an absolute delight so I was super excited to read it.
How do you read a book with a narrator you cannot trust? How do you believe what she says is true? Whose side should you be on?
If you’re someone who struggles with multiple POVs or timelines then you may struggle here. We get the story “now”, the story “then”, and then individual chapters dedicated to the exes. It’s a really good way of writing it because I think if it was just a continuous narrative across 400 pages, trying to cover all the history and the present scenes, it would have been too muddled and confusing, so I think she’s found the right format.
Thrillers are my most read genre, and sometimes they can get a bit samey, but this is completely fresh and I loved it.
I read this on a day I was an inpatient in hospital and I kept getting annoyed when someone would come into my room to check on me, I was so addicted to this. At 400 pages, it is probably the average thriller length and even with all the disruptions, I finished it within the day.
This book made me quite glad I have no exes in the shadows.
You have to get this on your wishlist, it’s phenomenal. And a debut? She writes with such promise and skill that I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’re told me she was a seasoned author. It’s hard to explain just how good it is because saying “it’s really good ” doesn’t feel like a enough, but it was just really good.
I have been looking forward to reading this since I got it in July, and I’m quite sad now that I’ll never get the chance to read it for the first time again.
Books By Your Bedside 