A Daily Mail round-up by critic Christena Appleyard on Sept. 11, 2025, highlights three new psychological thrillers that probe revenge, memory and the ethics of undercover work.
Appleyard singled out Richard Armitage's The Cut, Katie Bishop's High Season and L. V. Matthews' To Love A Liar, describing each as a distinctive entry in this month's crop of tense, character-driven novels. The reviewer praised Armitage for handling a complex plot with "skill and raw honesty," said Bishop's book captures a hedonistic atmosphere and contemporary social media dynamics, and noted Matthews' novel raises "compelling questions" about undercover policing.
The Cut (Faber & Faber, £18.99, 336 pp.) is by actor-turned-novelist Richard Armitage, known for screen roles including the Hobbit films. Appleyard summarized the plot as centring on Ben Knott, a fashionable architect who returns to his hometown as memories of a murdered school friend and the group's killer resurface. Complicating the return is the local filming of a movie in which Knott's son has a part; the production appears to echo scenes of bullying and secrets from Knott's childhood. Appleyard called The Cut "a terrific read with a heartfelt message," noting the novel sheds light on how bullying and revenge can deform adult behaviour.
High Season (Bantom, £18.99, 384 pp.) follows Nina, who at age five identified the woman she believed murdered her sister at a South of France mansion. Now an adult and a child psychologist, Nina is drawn back when the convicted woman is released and a TikToker begins making a true-crime-style documentary about the case. Appleyard wrote that Bishop's prose vividly evokes the Cote d'Azur and provides a window into TikTok culture; she described the novel's outcome as "very unguessable."
To Love A Liar (Penguin, £9.99, 384 pp.) centres on Chris Fletcher, a retired and married policeman pulled back toward his past as an undercover officer after the sister of his former lover, Sophie, raises doubts about the circumstances of her death more than two decades earlier. Appleyard noted the story is told through multiple viewpoints but said being inside the policeman's mind is the most riveting element. She praised the careful plotting and convincing character development while acknowledging sections of the narrative become convoluted. The review said the book prompts questions about the morality and temptations confronting undercover officers.
Appleyard's assessments place the three novels within wider currents in contemporary popular fiction: an appetite for psychological thrillers that interrogate memory, culpability and the social mechanics behind true-crime fascination, including the influence of social media. Each title is published in the U.K. this month and was reviewed for its handling of moral ambiguity and narrative tension.
The Daily Mail piece by Christena Appleyard was published and updated on Sept. 11, 2025.