Can You Read Ann Cleeves’ Latest Book As A Standalone Mystery?

She thinks she can resist him. He knows she can’t. Henry Moore is a man who always gets what he wants but Andrea Collins is the one woman daring enough to defy him. Every glance, every word, every touch ignites a war between control and desire… and neither of them will surrender. Andrea’s heart is still broken from a betrayal that shattered her on her twenty-fourth birthday with her first love. She’s determined to rebuild her life on her own terms—no distractions, no complications, no men. But Henry is relentless. The more she pushes him away, the more he draws her in. And as their chemistry becomes impossible to ignore, Andrea faces the ultimate choice: keep running from love, or risk everything for the one man who refuses to let her go.

"Mmm...I'm going to enjoy making you my little whore, Emilia." ************************************ Abandoned by her family, and forced into marriage to clear their debts, Emilia yearns for freedom. However, even freedom comes at a cost, and Emilia must pay to none other than Marcelo Del Ponte, a notorious crime boss and mafia leader. Will Emilia be able to satiate his raw hunger? Will she be consumed by his obsession and lust? Can she change Marcelo into the man she once knew him to be? Will she ever be truly free?

When Clara Davis accidentally switches suitcases at the airport, she expects an awkward exchange— not a gun, stacks of cash, and a stranger calling her Mrs. Vale. Lucien Vale, a cold, beautiful man with blood on his hands, insists she’s his wife—and that men are hunting her. Dragged into a world of covert missions and deadly secrets, Clara must live under an alias to survive. But the longer she stays by his side, the more she questions everything: Is Lucien her captor or her protector? Is this marriage fake—or fate? One suitcase, one lie, one love that could cost them both their lives.

Chloe is having a bad day that turns into a bad week. She gains more weight, forgets to pick up the milk, bribes an officer, and just can't seem to get caught up. Bad turns to worse when she catches her husband cheating on her, finds herself a murder suspect, and tries to avoid stranger danger.

A secret society of widows. A cold billionaire with a deadly past. One woman sent to seduce him... and destroy him. When Genevieve Holloway buries her husband, she thinks the worst is behind her. But the black-veiled woman at the funeral of her husband says otherwise. “You’ve been chosen.” Drawn into a shadowy society of grieving wives turned silent assassins, Genevieve is given one final task before she can walk free: infiltrate the life of Dominic Rourke—the enigmatic tech billionaire tied to her husband’s mysterious death—and expose the truth. Her mission is clear: seduce him. Infiltrate him. Ruin him. But Dominic Rourke is nothing like she expected. Cold. Calculating. Unreachable. And he’s never let any woman get close—until her. Worse still, his five-year-old daughter clings to Genevieve like a lost soul, whispering secrets she shouldn’t know. Secrets about her dead mother… and the club Genevieve now serves. The deeper Genevieve sinks into Dominic’s world, the more dangerous her own becomes. The women she trusted have blood on their hands. The man she was sent to destroy might be innocent. And the lies that bind them all go deeper than any grave. Genevieve begins to develop feelings for the man she’s sent to ruin, and he sees himself letting go of his cold nature to make her happy and find her husband’s killer. In a game of power, seduction, and betrayal, only one can survive. And Genevieve must decide: Is she the hunter or the hunted? Will she be Dominic’s ruin, or will she become his everything?

Six years ago, Elena Morrell walked away from Adrian Lancaster with nothing but heartbreak and a promise to never return. Now she is back. No longer the fragile woman trapped in a cold marriage, Elena has rebuilt her life into something powerful and independent. Returning to Althea to lead a prestigious medical institute is supposed to be a fresh start for herself and her twin sons. Until fate places Adrian Lancaster directly in her path again. Cold, ruthless, and more dangerous than ever, Adrian has never forgotten the woman who disappeared from his life without explanation. And the moment he hears Elena’s voice again, he becomes determined to uncover every secret she has been hiding. But when a frightened little girl unexpectedly enters Elena’s life, the past Elena fought desperately to escape begins unraveling piece by piece. As old feelings reignite and buried truths slowly come to light, Elena finds herself trapped between the life she built and the man she was never truly able to forget. Because some secrets were never meant to stay buried. And some loves refuse to die no matter how badly they destroy you.