Sunday, November 1, 2026

Five top unexpected sequels to crime novels

Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Appeal, The Twyford Code, The Christmas Appeal, and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.

Hallett's new novel is The Silent Appeal.

At CrimeReads the author tagged five crime novel "sequels no one was expecting, least of all the author themselves." One title on the list:
Lisa Jewell, The Family Remains

This is a sequel driven by reader-power! Lisa Jewell published The Family Upstairs as a standalone, but was soon overwhelmed by requests for a follow-up. So relatable and complex were the characters that readers simply couldn’t wait for more. The Family Remains was published three years later to just as much critical and commercial acclaim.
Read about the other novels on the list at CrimeReads.

The Family Remains is among L.K. Bowen's ten top marriage-gone-bad thrillers.

--Marshal Zeringue