Haig, Underdown, Hunter make Richard and Judy book club picks

Books by Matt Haig, Jo Nesbo and Lisa Jewell join debuts from Beth Underdown and Cara Hunter on the next Richard & Judy Book Club list with W H Smith, which features titles published almost exclusively by Penguin Random House.

Of the eight titles on the list, Haig’s How to Stop Time from indie publisher Canongate is the only book which isn't published by PRH.

Also in the club are The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond (Michael Joseph), Jewell's Then She Was Gone (Penguin), Nesbo’s The Thirst (Vintage) and The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Doubleday). The Widow author Fiona Barton's latest novel, The Child (Transworld), is also on the list.

Underdown's historical novel The Witch Finder’s Sister by Penguin features alongside fellow debut writer Hunter’s crime debut Close to Home, which was scooped by Viking in a “hotly contested” auction last year.

Jewell also featured in the book club last year with her novel The Girls, while Barton and Nesbo have also been featured in the selection previously.

The titles are all selected by celebrity couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan from a longlist provided by a W H Smith reading team. Publishers pay to be included in the club, but the selections usually go on to sell in very high numbers and have a heavy influence on the book chart.

W H Smith also been revealed that The Keeper of Lost Things (Two Roads) by Ruth Hogan is the latest winning title of the reader’s vote for the Richard and Judy Autumn Book Club selection. The author, who signed on with the John Murray imprint for two more novels in August, described the experience of being in the Book Club as an “absolute privilege” and she paid tribute to the other “talented authors and their wonderful novels”.

Madeley said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed reading and selecting all the titles and are delighted to showcase once again such a broad range of talent.”

For more information, visit whsmith.co.uk/richardandjudy.