What's your favourite twist?

Pulling off a good trick on the page – a twist that is genuinely hard to see coming – is one of the most satisfying things for an author of psychological thrillers.

It’s also one of the hardest to achieve.

Because of course it has to be more than a trick, more than just sneaky sleight-of-hand. There have to be subtle clues along the way and it has to make sense within the story. When I’m trying to come up with a new twist, I always try to think like a reader. Which direction do I think the story will take? Which way do I think it will go? Then I do the opposite – with a little misdirection and a scattering of red herrings to cover my tracks.

So whether it’s the identity of the killer, the victim, a hidden enemy or a sudden reversal, I’m always aiming to keep you guessing right to the end. I always love to hear from readers that they were genuinely surprised by one of my twists! In fact, over the last few weeks I’ve been working hard on the final edits of my next thriller, The Daughter, and it’s shaping up to be one of my twistiest yet…

As an avid reader I love a great twist too, whether it occurs at the end, halfway through or at some other point in the story. Without giving away any spoilers, here are a few great thrillers with some of my favourite twists:

I Let You Go by Claire Mackintosh

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekannen

Girl A by Abigail Dean

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

What are your favourites?