Simon Mayo's Books of the Year cover art

Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

By: Bauer Media
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Simon Mayo & Matt Williams invite the world's finest authors in for a chat

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Episodes
  • Michael Connelly Q&A
    May 19 2026

    Michael Connelly joins Simon and Matt for a good ole Q&A.

    He gives us some great book recommendations, talks about his collection of jazz biographies and tells us which authors he'd invite to a fantasy dinner party.

    We also surprise him with a question from fellow author and fan, Denise Mina!

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    16 mins
  • Michael Connelly
    May 13 2026

    International bestselling author, Michael Connelly, joins Simon and Matt for a natter about his new novel 'Ironwood'. Set on the island of Catalina, they discuss settings, sense-of-place, and how certain landscapes or communities inspire Michael's stories.

    They also chat about his iconic characters - Bosch, Ballard and Haller - and why he can't help himself write cameos for them all in other books. As well as this, they delve a little into his writing process - and - check that Harry Bosch isn't close to retirement yet!

    Here's a little more info on 'Ironwood':

    Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in.

    Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated-by twenty-two miles of ocean-from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.

    Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off.

    An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island, and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.

    While under orders to remain in the sheriff's substation, he finds in the lost and found a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four years ago. But then why was the pack only turned in two months back? Now thoroughly intrigued, he follows the mystery all the way to the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard.

    Stilwell and Ballard work the case from both sides of the channel, and soon realize they are on the trail of a criminal who revels in taunting the authorities. Meanwhile, frustrated at being shut out of an investigation on his own island, Stilwell risks his already shaky standing in the department to pursue a case whose reach is wider than he ever imagine.

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    35 mins
  • Bryony Gordon Q&A
    May 5 2026

    Journalist and author, Bryony Gordon, joins Simon Mayo and Matt Williams for a Q&A about her favourite authors, books, writing processes - and - tells us who she'd invite to her fantasy dinner party.

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    18 mins
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