PODCAST · arts
Bestsellers
by Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson
Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson interview the world's biggest selling writers of fiction, non-fiction, sport, cookery, children's and biography books. These are big selling, easy to read books you'll love. Featuring writers who've sold millions and uncovering gems from new talent. Each episode will feature a writer who'll read an extract of their book to you, discuss it with Phil & Natalie and also give their recommendations for other books to read. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Dan Brown - The Secret of Secrets
This is a very special one off Episode of Bestsellers. Dan Brown joins us to discuss his first new book in around eight years: The Secret of Secrets. The Da Vinci Code guy has sold over 250 million books..! And now his latest explores the human conscience and whether there's more going on with…
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M.W. Craven - The Final Vow
Mike Craven is celebrating his tenth anniversary in crime fiction. The Final Vow is an absolute humdinger of a book with which to celebrate. His long standing sleuth Washington Poe is back with Tilly Bradshaw as a random sniper's on the loose across the UK. It's a pulse raising heart stopper of a...
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Irvine Welsh - Men in Love
We're honoured to have one of Britain's finest writers join us on Bestsellers this week: Irvine Welsh. The man who brought us Trainspotting three decades ago is back with a brand new novel which follows on immediately after Trainspotting and Renton legging it with the cash. They're all here:...
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Theakston's Crime Writers Festival - Harrogate Special
Phil spent last weekend in Harrogate at the Old Swan hotel for the world famous Theakstons Crime Writers Festival. The Old Swan is where Agatha Christie emerged, after going missing in 1926, so what better place to stage a Crime Writing festival. This is a shorter than usual ep just to give you a...
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One Yellow Eye - Leigh Radford
You know when a book comes along and just grabs you so you don't want to put it down? One Yellow Eye is one of those books. It's a thriller, a love story, it's also really witty oh and almost forgot, it does feature a zombie at its pulsing (just about) heart too. If you're concerned zombies are…
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Alison Espach - The Wedding People
Associate Professor of English, Alison Espach joins Phil and Natalie this week, to discuss her break out third novel, The Wedding People. This went straight into the New York Times Top Ten and has been picked up by Tristar to become a movie. It walks a tightrope of heart wrenching and seriously...
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Summer Reads 2025
Looking for your next read to take on holiday, or the commute, or to read before bed? Then Nat and Phil have got you covered. Here they talk you through 10 new books they are either currently reading, or want to read - that's 5 choices from Nat, and 5 from Phil. There's a range of genres from...
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Iris Mwanza - The Lion's Den
On this episode we're talking the joy of thrillers as Iris Mwanza opens up about what inspired her debut page-turner, The Lion's Den. From growing up in a household where people would drop off boxes of books they couldn't take abroad, to channeling the themes of her day job at the Gates…
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Holly Brickley - Deep Cuts
OK, so we love a book where music plays a key role but it's so hard to do that well, and make you truly believe in a made-up musician. Thankfully, Holly Brickley has played it brilliantly with Deep Cuts, about a music obsessive and a musician who meet at college and deeply impact each other's...
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Michael Connelly NightShade
The Master Crime Writer and Phil's all time favourite writer, Michael Connelly, returns to Bestsellers to talk about his 40th novel. NightShade features a brand new character, Detective Stilwell, whom Michael loves so much, he's going to return to in future books. We chat to him about the...
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Chris Chibnall - Death at the White Hart
Chris Chibnall is responsible for writing some of the biggest moments in British television. From Broadchurch to Dr Who, you'll have seen his work on screen. Now he's turned his attention to novel writing and speaks to Phil and Natalie about his debut, Death at the White Hart. It's a…
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Emma Healey - Sweat
The bestselling author of Elizabeth is Missing is back with a brand new chilling thriller called Sweat. Set around gyms and exercise, the book features a woman who gets the opportunity to exact revenge on a controlling ex-boyfriend. But will she get away with it and at what cost..? It's a deeply...
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Charlie Colenutt - Is This Working?
This is the book for you if you've ever wanted to know what it's *really* like to do a job that is very different to yours. Charlie Colenutt has interviewed and collated the work stories of 68 employees, from a range of backgrounds, at varying stages in their careers, who all share the…
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Nayantara Roy - The Magnificent Ruins
This book has so much to offer. It delves into cultures of silence within families, how that affects relationships between mothers and daughters, and draws on Tara's exoticism, as she describes it, being a child of divorce growing up in Kolkata in the 1980s. And we haven't even mentioned the...
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Julia Raeside - Don't Make Me Laugh
Julia Raeside is no stranger to writing or comedy, having written for a number of UK broadsheet newspapers. But this is her debut novel which she's set in the world of stand-up comedy. It explores the sometimes toxic nature of male comedians using coercive controlling behaviour with women and is...
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Asia Mackay - A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage
This is fiction, pure fiction, but Asia Mackay has a particular skill for making this tale about a married couple who happen to be serial killers, relatable. There's so much humour in her writing, and it feels incredibly cinematic which is why it's being adapted for the screen already. Asia has...
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Scott Turow - Presumed Guilty
Bestsellers is back for Season 8. Phil & Natalie have sweat blood and tears to bring some of the bestselling writers in the world to your ears for this season. And we start with the master of the courtroom thriller, making a welcome return to Bestsellers: Scott Turow. Scott created Rusty Sabich...
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Hetty Lui McKinnon
Our final episode of Season 7 is a cookbook special. But TENDERHEART is so much more than just a cook book. It's Hetty Lui McKinnon's way of processing the loss of her father aged just 15. He was the fruit n veg man, the father who left crates of exciting fresh produce in the hallway for his...
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John Boyne
This week's episode is the multi best selling Irish writer, John Boyne. You will almost certainly have read The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas or The Heart's Invisible Furies and the latest venture for John is a quarter of books which he's been releasing every six months. Next year, he'll release…
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Books of the Year 2024
Here are Phil and Natalie's Books of the Year for 2024. Five picks each. You'll find all of them with links to buy each book on our website Thanks so much for listening. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to our podcast and don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list on our website…
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Nikki May
This episode has it all - writing yourself into fiction, being inspired by classic literature, the joy and benefits of being a bit spiky, oh, and there is a fair amount of swearing in this. As an added bonus - depending on your point of view - Nat and Phil also divulge their favourite swear words...
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Winter Reads 2024!
This episode is devoted to Nat and Phil's recommendations of additional books they've been loving, or that are at the top of their to-be-read pile! Choices include a love story, a thriller or two, a decent pick of celebrity memoirs (with valid reasons given!), a cookbook with soul, and a book for...
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Kate Mosse
There's a lot of juiciness to this episode - from how books are marketed, to the amount of research needed for historical fiction, and letting creativity flow where it needs to, which might just lead an author to the stage, or the QE2... Kate Mosse has achieved so much already and we loved being...
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Bestsellers Live at Chiltern Kills
Phil & Natalie were delighted to return to Chiltern Kills this year. The crime festival which raises funds for the homeless is in its second year, organised by writers Tony Kent and Paul Waters. Its a beautiful day out where crime fiction fans get to genuinely mingle with their print heroes. Some...
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Sir Ian Rankin
Phil and Natalie are delighted to welcome Sir Ian Rankin to BestSellers in the week where his new Rebus - the 25th Rebus thriller - goes straight in at No.1 in the Sunday Times Top Ten Hardback Fiction chart. In this ep, Ian talks about how hard this book was to write; why he's a frustrated Rock...
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Jason Rekulak's Back!
Can you believe it...? Not only are Phil and Natalie back for season SEVEN (cue Len Goodman impressions) but we have also been double nominated at this year's Independent Podcast Awards in Best Books and Best Arts & Crafts Categories. Thank You for all of your support, virtual coffees on Ko-Fi…
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Tim Booth
Tim Booth, yes that Tim Booth, singer with the band James, has a lot to say about writing his first fiction novel. He's well aware of the clichés about rock star books and is here to address them all. Nothing was off limits, so there's talk of sex and drugs and rock'n'roll, but also vulnerability...
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Chris Whitaker
Phil first met Chris Whitaker on the radio during lockdown, when Chris published, 'We Begin At The End.' His extraordinary new book, 'All The Colours of the Dark,' also features a strong teenage lead character, facing some pretty dire circumstances. Chris tells Natalie and Phil he drew on his own...
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Abir Mukherjee
Abir Mukherjee is the hugely successful writer of five historical crime novels. He created the Wyndham and Banerjee series of thrillers, starting in 1919 India, each book progressing towards Partition. His brand new novel - Hunted - is a stand alone contemporary edge of the seat thriller which…
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Summer Reads 2024!
Want even more book recommendations? We got 'em for you! There are 8 books to discover from Nat and Phil's reading stacks - ranging from an action thriller to a drama stepped in the '68 music scene, to short stories and a collaborative book featuring dozens of writers. These are all stories that...
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Mark Billingham's Back
Mark Billingham makes a welcome return to BestSellers. This is his second book in his brand new tragic-comic series of DS Declan Miller books. Book Two - The Wrong Hands - starts with a botched briefcase robbery inside of which is a pair of severed human hands! In this edition Mark speaks…
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Yulin Kuang
Mid-career as a screenwriter, adapting other people's stories, Yulin Kuang swerved to write her own book and yes, it's likely to be adapted for the screen too when she finds the time! How to End a Love Story is about Helen, who has a very good reason to detest Grant after what happened when they...
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Michael Showalter and Cathy Schulman
How do you adapt a much-loved, bestselling book into a film, and keep fans happy? Nat and Phil spoke to Robinne Lee about her gorgeous book, The Idea of You, back in 2021. Around that time producer Cathy Schulman also read that story and set about turning it into a movie, with Michael Showalter...
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Jennie Godfrey
You know those books that catch a moment? Jennie Godfrey’s The List of Suspicious Things is one of those happening right now. It’s a heart-warming tale of friendship immersed in late 1970s Yorkshire, where everyday life is overshadowed and ever-changed by the news of a serial killer at large....
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Imran Mahmood Returns!
Imran Mahmood is a Barrister by day; A Sunday Times Top 10 Bestselling Writer by night! He's back with his fourth book, Finding Sophie and in this chat with Natalie and Phil, Imran talks about the challenges of writing a thriller about a missing teenager as a parent himself; where to draw the…
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BWBS - Books We've Been Sent (but are yet to read!)
This Week, both Phil and Natalie received an infux of new books in the post. They're all worthy of being mentioned, but neither of them have had a chance to read any of these books yet. So that's why this episode is called Books We've Been Sent (but are yet to read) They are: Don Winslow - City…
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Milly Johnson
What's the difference between a love story and a romance novel? Why are some people so anti-romance in books but definitely not in life? All this and oh so much more gets discussed on this episode as author Milly Johnson joins Nat and Phil to share the process and the inspiration behind her…
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Nicci French
Nicci French are husband and wife writing team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. They've been together 33 years and have co-authored novels for 27 of those years. Their latest is a stand alone about a mother who fails to turn up to her husband's 50th birthday party back in 1990. Set across two...
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WWBR (What We've Been Reading)
It's the return of WWBR! Will the acronym catch on? Let's see... Anyway, this is what Phil and Nat have been reading, or have bought and haven't had the chance to read yet, but still a delicious teetering pile of books to recommend. From the upcoming Anthony Horowitz whodunnit, to a sun-drench...
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Cate Quinn
Cate Quinn precedes her brand new novel by telling us: "This is the first book I've written sober." From her brilliant mind comes THE CLINIC - a novel about a high end rehab center with dark secrets inside. It's told from the perspective of Meg, a casino security guard, who thinks her sister has...
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Charmaine Wilkerson & Marissa Jo Cerar
Two writers for the (free) price of one, as author Charmaine Wilkerson talks about adapting her book, Black Cake, into a TV series with show runner Marissa Jo Cerar. It's a thriller and a family drama, straddling the past and the present, and yep, the black cake of the title - a Caribbean rum…
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SA Cosby
If you're new to SA Cosby's writing, have a listen to what to expect from All The Sinners Bleed, and then race to get the book at your local library or book store! It's that good. This is a thriller, a southern noir, about the first Black sheriff to preside in a small southern town, investigating…
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Terry Hayes SPOILERS
This is a Bonus Ep, it's under 15 mins and it's Natalie grilling Terry Hayes on the ending of his latest thriller THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST. You should only hear this, once you've read the book, but it's a fascinating explanation of how he arrived at a genre busting ending and the huge amount of...
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Terry Hayes
For our first Ep of 2024, Natalie and Phil speak to Screenwriter turned Novelist, TERRY HAYES. You may've read I Am Pilgrim: It sold over five million copies. But the realisation of a dream for the Mad Max writer to become a published author took it's toll. Over a decade followed before Terry was...
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Danyah Miller
We all need a Danyah Miller in our lives - that's the conclusion after spending an hour in her company which is why Phil and Natalie are thrilled to introduce you to her debut book. It's fiction and non-fiction in one neat package - Seven Secrets of Spontaneous Storytelling - stuffed with helpful...
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Books of the Year 2023
It's the 2023 edition of Phil and Natalie's books of the year! These are the stories they've enjoyed reading the most over the year, simple as that; the books that have been un-put-downable, the ones that made them smile, or gasp, or want to share with you. It's a mix of thrillers, dramas,...
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BestSellers Live at Chiltern Kills Festival
On the 7th October 2023, Phil and Natalie recorded their first EVER live Episode at the first EVER Chiltern Kills Crime Festival. Chiltern Kills was created by ace crime writer, Tony Kent, with all proceeds going to the homeless charity, Centrepoint. Sharing the stage with Phil & Natalie are…
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Michael Connelly Returns
We're back, BABY! And who better to ring in Season 5 of BestSellers than MICHAEL CONNELLY - the multi award winning writer and creator of the Harry Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer, Renée Ballard series of books. Michael is back with book 38: Resurrection Walk. A brilliant new Lincoln Lawyer story in which...
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Steve Cavanagh Returns
Steve Cavanagh is King of the Hook. His previous taglines include, "The serial killer isn't on trial. He's ON THE JURY," and, "His client is innocent. His wife is guilty." His brand new ninth novel is a stand alone called, "Kill for Me Kill for You." It pays homage to Strangers on a Train and...
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Summer To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile!
You know we love books, but do you also have that pile just waiting to be read, always?! The TBR pile can be a glorious thing, a teetering stack of books, full of ideas and stories that made us pick them, awaiting our full attention when the mood is right. Phil & Natalie run through their summer...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson interview the world's biggest selling writers of fiction, non-fiction, sport, cookery, children's and biography books. These are big selling, easy to read books you'll love. Featuring writers who've sold millions and uncovering gems from new talent.
Each episode will feature a writer who'll read an extract of their book to you, discuss it with Phil & Natalie and also give their recommendations for other books to read.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Bestsellers have?
Bestsellers currently has 108 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Bestsellers about?
Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson interview the world's biggest selling writers of fiction, non-fiction, sport, cookery, children's and biography books. These are big selling, easy to read books you'll love. Featuring writers who've sold millions and uncovering gems from new talent. Each episode...
How often does Bestsellers release new episodes?
Bestsellers publishes regularly with 108 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Bestsellers?
You can listen to Bestsellers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Bestsellers?
Bestsellers is created and hosted by Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson.
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