I developed a not-so-secret obsession over the pandemic. I have always been a fan of murder mysteries and cop dramas. perhaps this stems from many evenings spent with my Nan watching Agatha Christie, Murder She Wrote and a slew of random PBS shows. There was no crime her and I couldn’t solve.

This childhood love of mystery has led me to seek out smart dramas with great characters and unexpected twists. this is where Harlan Coben comes in. About a year ago I stumbled upon my first Coben, The Stranger. I was instantly hooked!

The Stranger is a UK produced limited series that has a stranger showing up a soccer match to tell a man that his wife has lied about her most recent pregnancy. She also advised that the man do DNA tests on his other children. With this one encounter the man’s perfect life crumbles before his eyes. In short order the mysterious woman makes her rounds through the community, revealing devastating secrets that lead to disappearances and unexplained deaths.

Coben’s characters are incredibly well developed and his plots are anything but formulaic, no wonder he is a popular author with more than 30 titles under his belt. In 2018, Coben signed a mega-deal with Netflix that sees him in the role of executive producer for the development of 14 of his novels into series or movies for Netflix over five years. The Stranger was the first of this deal to hit the streaming service.

The Woods, The Innocent and Gone for Good have followed closely on the heels of The Stranger. Each one dredging up secrets of the past, revealing weaknesses in the community and wreaking havoc for the police. Out of all of the Coben’s I’ve watch none were as complicated, calculated and bone-chilling as Stay Close. I was not okay while making my way through this series – but not okay in the best possibly way. Check out the preview below.

Next time you are looking for a juicy binge search out Harlan Coben on Netflix and start anywhere in his catalogue – you won’t be sorry. For even more Coben titles check out the Netflix deal below and unlock the UK VPN!