Recommended Reading Path: Where to Start?
Emily Koch’s novels are all standalone psychological thrillers. Because there are no recurring characters, overarching series, or chronological continuity constraints, you have complete freedom in how you approach her bibliography. However, the most rewarding path for new readers is to follow her publication order. This allows you to experience her development as a writer and her shifting narrative techniques.
The Ideal Starting Point: If I Die Before I Wake (2018)
We highly recommend starting with Koch’s sensational debut novel, If I Die Before I Wake. This book established her reputation as a rising star in crime fiction, featuring a highly unique, claustrophobic premise where a comatose protagonist with locked-in syndrome must solve his own attempted murder. It serves as the perfect introduction to her style: deep psychological tension, tight pacing, and a focus on subjective perception.
Alternative Entry Point: What July Knew (2023)
If you prefer historical settings, nostalgic backdrops, or stories told from a younger perspective, you can easily start with What July Knew. Set during the sweltering UK summer of 1995, this book follows a ten-year-old girl investigating her mother's death. It showcases Koch’s ability to handle sensitive themes like domestic abuse with intense emotional maturity, while contrasting a child's innocent perspective against a dark web of adult lies.
Emily Koch Books in Publication Order
For readers who prefer to tackle an author's work in the exact order it was released to the public, here is the chronological list of Emily Koch’s novels:
- If I Die Before I Wake (2018)
- Keep Him Close (2020)
- What July Knew (2023)
Detailed Breakdown of the Novels
If I Die Before I Wake (2018)
The novel follows Alex Jackson, a twenty-seven-year-old former journalist and avid rock climber who is left in a vegetative state following a disastrous fall in the Avon Gorge. While the hospital staff, his family, and his girlfriend Bea believe he has completely lost awareness of his surroundings, Alex is actually suffering from locked-in syndrome. His mind is fully conscious, but he is trapped inside a body he cannot move, speak, or use to communicate. As his family debates withdrawing life support and his friends suggest Bea move on, Alex realizes that his fall was not an accident—it was an attempted murder. Confined to his bed, Alex must rely purely on his memory and his surviving senses of hearing, touch, and smell to identify the attacker and protect those he loves.
Keep Him Close (2020)
Set in Bristol and featuring landmarks such as HMP Bristol and Gloucester Road, this novel centers on the intersecting lives of two mothers, Alice and Indigo. After a tragic night out, Alice’s son Lou is dead, and Indigo’s son Kane has confessed to his murder and is behind bars. Convinced of her son's innocence, Indigo begins investigating what truly happened that night. Alice, driven by deep grief and a desperate need to find out why her son was killed, approaches Indigo under a false identity, posing as a supportive stranger. As the two women build a fragile bond, Alice must keep her secret safe while extracting the truth from Indigo, leading to a suspenseful investigation into the complex lives of their sons.
What July Knew (2023)
Set during the hot summer of 1995, this novel centers on ten-year-old July Hooper. July lives with her abusive father, controlling stepmother, and stepsister in a household where mentioning her deceased birth mother, Magge, is strictly forbidden. July keeps a secret list of eighteen facts about her mother, including the detail that she died in a car accident. However, on her tenth birthday, a mysterious note claims that her mother did not die in a crash. Urged by a school project to research a family member, July begins investigating her old neighborhood. Her search leads her to a crumbling house and the last man to see Magge alive, whose testimony uncovers a dark web of family secrets and the harsh reality of domestic abuse.
Shorter Fiction and Other Contributions
In addition to her three main novels, Emily Koch has written shorter fiction and contributed to anthologies. In May 2026, her short story Lane Seven—inspired by her local swimming pool experiences—was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of their Short Works series. She also published a piece of flash fiction titled Scattered in the 2015 UK National Flash Fiction Day anthology, Landmarks, and contributed a travel essay to The Lonely Planet Travel Anthology. As of 2026, Koch is working on her upcoming fourth novel, which is currently in the early stages of development.
What to Know Before You Start: Continuity, Style, and Pacing
Emily Koch’s books are all completely standalone mysteries. There is no narrative continuity between the books, allowing you to read them in any order without missing any plot points or character developments. However, all three novels share thematic similarities, focusing on secrets, limited perception, and the search for truth. Koch’s background as an award-winning journalist at the Bristol Post heavily influences her writing, providing her novels with highly researched, realistic detail and authentic portrayals of local law enforcement, medical conditions, and community life. Additionally, all of her novels are set in or around her home city of Bristol, providing a rich, atmospheric sense of place that grounds her psychological suspense.