Ellery Lloyd
Ellery Lloyd has published 4 books across 2 series. The recommended reading order starts with People Like Her (2021).
Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym of the London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, who write psychological thrillers that dissect the dark side of contemporary life. The duo made their debut in 2021 with People Like Her, a novel that introduced their sharp eye for the secrets lurking behind curated social media lives.
Collette brings a background in journalism and editing to the partnership, having served as features editor at Stylist, director at Elle, and editorial director at Soho House. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and the Sunday Times, and she has authored two travel books. Paul is a novelist in his own right, with two previous novels to his name: Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day is Like Sunday. He currently serves as program director for English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of Surrey.
Together, they combine journalistic instinct with narrative craft to create thrillers that expose toxic fame and domestic secrets. Their writing is punchy and precise, delivering twists that linger well beyond the final page. The pair has built a following among readers drawn to stories about the paranoia of modern life, and their work has earned them a place on the New York Times list.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Short Stories/Novellas
- Tagsshort-storiesDescriptionYou swipe right, you match, you meet for drinks. Simple enough, until it isn't. In "Bad Date," Ellery Lloyd—the writing duo behind twisty psychological thrillers—delivers a short story that turns the familiar ritual of modern dating into something far more unsettling. What begins as an ordinary encounter between two strangers quickly spirals into a tense game of cat and mouse, where every smile hides a calculation and every casual question might be a trap. The stakes? Higher than either party initially lets on. Lloyd excels at mining everyday anxieties for maximum suspense, and here they've distilled that talent into a sharp, compact punch. This isn't just about a date gone wrong—it's about the masks we wear when we meet someone new, the lies we tell ourselves about who we are, and the moment when those carefully constructed facades begin to crack. The story moves with the relentless momentum of their full-length novels, but compressed into a single sitting that will leave you second-guessing every dating app on your phone. Perfect for fans of their work looking for a quick fix of paranoia, or anyone who's ever wondered what the person across the table is really thinking.Publication dateSeptember 1, 2025Amazon rating3.5/5Print length58LanguageEnglishPublisherAmazon Original Stories
Order of Standalone Novels
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionEmmy Jackson has built an empire on the illusion of perfection. Her Instagram feed glows with curated snapshots of motherhood—the golden-hour picnics, the artfully messy baking sessions, the designer nursery that looks like a magazine spread. Millions follow her, trust her, buy what she sells. But behind the filter, the cracks are showing. Her marriage is fraying, her career demands are relentless, and someone out there is watching far too closely. Because one of Emmy's followers isn't just double-tapping and scrolling on. This person knows the difference between the life Emmy performs and the life she actually lives. They've been paying attention to every post, every tagged location, every careless reveal. And they're not content to stay on the other side of the screen anymore. Ellery Lloyd—the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team—delivers a razor-sharp thriller that dissects influencer culture with surgical precision. This is a book about the price of performance, the violence of visibility, and what happens when the audience you've cultivated turns predatory. It's unsettling not because it's far-fetched, but because it feels inevitable. If you've ever wondered what lies beneath those perfectly composed posts, or felt the creeping unease of being watched online, this one will get under your skin.Publication dateJanuary 12, 2021Amazon rating3.9/5Print length288LanguageEnglishPublisherHarper
- TagsmysterysuspensecrimethrillerDescriptionTwo authors writing as one. Ellery Lloyd—the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife team—delivers a thriller that understands the currency of exclusivity in our age of curated lives. The Club is an island retreat where membership costs more than most people earn in a lifetime, where celebrities and billionaires gather to be seen by exactly the right people while pretending they want privacy. It's opening weekend, and everything has been engineered for perfection: the staff vetted to obsession, the guest list a masterclass in social architecture, the security airtight. Then someone turns up dead. What follows is a locked-room mystery for the Instagram era, where everyone has secrets worth killing for and the walls have quite literally been designed to watch you. The narrative cuts between multiple perspectives—staff, members, hangers-on—each with their own agenda, each with something to hide. Lloyd excels at the slow reveal, letting tension accumulate like pressure behind glass. This is social satire with teeth, a book that skewers wealth and influence while delivering genuine suspense. The prose is sleek and observant, alive to the absurdities of a world where access is everything and privacy is the ultimate luxury. If you've ever wondered what really happens behind velvet ropes, The Club offers an answer—and it's deliciously dark.Publication dateJanuary 10, 2023Amazon rating3.8/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherHarper Paperbacks
- TagssuspensethrillerDescriptionThe title promises finality. A last performance. A woman whose name carries both theatrical weight and aristocratic poise. Ellery Lloyd—the pseudonymous duo behind sharp, twisty thrillers—returns with a standalone that feels like curtain call and exposé rolled into one. Juliette Willoughby exists at the intersection of glamour and ruin. The setup suggests a woman whose life has been performance, whose identity has been curated, and whose ending will be anything but quiet. Lloyd specializes in dissecting the lives of the privileged and powerful, peeling back the veneer to reveal the rot beneath. Expect a narrative that moves between timelines, unreliable narrators, and the kind of social commentary that cuts while it entertains. The "final act" implies both conclusion and revelation—a reckoning that's been building for years. This is a novel about image and truth, about what we show the world and what we bury. Lloyd's prose is efficient and knowing, never lingering where a sharp jab will do. The structure will likely mirror the theatricality of its subject: scenes that play out like acts, revelations timed for maximum impact. If you're drawn to stories where the glittering surface hides something darker, where every character has something to lose, this is your stage. The curtain rises. The audience waits. Juliette Willoughby is ready for her final bow.Publication dateJune 11, 2024Amazon rating4.5/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherHarper
Frequently Asked Questions about Ellery Lloyd
Ellery Lloyd writes standalone novels. The books can be read in any order. The standalone novels published to date are People Like Her (2021), The Club (2023), and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby (2024). A short story, Bad Date, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Since the novels are not part of a series, readers can begin with any of the published titles. The order does not impact the reading experience of the individual novels.
Readers can start with any of Ellery Lloyd's standalone novels. People Like Her, published in 2021, is the first novel published. The Club followed in 2023, and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby was published in 2024. Since these are standalone works, the publication order does not create a narrative sequence. Any of these titles will offer an entry point into the author's writing.
No, Ellery Lloyd's novels do not need to be read in a specific order. The books published to date are standalone novels. This means each book tells a complete story that is independent of the others. Readers can choose to start with the earliest published novel, People Like Her (2021), or any of the subsequent titles, The Club (2023) or The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby (2024), without missing any plot points or character arcs.
Ellery Lloyd writes standalone novels. The books are not part of a series, meaning each novel features a different set of characters and a self-contained plot. This allows readers to pick up any of the published novels without needing prior knowledge of other books by the author. A short story, Bad Date, is also planned for publication.
Ellery Lloyd has published three standalone novels: People Like Her (2021), The Club (2023), and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby (2024). Additionally, a short story titled Bad Date is scheduled for release in 2025. These four titles represent the books published or announced by the author.
The first book published by Ellery Lloyd was the novel People Like Her, which was released in 2021. This marked the author's debut in publishing standalone novels. Subsequent novels include The Club (2023) and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby (2024). A short story, Bad Date, is forthcoming in 2025.
The most recent book by Ellery Lloyd is The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby, published in 2024. This is a standalone novel. Prior to this, The Club was published in 2023, and the author's debut novel, People Like Her, was released in 2021. A short story, Bad Date, is scheduled for publication in 2025.
Ellery Lloyd writes contemporary fiction, often focusing on domestic settings and exploring themes of relationships, ambition, and the complexities of modern life. The novels tend to be character-driven and delve into the lives of their protagonists, offering insights into their personal struggles and societal pressures. The genres include elements of psychological suspense and social commentary.
Carey Baldwin
Coming soon
We verified the reading order for Ellery Lloyd's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: March 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Ellery Lloyd Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/ellery-lloyd