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RRP: £16.99 (Harper Collins)
Gwen Healy, divorcee and a self-described “ancient crone”, is proud of her flat in the desirable Columbia Mansions that she shares with her freeloading son, Dan.
She likes to be, if not down with the kids, at least au courant, and when an appealing young woman named Pixie rents a room from her neighbour, Alec, Gwen is gratified by her friendship.
However, when Pixie reveals the sordid details of the rental arrangement, and Gwen weighs in, it comes with deadly consequences.She is being played – but by whom exactly?
This is a pitch-perfect narrative, deftly plotted to keep us all guessing.
RRP: £16:99 (Harper Collins)
Here’s another Gwen, this time a middle-aged, married mother – and, thank goodness, no murders!
But it is 15 years since Gwen’s bestie Isabella first ghosted her, to disappear, as it seemed, without trace.
Witty and warm-hearted, Morrey speaks through the self-mocking protagonist, propelling her on a journey that will take her to Europe in search of answers – and in search of herself.
RRP: £18.99 (W&N)
No mystery killer here: it was the fags what done it, stealing the life of a writer’s father, who so cherished his garden – growing peonies, blue tulips, cherries, peppers, quince – but who won’t live to see the first snowdrops.
A genre-defying novel by this Bulgarian winner of the International Booker Prize: sad, elegiac, infused with love, even hopeful, for in the midst of death we are in life.
RRP: £20 (Cornerstone)
Barrister and TV personality Rinder draws on experience, as he burdens his newly qualified Adam Green with a fresh caseload. Self-regarding anti-war activist Lexi stands accused of poisoning a famous artist – even as a fresh-faced lance corporal is charged with the death of a child in a war zone.
Part murder mystery, part polemic, steeped in the arcana of the legal profession. Verdict: excellent.
RRP: £18.99 (Profile Books)
Oh, we did like to be beside the seaside – “Skegness is so bracing”, “Filey for the family”, “Grange-over-Sands, the Naples of the North” – and the train ride was part of the fun.
Beeching and cheap flights put the tin lid on all that but, in this celebration of those long-ago away days, rail historian Martin sees signs of revival in British coastal towns.
Yes, come to Ramsgate: “The harbour of happiness”!
Click below for your chance to sail through Germany this festive season on board Saga's ship, Spirit of the Rhine, worth over £3,000 per person.
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