General

The Latecomer by Dimitri Verhulst (Portobello) ISBN: 9781846275678 This is the fourth novel by Dimitri Verhulst to be translated into English. I haven’t read him before, but the timing of this sad little story was appropriate to my own life, with an elderly friend in the throes of dementia. The protagonist is a former librarian who […]

The Forgotten Summer by Carol Drinkwater (Michael Joseph) ISBN: 978718183097 The Forgotten Summer is a lovely read that keeps you on your toes. The annual grape harvest at the Cambon family’s vineyard is always a cause for celebration, but things change when an accident destroys the crop, leaving the estate facing ruin. Clarisse Cambon knows exactly who

by Max Brallier (Egmont) ISBN: 9781405281638 This is the latest children’s horror novel from Max Brallier (Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?) and illustrator Douglas Holgate (Cheesie Mack). Thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan is 42 days into the monster and zombie apocalypse that has come to his home town of Wakefield, and probably the whole world. Home is

Dutch Courage by Paige Nick (Penguin) ISBN: 9781415200703 ‘Dutch courage’ is an interesting idiom, generally accepted to mean giving oneself false confidence by drinking alcohol before one does something awfully stupid or stupidly awful. Paige Nick’s newest protagonist, Grace, becomes the epitome of this, through a series of bad decisions that find her performing as a

Property Of A Noblewoman by Danielle Steel (Bantam Press) ISBN: 9780593069066 Danielle Steel is always an enjoyable read. An abandoned safe-deposit box in a New York City Bank reveals a treasure trove of priceless jewellery. Court clerk, Jane Willoughby is charged with discovering more about the mysterious owner, the late Marguerite Wallace Pearson di San Pignelli.

by Thaneeya McArdle (Struik Lifestyle) ISBN: 9781432307356 The new craze where adults go back to the childhood pastime of colouring in pictures in colouring-in books has really taken off. Apparently the act of colouring is therapeutic, creative, relaxing and absorbing, much like knitting, playing sudoku, or completing a crossword, but way more colourful. An added benefit

by James Patterson & Marshall Karp (Century) ISBN 9781780892771 Max Bassett has designed an exquisite necklace for the famous movie star, Elena Travers for premiere of her new movie. There is a gun blast and a white Cadillac swerves out of control into an NYPD traffic van, and then straight into the searchlights which are lighting

by Anna Schaffner (Allen & Unwin) ISBN: 9781760290115 Clare Hardenberg is a tough investigative journalist who has been through a bad spell. After having been humiliated by the press and general public for writing an expose on a beloved public figure, Clare finally emerges at the behest of her publisher, to write a biography on the vilified Julia White.

by Monica Hesse (Macmillan) ISBN 9781447295013 With her words of courage and hope, written from an attic in the middle of an occupation, Anne Frank has inspired many authors to write books of fiction and non-fiction. Add to her diary echoes from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief and you have another good Second World War-story. The

by Lian Hearn (Picador) ISBN: 978509812479 Lian Hearn, successful author of the Tales of the Otori series, that sold more than four million copies, has produced a new book. It’s the first of a new series, The Tale of Shikanoko. Set in medieval Japan, demons, beasts, sorcerers rule the kingdom alongside warriors, priests and warlords. They cast chanting spells and roam