Fast Track for September 2022
Riding high in the best-seller lists this quintessential tale of murder in the shires sees Canon Daniel Clement antagonising certain members of the parish when he announces his intention of installing a lavatory in the church. But this conflict pales into insignificance when one Anthony Bowness is found dead at the back of the church – with a pair of secateurs buried in his neck.
Worn-out spies are not necessarily discarded, they are sent to Slough House to see out their time. The Slough House thrillers, to be seen on television this autumn, have become increasingly popular over the past decade and in ‘Bad Actors’ Jackson Lamb’s eighth outing, he and his team of misfits and eccentrics become embroiled in double dealing and the hunt for a missing member of a government think tank charged with rationalising MI6. Only the trail leads back to MI6 itself…
A coming-of-age story set in a chill Dorset manor in the run up to the First World War. Cristabel Seagrave is a young orphan with a great imagination, but in the books she devours in the dusty library, she can find no girls to inspire her and enrich her impoverished life. But one day a whale washes up on the beach at the Chilcombe estate and, having found it, her life will never be the same again. A page-turner in which the reader becomes quickly engrossed.
A treat for the many fans of Jessie Burton’s 2014 million-seller ‘The Miniaturist’. Eight years later we have the sequel. Set in Amsterdam in 1705, it is a story of fate and ambition, secrets and dreams and one woman’s determination to rule her own destiny.
Following her award winning novel Hamnet focusing on Shakespeare’s wife, O’Farrell turns to another misunderstood historical figure Lucrezia di Medici. Forced into an unwanted marriage, Lucrezia is trapped in the gilded cage of the palace of the court of the d’Este’s, knowing her future and her life itself depends on the provision of an heir.
It is the year 1660 with the monarchy restored and Charles II on the throne. Those who played an active part in his father’s death, the regicides, are to be tracked down – with a £100 bounty as a reward. This thrilling chase across two continents sees one of our best-selling authors writing with his customary verve and penetrating insights into a little explored historical event.
Topping the best-seller list in August, this is another tricky case for maverick lawyer Eddie Flynn charged with defending a serial killer’s wife who stands accused as the Sandman’s accomplice. And the Sandman is determined to prove her innocence – and to do this he has to come out of hiding and rid himself of any obstacle in his path.
On the best-seller lists in Summer 2022, this classic murder mystery is set aboard The Endeavour as it sets sail across the Atlantic in 1924 with 2000 passengers – and a killer – on board. When an elderly man is found dead at the foot of a staircase, it’s declared an accident, but Inspector James Temple thinks otherwise.
This scurrilous account of a lifetime in the limelight by the irrepressible Miriam Margolyes has been a best seller on the non-fiction charts for many a month. Not for the easily shocked!
The latest investigation by DI Vera Stanhope takes her to a school reunion on the island of Lindisfarne where a man, fired from his job following misconduct allegations, is found murdered whilst carousing with his oldest friends. A novel of guilt, betrayal and the long-held secrets which people hold.
This is the incredible but true story of Rudi Vrba who escaped from Auschwitz and tried to warn the world about the horrors being perpetrated there, but the world seems unwilling to listen. Though non-fiction, this account of Rudi’s dramatic escape and his determination to reveal the horrors of the concentration camp reads like a thriller.
In mid-sixties London, an unworldly woman believes that visits to a controversial psychotherapist have led to her sister’s suicide. Assuming a false identity, she presents herself as a client in a bid to find out the truth, recording her findings in a series of notebooks, but discovers far more about herself than she anticipates. Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022.