Book of the month

At the Golden Sunset retirement home, the residents tend to invent stories. So when elderly Ms Mook first begins to unspool her memories, the obituarist listening to her is sceptical. Stories of captivity, friendship, murder, assumed identities and spying. A life that moves from WWII Indonesia to Busan during the Korean war; from cold-war Pyongyang to a Protestant church in China. The adventures are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable. Surely they can’t all belong to the same woman. Can they?  // Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group  // 

"The game is afoot!" Set in early 20th century London, this action-packed novel tells the tale of a daring opium-addicted Chinese Judge and his academic sidekick solving crimes in the Chinese community in London’s Limehouse District. Taking inspiration from the Sherlock Holmes canon, this brand new novel is going to satisfy Holmes fans while bringing something completely new to the table!   //  Discuss in the Crime reading group  //  

In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him, always has been. ”It was only because Gaunt knew he might die, that he could be so reckless as to kiss him.” An epic tale of the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip. // Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group //  

It’s a classic setting: big city detective moves to a small country village for some peace and quiet, not getting much of either as he has barely unpacked when the bones of a young woman are discovered. The quiet country life that Jake Jackson envisioned is no more. Sometimes the quietest villages hide the darkest secrets… //  Discuss in the Crime reading group  //  

Can a small committed group of citizens change the world, and if so – how? Summer Dawidowitz has spent the past year caring for her grandmother, Josie– a lifelong Communist, a dedicated teacher, and the founder of an organization that tutors schoolchildren. When Josie dies, everything that seemed solid in Summer’s life comes into question.    //  Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group. //

What if the murder you had to solve was your own? A tautly paced novel in which a young mother who was cloned and brought back to life following her own murder comes to suspect that there is more to the story of her life and death than anyone is telling her. Recommended by Malin! // Discuss in the Crime reading group. //  

A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption. Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023.  //  Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group. //  

She said yes to a dinner invitation at her old university. Now she’s a murder suspect… A perfect ”locked-room-whodunnit” murder mystery that will keep you guessing.  // Discuss in the Crime reading group. //  

Graham Patterson’s life has hit a dead end. His career as a comedian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him and he literally has no idea what to do next.  With nothing to lose, he buys a new car and hits the road, planning to drive across country and hopefully figure out his next moves before reaching California. But along the way Patterson does something his old self would never have even considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carolina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes his life forever in ways he never could have imagined. / Discuss in the reading group / 

DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he’s used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality.   The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol.