The five star picks from us and Leeds Libraries readers
Banks, Maya – Echoes at dawn romantic suspense with telepathic heroine.
Carter, Chris– One by one Robert Hunter investigates a serial killer. Set in California.
Daly, Pauline – Keep your friends close What do you do when your best friend steals your life? Suspense.
Jones, Belinda – The travelling tea shop Romance and cupcakes .
Horst, Jorn Lier – The hunting dogs Always like a new Scandi crime story, this one’s a Norwegian tale of murder and wrong conviction
Mawer, Simon – The glass room. High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House has been built for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. When the storm clouds of WW2 gather, the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor’s lover and her child.The house’s story is far from over, as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian
O’Connor, Joseph – The thrill of it all Spanning 25 years from the 80s -Rock’n’roll story of band members
Roth, Gabriel – The unknowns Fast and funny love story
Sanghera, Sathnam – Marriage material Story of race and caste in the Midlands Arjan, the present-day narrator who opens the book with a razor-sharp disquisition on the trials of being an Asian newsagent. Recommended
Swan, Karen – The summer without you Nice summery read Rowena Tipton isn’t looking for a new life, just a new adventure, something to while away the months as her long-term boyfriend presses pause ..
Wyld, Evie – All the birds singing ‘Fearlessly written tale of damage, dread and sheepshearing’ Telegraph. Very highly recommended
Thrillers
Bell, Ted Warriors Espionage thriller set in NY
Brown, Sandra Deadline Battle fatigued journalist returning from Afghanistan tracks big story. Suspense/thriller
Forsyth, Frederick– The kill list International best selling author only gets 2* from Leeds readers for this
Higgins, Jack – The death trade World’s most dangerous man has escaped
Lange, Richard – Angel baby Face paced thriller.
Mann, Don – Hunt the Jackal Thriller about identity altered drugs baron hunted by SEAL team
Millar, Louise – The hidden girl How do you look for someone who’s not even missing? Thriller
Patterson, James –Four blind mice Alex Cross investigates
Patterson, James Private LA Thriller by the prolific author
Quirk, Matthew – The directive Ex con caught between police and underworld goes undercover
Rhodes, Kate – A killing of angels Pschologist Alice Quentin investigates in this thriller
Robertson, Craig –The last refuge Suspense story set in the Faroe Islands
Robertson, Imogen – Theft of life Suspense set in London 1785
Smythe, J P – No harm can come to a good man How far would you go to save your family from an invisible threat? A terrifyingly original thriller from the author of The Machine
Turow, Scott Identical Thriller from No1 bestselling author
Crime and detective
Allingham, Margery – Albert Campion returns in Mr Campion’s farewell Private investigator Albert C in idyllic country village
Block, Lawrence– The burglar who counted the spoons Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery, burglar turned detective
Camilleri, Andrea – The treasure hunt Inspector Montalbano mystery set in Sicily
Cornell, Paul – The severed streets Supernatural crime busting
Done, Stephen -The Marylebone murders Railway Detective Inspector Charles Vignoles mystery set 1936 -1952
Runcie, James – Sidney Chambers and the perils of the night and Sidney Chambers and the problem of evil Granchester Detective mystery
Silva, Daniel – A death in Vienna NY Times bestseller
Spillane, Mickey – Complex Classic crime
Saylor, Steven – Raiders of the Nile Something a bit different.Ancient Egyptian crime and detective story
Tremayne, Peter – The monk who vanished Sister Fidelma detective story
Historical
Dineley, E A Castle Orchard Jonny Arthur, perpetual debtor & fashionable London dandy loses his family estate of Castle Orchard in a chess game to the mysterious Captain Allington
Cornwell, Bernard – The pagan lord Viking epic by the author of ‘Sharpe’
Fremantle, Elizabeth – Sisters of treason Set in Tudor times about Lady Jane Grey’s sisters.
Letemendia, Claire – The licence of war Missing TV’s ‘New Worlds’? Try this set in 1643, story of torn loyalties in English Civil War
Sidebottom, Harry – Iron and rust Roman historyset AD235, in series Throne of Caesars.
Saga
Bennett, Anne– A girl can dream Domestic fiction drama set in WW2
Conlon-Mckenna, Marita – The Magdalen Young Irish girl growing up in Connemara in the 50s
Hannigan, Emma – The summer guest Will suit fans of Maeve Binchy. Irish family saga of three generations of women coming together one magical summer
Jefferies, Dinah – The separation Set in the 50s in Malaya, story of journey through war torn jungle
Young, Louisa – The heroes’ welcome Set 1910-36 Evocative sequel to bestselling Richard & Judy pick My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You.
Scifi and fantasy
Britain, Kristen Mirror sight Bestselling Scifi/fantasy
Canavan, Trudi – Thief’s magic No 1 bestseller fantasy
Carey, Mike – The city of silk and steel Fantasy with concubines
Cargill, C Robert – Queen of the dark things Two boys, spirited away to a dark world of myth & folklore now make their way as men.
Dalglish, David –A dance of shadows Fantasy tale of retribution & darkness, 4th in Shadowdance series
Farland, David – The lair of bones Fantasy in Runelords series
Kowal, Mary – Valour and vanity Jane Austen meets Ocean’s 11 in this fantasy tale
Wilkinson, Kerry– Reckoning Fantasy set in futuristic England.
Love and chicklit
Barker, Margaret The fatherhood miracle Mills & Boon love story
Barton, Beverly– Dead by nightfall Romance/suspense
Bolger, Muriel – The pink pepper tree Two lovers forced apart by fate who are offered a second chance
Byrne, Monica – The girl in the road Arabian sea fiction adventure.
Carroll, Claudia – Love me or leave me Chick lit
Cohen, Tamar– Someone else’s wedding A wedding stirs up the past
Fiorato, Marina Beatrice and Benedick Prequel to love story in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’
Jones, Darynda – Sixth grave on the edge Sixth Charley Davidson paranormal romance
Taylor, Elizabeth – In a summer season Love story published by Virago
Toon, Paige – Thirteen weddings Chicklit
Wilson, Teri – Unleashing Mr Darcy Love story set in NY
West, Juliet – Before the fall The Great war, a powerful love, an impossible choice
General/psychological
Alexander, Nick – The halflife of Hannah Set in France, ghost from past/reviewing life story
Glencross, Tim – Barbarians Contemporary debut novel about love, art and politics. If you liked Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty, Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up! or Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It, you will enjoy it.
Gurganus, Allan– Local souls Award winning author’s stories about characters lives in small town America
Laferriere, Dany – The enigma of the return Story of Haitian writer who travels back to his homeland after many years to be confronted with the realisty of starvation, poverty and broken dreams.
McBride, Eimear A girl is a half formed thing Girl’s relationship with her brother after he becomes brain damaged.
McGrath, Patrick Constance Psychological fiction, story of disintegrating marriage, sibling rivalry which includes madness and yearning.
O’Connor, Frank – Classic Irish short stories
O’Keeffe, Patrick The visitors Irish-American immigrant James, whose contented but feckless life in Middle America is thrown into turmoil when an unexpected visitor arrives
Rahman, Zia Haider– In the light of what we know Two friends making their way in the world on a dizzying voyage that touches on many of the key issues of our time
Roth, Philip – The ghost writer The first volume of a trilogy, introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s; a budding writer infatuated with the Great Books.
Thompson, Grace – The end of a journey A father’s death brings to light shattering secrets
VanderMeer, Jeff – Shriek An epic yet personal look at several decades of life, love & death in the imaginary city of Ambergris
Weaver, Eva – The puppet boy of Warsaw – Set in Warsaw WW2, the story of Mika, a Jewish boy who inherits a coat from his grandfather and discovers a puppet in one of its many secret pockets.
Humour
Connolly, Joseph – It can’t go on ‘Adultery humour’
Delillo, Don – White noise Humour in academia!
Winton, Tom– Eyrie Funny Australian novel by prize winning author about Tom Keely- defeated & ineffectual pill-popping, lonely one-time idealist who has fallen out of his own life.
What a fantastic list – some I’ve read and some I now want to!
Great!