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SMOKING KILLS by Antoine Laurain (Gallic £8.99)

revIeWIng is not usually a family activity, but all mine read this hilarious book and loved it. antoine Lauraine is as dry as a chilled Chablis and makes merry nonsense of the theory that the French can’t laugh at themselves.

Fabrice, a committed fumeur, is furious when his office brings in a no- smoking policy. This is compounded by an ultra-fit new boss who imposes corporate bonding sessions in swimming pools.

Fabrice has, by then, already committed one smoking-related murder and the stage is set for another. and another. and another.

Fabrice’s methods of despatch are as ingenious as they are entertaining and his cast of characters is brilliant, from the ghastly contemporary artist who blowtorches dead animals to the non- PC colleague with his questionable T- shirts. Formidable — and essential packing for any French summer holiday.

IN A COUNTRY GARDEN by Maeve Haran

(Pan MacMillan, £7.99) yIPPee! another novel about ella, Claudia, Laura and Sal, the fab four sixtysomethings from Haran’s The Time Of Their Lives.

The golden girls are now facing agerelated challenges; Claudia’s ninetysomething father is a worry, divorced Laura’s selling her home, Sal’s recovering from cancer and ella fears she’s going senile.

The answer is to buy a country-house hotel and turn it into a commune for ageing friends. around this central plotline weave everyone else’s stories, with some joyful new characters. Hilariously outspoken Indian matchmaker mrs Lal is wonderful, but best of all is Hiro, a Shakespeare-quoting robot developed to care for the elderly.

There are misunderstandings and even the occasional tragedy, but friendship overcomes all, turbocharged with champagne.

THE HEART IS A BURIAL GROUND by Tamara Colchester

(Scribner £12.99) THree mothers are at the centre of this glamorous story, all from different generations of the same rich american family. We flip constantly between them, so concentrate . . .

Caresse, the grandmother, fled uptight Boston in the Twenties to become a hardpartying patron of the arts in europe.

Famous for her breasts and quite hilariously immodest, she’s a fictional take on those Peggy guggenheim- style grandes dames.

diana, her damaged daughter, is a minxy piece of work whose difficult childhood shows the real cost of Caresse’s self-indulgence. But diana’s own daughters don’t speak to her, so that went well, too.

I enjoyed the Fellini- esque atmosphere and terse, poetic style. But it’s all so cryptic I was never sure whether it was serious, or actually a satire about rich boho families drifting about in Italian castles.