THRILLERS & CRIME

GEOFFREY WANSELL

SPARRING PARTNERS

by John Grisham (Hodder £20, 320 pp)

These three novellas in a single volume show Grisham at his masterful best, exquisite evocations of the law though far from complimentary about lawyers. There’s one who disappears, the young killer on death row and the lawyer brothers who can’t stand each other: a minor masterpiece.

THE BLACKBIRD

by Tim Weaver (Michael Joseph £14.99, 448 pp)

A Road accident sees a Land rover plunge off the road and career down a ravine. Two witnesses watch in horror as it bursts into flames, but when the fire brigade arrives there is no sign whatever of the two occupants. The impressive Weaver triumphs again with this intricate mystery.

AURORA

by David Koepp (HQ £14.99, 400 pp)

The screenwriter of Jurassic Park depicts a catastrophe where a solar storm wipes out electricity across the planet. Told from the viewpoint of a dysfunctional American family, it vividly explores how human beings cope with tragedy, and reaffirms our will to survive. it is fine story-telling.

WAKE

by Shelley Burr (Hodder £14.99, 368 pp)

My Crime novel of the year so far, a moving depiction of the pain that a mysterious disappearance can wreak on those left behind. Nineteen years ago evie McCreery vanished, leaving her younger sister Mina to pick up the pieces of her life. intense and evocative, it tears at the heart-strings.

INTO THE DARK

by Fiona Cummins (Macmillan £14.99, 336 pp)

ONE morning the golden holden family — father, mother and two teenagers — suddenly disappear from their spectacular home overlooking the sea in essex. What happened? enter ds saul Anguish, with a record of protecting two children from a serial killer. The plot is both striking and original.

MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG

by Reverend Richard Coles

(W&N £16.99, 368 pp) In The beautiful village of Champton, home to the de Flores dynasty, the local church is presided over by Canon daniel Clement. A murder overwhelms the congregation and further skulduggery follows.

A cosy, if slightly fey, mystery with echoes of Father Brown unfolds as Clement investigates.