Dead Men’s Trousers

Irvine Welsh Jonathan Cape. Out Thursday It’s 25 years since Trainspotting exploded into UK culture with its Edinburgh pals with a taste for the low life. We catch up with them here in 2015. A chance encounter between Renton, now a music promoter, and psychopathic Begbie – living as a California artist – sees them embark with Sick Boy and Spud on characteristically chaotic antics involving sex, drugs and illegal acts. Crackling with energy, it’s all brilliant fun – though the onset of middle age, and a shocking death, add poignancy to the return of much-loved friends. Nora takes her broken heart back to her late grandmother’s Dublin home, to sell off the beautiful objects collected by her over a lifetime. Weaving in the stories of her customers, burdened by their own troubles, makes for a cleverly crafted, charming romance. If you’re partial to a dark psychological thriller, you’re in for a treat with the intrigue of this tale, drenched in grief and memory. Drifting around the world with a broken heart after her twin’s death, Jenny must face unsettling truths. Watch out for a killer twist.