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The Border by Diarmaid Ferriter (Profile Books)

On the eve of Brexit comes this timely, sobering publication by Ireland’s preeminent and prolific historian about how the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic came to be and following on from that, as the book’s sub-title has it, “the legacy of a century of Anglo-Irish politics.” In the opening chapter of this slim volume, ‘ The Long Gestation’, we begin with the partition of the island in 1920 and six chapters later conclude with ‘Brexit, Backstops and Brinkmanship.’

Can Medicine Be Cured? by Seamus O’Mahony (Head of Zeus) Cork man Seamus O’Mahony, who worked for many year with the NHS in Britain, has previously channelled his experiences and knowledge into his award-winning debut,

The Way We Die Now. His second publication, which bears the subtitle ‘ The Corruption of a Profession’, takes a scalpel to a number of delusions about modern medicine, such as the illusion of progress and that more and more diseases can be ‘conquered’ ad infinitum and the notion that healthcare can be adapted to the wishes of the individual.

The Suspect by Fiona Barton (Bantam Press) When two 18-year-olds go missing in Thailand their families are thrust into the international limelight. For investigative journalist Kate Waters, a terrier-like hack who always wants to be first with the story, this latest story has a personal resonance. It has been two years since her son left home to travel the world and he hasn’t been seen since. As the case of the missing girls unfolds, the story comes home for Waters in this latest crime blockbuster from the best-selling author of The Widow.