THE BEST NEW FICTION

Bournville Jonathan Coe Viking €23

Coe’s latest state-of-the-nation novel opens in March 2020, when Brexit and Covid-19 collided, and tracks back to VE Day, with 11-year-old Mary on the threshold of a turbulent life. Her world initially revolves around the Bournville chocolate factory, but as Coe broadens his canvas, taking in everything from the 1966 World Cup to royal weddings and funerals, one woman’s history is wrapped within a broader chronicle. Any political messaging is done with a light touch.

Max Davidson

The Passenger Cormac McCarthy Picador €23

This is a meandering disappointment. Bobby Western, a salvage diver in love with his late sister, discovers something suspicious in the wreckage of a jet on the ocean floor. The rest of the book consists mostly of Bobby having tediously long conversations about particle physics, deep-sea welding, you name it, with a variety of sketchy characters. It is difficult to imagine any but the most fanatical McCarthyites wanting to read the linked novel, Stella Maris, out soon.

Neil Armstrong

Cat Lady Dawn O’Porter Harper Collins €22

We all know the stereotype, and if aloof, fortysomething

Mia doesn’t quite fit it at the start of this darkly appealing novel, she soon will. She’s always believed herself happy in the conventional life she’s built, even if her husband is still cosy with his ex, and her boss, a spoilt wannabe celebrity, makes work impossible. But a shocking discovery leaves her wondering: is she really just a cat lady after all? This is a novel whose positivity comes with satirical bite and genuine claws.

Hephzibah Anderson

A Heart Full Of Headstones Ian Rankin

Orion €25

John Rebus may be retired now, but he’s still got a knack for finding trouble. When a corrupt cop is murdered, it looks as if the sins of the past are likely to come back to bite a whole lot of his former colleagues, Rebus among them. This is as complex and twisty a murder mystery as Rankin has ever constructed, complete with a truly startling dénouement. Regular readers won’t want to miss this one, especially as the series might be ending.