SIXTEEN HORSES BY GREG BUCHANAN (MANTLE, £16.99)

I PROMISE you this book is unlike anything else you will read this year.

DS Alec Nichols is confronted with the bizarre and horrifying sight of 16 horses’ heads buried in a farmer’s field, each with a single eye exposed, facing the sun. The first twist is that the farmer doesn’t keep horses; never has.

It’s the start of a pitch-black journey into what appears to be a mad, dark gothic fantasy of cruelty and violence. Nichols forms an uneasy investigative alliance with forensic vet Cooper Allen, who grows increasingly fascinated by the twisted histories of everyone touched by the case.

It’s set in a decaying East Anglian coastal town and I can’t help thinking its utter bleakness qualifies as a new sub-genre – Fenland Noir!

Sixteen Horses is a slow burner. It’s atmospheric and vivid, summoning up unforgettable images and landscapes.

In other hands, its conclusion might seem mundane but Buchanan leaves us with a profound sense of unease.