THE BEST NEW FICTION

Eight Detectives Alex Pavesi Michael Joseph £14.99

A mathematician devises a series of fiendishly inventive murder-mysteries. Thirty years later, a young editor comes to visit the author with a view to republishing them. Reading the stories aloud, she starts to notice sinister discrepancies. Could they be clues to a real-life murder-mystery? This is both a wonderfully tricksy debut and a loving tribute to the golden age of crime fiction. John Williams

Summerwater Sarah Moss Picador £14.99

With foreign getaways out of the question for many this year, Moss’s chronicle of holidaymakers at a log cabin park in the Scottish Highlands feels topical. Among those trying to make the best of a sodden midsummer’s day are a retired doctor, a mother who lives to run, and a teen plotting his escape. Tragedy looms but Moss buoys the reader along with wit and compassion as she flits between viewpoints. Endlessly interesting. Hephzibah Anderson

The Returnees Elizabeth Okoh Hodder & Stoughton £17.99

Bruised from a breakup, fashionista Osayuki leaves London for the city her parents abandoned. Lagos is exhilarating yet tough – a 24-hour hustle where chauffeured cars glide past slums. Along with two other British-Nigerians she meets, Osayuki must confront uncomfortable truths as she struggles to adapt to her new life in this evocative tale of identity, friendship and unexpected love. Madeleine Feeny

The Glass Hotel Emily St. John Mandel Picador £14.99

Mandel’s latest centres on the uncovering of a Ponzi scheme clearly based on Bernie Madoff’s. It begins when graffiti appears on the window of a hotel owned by a whistleblower’s half-sibling. Other members of its cast include a trophy-wife-turned-cook and an ex-junkie studying finance. This intriguing read also has sly links to the author’s acclaimed 2014 novel, Station Eleven, and its timely flu pandemic. Jeffrey Burke