Brookmyre's latest crime novel makes good summer reading

I recently was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Christopher Brookmyre's new novel, Fallen Angel, which is being published by Little, Brown on April 25, writes Susan Windram.

This standalone book references a number of recent events, but based as it is on a tragedy involving a young girl on a family holiday in Portugal, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will undoubtedly immediately spring to many people's minds.

In an interview with The Times in January, Brookmyre said that while the book makes fleeting reference to the McCann story, ‘anyone who reads it will see that it is not intended as an echo of any real-life incident'.

In Fallen Angel, a toddler drowns in a swimming pool. Years later the family returns to the holiday complex where it all happened, with a nanny, visiting a neighbouring property, suspecting a family member of hiding a ‘terrible' secret about the death. For anyone heading off to the sun, this book makes good holiday reading. There is enough intrigue and well-developed characters to keep you interested, and although I managed to figure out most of what was going on by the final chapter, there was one little twist I wasn't expecting, which will put a smile on the face of Brookmyre's regular readers. Brookmyre has a well-deserved reputation for writing good crime fiction, and this book is no exception.