Harlem Shuffle

Colson Whitehead, Fleet, £16.99

Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Harlem Shuffle is a noir thriller with a colourful cast of compelling characters.

Hardworking Ray Carney has a furniture shop – but he also has a criminal side inherited from his father, and this gets him into various scrapes and capers. While not as groundbreaking as some of Whitehead’s previous books, Harlem Shuffle is fast-paced and fun despite the more serious background of racism.