BEST BOOKS
Zoe West picks the best reads for you
The Language Of Food
by Annabel Abbs (£14.99, Simon & Schuster, HB) Eliza Acton had never even boiled an egg, so how did she become one of the top cookery writers of all time? We find out in this beautiful fictionalisation of her life. It is 1835 and Eliza wants to publish her poetry. Instead, she’s told to write a cook THIS book. Disheartened, she WEEK’S hires a teenager, Ann, HOT READ to help. Over the next decade they change the face of food writing, and Eliza finds that there’s poetry in cooking after all.
A Fatal Crossing
by Tom Hindle (£14.99, Cornerstone, HB) It’s 1924 on the cruise ship Endeavour, and Ship’s Officer Tim Birch must help Scotland Yard detective James Temple solve the mystery of a dead art dealer, before they reach New York. This Agatha Christie-style whodunnit oozes an atmosphere of golden-era crime – suspects and twists mount up as the clock ticks down to a blindsiding finish.
The House of Ashes
by Stuart Neville (£14.99, Bonnier, HB)
Sara is shocked when an elderly lady, Mary, shows up at her home, saying it’s her house. But she’s right – it’s where she was born and held captive for a decade, before going back to care for the spirits of the children who didn’t escape. Sara realises that unless she takes action in her own life, the bloody history of the house will soon repeat itself.
The Long Weekend
by Gilly Macmillan (£12.99, Century, HB)
Three women arrive at an isolated Northumbrian retreat, with no phone or internet service and a storm coming. They expect their husbands to join them the next day, but a note claiming one of the men has been murdered sets off hysteria among the friends – and things start to fall apart. Atmospheric, tense and fast paced, it’s classic Macmillan!
The Queen’s Lady
by Joanna Hickson (£14.99, Harpercollins, HB)
As lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII,
Joan Guildford knows what it will take for her and her husband to thrive at the royal court. But with Prince
Henry now the heir to the throne, there’s conspiracy in the air. Can Henry secure the Tudor dynasty, and will Joan be true to her heart? An intriguing read, ideal for fans of Philippa Gregory.