Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri

Andrea Camilleri asked for Riccardino, the 28th and final chapter of his esteemed Inspector Montalbano series, to be locked away until he died. The Italian author passed in 2019, and in his final hurrah the quirky Sicilian detective tracks down a motorbike-riding assassin. Montalbano is especially invested in the murder as hours earlier he was awoken by the future victim, who somehow misdialled his number. Who he really meant to call is key to unravelling the truth, and here Montalbano is ably assisted by Camilleri as he inserts himself in the narrative. While the case is another intriguing one, the metafiction approach derails the tale towards the end.

Can hope save our planet? Dr Jane

Goodall, the naturalist and conservationist, suggests so. Since 1960, when she first set off to the forests of Gombe in Tanzania to make revelatory discoveries about chimpanzees, Goodall has devoted her life to nature. This vast breadth of knowledge and experience undoubtedly shines through in The Book of Hope – a series of conversations with co-author Douglas Abrams. In a time where many feel hopeless about the ice caps melting, fires blazing, animal extinction and the effects of Covid-19, Goodall presents hope as the impetus to act. Abrams challenges her largely positive message with a healthy dose of scepticism.