Watch The Quiet Snow by Mick Herron, hardback, £22
This collection of five novellas set in the world of Slough House will delight fans of the book series and of the AppleTV adaptation Slow Horses starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. Originally published as standalones between 2015 and 2022, The List, The Drop, The Last Dead Letter, The Catch and Standing by the Wall, offer intriguing insights into the universe in which the bestselling thrillers and TV drama are set. Brought together into a beautifully-designed volume, they include failed spy handler John Bachelor trying to hold on to his job with a double agent on the loose, spy chief Di Taverner using blackmail to get her way, and Jackson Lamb erasing his past life in the Cold War.
Released to coincide with series six of Slow Horses on Apple TV, these novellas are highly enjoyable morsels while waiting for the next full-course Slough House thriller. 8/10
Miss Wolcott’s Ghost by Louise Penny, Hardback, £22
When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache receives a mysterious phone call saying, “there’s a body in Lost Nation” before the line goes dead he is baffled. The head of homicide for the Surete du Quebec has never heard of the place, nor has anyone else, and it’s not on maps of the region, past or present. Then he discovers the early morning call came from a mobile registered to his neighbour Clara Morrow, which she denies any knowledge of.
To unmask a killer, Gamache and his team are soon investigating a century-old mystery involving a lost ship and documents belonging to an eccentric Victorian botanist, and a plant believed extinct that might save or take countless lives. Spending time with Gamache in the Quebec-set Three Pines is always a treat, and this satisfyingly complex murder mystery is an absolute joy. 9/10.
Chain Reaction by Lee and Andrew Child, Hardback, £22
Reacher ally and reader favourite Major Susan Turner is back in the latest thrilling outing of the world’s most famous former military cop. Now a Pentagon-based general, Turner needs Reacher’s help. One of her team has been brutally murdered while investigating giant data centres in Colorado and, despite working in one of the world’s most secure locations, there’s no one else she can trust to discover why. First she has to find him, but when you pull the pin on Jack Reacher there are going to be explosions. And Child’s modern knight errant, now in the capable hands of his brother Andrew, has rarely been as combustible.
Sir Isaac Newton stated that, for every force, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. He might have been describing the implacable Jack Reacher. Another totally addictive thriller featuring the original and best. 9/10
Dead In Three Two One by Peter James, Hardback, £22
Roy Grace has made a few enemies in his time but none like Albanian mob boss Roel Albazi, who first appeared in James’ spin-off Sandy’s Story and who’s now pulling the strings behind this horrifying revenge plot from the prison cell Roy put him in. Brighton Pride is about to take place with half a million people descending on the city, including a distinguished-looking man checking into room 321 of the city’s Royal Courtney Hotel. But Dritan Dervishi hasn’t come to Roy’s patch to enjoy the party.
DS Grace is stretched to the limit coordinating the huge policing operation for the celebrations amid rumours of a terror plot. And little does he know just how personal it is. The countdown to terror has started and only Roy can stop it. Another utterly compelling thriller from the master of the police procedural, this rockets along like a firework. 9/10
