The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett, Hardback, £20
Having cast aside convention using Post-It notes, voice memos, text messages and emails between members of Lower Lockwood’s fractious am-dram group to gradually reveal a murder in The Appeal, Hallett returns with a sequel every bit as brilliant and beguiling as her bestselling 2021 debut.
The Fairway Players are back and as jealous, petty and back-stabbing as ever (hurrah!) as they rehearse a new production of (glory be) Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. While Poirot himself might be absent, there’s plenty of thrills and spills as the squabbling bunch navigate the perils of the stage – not least a near-fatal accident with a lighting rig! Lawyers Charlotte and Femi are once again in a race against time to sift the emails, texts and reports to identify the victim and their killer but with so many ginormous egos involved, it’s never easy. Brilliant. 8/10
Arthur: A New Life, by Amy Jeffs, Hardback, £30
This magical, poetical and striking retelling of the legend of King Arthur will make you think again about one of England’s most compelling foundation stories. Jeffs’ ‘biography’ reads more like a novel, stripping away the courtly knights and chivalric romance of the 15th century Le Morte D’Arthur which informed everything that came afterwards and takes the story back to its medieval roots. What emerges from these lesser-known sources is a fresh and exciting tale of heroes and villains on a grand scale.
Erudite and enthralling, this is history told anew. Forget everything you thought you knew about King Arthur and let this brilliant storyteller take you on a journey that will entertain and shock. Jeffs is a bestselling medievalist and art historian and her eye for detail is unmatched. Vivid, authentic and utterly gripping from start to finish. 8/10
Agrippa by Robert Harris, Hardback, £22
Harris’s fifth outing to the Ancient Rome he first enthralled readers with in 2003’s Pompeii is another masterclass in historical fiction. With his eye for filling in the blanks, Harris takes up the tale of general and statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who became the power behind the Emperor Augustus after they met as teenagers yet remains almost entirely unknown having left little in the way of speeches or letters after his death aged around 50. From defeating Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, recreated in glorious technicolour, to the construction of the Pantheon, Agrippa was a colossal figure.
Harris has him looking back over his life with a mixture of pride and regret. Readers will be enthralled. But while the action takes place 2,000 years in the past, Agrippa very much reflects the modern power and politics that fascinate its author. Unmissable. 9/10
Eyes On You by Adele Parks, Hardback, £16.99
The queen of the domestic noir returns with another cracking psychological thriller that will grip you ‘til the last page. Amy Smith and her mother Michelle have been living under the radar after Amy witnessed her father brutally killing his secret lover as a 15-year-old. Her testimony helped put him in prison but also cast a dark and frightening shadow over their lives.
Now 17 years later, Amy meets wealthy, good-looking investment banker Oliver Harrington when he walks into the restaurant where she works. He also has a past he’d rather forget and the pair are inextricably drawn together. But something feels off and their unspoken history draws Amy into a web of deception and revenge. The suspense is killing as Parks delivers another edge-of-your seat read. Parks specialises in complex characters and Eyes On You is another masterpiece. 8/10
