This preview highlights titles to be published in May
05
Editor’s Choice
Coffee Shop of Kabul Sphere, 16th, £9.99, 9781408728116 Change is on the horizon at the coffee shop when US troops begin to withdraw and the Taliban advance.
Humour, gift and reference
Simon Brew Could You Survive Midsomer? Cassell, 23rd, £10.99, 9781788404952
A fine addition to the Midsomer universe, this choose your own adventure mystery is inspired by the television adaptations of Caroline Graham’s novels. Continuity hasn’t always been the show’s strong suit. A producer once responded to my correspond- ence querying this (Gail Stephens was promoted to DC one week, then demoted the next) suggesting broadcasting new episodes in order wasn’t essential. Here, you get to experience the same feeling as you attempt to uncover the truth before falling foul of the crime- strewn village’s flower shows and bizarre deaths.
starring Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner and David Tennant.
Sylvia Day Too Far Michael Joseph, 23rd, £8.99, 9781405918398 Presumed dead for years, Lily Black has now returned to her loving husband but with danger on her heels. Second novel in the Blacklist romance duology.
A retelling of Vanity Fair set against the backdrop of tabloid-saturated 1990s London. Moves from January.
Peace Adzo Medie Nightbloom Oneworld, 2nd, £9.99, 9780861548125 Growing up in Ghana, Akorfa and Selasi were as close as twins, before a coldness develops that Akorfa takes years to comprehend.
Elvin James Mensah Small Joys Scribner, 23rd, £9.99, 9781398514911
Début A contemporary coming-of-age
Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (trans) Before We Say Goodbye Picador, 9th, £9.99, 9781035044528 Another set of customers enter the time-travel café in the fourth book in the series.
Sarah May Becky Picador, 2nd, £9.99, 9781529066937
TheBookseller.com
tale of male friendship, mental health, queerness, race and masculinity.
Rosie Mullender Ghosted Sphere, 30th, £9.99, 9780751585278 When Andy turns up in Emily’s flat as a ghost, having ghosted her, the mystery of his death needs to be solved to put the past to bed.
Deborah Rodriguez Farewell to the Little
Celine Saintclare Sugar, Baby Corvus, 2nd, £9.99, 9781838958206
Début Agnes escapes her mundane life
for the world of sugar babies, private flights to Paris and Miami and gifts from rich older men, but how far will she go for adoration?
Karen Swan The Stolen Hours Pan, 9th, £9.99, 9781529084436 A forbidden romance in 1920s St Kilda. Book two in the Wild Isle series.
“claustrophobic chiller”, said the Guardian.
Katharine Beutner Killingly Corvus, 9th, £9.99, 9781838959258 In 1897 New England, a young student disappears from a university campus and a detective unravels a story of doomed love, ambition and tragedy. Inspired by real events.
Neil Broadfoot Unmarked Graves Constable, 2nd, £9.99, 9781408718780 The 40th anniversary of a mysterious death at Stirling University draws attention and a murder in the sixth Connor Fraser mystery.
C M Ewan
The House Hunt Pan, 23rd, £9.99, 9781035010714 A house showing puts a homeowner in danger.
David Handler The Girl Who Took What She Wanted Aries, 9th, £9.99, 9781837933044 A ghostwriter working on a reality TV star’s book gets embroiled in a murderous plot. The 14th Stewart Hoag mystery.
£9.99, 9781399702621 When Sherlock Holmes is murdered, a German spy is under suspicion.
Amy McCulloch Midnight Michael Joseph, 9th, £8.99, 9781405950350 Olivia is on a once-in-a- lifetime Antarctic cruise when a body is discovered and she has no idea who to trust.
Richard Osman The Last Devil to Die Penguin, 9th, £9.99, 9780241992401 An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing and the gang investigate. The fourth book in the series.
Lucy Vine Date with Destiny Simon & Schuster Adult Fiction, 9th, £8.99, 9781398515352 Ginny is about to turn 32, an age a psychic once made key predictions about which now seem to be coming true.
Fiona Walker Country Secrets Aria, 9th, £9.99, 9781784977337 New loves, jealousies, secrets and gossip swirl in this third outing for the villagers of Compton Magna.
Glenda Young The Toffee Factory Girls Headline, 23rd, £7.99, 9781035402489 In 1915, three women start work at a toffee factory in the north-east market town of Chester-le-Street, forging close friendships. First in a trilogy.
Crime and thriller
Megan Abbott Beware the Woman Virago, 7th, £9.99, 9780349012520 A family holiday at a remote cottage takes a terrifying turn. A
Jack Carr Red Sky Mourning Simon & Schuster Adult Fiction, 9th, £9.99, 9781398530171 James Reece must dismantle a conspiracy targeting America. Seventh book in the Terminal List series, adapted as an Amazon Prime show starring Chris Pratt.
Eliza Clark Penance Faber & Faber, 2nd, £9.99, 9780571371785 A journalist tells the story of a murder in a small seaside town on the eve of the Brexit vote, but how much is true? Clark featured on the 2023 Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.
Peter Hanington The Burning Time Baskerville, 23rd, £9.99, 9781529305296 Climate scientists are mysteriously disappearing in the fourth thriller featuring old-school journalist William Carver.
David Hewson The Borgia Portrait Canongate Books, 2nd, £9.99, 9781838858711 A leaning palazzo and a missing painting prompt a race through the secret history of Venice. Second Venetian Mystery in the series.
JD Kirk A Litter of Bones Canelo Crime, 23rd, £9.99, 9781804368145 Glasgow’s Logan is drawn to the Highlands in the first of three DCI Logan thrillers heading to paperback, alongside Thicker than Water and The Killing Code.
Dennis Lehane Small Mercies Abacus, 2nd, £9.99, 9780349145778 A missing daughter and a seemingly unconnected death light a fuse during a heatwave in 1970s Boston.
Rory Clements Munich Wolf Zaffre, 23rd, £9.99, 9781804181461 In 1930s Munich, Detective Sebastian Wolff investigates the murder of a high-born English girl, placing himself at risk. Standalone thriller.
Mike Lupica Robert B Parker’s Broken Trust No Exit Press, 23rd, £9.99, 9781915798244 Spenser investigates an elusive tech billionaire in book 51 in the series.
H B Lyle Spy Hunter Hodder Paperbacks, 16th,
Nora Roberts Identity Piatkus, 23rd, £9.99, 9780349433943 Morgan Albright returns to her home town to reclaim her life but past danger remains all too present.
Nicky Shearsby Darkridge Hollow
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Alan Parks To Die in June Canongate Books, 23rd, £9.99, 9781805300823 A missing child, poisonings and police corruption keep Detective Harry McCoy busy at midsummer in the sixth book in the series.
James Patterson Alex Cross Must Die Penguin, 23rd, £9.99, 9781529159905 A downed plane and a serial killer mean Alex Cross and John Sampson are chasing two killers in two cases in the 31st Alex Cross thriller.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child Dead Mountain Aries, 9th, £9.99, 9781801104333 Remains unearthed in the New Mexico mountains hint at terrible deaths. Fourth book in the Nora Kelly series.
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