5 new books to read this week

Bestseller Richard Osman is back with a fresh new cosy crime series…

Fiction

1. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman is published in hardback by Viking, priced £22 (ebook £11.99). Available September 12

The Thursday Murder Club has been a phenomenon and now, commencing a brand new cosy crime series, Richard Osman continues the magic, introducing an unlikely family crime-fighting duo. Bodyguard Amy Wheeler is happily employed protecting celebrated crime novelist Rosie D’Antonio until she unwittingly becomes a murder target. Calling in her loyal ex-policeman father-in-law Steve, the three embark on a globe-trotting odyssey to discover what is motivating a killer on the loose and why Amy is implicated. We Solve Murders has chuckles and charm aplenty, deftly navigating the territory between action thriller and comedy puzzler and despite a slowish start, quickly warms up into a page-turner, establishing the cast of endearing characters for future adventures. Full of deadpan one-liners and wry comic turns, this is a sitcom-meets-James Bond, and is a fine murder mystery at that.

8/10

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(Review by Amanda Willard)

2. Entitlement by Rumaan Alam is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Circus, priced £16.99 (ebook £11.89). Available September 17

In Entitlement, Brooklyn-based author Rumaan Alam, perhaps best known for 2020’s enthralling Leave The World Behind, delivers a cautionary tale of how proximity to unimaginable wealth can corrupt even the best of intentions. Manhattanite Brooke Orr – a black 33-year-old raised by an adoptive white family – has broken out of a frustrating career in education to land an intriguing job helping the octogenarian billionaire Asher Jaffee give away his fortune to worthy causes before he dies. Asher sees potential in Brooke to facilitate his do-goodery, but as she gets closer to the vast sums at play her perception of where they should go begins to skew. At times uncomfortable and cringe-inducing, but often seductive and feverish, Entitlement puts the reader inside the mind of someone steadily persuading themselves they deserve it all, yet at the same time convincing us they do not.

7/10

(Review by James Cann)

3. The Women Behind The Door by Roddy Doyle is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £20 (ebook £10.99), Available September 12

Roddy Doyle – who won the Booker Prize for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha in 1993 – is in familiar territory for The Women Behind The Door. The Irish writer is at his best documenting the daily lives of regular people, and that’s exactly what he’s done here. It’s told from the perspective of 66-year-old grandmother Paula Spencer, an addict and widow who seems to have finally rid herself of the ghosts of her past. But the past is never too far behind – and when her adult daughter appears at her door, having left her own family, Paula realises something is seriously wrong – and the duo are forced to confront their past and what it means for their relationship today. It’s an intense read, and Paula’s slight scatterbrain can make her narration occasionally confusing – but that seems to be the point, crystallising the gritty realism of the tale.

7/10

(Review by Prudence Wade)

Non-fiction

4. Want by Anonymous, collected by Gillian Anderson, is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £18.99 (ebook £13.99). Available now

Sex Education star Gillian Anderson takes an in-depth look at female sexuality in Want, a collection of anonymously submitted sexual fantasies from women across the globe. Unedited by Anderson, these letters are raw, unfiltered and explicit, and while heavy in sexual depiction, they paint holistic pictures of the women who penned them, offering an insight into their personal lives, backgrounds and emotional states. With a diverse pool of contributors, it becomes clear that sexual fantasies are universal, and that with vulnerability and community, shame – a heavy constraint on women’s sex lives – can be eradicated. Among the anonymous letters is one from Anderson herself, and the book shows how essential sexual fantasies are to womanhood. They are safe spaces, entirely personal and idealised experiences that benefit our most important relationship – the one we have with ourselves.

9/10

(Review by Sophie Goodall)

Children’s book of the week

5. What Feelings Like Best by Tina Oziewicz, illustrated by Aleksandra Zajac, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, is published in hardback by Pushkin Children’s Books, priced £14.99 (no ebook). Available September 12

What Feelings Like Best was a bestseller in Poland, and now Antonia Lloyd-Jones has translated it into English for a new audience to enjoy. It sits in a slightly unusual position – it’s more advanced than your average children’s book and has a lot more text to read, but with captivating illustrations it still captures the magic of a bedtime story. In it, Oziewicz anthropomorphises different feelings into furry grey creatures, helping children understand different emotions on a new level. There’s Stubborness – who refuses to unstick himself from a spinning fan, no matter how fast it goes – Trust, who’s always building bridges between people – and Malice, who can’t stand Joy, as well as so many more characters. There’s not necessarily a plot driving this story forward – which might make more restless kids a bit fidgety – but it’s still an inventive and unique take on a children’s book, unlike any you’ll read this year.

7/10

(Review by Lily Rose)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 7

HARDBACK (FICTION)

1. Precipice by Robert Harris

2. The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer

3. The Masquerades Of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch

4. Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd

5. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

6. Death At The Sign Of The Rook by Kate Atkinson

7. There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak

8. The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

9. Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

10. We’ll Prescribe You A Cat by Syou Ishida

(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)

1. Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous, compiled by Gillian Anderson

2. On Leadership by Tony Blair

3. You Don’t Have To Have A Dream by Tim Minchin

4. The Golden Road by William Dalrymple

5. Growing Brave by Donna Ashworth

6. Ottolenghi COMFORT by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller & Tara Wigley

7. A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown

8. Nights Out At Home by Jay Rayner

9. Truss At 10 by Anthony Seldon

10. Pinch Of Nom Air Fryer: Easy, Slimming Meals by Kay & Kate Allinson

(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)

1. The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer

2. Precipice by Robert Harris

3. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

4. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

5. Ancestors by Alice Roberts

6. Atomic Habits by James Clear

7. The Fellowship Of The Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

8. It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

9. The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett

10. The Change by Kirsten Miller

(Compiled by Audible)