THRILLERS
THE FINE ART OF INVISIBLE DETECTION by Robert Goddard (Bantam £18.99, 384 pp)
THE FINE ART OF INVISIBLE DETECTION
by Robert Goddard (Bantam £18.99, 384 pp)
One of the finest crime writers of any generation, Goddard here exercises all of his elegant, understated style and meticulous eye for detail in a story that starts in Japan, but rapidly expands to London and New York.
The heroine is 40-year-old secretary Umiko Wada, who has worked for a private detective in Tokyo since her husband’s death in the 1995 subway nerve-gas attack.
When her boss gets a mysterious assignment, he asks her to travel to England, only for him then to be murdered. Wada finds herself in danger as she tries to track down who killed him and why, and what are the connections to the deadly Sarin.
At times wry, it is also exquisitely chilling as the search leads her to the barren landscape of Iceland, pursued by a malevolent hit man.
Goddard at his impeccable best: do not miss it.
ALLEGATION
ALLEGATION by R G Adams (Riverrun £16.99, 320 pp)
by R G Adams (Riverrun £16.99, 320 pp)
This searing debut from a retired social worker of 30 years could not be more timely — nor more true. Based in the small town of Sandbeach in South Wales, recently qualified social worker Kit Goddard is asked to evaluate one of the pillars of the town’s society — businessman Matt Cooper — against whom two women have made historical sexual allegations.
Cooper and his wife have three daughters, including the severely disabled Lucy, and child-safeguarding protocols demand that Cooper be removed from his home while a formal assessment is carried out.
Kit finds herself up against the local establishment as she battles to complete her assignment. Is Cooper guilty of abusing his own children, or are the accusations false?
Harrowing, moving and written with a fearsome authenticity, the story forces the reader to question where truth lies.
LIE BESIDE ME
LIE BESIDE ME by Gytha Lodge (Michael Joseph £12.99, 384 pp)
by Gytha Lodge (Michael Joseph £12.99, 384 pp)
On the surface, Louise Reakes has a wonderful life. Modern home, a successful salesman husband, Niall, and good friends, including the slightly scary April from Tennessee. But the reality is different.
Louise’s life is a thicket of deceit, which becomes all too vividly clear when she wakes up after a boozy night out to discover a man who is not her husband in bed beside her — and he’s dead.
So begins an intensely satisfying mystery played out under the watchful eye of DCI Jonah Sheens.
It turns out there are two Louises, the sober one and the drunk one, and as the plot unfolds so the deceptions emerge and multiply — her husband is deeply in debt and obsessed with his ex-wife.
Is Louise innocent, or did she have something to do with the killing of the gay man in her bed? Full of corkscrew twists and subtle turns, this third novel confirms Lodge as a gifted writer.
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