The old favourites:

Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre – the latest Jack Parlabane story. Apparently this time he is investigating a particular psychic, and at some point he finds himself on the other side, with “an exclusive still to file” – his books are always a treat, and so I’m saving this for holiday reading in October.

First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde – I know that his books divide people, but I have always enjoyed the stories for their inventive silliness, perhaps because I don’t mind fantasy for it’s own sake. The return of Tuesday Next.

White Corrider by Christopher Fowler – the latest Bryant & May adventure.  A cold winter, a body in a locked autopsy room, and two elderly detectives trapped in the snow and trying to solve the crime from a distance. Again, a likely holiday read.

The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates. I spoke in my last post about my great love for her work, and this looks fascinating. It focusses on Rebecca, whose family has come from germany tos ettle in America and how her life develops. I can never speak too highly of her, and if you have never read any of her novels I urge you to try.

The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss. I really like Mark Gatiss as an actor and writer for TV (especially his involvement with Dr. Who), and I liked the previous Lucifer Box novel, so expect to enjoy this too; I’m a sucker for fascist messiahs with peculiarly satanic designs.

Recommended by others:

Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton. Originally published in the 1930s, this comes highly recommended by a number of people, including David Hepworth who has mentioned it in The Word more than once.

Hard-boiled female PIs:

Vanishing Point and The Ever Running Man by Marcia Muller. I have all of the Sharon McCone stories, and think she is one of the best of the female Private Eyes; I have stuck with her when I have given up on V I Warshawski and others, but am slightly behind on my reading, with another one published before these still on the pile.