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Fiction

The Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker

Reviewed by Harriet If like many people you saw this title and thought of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde you’d probably be thinking this will be a psychological thriller, and…

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Shiny New Books June 5, 2025
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Fiction

Murder at Gull’s Nest: Nora Breen Investigates by Jess Kidd

Review by Annabel Although Irish author Jess Kidd has written four previous well-received novels, and I even own copies of two of them, I’ve not managed to read her until…

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Shiny New Books June 3, 2025
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Fiction

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2016 I reviewed Anthony Horowitz’s hugely entertaining Magpie Murders [here], in which book-editor Susan Ryeland takes up detection when she discovers that Alan Conway, the…

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Shiny New Books May 29, 2025
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Fiction

Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

Review by Max Dunbar Mystery Night I never worked out the appeal of murder mystery nights. Sure, you get to raid the dressing-up box but the practicalities must be a…

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Shiny New Books May 6, 2025
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Fiction

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Review by Annabel Virginia Feito’s debut novel, Mrs March, was an absolute blast. An exercise in paranoia on the part of an Upper East Side housewife, who thinks people are…

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Shiny New Books April 24, 2025
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Fiction Translated

The Brittle Age, by Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Translated by Ann Goldstein Review by Rob Spence In the mountainous rural region of Abruzzo, a local community is blighted by an event of brutal savagery. Thirty years later, its…

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Shiny New Books April 17, 2025
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Fiction Reprint

When William Came, by Saki

Review by Helen Parry Suppose Germany and Britain went to war and Britain lost and was absorbed into the German empire? What would British people do? What would you do?…

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Shiny New Books April 15, 2025
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Fiction

This Is The Border by Eoin McNamee

Review by Max Dunbar There’s lots of historical fiction around but generally it doesn’t work for me. I feel like the author is bludgeoning you with their research, having worked…

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Shiny New Books April 10, 2025
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Fiction Translated

City of Fiction by Yu Hua

Translated from the Chinese by Todd Foley Review by Frances Spurrier Lin Xiangfu was on edge that evening. Moonlight streamed down through the hole in the roof like a sparkling column…

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Shiny New Books April 3, 2025
3 629 1
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Fiction Translated

Nothing Grows by Moonlight by Torborg Nedreaas

Translated by Bibbi Lee Review by Karen Langley Recent years have seen a spate of newly translated fictions being made available by Penguin Classics in their ‘Demy’ series; these works…

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Shiny New Books April 1, 2025
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Fiction Reprint

The Dancer from the Dance by Janet Burroway

Reviewed by Harriet I had never heard of Janet Burroway until Mike Walmer recently republished her 1965 novel, The Dancer from the Dance. It was the second of her eight…

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Shiny New Books March 26, 2025
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Fiction Translated

Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida

Translated by Hayden Trowell Review by Rob Spence Quirky Japanese literature seems to be all the rage these days. Every British bookshop seems well-stocked with Tokyo-based stories about cats or…

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Shiny New Books March 20, 2025
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Fiction

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Reviewed by Harriet ‘You know I’m not a huge cat fan. I’ve always thought they were cold-hearted’.  ‘Cats are not cold-hearted’, I said. ‘They’re only protecting their dignity in case…

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Shiny New Books March 18, 2025
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Fiction

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

Review by Annabel Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey isn’t the most prolific; in thirteen years, she’s just published her third novel, but for me it was worth the wait. Being a…

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Shiny New Books March 11, 2025
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Fiction

Confessions by Catherine Airey

Review by Max Dunbar The Whole Wild World The problem with talking about books you enjoy is that you don’t want to go too far into a story for fear…

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Shiny New Books March 4, 2025
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Fiction Reprint Translated

The Last of the Aldinis by George Sand

Translated by George Burnham Ives Review by Rob Spence Opposite the title page of this new edition of George Sand’s novel is a list of her works of fiction. It…

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Shiny New Books February 27, 2025
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Fiction Literary Prizes & Festivals

Shiny Prize Season 2025: Dylan Thomas Award longlist – Pity by Andrew McMillan & The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Award has now been running since 2006. It honours young writers, so entering writers must be 39 or under (the age Dylan Thomas died). This…

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Shiny New Books February 18, 2025
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Fiction

Shiny Prize Season 2025: Nero debut fiction winner – Wild Houses by Colin Barrett

Review by Annabel When originally published early last year, this debut novel, from another up-and-coming Irish author, garnered rave reviews. It was longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, although I…

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Shiny New Books February 6, 2025
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Fiction Uncategorized

The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe

Review by David Harris, 29 January 2025 Reading a review this weekend of a new TV series set in the 80s, I found myself agreeing with the writer’s point that…

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Shiny New Books January 29, 2025
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Fiction Translated

Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro

Translated by Oonagh Stransky Review by Annabel Such is my woeful lack of knowledge of African history, I had no idea that Eritrea had been colonized by Italy in the…

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Shiny New Books January 16, 2025
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Fiction

The Drowned by John Banville

Reviewed by Harriet, 14 Jan 2025 When John Banville announced that he was going to give up writing the multi-award-winning literary fiction for which he had been celebrated for decades,…

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Shiny New Books January 14, 2025
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Fiction Reprint

Pictures on the Wall by Hugo Charteris

Review by Rob Spence, 9 Jan 2025 This book, by the strangely neglected author of a number of novels in the fifties and sixties, is another welcome publication from the…

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Shiny New Books January 9, 2025
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Fiction

The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Reviewed by Harriet Sequels can be very enticing when the initial book has done well. Readers want to know what happens to a character they’ve connected with. So says a…

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Shiny New Books November 28, 2024
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Fiction Reprint

Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts

Reviewed by Harriet In the year 1932, Miss Penelope Shadow published a book which instantly became a best seller. It was her fourth book and not, in her opinion, markedly…

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Shiny New Books November 26, 2024
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