Book of the month

Book of the month

Modern Fiction Book of the Month – March 2024

Can a small committed group of citizens change the world, and if so – how? Summer Dawidowitz has spent the past year caring for her grandmother, Josie– a lifelong Communist, a dedicated teacher, and the founder of an organization that tutors schoolchildren. When Josie dies, everything that seemed solid in Summer’s life comes into question.    //  Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group. //

Mystery Book of the Month – March 2024

What if the murder you had to solve was your own? A tautly paced novel in which a young mother who was cloned and brought back to life following her own murder comes to suspect that there is more to the story of her life and death than anyone is telling her. Recommended by Malin! // Discuss in the Crime reading group. //  

Modern Fiction Book of the Month – February 2024

A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption. Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023.  //  Discuss in the Modern Fiction reading group. //  

Mystery Book of the Month – February 2024

She said yes to a dinner invitation at her old university. Now she’s a murder suspect… A perfect ”locked-room-whodunnit” murder mystery that will keep you guessing.  // Discuss in the Crime reading group. //  

Modern Fiction Book of the Month – January 2024

Graham Patterson’s life has hit a dead end. His career as a comedian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him and he literally has no idea what to do next.  With nothing to lose, he buys a new car and hits the road, planning to drive across country and hopefully figure out his next moves before reaching California. But along the way Patterson does something his old self would never have even considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carolina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes his life forever in ways he never could have imagined. / Discuss in the reading group

Mystery Book of the Month – January 2024

DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he’s used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality.   The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol.

Modern Fiction Book of the Month – December 2023

Meet Marcellus the Octopus – he has a mystery to solve. After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors - until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. A gripping family mystery meets a story of second chances in this warm, feel-good debut.

Mystery Book of the Month – December 2023

Welcome to the nightmare Christmas holiday… Jolted from sleep by the ringing of the telephone, Imogen stumbles through the dark, empty house to answer it. At first, she can't quite understand the man on the other end of the line. Surely he can't honestly be accusing her of killing her husband, Ivor, who died in a car crash barely two months ago. As the nights draw in, Imogen finds her home filling up with unexpected guests, who may be looking for more than simple festive cheer. Has someone been rifling through Ivor’s papers?   /  Join the Crime reading group to discuss this book /

Modern Fiction Book of the Month – November 2023

This novel takes us back to one of the most harrowing accidents in the history of Wales, but also shows us what people can do when working together. Wales, October 1966. William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan. William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets. His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget.

Mystery Book of the Month – November 2023

1936, London. A celebrity psychiatrist is discovered dead in his locked study. With no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon, Inspector Flint, the Scotland Yard detective on the case, calls on retired stage magician turned part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. As he and the Inspector interview the colourful cast of suspects, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets … or motives for murder. An enthralling locked-room murder mystery inspired by crime fiction of the Golden Age, this is the critically acclaimed debut novel by Tom Mead.  
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