With the weather warming up, its always a good idea to sit down in your garden and read a new book. Here’s a guide to some of the upcoming releases to look out for…
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce (published 13th July): from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, this new novel from Rachel Joyce is all about how music has the power to save us all – if only we would learn to listen and feel.
Frank has a gift for finding his customers the music they need to hear. When he meets Ilsa Brauchmann, a mysterious and beautiful woman with no ear for music, and engaged to another man, he falls in love. She is way above him, she will never be his, but he will take her on a journey through music.
Twelve years later Ilsa returns to find Frank. The shop has gone; no one knows where he is; perhaps he’s dead. All that remains is a series of clues, each one related to music. Ilsa resolves to follow them and bring Frank back to life with music, just as he once did for her.
Sleeping in the Ground by Peter Robinson (published 13th July): DCI Banks returns to solve another murder in this latest crime novel from Peter Robinson.
A shocking mass murder occurs at a wedding in a small Dales church and a huge manhunt follows. Eventually, the shooter is run to ground and things take their inevitable course.
But Banks is plagued with doubts as to exactly what happened outside the church that day, and why. Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, Banks feels the need to dig deeper into the murders, and as he does so, he uncovers forensic and psychological puzzles that lead him to the past secrets that might just provide the answers he is looking for.
When the surprising truth becomes clear, it is almost too late.
The Good Daughter Karin Slaughter (Published 13th July): from the author of the Will Trent and Grant County series, comes this stand alone novel is filled with suspense and terror…
Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy smalltown family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father – Pikeville’s notorious defence attorney – devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself – the archetypal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again – and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatised – Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it’s a case which can’t help triggering the terrible memories she’s spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime which destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won’t stay buried for ever…
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (published 6th July): Haig’s latest adult novel follows on from previous award winning works such as The Radleys and The Humans.
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life.
Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover – working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he’d never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom must not do is fall in love.
All That She Can See by Carrie Hope Fletcher (published 13th July): as well as currently starring in the UK tour of The Addams Family musical, the actress has written a new book for her fans on and off the stage to enjoy.
Cherry has a hidden talent. She can see things other people can’t and she decided a long time ago to use this skill to help others. As far as the rest of the town is concerned she’s simply the kind-hearted young woman who runs the local bakery, but in private she uses her gift to add something special to her cakes so that after just one mouthful the townspeople start to feel better about their lives. They don’t know why they’re drawn to Cherry’s bakery – they just know that they’re safe there and that’s how Cherry likes it. She can help them in secret and no one will ever need to know the truth behind her gift.
And then Chase turns up and threatens to undo all the good Cherry has done. Because it turns out she’s not the only one who can see what she sees . . .