Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough – who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974. Strike has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one 40 years old. But despite the slim chance of success, he is intrigued and takes it on; adding to the long list of cases that he and his partner in the agency, Robin Ellacott, are currently working on. As Strike and Robin investigate Margot’s disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot be trusted.
J.K. Rowling, continuing her successful crime series as Robert Galbraith, has certainly had her share of controversy recently. But her Cormoran Strike novels are always highly entertaining, and Troubled Bloodpromises to be more of the same.
Release date: 15thSeptember
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food and waterlilies to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone. Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and what do they want?
This mysterious new novel is one of the most highly anticipated books of 2020, coming from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which sold four million copies worldwide and won numerous awards. Expectations are high for this one.
Release date: 15thSeptember
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered. There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. One you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die. El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school’s many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school. Except, she might accidentally kill the other students too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it… that is, unless she has no other choice.
The author of Uprootedand Spinning Silverreturns to the world of fantasy with a book that marks the start of a new series set in a school for the magically gifted.
Release date: 29thSeptember
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
TV presenter Richard Osman turns his hand to fiction with this new crime comedy, marking the start of a new gripping book series.
Release date: 3rdSeptember
The Testimony of Alys Twist by Suzannah Dunn
1553. Deeply divided England rejoices as the rightful heir, Mary Tudor, sweeps to power on a tide of populist goodwill. But the people should have been careful what they wished for: Mary’s mission is to turn back time to an England of old. Within weeks there is widespread rebellion in favour of her heir, her half-sister, Princess Elizabeth, who is everything Mary isn’t. Orphan Alys Twist has come a long way – further than she ever dared hope – to work as a laundress at the royal wardrobe. There she meets Bel, daughter of the Queen’s tailor, and seems to have arrived at her own happy ending. But in a world where appearance is everything, a laundress is in a unique position to see the truth of people’s lives, and Alys is pressed into service as a spy in the errant princess’s household.
There’s something about books about intrigues in the Tudor court that feel like home to me, and this new book promises plenty of intrigue and romance in a 16thcentury setting.
Release date: 24thSeptember
A Girl Made of Air by Nydia Hetherington
Born into a post-war circus family, our nameless star was unwanted and forgotten, abandoned in the shadows of the big top. Until the bright light of Serendipity Wilson threw her into focus. Now an adult, haunted by an incident in which a child was lost from the circus, our narrator, a tightrope artiste, weaves together her spellbinding tales of circus legends, earthy magic and folklore, all in the hope of finding the child. But will her story be enough to bring the pair together again?
A book about storytelling and truth, this debut novel has been recommended for fans of Angela Carter and Erin Morgenstern.
Release date: 3rdSeptember
Just Like You by Nick Hornby
Lucy married just the sort of man you might expect: a university graduate who runs his own business. Unfortunately he turned out to have serious dependency issues. Joseph is shaking off the memory of his last date, a girl who ticked all the right boxes and also drove him up the wall. On an average Saturday morning in a shop in North London, Lucy and Joseph meet on opposite sides of the counter. They are opposites in almost all ways. Can something life-changing grow from uncommon ground?
Popular author Nick Hornby, whose previous books include High Fidelityand About A Boy, returns with another witty, touching novel which promises to be just as popular as his past work.
Release date: 17thSeptember
The Abstainer by Ian McGuire
Manchester, 1867. Two men, haunted by their pasts, driven by the need for justice. Stephen Doyle arrives in Manchester from New York. He is an Irish-American veteran of the Civil War and a member of the Fenians, a secret society intent on ending British rule in Ireland, by any means necessary. James O’Connor has fled grief and drink in Dublin for a sober start in Manchester as Head Constable. His mission is to discover and thwart the Fenians’ plans. When his long-lost nephew arrives on his doorstep, he never could have foreseen how this would imperil his fragile new life – or how his and Doyle’s fates would come to be intertwined.
Man Booker Prize-nominated author Ian McGuire returns with a new novel about revenge, justice and obsession.
Release date: 17thSeptember
Us Three by Ruth Jones
Meet Lana, Judith and Catrin. Best friends since primary school when they swore an oath on a Curly Wurly wrapper that they would always be there for each other, come what may. After the trip of a lifetime, the three girls are closer than ever. But an unexpected turn of events shakes the foundation of their friendship to its core, leaving their future in doubt.
Actor and screenwriter Ruth Jones returns to the world of fiction after the success of her bestselling debut novel, Never Greener, with a story about the complexities of female friendship.
Release date: 3rdSeptember
Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain
In the city of Bath, in 1865, an extraordinary young woman renowned for her nursing skills is convinced that some other destiny will one day show itself to her. But when she finds herself torn between a dangerous affair with a female lover and the promise of a conventional marriage to a respectable doctor, her desires begin to lead her towards a future she had never imagined. Meanwhile on the wild island of Borneo, an eccentric British ‘rajah’, Sir Ralph Savage, sees his schemes relentlessly undermined by his own fragility.
Award-winning author Rose Tremain’s absorbing new novel travels the globe from England to Borneo, Dublin to Paris.
Release date: 10thSeptember
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