This year the trend for cosy crime novels with added bells and whistles has continued unabated, offering everything from metafiction to ghosts who solve their own murders. Bella Mackie’s second novel, What a Way to Go (Borough), is one of the best. Hedge fund boss Anthony Wistern is universally loathed, so when he dies mysteriously there are plenty of suspects. The narrative baton is passed between his widow Olivia, the obsessive crime blogger Sleuth, and Anthony himself – who, from the dingy limbo of a “processing centre”, must figure out how he perished in order to transition to the afterlife. It’s a delightful blend of whodunnit, Succession-style family infighting, and Jilly Cooperesque social comedy.
There’s more fun to be had with irredeemable characters in Jonny Sweet’s debut The Kellerby Code (Faber). Edward Jevons is in self-hating thrall to his posh, entitled university friends. He’s in love with Stanza, but his already fragile mental state is undermined by the discovery that she and Robert – to whom Edward has repeatedly confessed his adoration – are an item. As events at Stanza’s ancestral home spiral out of control, the pressure becomes unbearable. Very dark and very funny: perfect for fans of Saltburn.
