Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Faber, £16.99)
Set in a Virginia suburb during the lockdown of summer 2020, Kim’s second novel is narrated by 20-year-old Mia, who is quarantining at home with her twin brother John, their Korean mother Hannah and American father Adam, who looks after their nonverbal brother Eugene. Eugene has autism and Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic condition affecting the nervous system. When he returns from a hike with Adam, alone and distressed, he is unable to explain what happened. The official investigation appears to go nowhere, and, as the family try to come to terms with the situation, Mia studies the notes her father left behind, documenting his research into the nature of happiness. Could his disappearance be an experiment, with his family members as the subjects; did he simply want a new life without the burdens of being a caregiver – or is there a more drastic and fatal explanation? Bittersweet, sensitive and moving, this is a compelling exploration of love, neurodiversity and heuristics, within the framework of a literary mystery.
The Trials of Lila Dalton by LJ Shepherd (Pushkin Vertigo, £16.99)
There’s a fever-dream quality from the very start of this debut novel, as the eponymous narrator finds herself in a courtroom with no idea why she’s there or who she is. It gradually becomes clear she’s a junior barrister who, in the absence of her QC, is tasked with defending a man accused of a terrorist offence, and that this is taking place on Assumption Island – not the one in the Seychelles, but a fictional dot in the north Atlantic, which is very difficult to leave. Furthermore, someone is sending threatening messages to her hotel room. Lila is already unsure of what is and isn’t real, and things become curiouser and curiouser in this courtroom drama/dystopia mashup, as she tries to solve the dual mysteries of what happened on the day of the bomb that killed 27 people at a Home Office building, and of her own identity. Shepherd, a lawyer, walks the line between pleasantly intriguing and annoyingly baffling with aplomb and, despite the occasional wobble, stays on the right side for an inventive and exciting read.
The Winter Visitor by James Henry (Riverrun, £20)
Henry’s DI Lowry trilogy was set in Essex in 1983; his latest novelfeaturing one of its characters, the now promoted DS Daniel Kenton, finds us at Colchester CID in the bitterly cold February of 1991. With his new partner, the unkempt DS Brazier, Kenton investigates the case of drug smuggler Bruce Hopkins, recently returned from the Costa del Sol, whose naked body has been found in the boot of a stolen car submerged in a reservoir. There is also the matter of an arson attack, which has destroyed a unique medieval church roof, and the suicide of an elderly florist – matters which, superficially at least, have nothing to do with each other … Pacy and expertly engineered, this is a superior police procedural with a wonderful sense of place and time; pitch-perfect period detail range from the start of the “care in the community” policy of deinstitutionalisation, to mis-sold endowment mortgages and Man at C&A. Highly recommended.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton (Ecco, £14.99)
Loosely based on the true story of the “Konkatsu” (marriage-hunting) serial killer and fraudster Kanae Kijima, this ambitious and unsettling Japanese bestseller follows thirtysomething journalist Rika Machida as she becomes increasingly obsessed with Manako Kajii, a convicted killer she visits in prison. Kajii has used her cooking and nurturing skills to lure lonely middle-aged men to their deaths. Despite her strong trad wife vibe – her pet hates are “feminists and margarine” – she is as narcissistic as any of her kind, and soon becomes teacher rather than subject, as the undomesticated Rika begins to take an interest in matters gastronomic and, in doing so, re-evaluate her life and relationships. Although some of the social commentary is heavy-handed, this is a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society’s impossibly contradictory expectations of women.
Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin (Bantam, £14.99)
The first novel from real-life chef Murrin is a whodunnit set in a smart but struggling Belgravia cookery school, where waspishly charming Paul Delamare steps in at the last minute to run a residential course in the place of his old friend Christian. Once lauded and Michelin-starred, now fallen on hard times, Christian claims his broken arm is the result of an accident, but when Paul finds his corpse lying almost decapitated on a kitchen table, he begins to wonder if there’s something he wasn’t told – and the police think he, or one of his students, might be responsible. Funny, and at times unexpectedly moving, this thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery is packed with interesting recipe ideas, fascinating culinary facts and some jolly useful cooking hacks.
