The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (Atlantic, £16.99)
Longlisted for this year’s Women’s prize, Shroff’s debut is a darkly funny revenge drama rooted in the reality of rural India, where the toxic brew of poverty, domestic violence, adulterated alcohol, corruption and the caste system makes life for women very hard indeed. Acerbic Geeta has been largely ostracised by the rest of the village, who believe she murdered her abusive husband. She earns a precarious living, dreams of a refrigerator, and takes inspiration from the real-life “Bandit Queen” Phoolan Devi, who avenged herself on the men who abused her. However, when frenemy Farah asks for help in getting rid of her own brutal spouse, things start to spiral out of control: Geeta becomes involved with the village bootlegger, falls foul of a crime boss, and receives more requests for help from desperate women. Shroff doesn’t pull any punches in this vivid, unsentimental story that succeeds in being both satirical and moving.
Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin, £9.99)
There are more beleaguered women in American poet Douaihy’s debut, this time the nuns who make up a teaching order in New Orleans. As if the sweltering heat and stifling patriarchal nature of the church weren’t enough, someone has set fire to St Sebastian’s school, resulting in the death of the janitor. When suspicion falls on Sister Holiday, a punk musician turned music teacher whose tattoos are now covered up by gloves and a scarf, she begins her own investigation: “As a queer woman and a Sister of the Sublime Blood, I looked beyond the immediately obvious.” This is a compelling tale of faith, atonement and desire, and although seasoned crime readers may figure out whodunnit ahead of Holiday, she’s an unusual and fascinating narrator. I’m keen to see what she’ll do next.
Death of a Book Seller by Alice Slater (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99)
Avid readers who consider bookshops their ultimate happy place may change their minds after reading this spectacularly creepy debut, set largely in a bookshop in the hipsterish east London enclave of Walthamstow. When introverted Roach, who is fascinated by true crime, discovers that the mother of her colleague Laura was a victim of the “Stow Strangler”, she can’t believe her luck. The outwardly sunny Laura – who has problems of her own – dislikes being the focus of such morbid curiosity. Roach, convinced of their kinship, persists despite the rebuffs, and things get distinctly Highsmithian when she goes full-on stalker. Both bookselling and society’s obsession with true crime are filleted mercilessly in a tense and disturbing read.
Death Under a Little Sky by Stig Abell (HarperCollins, £14.99)
Bequeathed an isolated farmhouse “somewhere in one of those anonymous rural counties in the middle of England”, Jake Jackson, formerly of the Met, seizes the opportunity for a fresh start after the demise of his marriage. The villagers don’t entirely warm to him, but he settles into country life. However, when a woman’s bones are found in an orchard during a treasure hunt, he returns to detecting with the blessing of the local chief inspector. The florid writing style and abundance of incidental detail may not be to all tastes, but Abell’s debut is a cosy crime read with an appealing protagonist.
The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola (Orion, £14.99)
There’s a touch of both Rebecca and The Yellow Wallpaper about Anna Mazzola’s latest novel, which is set in Mussolini’s Rome. It’s 1938, and Il Duce’s programme for Italian racial purity is in full swing. Young pianist Eva Valenti, whose Slav identity was wrested from her when her family were “Italianised”, grows increasingly uneasy with the reforms, especially when a Jewish friend is forced to flee the country. With jobs for women now restricted, Eva opts for security, marrying the rich father of one of her pupils. Widower Dante is increasingly important in fascist circles, but all is not well at home. Eva is keeping the secret of her identity, but the strange behaviour of her stepchildren and a series of inexplicable eerie events in the house make her suspect that Dante may have his own secrets … A gothic tale of political and psychological terror.
