MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
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Crime Fiction with Mat Coward: February 14, 2022
New titles from Michelle Davies, Linwood Barclay, Mari Hannah and Louise Jensen
FIONA O CONNOR recommends an unflinching depiction of child sexual abuse and its aftershocks, set in a working-class Liverpool family
New releases from Paul Weller, Wet Leg, and Dino Saluzzi
PAUL DONOVAN relishes the spectacle of a 1950s detective in pursuit of a 500-year-old murder mystery
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
THE Ospreys were one of the biggest rock bands in the world when their lead singer, Isaac Naylor, committed suicide off the coast of Devon while on police bail following the death of a young fan. But no body was ever found and now, eight years later, in The Death Of Me by Michelle Davies (Orion, £8.99), London music journalist Natalie has reason to believe he’s still alive, and still writing songs.
She has a pressing need for the financial relief which such a scoop would bring her, which is why she’s determined to continue with her investigation even when anonymous attempts to dissuade her turn to terrifying violence.
Gripping from start to finish, this novel also benefits from an interesting setting in the music business and in the dying profession of freelance journalism.
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