THE GRAVES of Whitechapel by Claire Evans (Sphere, £18.99) takes place in the 1880s and features Old Bailey barrister Cage Lackmann.

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But now a client he once snatched from the gallows, suspected of an almost identical crime, is being hunted by Scotland Yard again and the man’s conviction would ruin Lackmann.

There is more at stake than just pride or status. For reasons no-one must know, Lackmann’s very life depends on his reputation.

From an author full of confidence and brio, at home in her historical period, this is a totally absorbing read from start to finish.

Enjoying a lazy Sunday’s overtime while keeping a frankly casual eye on a half-marathon in Bath, head of CID Peter Diamond spots a particularly vicious criminal, newly released from prison, in The Finisher by Peter Lovesey (Sphere, £20.99).

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The ensuing inquiries lead him into frightening territory as he encounters abandoned quarry tunnels beneath the Georgian city and modern slavery above ground.

It’s 50 years since Lovesey’s first novel, which also featured running. Now British mystery fiction’s reigning head of state returns to that sporting setting with his customary wit, humanity and unpredictable turns of plot.

Manchester’s Detective Constable Jade Bradshaw and her boss DI Donna Bell investigate when a newborn baby is found dead in an industrial rubbish bin, in Quiet Acts Of Violence by Cath Staincliffe (Constable, £20.99).

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She finds empathy difficult and remembering to eat and breathe and take her medication difficult too, at times.

The only thing in her life that has ever made any sense to her is being part of Donna’s team and the pressures she’s under now are putting that at risk.

This is the second novel in what already looks like a major series which examine, through gripping stories, the crimes of merciless austerity and deliberately structured inequality.

Staincliffe is one of the few authors who can combine political anger with great entertainment and somehow never lose sight of either.

A Quiet Death in Italy by Tom Benjamin (Constable, £8.99) starts a new series about Englishman Daniel Leicester, who’s married into a firm of private investigators in Bologna, the city which in the eyes of its admirers is the true soul of Italy.

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But Daniel uncovers echoes of past struggles, from the days of Red Bologna, when the state would go to any lengths to protect itself from the people.

It’s an immensely promising debut, which leaves the reader feeling they really know the city.