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The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

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The Big Sleep

The original whiskey drinking sleuth

The cynical, whiskey drinking, mac-wearing sleuth Philip Marlow is one of crime literature’s most enduring characters. Written in 1936, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler has stood the test of time despite a dash of homophobia and sexism which, today, seem so outlandish it just makes you laugh. The story involves the wealthy General Sternwood, his spoilt, unruly daughters Carmen and Vivian, and blackmail. Chandler was in a league of his own when it came to astute observations of people and places and it’s this that sets The Big Sleep apart from so many others in the genre.

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The Castle- Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men by Jon Ronson

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The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men

It’s a mad, mad world out there

Jon Ronson writes books about the same dark corners of the world that Louis Theroux explores in his documentaries. This time, his subject is toxic masculinity, anti-wokeness, shouting on social media, male anger, sexual deviancy and just plain weirdos. The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men by Jon Ronson takes us deep into a world whose contours we glimpse in the comments sections on social media. It’s ugly, shocking, utterly mad – and at times, very, very funny.

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Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley

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Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

Miss Marple is back on the case

2026 marks fifty years since the death of Dame Agatha Christie and the posthumous publication of her last Miss Marple detective story. Since then the legendary Jane Marple has been portrayed countless times on screen and stage, knitting needles click-clacking as the imperturbable elderly sleuth solves yet another crime. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley is the first Marple continuation novel. On holiday in a luxury hotel in the Swiss alps, Marple steps in when a fellow guest is murdered. Written with wit and élan, abuzz with drama and red herrings, Foley’s first Marple outing is the perfect weekend sofa read.

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Summer Light and Then Comes the Night by Jon Kalman Stefansson

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Summer Light and Then Comes the Night

Humanity distilled

Truly original novels are few and far between. All the more reason to hail the wonderfully quirky Summer Light and Then Comes the Night by Jon Kalman Stefansson. It’s the portrait of a remote Icelandic town set in the 1990s and if that fails to excite you, I promise that this unexpected, humorous, warm story is worth reading.  Stefansson describes dreams and aspirations, crushed or fulfilled; love and desire, unrequited or reciprocated. Life, basically. His tone in playful, conversational and above all, funny. A breath of literary fresh air.

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The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

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The Plot Against America

Why have I not read this book before?

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth has been around since 2004, been made into a TV series, is widely considered to be a modern American classic and has lingered on my TBR list for a while. Perhaps reading it now, against the backdrop of current American politics, is even more impactful (it’s certainly more frightening). Roth imagines an alternative political reality with the aviation hero and Nazi sympathiser Charles Lindbergh defeating Roosevelt in the 1940 Presidential election. Under the motto ‘America First’, (sounds familiar?), the country takes a sharp anti-semitic turn, threatening democracy and the Jewish Roth family’s peaceful existence.

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The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley

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The Palm House

What it feels like

Laura Miller, the protagonist of Booker Prize long-listed The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley, has an unfortunate tendency to become trapped in awkward, sometimes dangerous situations. Be it with her cold, bossy mother; her flaky landlord; and, most devastatingly, with a celebrity comedian who sexually abuses her. In her pared-down style, Riley captures these moments with chilling clarity. We feel what Laura feels. Add some outstanding dialogue, and you have a novel well worth reading.

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The Underground Man by Mick Jackson

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The Underground Man

Inspired and poignant tale of a lonely aristocrat

We’re fast approaching Booker Prize season and it feels like a great opportunity to share our favourite bygone Booker-tipped titles. One of the most memorable and marvellous is The Underground Man by Mick Jackson, shortlisted way back in 1997. Set in Victorian England and inspired by the real-life eccentricities of the fifth Duke of Portland, this is a fictionalised account of that gentleman’s life (although the truth is eye-popping enough, if like us, you feel compelled to do a bit of research after the final page). The story of a haunted soul who builds a network of tunnels beneath his ancestral home and descends into lonely madness, it’s a moving, funny and spellbinding read.

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The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis

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The Shadow of the Object

Wonderful Booker-longlisted novel of perception and awakening

This year’s Booker Prize is shaping up to be one of the best contested in years and singing to us from the 2026 longlist is The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis. This atmospheric tale of perception and awakening is told by Flora, a Mexican woman with a rich interior life, leading a somewhat sedate life in London. Whilst visiting her mother in Mexico City, Flora is badly bitten by the family dog and hospitalised. Here she meets Wilhelmina, elderly toy collector and magic lantern performer. Their strange affinity will come to challenge Flora’s notions of life, longing and loss.

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It Will Come Back to You by Sigrid Nunez

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It Will Come Back to You

A joy to read

It Will Come Back to You by Sigrid Nunez has been one of this summer’s many highlights. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, you have something to look forward to. Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel The Friend still lingers in my mind. It Will Come Back to You is a collection of short stories written throughout her 30-year career. Her writing is deceptively simple, perceptive and very funny, with themes ranging from puberty to dementia, via mother-daughter relationships, an airport nightmare and a couple of dark sexual obsessions, one of which ends in murder. As The New York Times writes, these are “stories that remind us why Sigrid Nunez is one of our best writers”. True indeed.

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Exhibition by Alex Hyde

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Exhibition

Chasing the muse

Inspired by the intoxicating 1990’s world of the Young British Artists movement, Exhibition by Alex Hyde tells the story of an intense decades long relationship between two women: photographer Rabble Stone, and an unnamed and now dead celebrity artist. In an absorbing tale that encompasses the Cool Britannia era, female friendship, the concept of muse, sacrifice, and things left unspoken, Rabble addresses her friend directly, recalling the twists and turns in their relationship, from a student house share in Brixton to the heights of YBA stardom in London and New York.

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