FIRST THOUGHTS

Henning Mankell

Harvill Secker, £17.99, Kindle £8.09.

Review: Ben Major

HENNING MANKELL is renowned for the creation of Swedish detective Wallander, and has written more than 10 novels featuring the lugubrious hero, which have also been adapted into a TV series.

The Troubled Man is reportedly Wallander’s swansong, and follows the detective as he tries to unravel the mysterious disappearance of his daughter’s future father- and mother-in-law.

It takes him on a journey into Sweden’s naval history, and particular incidents during the Cold War that remain a matter of national security.

All the while, Wallander battles with the physical and mental obstacles presented by old age, and tries to get to grips with the world growing younger around him.

The sleuthing work done by Wallander keeps the book interesting, while his inner battle provides a compelling sub plot that becomes more prevalent as the novel progresses.

Finding Mr Flood

Ciara Geraghty

Hachette €17.50, Kindle €9.99

Review: Sue Leonard

CIARA GERAGHTY leapt to prominence with her first novel, Saving Grace. Her writing, combining humour with a tincture of darkness got her compared to Marion Keyes. I adored that book, and though I was less impressed with the follow up, I was keen to see what Ciara would come up with next.

Finding Mr Flood opens with a night-time dash to hospital, because there’s a kidney available for 20-something Angel. She’s a beauty who lives life to the full. When the kidney proves a mismatch, all that changes.

Convinced a kidney won’t come in time to save her, Angel sinks into a torpor, ditches her adoring man, whilst her sister Dara watches helplessly.

Dara is the star of this book, and she couldn’t be further from the typical chick lit heroine.

Her life had an unfortunate start. Her father went out for cigarettes just days before she was born, and never returned. Realising her father’s kidney could save the sister she adores, Dara sets out to find Mr Flood.

Readers will love taking this journey and they’ll love mixing with all the subsidiary characters too. They won’t exactly like Dara’s creepy boyfriend, but they’ll be amused by him.

The Somme Stations

Andrew Martin

Faber and Faber, £12.99, Kindle £7.07

Review: Sandra Mangan

JOURNALIST and novelist Andrew Martin has won acclaim for his Jim Stringer novels, which combine meticulous attention to historic detail with a rattling good detective story.

The Somme Stations has both attributes in spades. It is a book which Stringer fans will love, but which is also guaranteed to enthral those new to the series.

Based at York Station at the beginning of World War I, Jim is a railway detective of some experience. But when a poster is put up on the staff notice board seeking employees to join the newly formed North Eastern Railway Battalion, he doesn’t hesitate.

Through the central character and a wide-ranging supporting cast, the reader is drawn into the horrors of battle — and a series of deaths which could just be murder ...

It’s finely drawn and absorbing to the last page. A cracker.! (PA)