Those Who Know is Alis Hawkins’ third novel in the historical crime series set in nineteenth century West Wales. The story concerns political hustings for Harry Probert-Lloyd to secure the coroner’s post, which he currently holds on a temporary basis, and an investigation into the death of a schoolteacher, Nicholas Rowland. Both events are, ultimately, integrally tied together, as the threads of the plot unfold.

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths, her 18th novel and a Times Crime Book of the Year, is a tightly wound and gripping crime story with many layers. Central to it is the use of a Victorian Gothic story and literary references which builds suspense upon suspense until the final, well-hidden, resolution.

Salt Lane is an exciting and thought-provoking read, the first in William Shaw’s new series of crime thrillers set on the Kent coastline in the shadow of Dungeness. It uncovers an underworld of illegal migrants and dangerous gang masters and asks questions about those who are on the edges of society, through choice or by the necessities of poverty and politics: illegal migrant workers and their appalling experiences as modern-day slaves.

An ordinary summer barbeque in an affluent urban Australian setting turns into something else in this story about three couples, their lives, and the events of that fateful day. The narrative swings from past to future and observes the concerns shared by all humans about family and life in general. An uplifting story in the end.

Tomos is a five-year old and the victim of neglect. This review of Sara Gethin's novel, Not Thomas, shows life through his eyes. A moving story of love, neglect and hope.