FICTION
All The Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £12.99 (ebook £6.99)
WHAT a compelling exercise in storytelling. Part crime novel, part psychological thriller, All The Beautiful Lies rests on a clever narrative trick. As he is about to graduate, Harry is called home to Maine by his step-mother, Alice, following the death of his father on a clifftop walk. A sad but simple domestic set-up so far, yet from this, Peter Swanson loops skeins of deceit and trickery. By dividing his story into a 'then' and 'now' narrative, he creates great tension and springs a few good surprises. As Harry slowly begins to suspect Alice, who, being so much younger than his father, may not be all she seems, her story strand shows the beautiful and deadly lies woven through her past, indeed her whole being. A fantastic read – and so much more rewarding for Swanson's decision not to follow an A-B narrative line.
8/10
Julian Cole
NON-FICTION
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson is published in hardback by Hutchinson, priced £20 (ebook £9.99)
Kirk Wallace Johnson is widely published in US newspapers and has one previous book, about his work getting Iraqis resettled in the US. He's fly-fishing when he first hears the name Edwin Rist. Here is The Feather Thief – a US classical musician and part of an obsessive community who make the flies that lure fish to the lines of such fishermen. These often call for rare feathers, a factor that led Rist to break into a provincial British museum and stuff a suitcase with bird specimens before escaping by train. It's a fascinating case that grips Johnson. The book explains how Rist's scheme unravels, landing him in court. Police have not found everything he took – where is it? Johnson determines to find out and takes us with him on a quest across the world. I knew nothing about birds or fishing flies, but that doesn't matter. You'll be drawn on, reading it when you should be doing other things.
8/10
Helen Smyth
CHILDREN'S
The Story Of Tantrum O'Furrily by Cressida Cowell, illustrated by Mark Nicholas is published in hardback by Hodder Children's Books, priced £12.99 (ebook £8.99)
Cressida Cowell is best known for her How To Be A Dragon series, aimed at 8-11-year-olds, but The Story Of Tantrum O'Furrily is a picture book, suitable for younger readers and bedtime stories. In fact, it's a bedtime story within a bedtime story, and sees a stray cat called Tantrum O'Furrily tell her three hungry kittens a tall tale before they settle down to their night-time milk. It concerns Smallpaw, a kitten whose owner has explained that stray cats are bad cats, but Smallpaw finds herself inching out of the cat flap by night, alone, anyway. It's a book about courage, having the temerity to explore and being brave enough to 'write your own story'. Mark Nicholas' award-winning illustrations are suitably atmospheric and largely monochrome, with just the occasional flash of marmalade-orange cat, and blood-red fox. Although the message is a little twee at times, it's delivered rather powerfully.
8/10
Ella Walker
