It is set six years after the conflict had ended, but the horrors of the First World War resonate through The Crimson Rooms.
Every character featured in its pages has had their lives changed by the events of 1914-1918.
Fledgling lawyer Evelyn G
ifford would never have been able to take up a role in the legal profession if so many men had not died or been maimed in battle.
Her family would not be drowning in grief, still mourning the death of her beloved brother James, who was killed in the war.
And the enigmatic Meredith would never have had the fateful meeting with James which changed her life – and ultimately changes the lives of the Giffords.
This is but a part of an absorbing and deftly woven tale, which impressively captures the spirit of the early 1920s. It is also a murder mystery, a social history – and a cracking good read.
9/10 Review by Sandra Mangan
Girl Friday by Jane Green is published in hardback by Michael Joseph, priced £16.99. Fans of Jane Green are in for a treat as she has released two books this month – Girl Friday in hardback and 2008's The Beach House in paperback.
Girl Friday focuses on mother-of-two Kit, who has to dig deep inside herself to find her survivor mechanism after agreeing to divorce Adam, her husband of almost 15 years.
Initially Kit feels lost, having waved goodbye to her lover, her best friend and her identity in one fell swoop, but she soon manages to pick herself up with the help of some new girlfriends. She even finds her "perfect" job assisting famous author Robert McClore, who describes her affectionately as his Girl Friday.
Kit's future seems even brighter when she meets Steve, who's handsome, charming and the perfect gentleman – but is he as perfect as he seems?
Without giving too much away, the plot's dramatic twists and turns are revealed in a rushed end, which will leave the reader feeling cheated, but wanting more.
As with Green's other novels, Girl Friday is nevertheless a real page-turner, and the ideal beach read.
8/10 Review by Shereen Low
Sworn To Silence by Linda Castillo is published in hardback by Macmillan, priced £17.99. Kate Burkholder grew up in the Amish community of Painter's Mill, Ohio. She returns 15 years after leaving the town as a teenager, no longer Amish but instead the strong-willed Chief of Police.
Kate hopes to keep her past buried, but when the body of a young woman is found, she is transported back to her childhood and to the gruesome series of unsolved murders that changed her life forever.
Kate's knowledge of the past looks set to hinder, rather than help, her team's investigation, and before long she finds herself in a situation where her career, and more, is in jeopardy.
Linda Castillo's thriller is the first in a new series by the author, and if this strong opener is anything to go by then the rest will be gripping. The protagonist is a complex character, and discovering more about her is something to look forward to in the next instalment.
This novel is not for the faint-hearted as some of the scenes are gory, but this does help make it a riveting thriller for those with the stomach to take it on.
8/10 Review by Stephanie Murray
Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth Of British Football by Richard Sanders is published in hardback by Bantam Press, priced £14.99. Beastly Fury offers a thorough insight into the contrasting social backgrounds that have formed the rich tapestry of the modern game.
Richard Sanders considers the social influences that forced, and often limited, the changes in football throughout its history, from the sexual repression of public-school life to how the sport itself has acted as a valve for social tensions amongst the lower classes.
The book explains how a sport now referred to as the "beautiful game" evolved from a brutal and uncivilised beginning, while explaining why it is impossible to credit football with one single creator or a clear date of creation.
Sanders captures the tales of some of the true fathers of the game thanks to his extensive research, with a concise analysis leaving the reader with a real appreciation of the journey the world's most popular sport has taken.
Definitely one for the football purist, and a worthy addition to any true football lover's bookshelf.
8/10 Review by Tim Clement
Pistols At Dawn by John Campbell is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £20. "We must assume Tony knows what he is doing," mutters Gordon Brown in a private aside, as then-Prime Minister Blair at last finds a moral cause to don the mantle of Richard the Lionheart in Kosovo, and later Iraq.
In present circumstances, John Campbell's dissection of the stormy Blair-Brown relationship is likely to attract the closest attention among eight scintillating essays analysing key personal clashes which shaped the politics of their time, including Gladstone-Disraeli, Asquith-Lloyd George, and Heath-Thatcher.
First up is the younger Pitt, Prime Minister at 24, and the "reckless" Charles Fox, first Leader of the Opposition, who shaped the modern Commons in the late 18th century.
A real eye-opener, however, is the absorbing study of Nye Bevan and Hugh Gaitskell, which shows Labour in the same agonies on state spending half a century ago that it faces again today.
Campbell thinks the political system worked best when politics and media were in perfect balance, roughly from 1875-1950.
He argues that the finest politicians "seize their moment and go on to embody their age", and names them as Pitt, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Macmillan and Thatcher.
7/10 Review by Jeremy Gates
Chanel by Edmonde Charles-Roux is published by MacLehose Press, priced £14.99. She revolutionised how women looked by banning corsets from her fashion designs, shortening shirts and ushering in the two-piece suit. Now, Coco Chanel's early life has been turned into a film starring Audrey Tautou, partly based on this biography, and is due to be released at the end of July.
A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carré is published by Sceptre, priced £7.99.
An international bestseller in hardback, this book reinforced John Le Carré's reputation as one of the world's finest contemporary writers. A Most Wanted Man addresses the controversial "War On Terror" led by former US president George W Bush.
TOP TEN – BEST SELLERSHARDBACKS
1. D-Day: The Battle For Normandy, Antony Beevor
2. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
3. The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
4. Swimsuit, James Patterson
5. Assegai, Wilbur Smith
6. Girl Friday, Jane Green
7. Love Letters, Katie Fforde
8. Target, Simon Kernick
9. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
9. The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly
PAPERBACKS
1. Sail, James Patterson
2. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
3. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
4. At My Mother's Knee, Paul O'Grady
5. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
6. The Other Hand, Chris Cleave
7. Home, Marilynne Robinson
8. The Beach House, Jane Green
9. The Return, Victoria Hislop
10. The Whole Day Through, Patrick Gale
The full article contains 1218 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
