Usually, such an omission would be troubling to readers requiring closure in their fiction, but Almond’s characteristic style leaves us not troubled, but hopeful and at peace.

Razor sharp, provocatively page-turning and surprisingly tender, Luster by Raven Leilani is a painfully funny debut about what it means to be young now.Who is Skellig? What is Skellig? These are answers that David Almond raises in his eponymous novel, but does not answer. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscape of sexual and racial politics as a young black woman wasn't already hard enough, with nowhere else left to go, Edie finds herself falling head-first into Eric's home and family. And then she meets Eric, a white, middle-aged archivist with a suburban family, including a wife who has sort-of-agreed to an open marriage and an adopted black daughter who doesn't have a single person in her life who can show her how to do her hair. No one seems to care that she doesn't really know what she's doing with her life beyond looking for her next hook-up. She's messing up in her dead-end admin job in her all-white office, is sleeping with all the wrong men, and has failed at the only thing that meant anything to her, painting. It's brutal - and brilliant.' Zadie Smith, author of Swing Time'Remarkable, the most delicious novel I've read.' Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie'Įdie is just trying to survive. * Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 *Ī taut, sharp, funny book about being young now. LUSTER, by Raven Leilani (paperback Jan 2022) £9.99 And I very much enjoyed attempting to solve the case with Pip (who I now want to be my best friend). 'There is a lot to really enjoy in this story and there is great energy to the writing, as well as some fine characterization' - Peter James, award-winning and no.1 bestselling crime thriller author of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series But will she find him before it's too late? Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying, Eva Dolan, C L Taylor, We Were Liars and Riverdale Jamie Reynolds has disappeared but the police won't do anything about it.Īnd if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way. But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing.

The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her. With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. Pip Fitz-Amobi is not a detective anymore. The highly-anticipated and brilliantly crafted crime-thriller sequel to the no.1 debut of 2019, A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER Good Girl, Bad Blood, by Holly Jackson £7.99

Skellig by david almond