The Attenbury Emeralds
By Jill Paton Walsh
Hodder, £7.99
Few fictional detectives have attracted such devotion as Dorothy L Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and his wife, the crime novelist Harriet Vane. So the award-winning novelist Jill Paton Walsh proved herself to be a brave woman when, in 1998, she completed Sayers's last unfinished Wimsey novel, Thrones, Dominations. The Attenbury Emeralds, Paton Walsh's third Sayers pastiche, is the first to be constructed entirely without material left by Sayers, and, perhaps surprisingly, it's the most successful of the three. Set in 1951, it sees the witty yet troubled amateur sleuth reminded of his first case, a theft of emeralds from Lord Attenbury's family. Thirty years after Lord Peter solved that puzzle, the emeralds turn up at the heart of a fresh mystery. Someone has a grudge against the Attenbury family and is willing to kill in order to extract an elaborate revenge. The mystery is intriguing – and, more crucially, Paton Walsh perfectly captures Sayers's voice. A delight. Anna Carey
The Bishop’s Man
Linden MacIntyre
Vintage, £.7.99
Investigative journalist and Giller prize-wining author Linden MacIntyre's second novel follows the journey of Catholic priest Duncan MacAskill (known as the Exorcist), an expert at covering up controversies within the church. However, when he stumbles upon a case of sexual abuse his nervous bishop sends him to South America. Years later the cover-ups start to unravel and he is moved to a remote parish on Cape Breton Island, near where he grew up. This brings about a reckoning within himself, in part because he is linked to the community, blurring the objectivity he has previously held on to like a mast. The story is told in shifting time frames, which illuminates the shifting truths that MacAskill's life is based on and lends itself to some brilliantly lyrical writing, especially musings on philosophy, theology and the geography of the island. MacIntyre creates one of the first cultural histories of the abuse scandal within the church, one which resonates profoundly. Siobhán Kane
So Much to Tell: The Biography of Kaye Webb
Valerie Grove
Penguin, £8.99
Kaye Webb shaped the reading of most book-loving children in Ireland and Britain from the 1960s to the 1980s. As the editor of Puffin Books she was a passionate advocate of both children's literature and child readers, and for more than 20 years she ensured that Puffin was synonymous with quality. She published everyone from Helen Cresswell and Noel Streatfeild to Roald Dahl and Joan Aiken, all of whom became her friends. But as Valerie Grove's excellent biography shows, her private life was much less satisfactory. Although she doesn't shy away from showing Webb's overbearing side, Grove's affection and admiration for her subject, whom she interviewed in the early 1980s and met several times afterwards, are evident and infectious. It's impossible to read this book and not wish you could have met this charismatic, funny, generous woman. This lively, unsentimental book is an exemplary biography. Anna Carey
Peter Pan’s First XI: The Story of JM Barrie’s Cricket Team
Kevin Telfer
Sceptre, £8.99
Barrie believed that cricket was the game of the gods. He started his own team, the Allahakbarries, for which some of the best-known writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries played, including Conan Doyle, AA Milne, PG Wodehouse and Jerome K Jerome. It was a team of no great ability, exemplified by its energetic captain and organiser of 26 years. Cricket fitted perfectly with Barrie's veneration of boyhood pastimes, as explored in his ageless character, Peter Pan. He believed adults could recover the innocence of childhood through games and role-playing. According to Kevin Telfer, the Allahakbarries "are the original lost boys, the first group that Barrie successfully corralled and badgered into playing games with him". Frustratingly, the book doesn't explore Barrie or its other themes (for example, cricket as an expression of the British imperial mentality as war approached) deeply enough, but that doesn't stop it being a most enjoyable read. Brian Maye
The Future History of the Arctic
Charles Emmerson
Vintage Books, £9.99
Think Arctic and what instantly comes to mind? Cold, isolated, empty, white, pristine perhaps. It's all of these, according to Charles Emmerson, but that's not the half of it. Yes, the Arctic is in many places a beautiful, unspoilt wilderness, but in others it is heavily polluted. Emmerson seems to have talked to everyone who matters, from government ministers and oil companies to engineers, geologists, local populations and even spies. But, he forecasts, the Arctic in the 21st century will play a role in the major issues of our global future: energy, security, climate change, globalisation, the balance between economic development and environmental protection. We are asked to think about the Arctic as it is now and as it may be. The forces of the past will shape those of the future, and it is around these forces that this book is structured. It is required reading for anyone who wants to know more about this increasingly important region. Owen Dawson