Thrilled to bits

Fiction: John Boyne's most recent novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, has just entered the New York Times best-seller list at number five. It will be made into a movie - by Disney, no less - next year and is not only the kind of book that crosses adult-child boundaries, but also the kind that makes a permanent mark on its readers.

This, of course, is the sort of success craved by all young writers - but it brings its own problems, mostly in the "how to follow that?" department. Wisely, Boyne has opted to continue on the path he followed with his first three books: to produce well-crafted, well-executed historical thrillers with a distinctively noir-ish twist. The Thief of Time brings its central character from 17th-century France to 1920s Hollywood; The Congress of Rough Riders weaves the life of one William Cody together with that of his hero, Buffalo Bill; Crippen retells the tale of the murderous Dr Crippen in the style of a crime novel.

Set in 1936 in a London ablaze with gossip about the affair between Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson, Next of Kin is the story of Owen Montignac, a handsome aristocrat who, confident that he will inherit his uncle's millions, has run up huge gambling debts. And then he is disinherited in favour of his beautiful cousin, Stella. There is melodrama in this mix - but it's adroitly handled by Boyne, who tailors it to fit his period plot, and who leavens it with healthy helpings of dark humour and a strong sense of social justice.

Both of which, of course, are notable features of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Add a narrative pace that never flags for an instant, a solid cast of characters, a vividly imagined recreation of a particular historical moment, and you find that Next of Kin has more in common with its illustrious predecessor than you might at first suppose. Montignac is a bad guy right out of the Ripley stable, but he is smart and sympathetic as well.

His moral dilemma - not to mention the dilemma of the judge who blithely sentences a young man to death, only to change his mind about the meaning of the words "judicial integrity" when his own son is subsequently charged with murder - moves Next of Kin out of the pure entertainment category and into a different ethical gear.

In the end, though, if thrillers are to work they must be thrilling. And this is where Boyne scores highest of all; he keeps you guessing until you turn over page 501 and find that you've arrived at the end of the book. Which, in these days of "so what?" plots, is a thrill in itself.

Arminta Wallace is an Irish Times journalist

Next of Kin By John Boyne Penguin, 502pp. £6.99