Debut novel about a letter detective builds an enchanting world but gets lost in subplot

Review: Beagin’s debut novel should be a hit with readers and awards lists alike

Sakaya Murata writes with a deadpan humour in this sure-fire hit of the summer

New fiction offers fresh perspective on the complexity of migration and displacement

There are some similarities to Highsmith and Tarte, but the execution is lacking

Paul Howarth’s stunning debut has shades of Cormac McCarthy and Patrick deWitt

A sharp and engaging tale of a millennial woman making her way in the world

An intelligent, probing read

Review: Author’s attempts to widen the lens make for an overwrought narrative

Both online-only formats and print journals provide vital platforms for new and developing writers

‘Kismet’ reflects on social media’s role in our feelings of inferiority

West has the wisdom and lyrical prose of a folk tale whose power grips from the beginning and demands a single-session read.

New fiction: a genuine tour de force about a woman in her 20s whose life is falling apart

Debut novel already lined up for film version lacks the style of less heralded new releases

A plucky female heroine helps a war-torn London in a highly original debut

A captivating generational tale about the impact of racism in the American South

The Trick to Time review: A beguiling, simple story that hides a tricksy, troubled tale

Morocco in the 1950s is a captivating setting for this uneven but admirably sinister novel

Paolo Cognetti’s coming-of-age in the Alps story is vividly rendered and wonderfully lucid

Gabriela Ybarra’s captivating debut is written with the forensic eye of a true crime writer

Power's affinity with the short story form comes through in this debut collection

A slow burning, beautifully written debut on the art of reflection

A staunch Presbyterian woman shows little mercy to her loved ones, or the reader

An uneven debut set between ’90s Ireland, California and Eastern Europe tries to cram in too much

The plight of Korea's 'comfort women' hits home in a thought-provoking debut

Review: The Earlie King and the Kid in Yellow, a debut novel by Cork author Danny Denton

A stellar debut set in Georgian London blends mythical sea creatures and merchant life

The ‘French Gone Girl’ is a tense and evocative tale of a nanny’s descent into murder

An extraordinary, powerful debut that looks at the aftermath of a rape

Life after death makes for an engaging topic in an imaginative and funny debut

An inventive debut about the conflicting impulses of smart millennial women

The year’s best novels and collections from emerging authors at home and abroad

New fiction: An excellent debut charts a family’s chaos in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

A Belfast writer’s striking debut collection of stories shows much potential

Too much information and stilted dialogue spoil this tale of exploitation in Singapore

‘Marvel’ actress Krysten Ritter sets high school past on fire with debut thriller

A consultant oncologist's debut gives a detailed picture of medical life in interlinked stories

This debut collection is big on creativity but, overall, short on satisfaction

Jane Harris’s third novel is an unashamedly old-school adventure story in the vein of Robert Louis Stevenson

The captivating Man Booker shortlisted debut explores the arbitrary nature of justice and the difference between action and though(...)

A captivating collection of modern motherhood and marriage with plenty of heart

This stunning and fearless debut novel is about adoption and the desire to belong

A debut novel from an Irish author shines on the subjects of trauma and memory loss

The restorative power of art gets a colourful makeover in this debut YA novel

A remarkable California teen comes to a realisation about her predatory father

A vivid retelling of Shakespeare’s Lear set in contemporary India by Preti Taneja

A marginalised Yorkshire family battle their community in a well-written but flawed debut from Fiona Mozley

Sharp and unflinching portraits of Chinese immigrant families in the US

Bernie McGill’s novel about glic women during the advent of radio has a beguiling protagonist

Kate Murray-Browne finds illness and dread as a family moves house in London

The power of the imagination shines in a captivating debut on the Yorkshire coast

Gail Honeyman’s moving, inventive debut is about a young woman set apart from society because of trauma

Orlagh Collins’ debut YA novel gives a snapshot of everything from bankruptcy to first love

Private and public grief come together in an engaging new novel about loss

It is fifty shades darker as submissive sex and rubber-clad gimps vie for attention

Love in Row 27 brings the First Dates formula to the skies

Ethel Ronan’s debut sees an overweight father trying to make sense of his son’s suicide

Debut novel looks at the different roles that one Irish family adopts during second World War

‘Conversations with Friends review: Sally Rooney offers searing insights on affairs and relationships

A highly unorthodox detective story sees a bipolar woman investigate her brother’s suicide

Debut novel from acclaimed short-story writer Billy O’Callaghan lacks finesse

Arja Kajermo uses fable and charming illustrations to bring a family’s struggles to life

Hopdance review: Stewart Parker’s posthumous memoir novel captures figments of a lost year

Actor Lisa Harding’s debut novel is character-driven and highly dramatic

One of the Boys by Daniel Magariel review: an emotional tale

Paula Cocozza’s beguiling first novel charts the love affair between a lonely woman and a flirtatiously fantastic fox

Actor Ciarán McMenamin’s debut captures the voice of disaffected youth in 1990s North

Sara Flannery Murphy’s intriguing debut merges the worlds of the living and the dead

Michèle Forbes’s story of a doomed romance in the vaudeville world lacks a magic spark

Nicole Dennis-Benn’s first novel shines a light on tourism’s underbelly

Alan McMonagle’s enthralling debut follows an Irish teenager trying to imagine a better life

In the final part of our series on influential books by women writers, we focus on Irish authors

An Afghan family fleeing the Taliban in the 1990s take refuge on an endless train journey

Review: The Coroner’s Daughter is a gory, frenetic but tongue-in-cheek murder tale set in 1816 Dublin

Alexandra Kleeman’s disturbing dystopia takes on body image and the beauty myth

American LGBT writer Michelle Tea takes a leap from memoir to something a tad more explosive

Ronan Ryan’s debut novel about the unlucky Diaz clan is compelling and compassionate

Flaws aside, Emily Barr’s YA debut hums with an original plot and likable heroine

From burnt-out businessmen to a sun-scorched surfing paradise, the city comes to life in Adam O’Riordan’s debut collection

Spiritual and sexual awakenings take a Gothic twist in April Ayers Lawson’s debut collection

Browser review

A powerful debut about a doomed romance recalls the novels of Donal Ryan

Virginia Reeves’s Man Booker-longlisted debut is eloquently written but on the dull side

Emmanuelle Pagano’s latest book brings readers on rollercoaster of love’s highs and lows

The protofeminist duchess is brilliantly realised in Danielle Dutton’s blackly funny novel

A young American author’s brave debut tackles suicide, abortion and motherhood

From writers to politicians, the highs and lows of books they read

A classical pianist looks back on his life in Eric Beck Rubin’s short, meditative novel

Christine Sneed’s new collection uses sex to reveal sharp, funny insights into modern life

New Fiction: Kirsy Logan’s imaginative collection highlights the importance of storytelling

Intimate, gritty novel offers a realistic account of self-harm – and a glimmer of hope

Helena Mulkerns’s engaging debut collection features stories set in conflict zones

Jess Kidd’s debut novel is atmospheric but too cliched to really score as mystery or drama

Elizabeth Church’s debut novel on nuclear war and women’s liberation fails to take flight

Anuk Arudpragasam explores what it means to be alive when war takes away our dignity

It’s a pity Sarah Maria Griffin’s imaginative young adult debut never quite hits its stride

Tony Tulathimutte offers a comic portrait of privilege and friendship in noughties ’Frisco

Fantasy and reality fuse in an ambitious and linguistically powerful Irish debut

A near-future dystopia, an engaging short story debut mostly set in Meath

A Cameroonian couple's American dreams are dashed amid the global financial crisis