My crime rave of the season: Chris Whitaker’s All The Wicked Girls

It’s hard these days to find a novel that is not derivative, but this is one of those rare beasts.  Chris Whitaker follows Tall Oaks, his ‘missing child’ thriller with All The Wicked Girls. His writing romps along, his timelines and points of view enclose us in the characters and their perceptions in what could so easily be a chaotic whirlwind, but is in fact a vibrant involving narrative. The Plot? In short: Summer Ryan is a model student, but is anyone that perfect? Raine, her sister, is different, troubled and challenging. Summer goes missing and Raine burrows into the investigation. She has an ally but this doesn’t necessarily mean she is safe.

That’s all you’re going to get from me. Read it, not just for the story, but so that you devour the world Whitaker creates. A cracking novel.

All the Wicked Girls by Chris Whitaker: Zaffre Publishing pb £7.99 + eBook

• We will be publishing Chris’ hilarious A Day in the Life in a couple of weeks.

The Sky is Not the Limit by Amanda Newton

As well as an author with Arrow & contributing editor for Frost, I am also the founder and administrator of the charity Words for the Wounded which helps disabled and unwell veterans so clearly I would find this  autobiography interesting, but is it a ‘must read’ for everyone?

Most certainly.

In the summer of 2015 Amanda Newton crashed her bike whilst triathlon training which left her terribly injured, and unable to walk. Using Facebook posts, Newton kept family and friends up to date with her journey of recovery, one that remarkably included an appreciation of all the positives that life has to offer. Positives that one might reasonably assume were pretty hard to come by, and then hang on to.

In The Sky is Not the Limit, Newton revisits these posts, and compares them to where she is now. So where is this? Though still in a wheelchair Newton continues to live life to the hilt:10 k races, training for Marathons, and did I mention sky-diving. Sometimes we talk of someone being inspirational, well, Amanda really is.

This is a book to read, and savour and which will lift our own lives. Amanda Newton has been shortlisted for a Sports and Recreation Achievement Award by the Spinal Injury Association, and her house has been renovated by DIY SOS.

The Sky is Not the Limit Amanda Newton pb £8.99 + eBook

The Hungry Empire by Lizzie Collingham

OK, most of us have been on holiday, eaten and drunk well, to say the least, but did you think of how Britain’s quest for food shaped the modern world?

I hadn’t until I read Collingham’s exploration of the subject. It could have been heavy, like grandma’s suet pudding but it wasn’t. It was fascinating. I’m not suggesting you rush out and try an iguana curry, but good to read about one who did, and why.

I knew about spice trade routes, but what about the cod of Newfoundland? And what about the dastardly sugar which has such a bad press today? Fortunately Collingham avoids the heavy handed polemics that ruin  so many of these books for me as she takes us on a voyage around twenty meals, opening up the history of our worldwide trade, and how it helped to shape the world.

Give it a go, it’s illuminating, fascinating and whilst we’re on the subject of food; satisfying. Can I have some more, please.

The Hungry Empire by Lizzie Collingham The Bodley Head. Hb. £20 + eBook