Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray. Leila Reynolds is a relatively new barrister, married to Julian who’s a Kings Counsel. They both work in the same legal chambers and one day she’s assigned a case, defending a man who is accused of murdering a local well-respected judge. Things get complicated though when her husband Julian is assigned as the Crown Prosecutor in the case and they’re up against each other in court. I read a lot of legal thrillers but this is a terrific example of the genre with twists and turns that keep coming right til the end. It’s very good and very entertaining. 

John of John by Douglas Stuart. Douglas Stuart’s first book Shuggie Bain won the Booker Prize in 2022. This new book is about a father and son who live in denial in a small, remote community where they keep secrets from each other and where their lives are lived according to what God and the neighbours might think. There’s so much to love in it - the language is extraordinary, the writing exceptional, and it moves between old traditions and the modern world, and between generations, seamlessly. I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

LISTEN ABOVE