The Kremlin’s Noose by Amy Knight review – vital primer on Putin’s Russia and Boris Berezovsky’s death

The American historian and expert on Russia has written a definitive study of the flamboyant life and mysterious death of the oligarch, a confidant of Yeltsin and a man to whom Putin was once indebted

On the Shadow Tracks by Clare Hammond review – a train to Myanmar’s dark heart

On a 3,000-mile journey, the journalist meets disparate peoples and discovers a world too often veiled, piecing together a fascinating modern history of a country blighted by corruption and conflict

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley review – time-travel romance is a sparkling delight

The author’s intelligent and witty first novel effortlessly fuses a love story, a mystery and postcolonial narratives

Passiontide by Monique Roffey review – flawed but well-told tale of a feminist uprising

The murder of a Japanese tourist on a fictional Caribbean island sparks a rebellion among the local women in an urgent novel mirroring a real-life case

The Last Sane Woman by Hannah Regel review – the precariousness of the creative life

An aspiring artist who dreams of being successful confronts frustration and failure in an assured debut novel

The week in TV: House of the Dragon; Euro 2024; The Stormtrooper Scandal; Under the Bridge – review

Series two of the fantasy prequel is off to a fiery start; footie coverage is a game of two channels; the force is with a Star Wars art spat; and young stars shine in a true crime drama

In brief: The Accidental Garden; Everything’s Fine; Freakslaw – reviews

A delightful horticultural memoir; a witty romance set in the world of investment banking; and a fantastical queer tale of marginalised carnival folk

The House of Beckham by Tom Bower review – a sex-obsessed hatchet job

The journalist’s supposed exposé of David and Victoria Beckham’s gilded lives is a hilariously bitter hybrid of tabloid gossip, old news and sloppy writing

Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession review – a delightful fable

The mysteries of everyday existence are thrown into sharp relief by the sudden appearance of a magical mountain

The best translated fiction – review roundup

Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán; Comrade Papa by GauZ’; The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo; Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith audiobook review – a compelling classic

Actor David Menkin deftly captures the antihero’s blend of guilelessness and deceit in Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller

Straight Acting by Will Tosh review – out on stage

A rich study of queer desire in Shakespeare, from cosplay in The Merchant of Venice to gender fluidity in Twelfth Night

Imperial Harvest by Bruce Pascoe review – an epic tale of humanity, horror and hope

Set in 13th century Mongolia, this novel articulates a quiet, pragmatic optimism about the ways we can heal each other amid war and trauma

Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin review – parallel lives in Paris

Two young couples live in the same apartment 50 years apart, in a debut that dances between voices and times

The Atomic Human by Neil Lawrence review – return of the Terminator

Tales of great men dominate this otherwise sensible study of intelligence versus AI