The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup

The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes; The First 48 Hours by Simon Kernick; The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou; The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok; Gaslight by Femi Kayode

The Rise by Ian Rankin audiobook review – a short, smart and pacy thriller

Read by Game of Thrones actor Indira Varma, this satisfying whodunnit is set in the playground of oligarchs, developers and royalty

Stuffed by Pen Vogler review – tasting history

A series of delicious case studies trace fault lines of class, cost and convenience that run through the story of British food

Women & Children by Tony Birch review – a new high for the master craftsman

In his beautiful and forthright new book, Birch brings a tender simplicity to his characters in a story about the trauma of violence – and the power of family

Good Material by Dolly Alderton review – anatomy of a breakup

Comedy, compassion and Insta-stalking in the tale of a thirtysomething standup’s relationship anguish

The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens by Helena Kelly review – great speculations

A new biography suggests everything we know about Dickens is wrong

Orbital by Samantha Harvey review – the astronaut’s view

Six people make an ecstatic voyage around Earth in this finely crafted meditation on hope, beauty, the ordinary and the spectacular

Toxic by Sarah Ditum review – celebrity skin

A long overdue reassessment of early-noughties attitudes to women in the spotlight

Jungle House by Julianne Pachico review – a fresh take on AI

A woman is mothered by an evolved smart home, in this lively speculative novel about consciousness and revolution

A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65 review – twist and shout

David Kynaston’s epic history zooms in on three years of extraordinary social change

Tired of Winning review: Jonathan Karl on Trump as Hitler wannabe

ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent is a sure guide to the former president’s rise and the enduring threat he poses

Desperation Road review – Mel Gibson still after redemption in southern crime yarn

Hardluck single mother blows into a small town just as an ex-con returns there, and many thinly drawn secondary characters kick off

Karma by Boy George review – loud, vainglorious and very funny

Relentless rants, endless score-settling and a stint in prison – the singer’s (latest) memoir recounts a life lived at a higher frequency

The Fourth Sister by Laura Scott review – the deadliest slur of all?

The poet pays homage to Chekhov in her second collection, in which boredom is both feared and acknowledged and desperation tussles with wit

Dirty Linen by Martin Doyle review – growing up in Northern Ireland’s ‘murder triangle’

The Irish author’s painstakingly researched account of the sectarian killings that blighted his childhood in Tullylish, County Down, is among the most moving works on the conflict