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Snap by Belinda Bauer
As a police procedural crime novel which made it to this autumn's Man Booker Prize long-list, Belinda Bauer's new thriller is something of a rarity. Moving from the traumatic events of a sweltering early 2000s East Devon summer, Bauer's novel follows the paths of three main protaganists: Jack, the traumatised youth, trying to maintain control as the solid walls of his comfortable and loving childhood collapse around him, DCI Marvel, the London copper sent down to the country following his own professional catastrophe, and mum-to-be Catherine whose seemingly idyllic existence gradually becomes exposed as little more than a mirage.
In addressing these various slings and arrows of fortune, Bauer provides us with a compelling un-put-downable tale with enough twists and turns to keep the reader hooked to the novel's bloody conclusion.
Published by Black Swan: £8.99
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Snow in the Garden by Shirley Hughes
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