Mr Mercedes by Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton £19.99)

STEPHEN King delivers his unmistakable brand of suspense and intrigue in Mr Mercedes, a fullthrottle page-turner, and his first hard-boiled detective story. Recently retired Detective Kermit William Hodges, Bill, is struggling to cope with a normal civilian life without catching the ruthless killer dubbed Mr Mercedes.

As Hodges contemplates his empty life, a letter from the killer arrives goading him as a failure and inviting him to talk about the crime and the suicidal feelings he may be harbouring on an anonymous social chat site. What unfolds is an intense cat-and-mouse chase between the two men

Phil Robinson

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham (Fourth Estate, £16.99) 5/5 stars 

WITH his latest novel, the Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Hours demonstrates his psychological craftsmanship. The Snow Queen follows the ordinary lives of a few New Yorkers. Barrett Meeks is forty- ish and unlucky in love when, walking through Central Park, he catches sight of an eerie light in the sky; inexplicably meaningful to Barrett, he begins to question its significance. At home his brother, Tyler, nurses his dying wife-to-be and tries to compose their wedding song. Tyler pursues the elusive magic of creativity in snowy vials of cocaine. In their quests for purpose, the brothers meditate on life in all its perplexing.

Kitty Wheater

Blood Whispers by John Gordon Sinclair is published in paperback by Faber & Faber, priced 12.99 (ebook 4.99). Available now

Blood Whispers is the follow-up to Sinclairs debut Seventy Times Seven and fans of this fast and bloody style will no doubt be thrilled.

Keira Lynch, successful lawyer to the down and outs of Glasgow, finds herself embroiled in the life of Kaltrina, a prostitute on the run from a ruthless Serbian gang leader.

She is no stranger to unrequited violence, with the tale of her own background unravelling behind her, yet only seems to be getting herself deeper and deeper into a world of lies and corruption in the present.

As the plot unfolds, she is left wondering who she can trust and,who is watching her every move.

Sarah Scoffin