Henry Kimball was once a teacher. Then a cop. He’s now a private detective. When an ex-pupil of his comes into his office one day, she tells him she strongly suspects that her husband has been cheating on her with someone he works with, but wants confirmation. It sounds a straightforward case, but, as often happens with such stuff, the plot soon takes a turn down some very dark alleys. Peter Swanson is a master at sticking knifes into familiar tropes and then giving them a twist, and his latest is a twin narrative page-turner of the highest order. The novel is a loose sequel to his much-feted ‘The Kind Worth Killing’ (published in 2015), but you don’t need to have read ‘Killing’ to enjoy ‘Saving’. However, if you haven’t read ‘The Kind Worth Killy’ then I’d heartily recommend you do so as it’s one of the best thrillers of the last ten years. RM

Faber & Faber