PSYCHOS

Yellowface

by Rebecca F. Kuang (The Borough Press £16.99, 336pp)

Athena Liu is the young darling of the literary world and Juniper Hayward is her jealous friend. On one level this book is a fascinating dissection of toxic female friendship and the weird energy that envy creates between some friends.

‘I am drinking to dull the bitch in me that wishes she was dead,’ says Juniper during a night to ‘celebrate’ Athena’s Netflix deal. Later the same evening, Athena suddenly dies in a freak accident and Juniper steals Athena’s just-finished manuscript. She publishes it under another name.

Exactly how far Juniper will go to defend her project provides the jeopardy in this well-observed satire. Kuang has a knack for one-liners and is alarmingly convincing on the cutthroat hypocrisy in publishing that will to go any lengths to be seen taking a virtuous position on race and all things woke, however many lies they have to tell.

The Fall

by Gilly MacMillan (Century £18.99, 464pp)

Lottery winners are instantly fascinating characters and Tom, who was once a mere mechanic, and Nicole, who was a lowly admin manager in a solicitor’s office, do not disappoint.

Their ten-million-pound win has transported the young couple to their dream home, a huge glass-walled barn set amid the staggering beauty of the Lancaut Nature Reserve on the border of England and Wales. One day, Nicole returns home to find Tom dead in the swimming pool and the police don’t think it’s an accident.

A tense spotlight falls on the couple’s neighbours in the nearby Manor House and their housekeeper.

But nothing is what it seems and the splendidly twisty plot, told from several points of view, maintains a satisfying pace. A smart, well-told story that allows us to indulge our sneaky curiosity about what instant money can do to people’s lives.

Obsessed

by Liza North (Constable £16.99, 368pp)

Laura, a happily married young mother, thinks she is living a fulfilled life in Edinburgh with her two children, until she suddenly bumps into Alexis, her gorgeous childhood sweetheart, at her daughter’s nursery school.

Things turn toxic when they resume their relationship and Alexis is suddenly found dead and Laura is a suspect. 

The story is deftly told between twin timelines of Laura’s life at school when she fell so heavily for Alexis and the present day. And the author is particularly good at creating just enough doubt and suspicion to keep the plot interesting. 

The answers obviously lie in what exactly happened way back in her schooldays and the connection with his death — but we are kept guessing right until the end. This is an accomplished debut and a fascinating study of the dangerous power of obsessive attraction.