Newly promoted Detective Sergeant William Warwick has been reassigned to the drugs squad. His first case … to investigate a notorious South London drug lord known as the Viper. As he and his team close the net around the criminal network, he’s also faced with an old enemy, Miles Faulkner. It will take all William’s cunning to devise a means to bring both men to justice … a trap neither will expect, one that’s Hidden in Plain Sight. This is Jeffrey Archer’s second thriller featuring Warwick – it follows on from Nothing Ventured but reads well as a stand alone story. Full, as Archer fans would expect, of thrills and twists and turns.
• Oh, joy for fans of The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. A new instalment, just in time for the hols. Alexander McCall Smith’s How to Raise an Elephant allows readers to catch up on the latest from Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and other favourites. The book starts off nice and easy … in fact, Precious Ramotswe wonders whether rising heat in Gaborone could be the reason that business is particularly slow. But add some new neighbours who, by the sound of it, have a rather volatile relationship, a distant cousin who arrives at the agency with a plea for help, and a hair-raising night-time expedition, and things heat up pretty quickly. But nothing that can’t be sorted out over a slice of Mma Potokwani’s fruit cake.
• You know what you’re going to get in Together By Christmas. Girl meets boy, heart-wrenching dilemmas, some long buried secrets and a whole lot of romance. But that doesn’t take away from the sheer hedonistic joy of a chick-lit novel to read on a sun lounger this December. Karen’ Swan’s latest love story is just lovely.
As it’s time for the holidays, a wine from Journey’s End boutique winery seems appropriate, particularly a bottle of Destinations Chardonnay 2018. The vineyard, owned by the Gabb family, has just released its rebranded top-tier Precision Series … this gold medal Chardonnay is rich and full and creamy and a complete treat for the last book club of the year. It’s a limited edition – only 20 barrels were produced – and is vegan-friendly. R280 from good bottlestores and online from shop.journeysend.co.za
