Reading Matters (week 025) 17 June 2025

Debut author Andrea Shaw’s Unsolicited (Jacana Media) has a ghastly murder – yes, some murders are more gruesome than others – set amongst books and a publisher’s pile of unsolicited manuscripts.

Fatima Matthews is the Cape Town detective working for the police who is at the heart of this thriller, not least because in spite of suffering badly from menopause, she forges ahead in the chase for the killer. Astonishingly good.

You’ve probably heard of author and columnist Paige Nick – now she’s written a book about books and writers, Book People(Macmillan).

A crime writer wants his name to blaze in lights and when a negative review of his new book is published on his partner’s book club Facebook page, he reacts in fury. The blaze that follows is not what he intended. Dire consequences result in a riveting read.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall