Rough Music by Patrick Gale (Fourth Estate)

THE dynamics of family relationships are put under acute examination in this expertly crafted tale.

Author Patrick Gale invites the reader along on two parallel journeys as we see a young married couple and their eight year old son embark on a two-week holiday at a picturesque beach cottage in Cornwall and then again witness the same family revisit the house some 30 odd years later.

King Of The Badgers by Philip Hensher (Fourth Estate)

IN a quiet picturesque seaside down in Devon, an eight year old girl disappears and the media hordes swoop westwards looking for a sensational headline or two.

But King Of The Badgers is not a crime thriller, not a whodunnit, instead the author lifts the lid on middle class respectability and carries out a forensic investigation into what lies below the surface.