Five new books to read this week

Nightshade By Michael Connelly, Hardback, £22

- MATT NIXSON and JON COATES

Enigmatic LA County Sheriff's Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing Catalina Island, an idyllic holiday destination 29 miles off the coast of California. But his usual caseload of petty thefts and drunken hijinks is upended when a buffalo is decapitated and a woman's body is found in the harbour, weighed down with an anchor. Ordered to stand down by the mainland detectives, Stilwell refuses to drop the case.

While fans will always pine for more Harry Bosch or Lincoln Lawyer, Connelly's 40th novel introduces an intriguing new character more than capable of carrying his own series. Expect more, if we're lucky. 9/10.

A Schooling in Murder

By Andrew Taylor, Hardback