July 2024 books

What’s new and good to read this month? Dan Coombes has a look at what’s on offer from publishers in July and chooses Resolution by Irvine Welsh, A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp and  Pity Party by Daisy Buchanan.

Resolution – Irvine Welsh

I wonder if anyone’s ever popped out for a nice cup of tea and a chat with Irvine Welsh and said ‘So, that last book was a lot… how about dialling down some of the cynicism, swearing and general grisliness? Maybe a nice story with some kittens?’ If they have, they were probably met with an unimpressed stare, some choice words, and absolutely no luck whatsoever. Three decades after publishing Trainspotting, he’s still as uncompromising as ever and this book is certainly strong stuff, but he’s also never lost his unrivalled knack for telling a powerful and compulsive story too. If there’s one tale this month that you won’t forget reading in too much of a hurry, it’s this.

Ray Lennox is determined to move on from his darkest days. The former detective has left Edinburgh for a fresh start in Brighton. Soon, his fixations and addictions have been replaced with quiet evenings and a rigorous fitness regime. Then Lennox meets Mathew Cardingworth. Rich, smooth-talking and immaculately dressed, he presents himself as a successful, and respectable, property developer.

Yet their encounter reawakens memories that have haunted Lennox for decades, sending him into a spiral of confusion and rage. Lennox has no choice – he must confront the events of his childhood. But the more he identifies the links between Cardingworth, the disappearance of a group of foster care boys and the violence of his past, the more he finds himself asking: What will he sacrifice to achieve resolution at last?

Images: Resolution  front cover, Author Irvine Welsh

A Poisoner’s Tale – Cathryn Kemp

A horror-tinged and gothic historical novel based on the story of ‘the first documented female serial killer in history’, who you definitely won’t sort of secretly root for a bit even if you maybe shouldn’t, as she orchestrates the poison-based bumping off of various horrible husbands in seventeenth century Rome, even as the Inquisition closes in… Well-written, deliciously dark and gripping stuff.

Murderer or saviour? You decide.

Rome, 1656. In the shadowy backstreets of the Eternal City lies an apothecary’s shop – a place for women to take their heartbreaks and troubles. Herbs for childbirth. Tarot readings to tell their fortunes. An undetectable poison that can kill in four drops.

Giulia Tofana dispenses her deadly potion to free the downtrodden women of the city from their abusive husbands, a path she’s determined to follow after a harrowing childhood in Palermo. But even in a time of plague, it does not go unnoticed when the men of Rome begin to fall like flies. With a newly elected Pope hell-bent on ridding the city of heretics and witches, and the Holy Office of the Inquisition on her tail, Giulia is in more danger than ever.

Exploring the realities of what it is like to be a woman who rebels against society, A Poisoner’s Tale takes the reader on a tense, challenging but spellbinding journey. This is not just a retelling of the legend of Giulia Tofana but an ode to sisterhood and motherhood, to defiance and secret rebellion.

Images: A Poisoner’s Tale front cover, Author Cathryn Kemp

Pity Party – Daisy Buchanan

Not for the first time, it’s probably best to finish on something a little bit more lighthearted after cheerfully recommending extra-large helpings of violence, depravity, murder and moral ambiguity, but this one is a bit of a poignant tear-jerker as well. Don’t worry, you’ll have a good time – it’s quirky, funny and uplifting stuff, but Pity Party will wrench your heart and soul all over the shop while slowly but surely warming them both to the core.

Katherine lives by the rules, ticks all the boxes and prepares for the worst, even while she hopes for the best. Then the worst actually happens and, as she tries to navigate life as a young widow, it turns out she was not prepared at all. Nothing scares Katherine more than stopping, but everyone insists she needs to take some time for herself. Head to a wellness retreat, they said. Enjoy some me-time, they said…

Except this retreat isn’t the pity party she was hoping for. Instead of massages, she has erotic meditation, and instead of spa treatments she has scream therapy. Katherine has never lost control in her life. In fact, she’s fairly certain that if she starts screaming she might never stop. But she’s about to let go, and everyone had better stand back… Hilarious, heartbreaking and honest, this is a story about learning how to stop playing it safe in a world that feels so dangerous – and showing up to the party, even when it feels impossible.

Images: Pity Party  front cover, Author Daisy Buchanan