Drawn out of retirement, Rebus is haunted by the murder of a young woman forty years ago. In Edinburgh, rivalry in the criminal world results in a vicious attack on newcomer Darryl Christie, and rumours of crime boss Big Ger Cafferty’s return.

A government prosecutor is murdered, and a sinister note is left at the scene. DI Siobhan Clarke calls her old boss John Rebus out of retirement, setting in train a dark, explosive mystery that reunites Ian Rankin’s greatest characters.

Jeremy Wade, whose angling adventures are featured on the television series River Monsters, tells the story of his lifelong quest to track down the freshwater predators that have a fearsome reputation in local traditions across the world. He brings his zoological expertise and personal observations to the description of such creatures as the Himalayan man-eating goonch and the huge paraiba (‘mother of all the fishes’) found in the Amazon.

Hilda Kemp grew up in the slums of Bermondsey in the 1930s depression with her father, a heavy-drinking docker who regularly beat his wife and child. Her granddaughter Cathryn has brought to life the stories she heard as a child of her nan playing in the dockyards, stealing coal from barges and dodging the rag-and-bone man, all set against a background of inner-city deprivation.

On the morning after an alcoholic binge, Detective Dave Robicheaux wakes up with no memory of the previous night; but the man who killed his wife has been murdered and the detective, now prime suspect, must fight to prove his innocence, even to himself.

After six years in prison for murdering her best friend, Kate Reynolds returns to her home town, unable to move on until she proves her innocence. For help, she turns to Madison Attallee, a private investigator now, but six years ago, the first police detective on the murder scene.

Veronica Henry weaves two stories around the house at 11 Lark Hill in Bath; one is set in wartime, the other sees the present occupant’s daughter going off to university, leaving 40-something Laura – and her Aga – facing a different life in a quiet, half empty house.

When the Jones family move from affluent Wimbledon to shabby Battersea just after the war, their new neighbours welcome them with open arms. But before long it becomes clear that all is not well in the house next door.

With stories about Christmas presents, school plays, eating vegetables, and the Abominable Snowman, jokes, puzzles, games and Henry’s Christmas survival guide, this set of three Horrid Henry books – his Merry Mischief, Cracking Christmas and Jolly Holidays – Will occupy even the most lively children over the festive season.

According to Native American tradition, animal spirits can guide our lives and share their wisdom. In this volume, which includes an A–Z of creatures, readers are encouraged to discover and work with their own totem animal.

The Chinese I Ching is an ancient divination text that has been used for centuries to help people make decisions, manage relationships and find inner strength. This introductory guide provides interpretations for all 64 hexagrams.