Herald Checklist: This week's books, including Tennison by Lynda La Plante and Mr Smiley: My Last Pill And Testament by Howard Marks

The Railways: Nation, Network And People by Simon Bradley is published in hardback by Profile Books, priced £25 (ebook £12.23). Available now

You may think there is nothing more to be said on railways - that they have held such sway over so many generations of enthusiasts that all possibilities have been exhausted, terminus reached. Simon Bradley's fantastic The Railways: Nation, Network And People proves otherwise.

A trainspotter and proud, Bradley loves his subject, yet this is far from a hagiographic retelling of familiar stories and broad-brushed revolution. Instead, railways and their growth provide an entry point for a comprehensive exploration of British culture, written with infectious enthusiasm and touching on everyone from Lord Wellington to Jimi Hendrix, everything from the rise of middle management to the very nature of time.

Non-spotters are never alienated by overbearing terminology, with key figures and companies introduced from scratch, while any post-Beeching nostalgia is carefully contextualised and eminently persuasive. Indeed, Bradley goes some way to explaining the genesis of nostalgia itself, with some of the more evocative chapters, such as his elegiac history of sleeper services, serving as both requiem for a vanishing world and exhortation to value what we have, while we still have it.

The book's structure is taken neatly from trains' day-to-day existence - carriages, coal, stations - effectively reverse-engineering the entire rail network to offer a staggeringly comprehensive examination of its causes, effects and legacy. Primary sources run the gamut from an awful lot of Dickens (an early adopter) to ticket stubs and dining car menus, tied together with sufficient panache to make certain stretches as compelling as an airport thriller: only afterwards do you realise you were actually reading about the birth of life insurance.

Pages brim with social history, theory and anecdote, time and again demonstrating that as much as the marks on our landscape, railways have and continue to exert a far more profound effect on Britain's culture and society - a central thesis which, while hardly new, has surely never been expounded upon as thoroughly or cohesively as this. A marvellous achievement.

9/10

(Review by Michael Anderson)

FICTION

Tennison by Lynda La Plante is published in hardback by Simon & Schuster, priced £20 (ebook £9.99). Available now

DCI Jane Tennison is one of television's best known police officers. Brought to life on the small screen by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, the gritty and determined police officer has a legion of fans. But very little is known about Tennision's early days, the probationary WPC who was later to become a focused and resolute champion of justice. With the release of Tennison, celebrated author Lynda La Plante has filled in those gaps and given her own fans the chance to find out what made Tennison the officer she became. As a young constable thrown into a male-dominated and chauvinistic world of early 1970s London, she cuts her crime-fighting teeth on the investigation of the brutal murder of a young girl. Learning quickly as she goes, Tennison shows all of the insight and a nose for crime which goes on to stand her in great stead for the rest of her career. Playing an important role in solving that first case, she takes the first faltering steps towards becoming one of British fiction's favourite female police officers. La Plante - a prolific author and screen writer - needs no introduction and by introducing the beginnings of Tennison's police career, she has filled in the gaps with a compelling instalment.

9/10

(Review by Roddy Brooks)

The Gap Of Time by Jeanette Winterson is published in hardback by Hogarth, priced £16.99 (ebook £8.49). Available now

The Gap Of Time is Jeanette Winterson's moving, pacy "cover version" of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (1611). This is a clever book that explores themes of love, loss, and forgiveness as parents screw up their children and do the unthinkable. In The Winter's Tale, Leontes' misplaced jealousy (he thinks his wife, Hermione, is having an affair with his best friend) causes him to abandon his baby daughter, Perdita, and kill his wife (or so we think). Sixteen years later, he gets the chance of atonement. In Winterson's witty and funky adaptation, Shakespeare's characters are transplanted to a modern-day America of poverty and racial politics and to London and Paris, post-financial crash. Hermione (now Mimi) is a singer (we get her Wikipedia entry) and Leo a capitalist and property developer. Perdita (little lost one) becomes a feisty, no-nonsense heroine whose journey to make sense of her origins becomes a mystery story and adventure romp. The play and the re-telling are personal - "It's a play about a foundling. And I am ... and how forgiveness and the future are tied together in both directions," Winterson writes - and the playful treatment of time will be familiar to readers of her Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit (1985). A thrilling read.

8/10

(Review by Nicola Wilson)

After You by JoJo Moyes is published in hardback by Michael Joseph, priced £20 (ebook £7.99). Available now

If you are one of the many, many people who universally cried, laughed and savoured every moment of Moyes' Me Before You and you ever wondered what became of the comical and lovable Louisa Clark, here is the sequel to answer all your questions. After six life-changing months spent with Will Traynor, how will Lou ever move on with her life? The novel starts with an extraordinary accident, which forces her home, right back to where her story began. Just as she begins to pick herself up again, a mysterious figure from Will's past appears to completely upset her plans. Though die-hard fans may argue that this pales in comparison to the original story, there is much comedy and almost as many tears, laugh-out-loud moments and unforgettable scenes, as the first.

8/10

(Review by Georgina Rodgers)

Agatha Raisin: Dishing The Dirt by MC Beaton is published in hardback by Constable, priced £14.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now

The bestselling author returns with another mystery featuring the sleuthing skills of Agatha Raisin. When therapist Jill Davent moves into the village of Carsely, Agatha is not happy. Not only does she discover that Jill and her ex-husband James are seeing each other, the therapist is gleefully sharing Agatha's slum beginnings with everyone in the village. Agatha decides to confront her and is heard threatening the therapist. Two days later, Jill is found strangled to death in her office with Agatha the prime suspect. With the help of her employees, Agatha sets out to clear her name and find the murderer. As the team investigate, they uncover Jill's true character and her shady past. But as more dead bodies turn up, can Agatha and her detectives stop the murderer before she too finds herself on the list? Another enjoyable read that has you guessing the whole village before the end.

7/10

(Review by Julie Cheng)

Blade Of Light by Andrea Camilleri is published in hardback by Mantle, priced £16.99 (ebook £7.79). Available now

The food-loving Italian Inspector Montalbano returns for his 19th outing in two cases - one where a robbery ends with a kiss, the other where a farmer suddenly finds a lock on a barn door that isn't his and shouldn't be there. He's distracted, falling under the spell of a beautiful gallery owner, putting at risk his relationship with long-term girlfriend Livia. Recurring elements such as Catarella's wrong pronunciation of names and Mimi's womanising make you feel among old friends, but Montalbano's reflections on ageing and loneliness bring an added dimension for long-term fans. If you haven't read one before or seen the series on BBC Four, there is still much to enjoy without worrying about the backstory.

7/10

(Review by Bridie Pritchard)

NON-FICTION

Mr Smiley: My Last Pill And Testament by Howard Marks is published in hardback by Macmillan, priced £18.99 (ebook £8.63). Available now

Hailed as 'the most sophisticated drug baron of all time', lovable rogue Howard Marks has gone on to become an author, columnist, DJ, and hero to a generation. His first autobiography, Mr Nice, was the bestselling non-fiction book of 1997. It detailed his time running a cannabis-smuggling empire, until he was caught and imprisoned in 1988. The follow up, Mr Smiley: My Last Pill And Testament, picks up as he is released seven years later, and details how he is soon drawn into the hectic world of drug of the moment: ecstasy. Touring and promoting Mr Nice, it appeared from the outside that his smuggling days were behind him, but the schemes and struggles continued behind closed doors. Sadly diagnosed with inoperable cancer earlier this year, this is literally his last testament, told with trademark wit and charm. This may not be the game changer that Mr Nice was, but it is still a fascinating insight into the world of drugs, told by one of Britain's most charismatic bad boys.

8/10

(Review by Harriet Shephard)

I'll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones (as told to Paul Morley) is published in hardback by Simon & Schuster, priced £20 (ebook £11.99). Available now

To describe Grace Jones as a singer, model and actress seems inadequate, yet she makes clear herein that she's no fan of the word 'diva'. Her autobiography lifts the lid on a life somehow even more remarkable than one would expect. After a tough upbringing (her family were Pentecostal on one side, perfectionist on the other, which made life difficult for an inveterate square peg like Grace) she escapes to New York and Paris, going on to meet pretty much anyone who was anyone. Friendly rivalry with Jerry Hall, turning down Jack Nicholson (though later comparing hat collections with him), sharing a smoke with Keith Richards... it's all here, though so is a more surprising quiet side (she's a big fan of watching tennis). Yet the biggest star always remains Grace Jones herself; her account can be scattershot, but is also self-reflective in a way celebrity memoirs seldom manage. Spellbinding stuff.

8/10

(Review by Alex Sarll)

CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK

Liquidator by Andy Mulligan is published in hardback by David Fickling Books, priced £12.99 (ebook £11.48). Available now

As bright, gaudy and fluid as the fictional drink it's named after - although not quite so addictive - Liquidator ticks all the topical boxes. Consumerism, greedy conglomerates, corrupt lawyers, absent parents, journalists being bought by advertisers - it's all in there, deftly woven into a story about a group of teenagers on work experience who, when one of them (Vicky) damages her boss' laptop and stumbles across a secret so huge it puts their lives at risk, pool their skills in a race against time. Lively, pacy and to the point, it's told from all the teenagers' perspectives. There's nerdy, computer genius Ben, tough on the outside but gooey in the middle Edgar, the Tuttle twins (organisational queens), Leelah who dreams of being a surgeon, and Katkat who's got all caught up with a rock star. Mulligan balances the darkness of the world this gang are drawn into, by spiking the plot with hope and the feeling that these friends will astound and succeed together. It's got grit and spark, but lacks the pull to keep you wanting more.

6/10

(Review by Ella Walker)

BESTSELLERS FOR WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 3

HARDBACKS

1. Grandpa's Great Escape by David Walliams

2. Leading by Alex Ferguson

3. Everyday Super Food by Jamie Oliver

4. After You by Jojo Moyes

5. My Story by Steven Gerrard

6. Guinness World Records 2016

7. A Year Of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III by Nigel Slater

8. Make Me by Lee Child

9. Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

10. KSI: I Am A Bell-End by KSI

(Compiled by Waterstones)

PAPERBACKS

1. After The Crash by Michel Bussi

2. Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body's Most Under-Rated Organ by Giulia Enders

3. Lila by Marilynne Robinson

4. A Spool Of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

5. Lamentation by CJ Samson

6. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

7. The Marshmallow Test: Understanding Self-Control And How To Master It, Walter Mischel

8. Listen To the Moon by Michael Morpurgo

9. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

10. The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

(Compiled by Waterstones)

EBOOKS

1. Double Cross: The True Story Of The D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre

2. The Martian by Andy Weir

3. Make Me by Lee Child

4. The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

5. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

6. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

7. The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

8. After You by Jojo Moyes

9. My Sister's Secret by Tracy Buchanan

10. The Photographer's Wife by Nick Alexander

(Compiled by amazon.co.uk)