Ideally, reading a novel will be an engaging and engrossing experience – an escape from the real world, and yet, still a stimulating reflection upon that world. It is less common, but even more thrilling, to discover a book that becomes all-consuming – a book that...

Last year, Lauren Beukes burst onto the playing field of crime fiction with her novel, The Shining Girls. While that work was by no means her debut, it was the first that could be classified (predominantly) as a tale of crime – in that book’s case, the story of a...