Andrew Pyper – The Demonologist (Orion Fiction, £7.99) ****

The Demonologist is a scarily satisfying read. David Ullman, a respectable English professor, a world expert on Milton’s Paradise Lost and a sceptic in matters spiritual, is losing his wife to a rival. Uncharacteristically, he flies to Venice with his daughter. Their break takes a terrifying turn when his daughter vanishes. Ullman knows the truth lies not in the physical world, yet, he does not know how to rescue her nor redeem his family’s ruined lives.

Gemma Richards, 35, office worker, Bingley

Amanda Coplin – The Orchardist (Phoenix, £8.99) *****

Forty-year-old Talmadge, unmarried and alone, farms 25 acres of orchards in north west America. He provides refuge to runaways Della and Jane, teenage sisters who are both heavily pregnant and have escaped from their abuser. Della’s twins are still born, but Jane’s baby, Angelene, is left in Talmadge’s care when Jane hangs herself to avoid being recaptured. Be prepared for tears to fall when you read this heartsearching debut novel.

Margaret Jarvis, 80, retired, Wyke

Mark Peterson – A Place of Blood And Bone (Orion Books, £7.99) **

Brighton police are dealing with one of the toughest cases in their history when three young women are discovered in grotesque situations where their identities have all been removed by means of mutilation. The police are hunting a clever but brutal killer, the likes of which the city has never seen. All their efforts to solve these murders come to nothing and they are in despair when the young daughter of a famous TV personality also disappears.

Margaret Jarvis, 80, retired, Wyke