Broken Homes, by Ben Aaronovitch

The action moves south of the river when the magical investigators of the Metropolitan Police look into an apparent suicide at a London Tube station. Trainee wizard constable Peter Grant and his damaged colleague Lesley May go undercover in an iconic tower block, Skygarden, designed in the 60s by a revolutionary architect, who also may have had magical connections. Their old adversary the Faceless Man seems to be involved, but the team are puzzled as to his interest in Skygarden. Peter’s teenage cousin Abigail makes a few appearances in this tale, possibly flagging her trajectory in future books. Lesley forms an unlikely relationship with an unusual character from the previous book, underlining Peter’s cluelessness with women. The action is fast and it can be tricky to keep track of all the various elements and characters and how they are related – or not. Peter’s confidence and competence are growing, despite the doubts of his boss, but a major betrayal shocks them both and seriously undermines their chances of stopping their most dangerous enemy.

Sanditon, by Jane Austen and another lady

The recent unsatisfactory TV adaptation of Austen’s unfinished final novel prompted a reread. It was left unfinished when she died in 1817, but a version was completed by Marie Dobbs in 1975. Austen had written 11 chapters, which was sufficient to introduce all the important characters and establish how the story was likely to proceed. This made the task relatively easy for Dobbs, having been provided with the essential building blocks. Sensible Charlotte Heyward visits the emerging seaside town of Sanditon, where she has the opportunity to observe a very interesting set of characters, including several eligible bachelors. Dobbs lacks Austen’s sardonic humour but she makes a good fist of finishing the tale, treating the characters with affection and providing a satisfying outcome. This is in marked contrast to the TV series, where the writers have introduced a plethora of new characters and sordid storylines, along with an inconclusive ending. This was seemingly to allow further series, although it is difficult to imagine they will be worth watching.

The Flight Attendant (HBO)

International flight attendant Cassie hooks up with a first class passenger Alex and wakes next to his corpse in a Bangkok hotel room. Blacked out drunk, she remembers little of the night, panics, cleans up and flees the scene. What follows is a riot of murder, organised crime and corporate espionage, swirling around a woman with deep seated issues and falling apart. Pursued by the FBI and criminal consortia, Cassie lurches between disasters, trying to figure out what happened and get herself out of trouble. Kaley Cuoco walks a fine line between comedy and tragedy as a functioning alcoholic with childhood trauma, who is constantly letting down family and friends. Fantasy elements take her into her own head, talking with Alex to piece together their night and dipping back into her past to figure out how she became such a fuck up. The plot is often ludicrous, but moves fast enough to skip over the gaps; the sub plot is superfluous but paves the way for a possible second series. Cuoco is ably supported by a strong ensemble cast, including familiar TV faces Zosia Mamet, Rosie Perez, Michelle Gomez, TR Knight and Australian actor Deniz Akdeniz.

Those Who Perish, by Emma Viskic

Resurrection Bay again hosts the action in this fourth Caleb Zelic novel. He has been dividing his time between there and Melbourne, while his wife is staying with her parents in the final weeks of her pregnancy. The deaf PI has been trying to avoid dangerous jobs to keep Kat sweet, but that resolve is threatened when his junkie brother Ant reappears after six months with no contact. Soon Caleb is drawn into a murder mystery centred on an insular island in the Bay, where Ant is in a new rehab facility. Can Caleb keep his family safe and will he have to choose between his brother and his marriage? Visic evokes a great sense of place, with deep layers of community and culture, rural, indigenous and deaf. She maintains tension to the end, with the safety of all concerned in doubt and the identity of the murderer coming as a surprise to both Caleb and the reader. The murder rate in the small coastal town puts it in in danger of becoming Australia’s Midsummer, so it’s probably just as well her next novel will be a standalone.

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

Elizabeth Zott is a woman ahead of her time. As a scientist in the 1950s, her career is stymied by rampant sexism and by her freethinking, no-nonsense persona. Passionate about chemistry, Elizabeth is also a fabulous cook and she combines these two strengths to become a pioneer in television food programming. A terrible childhood, assault, discrimination, losing the love of her life and single motherhood in the 1950s – nothing can derail indomitable Elizabeth. With the support of a few loyal friends, including a remarkable dog, and her small daughter, she cannot but triumph. Written in a tongue-in-cheek style that belies its serious themes, this is a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read. The devastatingly honest heroine both learns and teaches that you can create your own family on your own terms. A worthwhile lesson in more than chemistry.

A Discovery of Witches series 3 (SKY)

Returned to the 21st century, Diana and Matthew gather their allies to search for the missing pages of the Book of Life and combat the Congregation and its restrictive Covenant. Diana is pregnant, which makes their task more urgent, as the Covenant threatens Matthew’s whole bloodline. He needs to reconcile issues from his past to secure their future. Meanwhile a serial killer threatens to expose Creatures to the world and rogue witch Peter Knox is out for blood. This final season is as true to the books as the first two, but the action is somewhat crammed into only seven episodes. This leaves the ending as something of an anticlimax as everything is suddenly resolved after a dramatic rescue. Filming during COVID restrictions must have been difficult, but the story deserved another episode to properly round it out and better satisfy, given the series will not continue.