Within weeks, however, this saviour has turned into the Angel of Death, and all the family are dead. When an apparently wealthy benefactor takes a warm interest in the family Asta hopes she has found a guardian angel. First there’s grief for her recently departed husband, and secondly the financial worry over how she’ll continue to provide for her three children. In 1931 Chicago a widow is facing her problems. You alone must judge this latest recreation. Sometimes novels based on real life crime hit the spot, and other times they are well wide of the mark.

The new Duffy is out today as a hardback, and the second in the series, Fiddle City, is being reprinted in August. Duffy agrees to work a case for Brian McKechnie, who has a trio of problems: a murdered cat an assaulted wife and some serious blackmail. Our anti-hero, Duffy, has a sliding scale of ethics and some strange characteristics, like a fear of ticking watches and a great love of Tupperware. The series is being reprinted by Orion and in the first novel you’ll be immersed into a seedy Soho setting.

Today sees a return to the bookshelves for Duffy, the bisexual former London policeman first introduced by Dan Kavanagh way back in 1980. They’ve been described as ‘very grubby’, so… perfect reading for Easter? Well, maybe not but that’s where we’re going to start with this week’s new releases. Irish author Dan Kavanagh’s character is back thanks to Orion, which is reprinting the entire series of four books with some moody photographic covers. The man we’re refering to is the rather unusual 80s detective Duffy. He hates ticking clocks, but he loves Tupperware.

The Toe Tag Quintet by Matthew Condon