Books

Mad Honey: Nuanced novel about a beekeeper and a small-town murder is one of the year’s best

A collaboration between two well-known writers, this is a seamless, beautifully written tale whose characters are the real stars

Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote alternating chapters of the story, which is told from the point of view of two of the characters

I’d like to reveal something about the magazine industry. Most critics have already filed their Best of the Year choices with editors by the time November hits its stride. This is why the majority of books released towards the end of the year are biographies of sportspeople or children’s stories – they make great gifts for Christmas, but aren’t necessarily as interested in topping such lists. It’s a shame, therefore, that Jodi Picoult and Jennifer ...