Chips Channon’s uncensored diaries are addictive – and troubling
5/5
MP Chips Channon, photographed by Cecil Beaton
Credit: Sothebys
Nobody knows for certain why Henry Channon was called “Chips”. One theory is that as a young man he shared lodgings with a friend whose nickname was “Fish” – which is rather nice, as it’s hard to think of anyone less likely to have set foot in an ordinary fish and chip shop. For Chips Channon, the ultimate aristocrat manqué, was born with a reasonably sized silver spoon in his mouth, and thereafter worked hard on converting it into a soup tureen of solid gold.
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka (Bloomsbury)
The Nobel laureate’s first novel in almost 50 years promises “murder, mayhem and no shortage of drama” in contemporary Nigeria.
The Thursday Murder Club 2 by Richard Osman (Viking)
Last year the
Pointless co-host’s cosy crime debut set in a retirement home broke sales records; here comes the sequel.
Waters of Salvation by Richard Coles (W&N)
A new crime series from everyone’s favourite vicar begins as a proposal to refurbish a village church ends in murder; Canon Daniel Clement must investigate.
Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout (Viking)