LATEST novel releases include The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff (published in hardback by William Heinemann, £12.99).

Pregnant and heartbroken, Wilhelmina Upton returns to her sleepy home town reeling from an affair with her married archaeology professor.

The comfort and reassurance Willie seeks is shattered by the discovery of a 50ft creature in the local lake and the accompanying media storm. Just as the white belly of the corpse surfaces in Lake Glimmerglass, so do the dark secrets of her family.

Her single mother Vi, ex-hippieturned devout Christian, chooses this moment to tell her she is not the product of a drug-fuelled orgy in San Francisco, but the result of a fling with a local man - a descendant of the town's founder, Marmaduke Temple.

Desperate to keep her mind off both "the Lump" and her crumbling academic career, Willie begins exploring her ancestry for the truth about her father. Using old letters and diary accounts, she makes some startling discoveries about Templeton history while encountering ghosts from the more recent past.

Former classmates are surprised to see her back, and the attentions of one-time homecoming king, now jaded father-of-two Ezekiel Felcher, forces Willie to confront her sometimes patronising feelings towards those she left behind.

Monsters is a rich and inventive debut novel for author Lauren Groff who set out, she tells us, to write a love letter to her home Cooperstown. Templeton is modelled closely on the historic town and Groff has borrowed characters created by its most famous resident, Last Of The Mohicans novelist James Fenimore Cooper.

The names of Native American Chingachgook and devious Frenchman Monsieur Le Quoi take their names, like many others, from The Pioneers, written in 1823. Literary references aside, it is the town and its quirky ancestors that are the real stars of the book, which is part-detective story, part-coming of age novel.

Lucy Christie Until It's Over, by Nicci French, (published in hardback by Michael Joseph, priced £16.99) tells the story of Astrid Bell, a young and athletic London cycle courier, who shares a large house in Hackney with seven other people: ex-boyfriend Miles (who also owns the property), university pal Pippa; Owen, a photographer, loner Mick, Dario, a dodgy builder, and newest member of the household Davy, a real carpenter and builder.

In the space of one day, her life changes. She is accidentally knocked off her bike by her neighbour Peggy Farrell, who is found bludgeoned to death in an alley the next day. Miles calls a house meeting and says he wants them all to move out as his girlfriend wants to move in.

A few days later, Astrid is asked to pick up a package from a wealthy client and discovers her murdered.

The police find it more than a coincidence and the nightmare begins. When she delivers a third package and discovers another woman dead, bitter accusations begin.

This is the ninth novel from the husband-and-wife writing team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, and it's as page-turning and thrilling as their previous books.

It's divided into two parts: Astrid's view and the killer's version of events, a very interesting way of viewing the story.

My only niggle is about the brief intense relationship Astrid has with a housemate she had described as not liking much. I felt it unrealistic. But that did not stop me eagerly reading the book in a single weekend - and then rereading it again a few day later.

Once again, the author's talent for psychological portraiture and suspense, great pace and talent for knowing what readers want, will ensure this gripping tale will be another blockbuster.

Laura Wurzal