Rupture Simon Lelic (Picador, £7.99) This will prove uncomfortable reading for parents who prize good exam results and academic excellence above all else. It’s Lelic’s first novel, but you feel in the hands of a capable storyteller as the tale of a school shooting unfolds. It’s told mostly in the form of witness statements obtained by a persistent detective inspector, Lucia, who is expected to produce a simplistic report focusing on one villain — an enraged teacher — and the innocent victims.

Gradually, however, a story of institutionalised cruelty is revealed, plus an establishment cover-up by those hoping that the school will be a trail-blazer for a new form of ‘independent’ state education. Alongside this, Lelic paints a vivid picture of Lucia’s experiences as a victim of endemic bullying inside the Metropolitan Police. The complicated structure is fitted into the conventional detective genre, so that we are carried along by the momentum of the narration, with a surprise on almost every page.