MANY CONTEMPORARY urban fantasies feature witches and magical powers, but Natasha Mostert’s Season of the Witch stands out. Set in modern London, where the wealthy, beautiful Monk sisters pursue alchemy and magic, in the footsteps of their ancestor, Dr John Dee, it is vividly and evocatively written.

Gabriel Blackstone enters their lives when a former girlfriend begs him to find out what happened to her stepson, last seen in their company. Gabriel is an industrial spy, but knows other ways to get information besides computer hacking and snooping– in his student days, he was the star of an experimental group with a talent for “remote viewing”.

What he learns suggests murder. But by whom? And what is the House of a Million Doors where the young man met his end? Gabriel falls in love with one sister, and feels certain the other is a murderer – unfortunately he doesn’t know which witch is which. Mostert combines old and new – alchemy and computers, gothic romance and psychic powers – and the blend enthralled me right to the end.

Alistair Reynolds’s The Prefect combines space-roaming adventure with a solid detective story. Dreyfus is the “Prefect”, an interstellar policeman who ensures that people’s right to live as they chose is not infringed (even if that life includes consensual slavery). What seems, at first, a case of electoral fraud turns out to be the opening move in a sinister plot threatening all humanity.

Racing against time, Dreyfus has to make hard choices. He can’t save everyone and, as he struggles to discover the nature of the enemy he realises that the answer may lie in a tragic incident from his past. Fast-paced and inventive, this may be Reynolds’s best yet.

In a small Maine town, an ancient virus is released, and contagion spreads rapidly. But the disease in Virus by Sarah Langan is evolving and intelligent, transforming its survivors into flesh-eating zombies.

Langan has a sharp eye for the small, vivid details of American life, and her characters are utterly believable. Reminiscent of early Stephen King, this is not for the squeamish.

Season of the Witch Bantam, £12.99; 426pp £11.69 (free p&p)

The Prefect Gollancz, £17.99; 512pp £16.19 (free p&p)

Virus Headline, £19.99; 341pp £17.99 (free p&p)

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