THE DREAM LOVER by William Boyd
Boyd has always considered his short stories to be of equal importance to his novels. As he writes in his introduction to this omnibus of his first two collections, the form offers him a freedom to experiment that novels do not afford. Certain themes recur: mainly set in his favourite locations of Africa, America and the south of France, the tales display an almost unhealthy fixation with whores, brothels and society's misfits. Yet the best narratives reveal the power of sexual yearning, whether fulfilled or unfulfilled. In a publishing culture that mostly sidelines short fiction, Boyd's pieces are a reminder of the rich possibilities of the genre (Bloomsbury £7.99). IC

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN by Donna Leon
A team of heavily armed carabinieri raids the home of a well-respected doctor at two in the morning. They brutally assault him and abduct his 18-month-old son. The violent attack draws Commissario Guido Brunetti into the complex world of illegal adoption and, once again, shines a light on the corrupt incompetence of his fellow law enforcers. Suffer the Little Children is the Venetian detective's 16th outing and his moral outrage and casual wisdom remain undiminished. Far more than the intrigue of the plot, it is the complexity of the characters and the loving descriptions of life in Venice that make this mystery so consistently enjoyable (Arrow £6.99). EK

THE SPA DECAMERON by Fay Weldon
When Phoebe's husband has to look after his elderly mother over Christmas, and her bath floods the house, she decides it is time for a treat: a spa break. As the women guests gather for low-calorie dinners and hydrotherapy, it emerges that everyone has a complex reason for fleeing their loved ones. Over 10 days each woman tells her story, stunning her peers with tales of love, lust, sex change - and a murder. Weldon adopts the fable form of Chaucer and Boccaccio, which justifies the showy, declamatory nature of the stories, and though her women are often shallow and melodramatic, their tales are always entertaining (Quercus £7.99). ES-B

RESISTANCE by Owen Sheers
It is 1944 and the Normandy landings have failed, leading to a German invasion of Britain. In an isolated Welsh valley, all the men depart to join the resistance, leaving the women to fend for themselves. When a German patrol enters the valley, the women are at first full of hate and suspicious. But as the winter snows cut the community off from the outside world, they become increasingly dependent on the Germans, while the soldiers are seduced by the prospect of a hiatus from battle. Sheers's beautifully written novel eschews the easy thrills of war fiction (Nazi atrocities are mostly rumoured rather than witnessed) in favour of a poetic vision of the damage caused by conflict (Faber £7.99). IC

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