Human Croquet, by Kate Atkinson (Black Swan, £6.99 in UK)

Boundless energy, crisp dialogue, an extraordinary cast of truly weird dudes; this novel leaps along with the enthusiasm of a red setter let loose on a deserted beach. Impossible to pigeon-hole - an 18th-century exuberance and joyous use of language, a murder mystery wrapped in the off-kilter spatial and temporal dislocation we normally associate with science fiction, hilarious and mysterious by turns - it's equally impossible to put down. Isobel Fairfax and her family - Vinny (the Aunt from Hell), fat Debbie, Charles, the acne-scarred Lost Boy, the missing mother, Eliza - must be among the richest creations in recent literary history - and speaking of literary history, Shakespeare strolls on to the stage of Human Croquet for a brief appearance. Sound and fury? You got it.