The Dream hunters of Corsica, by Dorothy Carrington (Phoenix, £6.99 in UK)

Corsica has always attracted writers in search of the exotic, the violent and the strange, and this book is in that tradition. Its subject is the mazzeri, "dream hunters" who are credited with powers resembling second sight, and who at night go hunting (either in fact or fantasy) and kill animals in which they recognise the face of a living person. Corsican women seemingly lead strange lives - a man who as much as speaks to one in a village street may be forced to marry her, and to tear off a woman's headscarf is regarded as symbolic rape and disgrace. At times all this may strain your credulity, but the author is a senior historian who has lived on the island for long periods.