The Room of Lost Things, By Stella Duffy

South London scrubs up well in the capable hands of long-term resident Stella Duffy. After five crime novels, and five literary novels, Duffy's best book to date is set in a dry-cleaners located under the arches of Loughborough Junction.

The novel's elderly protagonist, Robert Sutton, has been running the business for 40 years and knows more about his customers' private lives than they'd ever guess.

It's his own story, however, that he feels the need to come clean about as he trains his successor, Akeel, a young East Londoner new to the business.

In a novel rich in walk-on parts, Duffy's lost and lecherous locals prove an entertaining lot, from the homeless "Poet" who peeks into other people's houses from the top of the 345 bus, to a Herne Hill husband about to be caught in the act.

Click here to purchase this book