Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (Fourth Estate, £8.99)

“People felt involved”. This deft short sentence sums up Jon McGregor's Reservoir 13 and is a refrain that is repeated later on. The book begins with the search for a missing 13-year-old girl, Rebecca Shaw. Through the next thirteen chapters, we experience life in the village in the aftermath of this disappearance.

As each year passes, we begin to feel the repetitive comfort of nature unfolding, as foxes mate, swallows return, butterflies appear and the harvest comes in. The village is not named but we learn it has holiday lets and attracts walkers in summer. I suspect it is in the Peak District. Life for the folk of the village moves along. People die, divorce, have babies, the teenagers grow up and move on. But the mystery of the missing girl is always in the background haunting the narrative.

This is a beautifully written, lyrical, lilting book that draws you into the community around the reservoirs, evoking a wonderful sense of place. As a reading experience, it is actually quite experimental, each chapter follows a pattern and rhythm, even though the story nudges along. I was so taken with it I immediately took home the companion volume (Reservoir Tapes) as I wasn’t yet ready to let the story go.

Philippa Morris, Little Apple bookshop