Discovering The Golden Compass George Beahm (Deep, £11.99)

J. K. Rowling is apparently suing publishers of Harry Potter spin-off books, but Philip Pullman has given the go-ahead to this book of background information about Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, known as The Golden Compass in the US, and due to be released as a film on December 7. Beahm describes his book - clearly aimed at a US audience - as a "roadmap" to the trilogy, and Pullman himself contributes a biographical essay, previously published in a US reference book. Beahm includes a glossary which could be helpful to some readers, plus a 16-page colour guide to Pullman's Oxford, which might well pull some tourists across the Atlantic.

Fatal Attraction Carol Smith (Sphere, £6.99)

This slick thriller starts in an Oxford bar, where Rose becomes infatuated with cool jazz player Joe. She believes they are destined to be together, so when he falls for her sister Lily, she begins to plot. It takes several deaths before she comes face to face with her future.