Our top book picks this week: a Mumbai police officer has an interesting final day on the job and much more

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan

Police inspector Ashwin Chopra is saddled with two mysteries on the day he retires: the first is the suspicious death of boy and the second involves an elephant. This is the first in a Mumbai-set detective series. (Mullholland Books, August 13)

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Greg Steinmetz

By the time Jacob Fugger died, it is thought his wealth amounted to 2 per cent of European GDP. This book explores how a Renaissance banker forced kings to repay loans and helped trigger the Reformation. (Simon and Schuster, August 4)

The Boss of Bosses by Attilio Bolzoni and Giuseppe D’Avanzo

Salvatore “Totò” Riina is a feared Mafia boss, now languishing in jail. But he still remains the dictator of the Cosa Nostra. Here, a picture emerges of a bloodthirsty criminal who came from humble origins to become the most powerful man in Sicily. (Orion, August 20)

The Lost World of Byzantium by Jonathan Harris

The Byzantine empire was one of contrasts: it combined Christianity with paganism; Greek learning with Roman power. This accessible study looks at major aspects of the empire, from unorthodox foreign policy to exquisite art. (Yale, August 15)

The Occupation Trilogy by Patrick Modiano

La Place de l’Étoile, The Night Watch and Ring Roads are hallucinatory accounts of French life under Nazi rule from the 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature winner. This is the first time they’ve been published together in English and explore the ambiguous, murky worlds of collaboration and resistance. (Bloomsbury, August 13)

The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela

Natasha, a professor of history, is researching the life of Imam Shamil, a 19th century warrior from the Caucasus who fought against Russian invasion. Natasha then discovers that one of her pupils is the descendant of Shamil, and when he is abruptly arrested, life as she knows it comes to an end. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, August 13)

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