Helena Rubinstein: The Woman Who Invented Beauty by Michele Fitoussi HarperCollins Australia, $35

Flawless as Helena Rubinstein’s skin, and as captivating as the Polish born Jewish beauty magnate’s 70 year reign, this brilliant biography stands as a fascinating history of “make-up”, which, when HR sailed for Australia in 1896 — with pots of the skin cream her mother doused her eight daughters with — was taboo, only used by prostitutes and actresses!

In a white scientist’s coat over silk taffeta, HR defined dry, oily and normal skins and preached the ritual of soap, astringent and cleanser to Melbournites; and seduced Parisians with a body beneficial cocktail of low-fat diet and exercise, all in the early 1900s.

A trail blazing self-marketer, “Madame” was at the forefront of sun protection creams, products for men, and invented the revolutionary “mascara-matic” tube refill, which replaced spitting on a mascara cake.

She outlived both her husbands and her youngest son; counted Colette, Picasso, Matisse, Chanel and Chagall among her circle, and waged a famous war against her arch US rival Elizabeth Arden.

But waiting in the wings was the newest beauty queen, Hungarian/Czech Jew from Queens, New York, Estee (Esther) Lauder, whose latest innovation in the 1940s — the free miniature sample — would take the world by storm and out shadow them both in time.

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The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey, Hamish Hamilton, $39.95

Grief is a popular subject in fiction at the moment and Peter Carey launches his latest on a river of tears stretching 150 years.

Catherine, a conservator at a modern-day London museum, is red-eyed and crippled with sorrow following the sudden death of her secret lover.

Henry, a 19th century English gentleman, is stricken to madness by the prospect of losing his adored young son to consumption.

They will never meet but these two grieving souls are united by their passion — you could say, obsession — for a rare and valuable automaton, a mechanical marvel in the shape of a beautiful bird.

It is Henry who commissions it, from a race of master clockmakers in Germany’s Black Forest; it is Catherine who finds both the pieces two centuries later — along with Henry’s diary — and takes on the job of reassembling it.

What starts as a distraction deepens into a mystery because this diverting plaything, as Catherine gradually discovers, is not at all what it seems.

The novel grows too, from a study of grief into a haunting story of love, science, and magic.

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Headhunters by Jo Nesbo, Random House, $19.95

Roger Brown prides himself on being Norway’s gun corporate headhunter. But an indulgent lifestyle — and his wife’s hobby, expensive art gallery — leave him constantly strapped for cash, so he boosts his income by stealing valuable paintings.

And when his next client for a CEO job claims to own a priceless lost work by Rubens…

Fundamentally it’s a heist story; dark, violent and surprisingly funny. Because the client proves just as tough and amoral as Roger himself who will do anything — to anyone — to prevent his criminal double life being exposed.

Nesbo is best known for his Nordic noir thrillers like The Snowman, featuring Detective Harry Hole, and I’d wondered if this English translation — the novel was published in Norway years ago — was just a bid to cash in on Nesbo’s growing reputation.

Turns out it’s a terrific crime novel and there’s something about Roger the rogue, a small man with a giant ego, you can’t help barracking for.

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The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Scholastic, $29.99

This is the book on which Martin Scorsese’s recent movie Hugo is based — and what a unique and beautiful book it is.

This account of a young orphan boy adrift in Paris in the 1930s unfolds both in words and pictures; you can think of it as a graphic novel with some text but really, it’s more like watching a silent film on paper.

Selznick has a perfect sense of when to write and when to let the glorious black and white illustrations carry the tale.

Hugo is a desperate boy, a thief, who lives hidden behind the clocks in a big train station. His father has died in a fire but there may or may not be a message from him concealed in a strange mechanical man which his father left behind, and Hugo is now trying to re-build.

But only if he can stay out the clutches of all those who would lock him up, especially the wicked station master. A dreamy treat for all ages.

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Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson, Pan Macmillan, $32.99

Reggie and Nigel Heath are brothers who practice law from the offices of 221b Baker Street, London — an address better known as the home of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

The premises come with an obligation to reply to all the loonies who write to Holmes, of which there are a surprising number considering that even if he wasn’t entirely imaginary, he would most certainly be long dead.

But one of those strange correspondents comes in handy when Reggie takes on the defense of a London taxi driver accused of murdering two American tourists.

Things are looking shaky for the poor old cabbie until the mysterious writer sends in several helpful tips.

The Brothers of Baker Street is an off-beat whodunit with great dollops of old fashioned British charm and humour, soaring surprisingly to a cinematic peak which brings central London to a standstill.

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Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James, Faber Fiction, $29.99

As all readers of Pride and Prejudice will remember, George Wickham — who ran off with Lizzie Bennett’s flighty younger sister Lydia — was a thoroughly bad egg.

Charming, cheating, utterly untrustworthy — but a murderer? Someone has left a dead body in the wild woodlands of Pemberley, Darcy’s ancestral home, and it looks horribly likely that Wickham is the culprit.

What scandal. What disruption to the happy marriage of his in-laws Darcy and Elizabeth, threatening exposure of long-buried family secrets.

Legendary crime writer P.D.James — writing pitch-perfect Austen — clearly had enormous fun breathing fresh life into the familiar characters (and I, for one, can never read enough about the snooty Lady Catherine de Bourgh) plus inventing new ones as needed for a romping and suspenseful detective story.

As ever, she takes death and justice seriously but the tone is delightfully arch and the author keeps you guessing until the very last chapters.

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Devil’s Gate by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown, Michael Joseph, $39.95

It’s never a good sign when a bestselling thriller writer teams up with another author whose name creeps on to the cover in a much smaller font. But Cussler and Brown’s Devil’s Gate is a ripping read.

It starts with the Cold War era defection of a mysterious Russian, moves on to the baffling incineration of a Japanese cargo ship, and leads to a despotic African dictator who may have the power to destroy the world’s major cities.

Luckily the National Underwater and Marine Agency’s Kurt Austin witnesses the burning of the unfortunate cargo ship, and is smart enough to realise that the fire and the pirates who started it, are even more sinister than they first appear.

Austin and his fellow divers are likeable fellows and you’ll squirm at some of the impossible life or death underwater situations in which they find themselves, just hold your breath and read fast.

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The West End Front: The Wartime Secrets of London’s Grand Hotels by Matthew Sweet, Faber, $39.99

It’s World War II, and across the globe they may be killing each other but in London’s luxurious hotels spies mix with traitors, communists rub shoulders with fascists, and prominent Jews dine alongside aristocratic anti-Semites.

Matthew Sweet brings alive those strange days with the stories of those who survived, telling their tales with wit and understanding.

One of the first people to know the war had finally come was the switchboard operator at The Ritz.

He received a call for hotel guest Randolph Churchill, son of Winston. Listening in, he discovered to his horror that Germany would invade Poland the next day, triggering war across Europe.

He quickly placed a call to a mate at the BBC, only to hear a voice on the line say “Operator, I’d be careful what you repeat”.

The West End Front is an unromantic but exciting account of fascinating people, opulent surroundings and difficult times.

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Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, Random House, $29.95

In Christopher Paolini’s magical world, a poor farm boy transforms into a warrior, a sapphire blue egg becomes his magnificent dragon, and an army with little reason to hope valiantly battles for freedom.

Paolini began writing the first of four books in the Inheritance series when he was 15 years old.

Every one of them has been an international best seller. Like J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling, Paolini has created a spellbinding fantasy world of great authenticity and depth.

Evil king Galbatorix rules the world of Alagaesia with the help of powerful black magic. Humans, dragons, elves, urgals, dwarves and werecats must put aside their differences and fight together if they are to have any chance at all to overthrow his tyranny.

Readers of the three preceding books have been waiting a long time for this final instalment, and they’ll be thrilled to know it delivers an epic climax, exploding into a violent battle fought with cunning, bravery and sacrifice.

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, Michael Joseph, $29.95

Anyone who has filled the role of a carer — volunteer or paid — will identify with the unique and intensely personal relationship that develops between two opposites in Jojo Moyes’ latest novel.

Working class 26-year-old Lou, and 35-year-old high-flying London toff Will, are thrown together by a motorcycle accident which leaves the extreme sports’ loving lawyer a quadriplegic.

Initially condescending and crotchety to the chatterbox carer who loves chips and cheesecake, Will eventually turns mentor, introducing his protégée to Nancy Mitford, subtitled French films and violin concertos.

With the potential to turn to a slushy climax, Moyes takes the tougher tack and instead steers a disciplined discourse on the right to die.

But don’t be put off, it also abounds with humour — “Don’t let him watch films like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Major downer!” advises a chat room for spinal injuries as loveable Lou seeks help from support groups to cheer her broken man.

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