After Wallander: a new generation of Scandinavian detectives takes over
The bleak Scandinavian landscapes have inspired a series of hit books about dour detectives, and more writers are now lining up to claim the Nordic crime crownAmong the growing band of the faithful – the millions of readers drawn to the bleak traditi...
The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women by James Ellroy
James Ellroy's high-octane strut through his sexual history leaves Julie Myerson exhausted and unsatisfied"The numbers don't matter. It's not a body count, a scratch-pad list or a boast." So James Ellroy begins this very list-like and unavoidably boast...
John O’Connell’s thriller roundup | Book review
Free Country by Jeremy Duns, Collusion by Stuart Neville, Faithful place by Tana French and Think of a Number by John VerdonFree Country by Jeremy Duns (Simon & Schuster, £12.99)Having recovered from the knockout virus he picked up in Nigeria in Duns'...
Ian Rankin embarrassed by ‘purple prose’ of first book
'There's words in it I don't actually understand,' Rebus author tells interviewerLooking back on the pretentious scribblings of youth is embarrassing for anyone, so pity poor Ian Rankin, whose musings from his early 20s are immortalised for all time in...
Noel "Razor" Smith: going straight
A lifelong criminal with 58 convictions, Noel Smith has been in prison for much of the last 33 years. Now, recently released, how will he adapt to life in the 21st century?"Good news, Smith." The reception officer greeted me as I approached the gate o...
Crime fiction roundup | Book reviews
Laura Wilson reviews Tigerlily's Orchids by Ruth Rendell, Sacred Treason by James Forrester, Villain by Shuichi Yoshida and The Herring in the Library by LC TylerTigerlily's Orchids, by Ruth Rendell (Hutchinson, £18.99)A refreshing change from the con...
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson | Book review
An elegaic tone creeps in to Atkinson's latest but the author's control of her fictional universe is total, writes Justine JordanKate Atkinson's novels have always been built around lost girls, from the Whitbread-winning family saga Behind the Scenes a...
Real-life tragedies for real-life cash | Darragh McManus
Writing books based on actual atrocities like the Holocaust or the Josef Fritzl case can lead to fame and fortune. But is it right?Objectively, Emma Donoghue's Room is an excellent book. The idiomatic voice of her narrator – five-year-old Jack – is...
Accent on youth as Gold Dagger nominees are revealed
The field for the annual £2,500 crime writing award includes two novels in which 12-year-old investigators take centre stageThe usual crime novel lineup of grizzled detectives and hard-drinking coppers has been edged out by enterprising 12-year-old in...
Video: PD James: ‘Some people find conventions liberating’
On her 90th birthday, renowned crime author PD James talks to Sarah Crown about her best-loved character, detective Adam Dalgliesh, her science fiction book, The Children of Men, and why she's worried about starting a new bookSarah CrownHenry BarnesKen...
Let’s start a comedy crime wave | Richard Asplin
The exhortation to 'write what you know' stops us finding the mirth in misdemeanours. Write what you like instead, urges Richard AsplinHere's a bizarre turn-up, as my tailor likes to say. Not seven weeks after crime novelist and macabre chuckle-vendor ...
An economy kept afloat by mafia cash is not just the stuff of Le Carré thrillers | Jonathan Freedland