The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
A surprise post-prom birth, a woman’s struggle to find her missing sister and the gaslighting of a would-be mother are among this month’s mysteries
‘I could have gone to jail’: crime writer MW Craven on a life made up of spontaneous decisions
The author, who won the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier crime novel of the year for The Botanist, talks about his working-class childhood, his former careers as a soldier and a probation officer – and surviving cancer
Laura Lippman: ‘A lot of novelists choose to comfort the comfortable. I don’t do that’
The acclaimed crime author delivers her most political novel to date about a teen with an unwanted pregnancy
My Men by Victoria Kielland review – inside the mind of a female serial killer
This raw, powerful novel is based on the Norwegian woman whose case has been notorious for more than a century
The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
The past catches up with nine criminals; a carer finds work with a woman accused of murder; and more than one child goes missing
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in June
Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
Penance by Eliza Clark review – art or porn?
Set in a northern seaside town, this show-stopping second novel is a bravura deconstruction of our voyeuristic love for true crime
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
Black River by Nilanjana Roy; Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen; Killingly by Katharine Beutner; The End of Us by Olivia Kiernan; The Trial by Rob Rinder
Kala by Colin Walsh review – vanishings, betrayals and friends reunited in rural Ireland
This confidently plotted debut novel from the award-winning short story writer has a strong cast and vivid dialogue
Top 10 books about missing persons
These interrupted stories, in fiction and real life, are powerfully moving and key into a universal anxiety
The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
An Indian village seeks mob justice after a girl’s death, the great Inspector Banks bows out, and clerical investigations resume for Richard Coles
Vaseem Khan becomes first person of colour to chair Crime Writers’ Association
Khan, author of two crime series set in India, said he aimed to make the CWA ‘a home for all crime writers’
Lost story by ‘poet of the tabloid murder’ James M Cain discovered in Library of Congress
Strand Magazine will publish Blackmail, a tale of a blind Korean war veteran, found by New York editor Andrew Gulli
Top 10 cops in fiction
At war with the establishment, putting themselves in reckless danger and succumbing to terrible habits, these unreliable figures are dependably entertaining
‘Candid’, ‘gripping’, ‘compulsory reading’: the best Australian books out in May
Each month, Guardian Australia editors and critics pick out the upcoming titles they’ve already devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on