Best crime and thrillers of 2020
From hard-hitting debuts and gritty mysteries to a cosy caper and a swashbuckling maritime puzzle
Val McDermid: ‘The Mermaids Singing felt like a narrative emergency’
The award-winning crime writer on how the plot of the novel that became ITV’s hit series Wire in the Blood arrived, fully formed, while she was driving on the M6
Library ebook lending surges as UK turns to fiction during lockdown
Charity says ebooks borrowing up 146% from March to August, with crime thrillers popular
Top 10 underrated Agatha Christie novels
On the centenary of the godmother of crime fiction’s debut, Sophie Hannah - author of the new Poirot mysteries - picks her favourite lesser-known gems
The best recent thrillers – review roundup
A hate crime with a twist, supernatural forces at sea, a parent’s worst nightmare and Jack Reacher returns
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman review – cosy crime caper
In the Pointless creator’s bestselling debut, amateur sleuths in an upmarket retirement village investigate a murder a bit too close to home
Happiness, a Mystery by Sophie Hannah review – solving the most profound puzzle
The crime writer sifts through theories on happiness from life coaches and philosophers, and has an epiphany
JK Rowling’s new thriller takes No 1 spot amid transphobia row
Troubled Blood, written as Robert Galbraith, has faced criticism for including a killer who dresses in women’s clothes, but has recorded strong first-week sales
In brief: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous; Mind Games; Savage Kiss – reviews
Ocean Vuong explores family trauma, ex-goalkeeper Neville Southall reveals all and Robert Saviano goes back to the mob
JK Rowling says villain who wears women’s clothes is based on real cases
The author’s new Robert Galbraith novel, Troubled Blood, has faced accusations of transphobia
JK Rowling’s Troubled Blood: don’t judge a book by a single review
It is tone-deaf of Rowling to write a killer who disguises himself in women’s clothing, but we should be wary when one review in the Telegraph is reproduced without question
Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith review – a cosy blast from the past
JK Rowling’s engaging duo return for a cold case full of misdirection and simmering emotional tension
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi review – a homage to the whodunnit
A detachable fork tine proves fatal, in one of seven golden age-style mysteries that are nested within this metafictional debut novel
Attica Locke: why did my black ancestors never leave Texas? They knew land is power
The crime novelist considers how abuses of property have defined her family’s history, and now shape her fiction
The best recent thrillers – review roundup
A murderer investigates herself; sisterly accusations; a criminal barrister grapples with motherhood; and Zaq and Jags are back