Laura Lippman: ‘Hitch-22 taught me that I am a very reluctant atheist’
The crime writer on learning to reread with Lolita, giving up on books and growing up with Dick and Jane
How Agatha Christie hides her plot secrets in plain sight
Her artful misdirection of the reader is one of the key tricks that have wooed readers including TS Eliot
The best recent crime novels – review roundup
Newcomer by Keigo Higashino, Still Lives by Maria Hummel, The Stranger Diaries by Ellie Griffiths, A House of Ghosts by WC Ryan, Five Days of Fog by Anna Freeman and The Long Shadow be Celia Fremlin
Endless Night: Agatha Christie’s favourite still has shock factor
Christie’s 1967 novel is less a ‘whodunnit’ than a ‘who gonna get done’ – so when the body does appear, it is not a surprise
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – reviews roundup
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove, The Subjugate by Amanda Bridgeman and The Dark Vault by VE Schwab
Richell prize: Ruth McIver wins literary award for ‘unforgettable’ crime novel
Judges for the $10,000 prize said I Shot the Devil was an ‘atmospheric and chillingly entertaining’ novel by an emerging writer of considerable talent
Reading group: Agatha Christie’s Endless Night is our book for November
Written in just six weeks when she was 76, Christie’s favourite of her own novels is our pick this month – alongside The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Vogue review – bigotry and other crimes
A bleak Northern Irish town is the setting for Eoin McNamee’s shifting novel of dark secrets
We need to read about trauma – the perpetrators as well as the victims
As the new Staunch prize sets out to reward thrillers that shun brutality against women, the Ghost Wall author explains how she writes about violence
Tombland by CJ Sansom review – royals and revolting peasants
In Shardlake’s seventh case, the whodunnit is a pretext for an amiable historical tale of unrest in 16th-century Norfolk
Michael Connelly’s crime fiction career honoured with Diamond Dagger
The Crime Writers’ Association presents its top honour to the bestselling creator of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller
How Agatha Christie’s wartime nursing role gave her a lifelong taste for poison
Many of the writer’s novels involve murder by toxic substance. First world war records detail where she got the inspiration
The best recent crime novels – review roundup
Tombland by CJ Sansom, When Trouble Sleeps by Leye Adenle, Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly, Trap by Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Bright Young Dead by Jessica Fellowes
Can the language of the Vikings fight off the invasion of English?
Icelandic has retained its literary vigour since the Sagas, but TV and tourism are a growing threat
James Patterson says saving libraries is down to readers
Speaking during Libraries Week, the thriller writer, who has donated large sums to fund reading in schools, says ‘it really starts with the people’