Not the Booker: The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan review – thriller lost in plot
Opening with a powerful, sensitively drawn portrait of two bereaved children, this book’s drama soon becomes mechanical
How novelist Dominick Donald followed killer John Christie into London’s Great Smog
The debut author explains how some very dark history provided him with the seeds for his gripping thriller Breathe
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith review – twists, turns and tangled emotions
JK Rowling’s wonderfully complex detective confronts devious politicians, a lovestruck colleague and the perils of unwanted fame
The 50 biggest books of autumn 2018
From Haruki Murakami to Michelle Obama, what to read this season
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas review – a dazzling genre-defying debut
Era-hopping sex, trauma and therapy … four scientists make a world-changing discovery in a novel that breaks the rules of detective fiction, space and time
After American Animals: the literary robberies Hollywood is yet to snatch up
With Bart Layton’s new true-crime film, literary robbery stories have finally found Hollywood’s spotlight. There are others lurking in the library
Atwood? Shakespeare? Harry Potter? Top 10 false identities in fiction
Characters in disguise are almost as frequent in books as in real life. From the boy wizard to the bard, here are some of the best
May I have a word… about super recognisers and other sleuths
A new breed of real-life detective sounds like something from the pages of a cracking crime novel
Not the Booker: Dark Pines by Will Dean review – icy thriller does the job
The body and cliche count clock up in a tiny Swedish town – but a complex protagonist elevates this debut above other Nordic noir
Lee Child set to adapt Jack Reacher novels for TV (but with a taller star)
As he prepares to make his archive public, the thriller writer explains why fans didn’t like Tom Cruise’s role on the big screen
The best recent crime novels – review roundup
All the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew, Resin by Ane Riel, A Double Life by Flynn Berry, Memo from Turner by Tim Willocks and Yellowhammer by James Henry
When Nicci French met Ambrose Parry: couples who write together share secrets
Nicci Gerrard and her husband, Sean French, who write as Nicci French, share tips with new pseudonym on the block, Ambrose Parry – Chris Brookmyre and his wife, Dr Marisa Haetzman
Belinda Bauer, the crime author up for the Booker: ‘If it’s tokenism, I don’t care’
She hadn’t read a crime novel before writing her debut at 45. Now, the author of Snap talks risk-taking, genre snobbery and not needing to know whodunnit
Switzerland review – Patricia Highsmith plots a playful murder
The writer gets a mystery visitor in Joanna Murray-Smith’s smartly self-referential salute to her riveting crime tales
James Patterson remains UK libraries’ most borrowed author for 11th year
While readers in east England prefer romance, and those in the south-west want their books to be by Roald Dahl, figures show the US thriller king has kept his throne