The best recent crime novels – review roundup

This Is What Happened by Mick Herron, The Blood Road by Stuart MacBride, The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney, The Poison Bed by EC Fremantle and A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss

Unusual suspects: the writers diversifying detective fiction

Authors including AA Dhand, Steph Cha and Alex Segura explain how they are broadening the horizons of a traditionally very white genre

In brief: Water Ways, The City Always Wins, A Shot in the Dark – reviews

Jasper Winn on the mood and meaning of Britain’s canals, Omar Robert Hamilton crafts a vivid story about Egypt’s revolution, and Lynne Truss exhibits her mastery of mystery

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson review – a presidential thriller

There is a sprinkling of psychological authenticity in this bestseller mix

The best recent crime novels – review roundup

Snap by Belinda Bauer; The Old Religion by Martyn Waites; Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh; The Good Son by You-jeong Jeong; Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall and The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet

The best recent thrillers – review roundup

Star of the North by DB John, What We Did by Christobel Kent, Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough, Nightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood, The House on Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve, Wrong Way Home by Isabelle Grey

Top writers choose their perfect crime

Crime fiction is now the UK’s bestselling genre. So which crime novels should everyone read? We asked the writers who know ...

Observer picture archive: Patricia Highsmith, 27 April 1980

Photographer Lorrie Graham and writer Sally Vincent enjoyed a tense lunch with the notoriously prickly author.

The best recent crime novels – review roundup

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly; The Hunger by Alma Katsu; Paper Ghosts by Julia Haeberlin; American by Day by Derek B Miller; Body & Soul by John Harvey

The perfect crimes: why thrillers are leaving other books for dead

While literary novels are sidelined, crime fiction is fast developing as the most versatile narrative of our times

It’s no mystery that crime is the biggest-selling genre in books

Sales of crime novels in the UK have soared, overtaking general fiction for the first time. But this thrilling genre can be a comfort, too

Macbeth by Jo Nesbø review – Shakespeare reimagined

Scandinavia’s king of crime turns the tragedy into a deliciously oppressive page-turner

Top 10 books about miscarriages of justice

From the Central Park Five to little Briony’s destructive decision in Atonement, here are some of the most affecting real and fictional tales of injustice