The best recent thrillers – review roundup

Greeks Bearing Gifts by Philip Kerr; The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton; All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson; One Clear Ice-Cold January Morning at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century by Roland Schimmelpfennig; Bitter by Francesca Jakobi; Pandora’s Boy by Lindsey Davis

Macbeth by Jo Nesbø review – something noirish this way comes

Jo Nesbø’s retelling of Macbeth as a gritty crime thriller suffers from not pushing Shakespeare’s play far enough

Fresh voices: 50 writers you should read now

Which debut novel should you reach for this spring? Here’s our guide to the most exciting voices in fiction, politics, SF, graphic novels and more

Philip Kerr obituary

Writer best known for his crime fiction books featuring the Berlin private detective Bernie Gunther

Philip Kerr, author of Bernie Gunther novels, dies aged 62

Literary world mourns versatile author of historical thrillers, children’s books and non-fiction

Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy review – Inspector Alleyn returns

This skilfully completed ‘continuation novel’, set in a New Zealand hospital, is an exquisite reminder of the brilliance of Marsh’s London detective

Top 10 runaway mothers in fiction

From Nancy Mitford’s ‘the Bolter’ – so named for her serial monogamy – to the mother of Kramer vs Kramer, here are the best mums on the run

Val McDermid: ‘I probably have too great an appetite for cheese’

The crime writer, 62, talks about spending too much time gaming, having a sense of her worth and why she fasts for two weeks every year

The best recent crime novels – review roundup

Our House by Louise Candlish, The Fire Court by Andrew Taylor, Tangerine by Christine Mangan, House of Beauty by Melba Escobar and Ragnar Jónasson’s The Darkness

Browse a bookshop: No Alibis, Belfast

Top sellers and recommended reads from the Northern Ireland capital

Force of Nature by Jane Harper review – five go feral in the outback

One missing, four traumatised … In this gripping follow-up to The Dry, police detective Aaron Falk investigates an office trip that loses its way in the bush

The Fountain in the Forest by Tony White review – alternative social history

An avant-garde take on the pulp crime genre becomes a paean to liberty and a secret history of the 1980s

Daniel Mallory: ‘Without Gone Girl I’d never have written this book’

Having written his debut novel in total secrecy and published it under a pseudonym, Daniel Mallory has been astounded that The Woman in the Window has created a worldwide bidding frenzy. Tim Adams meets novelist as he steps out of the shadows

Helen Garner: ‘I used to feel spiteful because I never won prizes. Now I can die happy’

The unclassifiable Australian writer on true crime and sexual harassment

Literary fiction in crisis as sales drop dramatically, Arts Council England reports

New figures show that fewer UK writers earn enough to live on, as ACE blames falling sales of literary fiction on the recession and the rise of smartphones