Top 10 slangy crime novels
As well as masterful exercises in suspense and social realism, the best fiction in this genre is also a rich repository of slang. And that’s no Archbishop Laud
JK Rowling reveals she’s working on two new novels
The Harry Potter author revealed to fans on Twitter that she has two books in the pipeline, one under her own name and one as Robert Galbraith
Hidden gems of 2016: the best books you may have missed
From AJ Lees’s extraordinary memoir Mentored By a Madman to Fiona Melrose’s Midwinter and Julie Myerson’s chiller The Stopped Heart, our critics recommend the reads that slipped under the radar
‘I used to look for crime fiction novels set in Amsterdam, but ended up writing my own’
Amsterdam’s trading and gin heritage fascinates crime writer Daniel Pembrey, while its canals and Red Light District provide an evocative setting for his books
Stanley Reynolds obituary
Journalist, literary critic and author with a reputation as a hard-drinking hellraiser
Best books of 2016 – part two
Paula Hawkins reflects on guilt, Jackie Kay seeks hope post-Brexit, and David Nicholls is lured into the lonely city … writers pick their best books of 2016
Best books of 2016 – part one
From Zadie Smith’s Swing Time to horror in the Highlands and a brief history of tomorrow ... writers choose their best reads of 2016
‘We might abolish the death penalty in 20 years’: He Jiahong on justice in China
Born into China’s cultural revolution, He Jiahong spent years working in the fields before studying law to win over his girlfriend’s parents. Now he is a leading authority on miscarriages of justice, and a writer of hit detective novels to boot
Horror in the outback: Jane Harper, Charlotte Wood and the landscape of fear
From Hanging Rock to Bitter Wash Road, the Australian bush has long provided writers with a backdrop of terror. A new wave of crime fiction is taking it up a notch
Holding by Graham Norton review – a solid debut
The chatshow host keeps his TV persona out of this amiable debut novel about murder in a rural Irish community
David Hare: the genius of Georges Simenon
As he brings one of the crime writer’s novels to the National stage, David Hare reveals why he loves the pithy, power-obsessed creator of Maigret
Turning Blue by Benjamin Myers review – depraved and decadent rural noir
The Yorkshire Dales, perfectly observed, provide a glorious backdrop to a brutal tale
Genre readers have less empathy? I’m not feeling that
As a crime writer who is glad to see the outdated distinctions between types of fiction dissolving, new research using old stereotypes strikes me as pretty silly
Novelising: a must-do for people famous for doing other things
Many famous names – from Dawn French to, more recently, Ronnie O’Sullivan – have turned their hand to fiction, a move that has a mixed legacy
Best holiday reads 2016
From gripping fiction to history, brilliant poetry to biography, our guest contributors offer their recommendations for the beach and elsewhere