Lamentation by CJ Sansom review – a new chapter for Shardlake
Tudor lawyer Matthew Shardlake’s sixth outing builds to a shocking climax, writes Stephanie Merritt
CJ Sansom: a bestselling mix of Tudor history and mystery
Profile: As the eagerly awaited sixth Shardlake novel hits the shelves, Britain’s fascination with the unlikely Tudor detective – and all things doublet and hose – shows no sign of diminishing
John Mullan on The Black Dahlia – Guardian book club
1940s Los Angeles is a hotbed of greed, addiction, violence and corruption for James Ellroy’s detective, on the trail of a real-life murder, writes John Mullan
How nylons changed literature
Moira Redmond: Stockings were once a marker of a character’s class and aspirations. Then came the nylon revolution. Celebrate 75 years of sheer genius by sharing your highlights of hosiery in fiction
Books to Die For review – passionate advocacy for gems of crime fiction
This compendium of essays by crime writers of their favourite books in the genre is often personal and always fascinating, writes Stephanie Merritt
Sherlock Holmes: dispelling the myths
We think we know all about Conan Doyle's immortal detective, with his pipes, dressing-gown and cocaine – but do we really, asks Sam Leith
Ian Rankin: ‘Musicians and writers – we’re both trying to send a message to the world’
Author Ian Rankin tells Jo Frost how music from all over the world inspires and enriches him, and in a Spotify playlist, picks five of his current favourite tracks
The 100 best novels: No 54 – The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)
Dashiell Hammett’s crime thriller and its hard-boiled hero Sam Spade influenced everyone from Chandler to Le Carré, writes Robert McCrum
Christine Andain obituary
Other lives: Liverpool teacher who went on to write successful crime novels
The Monogram Murders review – Sophie Hannah brings Poirot back to life
Crime writer Sophie Hannah has fun reviving Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian truffler, writes Ben East
An Event in Autumn review – Henning Mankell’s lugubrious detective Kurt Wallander is back, briefly
Published in English for the first time, Mankell’s delightful novella finds Wallander in typically dejected form, writes Alison Flood
The Girl Next Door review – Ruth Rendell’s acute investigation of old age
The veteran crime writer explores death from a different angle in her latest novel, writes Claire Hazelton
DVDs and downloads: The Two Faces of January, Only Lovers Left Alive, Frank and more
Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst are dressed to kill in a well-tailored Patricia Highsmith adaptation, writes Guy Lodge
Gore Vidal’s Thieves Fall Out should have died a quiet death
Jay Parini: This pulp novel, rushed out under a pseudonym in 1953 and picked up for rerelease in 2015, is a third-rate work that my friend Gore would have preferred to languish in obscurity
How to write the perfect crime story
Niall Leonard shares some chilling writer's tips for wannabe crime writers. The devil is in the detail…