The truth about crime fiction
Realism would be 1,000 pages long and crushingly dull, admits top writer. By John Dugdale
Joaquin Phoenix set to star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice
Actor and director will reunite on Los Angeles noir film based on novel by Thomas Pynchon
Jakob Arjouni obituary
German crime writer whose private eye Kemal Kayankaya operated in Frankfurt's seedy underworld
Back from the Dead by Peter Leonard – review
Elmore Leonard's son proves himself a chip off the old block – again, writes Christopher Bray
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay – review
Malcolm Mackay's remarkably original thriller shines a light on Glasgow's criminal underworld, writes Alison Flood
Harbour Nocturne by Joseph Wambaugh – review
Joseph Wambaugh's fifth book set in the tough, often surreal world of the LAPD is never less than compelling, writes Alison Flood
Reader reviews roundup
Crime stalks the Shetland Islands, while questions of identity are examined through a very different lens in this week's roundup of reader reviews
The Story of My Assassins by Tarun J Tejpal – review
Tarun J Tejpal captures the realities of contemporary Indian life with a journalist's eye in this well-crafted crime novel, writes Jason Burke
Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin – review
Ian Rankin's dinosaur detective returns to run riot in a PC world, writes Alison Flood
Rewind radio: Foreign Bodies; The Martin Beck Series; Mastertapes – review
Mark Lawson's investigation of fictional sleuths explains a lot about the state of Europe today, writes Miranda Sawyer
The Pursued by CS Forester – review
CS Forester's long-lost 1935 revenge story is a little masterpiece, says Anthony Cummins
Crime’s grand tour: European detective fiction
Crime fiction is a magnifying glass that reveals the fingerprints of history. From Holmes and Poirot to Montalbano and the rise of Scandi-noir, Mark Lawson investigates the long tradition of European super-sleuths and their role in turbulent times
Reader reviews roundup
This week: Attica Locke, Michael Connelly and the first verdicts on JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy
If you like books like these: crime fiction for teens
Tanya Byrne, author of Heart-Shaped Bruise, the only YA book to have been shortlisted for a Crime Writers Association award, explains the appeal of writing crime for teens and suggests some gripping, gruesome reads
The demented lighthouse of Yorkshire’s busiest writer
A well-deserved revival for the work of J.S.Fletcher, the journalist known as 'Son of the Soil' who polished off 230 books when his stint at the newspaper office was done