The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor
Alison Flood admires a murder mystery in an 18th-century Cambridge college
The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women by James Ellroy
James Ellroy's high-octane strut through his sexual history leaves Julie Myerson tired and unsatisfied
An economy kept afloat by mafia cash is not just the stuff of Le Carré thrillers
Jonathan Freedland: Until we find the political will, the establishment will be happy to ignore the dirty crimes behind today's dazzling fortunes
Faithful Place by Tana French
A dark, creepy Dublin is the setting for one of the best thrillers this year, writes Alison Flood
Real-life tragedies for real-life cash
Darragh McManus: Writing books based on actual atrocities like the Holocaust or the Josef Fritzl case can lead to fame and fortune. But is it right?
Let’s start a comedy crime wave
Richard Asplin: The exhortation to 'write what you know' stops us finding the mirth in misdemeanours. Write what you like instead
How not to pitch a crime novel
Helen Carter: A major crime-writing festival, a roomful of industry names to impress, and two minutes to do it in. Gulp
A Rusty Gun by Noel ‘Razor’ Smith
An ex-violent offender offers a provocative – often funny – account of prison group therapy, writes Andrew Anthony
The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver
Sparks fly as detective Lincoln Rhyme faces a terrorist threat to Manhattan's electricity grid
Lesley Himes obituary
Other lives: Journalist and widow of Chester Himes, the father of black American crime writing
Women spies in fiction
As Anna Chapman faces accusations of espionage in the US, test your knowledge of female agents throughout literature
Peter James: My Media
The crime writer on his love of obituaries, disgust for Bugsy Malone and need to keep up with local criminals
A book doesn’t need to be believable to be brilliant
Suzanne Munshower: Whether it's Ian McEwan's dubious villains or Tom Rob Smith's 'dizzying mass of incident', credibility in a book isn't about being true-to-life, it's about characters being true to themselves
Thomas Carnacki, king of the supernatural detectives
The character of Thomas Carnacki, ghost-finder, celebrates his centenary this year. Through him, his creator William Hope Hodgson shows us that detective fiction and the occult can be a perfect match
The iPhone apps throwing light on best-selling books
Authors such as Iain Banks and Martina Cole are increasingly supplementing book releases with apps full of bonus material