Aren’t the Sherlock Holmes stories a bit elementary?
Darragh McManus: An indelible character, certainly, and a benchmark storytelling innovation. But the Holmes stories are nonetheless pretty thin
Is James Ellroy the best judge of his own novels?
Stuart Evers: Just because he's disowned The Cold Six Thousand, should readers automatically defer to his harsh judgment?
The queen of crime
When Maj Sjöwall and her partner Per Wahlöö started writing the Martin Beck detective series in Sweden in the 60s, they little realised that it would change the way we think about policemen for ever
Complaints about women writing misogynist crime fiction are a red herring
Val McDermid: Some violent thrillers are intelligent and challenging, some are dumb and sensationalist. The sex of their authors is irrelevant
Getting graphic with Ian Rankin
There's little to praise in Ian Rankin's graphic novel Dark Entries, but at least it draws attention to the criminally neglected world of John Constantine
Agatha Christie’s neat plots emerged from chaos – just like mine
Val McDermid: It turns out that I have more in common with Miss Marple's creator than I thought
Two-Faced by Mandasue Heller
Heller is the frontrunner in a burgeoning subgenre which might loosely be described as Martina Cole-lite, says Laura Wilson
The man in the mac: a life in crime reporting
Veteran Guardian crime reporter Duncan Campbell looks back on the heyday of his trade in 50s and 60s Britain
Dominick Dunne
Obituary: American writer best known for his investigations into the crimes of the rich and famous
Sherlock Holmes appears in pulp drag
Beloved detective 'playfully repackaged' to reach readers who avoid classic books
Students offered scholarships from fictional crimefighter, Jack Reacher
Author Lee Child has set up several university funding schemes in the name of his popular character, Jack Reacher
Why does crime still have such unpardonably low literary status?
Stuart Evers: Speaking at the Harrogate crime writing festival, John Banville betrayed a prejudice we should have outgrown
Gordon Burn was one of the greatest writers of his age
Ben Myers: Gordon Burn influenced a generation of younger writers for whom northern England suddenly became a foreboding and evocative backdrop full of simmering tensions and dark secrets
Gordon Burn
Obituary: Versatile chronicler of Britain's seamy side, from serial killers to celebrities and soccer stars
The week in books
The ugliest words; Marilyn Monroe's dog; and Wacko races