From a life of crime to watching the detectives
James Sallis's biography circles round the life of the novelist Chester Himes, but is his approach too clinical?
Fear and loathing
Figures out this week show that while Britain's crime rate is falling, women's anxiety is rising. Crime writer Val McDermid knows why
Patricia Moyes
A New York Times book reviewer once noted that the detective writer Patricia Moyes, who has died aged 77, "made drug dealing look like bad manners rather than bad morals".
Mike Phillips’s top 10 crime novels
Mike Phillips's latest book, A Shadow of Myself, is published by HarperCollins
The long shadow of the Falcon
Dashiell Hammett's creation Sam Spade is father to every gumshoe that ever walked down a mean street, says crime-writer Sara Paretsky
Toby Litt’s top 10 crime novels
Toby Litt is the author of several books, including Beatniks, Corpsing and deadkidsongs
The talented Ms Highsmith
Her heroes are deviants and genial psychopaths. No wonder film-makers from Alfred Hitchcock to Anthony Minghella have adapted her novels. Robert Shore on the enduring appeal of Patricia Highsmith
Elementary imitation, my dear Watson
Review: My Dearest Holmes, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Revenge of the Hound