Once the Deed Is Done by Rachel Seiffert review – mystery in the aftermath of the Third Reich
This fine novel investigates the fate of displaced people in the hazardous, dirty backwash of the second world war
The trauma plot: how did culture get addicted to tragic backstories?
Again and again, audiences have been spoon-fed the same story: a character can only be explained by a past trauma, tantalisingly revealed in the last episode. Has the trope reached a tipping point?
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits review – a triumphant twist on the great American road novel
Fleeing a failing marriage and culture war battles, a man drives away from the wreckage of his past
Carrion Crow by Heather Parry review – a stomach-clenching contender for awards
A woman is confined to the attic by her mother in a thrillingly told novel that revels in squalor
Long live Joyce Carol Oates’ Twitter account: the only pure space left on this hell site
The 86-year-old author’s social feed might be her greatest contribution to literature – with philosophical musings on everything from US politics to an infected foot
The Mouthless Dead by Anthony Quinn review – murder most unsolvable
The author’s haunting and highly readable fictionalisation of a high-profile killing in prewar Liverpool is rich in legal and procedural detail
A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland review – a striking story of concealed love
This unforgettable tale of two men in late-80s Wales deals with the emotions and repercussions of their intimacy – and is one of the best debut novels in years
The Grapevine by Kate Kemp review – slaughter in surburbia
In a quiet Australian backwater an unravelling cast of women make claustrophobic crime fiction out of a close-knit community
In brief: Take Care; Tilt; Lightborne – review
A rousing memoir by the wife and carer of rugby player Rob Burrow; a tender earthquake survival tale; and a queer fictionalisation of Christopher Marlowe’s remarkable life
Xiaolu Guo: ‘Write less, in order to write stronger’
The author and film-maker on why she was inspired to reimagine Moby-Dick in her new novel, her love of Coleridge and returning to the ‘addictive power of fiction’
‘AI will become very good at manipulating emotions’: Kazuo Ishiguro on the future of fiction and truth
On the 20th anniversary of Never Let Me Go, the Nobel prize-winning novelist talks about the role of the author in a post-truth world – and why he’s ‘not a great writer of prose’
‘The definition of a classic’: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go at 20
A Booker-winning author, a Nobel prize-winning scientist and the directors of the film and stage adaptations on why Ishiguro’s dystopian tale still speaks to us today
‘What’s wrong with us?’ : Novelist Virginia Feito on our morbid obsession with true crime
Her debut, Mrs March, is being adapted by Elisabeth Moss, and her new novel has already been snapped up for the screen. Virginia Feito reveals the real-life inspiration for her shocking story of a psychopathic Victorian nanny
Twist by Colum McCann review – globalism and a voyage into danger
A free-diving engineer repairs the undersea cables that carry data around our hyperconnected planet, in this intense maritime story with echoes of Heart of Darkness
‘I’m like the TV Lorraine – just more sweary’: at home with the queen of the small screen
She’s the chatty daytime presenter with a nice line in withering putdowns. But as a judge once ruled, that’s just a role she performs. So who is the real Lorraine Kelly?