Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer review – a thrilling coda to an otherworldly trilogy
This follow-up to the Southern Reach series again explores the mysteries of Area X
Crime and thrillers of the month – review
Agatha Christie meets Saw in rural Essex, dark secrets of the wellbeing industry uncovered and a gripping tale of revenge on the privileged
Novelist and poet Paul Bailey dies at 87
The twice Booker prize-shortlisted author was best known for his novels, which included At the Jerusalem and Gabriel’s Lament
The Hotel by Daisy Johnson review – eerie and elegant gothic tales
This striking short story collection, set in a spooky hotel in the Fens, offers a fierce interrogation of women’s roles in the folk horror world
The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz review – witty, tightly plotted follow-up
The sequel to bestselling thriller The Plot takes the wife of the first novel’s protagonist and throws her into a satisfyingly twisty, literary satire
In brief: Jeremy Catto; Haunted Tales; A Ballet of Lepers – review
An affectionate biography of an old-school Oxford don; an atmospheric collection of spooky stories; and a darkly humorous reminder of Leonard Cohen’s early literary gifts
Eliza Clark: ‘I don’t think we respect female writers’
The British novelist on including content warnings in her first short story collection, why she struggles at book signings and the ‘flagrant sexism’ female authors are subjected to
‘Fandom has toxified the world’: Watchmen author Alan Moore on superheroes, Comicsgate and Trump
Enthusiasm can be a productive force for good, but our culture has rapidly become a fan-based landscape that the rest of us are merely living in
Novelist Jonathan Coe: ‘Liz Truss was very unimpressed to meet me’
His new novel is set during the former PM’s brief premiership, so what happened when they had dinner? The author on politics, cosy crime and bingeing Friends
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk review – hallucinogenic horrors
The Nobel laureate’s riff on The Magic Mountain takes on a darkly surreal life of its own in this tale of a young man’s visit to a health resort
Lore Segal obituary
Novelist and short-story writer who drew on her experiences as a refugee and migrant living in New York
Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
Spellbinding witches; memories of home; treasure hunters; fake facts; fearsome creatures; a great guide to graphic art and more
Lissa Evans: ‘Charlotte’s Web had me beside myself with rage and disbelief’
The author on being emotionally battered by EB White’s children’s classic, comforted by Annie Proulx and falling in love with Middlemarch on her third attempt
David Nicholls heads shortlist for Wodehouse comic fiction prize
Judges praise the ‘sheer variety of comedy in play’ in nominated books by Nicholls, Dolly Alderton, Caroline O’Donoghue and Kaliane Bradley
Rapture by Emily Maguire review – tale of medieval female pope feels fresh and intimate
This sensual account of a woman seeking knowledge and God in a man’s world brings us close to matters of faith and the body