The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
Other Women by Emma Flint; I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai; Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead; The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor review – a literary thriller of the highest order
Based on real events, this beautifully crafted novel follows an Irish priest smuggling allied troops and Jews out of Italy in 1943
My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor review – the priest who defied Nazis
A polyphonic retelling of how an Irish priest set out to rescue resistance fighters, PoWs and Jews from Nazi-occupied Rome
Brutes by Dizz Tate review – adolescent agony in fame-hungry Florida
The lives of teenage girls are expertly evoked in this horror-infused novel about the disappearance of a TV preacher’s daughter
Brutes by Dizz Tate review – a whip-smart and warped coming-of-age Florida fairytale
A schoolmate’s disappearance is the hook for a slippery debut novel exploring the friendships and futures of a gang of eighth-grade girls
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett review – on the trail of a cult
The author of The Appeal compiles a dossier of evidence with dramatic results in this dark tale of Satanic rituals
The best recent crime and thriller writing – review roundup
A new Janice Hallett mystery, a pair of post-apocalyptic locked-room spine chillers and a shadowy death in a sun-kissed Greek resort are among this month’s highlights
The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier review – riveting French thriller
Mauvignier sustains an almost unbearable tension as villagers in rural France stumble into a bloodbath
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis review – an inspired fever dream of a book
A teenage Bret and his uber-privileged friends cruise around 80s LA while a serial killer stalks the city in a gleefully meta return to form by the author of American Psycho
The Pale Blue Eye review – baffled, beardy Christian Bale in gruesome murder yarn
Set in 1830, a mildly ridiculous plot sends a haunted Bale to investigate the gothic killing of a military cadet
Best movies of 2022 in the US: No 7 – The Wonder
A strange and beautiful period drama full of mystery and miracles – and Florence Pugh is a wonder herself, with a bristling, transfixing performance
Best films of 2022 in the UK: No 8 – The Wonder
A strange and beautiful period drama full of mystery and miracles – Florence Pugh is a wonder herself, with a bristling, transfixing performance
The best books to give as presents this Christmas
Authors and Observer critics choose the books they will be giving as gifts this year – and the one they’d like to find in their own stocking
Marijane Meaker obituary
Groundbreaking author, initially of lesbian-themed fiction including the 1952 bestseller Spring Fire
The best crime and thriller books of 2022
Ajay Chowdhury and Ian Rankin are among the authors of this year’s standout novels, including cosy escapes, dodgy cops and a murder told backwards