Authors from James M Cain to Patricia Highsmith show how partners in crime can really bring out the worst in each other
August 2019
Book clinic
Book clinic: who are the best alternatives to Agatha Christie?
The alternative Agatha Christies – Rendell, Tey and Millar
May 2019
Jeanette Winterson: ‘I did worry about looking at sex bots’
From Agatha Christie to Gillian Flynn: 50 great thrillers by women
October 2017
Short story round-up: mystery, murder and virtuoso ventriloquism
A Spot of Folly by Ruth Rendell and Sleep No More by PD James reviews – terrific stories
September 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 brothers and sisters in fiction
These deep-rooted childhood bonds are rather neglected by novelists. From Jane Austen to Sarah Waters, here are some of the best books that do pay attention
August 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 twists in fiction
Court dramas, classic mysteries and bloody crimes ... from Du Maurier to Lehane, Sophie Hannah chooses her favourite twists in novels (or does she?)
May 2017
Unseen Ruth Rendell short stories to be published
Archive research of crime fiction magazines has recovered nine stories that will be collected under the title A Spot of Folly this autumn
April 2016
Figures of Catastrophe by Francis Mulhern review – reasons to be cheerless
A short but intense study of fiction by a stalwart of the left draws EM Forster, John Fowles and Ruth Rendell into its gloomy prognosis
January 2016
Book of the day
The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle review – a thriller that will trip you up
An ageing conman is not who he seems in this fantastically assured debut
December 2015
The Observer's obituaries of 2015
Ruth Rendell remembered by Valerie Amos
The writer’s colleague in the House of Lords remembers a loyal and generous friend, who was also a committed political campaigner
Dark Corners review – Ruth Rendell’s final novel ratchets up the tension
It’s the fine detail that enthrals in this tale of small lapses that lead to escalating calamity
Serial thrillers: why true crime is popular culture's most wanted
The genre is witnessing a new era of popularity led by US podcast Serial, Channel 4’s recent The Murder Detectives, and bestselling books
October 2015
Book of the day
Dark Corners by Ruth Rendell review – a spookily perfect farewell
There are nods to Shakespeare and Breaking Bad in this London-based thriller, the final book from a giant of crime fiction
September 2015
Guy Lodge's streaming and DVDs
The New Girlfriend; Pitch Perfect 2; John Wick; The Goob; Faults – review
François Ozon pays Ruth Rendell a slinky tribute, Pitch Perfect 2 hits all the right notes, while Keanu Reeves sharpens up in a menacing thriller
July 2015
Best holiday reads 2015
Authors, critics and philosophers tell us which books they will be reading on the beach
June 2015
How Ruth Rendell became the favourite of French cinema
François Ozon’s latest film The New Girlfriend is just the most recent illustration of French film-makers’ love of Rendell – they have no snobbery about genre
May 2015
The New Girlfriend review – bold adaptation of a Ruth Rendell short story
Ruth Rendell: memories of a friend who stood by me
