Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Leading writers discuss their genre and select their top five essential reads, plus selected articles on the murky world of thrillers and whodunnits
Doyenne of British crime today talks about Adam Dagliesh, her original motive for writing and her anxieties about starting a new novel
McDermid says, 'lesbians are particularly suited to the crime novel because the detective is both transgressive and discounted by society.... we don't have to do anything like drink too much...to meet those criteria.'
Why Chandler deserves his lonely, disillusioned corner in the American literary canon - we never doubted it
Ellroy's memoir mostly covers "sexual fantasies, desires, love affairs, marriages, long-term relationships, imaginary lovers". Also good advice on how to get noticed as a writer: "exude a raucous panache"
On Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy - The Sweden you didn't know about: corrupt state, misogyny, crime, violence. With remarkable background on Larsson's own life and death
Rankin explains why crime is no poor relation to the other literary canons. Yes we thought the debate was over, but still an interesting read
Love her or hate her, with more than 4m copies of Agatha Christie's 80 whodunnits bought every year, her influence can't be ignored
Essential crime reading list - of course subjective with a few omissions but a good overview nevertheless
Boys will be boys. O'Hagan examines the unhinged world of McNab and Ryan's military thrillers and explains their strong appeal to men who have previously read nothing, Their lousiness is their genius.'
To sell travel writing, put a dead body in the story and make it crime. The marriage works well because in crime, after all, the backdrop is always one of the lead characters
Clive James praises crime fiction and advises all those tiring of Henry James to make the genre switch
Sympathetic overview of life of Flannery O'Connor. Seemingly uneventful and easy. And yet the great drama came from within, 'She was touched by evil and no doubt knew it. That is what makes her so wickedly good.'
