It starts in the 1970s. An illiterate girl from a Soweto slum is crammed into a truck with a load of potatoes.

It was three months after the publication of Robert Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling, that J.K. Rowling was exposed as the true author of "his" crime debut, lauded by readers and critics alike.

Ned Beauman’s new novel, Glow, is being touted as an international conspiracy thriller for a new generation, writes Stephen Jewell.

Most of what you need to know about Stephen King you could learn from his sex scenes.

British writer Nicola Barker retreats into a self-indulgent solitude when she is working, she tells James Kidd.

Una has lung cancer, and just days to live. "I have friends and family ... I have money.

Jayne Anne Phillips was first told about Harry Powers when she was a child.

Nicky Pellegrino is delighted by all the quirky characters in this Kiwi novel.

In her second short story collection, her first in 15 years, Lorrie Moore peels back life’s outer layer and reveals what lies within.

Nicky Pellegrino picks the best reads to give (and receive) this Mother’s Day.

Best-selling author Matt Haig, 38, is about to have two more books published. Here, he explains how he only started writing to cope with his sudden, life-threatening depression.

Author Shonagh Koea tells Rebecca Barry Hill why she doesn’t stick to the rules.

"Donny Mac was released at Easter time, about a month before Pansy Holloway, also known as Nightshade, disappeared for good."

Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, now based in Miami, is fascinated by Americans’ eating habits, he tells Stephen Jewell.

Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith spent a year in Belfast in the middle of the Troubles. Amid the bombs and blasts, he discovered a great love, he tells Linda Herrick.

I do not read a lot of noir crime fiction which, on the face of it, means I should not be writing this review — well, on the face the book presents after a few dozen pages, anyway.