If you’re looking for escapism, crime novels can be a good way to go. Which is strange, given that nearly all of them revolve around murder. Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books and an avid consumer of the genre, picks her personal favourites published in 2020.

Australian crime fiction—sometimes dubbed ‘Outback Noir’—is enjoying a boom, and its authors are rapturously received overseas. Emma Viskic, the award-winning crime writer, selects five of the best crime novels by her compatriots: outstanding books that blur the line between ‘literary’ and ‘genre’ fiction.

It’s been a great year for crime fiction – with soaring sales and global bestsellers emerging from writers all over the world. Crime writing is rightly in the ascendancy, says the celebrated Scottish novelist Val McDermid as she selects the best crime fiction of 2019: five books that stand as great novels in their own right.

Every week, dozens of new thrillers appear in bookshops. But, often, the classic ones are the best of all. If you haven’t read any of these five yet, you have a treat in store.

Journalists are no longer able to properly investigate organised crime in modern Italy — leaving it to crime fiction writers to pick up the slack, says the acclaimed Italian novelist, Massimo Carlotto. Here he chooses five noir novels that explore the reality of Italian corruption in highly original ways.

Wilkie Collins, the sensationalist author and inventor of the detective novel, knew precisely how to “make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em wait”. Jason Hall, Victorian literature expert and editor of a new edition of Jezebel’s Daughter, chooses the five best books from Collins’s extensive oeuvre – and considers the voracious appetites and unorthodox lifestyle of this intriguing Englishman.

The writer of the hugely successful Prime Suspect television series, Lynda La Plante, selects her own favourite crime novels. We haven’t completed the interview with her yet, but her brief email comments appear beside her choices.

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and four novels starring his fictional sleuth. Michael Dirda – Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, writer and lifelong Sherlockian – gives us his personal choice of the best Sherlock Holmes books and tells us more about their creator.

The celebrated Swedish crime-writing duo take turns to recommend gripping and grisly Scandinavian thrillers, as well as to tell us about visiting prison – and being in it

The best crime novels grip you right from the first sentence and don’t let go, says bestselling crime author, Peter James. He picks his own favourite crime novels.

Agatha Christie was a shy, unassuming woman who likely remains the bestselling novelist of all time. Here her grandson, Mathew Prichard, talks us through his favourite Agatha Christie books.

When it comes to whodunnits, the latest ones aren’t always the best. Veteran crime writer Simon Brett talks us through some of his all-time favourites.

We learn much more from failure than we do from success, says Irvine Welsh. The author of Trainspotting recommends his own favourite crime novels.

The bestselling Norwegian crime writer, Jo Nesbø, recommends some of the classics of his genre, many of which have not (yet) been translated into English.

Crime writer and Golden Dagger winner, Ann Cleeves, insists the bleak, snowy, wild spaces of Nordic crime fiction are more than a backdrop. The environment really affects the people that grow out of that landscape.