"Every time I finish a book it is a kind of sweet death"

Since the late eighties, Philip Kerr has been redefining crime fiction with his justly-lauded Bernie Gunther sequence. Exclusively for Waterstones, he introduces Prussian Blue, the eagerly awaited twelfth instalment in the series.

'The books will probably continue to grow darker in tone as the city, like a bee being sucked dry by Varroa mites, is drained of its remaining life.'

The world of Emma Flint's debut Little Deaths is a stark, lonely, noirish place, brimming with guilt and suspicion. Based on the real life murder trial of Alice Crimmins for the deaths of her two young children, the story plays out during the unforgiving New York heatwave of 1965. At the centre of this searing, gripping mystery is Flint's haunting portrayal of the mother, fictionalised as Ruth Malone; it is her unconventional behaviour, heavy make-up and 'cheap perfume' that seal her fate as the police - and the media's - main suspect. As the Guardian notes, 'Flint pulls the reader into the finely observed working-class Queens neighbourhood, where... the social surveillance of women is palpable.'  

Waterstones Online's Martha Greengrass caught up with Flint to discuss her vivid portrait of a woman's trial-by-media and explore why true crimes such as this still resonate half a century later.

Jane Harper's stripped-down, heat-scorched debut thriller The Dry has been turning heads the moment review copies were first released into the wild. ‘The no-frills storytelling is indicative of Harper’s career as a journalist… The Dry is skilfully written and absorbing,’ concluded the Financial Times, marvelling at the novel’s rural Australian-set air of sombre, brutal menace, as a Melbourne cop seeks out the truth behind his best friend’s apparent double-murder and suicide.

Brighton is a seaside resort of many colours. For some, it’s the quintessential British holiday destination, a place of piers and pebble-laden beaches; for others, it’s the focus of vibrant cultural diversity, a town at the vanguard of LGBTQ equality. For all its kitsch appeal and liberal idyll, there the other Brighton, the place where the neon meets the darkness: from Brighton Rock onward, bestselling crime author Elly Griffiths and ex-detective Graham Bartlett, explain why this south-coast resort is the perfect setting for murder most foul.

Sophie Hannah talks about the joy of Golden Age crime fiction storytelling, the literary Christie and the challenge of taking on the master of the ‘little grey cells’, Hercule Poirot, for the second time. Interview by Waterstones Online's Martha Greengrass.

Few fantasy series of recent times have had the impact of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London; its deviously brilliant fusion of old wizards, ghouls and a certain special division of the London Metropolitan Police quickly found an appreciative audience hungry for his take on a rather extraordinary London. It’s also a source of real Waterstonic pride too to say that our lovely shop in Covent Garden (of course!) once benefited from Ben’s bookselling presence, so we always consider Ben as one of our own.

With the sixth in the seriesThe Hanging Tree published today, Ben was kind enough to pen a letter for readers, both for those already in love with the series and the rest who are about to be.

East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity is a profound and vital work that explores how international justice was forged, and the two men,  Lauterpacht and Lemkin, who fought to establish the terms ‘crime against humanity’ and ‘genocide’ so firmly in our legal systems. Here, the author Philippe Sands QC, a Professor of Law at University College London and a barrister at Matrix Chambers, discusses the works that inspired his Baillie Gifford Prize longlisted book.

While planning the follow-up to her immensely successful In Bitter Chill, and fuelled by a life-long fascination with Hammer Horror, crime writer Sarah Ward travelled to Whitby, the birthplace of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Here, she explains how the eerie location stirred the shadows of her imagination and helped her to write A Deadly Thaw, the second Inspector Francis Sadler novel.

Clouded memory, buried truth and unreliable testimony dominate in Black-Eyed Susans, an unmissable thriller that holds a light up to the flaws in the American justice system. Regional buyer Martha Greengrass takes a long look at this extraordinary novel.

Kate Summerscale, bestselling author of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, shares her selection of the five most urgent and intimate true-crime books. Her new book, The Wicked Boy, is out today.