It's forensics and DNA that have caused all the trouble. Time was, anyone could solve a murder in a detective novel, which meant just about anybody could have a go at writing one. Your detective could be an effete aristocrat like Lord Peter Wimsy or a bohemian intellectual with a...

What is it with those Tudors? Showtime is gearing up for the fourth and final series of the epic Henry VIII drama this coming spring; the most prestigious book prize in Britain, the Man Booker, has just been won by Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall", a fictional life of Henry's fixer,...