Recent crime fiction
Jeff Noon reviews detective fiction from Nicholas Searle, Thomas W. Hodgkinson, Ragnar Jónasson and Tim Baker
Magnetic north
Astrup’s childlike vision, drenched in the wet hues and strange rituals of his western Norway, are finally being recognised at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
Show me the Monet
Monet emerges triumphantly from the distracting emphasis on rhododendrons and watering-cans in the Royal Academy’s Painting the Modern Garden exhibition
Northern lights
In their new production, however, Opera North showed the advantage of not being able to afford temperamental stars or lavish scenery
Doing the wrong thing
Deborah Ross wanted the film to give it to the church with both barrels but instead director Tom McCarthy chooses to keep a respectful distance
Fine vintage
Plus: Clickbait, a new play at Theatre 503 that offers a refreshing take on internet porn
Sound and fury
We are all to blame for the spread of background noise. Many feel uneasy with silence and want to be jollied along. Yet piped music is bad for our mental and physical health
Lessons in the surreal
Plus: A.L. Kennedy has some nightmarish observations in The Essay on Radio 3 and Tuesday afternoon’s drama on Radio 4 dares to offer ten seconds of silence
An inconvenient truth
For anybody who holds to the quaint notion that documentaries should be true, it would represent a serious betrayal if it weren’t
High life
The media may crucify him, but he speaks to a white working class ignored by the bien-pensant elites
Long life
The recipient will be genuinely grateful — unlike charities, who spy on and persecute their benefactors
Bridge
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same… Well, Kipling obviously never…
Keres scene
This week I conclude my homage to the great Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres, who was born a century ago this…
No. 393
White to play. This is from Keres-Mardle, Hastings 1964. How did Keres ignite his attack? Answers to me at The…
Doublespeak
In Competition No. 2932 you were invited to submit up to 16 lines of verse that are the fruit of…
2245: Fair and square
Each of eleven clues contains a misprinted letter in the definition part. Corrections of misprints spell the source (three words)…
To 2242: Defeated
Each partial answer indicated by a clue in italics is KNOCKED INTO A COCKED HAT (5 39). Resulting entries at…
Is this a golden age of protest?
It has been accepted that the absence of black nominees for the Oscars is to do with racism … but is it?
The power of painless payment
Painless payment is a peerless consumerist mind-hack, and it could transform the traditional British pub
Your problems solved
Plus: The ultimate home for some old Christmas cards; and advice on shooting etiquette
Border spirit
The land of the reivers powered the British empire, and still has a role to play in business
