大象传媒

Two years ago, Japan was gripped by scandal when a musician called Mamoru Samuragochi was revealed to be an imposter. Samuragochi was a star in Japan - he claimed to have lost his hearing at the age of 35 but had continued to write music which was hugely popular. The scandal broke when it was revealed that a part-time music teacher called Takashi Niigaki was in fact the composer of much of the music that had been credited to Samuragochi.

There is an interesting new crime writer on the block in Britain called Matt Johnson, and he has just published his first novel in paperback, called Wicked Game. The central character is a London police officer and former soldier - a role Matt knows well because for 25 years that was his job.

Mexico has one of the highest murder rates in the world - nearly 60 people died violently every day this year. And someone has to go to the crime scene and clean up afterwards. That man is often Donovan Tavera. He set himself up as Mexico's first forensic cleaner - after an obsession that started when he was a boy.

The islands of Hawaii were formed by volcanoes from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, and there are many local legends about the goddess of volcanoes and fire, Pele. As a girl, Alison Teal was entranced by those stories. So, when the Kilauea volcano erupted early this year, spewing its lava into the ocean, instead of doing the usual thing and running away - Alison took her surfboard and hopped in the water.