Dan Brown’s Inferno and Lee Child’s Never Go Back top list of most borrowed books from Suffolk libraries in 2014

Lee Child, regarded as the best crime author in the world, does not have to worry about his Suffolk fan base diminishing any time soon.

The writer of the popular Jack Reacher series, which has become an international bestselling phenomenon, is indeed a ‘Wanted Man’ after he retained his title of the most read author in the county.

His novel Never Go Back, the 18th book in the Jack Reacher series released in September last year, was the most borrowed library book for adults in Suffolk in 2014.

It comes after he topped the charts last year with The Affair, the 16th book in the series.

But Child did not have a complete stranglehold of the top 10 most requested library books for adults. In fact, each position is occupied by a different author.

Dan Brown’s Inferno, a mystery thriller novel which is the fourth entry in the Robert Langdon series and follows Angels & Demons, was second, while in third was The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by debut novelist Rachel Joyce. The novel started life as an afternoon radio play and has been described as an enriching tale about a man’s journey through England.

Meanwhile, comedian David Walliams climbed into the top 10 for children’s books following his recent foray into children’s literature. He claimed fifth with Billionaire Boy and eighth with Mr Stink.

Last year’s winner War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo, plummeted to ninth. The most popular children’s library book in Suffolk this year was The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. It was second last year.

Alison Wheeler, general manager of Suffolk Libraries, said: “It is good to see that Suffolk library customers have kept up their taste for crime and thrillers.

“The writers of yesteryear seem to have been put aside for classic crime and new writers such as Gillian Flynn.

“As ever, stalwart British writers of children’s literature are still very popular with families. This is good news for Suffolk library and writers of this country.”