Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 29, 2018

It's time again for Crime Fiction Links of the Week, our weekly round-up of interesting links about crime fiction from around the web, this week with yet more best of 2018 lists, a lot of Agatha Christie, tributes to Jane Langton, The ABC Murders, Holmes & Watson, Destroyer, Escape at Dannemora, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and much more.

Crime fiction in general: 

• Laura Wilson offers a round-up of the best recent crime novels.
• Barbara Ross lists the must-have elements of cozy mysteries. 
• Emily Winslow talks about the comfort offered by crime novels.
• Tina Jordan takes a look at real life places that appear in popular crime novels.  
• Sandro Ferri shares a history of Mediterranen noir.
• Tessa Lunney explains why Paris in the 1920s is a great setting for a historical spy thriller. 
• Jason Overstreet finds a link between spy fiction and the African American experience. 
• Wayne Arthurson discusses how white voices overwhelm indigenous crime fiction. 
• Sam Wiebe discusses the crime genre's issues with diversity.
• Liz Nugent takes a look at the crimes and hypocrisies that inspired a generation of Irish crime fiction writers.
• Tracy Clark explains what V.I Warshawski and other female hardboiled detectives meant to her.
• Tara Isabella Burton talks about queer friendship and the psychological thriller.
• Alex Johnson shares ten books allegedly written by Sherlock Holmes.
• Boyd Tonkin traces how Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Miserables became a global phenomenon.
• Ruth Graham asks why there are so many bestselling books with "fuck" in the title right now.
• From First Page to Last takes a look at the changing cover design of Agatha Christie's novels.

Best of 2018 lists:

• Criminal Element shares their favourite crime novels of 2018. 
• Marina Sofia shares her five favourite crime novels of 2018.
• Mike Parker shares his five favourite crime novels at 2018.
• Louis Bravos shares his five favourite crime novels of 2018.
• Garrick Webster shares his top five crime novels of 2018.
• For winter nights shares their favourite crime novels and thrillers of 2018.
  

Tributes to Jane Langton:

• Mystery writer Jane Langton has died aged 95.
• The MWA remembers Jane Langton.
• Locus remembers Jane Langton.
  

Film and TV:

• Clarisse Loughrey is sick of the debate whether Die Hard is a Christmas film and would rather just enjoy the movie. 
• Geoffrey Macnab calls the new version of Papillon a remake of a classic prison drama that has nothing new to say.
• Geoffrey Macnab calls the serial killer movie The House That Jack Built Lars von Trier's most deadening film yet.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Counterpart.  
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 1974 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1990 comic strip crime movie Dick Tracy. 
• Ryan D'Agostino and Eleanor Hildenbrand revisit the 1981 technothriller Brainstorm and its troubled production history.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on season 1 and 2 of the British crime drama Unforgotten. 
• Sean O'Grady declares that British television was more diverse and representative than ever in 2018.  
• The AV Club reviewers rank all seasons of the Netflix Marvel TV series. 
• Sarah Marsh and Jessica Elgot reports that actress Keeley Hawes met former British home secretary Amber Rudd, on whom Hawes based her performance as a politician in Bodyguard.
• Garrick Webster looks ahead at series 5 of Luther.
  

Comments on The ABC Murders:

• Aliya Whiteley calls the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders a chilly and compelling Hercule Poirot mystery.  
• Holly Williams calls The ABC Murders surprisingly grim and far from cozy tea time viewing.
• Ed Power finds the conclusion of The ABC Murders perfectly conventional after several intriguing twists and turns. 
• Lucy Mangan particularly praises John Malkovich's performance as Hercule Poirot in The ABC Murders.
• Ed Cumming declares that John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot in The ABC Murders is as much fun as you'd expect.
• Meanwhile, Roxanne Hughes finds herself distracted by John Malkovich's accent in The ABC Murders.
• Flora Carr offers an overview of the cast of The ABC Murders.
  

Comments on Holmes & Watson:

• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Holmes & Watson abysmally unfunny and a career low for stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. 
• Geoffrey Macnab declares that even Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly cannot salvage the mess that is Holmes & Watson.
• Mark Harrison calls Holmes & Watson an underpowered Sherlock spoof.
• Franck Scheck delcares that the stench of a flop clings to Holmes & Watson
• William Hughes reports that Holmes & Watson has cracked the 0% Rotten Tomatoes score barrier. 

Comments on Destroyer:

• Ella Taylor declares that the gritty cop drama Destroyer doesn't deliver.   
• Katie Rife declares that Destroyer is a gritty crime thriller in the mold of 1970s movies such as Serpico and Dirty Harry.
• Katie Rife interviews Karyn Kusama, director of Destroyer.

Comments on Escape at Dannemora:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Escape at Dannemora.
• Laura Bogart shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Escape at Dannemora.
  

Comments on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch: 

• Linda Holmes declares that the interactivity is merely a gimmick in the new Black Mirror special "Bandersnatch".
• Stuart Heritage calls Black Mirror: Bandersnatch a meta masterpiece.
• Zack Handlen calls "Bandersnatch" an entertaining experience that is not going to knock anybody's socks off.
• Ed Cummings calls "Bandersnatch" an intriguing but imperfect postmodern adventure.
• David Streitfeld calls "Bandersnatch" an experiment on the viewer and the grimmest Black Mirror episode yet. 
• Roisin O'Connor discusses the interactive experience of watching "Bandersnatch". 
• William Hughes shares some Black Mirror related Easter eggs to be found in "Bandersnatch".
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Brandon Duffy talks about creating the perfect noir setting.
• Charissa Weaks shares some tips for infusing emotion into fiction. 
• Jeff Zafaris shares four writing techniques to borrow from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
• J. Kathleen Cheney shares five tips to improve your next book cover. 
• Judy Penz Sheluk shares some tips for setting up a multi-author bookstore event. 
• The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers is having a sale on its writing courses.
  

Interviews:

• The New York Times interviews Ian Rankin. 
• Erin Bartnett interviews Michael Chabon. 
• Daniela Petrova interviews Erica Wright. 
• Jen J. Danna and Ann Vanderlaan interview each other.
  

Reviews:

• Daisy Buchanan reviews Past Tense by Lee Child.
• Anthony DeCastro reviews The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka.  
• Karen Brissette reviews The Witch Elm by Tana French.
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Golden Child by Wendy James. 
• For winter nights reviews The Rumour by Lesley Kara. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Transcription by Kate Atkinson.
• Debbie Haupt reviews Tell Her No Lies by Kelly Irvin.
• Garrick Webster reviews Good Samaritans by Will Carver.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Collector by Fiona Cummins. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Universal Harvester by John Darnielle.
• TripFiction reviews Overkill by Vanda Symon. 
• Victoria Goldman reviews Snap by Belinda Bauer.
• For winter nights reviews House of Glass by Susan Fletcher.
• Janet Webb reviews Death Comes to Bath by Catherine Lloyd.
• Benjamin Boulden reviews Deadly Camargue by Cay Rademacher.
• Jon L. Breen reviews Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s, edited by Leslie S. Klinger
• John Gallagher reviews The Secret World: A History of Intelligence by Christopher Andrews.
  

Classics reviews:

• From First Page To Last revisits Agatha Christie's 1926 classic The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits Mystery in White, a 1937 holiday mystery by J. Jefferson Farjeon.  
• Rick Robinson revisits the 1938 Hercule Poirot mystery A Holiday For Murder by Agatha Christie. 
• Robert Allen Papinchak revisits the 1940 hardboiled novel The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes.
• Crime Time revisits Francis Vivien's 1941 mystery The Death of Mr. Lomas. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1953 crime novel So Dead My Love by Henry Whittington.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1953 crime novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven by John Bingham.
• Classic Mystery revisits the 1954 mystery More Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd.
• Rob Kitchin revisits Cop Hater, the first novel in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series from 1956. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1971 mystery The Dancing Man by Philip Maitland Hubbard.
• George Kelley revisits Tied Up In Tinsel, a 1972 holiday mystery by Ngaio Marsh.
• Gerard Saylor revisits F. Paul Wilson's 1984 Repairman Jack novel The Tomb. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1984 action thriller The Ninety-Nine, the first book in the Track men's adventure series by Jerry Ahern.

Crowdfunding:

• The graphic novel version of Before You Go, a comic by Denise Schroeder, is looking for funding.

Con and event reports:

• From First Page to Last reports about a performance of Agatha Christie's mystery play The Mousetrap, which has been running continuously for 67 years in London's West End.
• Ayo Onatade reports that David Baldacci and Robert Harris will be the special guests at the 2019 Capital Crime festival in London, UK.
• Phil Hewitt reports that the Leonardslee Crime Festival will take place in Horsham, UK, in March 2019 for the first time.
• Kevin's Security Scrapbook reports about the opening of the KGB Spy Museum in New York City. 
• Paul Cornell talks about organising the Fairford Festival of Fiction in Fairford, UK.
• James Tate Hill reports about two llamas paying a visit to Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, North Carolina.
  

Research:

• Megan Molteni explains how home DNA testing kits used to find one's relatives are used to solve cold cases.
• Hannah Mary McKinnon remembrs losing a friend to a cult mass suicide.
• Steve Fjelsted reports how the wife of Santa Claus and the librarians at the Madera County Library in Madera, California, helped to capture a wanted bank robber. 
• Shelley Puhak recalls a murder in her hometown and the body of a dead woman found next to the library years ago.
• Mick McElkanny, an Irish police officer who served as a bodyguard to John F. Kennedy and Lord Mountbatten during their respective visits to Ireland, remembers both men and his shock at their assassinations. 

Free online fiction:

• "Jingle Bells, Shotgun Shells" by Tom Leins in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Jemma Linden in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Very Secret Santa" by John Kaprielian in The Five-Two.
• "The Best Gift of All" by Albert Tucher in Shotgun Honey.
• "Customer Service" by Margot Kinberg in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Blue is the Color of Night" by Steve Paul at Akashic Books.
• "Honeymoon Sweet" by Craig Faustus Buck in Trigger Warning.
• "The Bank Job" by Stephen D. Rogers in Trigger Warning.
• "The Last Walk of Filips Finks" by William Burton McCormick in Trigger Warning.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for series 5 of Luther.
• Watch a clip from series 5 of Luther.
• Watch a trailer for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
• Watch a teaser for Doom Patrol. 
• Watch a trailer for Us.