Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 8, 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 books of 2018 lists, The Little Drummer Girl, Escape at Dannemora, the cancellation of Daredevil, Tumblr's adult content ban and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Christopher Fowler asks if crime fiction is allowed to be funny.
• Christopher Sandford wonders who the real life model for Sherlock Holmes was.
• Mette Ivie Harrison talks about Mormon mysteries and who the target audience is. 
• Janet Rudolph shares a list of Chanukah mysteries and crime fiction.
• Player None takes a look at Robert E. Howard's forays into detective fiction.
• Sam J. Miller explains why stories about HIV/AIDS still matter.
• David Hayden talks about the women writers who influenced him and also discusses why so many men still read exclusively male writers. 
• Calvin Reid reports that Polis Books is starting up an imprint for diverse crime fiction. 
• Meghan Scott Molin talks about Batman and other crime-fighting comic book heroes.
• Tomilayo Adeiye reports about an uproar between Nora Roberts and Tomi Adeyemi involving two similarly titled books.  
• The Real Book Spy reports that Eric Van Lustbader will be leaving the Jason Bourne franchise behind.

Best of 2018 lists:

• Crime Reads share their favourite crime and mystery books of the year.
• Crime Reads also share the twenty best crime book covers of 2018.
• Molly Odintz shares the best crime and mystery endings of 2018. 
• The Guardian critics share their favourite books of 2018, including Laura Wilson's favourite crime novels and thrillers. 
• Book Riot shares the best book covers of 2018, including several genre covers. 

Film and TV:

• Peter Bradshaw calls The Old Man and the Gun a feelgood crime caper.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the psychological thriller drama Homecoming. 
• Paul Levinson also shares his appreciation for the Chicago Heroes trio of TV shows, i.e. Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med.
• Maria Lewis explains how the ultra-violent comic book movie Punisher: War Zone became a cult classic.  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1964 crime movie Do You Know This Voice?
• Emma Grey Ellis explains why so many diversified reboots of older films and TV shows fail and that the diverse casts are not the problem, but the lack of new ideas is. 
• Tess Makovesky complains about unnecessary cliffhangers in TV crime dramas. 
• Gavin Hayes lists the 2018 TV shows whose characters travelled around the most, which includes crime dramas such as Killing Eve, The Little Drummer Girl and McMafia.
• L.S. Hawker shares five crime films with excellent soundtracks.
• Actor Ken Berry who appeared in several genre TV shows has died aged 85.
• Screenwriter John D.F. Black, who worked on Shaft, Hawai Five-O and Charlie's Angels among others, has died aged 85.
  

Comments on The Little Drummer Girl: 

• Graeme Virtue calls the final episode of The Little Drummer Girl an explosive and satisfying finale.
• Renaldo Matadeen discusses how The Little Drummer Girl weaponises fake news.
• Martha Hayes profiles Florence Pugh, the star of The Little Drummer Girl.
  

Comments on Escape at Dannemora:

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

Comments on the cancellation of Daredevil:

• Renaldo Matadeen declares that Netflix made a huge mistake when it cancelled Daredevil. 
• Andy Welch asks what went wrong in the relationship between Marvel and Netflix.
• Sam Stone reports that Daredevil was actually one of Netflix's most popular shows. 
• Shirley Li shares the reaction of Charlie Cox, who plays Matt Murdoch in Daredevil, to the show's cancellation.
• Noah Dominguez reports that Marvel has promised more filmic Daredevil adventures.
• Renaldo Matadeen declares that Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are not headed to Disney's new streaming service, however.  
• Sam Stone reports that the entire fourth season of Daredevil had already been laid out, when the show was cancelled.
• Beth Elderkin interviews Daredevil writer Tamara Becher-Wilkinson about the surprise cancellation.

Comments on Tumblr's adult content policies:

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that new adult content guidelines have enraged Tumblr users.
• Shannon Liao reports that Tumblr will ban all adult content beginning December 17, 2018.
• Alex Cranz reports that Tumblr has falsely flagged all sorts of harmless images as adult.
  

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced and the winner and voting breakdown for the mystery and thriller category is here.
• Ron Charles calls the Goodreads Choice Awards an annual reminder that readers and critics often don't agree. 
• The winners of the 2018 Nero Award and Black Orchid Award have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2018 Golden Globes have been announced
• The winners of the 2018 Bad Sex Award has been announced.
• Sian Cain declares that the Bad Sex Award and its illustrious winners are not just bad fiction, but an illustration of the privilege enjoyed by white male writers.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Bryan Gruley explains how to write small town crime fiction. 
• Val McDermid talks about finding inspiration after thirty-two novels.
• Ayodeji Awosika explains how to keep writing day after day, even if you don't feel like it.
• Ayodeji Awosika also shares the difference between good and bad writers.
• Lauren Sapala explains what it's like to be a writer with anxiety. 
• Steve Johnson explains why writing books is more than typing and processing words.
• Piotr Gaczkowski shares his reasons for writing. 
• Harry J. Stead discusses the purpose of writing and art according to George Orwell.
• Melissa Chu shares J.R.R. Tolkien's process for creating a work that lasts. 
• Michael Skapinker offers a defense of the passive voice.
• Carol Potenza talks about researching the science necessary for your story. 
• John Scalzi shares some observations on bestseller lists.

Interviews:

• Jane Chiabattari interviews Jonathan Lethem. 
• Claire Armitstead interviews Sara Paretsky.
• Paul D. Brazill intervies Dylan H. Jones.
• Susanna Hutcheson interview book cover designer Chip Kidd.

Reviews:

• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin.
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem.   
• Garrick Webster reviews The Whisperer by Karin Fossum.
• Sandra Mangan reviews Last Lullaby by Carol Wyer. 
• Sharon Magee reviews Past Tense by Lee Child.
• Janet Webb reviews The Winner Maker by Jeff Bond.
  
• The Real Book Spy reviews The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler. 
• The Real Book Spy reviews Hunt Them Down by Simon Gervais.
• Juliet Fletcher reviews Ways to Hide in Winter by Sarah St. Vincent.
• Janet Webb reviews Eighteen Below by Stefan Ahnhem. 
• Sarah Prindle reviews The Gold Pawn by L.A. Chandlar. 
• Joseph Scarpato Jr. reviews Death in Paris by Emilia Bernhard. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder at the Mill by M.B. Shaw.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Killed on Blueberry Hill by Sharon Farrow and tries a recipe from the book.
• Robin Agnes reviews A Gift of Bones by Carolyn Haines.
• Robin Agnew reviews The Long Paw of the Law by Diane Kelly. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias.  
• Hermione Eyre reviews Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg. 
• The Fantasy Inn reviews In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns by Elizabeth Bear. 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, edited by Louise Penny.
• Martin Edwards reviews The Golden Age of Murder in Japan by Alice Arisugawa.
• John Valeri reviews Police Craft: What Cops Know About Crime, Community and Violence by Adam Platinga.
  

Classics reviews:

• John Grant revisits the 1899 suspense novel The House by the Lock by A.M. Williamson. 
• Classic Mysteries revisits The Division Bell Mystery, a 1932 mystery by Ellen Wilkinson.
• J.F. Norris revisits Death at the Wheel, a 1933 mystery by Vernon Loder.
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1936 mystery Courtier to Death by Anthony Gilbert.
• Beneath the Stains of Time revisits the 1936 mystery The Strawstack Murder Case by Kirke Mechem.
• Mystery File revisits Georgette Heyer's 1936 mystery Behold, Here's Poison. 
• Classic Mysteries revisits the 1938 mystery Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh. 
• John Grant revisits the 1943 noir novel The Black Angel by Cornell Woolrich. 
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1945 mystery Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1946 mystery Five Passengers From Lisbon by Mignon Good Eberhart.
• Only Detect revisits the 1949 hardboiled detective novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald, the first appearance of Lew Archer.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1955 hardboiled crime novel The Wench Is Dead by Fredric Brown. 
• Jay Rothermel revisits the 1957 historical adventure thriller The Prisoner in the Mask by Dennis Wheatley.  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1962 crime novel This Man Dawson by H.R. Helseth.
• Paperback Warrior revisits The Charleston Knife is Back in Town, a 1974 novel in the Hardman detective series by Ralph Dennis. 
• Curtis Evans revisits the 1977 mystery Scared To Death and the 1980 mystery Death in the Round, both by Anne Morice. 
• John Grant revisits the 1978 mystery Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh.
• Martin Edwards revisits On Suspicion, a 1985 suspense novel by David Fletcher a.k.a. Dulan Friar Whilberton Barber.
• Joe Kenney revisits Border War, a 1985 novel in the Traveller men's adventure series by D.B. Drumm a.k.a. John Shirley.
• Paperback Warrior revisits Blood Storm, a 1986 novel in the M.I.A. Hunter men's adventure series by Jack Buchanan a.k.a. William Fieldhouse.
• Paperback Warrior revisits Mud and Blood, a 1990 novel in the Tunnel Rats men's adventure series by Cliff Banks a.k.a. Stephen Mertz.
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits Iron Lake, a 1999 mystery by William Kent Krueger.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Paper Tigers, an indie kung fu film by Bao Tran, is looking for funding.
  

Con and event reports:

• Ayo Onatade looks ahead at the 2019 Newcastle Noir crime fiction festival.
• Kameron Hurley explains what makes for great conventions and conferences. 
• David Gerrold shares a document about how to treat guests of honour at conventions.

  Research:

• Andrew Case wonders why discredited forensic science such as bite mark analysis survives in crime fiction. 
• Joe Sexton shares a shocking story of police and lethal force in West Virginia.
• Kristin Houser reports that He Jiankui, the scientist responsible for the controversial gene-editing of twin babies, has gone missing. 

Free online fiction:

• "The Quitter" by Mark Joseph Kevlock in Shotgun Honey.
• "So Easy" by R.D. Sullivan in Shotgun Honey.
• "The Last Case" by Jame Blakey in Over My Dead Body.
• "Hide and Seek" by Suzanne Bhagan at Akashic Books.
• "With Cunning Wickedness" by Peter DiChellis in Trigger Warning.
• "Sparrow" by Ray Zacek in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Two Turtle Doves" by Richard Wall in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Snow White and the Seven Bastards" by Andy Rausch in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Speed Racer" by Niles Reddick in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Until the Bone Shows Through, Part 3" by Maxwell Petersen in Crimson Streets.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch an awesome animation featuring vintage book covers.