Crime Fiction Links of the Week for February 2, 2019

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 season 3 of True Detective, season 2 of The Punisher, Glass, I Am The Night, Miss Bala, Serenity (not the Joss Whedon film) and much more.

Crime fiction in general: 

• Alison Flood offers a round-up of the best recent thrillers. 
• Crime Reads shares eleven crime and mystery novels to read this February. 
• Julia Ingalls looks back at the seminal heroines of Scandinavian crime fiction and wonders whether they still come across as feminist several years later.
• A.F. Brady lists seven literary anti-heroes who expose the underbelly of New York City. 
• Gabino Iglesias explains why the French love American noir.
  
• Lisa Levy explains why F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby can also be read as a noir novel.
• Sam Kates shares his favourite and not so favourite Stephen King books.
• Paul D. Brazill shares his appreciation for the Joe Geraghty novels by Nick Quantrill.
• Brian Cronin traces when Martha Wayne's torn pearl necklace first appeared in Batman's origin story and explains why the scene makes no real sense. 
• Michael Barnard attempts to explain why conservatives hate postmodernism so much. 
• J. Kingston Pierce shares his appreciation for the work of Robert McGinnis, cover artist for hundreds of crime and mystery paperbacks.

Film and TV:

• Mark Kermode calls Destroyer a spectacular and tense cop thriller and particularly praises Nicole Kidman's performance.
• Peter Bradshaw calls Burning a masterfully crafted, riveting mystery. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Escape Room a grisly and surreal high concept thriller.
• Peter Bradshaw calls Can You Every Forgive Me? a horribly hilarious odd couple caper.
• Paul Levinson calls the science fiction thriller Anon a minor work by a great writer and director. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Counterpart.
• Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the latest episode of How To Get Away With Murder.
• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky shares his thoughts on the survival thriller Arctic. 
• Mike D'Angelo shares his thoughts on the serial killer film Piercing. 
• Katie Rife is quite taken with Cold Pursuit, a remark of the Norwegian action comedy In Order of Disappearance. 
• Mike McCahill declares that the historical thriller The Gandhi Murder is hampered by questionable casting choices and terrible visual effects.
• Cath Clarke calls Love Sonia a flawed but powerful sex trafficking drama. 
• Otto Penzler revisits Quentin Taratino's 1992 debut film Reservoir Dogs. 
• K.A. Laity looks at how Patricia Highsmith's charming killer Tom Ripley has been portrayed in the movies.
• Danette Chavez ranks the detective pairings of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. 
• Sadaf Ahsan revisits the 1999 live action version of Inspector Gadget. 
• The BBC reports that Jussie Smollett, one of the stars of the TV drama Empire, has become the target of a hate crime in Chicago.
  

Comments about season 3 of True Detective:

• Lanre Bakare shares his thoughts on the latest episode of True Detective. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of True Detective.
• Emily L. Stephens shares her thoughts on the latest episode of True Detective. 

Comments on I Am The Night:

• Katie Rife shares her thoughts on episode 1 of the period noir thriller series I Am The Night. 
• Jennifer Ouellette calls I Am The Night a moody atmospheric period thriller and particularly praises Chis Pine's performance. 
• Katie Rife calls I Am The Night a pulpy neo-noir series based on a true tabloid tale.
• Mehera Bonner shares the harrowing true story behind I Am The Night.
• Hannah Chambers also discusses the true story behind I Am The Night.

Comments on Miss Bala: 

• Jesse Hassenger calls the drug thriller Miss Bala a substandard and illogical remake. 
• Rosie Blake calls Miss Bala an action remake that never quite delivers.
• Peter DeBruge calls Miss Bala a by the book Hollywood remake.
• Chris Klimek calls Miss Bala an efficient remake and praises the performance of Gina Rodriguez.
• Leah Greenblatt declares that Miss Bala misses hard, but also praises Gina Rodriguez.
• Chris Knight calls Miss Bala Miss Congeniality meets Sicario and not completely terrible.
• Joe Morgenstern calls Miss Bala a Mexican misfire full of action clichés.
  

Comments on The Punisher: 

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on season 2 of The Punisher and explains why it's probably for the better that the Marvel Netflix shows are winding down.
• Meagan Damore traces how the minor Daredevil character of Sergeant Brett Mahoney became a major figure in season 2 of The Punisher. 
• Kevin Melrose feels that season 2 of The Punisher is almost derailed by an infuriating finale.
• Brian Cronin shares a gallery of artwork featuring the Punisher gunning down various pop culture villains.
  

Comments on Glass:

• Renaldo Matadeen calls Glass the best redemption arc in superhero movies. 
• Ian Sandwell reports that according to director M. Night Shyamalan, the first cut of Glass was more than three hours long.
• Inspired by Glass, Susana Polo wonders whether supervillain origin stories are all about bad parents.
  

Comments on Serenity (no, not the Firefly movie):

• Richard Brody calls Serenity an earnestly absurd film noir grab bag. 
• Dave Holmes calls Serenity so insane that no headline can do it justice.
• Chris Knight explains why Serenity and its ridiculous twist don't play by the rules (spoilers).
• Peter Travers calls Serenity the bastard child of Body Heat and The Sixth Sense.
• Miles Surrey calls Serenity an early contender for the WTF? movie of the year.
• Crime Reads asks if Serenity is the worst crime movie of the year or of all time.
• Scott Mendelsohn declares that Serenity was doomed from the start.
• The Washington Post reports that Serenity was such a disaster that even the film company gave up on it.
• Mike Fleming Jr. reports that director Steven Knight and stars Matthew McConaughy and Anne Hathaway are upset with the studio and distributor of Serenity.
  

Awards:

• The nominees for the 2018 Agatha Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2019 Minnesota Book Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 American Library Association Youth Awards have been announced with quite a bit of love for genre books. 
• The winners of the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced with some love for genre movies. 
• The nominees for the thirtieth annual GLAAD media awards have been announced with some love for genre properties.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Angela Slatter talks about how to be a writer.
• Robert Jackson Bennett explains how stories can change reality.
• Arkady Martine talks about narratology and why stories need to make sense.
• Kelly Robson talks about being a late blooming writer.
• Bob Mayer talks about the importance of good titles.
• April Henry talks about all the research she did to become a better writer.
• Jason Shen explains how great writing ends.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses the growing importance of intellectual property planning.
• Camestros Felapton reports that Amazon has closed the KDP account of Vox Day's small press Castalia House over alleged rights violations.
• Mike Glyer also reports that Amazon has terminated and subsequently reinstated the Castalia House KDP account.
  

Interviews:

• The Real Book Spy interviews Joseph Finder.
• The Real Book Spy interviews Gregg Hurwitz.
• The Real Book Spy interviews Chris Hall.
• Crime Reads interviews Tim Dorsey.
• The Guardian interviews Leila Slimani.
  

Reviews:

• Philip Rafferty reviews Changeling by Matt Wesolowski. 
• Jude Cook reviews My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
  
• The Real Book Spy reviews The Better Sister by Alafair Burke. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding.
• Haven Bassett reviews The Temp by Michelle Frances.
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger.
• Kristin Centorcelli reviews The Smiling Man by Joseph Knox. 
• Tony White reviews Slow Motion Ghosts by Jeff Noon. 
• Paul's Picks reviews Out Of The Dark by Gregg Hurwitz.
• Mystery Playground reviews No Exit by Taylor Adams.
• Paperback Warrior reviews Quarry's Climax by Max Allan Collins. 
• For winter nights reviews Twisted by Steve Cavanagh.
• Janet Webb reviews A Murderous Marriage by Alyssa Maxwell. 
• For winter nights reviews Blood and Sugar by Laura Shepherd Robinson.
• Janet Webb reviews The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland.
• Larry Clow reviews Judgment by Joseph Finder.
• Garrick Webster reviews Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Horse Lattitudes by Morris Collins.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow.
• John Valeri reviews Murder, She Meowed by Liz Mugavero.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Batter Off Dead by Maymee Bell and tries a recipe from the novel. 
• Beth Kanell reviews A Delicate Touch by Stuart Woods.
• Ian Mond reviews By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts. 
• Larry Clow reviews The Plotters by Un-su Kim.

Classics reviews:

• Jaqui Vine revisits the 1952 hardboiled mystery Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1955 crime novel Classification Homicide by Jonathan Craig a.k.a. Frank E. Smith.
• Scott Adlerberg revisits the African American detective novel Room to Swing by Ed Lacy, winner of the 1958 Edgar Award. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 crime novel The Late Mrs. Five by Richard Wormser.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1967 mystery Lonelyheart 4122 by Colin Watson.  
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1970 mystery The Case of the Weird Sisters by Charlotte Armstrong.  
• Joe Kenney revisits Killer on the Prowl, a 1975 novel in The Marksman men's adventure series by Frank Scarpetta.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits Larry Niven' 1976 science fiction mystery collection The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits The New War, a 1981 novel in The Executioner men's adventure series by Don Pendleton.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1984 men adventure novel A Talent For Revenge, first in The Specialist men's adventure series by John Cutter a.k.a. John Shirley.

Con and event reports:

• CrimeCon 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana, has released the first issue of CrimeCon Confidential.
• Ayo Onatade looks ahead at the 2019 St. Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend in Oxford, UK.
• Dan Gvozden reports about the memorial for Stan Lee in Hollywood, California.

Research:

• Camille LeBlanc talks about pop culture's obsession with the still unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short a.k.a. the Black Dahlia.
• Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch talks about a plot to assassinate George Washington.
• Public defender Scott Hechinger talks about the hypocrisy with regard to how poor and rich defendants are treated by law enforcement.
• Salvador Hernandez reports that one of the biggest DNA home testing companies is cooperating with the FBI.
• The Guardian recommends the best new true crime podcasts.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Patience and Rage" by Beau Johnson in Shotgun Honey.
• "Night Shift Noir" by Kimmy Dee in Tough.
• "Inflammatory Rhetoric" by B.V. Lawson in Flash Bang Mysteries.
• "Orange Julius" by Jim George in The Five-Two.
• "Land of the Mad God" by Anthony Diesso in Crimson Streets.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for series 6 of Endeavour.
• Watch a trailer for season 6 of Agents of SHIELD.
• Watch a trailer for The Enemy Within. 
• Watch a teaser for Birds of Prey.