Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 14, 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 the best crime fiction of 2019 and the decade,  6 Underground, Elizabeth Is Missing, The Case of Sally Challen, The Irishman, Black Christmas, Watchmen and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Paul French takes a look at Christmas crime novels. 
• Nigel Bird talks about the popularity of Christmas mysteries.
• Crossexamining Crime ranks their favourite Christmas mysteries.
• Donis Casey lists five historical mysteries set in the 1920s and 1930s.  
• Nick Kolakowski discusses the new voices of country noir.
• Elizabeth Penny explains why Maine is such a popular setting for mysteries and crime fiction.
• Manning Wolfe offers a brief history of crime and mystery novellas.
• Damien Angelica Walter discusses how women authors are reshaping the crime and horror genres.  
• Katie Gutierrez discusses three crime novels that explore the violence of women. 
• Gary Phillips traces the history of Roosevelt Mallory, author of the African American men's adventure series Joe Radcliff, who abruptly stopped writing in the 1970s.
• Emily Littlejohn explains how Shakespeare continues to inspire mystery writers. 
• Ellen Crosby explains why thriller authors are so obsessed with hidden symbols. 
• Elle Hunt talks about the etiquette of giving books as presents. 
• Jane Li reports about a book burning in Zhenyuan, China, and the criticism it received inside and outside China.

Best of lists:

• Crime Reads share their favourite crime novels of 2019.
• Runalong the Shelves share their favourite crime books and thrillers of 2019. 
• Marilyn Stasio shares her ten favourite crime novels and thrillers of 2019. 
• Kevin Burton Smith, Ali Karim, Jim Napier and J. Kingston Pierce share their favourite crime novels of 2019.
• Aunt Agatha's share their favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2019. 
• Murder by the Book share their favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2019.
• Dead Good share their favourite crime novels of 2019.
• Kate Vane shares her five favourite crime novels of 2019.
• Mal McEwan shares his five favourite crime novels of 2019. 
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite international crime novels of 2019.
• Lisa Levy shares her favourite psychological thrillers of 2019.
• The AV Club share their twenty worst movies of 2019, including several genre movies.
• Paste Magazine share their twenty-five favourite TV episodes of 2019, including a handful of crime shows.
• Zach Vasquez lists the most underrated crime movies of the 2010s.
  

Film and TV:

• Andrew Pulver shares his thoughts on Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
• Peter Bradshaw calls Sons of Denmark a conspiracy thriller that manages to undermine its own message. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Upright a charming odyssey across the Australian outback.
• Stuart Heritage calls The Confession Killer Netflix's smartest true crime series yet.
• Alison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Stumptown.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Ray Donovan. 
• Brandon O'Brien talks about toxic masculinity in the TV version of Lethal Weapon.
• Stuart Heritage ranks every Michael Bay movie.
• Khushbu Shah reports that the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper is sueing Clint Eastwood for defamation regarding the portrayal of one of its reporters in the true crime film Richard Jewell. 
• The Guardian reports that Roman Polanski whines that the press has turned him into a monster and that it's all Harvey Weinstein's fault.
• Stuart Heritage reports that Harvey Weinstein appearing in court with a walker won't engender sufficient sympathy in the light of what he has done. 
• Actor Rene Auberjonois, best known for playing Odo in Star Trek Deep Space 9 and Paul Lewiston in Boston Legal, has died aged 76. 
• Actor Danny Aiello, who played gangsters and tough guys in many crime movies, has died aged 86.
  

Comments on 6 Underground: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls 6 Underground a loud, frenetic and goofy thriller.
• Jesse Hassenger shares his thoughts on 6 Underground.

Comments on Elizabeth Is Missing:

• Lucy Mangan calls Elizabeth Is Missing a heartrending whodunnit.
• Martin Edwards calls Elizabeth Is Missing an excellent adaptation of a poignant novel.
  

Comments on The Case of Sally Challen:

• Lucy Mangan calls The Case of Sally Challen a chilling and moving true crime documentary.
• Anna Moore reports about Sally Challen and her life after prison.
  

Comments on The Irishman: 

• Andrew Pulver reports that The Irishman was streamed 26 millions times in its first week on Netflix. 
• Ryan Gilbey declares that 2019 and the critical and commercial success of Netflix productions such as The Irishman and Marriage Story has changed cinema forever. 
• The Irishman has won the New York Film Critics Circle Award.
  

Comments on the latest version of Watchmen:

• Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
• Joelle Monique shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen. 
• Phoebe Wagner shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen. 
• Matt Novak reports that Watchmen creator Alan Moore has voted for the first time in forty years in the recent UK general election. 

Comments on Black Christmas:

• Benjamin Lee calls the slasher horror remake Black Christmas an unholy, unscary mess. 
• Beatrice Loayaza calls the Black Christmas remake more feminist than the 1979 original, but also less scary.
  

Awards:

• The recipients of the 2020 MWA Grand Master, Raven and Ellery Queen Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced.  
• The winners of the 2019 Nero and Black Orchid Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2019 Ruth Rendell Award has been announced.
• The finalists for the 2020 Golden Globes have been announced with some love for crime films and TV shows.
• The finalists for the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards have been announced with some love for crime shows.
• The finalists for the 35th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards have been announced with some love for crime movies.
• The nominees for the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced with some love for genre films and TV. 
• The winners of the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards have been announced with lots of love for crime movies.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Christopher Fowler lists seven tropes crime fiction readers will no longer tolerate.
• J.D. Griffo finds some parallels between ice skating and writing crime fiction.
• Gar Anthony Haywood talks about his character Aaron Gunner.
• Allen Eskens talks about the benefits of building a book series out of a community of characters. 
• Aaron Miles talks about character agency. 
• Emily Littlejohn explains how to write a haunted house story.
• Zaria Gorvett wonders whether Ernest Hemingway's advice to beat writer's block really works. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about writing habits. 
• Alison Flood explains how Neil Gaiman created a poem for refugees from 1000 tweets. 
• Jeff VanderMeer shares some tips regarding estate planning for writers.
• Jason Sanford offers an author's guide to understanding BookScan. 
• Heather Kelly takes a look at the ways voracious readers circumvent e-book lending limits and long waiting lists.
  

Interviews:

• The Washington Post interviews Janet Evanovich.
• Scott Montgomery interviews Ken Bruen.
• Ali Karim interviews Mark Timlin.
• Crime Reads interviews Jeff Lindsay.
  

Reviews:

• K.A. Laity reviews Galway Girl by Ken Bruen.
• BOLO Books reviews Conviction by Denise Mina. 
• For Winter Nights reviews Black Sun by Owen Matthews.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Swallows by Lisa Lutz. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Motherless Child by V.M. Burns.
• For Winter Nights reviews Gone by Leona Deakin. 
• For Winter Nights reviews Your Deepest Fear by David Jackson.
• Gonzalo Baeza reviews Ash Falls by Warren Read.
• Kristin Centorcelli reviews Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard. 
• Lis Carey reviews Buried Deep by Margo Hunt. 
• Ali Karim reviews Reap the Whirlwind by Mark Timlin.
• Lesa Holstine reviews An Old Man's Game by Andy Weinberger. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Twelve Strange Days of Christmas by Syd Moore.
• Emma Cazabonne reviews A Noel Killing by M.L. Longworth. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Murder at the Opera by D.M. Quincy. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews All the President's Menus by Julie Hyzy.
• Sandie Herron reviews The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Potions Are For Pushovers by Tamara Berry.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Bryant and May: The Lonely Hour by Christopher Fowler.
• Catherine Turnbull reviews Bryant and May: England's Finest by Christopher Fowler.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry.
• Thomas Pluck reviews From Sea to Stormy Sea: 17 Stories Inspired by Great American Paintings, edited by Lawrence Block.
• BOLO Books reviews Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman.
  

Classics reviews:

• Crossexaming Crime revisits the 1929 Tommy and Tuppence mystery collection Partners in Crime.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1939 Christmas mystery Catt Out of the Bag by Clifford Witting. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits Bodies in Bedlam, a 1951 Shell Scott mystery by Richard S. Prather.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1953 noir story Dirge for a Nude by Jonathan Craig a.k.a. Frank E. Smith. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1956 legal thriller A Tangled Web by Nicholas Blake a.k.a. C. Day Lewis. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 noir thriller Strangers on Friday by Harry Whittington.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1964 adventure novel The Dark Side of the Island by Jack Higgins a.k.a. Henry Patterson.
• Joe Kenney revisits Beach Queen Blowout, a 1971 Operation Hang Ten surfer adventure by Patrick Morgan a.k.a. George Snyder.
• Paperback Warrior revisits Houston Hellground, a 1988 novel in The Avenger men's adventure series (not to be confused with the pulp hero the Avenger) by Chet Cunningham.
• Kat Hooper revisits Jinx High, a 1991 Diana Tregarde urban fantasy mystery by Mercedes Lackey.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1996 anthology The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories, edited by Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert.
  

Con and event reports:

• Martin Edwards reports about a production of The House on the Cliff, a play by George Batson, in Thelwall, UK.
• Dave Seminara reports about the curious tourism industry surrounding drug kingpin Pablo Escobar that has sprung up in Medellin, Columbia. 

Research:

• Heather Murphy reports about a case where the DNA of a bone marrow donor ended up in unexpected parts of the body of the person who received the donation and how this might mess up DNA test results. 
• Henry McDonald reports about the massive racial and other biases of decision-making algorithms. 
• Ekaterina Pesheva reports that men living in countries with a high degree of gender equality are better in telling the faces of women apart.  
• Imran Qureshi reports that dummies in police uniforms are directing the notoriously gridlocked traffic in Bangalore, India.
• S.J. Parris reports about the mutiny of Thomas Doughty against Sir Francis Drake and his subsequent trial and execution.
• Jason Daley reports that a witch bottle has been found in the chimney of a former pub in Watford, UK.
• Allison C. Meier offers more information on witch bottles.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Con Game" by Allan Leverone in Shotgun Honey.
• "Bang, Bang on the Rio Grande by Adam Riley in Crimson Streets. 
• "What Do We Do Now?" by Sharon Hunt in Over My Dead Body.
• "The Strange Tale of the Disco Loris" by E.F. Fluff in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Sunlight-Golden Treason, by the Candle's Waning Light" by Aimee Ogden in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "Switched Sides" by Robert Ragan in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Nothing to Lose" by Hershel Cozine in Flash Bang Mysteries. 
• "The Charnel" by Christopher Ryan at Akashic Books.
• "Pressed" by Alex Z. Salinas in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Arm in Arm" by Elaine Person in The Five-Two.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Free Guy. 
• Watch a trailer for season 8 of Homeland.