Crime Fiction Links of the Week for February 8, 2020

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 tributes to Mary Higgins Clark, the controversy surrounding American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, the controversy surrounding My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, Birds of Prey, The Outsider, Parasite, Queen and Slim and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Crime Reads shares nine crime novels to read in February. 
• Brian Phillips talks about the depiction of murder in popular culture and what it says about us.
• Craig Sisterson shares thirteen crime novels from Australia and New Zealand to try. 
• Sarah Pinborough shares ten books where the setting is a character. 
• Wendy Heard talks about crime fiction set in Los Angeles, California, and the women who are revitalising it.
• Paul French discusses the crime fiction of Beirut, Lebanon. 
• Peter Kimani talks about the crime fiction of Nairobi, Kenya.
• Varlam Shamalov explains what the great Russian writers of the 19th and 20th century don't understand about the criminal mind. 
• Harry Dolan shares eight compelling crime novels about people haunted by their past. 
• Christina McDonald talks about the new wave of thrillers featuring deeply flawed characters.
• Sophie Hannah discusses the creepiest families in crime fiction. 
• Danny Tobey shares eight puzzle box books with surprising twists and turns. 
• Lee Goldberg talks about his love for the Hardman novels by Ralph Dennis and how he discovered a lost Hardman novel. 
• Alison Flood shares her appreciation for the works of Japanese mystery writer Seishi Yokomizo.
• Emily Temple shares her twenty-five favourite low star reviews of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.
• Olen Steinhauer shares the origin of his character Milo Weaver. 
• Francesca Wade talks about the famous Detection Club. 
• TV journalist and crime fiction writer Jim Lehrer has died aged 85.
• Screenwriter, journalist and mystery writer Charles Alverson has died aged 84.

Tributes to Mary Higgins Clark:

• Suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark has died aged 92.
• Helen T. Verongos shares an obituary for Mary Higgins Clark.
• Molly Odintz remembers Mary Higgins Clark. 
• John Valeri remembers Mary Higgins Clark.
• Matthew Dessem shares tributes by crime and mystery writers to Mary Higgins Clark.
• Sarah Weinman shares her appreciation for Mary Higgins Clark and her women in peril characters.
  

Comments on the controversy surrounding American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins:

• León Krauze declares that American Dirt is a bad book, but not because Jeanine Cummins is white.
• Jess Row talks about American Dirt and the tradition of the moral parable.
• Aya de Leon declares that the American Dirt controversy is the latest battle in the genre wars.
• The Los Angeles Times reports that Latina writer Sandra Cisneros has confirmed her glowing endorsement of American Dirt.
• Inspired by the American Dirt controversy, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez points out that Diana Gabaldon is a Latina author who gets advances higher than Jeanine Cummins for American Dirt and who is nonetheless never mentioned in discussions about Latino authors. 
• The Los Angeles Times also reports that Flatiron Books, the publisher of American Dirt, has cancelled the book tour for the book because of alleged safety concerns.
• Laura Miller wonders whether the American Dirt controversy will change publishing.

Comments about the controversy surrounding My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell:

• Rachelle Hampton reports about the controversy surrounding the suspense novel My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.
• Red Newsom talks about My Dark Vanessa and the way stories of trauma get told.
  

Film and TV:

• Ellen E. Jones calls Baghdad Central a thrilling crime drama. 
• Tess Makovesky calls the British/Japanese crime drama Giri/Haji so good it's criminal. 
• Adam Chitwood shares his thoughts on season 5 of Better Call Saul. 
• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on Briarpatch. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Vienna Blood. 
• Jack Seale calls The Pharmacist a gripping true crime series. 
• Brian Greene offers and overview of the action and suspense films of Indian actress Zeenat Aman. 
• Chris Sullivan shares some newspaper and magazine articles about the upcoming series 7 of the British crime drama Endeavour.
• Katie Rife interviews Barbara Ling, costume designer for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 
• Katie Rife interviews Thelma Schoonmaker, editor of The Irishman. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1978 supernatural thriller The Medusa Touch.
• Sam Wasson explains how Raymond Chandler and the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders inspired the 1974 crime movie Chinatown.
• Stuart Heritage reports that Danny Trejo is the most killed actor on screen.   
• The BBC explains how the digital de-aging effects in The Irishman worked.
• Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas died aged 103.
• Steve Vertlieb remembers Kirk Douglas.
  

Comments on Birds of Prey:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Bird of Prey a blitz of bad taste. 
• Katie Rife calls Birds of Prey wildly colourful and surprisingly gory. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Birds of Prey a cross between Deadpool and a Lady Gaga video.
• Princess Weekes declares that Birds of Prey is everything she wants from a female led comic book movie. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares some early reactions to Birds of Prey.
• Brandon Zachary interviews Christina Hodson, screenwriter of Birds of Prey.
  

Comments on The Outsider:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider.
• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider. 

Comments on Queen and Slim:

• Mark Kermode calls Queen and Slim a powerful movie about romance and racism.
• Simran Hans interviews Melina Matsoukas, director of Queen and Slim.
  

Comments on Parasite:

• Peter Bradhsaw shares his thoughts on Parasite. 
• Katie Rife and A.A. Dowd discuss Parasite.
• Hahna Yoon declares that Parasite misses the mark as a commentary on South Korean society.
• Steve Rose interviews Bong Joon-Ho, director of Snowpiercer and Parasite.
• Michelle Jaworski reports that some Oscar voters believe that Parasite shouldn't have been nominated for Best Picture, because it is a foreign language film. 

Awards:

• The nominations for the 2020 Barry Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2020 Romantic Novel Awards has been announced.  
• The finalists for the 25th annual Audie Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2020 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 BAFTA Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 2019 International Film Music Critics Association Awards have been announced with lots of love for genre movies.
• Olivia Rutigliano talks about the Oscars that have been stolen or gone missing over the years and the hunt for them.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Kameron Hurley tells writers to choose wisely what they pay attention to. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about writers and optimism.
• Jodi Turchin tells writers how to persevere when the mountain seems unconquerable.
• Crime writing couple Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell talk about collaboration. 
• Justin McCarthy reports that more people visited the library than went to the movies in the US in 2019
• The BBC reports that a well-meaning but insensitive attempt to publish classic books with diverse book covers has caused the books to be pulled.
  

Interviews:

• Crime by the Book interviews C.J. Tudor. 
• Anannya Sakar interviews Ann Cleeves.
• Crime Reads interviews Gregg Hurwitz.
• Lisa Levy interviews Rachel Louise Snyder.
  

Reviews:

• Janet Webb reviews Alone in the Wild by Kelley Armstrong.
• Crime by the Book reviews The Other People by C.J. Tudor.
• Nancy Carty Lepri reviews The Prized Girl by Amy K. Green.
• John Valeri reviews Perfect Little Children by Sophie Hannah. 
• The Quiet Knitter reviews Going Rogue by Neil Lancaster. 
• Scott Adlerberg reviews The Killing Tide by Jean-Luc Bannalec. 
• Alan Cranis reviews Grace Is Gone by Emily Elgar.
• Sandra Mangan reviews Her Last Breath by Alison Belsham.
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Passport to Death by Yigal Zur, translated by Sara Kitai. 
• Beth Kanell reviews House on Fire by Joseph Finder. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews One Day You'll Burn by Joseph Schneider.
• Lesa Holstine reviews One Day You'll Burn by Joseph Schneider.
• Lesa Holstine reviews Last Day by Luanne Rice.
• Novel Deelights reviews Truth Hurts by Rebecca Reid.
• Hooked From Page One reviews Death Deserved by Thomas Enger and Jörn Lier Horst.
• Jeff Popple reviews The Names of the Dead by Kevin Wignall.
• Publishers Weekly reviews The Coldest Warrior by Paul Vidich.
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews The Vault by Mark Dawson.
• BOLO Books reviews Hide Away by Jason Pinter. 
• The Real Book Spy reviews One Minute Out by Mark Geaney.
• Mal McEwan reviews Beast by Matt Wesolowski. 
• Alex Jiménez reviews A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen.
• Lizzie Hayes reviews The Lantern Man by Elly Griffth.
• Matt Brandenburg reviews Spungunion by John Boden. 
• Rebecca Shapiro reviews The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams.
• Anthony Quinn reviews The Secret Guests by B.W. Black a.k.a. John Banville.
• Kirkus reviews All Kinds of Ugly by Ralph Dennis. 
• Toni V. Sweeney reviews Murder at the Capitol by C.M. Gleason.
• Kirkus reviews A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd.
• Kirkus reviews The Mitford Scandal by Jessica Fellowes.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Krista Davis and tries a recipe from the book. 
• Blake Morrison reviews A Bit of a Stretch by Chris Atkins.
• Christopher John Stephens reviews The Big Goodbye - Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood by Sam Wasson.
  

Classics reviews:

• Steph Cha revisits Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1922 foray into crime fiction The Girl from Hollywood.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1931 crime fiction collection Alias the Saint by Leslie Charteris. 
• Sam Jordison revisits the 1931 Inspector Maigret mystery Pietr the Lavian by Georges Simenon.
• Scott Adlerberg revisits the 1938 locked room mystery The Crooked Hinge by John Dickson Carr. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1941 suspense novel The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1948 suspense novel Sudden Fear by Edna Sherry.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1950 crime novel My Old Man's Badge a.k.a. Killer Cop by Ferguson Findlay a.k.a. Charles Weiser Frey.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1951 mystery The Blackout by Constance and Gwenyth Little. 
• Alan Cranis revisits the 1952 Gridley Nelson mystery Deadlock and the 1962 Gridley Nelson mystery Dead Weight by Ruth Fenisong. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1967 war novel Doomsday Mission by Harry Whittington.
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1972 sleaze crime novel Ladies in Heat a.k.a. Lorna's Lust for Men by Lee Daye a.k.a. Gil Brewer.
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1977 noir collection Enough! a.k.a. Double Feature by Donald E. Westlake.
• Mark Rose also revisits Enough! a.k.a. Double Feature by Donald E. Westlake.
• Paperback Warrior revisits The Greenland Mystery, a 1988 novel in The Death Merchant men's adventure series by Joseph Rosenberger.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1997 holiday mystery Mistletoe from Purple Sage by Barbara Burnett Smith.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith look for funding for The Year of the Cat, a project to publish one hundred stories about cats in a year.
  

Con and event reports:

• Mark L. Blackman reports about the "Crime, Capers and Conan Doyle" themed installment of the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Elizabeth Crowens and Teel James Glenn.
• Martin Edwards reports about a performance of Curtains - A Musical Whodunnit in Liverpool, UK.
• Ayo Onatade reports that Lynda La Plante, Laura Lippman and Robert Goddard will headline the 2020 CrimeFest in Bristol, UK.  
• Ayo Onatade reports that "Crime" will be the theme of the North London Story Festival in London, UK.
• Mike Glyer offers an update about the latest developments in the court case against Ed Kramer, co-founder of DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia.
  

Research:

• Luanne Rice talks about some unusual murders in Connecticut.
• Michael Lista talks about the 1974 murder of Beverly Smith and the botched undercover operation to catch her killer.
• Isaac J. Bailey explains what it is like to have a brother who is a convicted murderer. 
• Michelle Taylor reports that a new forensic technique allows to determine the age of a fingerprint. 
• Genevieve Carlton reports about prolific 17th century poisoner Guilia Tofana.

Free online fiction:

• "Voices in the Coal Bin" by Mary Higgins Clark in The North Jersey Record. 
• "The Good and the Bad" by Kristen Petry in Akashic Books.
• "Machetero" by April Kelly in Shotgun Honey.
• "The Big Issue" by Paul D. Brazill in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "We could have been heroes?" by Mark McConville in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Jenny Drank St. Germain" by John Greiner in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "King of the Blue Rose" by William R. Soldan in Tough.
• "Rehab" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "Hugh Chaffin" by David Cranmer in The Five-Two.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for series 7 of Endeavour. 
• Watch a trailer for the latest version of The Fugitive. 
• Watch a trailer for Black Widow.
• Watch a trailer for Fast and Furious 9.
• Watch a trailer for Spiral. 
• Watch a trailer for The Burnt Orange Heresy.