Crime Fiction Links of the Week for May 23, 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 season 3 of Killing Eve, Hightown, The Lovebirds, Snowpiercer, season 2 of Homecoming, The County, The Painter and the Thief, Ruby Rose leaving Batwoman, the latest event cancellations due to the corona virus and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Alison Flood shares the best recent thrillers. 
• Crime Reads takes a look at the most anticipated crime novels of 2020. 
• Crime Reads shares six international crime novels to read this May.
• Ivy Pochoda shares five books that will turn your child into a future crime writer and reader. 
• Kathleen Bridge explains why seaside towns make the perfect setting for cozy mysteries.
• Susan Allott shares ten essential Australian novels.
• Crime Reads shares five non-fiction crime books to read this May.
• Lizzie Steiner shares ten true crime podcasts about sports to listen to. 
• Harriet Walker talks about isolation, moherhood and crime fiction. 
• Pip Drysdale takes a look at revenge thrillers with female protagonists.
• John Robert Lee profiles Grenadian crime fiction writer Jacob Ross. 
• Bitter Tea and Mystery shares the top ten reasons why they love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. 
• Zach Vasquez explains how a trio of Hollywood adaptations in the 1990s brought about an Elmore Leonard renaissance.
• Alex Segura shares his appreciation for the comic Cosmic Detective by Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt and David Rubin. 
• Mark Chandler reports that The Midnight Line by Lee Child was the most borrowed library book in the UK in 2019. 
• Vanessa Thorpe reports that Agatha Christie may have borrowed the infamous twist of her 1926 crime novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd from the 1909 novel The Iron Chariot by Norwegian author Stein Riverton.

Film and TV:

• Clarisse Loughrey calls Extraction a testosterone-charged action fantasy. 
• Ed Cumming calls the crime series White Lines lumpy, leaden and dull. 
• BOLO Books shares their thoughts on the TV crime drama The Cry. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on season 2 of Narcos Mexico. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on Baptiste. 
• Martin Edwards shares his thoughts on Escape Room.
• Vikram Murthi shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Run.
• Fiona Sturges explains why Brooklyn Nine-Nine is no longer as arresting as it once was. 
• Leah Schnelbach argues that John Wick is a portal fantasy. 
• Ammar Kalia shares his thoughts on the true crime documentary The Changin’ Times of Ike White.
• Noah Berlatsky calls the 2007 comedy Hot Fuzz a police film for those who love and hate police films. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1953 suspense movie The Limping Man.
• Alex McLevy rewatches the 1975 action thriller The Man From Hong Kong.
• Elena Angelides revisits the 1976 gangster musical Bugsy Malone, her favourite movie age 12.
  
• Mike D'Angelo rewatches the 1977 action film Smokey and the Bandit. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1978 private detective TV series Hazell.
• Katie Rife rewatches the 1985 action thriller Police Story. 
• A.A. Dowd revisits the 2007 cop thriller We Own the Night. 
• Eric Adams revisits Quentin Tarantino's 2007 action thriller Death Proof, one half of Grindhouse.
• Thomas Pluck takes a look at the offbeat crime films of John Waters.
• Simon Hattenstone interviews John Malkovich, star of Being John Malkovich, Con Air, Space Force and many others.
  
• Nellie Andreeva reports that lead actress Ruby Rose will be leaving Batwoman after one season and that her part will be recast for season 2. 
• Joe Otterson sheds some additional light on the reasons for Ruby Rose's departure from Batwoman.
• Actor Geno Silver, best known for his role in Scarface, has died aged 72.
  
• French actor Michel Piccoli has died aged 94.
• Cora Buhlert remembers German film composer Peter Thomas who died aged 94.
  

Comments on season 3 of Killing Eve:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on episode 4, episode 5 and episode 6 of season 3 of Killing Eve. 
• Lisa Weidenfeld shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Killing Eve.

Comments on Hightown:

• Paul Levinson calls Hightown the best cop show debut he has seen in a long time.
• Lucy Mangan calls Hightown a slick but sombre crime drama. 
• Marah Eakin interviews the cast of Hightown.

Comments on The Lovebirds:

• Peter Bradshaw calls The Lovebirds a wacky murder mystery romance.
• Katie Rife shares her thoughts on The Lovebirds and praises the performance of stars Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae.
• Katie Rife and A.A. Dowd also discuss if The Lovebrids and Capone are worth watching this holiday weekend. 

Comments on Snowpiercer:

• Dave Itzkoff calls Snowpiercer a timely dystopian series. 
• Danette Chavez declares that Snowpiercer charts new dystopian territory, but is a bit bumpy. 
• Joyce Chen declares that Snowpiercer is no longer a dark prophecy, but a mirror.
• Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is not pleased by the murder mystery in Snowpiercer. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Snowpiercer turns Bong Joon-Ho's dystopian thriller into a standard cop show.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews the cast of Snowpiercer.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Graeme Manson, showrunner of Snowpiercer.
  

Comments on season 2 of Homecoming: 

• Ellen E. Jones shares her thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Homecoming. 
• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Homecoming.

Comments on The County:

• Peter Bradshaw calls The County a stirring rural crime drama from Iceland. 
• Phil Hoad interviews Grímur Hákonarson, director of The County.

Comments on The Painter and the Thief:

• Adrian Horton calls The Painter and the Thief the year's most moving documentary.
• Mike D'Angelo calls The Painter and the Thief an affecting true story. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Abby L. Vandifer a.k.a. Abby Collette talks about researching her latest novel.
• Charlie Jane Anders explains how to create characters. 
• Charlie Jane Anders points out that imposter syndrome is part of being a writer. 
• Rachel Howzell Hall explains how being diagnosed with cancer gave her the courage to try writing a police procedural.
• Katherine Quevedo explains how to write from the POV of an inanimate object. 
• Cat Rambo explains how to ask for things. 
• Cat Rambo explains how to know when you are done revising. 
• Alex George explains why some writers burn their work. 
• Jessica Lee Hester shares several ways you can help librarians and archivists from home. 
• Janelle Brown explains how Bookstagram became an antidote to the dark side of social media for her. 
• Alison Flood reports that people are reading more during the corona virus pandemic and that mysteries and thrillers are the most popular genres. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses how the corona virus has affected her various licensin partnerships. 
• Jim Milliot reports that bookstore sales have dropped by 33.4 percent in March due to the corona virus.
• Jim Milliot also reports that sales of print books have actually grown during the corona virus pandemic, even though most bookshops are closed. 
• Graeme McMillan reports that the readership of the DC Universe comic streaming service has jumped by 35 percent.
• Locus reports that LCS Communications, the largest book printing company in the world, has filed for bankruptcy.
  

Awards:

• The winners of the 2020 Arthur Ellis Awards have been announced.
• Mike Glyer reports that the RWA has retired the Rita Award in response to the ongoing racism drama and will replace it with the Vivian Award, named after RWA co-founder Vivian Stephens.
  

Interviews:

• Martin Chilton interviews Alexander McCall Smith.
• Ryan B. Patrick interviews Kathy Reichs. 
• Criminal Element interviews Archer Mayor. 
• Becca Andrews interviews Sierra Crane Murdoch.
• The 2020 World Fantasy Convention interviews Charlaine Harris.
• E.B. Davis interviews James M. Jackson.  
• Sissy Lu interviews Merry Jones.
  

Reviews:

• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Goodbye Man by Jeffery Deaver.
• Sandra Mangan reviews Ash Mountain by Helen FitzGerald. 
• Sandie Herron reviews Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger. 
• Joy Kluver reviews Grave's End by William Shaw.
• Scott Adlerberg reviews Coldwater by Tom Pitts.
• Publishers Weekly reviews The Night Swim by Megan Goldin.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Hidden Bones by Vivian Barz. 
• Blue Book Ballon reviews The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins. 
• For Winter Nights reviews Three Perfect Liars by Heidi Perks. 
• Robert Allen Papinchak reviews Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. 
• Publishers Weekly reviews Girl Gone Mad by Avery Bishop. 
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Scribbler by Iain Maitland. 
• Publishers Weekly reviews The Seduction by Joanna Briscoe.
• Ray Palen reviews The Split by Sharon Bolton.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Payback by Lorenzo Carcaterra. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Rigged by D.P. Lyle. 
• Publishers Weekly reviews A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Murder at Hotel 1911 by Audrey Keown. 
• Vanessa Orr reviews The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman.
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Diva Spices It Up by Krista Davis. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews On the Lamb by Tina Kashian and tries a recipe from the book. 
• John Valeri reviews Murder She Wrote: Murder by Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Blood Victory by Christopher Rice.
• Ben Boulden reviews Silver Bullets, edited by Crippen and Landru.
• Ben Boulden reviews Trouble & Strife, edited by Simon Wood.
• Betty Webb reviews Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman.
  

Classics reviews:

• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1939 classic crime novel And Then There Were None... (a.k.a. Ten Little Racist Epithets) by Agatha Christie. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1945 suspense novel Don't Open the Door by Anthony Gilbert. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1948 mystery She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames. 
• Curtis Evans revisits the 1948 mystery The Case of the Dark Stranger by Moray Dalton.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1956 crime novel Brute in Brass by Harry Whittington. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 crime novel As Bad As I Am a.k.a. Wanted: Danny Fontaine by William Ard
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1968 political thriller The Good Guy by Lou Cameron.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1975 crime novel First Person Plural by Richard Wiseman.
• Paperback Warrior revisits Berserker, a 1989 novel in the Eagle Force men's adventure series.
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1992 rural mystery The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb.
  

Con and event reports:

• Ali Karim looks ahead at Bouchercon 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• The Newberry Book Fair in Chicago, Illinois, has been cancelled due to the corona virus.
• The Wigtown Book Festival in Wigtown, Scotland, will go online due to the corona virus. 

Crowdfunding: 

• Staying in Place, an anthology of stories to pass the time edited by John Betancourt, is looking for funding.
  

Research:

• Svetlana Alexeievich interviews a woman who married a KGB agent during the Soviet era.
• Lis Wiehl talks about the hunt for the so-called Unabomber.
• Ariel Sabar discusses criminal allegations surrounding an alleged first century gospel fragment.
• Jessica Kent recalls what it was like to have a baby in prison.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Transcendent Ramblin' Railroad Blues" by Michael Martin McGarrett in Shotgun Honey.
• "Veneida" by Edward Cossette in Shotgun Honey.
• "Murder on the Cul de Sac" by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Sarah Stewart Taylor,  Sandie Jones, D.J. Palmer, Jess Montgomery and Brian Panovich in Criminal Element.
• "At Large in the Monkey House" by Patricia Abbott.
  
• "Purple Lies" by Alex Z. Salinas in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Losing My Religion" by K.A. Laity in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "I carry it with me, wherever I go" by J.F. Norris.
• "The Black Gardenia" by Kristin Garth in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Ca" by Ron Riekki in The Five-Two
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for The Last Days of American Crime.
• Try the Penguin Classic cover generator.