Crime Fiction Links of the Week for November 1, 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 Sean Connery, The Undoing, Damilola: The Boy Next Door, the latest delay of the James Bond film No Time to Die and other blockbusters and its impact on the UK cinema industry and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Publishers Weekly lists its favourite crime fiction, mystery and thriller books of 2020. 
• The readers of Dead Good share their 100 favourite crime novels of all time. 
• Crime Reads shares the best reviewed crime fiction of the month.
  
• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out this week. 
• Molly Odintz shares five international crime novels to read this October. 
• Sandra Murphy and Cynthia Chow share mysteries to enjoy this Halloween.
  
• Nicci French talks about the great works of prison fiction.
  
• Nick Kolakowski talks about western noir. 
• Rosemary Kaye offers an overview of Scottish crime fiction. 
• CBC Books shares thirteen spine-tingling thrillers by Canadian authors.
  
• Otho Eskin talks about crime fiction set in Washington DC. 
• Shelley Noble explains why New York City is such a great setting for historical mysteries.
  
• Max Seeck discusses the most haunting settings in crime fiction.
  
• Rose Carlyle shares six crime novels about scary twins.
• Shelley Noble talks about the lady detectives of the dime novel era.
  
• Literary Hub reminds us that Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective story. 
• Tina Jordan offers an overview of the essential Agatha Christie books to read. 
• Jonathan Freedland explains how Mario Puzo's 1969 mafia novel The Godfather became an unlikely handbook for politics.
  
• Stephen Spotswood shares classic radio mysteries for crime fiction fans.
• Andrew Mazoni wonders whether there is such a thing as far right literature. 
• Leaf Arbuthnot wonders why novels, movies and podcasts are getting ever longer. 
  
• Shelf Awareness reports that copies of John Grisham's latest legal thriller A Time for Mercy has to be recalled due to massive printing errors. 
  

 

Film and TV:

• Lucy Mangan calls The Sister a truly haunting nail-biting thriller.   
• Leslie Felperin calls Target Number One a gritty retro drug thriller.
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Burnt Orange Heresy an arty thriller.
  
• Cath Clarke calls Dead a serial killer comedy that runs out of steam. 
• Peter Bradshaw praises the performance of Elizabeth Moss in the Shirley Jackson biopic Shirley. 
• Cath Clarke calls The Painter and the Thief an astonishing portrait of two lost soulds.
  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the technothriller action movie Hobbs and Shaw.  
• Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Fargo. 
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Archer.
• Katie Rife takes a look at the tangled history of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. 
  
• Olivia Rutigliano revisits the 1944 crime comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. 
  
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1965 western Winnetou III.
  
• Paul Hirons reports that a new TV series based on P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh mysteries is planned.
  

 

Tributes to Sean Connery:

• Scottish actor Sean Connery, best known for playing James Bond, Dr. Henry Jones Senior in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Agamemnon in Time Bandits, Ramirez in Highlander, Zed in Zardoz, Sir William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose and many others, has died aged 90. 
• The BBC shares an obituary for Sean Connery. 
• Ronald Bergan shares an obituary for Sean Connery.
  
• Peter Bradshaw shares a tribute to Sean Connery. 
• James Whitbrook remembers Sean Connery. 
• Leonard Maltin remembers Sean Connery.
• Steve Vertlieb remembers Sean Connery. 
  
• The BBC shares photos from Sean Connery's lengthy career.
• The Guardian also shares photos from Sean Connery's lengthy career.

 

Comments on The Undoing: 

• Joel Golby calls The Undoing a not very thrilling thriller.  
• Lisa Weidenfeld praises Hugh Grant's performance in The Undoing. 
• Lucy Mangan also praises the performance of Hugh Grant in The Undoing.
  
• Ellen E. Jones also praises the performance of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in The Undoing. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the first episode of The Undoing.
  

 

Comments on Damilola: The Boy Next Door:

• Ellen E. Jones calls Damilola: The Boy Next Door a powerful true crime documentary.
• Yinka Bokkini talks about the true murder case behind the documentary Damilola: The Boy Next Door. 

 

Comments on the renewed delay of the James Bond film No Time to Die and other movies and its impact on the ailing movie theatre chains: 

• Steve Rose wonders whether small indie films could save cinemas in the absence of blockbusters.
  
• Harriet Sherwood reports that even though UK cinemas are struggling, the Regent, a 1931 art deco cinema in Christchurch, Dorset, has been restored to its former glory. 
• Brent Lang and Matt Donelly report that the much delayed James Bond film No Time To Die was almost released straight to streaming, which would have worsened the woes of UK cinemas.  
• Rachel Leishman hopes that the producers will reconsider skipping theatres and sending the new James Bond film straight to streaming.
  
• Stuart Heritage report that some Bond fans from Coventry, UK, have started a crowdfunding campaign to purchase the rights to No Time to Time from the distributor and distribute it themselves.
  
• Erik Adams reports that Ghostbusters Afterlife has been delayed until June 2021.
  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2020 Amazon Publishing Readers Awards have been announced.
  
• The nominees for the opening round of the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2020 Not the Booker Prize has been announced.  
• The shortlist for the 2020 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year has been announced. 
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Nick Kolakowski talks about the inspiration for Rattlesnake Rodeo.
• Samantha Penn shares some tips for crafting a vibrant setting. 
• Nisi Shawl shares some tips for writing about someone else's culture and experience. 
• Peter Clines talks about twist endings and why he dislikes them. 
• Alice Henderson explains why it's so important to use accurate science in your fiction. 
• Gideon Marcus shares his path to publishing. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about discoverability in the 21st century.  
• Deutsche Welle reports how Chinese censors are exerting pressure on German publishers of Chinese literature in translation.
  
• Bryan Covert talks about the impact of the corona pandemic on independent bookstores. 
• Martin Pengelly reports that customers rush to support the famous Strand bookstore in New York City, which had gotten in trouble due to the pandemic.  
• Sam Adams also reports about the woes of the Strand bookstore. 
• Alison Flood reports that the legendary bookstore Shakespeare & Company in Paris, France, was forced to ask for help as well. 
• Alison Flood reports that French bookshops ask to be classified as essential services. 
• Caroline Davies reports that e-book lending in British libraries has surged during the corona pandemic.
  

 

Interviews:

• Molly Odintz interviews Denise Mina. 
• Deborah Kalb interviews Nicci Gerard and Sean French a.k.a. Nicci French.
  
• Lisa Levy interviews Elizabeth Hand.
• Barry Lillie interviews Jan Edwards. 
• Theresa Talbot interviews Doug Johnstone. 
• Rick Pullen interviews Scott Turow.
  
• Alan Petersen interviews Rick Mofina. 
• Mike Parker interviews Heather Martin.
  

Reviews:

• Bitter Tea and Mystery reviews City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Inside Out by Chris McGeorge.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Greyfriars Reformatory by Frazer Lee.  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Voodoo Heart by John Everson.  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Nightworkers by Brian Selfon. 
• Allan Massie reviews Still Life by Val McDermid.
  
• Constance Grady reviews The Searcher by Tana French.
• Adrian Magson reviews The Unwanted Dead by Chris Lloyd. 
• Mark Yon reviews The Haunted Shore by Neil Spring.  
• Allan Massie reviews Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith a.k.a. J.K. Rowling.
• Janet Webb reviews The Night of the Fire by Kjell Eriksson.
  
• Bitter Tea and Mystery reviews A Trick of the Light by Louise Penney.
• Toni V. Sweeney reviews The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle.
  
• Chris Beakey reviews Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy.
• Alan Cranis reviews Death and the Maiden by Ariana Franklin and Samatha Norman.
• Benjamin Boulden reviews The Forger's Daughter by Bradford Morrow.
• Swirl and Thread reviews People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield.
• Suddenly at his Residence reviews The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire by James Scott Byrnside.
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott.
  
• For Winter Nights reviews The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz.
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder by Victoria Dowd.
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Man in the Microwave Oven by Susan Cox.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Curses Are For Cads by Tamara Berry.
  
• Janet Webb reviews The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Gourd to Death by Kirsten Weiss and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Bending the Paw by Diane Kelly. 
• Bethanne Patrick reviews Snow by John Banville.
• Civilian Reader reviews Box 88 by Charles Cumming.
  
• Sean O'Hagan reviews Anatomy of a Killing by Ian Cobain.
  

 

 Classics reviews:

• Cullen Gallagher revisits the 1953 crime novel Dead Man's Tide by Day Keene.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1955 historical adventure novel Yankee Privateer by Andre Norton. 
• Steven Nester revisits the 1959 police procedural The Real Gone Goose by George Bagby.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 Ben Gates detective novel Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert Kyle a.k.a. Roberts Terrall. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits The Mato Grosso Horror, a 1975 novel in the Death Merchant men's adventure series by Joseph Rosenberger. 
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1982 crime fiction collection The Fever Tree by Ruth Rendell.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews the 1987 autobiography Spycatcher : The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer by Peter Wright and Paul Greengrass. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Battle Zone, a 1990 novel in the Springblade men's adventure series by Greg Walker. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1990 mystery The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez Reverte.
  

 

Con reports:

• Dorany Pineda reports about a crime fiction panel at the virtual Los Angeles Festival of Books featuring Attica Locke, Rachal Howzell-Hall, Ivy Pochoda and James Queally.
  
• Alison Flood reports that Peter Florence, founder of the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, has been suspended because of bullying allegations. 

 
Crowdfunding:

• A group of James Bond fans from Coventry, UK, is looking for funding to purchase the rights to the still unreleased Bond movie No Time to Die from the studio and release it themselves.
  
• Comic artist Trina Robbins is looking for help to recover some of her art which has gone missing.
  

 

Research:

• The BBC reports that a police officer in the Philippines was killed by a rooster during a raid on an illegal cockfight.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Hard Time" by Stephen J. Golds in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Old Shipmates" by Frank Kozusko in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Bone Train" by Tom Leins in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Hunter's Moon" by Sebnem E. Sanders in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Herd of Angels" by Mark McConville in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "The Key" by Judge Santiago Burdon in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Fat Cook Gunfight" by J.B. Stevens in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Lipstick, Lies and Dead Guys" by Jennifer Fischetto in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast.
• "The Takeover" by Kaye George in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast. 
• "Liver Man" by Ang Pompano in King's River Life.
  
• "Phantom" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "What Do You Know About Love?" By Stephen J. Golds in The Five-Two.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Dreamland.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Last Vermeer.
• Watch a trailer for The Flight Attendant.
• Watch a trailer for Target Number One.