Crime Fiction Links of the Week for November 21, 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 the best mysteries and thrillers of 2020, Big Sky, The Undoing, Mangrove, Tenet, Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster, Audible's problematic return policies, NaNoWriMo advice and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Laura Wilson shares the best recent crime novels and thrillers.
  
• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Crime Reads shares five debut crime novels to read this November.
  
• Crime Reads shares seven international crime novels to read this November.
  
• Les Standiford talks about the classics of Miami noir.
  
• Paul French shares crime novels set in Mexico City. 
• Elka Ray wonders if greed has become less common as a murder motive in crime fiction.
  
• Otto Penzler discusses the evolution of spy fiction. 
• S.M. Goodwin explains why odd couples and opposites make for great crime fiction. 
• Claire Douglas shares five psychological thrillers set in isolated places. 
• James S. Murray lists five novels about women who fight their way to freedom.
  
• Bodgan Teodorescu explains how growing up in Romania influence his noir novels.
• Matthew DeAndrea remembers his mother, crime fiction writer Jane Haddam a.k.a. Orania Papazoglou. 
• Dean Jobb takes a look at Arthur Conan Doyle's forrays into true crime.
• Chris Gosden explains why Harry Houdini did not like Arthur Conan Doyle. 
  
• Cora Buhlert reports about the comics, including crime, mystery and adventure comics, of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
  

 

Best of 2020:

• Kirkus shares its favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2020.
• Amazon shares its favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2020.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Benjamin Lee calls The Kid Detective a cute crime caper, which takes a dark turn. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Concrete Plans a claustrophobic, but unconvincing thriller.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Death of Me a holiday thriller that's not very thrilling.
  
• Beatrice Loayaza calls Run a predictable but titillating thriller. 
• Cath Clarke calls Skyfire a predictable Chinese volcano disaster movie. 
  
• Mike D'Angelo declares that the true story behind The Last Vermeer is better than the movie. 
• Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Fargo. 
• Gwen Ihnat shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Next. 
  
• Marah Eakin interviews Margot Robie, star of Dreamland.
  
• Steve Rose interviews Conrad Khan, star of the drug drama County Lines. 
• Joe George shares ten stylish science fiction noir movies.  
• Allison Stahlberg shares her ten favourite prison movies.
  
• Colin McCormick shares ten movies whose protagonists are wrongfully accused of a crime.
  
• K.A. Laity revisits the 1943 supernatural noir movie The Seventh Victim. 
  
• Cullen Gallagher revisits the 1966 thriller Picture Mommy Dead.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1969 thriller The Assasination Bureau.
  
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1970 neo-noir thriller Le Cercle Rouge. 
• Charles Bramesco revisits the 1979 martial arts movie Dragon Fist. 
• Mike D'Angelo revisits the 1992 action movie Supercop. 
• Beatrice Loayaza revisits the 1996 action comedy Rumble in the Bronx.
  
• Paul Hirons reports that ITV is producing a TV series based on Ann Cleeves' crime novel The Long Call.
  
• Alison Flood reports that Quentin Tarantino will write the novelisation of his 2019 thriller Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
  
• Jessica Mason reports that actor Wentworth Miller, best known for playing Michael Scofield in Prison Break and Leonard Snart in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, doesn't want to play straight characters in the future anymore. 
  
• Andy English takes a look at the post-Bond careers of the various actors who played James Bond.
  

Comments on Big Sky: 

• Allison Keene calls Big Sky a clunky but captivating thriller.
• LaToya Ferguson shares her thoughts on the pilot episode of Big Sky.  
• Paul Levinson is quite impressed with the pilot episode of Big Sky.
  
• Michael Barson interviews C.J. Box, on whose novel Big Sky is based.  

 

Comments on The Undoing:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Undoing. 
• Lisa Weidenfeld shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Undoing.
  
• Tim Lewis interviews Susanne Bier, director of The Undoing, The Night Manager and others.

 

Comments on Mangrove: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls Mangrove a brilliant evocation of a real life UK police racism scandal in the 1970s.
• Ellen E. Jones calls Mangrove a long overdue dramatisation of a scandalous real life trial.
  
• Shannon Miller calls Mangrove essential and galvanising.
  
• Caspar Salmon explains why Mangrove is a better courtroom drama than The Trial of the Chicago Seven. 
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Letitia Wright, one of the stars of Mangrove.

 

Comments on Tenet: 

• Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that Tenet director Christopher Nolan no longer has any issues with people watching the movie only, now Tenet is about to launch on streaming platforms.
• Stuart Heritage discusses the sound issues of Tenet, which rendered much of the dialogue inaudible. 
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2020 Booker Prize has been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 National Book Awards have been announced.
  
• Fraser Massey takes a look at the various 2020 crime fiction awards and which books have won the most of them. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Charlie Jane Anders asks writers to write the book only they could write.
  
• Tiffany Meuret shares some tips for doing NaNoWriMo in difficult times. 
• G.W. Thomas shares some tips for writing microfiction
  
• Emperor's Notepad discusses the limits of description. 
• Stav Sherez wonders whether some of the things people write about can come true in their life later on. 
  
• Susan May reports about Audible's new returns system for audiobooks and how it is hurting authors.
• Mike Glyer also reports about Audible's problematic policies.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch reports about the woes of bookstores and traditional publishing.
  
• The SFWA releases the Bud Webster Legacy Kit, a checklist for writers regarding their estates. 
  
• Mike Glyer shares an update regarding the current status of the twin SFF and crime fiction bookstores Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's, which were burned down during the riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May.
  

 

Comments on Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster:

• Mike Glyer reports that Disney are no longer paying Alan Dean Foster royalties for the Star Wars and Alien tie-in novels he wrote, since they acquired rightsholders Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. 
• The SFWA shares statements from Alan Dean Foster and Mary Robinette Kowal regarding Disney's failure to pay royalties to Alan Dean Foster. 
• Cora Buhlert reports about the joint press conference of SFWA and Alan Dean Foster regarding Disney's failure to pay outstanding royalties. 
• Adam Whitehead reports about the press conference and Disney failing to pay Alan Dean Foster's outstanding royalties. 
• Steve Davidson reports about the press conference and Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster. 
• Alison Flood reports about Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster. 
• Beth Elderkin reports about Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw weighs in on Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster.
  
• Camestros Felapton weighs in on Disney's failure to pay Alan Dean Foster.
  
• The SFWA asks authors affected by similar issues as Alan Dean Foster to fill out this form.

 

Interviews:

• Abby Endler interviews Jo Nesbø.
• Meg Bishop itnerviews Priscilla Paton. 
• Alex Segura interviews Declan Shalvey.
  
• Alan Petersen interviews Danny Gardner.
• Theresa Talbot interviews Craig Russell.
  

Reviews:

• Jean Gazis reviews The Less Dead by Denise Mina. 
• Ray Palen reviews Last Dance by Jeffrey Fleishman. 
• For Winter Nights reviews Pulpit Rock by Kate Rhodes.
  
• Kevin Burton Smith reviews Dead West by Matt Goldman. 
• BOLO Books reviews Winterkill by Ragnar Jónasson.
  
• Sandra Mangan reviews Peace by Gary Disher. 
• John Parker reviews The Man in the Woods by Ilaria Tuti. 
• Angie Barry reviews The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Coral Bride by Roxanna Bouchard, translated by David Warriner.  
• Mike Parker reviews Skim Deep by Max Allan Collins.
  
• John Parker reviews Operative 66 by Andy McDermott. 
• Janet Webb reviews The Cipher by Isabella Maldonado.
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Betrayal by Lilja Sigurdardottir, translated by Quentin Bates
• BOLO Books reviews This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf.
  
• Sue Lord reviews All In Her Head by Nikki Smith.  
• Eileen Brady reviews The Quiet Girl by S.F. Kosa. 
• BOLO Books reviews Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy.
  
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews A Question of Time by James Stejskal.
  
• Ben Boulden reviews The Readers' Room by Antoine Laurain.
  
• Garrick Webster reviews The Book of Lamps and Banners by Elizabeth Hand. 
• Janet Webb reviews Puzzling Ink by Becky Clark.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Mistletoe, Moussaka and Murder by Tina Kashian and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Kat Hooper and Tim Scheidler reviews Battle Ground by Jim Butcher. 

Classics reviews:

• L.J. Hurst revisits the 1938 mystery The Port of London Murders by Josephine Bell.
  
• L.J. Hurst reviews the 1945 mystery He'd Rather Be Dead by George Bellairs.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1953 detective novel Post Mortem by Guy Cullingford a.k.a. Constance Lindsay Taylor.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1954 noir novel Malay Woman by A.S. Fleischman. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1962 mystery The Undetective by Bruce Graeme a.k.a. Graham Montague Jeffries. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1964 western crime novel The Hottest Fourth of July in the History of Hangtree County by Clifton Adams.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1971 John Easy detective novel If Dying Was All by Ron Goulart.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1936 Inspector Salter mystery Death in the Old Country by Eric Wright.
  

Con reports:

• Watch some panels of the virtual 2020 Bouchercon.
  
• Brooks Barnes reports that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, has acquired the late Debbie Reynolds' collection of vintage movie costumes from her son Todd Fisher as well as part of Todd Fisher's collection of vintage movie cameras and Carrie Fisher's collection of Star Wars memorabilia..  
  

 
Crowdfunding: 

• The Iliad Bookshop in Los Angeles, California, needs some help to restore its famous murals which have been vandalised. 
  

 

Research:

• Matthew Jackson reports about the theft and mysterious reappearance of a wooden bigfoot statue in California.
• Courtney Summers talks about the Jonestown massacre in 1978 and why people join cults.
• Phyllis Chesler talks about serial killer Aileen Wuornos and the allure of serial killers in general.
• Erin Lindsey talks about Theodore Roosevelt's time as a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory. 
• Malcolm Beith reports about the corruption trial against Genaro Garcia Luna, former federal security secretary of Mexico.
• Charlie Deitch reports that Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania limits inmates to only 214 selected e-books, mostly public domain classics, which may only be read on a tablet with high fees.
  

Free online fiction:

• "It's for the Best" by Marie Anderson in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Old Habits" by Stephen Brophy in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "The Belle Hope" by Peter DiChellis in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast. 
  
• "The Murders of Jason Hartman" by Brady Nelson and Jamie Wahls in Clarkesworld. 
• "P.O. Box" by Robert Ragan in Punk Noir Magazine.  
• "Eddie Loves Animals" by John Rector in Tough. 
• "Viewers Like You" by Margaret Douaihy in The Five-Two.
  
• "The Light in Whale Cove" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.