Crime Fiction Links of the Week for May 29, 2021

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 F9, Mare of Easttown, The Beast Must Die, Cruella, Thelma and Louise at thirty, John Steinbeck's lost werewolf murder mystery and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out this week. 
• Crime Reads shares the best crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out in paperback this month. 
• Crime Reads shares the best reviewed crime books of May 2021.
  
• The Unlikeable Female Characters podcast shares their favourite thrillers for this summer.
  
• Molly Odintz shares the best international crime novels for May. 
• Ginger Bolton shares the best cozy mysteries to read this summer.
  
• Krista Davis shares cozy mysteries featuring delicious and doable recipes. 
• Crime Reads shares five true crime books to read this May.
  
• David Gordon shars twelve books about the underworld of New York City. 
• Kathy Wang shares her favourite non-fiction books about crime and corruption in Silicon Valley.
  
• Christian Cantrell explains how to get to know characters by watching them at work. 
• Adele Parks writes about understanding unlikeable characters. 
  
• Mette Ivie Harrison takes a look at the depiction of Mormons in mainstream crime fiction and crime fiction written by Mormon authors. 
• Jess Dylan explains how reading mysteries can teach us about life.
  
• Hannah Mary McKinnon explains how she lost her love for thrillers after a real-life tragedy and then found it again. 
• Ajay Chowdhury explains how he came to write The Waiter. 
• Martin Walker talks about writing The Coldest Case. 
  
• Dalya Alberge reports that Murder at Full Moon, a werewolf mystery written by John Steinbeck in 1930, has beem discovered in an archive.  
• Vanessa Willoughby also reports about John Steinbeck's lost werewolf murder mystery Murder at Full Moon.
  
• Lucy Northrup discusses the women in Edgar Allan Poe's life. 
• Johanna Thomas-Corr wonders whether literature and the publishing industry are becoming overly dominated by women.   
• ABE Books shares one hundred novels to read in a lifetime. 
  
• David Yoon talks about the difficulty of separating the art from the artist. 
  
• Wealthy collectors can bid on a copy of The Shadow No. 1, a complete run of Doc Savage and Weird Tales issues from Margaret Brundage's personal collection among others at an online auction at Heritage Auctions.  

Film and TV:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Surge a fierce and atmospheric psychological thriller. 
• Gwen Ihnat declares that the teen thriller Panic relies on twists and its young heroine.
  
• Phil Hoad calls Vanquish a cartoonish B-movie, but praises the performance of Ruby Rose. 
• Andrew Tejada declares that Batwoman should focus more on the law enforcement issues it raises.
  
• Cath Clarke calls Zebra Girl an uneven thriller that oscillates between dark comedy and serious issues.
  
• Leslie Felperin calls No Man's Land a well-meaning but didactic modern western. 
• Cath Clarke calls Bank Job a heartwarming documentary about two artists who printed fake money for an art project and used the proceeds to cancel real debts.  
• LaToya Ferguson shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Lucifer.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Mosquito Coast.
• Denise Petski looks ahead at the upcoming crime dramas on CBS. 
• Dwyer Murphy shares the best international crime dramas to watch this weekend.
  
• Charles Casillo revisits the 1959 thriller Suddenly Last Summer and the tensions on set.
  
• Craig D. Lindsey revisits the 1974 blaxploitation crimee movie Truck Turner. 
• Richard Knightwell revisits the 2014 Robocop remake and finds it better than its reputation.
  
• Brian Klingborg talks about Hong Kong's second golden age of Kung Fu films.
  
• Joshua Hull takes a look at Torso, a true crime serial killer movie by David Fincher that was never made. 
• Ryan Gilbey interviews Cillian Murphy, star of Peaky Blinders and A Quiet Place Part II.
  
• Maureen Ryan reports that Glenn Gordon Caron, showrunner of the legal drama Bull, and co-star Freddy Rodriguez have left the show following multiple complaints about hostile working environments. 
• Peter Bradshaw reports that Amazon has purchased MGM, giving it the license for the James Bond movies and others.  
• J. Kingston Pierce reports about Amazon's takeover of MGM and what this means for the James Bond series.  

 

Comments on F9:

• Jesse Hassenger declares that F9 has too much family drama and not enough action. 
• Germain Lussier calls F9 the epitome of everything that's good and bad about the Fast and Furious movies.
  

 

Comments on Mare of Easttown: 

• Joshua Alston shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Mare of Easttown. 
• Liz Shannon Miller shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Mare of Easttown. 
• Matt Schimkowitz explains what Mare of Easttown can learn from Twin Peaks and The Killing.
  
• Robert Taylor ranks all the suspects for the murder of Erin McMenamin in Mare of Easttown.
  

 

Comments on The Beast Must Die: 

• Joel Golby calls The Beast Must Die a typical doom-laden crime drama, but still finds it compelling. 
• Lucy Mangan calls The Beast Must Die a taut revenge thriller with a stellar cast.
• Rachel Cooke interviews Jared Harris, one of the stars of The Beast Must Die.
• Emma Brockes interviews Cush Jumbo, another one of the stars of  The Beast Must Die. 

 

Comments on Cruella:

• Charles Pulliam-Moore feels that Cruella's attempt to redeem the 101 Dalmatians villainess doesn't quite work. 
• Danny Leigh praises Cruella for recalling the DIY aesthetics of the early female designers of the punk movement. 
• Katie Rife calls Cruella stylish and chaotic, just like its protagonist.
• Katie Rife also notes that Disney still has problems getting gay characters right in Cruella. 
• Cheryl Eddy lists ten other Disney villains who deserve a Cruella style spin-off. 
  

 

Comments on Thelma and Louise at thirty:

• Rebecca Nicholson revisits the 1991 road movie Thelma and Louise for its thirtieth anniversary.
• Nicolas Didomizio declares that thirty years on, the impact of Thelma and Louise is stronger than ever.
  

 

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2021 British Book Awards a.k.a. the Nibbies have been announced.
  
• The shortlist for the 2021 Margery Allingham Short Story Mystery Competition has been announced.
  
• The shortlist for the 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Best Published Novel Award has been announced.
• Joy Ellis talks about being shortlisted for the British Book Awards.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Shanna Swendson shares one key question to ask before you start writing.
  
• Calvin Fisher explains what's important to get right on the first draft.
• Rafe Posey explains that writing a novel can be like decrypting a cipher.
• Rayne Hall explains how to keep a short story short.
• Janice Hardy explains how to make sense out of character wants and needs.
• Max Allan Collins recounts how the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers came to be.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about fear-based decision making in the publishing, film and TV industries.
  

 

Interviews:

• Alan Petersen interviews Jeffery Deaver.
• Sandra Mangan interviews Garry Disher.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Tim Glister. 
• Kelly McClure interviews Zoe Sharp. 
• Wrong Place, Write Crime interviews Elizabeth Splaine.
• E.B. Davis interviews Debra H. Goldstein. 
• Marshal Zeringue interviews David Gordon.
  
• Suspense Radio interviews Cate Holahan.
  
• Brad Shreve interviews Alan R. Warren.
  

Reviews:

• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Final Twist by Jeffery Deaver.
• No More Grumpy Bookseller reviews The Final Twist by Jeffery Deaver. 
• Catherine Turnbull reviews The Final Round by Bernard O'Keeffe.
• Angie Barry reviews What Doesn't Kill You by David Housewright.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews A Numbers Game by R.J. Dark.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews A Numbers Game by R.J. Dark.
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Trawlerman by William Shaw. 
• Ashish Ghadiali reviews The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed.  
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Waiter by Ajay Chowdhury. 
  
• Michelle Carpenter reviews The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter.
  
• BOLO Books reviews The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter.
• No More Grumpy Bookseller reviews The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler.
  
• Crime by the Book reviews The Hunting Wives by May Cobb.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Prodigal Daughter by Mette Ivie Harrison. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur.
  
• Hephzibah Anderson reviews How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones.
• For Winter Nights reviews The Royal Secret by Andrew Taylor.
• Angie Barry reviews Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan.
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood.
  
• Janet Webb reviews Murder in a Scottish Garden by Traci Hall.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Death Gone A-Rye by Winnie Archer and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Pint of No Return by Dana Mentink. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Chaos on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer.  
• Marion Deeds reviews The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory.
• Kate Kellaway reviews The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne.

 

Classics reviews:

• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1929 Inspector Alan Grant mystery The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1930 Thatcher Colt mystery About the Murder of Geraldine Foster by Anthony Abbot.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1957 crime novel An Air That Kills a.k.a. The Soft Talkers by Margaret Millar.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1958 noir novel Tears for Jessie Hewitt by Edna Sherry. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 crime fiction anthology Back Alley Jungle, edited by Leo Margulies.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 sleazy novel Meg by Loren Beauchamp a.k.a. Robert Silverberg.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1962 suspense novel Due to a Death by Mary Kelly. 
• Steven Nester revisits the 1963 suspense novel The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1966 noir novella Never Be Caught by James McKimmey. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1969 sleaze crime novel Machine a.k.a. Do It To Me by Mel Johnson a.k.a. Barry N. Malzberg. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Death Is a Copycat, a never published 1974 novel in The Baroness adventure series by Paul Kenyon a.k.a. Donald Moffitt.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews the 1978 historical horror thriller Poe Must Die by Marc Olden.
• Sandie Herron revisits the 2003 humorous thriller Heart Seizure by Bill Fitzhugh. 
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Critical Hit, a supernatural gaming mystery by W.M. Akers, is looking for funding.
  

 

Research:

• Jed S. Rakoff wonders about the moral implications of using algorithms to determine prison sentences based on the likelihood to reoffend.  
• Whitney Kimball reports that GitHub refuses to hand over data that could help exonerate a man on death row in Texas.
  
• Alex Mistlin reports that a drug dealer in the UK was brought to justice because of his love for Stilton cheese. 
• Jonathan Stevenson profiles CIA defector Philip Agee.
• Christopher M. Elias explains how McCarthyism, the rise of the tabloids and rumours about J. Edgar Hoover' and Roy Cohn's sexual orientation led to a surveillance state.
  
• Michael Dobbs explains why Richard Nixon had recording devices installed all over the White House. 
• Debra Bokur recounts the twisted history of tea in fiction and real life.
  
• Emily Midorikawa profiles the Victorian sisters Margaretta and Catherine Fox who went from mediums and spiritualism debunkers.
  
• Elizabeth Rayne reports that the face of an 8000-year-old skull found stuck on a pike in Motala, Sweden, has been reconstructed.
• The BBC reports that the body of a missing man has been found inside a dinosaur statue in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 

Free online fiction:

• "The Beast of Easedale Tarn" by James Tipton in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine Podcast. 
• "The Mexico Job" by Kevin Hine in Mystery Tribune. 
• "Parting Gifts" by Andrea Rogers in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Shadows" by Rob Pierce in Beat to a Pulp.
  
• "Jake's Close Shave" by Brian Beatty in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Suitcase and a Cigarette" by DuVay Knox in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Joan of Arc (or the Law of Unintended Consequences)" by Tony Dawson in The Five-Two.
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Leverage: Redemption.
  
• Watch a trailer for Gunpowder Milkshake. 
  
• Watch a trailer for Last Night in Soho. 
  
• Watch a trailer for The Lost Symbol.