Crime Fiction Links of the Week for June 5, 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 the finale of Mare of Easttown, Cruella, Lisey's Story, an extortion scheme at Goodreads and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out this week.
• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels to read this June.
• Rebecca Starford shares six great literary espionage thrillers. 
• Rahul Raina shares great books about con artists.
  
• The Secret Barrister shares the best books about the law and legal processes. 
• David Housewright explains how advances in DNA analysis influence crime fiction. 
• Harriet Walker discusses the popularity of exclusive hotels and private islands as settings for mysteries and thrillers.
  
• May Cobb shares her favourite single-minded villains and anti-heroes. 
• Philippa East explains what therapists and crime fiction writers have in common.
  
• Allie Pleiter explains why knitters make good sleuths and good mystery writers.
  
• Michael Meigs talks about the joys of translating crime fiction.
  
• Valeria Luiselli talks about the power of fiction.  
• Bernard O'Keefe talks about the inspiration for his crime novel The Final Round. 
• Curtis Evans recounts the story of Elise De Viane, who accused Dashiell Hammett of sexual asault in 1931 and won a significant settlement.
  

Film and TV:

• Leslie Felperin calls Safe Inside a flawed thriller with a doozy of a twist. 
• Gwen Ihnat declares that season 2 of Why Women Kill still has a great female cast, but less intrigue than season 1. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Before We Die a dire crime drama with woeful acting and a script that seems to have been copied from a Scandinavian show via Google Translate.
  
• Vikram Murthi calls Slow Machine a paranoid thriller with a lo-fi feel.
  
• Leslie Felperin calls Flashback a confusing but compelling multiverse thriller.  
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Killing of Two Lovers a thought-provoking thriller and riveting portrait of male rage.
  
• Phuong Le calls Lupin III: The First a cheeky animated heist movie.
  
• LaToya Ferguson offers episode by episode reviews of season 5 of Lucifer.  
• Danette Chavez shares her thoughts on the season 1 finale of Law and Order: Organised Crime.
  
• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Clarice.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Mosquito Coast. 
• Lawrence Garcia calls All Light, Everywhere a documentary that illuminates the surveillance state. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares crime road movies to enjoy this summer.
  
• Tom Lamont interviews Omar Sy, star of Lupin. 
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Julianne Moore, star of Lisey's Story.
  
• Marah Eakin interviews the cast of the teen thriller Panic.
• Gwen Ihnat revisits the 1957 courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution. 
  
• Noel Murray revisits the 1959 courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder. 
• Jesse Hassenger revisits the 1997 legal drama The Rainmaker.
  
• Bob Byrne revisits the 2018 adaptation of Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders, starring John Malkovich.
  
• Mark Sweeney wonders how Amazon will exploit James Bond, Rocky and the many other classic movie rights they bought along with MGM. 

 

Comments on Mare of Easttown: 

• Paul Levinson calls Mare of Easttown as sombre as Jude the Obscure near Philadelphia.  
• Ed power calls the finale of Mare of Easttown masterful and praises the performance of Kate Winslet. 
• Lucy Mangan calls the Mare of Easttown finale a stunning and harrowing success.
  
• Joshua Alston declares that Mare of Easttown's finale is best enjoyed when ignoring the murder mystery.
  
• Hannah Jane Parkinson lists twenty questions the finale of Mare of Easttown must answer.
• The AV Club discusses all the Mare of Easttown theories that did not pan out.
• Rick Porter interviews Brad Ingelsby, showrunner of Mare of Easttown.
• Gregory Ellwood interviews Brad Ingelsby.
• Nadeem Badshah reports that Kate Winslet, star of Mare of Easttown, refused to have a nude scene shot in a more flattering way.
• Jesse Carter-Morley reports that Kate Winslet's character in Mare of Easttown has become an unlikely style icon.
• Britt Hayes reports that the finale of Mare of Easttown is the most watched episode on the HBO Max service since its launch.
  

 

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.
• Leonard Maltin calls Cruella not bad, but hardly worth the bother.
  
• Katie Rife also notes that Disney still has problems getting gay characters right in Cruella. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Cruella proves that Disney still has a long way to go with LGBTQ representation. 
• Chelsea Steiner actually praises the LGBTQ aesthetics of Cruella.
  
• Alex McLevy praises the songs of Cruella.
  
• Marc Malkin interviews the cast and crew of Cruella. 
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Kirby Howell-Baptiste who plays Anita Darling in Cruella.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry who play Horace and Jasper in Cruella. 
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Mark Strong who also appears in Cruella. 
  
• Mari Ness declares that Cruella de Vil in Dodie Smith's original novel 101 Dalmatians is the most magnificent villain in children's fiction. 
• Olivia Rutigliano revisits the original 1961 animated film 101 Dalmatians. 
  
• Valerie Complex wonders whether Cruella is the future of Disney's villain origin movies.
  
• Cheryl Eddy lists ten other Disney villains who deserve a Cruella style spin-off. 

Comments on Lisey's Story:

• Lucy Mangna calls Lisey's Story a bloated snoozefest. 
• Juan Barquin declares that direcotr Pablo Larraín is the perfect match for Lisey's Story.
  
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Julianne Moore, star of Lisey's Story.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Ron Cephas Jones who plays Professor Dashmiel in Lisey's Story.

 

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2021 CrimeFest Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2021 Macavity Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2021 Shamus Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Award has been announced. 
• The winner of the inaugural Pride Award for emerging LGBTQIA+ writers has been announced.
• The winners of the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. 
• The Harvey Secker Bloody Scotland Crime Writing  Award for the best new crime fiction by writers of colour is open for submissions.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tracy Townsend explains how she tricks her brain into finishing stories and other tasks. 
• Gregg Olsen shares his approaches to writing. 
  
• Dave Chesson shares fifteen worldbuilding tips for writers. 
• Dana Perry talks about writing "ripped from the headlines" thrillers.
  
• Dave Chesson explains how to format a book.
  
• Akua Lezli Hope discusses the importance of having an author photo and bio.
• Heloise Wood reports that the Curtis Brown Creative Writing School will launch an annual novel-writing scholarship in honour of the late John Le Carré.
  
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about changes in the publishing industry.
  
• Alison Flood reports about the debate about so-called "cancel culture" in publishing. 
• Ruth Comerford and Sian Bayley report about a survey that reveals that the income of most authors dropped substantially during the covid pandemic. 
  
• Alison Flood reports that due to a new scheme in the UK, authors can now earn royalties in used book sales.
• Jason Sanford reports about the continuing problems with Goodreads with regard to fake account, abusive troll reviews and now an extortion scheme to get authors to pay protection money or be deluged with fake reviews.
• Victoria Strauss also reports about the Goodreads extortion scheme.
• Alina Leonova reports about the Goodreads extortion scheme.

 

Interviews:

• Tessa Berenson interviews James Patterson and Bill Clinton.
  
• Nancie Clare interviews Ashley Weaver.
• John Valeri interviews Lisa Unger.
  
• Brad Shreve interviews Barbara Wilson.
• Alan Petersen interviews David Yoon.
• Wrong Place, Write Crime interviews Craig Faustus Buck.
• Grace Topping interviews Terrie Farley Moran.
• Lisa Haselton interviews Susanne M. Dutton.
• Lisa Haselton interviews William McGinnis.
  

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews The Unforgiven by Heather Graham. 
• Mike Parker reviews Against the Law by David Gordon. 
• Misha Burnett reviews Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Crosby.
  
• Joy Kluver reviews Black Reed Bay by Rod Reynolds.
• Tanjil Rashid reviews Tokyo Redux by David Peace.
  
• For Winter Nights reviews Win by Harlan Coben.
  
• Sarah Mangan reviews Consolation by Garry Disher.
  
• Adam Colclough reviews The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Hunting Wives by May Cobb.
  
• No More Grumpy Bookseller reviews The Hunting Wives by May Cobb.   
• Joy Kluver reviews The Colours of Death by Patricia Marques.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Lessons in Red by Maria Hummel.
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Assistant by Kjell Ola Dahl. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Mystic's Accomplice by Mary Miley. 
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison. 
• Bill Capossere reviews Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark.  
• For Winter Nights reviews Blackout by Simon Scarrow.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Beyond a Reasonable Donut by Ginger Bolton and tries a recipe from the book. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Death in Bloom by Jess Dylan. 
• Joe Kenney reviews Men’s Adventure Quarterly #1, edited by Robert Deis, Bill Cunningham, and Paul Bishop.

 

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1925 supernatural mystery The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1933 crime fiction collection Policeman's Lot by Henry Wade.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1941 adventure novel Mercy Island by Theodore Pratt.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1942 humorous mystery The Black Thumb by Constance and Gwenyth Little. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1953 James Bond spy novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1959 Inspector Peter Curwen mystery Find the Innocent by Roy Vickers. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1967 thriller The Dust and the Heat by Michael Gilbert.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1971 crime fiction anthology Down by the Old Bloodstream, edited by Pat Hitchcock. 
  
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1987 mystery novella There Are No Ghosts in the Soviet Union by Reginald Hill.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits Blood Harvest, a 1996 novel in The Executioner men's adventure series by Mel Odom, featuring zombies.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Mike Stotter reports about the virtual 2021 General Meeting of the Margery Allingham Society. 
• The virtual Maine Crime Wave festival will take place on June 5, 2021. 
• Andrew Gans reports that Agatha Christie's longrunning play The Mousetrap is returning to the stage in London's West End.
  

 

Research:

• Philip Jaekl talks about the case of Anna Greene, who survived her own hanging in 1650 due to hypothermia and was successfully revived.
  
• Kathy Stearman shares her experiences as a woman training at the FBI Academy. 
• Sue Black explains how forensic anthropologists analyse the skeletons of the dead. 
• Syd Moore talks about missing children and how the police tackles such cases.
  
• Nathan Ord reports that police officers in London, UK, raided what they believed to be a cannabis farm, based on its enormous energy consumption and heat output, only to find an illegal cryptomining operation. 
• Dan Abrams and David Fisher wonder why people interested in conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F. Kennedy don't pay more attention to the trial of Jack Ruby, the man who shot the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. 
• C.L. Taylor talks about the dark side of self-help. 
• Margalit Fox reports how two prisoners-of-war in WWI pretended to be fake mediums and held seances to plot their escape.
  
• Gilles Legardinier shares the hidden secrets of Paris, France. 
• Stephen Luntz reports about an ancient Greek curse jar containing the remains of a chicken and the names of fifty intended victims, that has been found in Athens, Greece. 
  

Free online fiction:

• "Bonnie and Clive" by Joe Surkiewicz in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Write On Me, Sam" by Patrick Whitehurst in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "To Die For" by Larry Thacker in Tough. 
• "Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid, Too" by Mike Aaron in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "The Big Dive" by Bruce Most in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast. 
  
• "I Am Become Death" by Tim Frank in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Forlorn Hope" by Andrew Davie in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "It's Not My Place (in the 9 to 5 World)" by Eric Beetner in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "A Late-Night Touch of Death" by Patrick Whitehurst in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Hillside Stranglers" by Peter Mladinic in The Five-Two.
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Black Widow.