Crime Fiction Links of the Week for September 18, 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 Guilty, The North Water, Copshop, The Voyeurs, Cry Macho, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Prisoners of the Ghostland and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Laura Wilson offers a round-up of the best recent crime novels and thrillers.
  
• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out this week, 
• Lisa Levy hosts a roundtable in which female crime fiction writers discuss women and violence.
  
• Rebecca Hodge explains why so many crime novels are set on and near rivers. 
• Margaret Mizushima shares ten crime novels set in the mountains of the American West.
  
• Amanda Jayatissa shares her appreciation for slow-burn thrillers from East and South East Asia.
  
• Gulglielmo d'Izzia shares a brief history of giallo fiction. 
• Stephanie Marie Thornton shates eight spy novels based on real life female spies.
  
• Aja Raden shares her ten favourite books about lies and liars. 
• Katie Lattari shares five books featuring paintings that reveal an emotional truth. 
• Cody Schneider shares six cozy mysteries told from a cat's perspective.
  
• Cynthia Pelayo discusses the true crime industry. 
• Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala explain why women love true crime podcasts so much.
  
• Julia Dahl explains how she turned from crime reporter to crime fiction writer.
  
• Alexandra Alter profiles Colson Whitehead.  
• Neil Nyren shares his appreciation for the Inspector Montalbano novels by Andrea Camillieri.
  
• Joe R. Lansdale remembers writing the Hap and Leonard series and shares a tribute to Michael K. Williams who played Leonard in the TV adaptation. 
  
• G.W. Thomas takes a look at the pulp career of John Jakes. 
• Catherine Baab-Muguira declares that the difficult life of Edgar Allan Poe feels a lot more encouraging than any self-help book.
• Liberty Hardy lists references to Agatha Christie in contemporary literature and pop culture.
  
• Molly Templeton talks about reading a book in exactly the right time and place. 
  
• Alison Flood reports that a newly discovered 1952 Tennessee Williams short story has been published for the first time. 

 

Film and TV: 

• Chelsea Steiner declares that Kate employs every assassin movie cliché in the book, yet she still enjoyed it. 
• Vikram Murthi declares that Blue Bayou buries a real life nightmare under a lot of Hollywood phoniness,
  
• Noel Murray calls Wife of a Spy a thoughtful and provocative WWII thriller.
  
• Benjamin Lee calls The Forgiven a darkly comic thriller. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Rose Plays Julie an eerie, edge-of-your-seat suspense film.
  
• Mike McCahill calls Small World a lurid human trafficking thriller.
  
• Mark Lawson discusses the astonishing success of the period crime drama Endeavour. 
• Katie Rife declares that The Mad Women's Ball brings a dark chapter of medical history to life.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Survivor a solid historical boxing drama.
  
• Michael Hogan shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Vigil. 
• Ines Bellina shares her thoughts on the latest episode of American Crime Story: Impeachment. 
• Stuart Jeffries calls The Man Putin Couldn't Kill a chilling documentary.
  
• Lucy Mangan calls Look Away a horrifying documentary about sexual abuse in the music industry. 
• Vikram Murthi shares his thoughts on the series finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
  
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Archer. 
• J. Kingston Pierce celebrates the 50th anniversary of Columbo. 
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1941 hardboiled crime movie The Maltese Falcon. 
  
• Kendare Blake shares five films inspired by the Starkweather/Fugate and Hickock/Smith spree killings in 1958 and 1959. 
• Tom Breihan wonders whether Bad Boys for Life, which came out in early 2020 just before covid hit, was the last true cinema blockbuster.
  
• Cath Clarke interviews Karen Gillan, star of Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy, Jumanji, Gunpowder Milkshake and many others.
• Marah Eakin interviews Chris Bauer, star of True Blood and The Wire. 
  
• Steve Rose wonders why Hollywood failed to honestly address the so-called "war on terror".
  
• Guy Lodge lists the best movies about female spies.
• Cheryl Eddy lists her favourite X-Files guest stars.  
• Andrew Hutchinson reports that Ian Rankin has written a TV show named Murder Island, where the viewers are invited to solve the mystery.
  
• Shenelle Genai shares Lovecraft Country star Jurnee Smollet's tribute to the late Michael K. Williams.   

 

Comments on The Guilty:

• Peter Bradshaw calls The Guilty a tense and well-made thriller. 
• A.A. Dowd praises the performance of Jake Gyllenhall in The Guilty.
  

 

Comments on Copshop: 

• Phil Hoad calls Copshop a mean, lean thriller.  
• Charles Bramesco calls Copshop an enjoyable retro thriller.

 

Comments on The North Water:

• Lucy Mangan calls The North Water a riveting historical sea adventure.
• Eva Wiseman interviews Jack O'Connell, one of the stars of The North Water.
  

 

Comments on The Voyeurs:

• Charles Bramesco calls The Voyeurs a throwback erotic thriller. 
• Paul Levinson declares that The Voyeurs is not Rear Window, but still worth watching.  

 

Comments on Cry Macho:

• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky declares that Cry Macho marks Clint Eastwood's return to the contemporary set western.
• Benjamin Lee calls Cry Macho a dull 1970s set western crime drama and a disappointment.

 

Comments on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: 

• Arturo Serrano declares that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings falls prey to the curse of the Marvel formula.
  
• Matt Schimkovitz declares that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally gives both versions of the Mandarin their due.
• Dennis Lee shares the favourite snack foods of Shang-Chi star Simu Liu.
• David Alexander complains that Disney Plus is killing the blockbuster with formulaic and nigh identical movies like Black Widow and Cruella (which have nothing in common save being made by Disney). 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw wonders whether Jeremy Renner's take on Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a personality. 
  

 

Comments on Prisoners of the Ghostland:

• Germain Lussier calls Prisoners of the Ghostland a unique genre mix. 
• Leslie Felperin calls Prisoners of the Ghostland an entertaining post-apocalyptic genre mash-up.
  
• Mike D'Anglo declares that Prisoners of the Ghostland is not crazy enough.

 

Awards:

• The shortlists for the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards has been announced.
  
• The finalists for the Amazon Publishing New Voices Award have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2021 Booker Prize has been announced. 
• Alex Clark analyses the 2021 Booker Prize shortlist.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Alyx Dellamonica explains how to evaluate if your short story is really a novel idea.  
• Tori Eldridge explains that it's the characters that make readers come back to a series again and again. 
  
• Lincoln Michel shares Zadie Smith's writing process.
• John Scalzi looks back on thirty years of being  professional writer.
  
• Jennifer Croft declares that translators should be named on book covers. 
• Jessica Hallman reports that researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed an AI tool that helps writers to beat writers' block by making suggestions about continuing the story. 
• Daniel E. Gross discusses the surprisingly big business of library e-books.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses the supply chain issues affecting the publishing industry.
• Locus reports that the surge of the delta variant in the US has delayed the reopenings of the offices of various publishing companies.
  

 

Interviews:

• Dwyer Murphy interviews Colson Whitehead.
  
• Victoria Selman interviews Samatha Downing. 
• J.B. Stevens interviews Tori Eldridge. 
• Dr. Jacky Collins interviews Matt Wesolowski.
• Stephen J. Golds interviews Jason Starr.
  
• Nancie Clare interviews Margaret Mizushima. 
• John A. Hoda interviews Pauline Rowson.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews Mark Edward Langley. 
• Eli Cranor interviews John Vercher.
• Brad Shreve interviews Michael Craft.
• Bethany Maines interviews Debra Sennefelder. 
• Grace Topping interviews Nupur Tustin.
  
• Alan Petersen interviews Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson.
  

Reviews:

• BOLO Books reviews The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleeves.  
• Becky LeJeune reviews Black Reed Bay by Rod Reynolds.
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Turnout by Megan Abbott.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Necklace by Matt Witten.
• BOLO Books reviews The Missing Hours by Julia Dahl. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Missing Hours by Julia Dahl.
  
• Andrew Hill reviews Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, translated by Quentin Bates. 
• Paul Burke reviews Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, translated by Quentin Bates.  
• Rachael McKenzie reviews Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. 
• Martin Edwards reviews Diamond and Eye by Peter Lovesey. 
  
• Crime by the Book reviews Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney. 
• Becky LeJeune reviews The Chateau by Catherine Cooper.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa. 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Her Sister's Shadow by Catherine Wimpeney. 
• Marion Deeds reviews Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon by Marcy McCreary.
• Janet Webb reviews A Most Clever Girl by Stephanie Marie Thornton.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Too Much of Water by L.C. Tyler.
• Crossexamining Crime reviews A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz.
• Sandie Herron reviews A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews No Grater Crime by Maddie Day and tries a recipe from the book. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Halloween Party Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross.
  
• Lis Carey reviws Unfamiliar Magic by Bonnie Elizabeth.  
• Sandie Heron reviews Synchronized Sorcery by Juliet Blackwell.
  
• Adrienne Martini reviews Version Zero by David Yoon and The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar.
  
• Paul Burke reviews Death Threats and Other Stories by Georges Simenon, translated by Roz Schwartz. 
• Rachel Cooke reviews the graphic novel mystery Rebecca & Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbour by Pascal Girard.
• Paperback Warrior reviews Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines, edited by Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle.  

 

Classics reviews:

• Alison Flood revisits the 1930 thriller The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning, which is believed to be the inspiration for Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
• Craig Nova revisits the 1938 crime novel Brighton Rock by Graham Greene.
  
• The Cromcast revisits the 1939 Philip Marlowe hardboiled crime novel The Big Sleep by Raymond Chadler. 
• Peter Blauner revisits the 1939 crime novel Christ in Concrete by Pietro Di Donato. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1939 William Beef mystery Case With No Conclusion by Leo Bruce.
  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1942 mystery Blue Murder by Harriet Rutland a.k.a. Olive Seers Shimwell.
  
• Ed McBride revisits the 1952 noir novel One for Hell by Jada M. Davis. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1956 western Escape From Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 police procedural Crime Cop by Larry Holden a.k.a. Lorenz F. Heller.
• Steven Nester revisits the 1966 true crime book The Panic in Needle Park by James Mills.
  
• Joe Kenney revisits The Invisibles, a 1969 novel in the Mark Hood men's adventure series by James Dark.
• Dalya Alberge revisits the 1971 WWII thriller A Guardian Angel Recalls by Willem Frederik Hermans.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1987 detective novel Death on the Rocks by Michael Allegretto.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Siobhan McAndrew reports that more than 15000 people gathered in the Black Rock Desert near Reno, Nevada, to celebrate the Burning Man festival, even though the official event had been cancelled because of the covid pandemic. 
• Patrick Frater reports that the CineAsia Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, has been cancelled due to covid.
• Neil Vigdor reports that the Museum of Pinball in Banning, California, is closing down due to the covid pandemic and will auction off 1700 pinball machines and arcade games.

 

Research:

• Samira Shackle recounts that story of Zille who works as a crime reporter in Karachi, India. 
• Stephen J. Golds reports about the mysterious disappearance of actress and model Jean Spangler in Hollywood in 1949. 
  
• Vladimir Alexandrov remembers Boris Savinkov who defied both the Czar and the Bolsheviks.
• Hank Phillippi Ryan recalls how her work as a TV news anchor made her a target.  
• Dave Davies and Mary Roach talk about animals committing crimes. 
• Abigail Adams reports that six zebras are on the loose after having escaped a farm in Maryland.

Free online fiction:

• "Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmatre" by Lavie Tidhar in Tor.com.  
• "Jacaranda Season" by Blair Kroeber in Mystery Tribune. 
• "Twelve Steps" by Philip Berry in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "Interoffice" by Colin Alexander in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Primer" by Andrew Davie in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "The Recidivist" by Laura Mauro and Chris Kelso in Punk Noir Magazine. 
  
• "The Closest Thing to Hell" by Chandler Morrison in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "On a Map the Distance is Quite Close" by Michael Grant Smith in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Heirloom" by Alan Ten-Hoeve in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Betta, Male" by Dawson Alexander Wohler in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "How to Attend the Murder Trial of a Secret Admirer With No Impulse Control Withour Really Trying" by Kristin Garth in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "A Matter for God" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "Susan Smith's Dream" by Sally Weston Ziph in The Five-Two.
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Dexter: New Blood.
• Watch a trailer for Hawkeye.
• Watch a trailer for Bingo Hell.