Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 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 best mysteries, crime novels and thriller of 2021, Nightmare Alley, Dexter: New Blood, The Lost Daughter, The King's Man, Hawkeye and much more.

Crime fiction in general: 

• S.J. Bennett share their top ten traditional mysteries.
  
• John Valeri offers a round-up of cozy Christmas mysteries. 
• Mark Lawson takes a look at crime novels written by politicians and other celebrities.
  
• Paul French talks about crime fiction set in Los Angeles. 
  
• Greg Levin lists crime novels as alternatives to popular recreational drugs.
  
• Tara Goedjen shares genre-bending YA novels that crime fiction fans will enjoy. 
• Otho Eskin explains how his career in the US foreign service prepared him for writing thrillers. 
• Tara Lush explains what cozy mystery authors can learn from Ted Lasso.
  
• Henry Stewart profiles the dime novel detective Old Sleuth. 
• Stephen Palmer shares his appreciation for moral shades of grey.  
• Molly Templeton talks about book hangovers and series hangovers. 
• Edward J. Rennehan Jr. talks about Nathaniel Hawthorne and his troubled relationship to Salem, Massachusetts.
  
• Charlotte Higgins reports about the Honresfield Library which has many original manuscripts by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and others.
• Don Herron reports about Dashiell Hammett having a brief speaking appearance in the 1949 TV adaptation of his story "Two Sharp Knives", which is also the only recording of his voice.
  
• J. Kingston Pierce reports that Ace Atkins will stop writing the Spenser mysteries, featuring a character created by the late Robert B. Parker.
  

 

Best of 2021:

• Ali Karim shares his favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Fraser Massey shares his favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Steven Nester shares his favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Tom Nolan shares his favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Paul Burke shares his favourite crime novel of 2021.
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen shares her favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Joy Kluver shares her favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Jeff Popple shares his favourite crime novels of 2021.
• Declan Hughes shares his favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Jim Thomsen shares his favourite crime novels of 2021. 
  
• BOLO Books share their favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Air Mail share their favourite crime novels and mysteries of 2021. 
• The Toronto Globe and Mail shares its favourite thrillers of 2021. 
• Kellye Garrett shares her favourite mysteries of 2021.
  
• Jeff Popple shares his favourite debut crime novels of 2021.
  
• Crime Reads shares their favourite debut crime novels of 2021.
• Crime Reads shares their favourite noir fiction of 2021.
  
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite international crime novels of 2021.
  
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite historical crime novels of 2021.
• Crime Reads shares their favourite spy novels of 2021. 
• Book Marks shares the best reviewed mysteries and crime novels of 2021.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Phil Harrison calls Time a dauntingly bleak prison drama and one of the best TV shows of 2021.
  
• Garrick Webster calls Only Murders in the Building essential viewing for crime fiction fans. 
• Jesse Hassenger calls Till Death a lean and nasty thriller and an overlooked gem. 
  
• Stuart Jeffries praises the performance of Connie Nielsen in the amnesia thriller Close to Me. 
• Phil Hoad calls Castle Falls a gleeful action film. 
• Stuart Jeffries calls Squid Game on of the best TV shows of 2021. 
  
• Jesse Hassenger declares that the most amazing thing about the MacGuyver parody MacGruber is that it exists at all. 
  
• Chris Feil shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Landscapers. 
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Hightown. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on season 3 of Narcos Mexico.
  
• Leila Latif shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Yellowjackets. 
• Olivia Rutigliano lists ten crime movies you forgot take place at Christmas. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares crime movies about house parties gone wrong.
  
• Zach Vasquez revisits the original 1961 West Side Story movie and finds it a noir film in Technicolor. 
• Catherine Shoard interviews Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Doctor Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald, creators of Cobra Kai.
• Felicia Pearson remembers Michael K. Williams, best known for his roles in The Wire and Lovecraft Country.
• Cillian Murphy remembers Helen McCrory, best known for her role in Peaky Blinders.
  

 

Comments on Nightmare Alley:

• Alonso Duralde declares that Nightmare Alley looks sumptuous but feels hollow.
• Olivia Rutigliano wonders if Nightmare Alley could use more tricks up its sleeve. 
• Drew Taylor interviews Guillermo Del Toro, director of Nightmare Alley, The Shape of Water, Pacific Rim and many others. 
• Inspired by Nightmare Alley, Keith Roysdon discusses the carnival sideshow and its place in American culture. 
  

 

Comments on Hawkeye: 

• Annika Rollock shares her thoughts on "Ronin", the latest episode of Hawkeye.
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on "Ronin".
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "Ronin".
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Ronin".
• Charles Pulliam-Moore shares his thoughts on "Ronin".
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Ronin".

 

Comments on The Lost Daughter:

• Peter Bradshaw praises Olivia Colman's performance in the missing child drama The Lost Daughter.  
• Noel Murray calls The Lost Daughter a taut psychological thriller.

 

Comments on Dexter: New Blood:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood.
• Joshua Alston shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood.
  

  

Comments on The King's Man:

• Peter Bradshaw calls The King's Man a historical spy romp in spectacularly bad taste.
• Ignatiy Vishnevetsly calls The King's Man a tedious prequel that lacks the violent fun of its predecessors. 
• Germain Lussier declares that The King's Man misses its mark. 

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2021 Six-Word-Mystery Contest have been announced.
  
• The nominees for the 2022 Golden Globes have been announced with some love for genre film and TV. 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Victoria Thompson attempts to answer the two questions every writer is asked. 
• Lincoln Michel wishes we would get rid of the plotter versus pantser dichotomy.
• Eliza Nellums talks about writing sex scenes.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses how indie publishing changed in the past ten years.
• Karen Raugust reports how the covid pandemic is affecting publishers of movie tie-ins.
• Hannah McCarthy reports about the Mosul Book Forum in Mosul, Iraq.
  

 

Interviews:

• Craig Sisterson interviews S.A. Cosby.
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club interviews Yasmin Angoe.
  
• Crime Writers of Color interview Robert Justice. 
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Stuart Turton and Imran Mahmood. 
• Alex Segura interviews Amina Akhtar.
  
• Tim Shipman interviews Matthew Richardson.
  
• Hector DeJean interviews crime fiction translators Giles Murray and Alexander O. Smith.
• Frank Zafiro interviews Kevin Tipple.
• Dwyer Murphy interviews Paul French.
  

Reviews:

• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Gated Prey by Lee Goldberg. 
• Beth Kanell reviews So Far and Good by John Straley.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza.
• Aubrey Nye Hamilton reviews Cruel Acts by Jane Casey.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews A Will to Kill by R.V. Raman.
• Sandra Mangan reviews All Down the Line by Andrew Field
  
• Beth Kanell reviews True Crime Story by Joseph Knox. 
• Ali Karim reviews You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Anthrax Island by D.L. Marshall.
  
• For Winter Nights reviews The Mitford Vanishing by Jessica Fellowes.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder at the Castle by M.B. Shaw. 
• Beth Kanell reviews Death Under the Perseids by Teresa Dovalpage.
  
• Lis Carey reviews The Perils of Morning Coffee by Alexander McCall Smith. 
• Kevin Tipple reviews A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Qiche and the Dead by Kirsten Weiss and tries a recipe from the book. 
• John Valeri reviews Jane Austen's Lost Letters by Jane K. Cleland.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Jane Austen's Lost Letters by Jane K. Cleland.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Bryant & May: London Bridge Is Falling Down by Christopher Fowler.
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Elizabeth Heritage revisits the 1794 gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.   
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1930 mystery The Second Shot by Anthony Berkeley.
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1930 mystery The Murder of Cecily Thane by Harriette Ashbrook. 
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1943 mystery A Case for Solomon by Bruce Graeme. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1958 mystery A Gentleman Called by Dorothy Salisbury Davis.
  
• Joe Kenney revisits Sea Scrape, a 1971 novel in the Mark Hood men's adventure series by James Dark a.k.a. J.E. McDonnell.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits Fire in the Streets, a 1973 novel in The Revenger men's adventure series.
• Paperback Warrior revisits Death of a Courier, a 1974 novel in the Narc men's adventure series by Robert Hawkes a.k.a. Marc Oden. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1980 men's adventure novel Walking Wounded by Robert S. Stokes.
• Joe Kenney revisits The Assassination Factor, a 1981 novel in The Penetrator men's adventure series.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1991 historical mystery Death and the Chapman by Kate Sedley.
  

 

Research:

• Mike Glyer reports that Luis R. Rondon, former King of the Society for Creative Anachronism’s East Kingdom, was sentenced to twenty-five years to life for the murder of Deborah Waldingerin 2019.
• Adam Ismail reports that a truck driver has been sentenced to 110 years in prison in Colorado for a mass vehicle crash caused by a brake failure, even though everybody believes this is unreasonable. 

Free online fiction:

• "Short Lives and Blunt Knives by Tom Leins in Shotgun Honey.
• "Roxie's Borthday" by Steven Vineis in Shotgun Honey. 
  
• "The Hong Kong Deal" by June Lorraine Roberts in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Damn Santas" by Patrick Whitehurst in Punk Noir Magazine
  
• "A Christmas Wish" by Katy Naylor in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Rehabilitation" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "Thankful to Survive" by Joseph B. Haggerty Sr. in The Five-Two.