Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 11, 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, Landscapers, Dexter: New Blood, You Don't Know Me, Hawkeye and much more.

Crime fiction in general: 

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels, mysteries and thrillers coming out this week. 
• Joanne Hichens hosts a roundtable of the new generation of African crime writers. 
  
• Nick Kolakowski shares seven must-read rural crime novels. 
• R.V. Raman discusses the lure of using a real world setting for your mystery novel. 
• M.B. Shaw shares her favourite Scottish crime novels. 
• Robert Justice shares his favourite crime novels about wrongful convictions. 
• Rachel Kapelke-Dale shares eleven thriller about female rage.
  
• Ginger Bolton shares cozy culinary Christmas mysteries to enjoy. 
• John Valeri shares cozy Christmas mysteries to enjoy. 
• Kate Lansing shares rules for the new generation of cozy mysteries.
  
• Christopher Fowler explains why every British thriller is also a black comedy. 
• Joseph Knox shares four crime novels that blur the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction.
• Joseph Knox points out that true crime is changing and that is a good thing.
  
• Nina de Gramont shares the most essential Agatha Christie mysteries. 
• Lawrence Block shares his appreciation for the works of Fredric Brown. 
• Michael Gonzales shares his appreciation for the work of Jerome Dyson Wright.
  
• Michael R. Brown profiles the long-running pulp magazine Blue Book.
• Katy Hershberger reports that Swedish author Karin Smirnoff will be writing three upcoming sequels to Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy.
  
• Mystery writer Medora Sale a.k.a. Caroline Roe has died aged 84. 
• Mystery scholar LeRoy Lad Panel has died aged 78. 
• John Pearson, biographer of Ian Fleming, has died aged 91. 
• Crime fiction writer G.M. Ford has died aged 76.
  

 

Best of 2021:

• Sarah Weinman shares her favourite mysteries of 2021. 
• Sarah Lyall shares her favourite thrillers of 2021. 
• Crime Reads share their favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Liz French and Lesa Holstine share their favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Oline H. Cogdill shares her favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2021. 
• Declan Hughes shares his favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Carole E. Barrowman shares her favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Natasha Cooper shares her favourite crime novels of 2021. 
• Steve Donoghue shares his favourite mysteries of 2021.
  
• Deadly Pleasures share their favourite crime novels, mysteries and thrillers of 2021. 
• Time Magazine share their favourite crime novels of 2021.
  
• Esquire share their favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2021. 
  
• Sixteen crime writers share their favourite crime novels of 2021.
• Runalong the Shelves shares his favourite thrillers of 2021.
• Grab This Book shares their favourite crime novels of 2021.
• Crime Reads shares their favourite true crime books of 2021.
  

 

Film and TV: 

• Jack Seale calls Ragdoll a serial killer thriller that will make you wriggle with joy.
  
• Phuong Le calls Not Knowing a Turkish drama about homophobia and bullying that is more public service announcement than movie. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on The Suicide Squad. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 1 finale of CSI: Vegas. 
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Hightown. 
• Leila Latif shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Yellowjackets. 
  
• Howard Michael Gould shares his favourite TV crime dramas of the 1980s. 
• Women writers of crime fiction share their favourite serial killer movies. 
• Keith Roysdon revisits the 1967-1975 private investigator TV series Mannix.
  
• Julia Sirmons revisits the 1973 mystery movie The Last of Sheila, which was co-written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins.
  
• Davy Davies revisits the 1986 serial killer thriller Manhunter. 
• Several writers explain how they would continue the James Bond series.  
  
• Hadley Freeman interviews Chris Noth, star of Law and Order and many others.
  
• Hadley Freeman interviews Mel Brooks, comedian and director of Spaceballs, The Producers, Blazing Saddles and many others.  
• Brian Davids interviews Jon Bernthal, star of The Punisher.  
• Readers of The Guardian discuss who should play the next James Bond.
  
• Catherine Shoard reports that the Gucci family is not pleased about House of Gucci, but will not sue. 
• TV writer and producer Arthur Weingarten, who worked on The Man from UNCLE, The Girl from UNCLE and Honey West among many others, has died aged 86.
  

 

Comments on Nightmare Alley:

• Katie Rife calls Nightmare Alley a stylish but uneven carnival noir. 
  
• Benjamin Lee calls Nightmare Alley a sumptious noir that didn't quite grip him.
• Olivia Rutigliano wonders whether Nightmare Alley could use more tricks up its sleeve.
  

 

Comments on Hawkeye:

• Annika Rollock shares her thoughts on "Partners, Am I Right?", the latest episode of Hawkeye.
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on "Partners, Am I Right?"
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Partners, Am I Right?"  
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "Partners, Am I Right?"
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Partners, Am I Right?"
  
• Tor.com points out that Alaqua Cox who plays Maya Lopez a.k.a. Echo in Hawkeye has never acted before.

 

Comments on Landscapers:

• Chris Feil declares that Landscapers upends the expectations of the true crime genre.
• Lucy Mangan calls Landscapers an immaculate retelling of a true murder case and praises the performances of Olivia Colman and David Thewlis. 
• Paul Hirons calls Landscapers as brilliant as he expected, given the stellar cast. 
• Zoe Williams interviews David Thewlis, star of Landscapers.

 

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 You Don't Know Me:

• Rebecca Nicholson declares that the courtroom drama You Don't Know Me feels so much like an audiobook that she wonders if the producers even know what television is.
• Alex Mistlin interviews the writer and stars of the British legal drama You Don't Know Me.

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2021 Crime Fiction Lover Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2021 Crime Time FM Crime Novel of the Year Award have been announced.
• The winner of the 2021 Harvill Secker Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Award has been announced.
• The winner of the 2021 Joffe Books Prize for Crime Fiction Writers of Colour has been announced.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Jeri Westerson talks about writing historical mysteries.
• Lincoln Michel points out that writing is about the right words, not the most words.
  
• Teresa Dovalpage talks about the balancing act of including non-English passages into English language fiction.
  
• Rosemary Claire Smith explains why writers should make an eligibility post.
  
• Jacqui Lipton discusses copyright and infringement. 
• Elizabeth A. Harris points out that large numbers of social media followers don't necessarily translate into high book sales. 
• Chuck Wendig tackles the question if social media sells books and says "It's complicated".
  
• Alison Flood reports how some UK bookstores use crowdfunding to support themselves during the covid pandemic.
• Alison Flood reports that UK library loan statistics show that some little known authors are unexpectedly popular.

 

Interviews:

• Claire Nichols interviews Val McDermid. 
• Alan Petersen interviews Wanda M. Morris.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Luke McCallin.
• Wrong Place, Write Crime interviews Spencer Fleury.
• Chuck Barney interviews Randal Brandt.
  

Reviews:

• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee.
  
• BOLO Books reviews Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir.
• Lesa Holstine reviews Dark Night by Paige Shelton. 
• Becky LeJeune reviews Whitesands by Johan Thorsson.
• BOLO Books reviews Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indriðason.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Fall by West Camel.
  
• Sandra Mangan reviews Perilous Gambit by Kevin G. Chapman. 
• BOLO Books reviews Do I Know You? by Sarah Strohmeyer. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale.
  
• L.J. Hurst reviews Just Thieves by Gregory Galloway.
  
• Garrick Webster reviews Girl: Inside by S. Williams. 
• Paperback Warrior reviews Brother by Ania Ahlborn.
  
• Crime by the Book reviews Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey  
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer.
  
• Joy Kluver reviews Bruno's Challenge and Other Dordogne Tales by Martin Walker.
• Lesa Holstine reviews Observations by Gaslight - Stories from the World of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye.
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Queen's Men by Oliver Clements.
• Lesa Holstine reviews From Ladle to Grave by Amy Patricia Meade.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews A Murder Yule Regret by Winnie Archer and tries a recipe from the book.
• Martin Edwards reviews Bond Behind the Iron Curtain by James Fleming.
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1904 adventure novel The Sea-Wolf by Jack London.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1912 suspense novel The Mystery of Mary by Grace Livingston Hill.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1915 mystery The Man Who Plundered the City by Sven Elvestad, translated by Frederick H. Martens. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Emperor of the Yellow Death, a 1935 novel in The Spider series by Grant Stockbridge a.k.a. Norvell Page. 
  
• L.J. Hurst revisits the 1937 mystery These Names Make Clues by E.C.R. Lorac.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1940 Steve Midnight mystery "The Dead Ride Free" by John K. Butler.
• Happiness Is a Book revisits the 1941 Michael Dundas mystery Death Breaks the Ring by Virginia Rath.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1944 mystery Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer a.k.a. Algernon Vernon Mills.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1946 Chet Lacey hardboiled novella "Let Me Kill You Tenderly" by Robert Sidney Bowen.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1950 mystery No Tears for Hilda by Andrew Garve a.k.a. Paul Winterton.
  
• Paul Burke revisits the 1959 hardboiled novel The Girl With No Place to Hide by Nick Quarry a.k.a. Marvin Alpert. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Weapon of Night, a 1967 novel in the Nick Carter Killmaster men's adventure series.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1976 Dirk Pitt adventure novel Iceberg by Clive Cussler.
  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1988 Nameless Detective novel Shackles by Bill Pronzini.
  

 

Con reports:

• Crime by the Book reports about the Iceland Noir Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland.
• BOLO Books reports about the 2021 Iceland Noir Festival. 
• The 2022 Left Coast Crime Conventions in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has announced its guests of honour.
  

 

Research:

• Anne Wolbert Burgess talks about working at the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit in the early 1980s. 
• Oscar Schwartz chronicles the case of Kathleen Folbigg who was sentenced to life in prison for supposedly killing her four infant children, even though the children likely succumbed to a rare genetic defect.
  
• S.J. Rozan chronicles how New York City's Chinatown is under threat.
• Sirin Kale discusses the inner life of cats.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Dingo Moon" by Alpheus Williams in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Two Birds, One Todd" by Karen Harrington in Shotgun Honey. 
• "The Stripper Cake" by David James Cordin in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "The Green Ribbon" by Scott J. Couturier in Guilty.
  
• "All Too Well" by Gigi Pandian, Samantha Jayne Allen, Anna Downes, Camilla Sten, Alex Finlay and Stacy Willingham in Criminal Element.
• "The Testimony of the Late Arthur Young" by Blake Johnson in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Ear Witness" by Tom Barlow in The Five-Two.
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for the next episode of Beck.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Woman in the Street. 
• Watch a trailer for Stay Close.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Cobra Kai.