Crime Fiction Links of the Week for March 19, 2022

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 series 6 of Peaky Blinders, season 4 of Killing Eve, The Outfit, The Batman, Deep Water, X, season 2 of Top Boy, tributes to William Hurt, reactions of writers and publishing professionals to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and much more.

Crime fiction in general:

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Sam Lloyd explains why so many crime fiction writers are drawn to the sea. 
  
• Paul French talks about crime fiction set in Birmingham, UK. 
• Alex Segura explains how comic book history influenced his latest crime novel Secret Identity. 
• Peggy Rothschild talks about novels where amateur detectives solve crimes while dealing with grief. 
• Silje Ulstein lists six crime novels with unusual narrators. 
  
• Meredith Doench talks about disability and crime fiction. 
• Peter Swanson shares classic mysteries with high body counts. 
• Joyce St. Anthony shares WWII mysteries with female protagonists.
  
• Gigi Pandian notes that locked room mysteries are making a comeback. 
• Lenny Picker reports about several series of classic crime fiction reprints.
  
• Daisy Bateman matches classic mystery authors to zodiac signs.  
• Wayne Johnson traces the lineage of modern crime fiction back to Agatha Christie on the one hand and Patricia Highsmith on the other. 
• Kathryn Harkup traces how Agatha Christie used her knowledge of chemistry in her novels.
  
• Gigi Pandian shares her appreciation for the works of John Dickson Carr. 
• Paperback Warrior profiles crime and noir author Thomas B. Dewey. 
• Martin Edwards shares his appreciation for the works of Francis Durbridge. 
• Valerie Stivers cooks the four course dinner from Dorothy Sayers' Strong Poison - without the poison, naturally.
  
• Susan Ouellette explains what can be found on a spy fiction writer's bookshelf. 
• Molly Templeton talks about books that make you cry. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five extremely unscientific methods for choosing your next book. 

 

Film and TV:

• Lucy Mangan calls Holding a murder mystery with wit, warmth and compassion.
  
• Benjamin Lee calls Fresh a sly and gory horror thriller.  
• Charles Bramesco calls Black Crab a tense, but forgettable action thriller. 
• Saloni Gajjar declares that the Indian thriller Aranyak and The Fame Game are killing it. 
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Suspicion. 
• Garrick Webster shares his thoughts on season 3 of the Welsh crime drama Hidden.
• Randall Colburn shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Dropout. 
• Amelia Tait discusses the problems with true crime dramas. 
  
• Lucy Mangan calls The Killing of PC Harper: A Widow's Fight for Justice a compelling account of a tragedy.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls The Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime a shocking exposé of the abusive practices behind the scene of the popular British TV show. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives a fascinating true crime documentary.
  
• Zack Budryk shares his favourite films about Irish-American gangsters.
  
• Maggie Smith shares nine crime films about investigative journalists. 
• Nick Kolakowski revisits the 2013 neo-noir movie The Counselor.
  
• James Hibberd interviews Nicholas Cage who has been in everything. 

 

Tributes to William Hurt:

• Actor William Hurt, star of Altered States, Body Heat, Gorky Park as well as Thaddues Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has died aged 71.
• Ryan Gilbey shares an obituary for William Hurt.
  
• Martin Edwards remembers William Hurt's performance in Body Heat. 

 

Comments on series 6 of Peaky Blinders:

• Michael Hogan shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Peaky Blinders.
  
• Michael Hogan ranks the portrayal of real historical figures in Peaky Blinders.
  

 

Comments on season 4 of Killing Eve:

• Lisa Weidenfeld shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Killing Eve.  
• Dave Nemetz shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Killing Eve.

 

Comments on The Outfit:

• Mark Keizer calls The Outfit a modest gangster thriller and praises the performance of Mark Rylance. 
  
• Rachel Leishman interviews Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien, two of the stars of The Outfit.

 

Comments on The Batman:

• Olivia Rutigliano calls The Batman a dark and fascinating detective story. 
• Linda Codega discusses the depiction of Gotham City in The Batman. 
• Sabrina Reid ranks depictions of the Riddler in the various filmic versions of Batman.
  
• Ben Child wonders where the Caped Crusader will go after The Batman.
• Justin Carter shares his appreciation for the 2004 animated series The Batman.
  

 

Comments on Deep Water:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Deep Water a baffling erotic thriller. 
• Todd Gilchrist declares that Deep Water resuscitates the erotic thriller genre as campy fun.
  
• Catherine Shoard interviews Adrian Lyne, director of Fatal Attraction and Deep Water.  
• Todd Gilchrist interviews Adrian Lyne.

 

Comments on season 2 of Top Boy:

• Rebecca Nicholson calls season 2 of Top Boy a brilliant crime drama that always leaves you guessing.
• Tim Lewis interviews Ashley Walters, star of Top Boy.

 

Comments on X:

• Charles Bramesco calls X a grindhouse throwback slasher film.
• Todd Gilchrist calls X a genre-manipulating thriller that deconstructs storytelling clichés.
• Todd Gilchrist interviews Brittany Snow, Martin Henderson and Ti West, stars and director of X.
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2022 CrimeFest Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2021 Australian Romance Readers Awards have been announced.  
• The finalists for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. 
  
• The winners of the 2022 Spur Awards have been announced, 
  
• The winners of the 2022 DGA Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2022 BAFTA Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2022 Critics Choice Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2022 Golden Reel Awards have been announced.

 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Lincoln Michel declares that the one rule of fiction writing is that there are no rules.
  
• Cassandra Rose Clarke talks about the similarities between writing fiction and quiltmaking.
  
• Rafi Zabor talks about creating villains.
• Charlotte Mendelson talks about the relationship issues facing writer and artist couples.
• Jacqui Lipton talks about option clauses in publishing contracts. 
• Daniel Roman declares that Brandon Sanderson did not break the publishing industry. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch weighs in on the Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter again.
  
• Alexandra Alter reports about the scramble to find literary translators for Ukrainian fiction. 
• Ukrainian fan Borys Sydiuk criticises the SFWA's decision not to join in a blanket boycott of Russian authors, books and publishers. 
• The Authors Guild has issued a statement espressing solidarity with Ukraine. 
• Mike Glyer reports that the HWA has issued a statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
  
• The small press 1632 Inc. and Ring of Fire Press has expressed its solidarity with Ukraine.
  
• David Barnett reports about an auction organised by the British publishing industry for Ukraine. 
• Alex Brown declares that book bans hurt everybody and tells people how they can help.
  
• Joy Press reports about a succession drama at the children's book publisher Scholastic, after its CEO suddenly died in 2021.

 

Interviews: 

• Debbi Mack interviews Karin Slaughter. 
• David Gordon interviews Alex Segura.
  
• All About Agatha interviews Alex Michaelides. 
• Richie Narvaez interviews Raquel V. Reyes.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Robert J. Lloyd.
  
• Wrong Place, Write Crime interviews A.B. Patterson and Bill Cameron.
• Deborah Kalb interviews Judy Foreman.
• Lisa Haselton interviews Norm Harris.
• I Read What You Write interviews Kate Parker.
  

 

Reviews:

• Kathy Reel reviews The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths.
  
• Grab This Book reviews The Blood Tide by Neil Lancaster.
  
• BOLO Books reviews Secret Identity by Alex Segura.
• John Valeri reviews Nine Lives by Peter Swanson.
• Becky LeJeune reviews Faceless by Vanda Symon.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Girl in Ice by Erica Ferencik.
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Beneath the Depths by Bruce Robert Coffin.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews I Am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Houseboat by Dane Bahr.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Red Canoe by Wayne Johnson. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Match by Harlan Coben. 
• Becky LeJeune reviews The Curfew by T.M. Logan.
• Tony R. Cox reviews You Never Said Goodbye by Luca Veste. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews Reputation by Sarah Vaughan. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton. 
• Kevin Tipple reviews The Second Last Chance by Jim Nesbitt.
  
• Janet Webb reviews The Patient's Secret by Loreth Anne White.
  
• Sandie Herron reviews Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger.
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Sundial by Catriona Ward. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Sundial by Catriona Ward.
  
• Beth Kanell reviews Lightning Rod by Brad Meltzer.
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Poison at the Village Show by Catherine Coles.
• Beth Kanell reviews Put Out To Pasture by Amanda Flower.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Batten Down the Belfry by Diane Kelly and tries a recipe from the book.
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1929 mystery Murder on B-Deck by Vincent Starrett.
  
• Kathy Reel revisits the 1945 suspense novel Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes. 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1945 Professor Pennyfeather mystery Bring the Bride a Shroud by Dolores Hitchens.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1947 boxing story "Champions Wear Purple" by Clifton Adams. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1950 crime novel The Art Studio Murders a.k.a. Dark Memory by Edward Ronns a.k.a. Edward S. Aarons.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1953 mystery It Pays To Die by Cecil M. Wills. 
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1953 noir novel The Burglar by David Goodis. 
• Lesa Holstine revisits the 1958 noir novel Strip For Murder by Dolores Hitchens. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1959 crime novel Dominant Third by Elizabeth Hely.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1960 Dr. Gideon Fell mystery In Spite of Thunder by John Dickson Carr.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1972 mystery The Troublemaker by Jean Potts. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Operation Mind-Murder, a 1979 novel in the Death-Merchant men's adventure series by Joseph Rosenberger. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1997 crime fiction anthology The Plot Thickens, edited by Mary Higgins Clark.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Martin Edwards reports about a PBFA Book Fair in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and shares some photos.
  
• Chris Wiegand declares that the stage version of the 1920s thriller Blackmail, which is performed in Colchester, UK, is handsomely staged and updated to refer to modern concerns.
  

 

Research:

• Chas Smith shares a brief history of fugitives in America.
• Ken Croke and David Wedge talk about federal agents infiltrating outlaw biker gangs in the US.
• Mitchell S. Jackson shares his experiences in Oregon State Prison and notes that prison in the US is a form of slavery.
  
• Erika Krouse explains why she became a private investigator.
• Henry Fountain reports that the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance has been found in the Antarctic.

Free online fiction:

• "The Ghost Writer" by Andrew Johnson in Mystery Tribune.
• "This Guy Is Killing Me" by Paul Kindlon in Mystery Tribune.
• "Freon Kids" by David Simmons in Mystery Tribune.
• "Gone Hollywood" by Victor De Anda in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Mimi Gets a Clue" by Jennifer J. Chow in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast.
• "Ready, Aim" by Charles Rammelkamp in The Five-Two.

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Tokyo Vice.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Contractor.
• Watch a trailer for Bosch: Legacy.