Crime Fiction Links of the Week for August 13, 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 7 of Shetland, season 2 of Only Murder in the Building, Bullet Train, season 6 of Better Call Saul, Fall, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Emily the Criminal, Five Days at Memorial, the cancellation of the almost finished Batgirl movie and other movies and TV shows following the Warner Bros Discovery merger, tributes to Olivia Newton-John and Anne Heche, the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie and much more.

Crime fiction in general:  

• Alison Flood shares the best recent crime novels and thrillers.
  
• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Lisa Levy shares the best psychological thrillers for August. 
• Crime Reads shares the best non-fiction crime books of 2022 so far.
  
• Paul French takes a look at crime fiction set in Damascus, Syria. 
• Leslie Budewitz shares her favourite cozy mysteries set in cities.
  
• Amanda Jayatissa talks about thrillers set at weddings. 
• E.G. Scott shares five crime novels featuring books within books.
  
• Tyrell Johnson talks about the art of accidentally writing a thriller. 
• Lisa Jewell explains why she accidentally wrote a detective into her latest psychological thriller.
  
• Meg Gardiner talks about writing a prequel/sequel to the classic crime movie Heat together with Michael Mann. 
• Larry Beinhart shares his five favourite Dashiell Hammett novels. 
• Curtis Evans profiles mystery writer and composer Edmund Crispin a.k.a. Bruce Montgomery.
  
• Zac Bissonnette profiles Luci Zahray, who gives crime and mystery writers advice about poisons.
  
• Zack Budryk shares six musicals that are also crime fiction.
  
• Steve Aldous reports that the novelisation of the 1972 crime movie Shaft's Big Score by Ernest Tidyman was almost never published at all because of a rights and royalties dispute. 
• Molly Templeton discusses what to do when only the most heartbreaking book will do. 
  

 

Comments on the attack on Salman Rushdie:

• Writer Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage during an event in Chautauqua, New York. Moderator Henry Reese was also injured.
• Maya Yang shares reactions by colleagues and friends to the attack on Salman Rushdie.
• Julian Borger looks back on the enormous uproar caused by Salman Rushdie 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which ultimately led to his stabbing.

 

Film and TV:

• Lauren Chval calls Bad Sisters a fun murder mystery from Ireland.
  
• Paul Levinson calls Tokyo Vice vivid, colourful and riveting.
  
• Lucy Mangan calls I Just Killed My Dad a true crime documentary that will sweep away your faith in humanity.
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1961 noir movie Fear No More.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2003 crime drama Young Adam. 
• Ethan Warren finds unexpected parallels between Wes Anderson's 2013 movie Moonrise Kingdom and the 1973 crime movie Badlands.
  
• Paul Hirons reports that the British mystery series Grantchester has been renewed for series 8.
  
• The Guardian reports that Top Gun Maverick continues to inexplicably break box office records. 
• Jane Clinton reports that actress June Spencer has retired from the British radio soap opera The Archers after more than seventy years, aged 103.  
• Stuntman Gene LeBell has died aged 89. 
  
• Actor Clu Gulager, star of The Virginia, The Return of the Living Dead, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and many others, has died aged 93.
• Actor Roger E. Mosley, best known for playing T.C. in the original Magnum PI, has died aged 83.
  

 

Comments on series 7 of Shetland: 

• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first episode of series 7 of Shetland.
  
• Paul Hirons interviews Douglas Henshall, star of Shetland.
• Stefanie Hutson reports that Shetland has already been renewed for series 8, albeit without Douglas Henshall.
  

 

Comments on Bullet Train: 

• Olivia Rutigliano calls Bullet Train a delightfully breakneck ride.
  
• Brian Davids interviews David Leitch, director of Bullet Train. 
  
• Brian Davids interviews Zazie Beets, star of Bullet Train, Deadpool and Joker.
  

 

Comments on Fall:

• Benjamin Lee calls Fall an absurd but effective survival thriller. 
• Jordan Hoffman notes that Fall reaches exhilarating B-movie heights.
  

 

Comments on Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: 

• Olivia Rutigliano calls Bodies, Bodies, Bodies a vicious parody of online culture and a tight little murder mystery.
• Brent Simon interviews Lee Pace, one of the stars of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.
  
• Brent Simon interviews Maria Bakalova, one of the stars of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. 
• Brent Simon interviews Amandla Stenberg, one of the stars of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Only Murders in the Building: 

• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building. 
• Mikey O'Connell interviews Steve Martin, one of the stars of Only Murders in the Building. 

 

Comments on season 6 of Better Call Saul: 

• Paul MacInnes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Better Call Saul.
  
• Jordan Moreau shares their thoughts on the latest episode of Better Call Saul. 
• Kimberly Potts shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Better Call Saul. 
• Kimberly Potts shares five questions before the series finale of Better Call Saul.
  
• Craig Elvy muses about the fate of the character Gene in Better Call Saul.
• Nadia Khomami interviews Bob Odenkirk, star of Better Call Saul, about his heart attack on set last year.
  

Comments on Emily the Criminal:

• Jack Smart calls Emily the Criminal a credible character study.
• Tomris Laffly interviews Aubrey Plaza, star and producer of Emily the Criminal

 

Comments on Five Days at Memorial: 

• Manual Betancourt calls Five Days at Memorial an engrossing medical thriller about a hospital in New Orleans that murdered 45 patients after hurricane Katrina. 
• Lucy Mangan finds Five Days at Memorial utterly brutal and utterly compelling, but doesn't spare a thought for the 45 murdered patients.
  

 

Comments on the cancellation of Batgirl and other movies and TV shows due to the Warner Bros Discovery merger:

• Clayton Davis reports how the cancellation of Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, and the casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro highlights Hollywood's persisent erasure of Latinos. 
• Catherine Shoard reports that according to director Kevin Smith, Warner Bros cancelling Batgirl, a movie with a Latina star and a pair of Moroccan born directors, looks incredibly bad.
  
• Using Batgirl as an example, Guy Lodge explains why some films disappear forever and are never released. 
  
• Sabina Graves reports that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reached out to Batgirl and Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah after the cancellation of the almost finished Batgirl movie. 
• Dan Lawrence reports that the Supergirl movie has been cancelled as well. 
• Matt McGloin reports that Kevin Smith's Bizarro Superman episode of Strange Adventures, which would have starred Nicholas Cage, has been cancelled as well. 
• Matt McGloin also reports that according to Kevin Smith, the Green Lantern TV series will likely be cancelled as well, because the new Warner Bros CEO only wants DC Comics characters in high profile movies.
  
• Richard Newby notes that the Batgirl cancellation is another setback for Warner Bros' plans for a DC cinematic universe. 
• Justin Carter notes that Warner Bros and their lack of direction is the greatest problem the DC Comics movies have at the moment.  
• Kim Masters and Pamela McClintock muse about the fate of The Flash, following star Ezra Miller's increasingly erratic and criminal behaviour.
  
• Thania Garcia reports that the producer of the also cancelled animated movie Scoob: Holiday Haunt said that they had already hired the studio and an orchestra to record the score, when the cancellation news came.
  
• Sabina Graves takes a look at what other genre TV shows and movies airing on HBO Max might be at risk following the Warner Bros and Discovery merger.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the new owners of Warner Bros will combine the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services and axe even more TV shows and movies.
  

 

Tributes to Olivia Newton-John:

• Actress and singer Olivia Newton-John, star of Grease, Xanadu and A Mom for Christmas, has died aged 73.
• Peter Bradshaw shares a tribute to Olivia Newton-John.
• Angelica Frey shares a tribute to Olvia Newton-John.
  
• Zack Sharf shares John Travolta's tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. 
• Kelley Burke takes a look at Olivia Newton-John's activism for cancer research. 
• Lucy Cochrane takes a look at Olivia Newton-John's iconic outfit from the final scene of Grease.
  
• Greg Whitmore shares photos from Olivia Newton-John's lengthy career.

 

Tributes to Anne Heche:

• Actress Anne Heche, star of Volcano, Donnie Brasco, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the Psycho remake, died aged 53 after several days is in a coma following a car crash in Los Angeles, California.   
• Peter Bradshaw calls the late Anne Heche a little too stylish and smart for Hollywood. 
• The Guardian shares photos from Anne Heche's career.
  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2022 Munsey Award has been announced.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Laura Childs shares tips for opening your novel with a bang.
  
• Ada Palmer notes that the plotter versus pantser debate has been exaggerated. 
• Robert Pobi explains that there is only one real plot. 
• Kayla Maiuri explains what writing fiction can reveal about those we love.
  
• Leslie Karst explains what writers can learn from cooking school. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about writing and publishing in times of economic uncertainty.
  
• Dean Wesley Smith shares some tips for writers hoping to use Kickstarter or other crowdfunding platforms. 
• Sara Courtney profiles The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City.
  
• David Barnett reports that the British bookstore chain Waterstones has been hit by restocking and supply issues after upgrading the computer system of its warehouses. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Don Blyly is planning to reopen the Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's bookstores in their new location on August 14, after the original stores burned down during the riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the death of George Floyd due to police violence. 
  
• Shira Ovide explains that the contested merger of Penguin Random House and Simon and Schuster is all about Amazon.
• Andrew Albanese reports about the obscenity lawsuit in Virginia against Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. 
  
• Matthew Cantor reports that some residents of Jamestown, Michigan, would rather close down their local library than have it - gasp - carry LGBTQ+ books.

 

Interviews: 

• Aine Toner interviews Clare Mackintosh.
• The Guardian interviews Sebastian Faulks.
  
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Mark Wightman.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews David Rohlfing. 
• Dr. Jackie Collins interviews Amen Alonge.
  
• Lesa Holstine interviews Zac Bissonnette.
• Paul Burke interviews Bev Jones.
  
• J.B. Stevens interviews Bobby Matthews.
  

Reviews:

• Kathy Reel reviews The Island by Adrian McKinty.
  
• BOLO Books reviews The Woman on the Island and The Girls on the Shore by Ann Cleeves. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand.
  
• BOLO Books reviews Night Shadows by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir.
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Deepest Black by Randall Silvis.
• Grab This Book reviews Where Demons Hide by Douglas Skelton.
  
• Grab This Book reviews From the Ashes by Deborah Masson. 
  
• For Winter Nights reviews All That Lives by James Oswald. 
• Grab This Book reviews Truly, Darkly, Deeply by Victoria Selman. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson. 
• Adrian Magson reviews Blood Sisters by Cate Quinn. 
• Michael Jecks reviews Better the Blood by Michael Bennett.
  
• Adrian Magson reviews The Blood Tide by Neil Lancaster.
• Tony R. Cox reviews Under the Marsh by G.R. Halliday. 
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Movieland by Todd Goldberg. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Whisper Room by Thomas Kies. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard.
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews The Eye of the Beholder by Maggie Orford. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Rule of Three by E.G. Scott.
  
• Stephen J. Golds reviews Slower Bear by Anthony Neil Smith. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Last Lie Told by Debra Webb. 
  
• Beth Kanell reviews What's Coming To Me? by Francesca Padilla. 
• Gwen Moffat reviews Psalms for the End of the World by Cole Haddon. 
• Kathy Reel reviews In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson.
  
• Beth Kanell reviews A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley. 
• Stephen Thornley reviews A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Attack and Decay by Andrew Cartmel. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews A Cornish Recipe for Murder by Fiona Leitch.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews A Dark and Stormy Tea by Laura Childs and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn. 
• Jon Morgan reviews Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie.
  
• Brad Hawley reviews My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies: A Criminal Novella by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• Nick Kolakowski reviews Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner. 
  

Classics reviews:

• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1919 YA mystery The Slipper Point Mystery by Augusta Huiell Seaman
  
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1919 science fiction thriller The Green Rust by Edgar Wallace. 
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1941 mystery Inspector Burmann's Black Out by Belton Cobb.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1944 Desmond Merrion mystery The Three Corpse Trick by Miles Burton a.k.a. John Rhode.
  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1947 mystery Overdue for Death by Z.H. Ross.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1951 crime novel Judge Not My Sins by Stuart James. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 crime novel Cut Me In by Jack Karney.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1962 near future thriller In High Places by Arthur Hailey.  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1963 crime novel Blood of My Brother by C.H. Thames a.k.a. Stephen Marlowe.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1965 Sir Abercrombie Lewker mystery Death of a Weirdy by Glyn Carr.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1974 YA gothic novel Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1976 crime novel The Gang by Herbert Kastle.
  

Con and event reports:

• Guy Henderson looks ahead at the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, Devon, UK. 
• The program for Fatal Shore, a crime fiction festival in Shoreham, UK, is online. 
• William Lampkin shares photos from PulpFest 50 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a multi-part post.  
  
• Mark Fisher declares that the play Today I Killed My Very First Bird by Jason Brownlee, which is currently playing at the Edinburgh Fetsival in Edinburgh, Scotland, lays bare a gangster's life.
  

  

Research:

•  The Guardian reports that even more human remains have been found in Lake Mead, Nevada.
• The Guardian reports about a dispute between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK, and Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California, over the ownership of a seven foot tall Frankenstein's monster prop. 
  

 

Free online fiction:

• "Shooter's Remorse" by Russell W. Johnson in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Firsts" by Marie Anderson in Shotgun Honey. 
• "The Scene of the Crime" by Leonard Richardson in Clarkesworld. 
  
• "The Pearl Earring" by Curtis A. Bass in Mystery Tribune.
• "BD1099.D4" by J.F. Gleeson in Mystery Tribune. 
• "Thumb" by Kate Show in Guilty.
• "Sticky Fingers by Kellie Scott-Reed in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "She Took Her Half Out of the Middle" by Jesse Hilson in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "The Price of Doing Business" by Mark Atley in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "The Baltic Dry Index" by Michael Niemann in Tough. 
• "The Man Who Read John Dickson Carr" by William Brittain in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Fiction Podcast.
• "The Conspiracy Buff (in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned)" by David Cranmer in The Five-Two. 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for The Suspect.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Delhi Crime.
• Watch a trailer for The Menu
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Pennyworth.