Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 17, 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 the best mysteries and crime novels of 2022, season 2 of Slow Horses, Strike: Troubled Blood, Criminal Minds: Evolution, Litvinenko, National Treasure: Edge of History and much more.

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares five new crime novels coming out this week.
  
• Jeff Popple shares seven good crime novels and thrillers you may have missed in 2022.
• Michael Dirda shares fourteen crime novels to read this winter.
  
• Crime by the Book recommends five Christmas mysteries and thrillers.
  
• Several crime fiction writers share their favourite literary detectives in The Guardian. 
• Alexis Gunderson lists crime novels and TV series featuring older sleuths and criminals.  
• Mina Hardy shares five thrillers about life-changing choices. 
• T.G. Herren talks about crime fiction set in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  
• Paul French shares crime novels set in Tunis, Tunisia. 
• Sarah Marshall points out that the American obsession with true crime and serial killers tells us more about the people consuming such media than about the crimes themselves.
  
• Stephen Spotswood wonders why he is so obsessed with murder. 
• Maureen Johnson shares a guide to not getting murdered in an English country manor. 
  
• James Tapper reports that there has been a big decline of people from a working class background working in the arts in the UK in the past thirty years.  
• Molly Templeton notes that winter is the perfect time for rereading old favourites.  
• Nick Kolakowski discusses the enduring mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's macabre death  
• Sarah Shaffi reports that the crowdfunding platform Unbound has challenged AIs to solve the legendarily difficult literary puzzle Cain's Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers.
• Lizzy Steiner shares eight true crime podcasts to listen to this winter. 
• Benjamin Lee reports that James Patterson or rather one of his ghostwriters has been hired to complete an unfinished Michael Crichton thriller. 
  
• Marijane Meaker a.k.a. Vin Packer, pioneering writer of lesbian pulp novels, has died aged 95.
  

 

Best of 2022:

• Tom Nolan shares his favourite mysteries of 2022.
• Steve Donoghue shares his favourite mysteries of 2022. 
• Liz French and Lesa Holstine share their favourite crime novels of 2022. 
• Jim Thompson shares his favourite crime novels of 2022.
  
• Crime Time FM discuss their favourite crime novels of 2022.
  
• Jeff Popple shares his favourite crime novels and thrillers of 2022. 
• Jeff Popple shares his favourite debut crime novels and thrillers of 2022. 
• Crime Reads shares the best noir novels of 2022.
  
• Crime Reads shares the best pyschological thrillers of 2022. 
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite historical mysteries and thrillers of 2022.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano shares her favourite traditional mysteries of 2022. 
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite gothic novels of 2022.
  
• Crime Reads share their favourite non-fiction crime books of 2022. 
• Literary Hub share their favourite book covers of 2022.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about the best books of the year and what happens when you buy them. 
  

 

 Film and TV:

• Owen Gleiberman calls Violent Night a winning holiday genre mash-up.
  
• Paul Levinson calls season 1 of Surface deeply engaging. 
• Matthew Jackson calls The Apology an uneven thriller. 
• Brent Simon calls Mindcage a no frills serial killer thriller. 
• Manuel Betancourt calls The Recruit a spy show cruising on cheap thrillers and its handsome lead.
  
• Kate Abbott calls The Responder one of the best TV shows of 2022. 
  
• Adrian Horton calls the gothic thriller The Wonder one of the best films of 2022.  
• Steve Rose calls the Indian historical epic RRR one of the best films of 2022. 
  
• Cath Clarke calls the animated crime caper The Amazing Maurice a riot of silliness.
• Nicholas Barber wonders just why Top Gun Maverick of all things is the most successful movie of 2022. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Beautiful Beings an ultimately unrewarding film about gangs and bullying from Iceland. 
• Arturo Serrano declares that The Peripheral had a lot of interesting ideas, but didn't really do anything with any of them.  
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Mosquito Coast.
• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Welcome to Chippendales. 
• Inspired by She Said, Winnie M. Li wonders whether the protagonists of #MeToo movies should be journalists or survivors.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls Undercover: Sexual Harassment - The Truth a documentary so upsetting it should come with a trigger warning. 
• Rebecca Nicholson interviews Suranne Jones, star of Christmas Carole, Vigil and Scott & Bailey. 
  
• Guy Lodge revisits the 1962 adventure movie Lawrence of Arabia for its sixtieth anniversary. 
• Vanessa Armstrong sums up what we know about the planned John Wick spin-off Ballerina so far.
  
• Actor Gary Friedkin, who appeared in Return of the Jedi, Blade Runner, Under the Rainbow and others, has died aged 70. 
  
• Film Composer Angelo Badalamenti, best known for his work on Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and other David Lynch films, has died aged 83. 
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Slow Horses:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Slow Horses.
• Tom Philip shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Slow Horses.
  

 

Comments on Strike: Troubled Blood: 

• Jack Seale notes that the most interesting thing about Strike: Troubled Blood is whether the two leads will get together. 
• Tripwire interviews Alex Rendell, producer of Strike: Troubled Blood.
  

 

Comments on Criminal Minds: Evolution: 

• Paul Levinson calls the first few episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution outstanding. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution.

 

Comments on Litvinenko: 

• Joel Golby calls Litvinenko a tediously plotted true crime drama and takes issue with David Tennant's attempts at a Russian accent. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Litvinenko a woeful and pointless true crime drama.
  

 

Comments on National Treasure: Edge of History:

• David Cote calls National Treasure: Edge of History a breezy adventure series. 
• Lucy Mangan calls National Treasure: Edge of History loads of daft fun. 
• The AV Club interviews Lisette Olivera, star of National Treasure: Edge of History.

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2022 Little, Brown UEA Crime Fiction Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2022 Six Word Mystery Contest have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2022 Golden Globes have been announced with some love for crime film and TV. 
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Sabrina Qiao explains how writing fan fiction gave her creative freedom and community.
• Pitchaya Sudbanthad explains why he loves fountain pens as a writer.
  
• Lincoln Michel explains what impact artificial intelligence will have on writing.
  
• Jacqui Lipton explains when and for what a writer has to ask their publisher for permission.
  
• Markus Harbaum reports that Markus Dohle is stepping down as CEO of Penguin Random House. 
• Michael Cader reports that the USA Today bestseller list will go on haitus, after editor Mary Cadden, who assembled the list, was laud off.

 

Interviews: 

• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interviews Lord Peter Hains.
• Garrick Webster interviews Cristina LePort.
  

Reviews:

• Sandie Herron reviews The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. 
• Jen Lucas reviews A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin.
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Behind Closed Doors by Carol Wyer.
• Sandie Herron reviews Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo.
• Garrick Webster reviews Blown by the Same Wind by John Straley.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Dashboard Elvis Is Dead by David F. Ross. 
• Jen Lucas reviews Dashboard Elvis Is Dead by David F. Ross. 
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews Cruising Undercover by Terry Odell.
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Girl in the River by Rita Herron.
  
• Beth Kanell reviews The Other Sister by Peter Mohlin and Peter Nyström.
• Beth Kanell reviews Judas 62 by Charles Cumming. 
  
• Becky LeJeune reviews A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley. 
• Jen Lucas reviews A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley.  
• Grab This Book reviews A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley.
  
• BOLO Books reviews A History of Fear by Luke Dumas. 
• For Winter Nights reviews Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. 
• Beth Kanell reviews A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley. 
• John Mauro reviews The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell. 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Death at Beresford Hall by Emma Davies. 
• Russell James reviews Trouble by Katja Ivar.
  
• Kathy Reel reviews Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen.
• Kathy Reel reviews Scot in a Trap by Catriona McPherson. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Family Tress Mystery by Peter Bartram. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews Murder at the Christmas Carols by Izzie Harper.
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood. 
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Death by Smoothie by Laura Levine. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Bread Over Troubled Water by Winnie Archer and tries a recipe from the book. 
  
• Beth Kanell reviews Bryant and May: Peculiar London by Christopher Fowler.  
  

Classics reviews:

• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1925 Sexton Blake mystery The Mystery of Mrs. Bardell's Christmas Pudding by Gwyn Evans.
  
• Beth Kanell revisits the 1932 mystery Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley.
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1936 Nigel Strangeways mystery Thou Shell of Death by Nicholas Blake a.k.a. Cecil Day-Lewis.  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1936 mystery A Word of Six Letters by Herbert Adams.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1940 war novel For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1954 mystery The Better to Eat You by Charlotte Armstrong. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 heist novel The Big Grab by John Trinian a.k.a. Marvin Leroy Schmoker.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1961 spy thriller The Pursuit of Agent M by DeWitt Copp. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1984 Homer Kelly mystery Emily Dickinson is Dead by Jane Langton. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1987 Hamish Macbeth mystery Death of a Cad by M.C. Beaton.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1987 Executioner men's adventure novel Devil's Horn by Dan Schmidt.
  

Con and event reports:

• Ayo Onatade reports that the 2023 CrimeFest in Bristol, UK, will be sponsored by Specsavers. 
• Martin Edwards reports about the Oundle Festival of Literature in Oundle, UK.
  
• Sarah Shaffi and Lucy Knight share the line-up of the 2023 Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. 
  
• Gloria Oladipo reports about a performance of the play Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy in New York City.
  

 

Research:

• Kay Adams and Nancy Markey report about the 1885 murder of black businessman Benjamin J. Burton in Newport, Rhode Island.
• J. Kingston Pierce talks about the great diamond hoax of 1870. 
• David Barnett reports that scientists have extracted bio-molecules of Vlad the Impaler from a letter written in 1475.

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Tightwire" by Lance Dean in Mystery Tribune.
• "Fibres of Space" by Luke Hannon in Mystery Tribune. 
• "Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness" by S.L. Huang in Clarkesworld.
  
• "Frank's Corner Bar" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Jeffrey Epstein Speaks From the Grave" by Tom Barlow in The Five-Two.
   

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Perry Mason.
  
• Watch a trailer for Treason.