Crime Fiction Links of the Week for February 11, 2023

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 series finale of Happy Valley, Poker Face, series 4 of You, Consent, Irréversible: Straight Cut, Pathaan and the state of Bollywood in general and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Crime Reads shares five psychological thrillers to read this February.
  
• Lyn Liao Butler shares thrillers set in stunning locales.
• Mike Lawson talks about the great tradition of crime fiction set in Florida.  
  
• Paul French talks about crime novels set in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
• Deborah Crombie wonders how long-running mystery and crime series can avoid the so-called Moonlighting curse. 
• Ellen Byron explains how she came to write culinary cozy mysteries.
  
• Roxana Arama chronicles how writing about immigration helped her find home.
  
• Steven Powell profiles James Ellroy. 
• John Higgs chronicles how Ian Fleming finally started writing fiction.
  
• Patrick H. Moore explains how he wrote his new thriller 27 Days.
  
• Mystery writer and photographer Tom Corcoran has died.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Andy Klein calls Sharper a twisty thriller with a great cast.
  
• Leslie Felperin calls Jane a high stakes, high anxiety teen thriller. 
• Phil Hoad calls Play Dead an implausible organ theft thriller. 
• Cheryl Eddy calls Consecration a not so thrilling mystery starring a nun.
  
• Garrick Webster looks ahead at the French Canadian crime drama The Wall. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Women Talking a stagey ensemble drama that foregrounds the female experience of sexual violence.
  
• Phuong Le calls Myanmar Diaries a gutpunching film about the military coup in Myanmar. 
• Adrian Horton shares her thoughts on the true crime documentary Stolen Youth.
  
• Michael Hogan interviews various actors who played notable villains on TV about their experiences.  
• Olivia Rutigliano lists wintery thrillers to watch this February.
  
• Reviewers of The Guardian discuss their favourite and least favourite TV finales of all time. 
  
• J.D. O'Brien shares his appreciation for Harry Dean Stanton's many noir roles. 
• Olivia Rutigliano revisits the 1976 murder mystery Murder by Death and its opening titles, which were drawn by cartoonist Charles Addams.
  
• James Hibberd interviews Harrison Ford, star of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner and many others. 
  
• Roseanna Greenstreet interviews Minnie Driver, star of Grosse Pointe Blank, The Deep, The Phantom of the Opera, The Witcher: Blood Origin and many others.  
  
• Tim Lewis interviews Sarah Parish, who appeared in Doctor Who, Merlin, Broadchurch, Blackpool, Bancroft, Stay Close and many others.  
  
• Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris trace the trope that "the black guy dies first" to the 1968 splatter movie Spider Baby.  
• Cindy White explains why physical media still matters in the streaming age. 
• Stuart Heritage reports that film and TV kisses are increasingly done via CGI. 
  
• Sian Cain reports that Disney is firing 7000 employees.  
• Nicholas Yong reports that an episode of The Simpsons about forced labour camps in China has fallen afould of censorship in Hongkong.  
• The Guardian reports that Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been released from prison after a hunger strike. 
• Composer Burt Bacharach has died aged 94. 
• Martin Edwards remembers Burt Bacharach. 
  
• Actress Melinda Dillon, star of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Harry and the Hendersons, Absence of Malice, Sioux City and many others, has died aged 83.

 

Comments on series 3 of Happy Valley:

• Lucy Mangan shares her thoughts on the series finale of Happy Valley. 
• Michael Hogan shares his thoughts on the series finale of Happy Valley. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the penultimate episode and the series finale of Happy Valley. 
  
• Val McDermid shares her thoughts on series 3 of Happy Valley. 
• Martin Edwards shares his thoughts on series 3 of Happy Valley.
  
• Michael Hogan wonders which Happy Valley characters will not survive series 3.
• David Barnett interviews Rhys Connah who plays Ryan Cawood in Happy Valley. 
• Michael Hogan shares ten burning unanswered questions from the Happy Valley series finale.
  
• Garrick Webster declares that Happy Valley needs tie-in novels.
  

 

Comments on Poker Face:

• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Poker Face. 
• io9 interviews Rian Johnson, director of Poker Face.
  

 

Comments on season 4 of You: 

• Joel Golby calls season 4 of You a wild ride and a soapy murderfest.
• Rebecca Nicholson calls season 4 of You awful and hugely entertaining. 
• Saloni Gajjar calls season 4 of You a muddled British whodunnit.
  

 

Comments on Consent: 

• Hollie Richardson calls Consent a horrific drama about the sexual assault epidemic at British schools. 
• Ellen E. Jones calls Consent a horribly timeless drama about male sexual violence.
  

 

Comments on Irréversible: Straight Cut: 

• Scott Tobias reports that the French rape revenge film Irréversible has been recut.
• Luke Y. Thompson declares that even the recut version of Irréversible is difficult to watch.
  

 

Comments on Pathaan and the state of Bollywood in general: 

• Hannah Ellis-Peterson reports about Indian audiences' enthusiastic response to Sha Rukh Khan's latest action movie Pathaan in spite of boycott calls from members of the Indian government. 
• Fatima Bhutto criticises the portrayal of Pakistanis as the go-to villains in Pathaan and other recent Bollywood movies.  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2023 CWA Diamond Dagger has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2022 International Film Music Critics Association Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced.
   

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Quan Barry talks about the benefit of writing across genres. 
• M.J. Rose explains how the techniques of method acting can help writers to get to know their characters better. 
• Ziv Wities talks about writing with mirrors.
  
• Steven Womack talks about writing while terminally ill.
• Sterling Watson talks about capturing the voice of adolescent narrators. 
• Charlie Jane Anders explains why she dislikes the notion of having a career. 
• Jason Sanford discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on writers, artists and other creatives.
  
• Victoria Strauss warns writer about the United Writers Organization and the Perpetual Eagle Awards.
• The Authors Guild shares an update about the state of the HarperCollins strike.
  
• The Authors Guild reports that Amazon is changing its controversial e-book return policies.
  
• Abby Monteil reports that some teachers in Florida are removing books from their classrooms because of a new law demanding that any books in classrooms be approved by a state-approved librarian first. 
  
• Sarah Shaffi reports that the British Library in St. Pancras, London, UK, will receive a large extension.

 

Interviews: 

• David Marchese interviews Walter Mosley.
  
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Peter May. 
• Alex Segura and Kellye Garrett interview each other.
  
• David Remnick interviews Salman Rushdie. 
• John Valeri interviews Ana Reyes. 
• Andrew Nette interviews Steven Powell.
  

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews Encore in Death by J.D. Robb. 
• Beth Kanell reviews Encore in Death by J.D. Robb. 
  
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal.  
• Alasdair Stuart interviews Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty. 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews 1989 by Val McDermid.
• Kathy Reel reviews The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths.
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Wilderness Retreat by Jennifer Moore.
• Tzer Island reviews Alligator Alley by Mike Lawson. 
• Rebecca Nesvet reviews Locust Lane by Steven Amidon.
  
• Marietta Miles reviews No Home for Killers by E.A. Aymar. 
• Mary Picken reviews The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish.
  
• Men Reading Books reviews The Scorned by David Putnam. 
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Exiles by Jane Harper. 
• Marilyn Brooks reviews Last Seen in Lapaz by Kwei Quartey. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews When You See Me by Lisa Gardner.
  
• Grab This Book reviews Two O'Clock Boy by M.K. Hill.
  
• BOLO Books reviews A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie. 
• Janet Webb reviews A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie.  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Bury Them Deep by James Oswald.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
  
• The Quick and the Read reviews The It Girl by Ruth Ware. 
• The Book Decoder reviews The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden.
  
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Next To Die by Elliot Sweeney.
• Kathy Reel reviews The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan. 
  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh.
• Pam Guynn reviews The Last Grudge by Max Seeck.
  
• Paul Burke reviews Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews A Legacy of Bones by Doug Burgess
• Marlene Harris reviews The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly. 
  
• Garrick Webster reviews The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Retro by Sofía Lapuente and Jarrod Shusterman
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Black Foam by Haji Jabir, translated by Sawad Hussain and Marcia Lynx Qualey 
  
• Hephzibah Anderson reviews Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyle. 
• Becky LeJeune reviews Trouble by Katja Ivar. 
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards.
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews A Deadly Splendor by B.R. Myers.
  
• For Winter Nights reviews The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz. 
• John Valeri reviews Killer Story by Matt Witten. 
• Rebecca Nesvet reviews Night Letter by Sterling Watson. 
  
• Tony R. Cox reviews A Pen Dipped in Poison by J.M. Hall. 
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Courage Undimmed by Stephanie Graves.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings
• Judith Reveal reviews The Mitford Secret by Jessica Fellows. 
  
• BOLO Books reviews Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. 
• Kirkus reviews Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. 
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Just Murdered by Katherine Kovacic.
  
• Beth Kanell reviews The Girl With the Dragonfruit Tattoo by Carrie Doyle. 
• Kittling Books reviews Wined and Died in New Orleans by Ellen Byron.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Murder at an Irish Castle by Ellie Brannigan. 
• Rob Bedford reviews The Spite House by Johnny Compton. 
  
• Tim Adams reviews The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe. 
• Martin Edwards reviews Fear and Clothing: Dress in English Detective Fiction between the First and Second World Wars by Jane Custance Baker 
• Publishers Weekly reviews Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor.
  
• Ayo Onatade reviews Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell.
• Jake Kerridge reviews Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell.
  

 

Classics reviews:

• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1913 detective novel Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley.
  
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1936 Spider thriller Slaves of the Murder Syndicate by Grant Stockbridge a.k.a. Norvell Page. 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1946 Dr. Priestley mystery Death in Harley Street by John Rhode.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1952 Inspector Richard Ringwood mystery The Missing Link by Katharine Farrer
• James Reasoner revisits the 1962 crime novel Object of Lust by Mark West a.k.a. Charles Runyon.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1971 adventure novel The Last Place God Made by Jack Higgins a.k.a. Harry Patterson. 
• Paul Weimer revisits the 1981 Demon Princes science fiction mystery The Book of Dreams by Jack Vance. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1987 science fiction spy novel Tools of the Trade by Joe Haldeman. 
  

Con and event reports:

• Crossexamining Crime reports about a performance of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie in Newcastle, UK.
  
• Ella Braidwood reports that British theatres are staging a wave of protest plays about the closures and staff shortages facing British theatres as well as the cost of living crisis in the UK in general.

 

Research:

• Susan Wels reports about the 19th century sex cult leader John Humphrey Noyes
• Daniel Victor reports that a metal detector hobbyist has found a pendant linked to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in a field in Warwickshire, UK.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Murder Lake" by Charlie Jones in Shotgun Honey.
• "A Fading Memory" by Akshita Himatsingka in Shotgun Honey. 
• "A Reminder" by Russell Thayer in Shotgun Honey. 
• "The Painter and the Beetle" by William Kitcher in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Rat" by Brandon Barrows in Guilty.
  
• "Nobody's Bastard" by Brad Gyori in Mystery Tribune.
• "Used to Be" and "It's A Small World (After All)"  by Twist Phelan in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Fiction Podcast.
• "The Tower" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Outlaw Love" by Cora Buhlert.
• "Victimless" by Eric D. Goodman in The Five-Two.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

•  Watch a trailer for Fast X.