Crime Fiction Links of the Week for May 13, 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 Black Ops, Hypnotic, The Diplomat, The Mother, Moscow Exile, the WGA strike and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Crime Reads shares the best debut crime novels for May. 
• Molly Odintz lists the best psychological thrillers for May.
  
• Joanne O'Sullivan lists recent YA thrillers. 
• Gabriella Lepore shares whodunnits with a killer twist. 
• Anna Shoekstra shares eight taunt thrillers that take place over three days or less.
  
• Lindsay Cameron shares six thrillers showing the dirty underbelly of privileged enclaves.
  
• Janet Webb shares mysteries featuring British royalty. 
• Cyndi MacMillan talks about mysteries featuring art.
  
• Diana Urban shares nine books which show Agatha Christie's enduring influence on the crime and mystery genre. 
• Jen Williams talks about the connections between true crime and urban legends. 
• Molly Templeton talks about building your personal library and the books you leave behind.  
• Barry Ryan profiles M.C. Beaton.
• Nick Kolakowski profiles Charles Reznikoff. 
• Sarah Weinman talks about several scandals involving Swedish literary agent Nicolas Salomonsson who represents many Swedish crime fiction writers.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Saloni Gajjar calls High Desert a weird and delightful private investigator comedy.
  
• Lucy Mangan calls City on Fire a rock-solid thriller that is like An Inspector Calls on steroids.
  
• Saloni Gajjar calls Class of '09 a convoluted FBI drama that crumbles under the weight of its own big ideas.  
• Leslie Felperin calls Dead Shot a revenge drama about the Northern Ireland conflict. 
  
• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Astrid: Murder in Paris. 
• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dalgliesh.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Citadel. 
• Matt Schimkovitz shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Barry. 
• Marisa Roffman shares her thoughts on the latest episodes of the various Law and Order series.
  
• Hattie Lindert shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Yellowjackets, 
• Keith Roysdon revisits the 1976 thriller Assault on Precinct 13. 
• Tyler Schwanke shares seven underrated heist movies.
  
• Robin Jarossi talks about the inspirations behind the British crime drama Line of Duty. 
  
• Charlotte Edwards interviews Ruth Wilson, star of Luther, His Dark Materials, Mrs. Wilson and many others. 
• Rachel Presser talks about the death of the mid budget movie. 
  
• British actor Terrence Hardiman, who appeared in The Demon Headmaster, Doctor Who, Prime Suspect, Wallander and many others, has died aged 86. 
  

 

Comments on Black Ops: 

• Rachel Aroesti declares that Black Ops proves that it's possible to make a hilarious comedy about police racism.
• Michael Hogan calls Black Ops a hilarious cop show and the funniest new comedy on British TV.
  

 

Comments on Hypnotic: 

• Luke Y. Thompson calls Hypnotic a Christopher Nolan homage and probably the most normal film Robert Rodriguez has made in a long time.  
• Benjamin Lee calls Hypnotic a goofy B-movie thriller that would like to be Inception.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Robert Rodriguez, director of Hypnotic

 

Comments on The Diplomat:

• Roxana Hadadi lists four tropes that occur in The Diplomat that she never wants to see again on TV.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw notes that The Diplomat has nothing to do with real political issues in either the US or the UK and feels like a dated throwback.
  

 

 Comments on The Mother:

•  Peter Bradshaw calls The Mother a formulaic and muddled kidnapping thriller. 
• Courtney Howard declares that Jennifer Lopez packs a punch in The Mother, but that the movie itself doesn't.
  

 

Comments on the strike of the Writers Guild of America:

• Cynthia Littleton and Gene Maddaus report that the WGA strike chaos is consuming Hollywood. 
  
• Vance Kotrla talks about the WGA strike and the issues under dispute.
• The SFWA issues a statement in solidarity with the striking WGA writers. 
• George R.R. Martin shares his support for the striking WGA writers.
  
• Mikey O'Connell, Lesley Goldberg and Carol Giardina report from the WGA strike picket line. 
  
• Adam B. Vary explains what writers not being on set really means for shows and movies in production. 
• George R.R. Martin explains why it is important for writers to be present on set. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch weighs on on the WGA strike.
  
• Lesley Goldberg and Katie Kilkenny report that Disney, Warner Discovery and other studios demands that showrunners keep working during the WGA strike. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw explains why it is bad for TV shows to try to continue filming through the WGA strike,
  
• Linda Codega lists all the science fiction, fantasy and horror projects impacted by the WGA strike so far.
  
• Jennifer Maas and Manori Ravindram report that House of the Dragon will also continue filming through the WGA strike, since all scripts for season 2 are written. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw points out that the fact that House of the Dragon will continue filming through the WGA strike may mean major issues for season 2. 
• Justin Carter reports that Andor has also resumed production, because the scripts for season 2 are finished and showrunner Tony Gilroy is performing non-writing production duties. 
• Lesley Goldberg reports that Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has ceased all production duties on Andor after catching flak for working through the WGA strike.
  
• Justin Carter reports that production of season 5 of Stranger Things has been halted due to the WGA strike.
  
• Adam B. Vary reports that production of the Marvel movie Blade will be delayed due to the WGA strike. 
• Denise Petski and Peter White report that the MTV Movie Awards are pivoting from a live show to a pre-taped special due to the WGA strike.
  
• Linda Codega reports that Warner Discovery CEO David Zazlav continues to be the worst person in Hollywood and believes that "love of working" and "love of the business" will end the WGA strike. 
• Chuck Tingle shares a free story entitled "Not Pounded By The Physical Manifestation Of My Own Screenwriting Because I’m On Strike And I Deserve To Be Fairly Compensated For My Labor While Studio Ceos Take Record Salaries" in solidarity with the striking WGA writers.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2023 Anthony Awards have been announced.
• The shortlists for the 2023 CWA Dagger Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2023 Spotted Owl Award has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 MTV Movie Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Peabody Awards have been announced.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Allison Brennan explains how to handle "Will They or Won't They?" sexual tension in thrillers or elsewhere.
• Ellen Crosby explains what journalism can teach about writing fiction.
  
• Maggie Tokuda-Hall explains why she still declined Scholastic's offer to republish her children's book Love in the Library, even after Scholastic apologised for attempting to remove references to racism and the internment of Japanese people in the US during WWII. 
  
• Nyasha Chingone reports that Zimbabwen author Tsitsi Dangarembga has had her conviction for protest overturned by a court in Harare, Zimbabwe.

 

Interviews: 

• Paul Burke interviews Ashley Kalagian Blunt. 
• Deborah Kalb interviews Patrick H. Moore.
  
• Shane Whaley interviews Andy Onyx.
  
• Dan Rattiner interviews Carrie Doyle.
• Garrick Webster interviews James Polkinghorn.
  
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club interviews Cynthia Surrisi.
  

Reviews:

• Doreen Sheridan reviews Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Picture You Dead by Peter James. 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Vanishing of Class 3B by Jackie Kabler. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Where Are the Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper. 
  
• Mary Picken reviews No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti 
• Sandra Mangan reviews When We Fall by Aoife Clifford
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Without Saying Goodbye by Laura Jarratt
  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Back to the Dirt by Frank Bill
• John Valeri reviews I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman
• Patrick Gale reviews Windmill Hill by Lucy Atkins.
  
• Sharon Richardson reviews Sunset and Jericho by Sam Wiebe. 
• Jen Lucas reviews Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen, translated by Megan Turney
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Dark Angel by John Sandford.
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews The Magistrate by Brian Klingborg.
• Jen Lucas reviews The Last Passenger by Will Dean.
  
• Rob Doyle reviews The Guest by Emma Cline. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Panther Gap by James A. McLaughlin
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Moscow Exile by John Lawton.
• Mary Picken reviews Moscow Exile by John Lawton.
  
• Grab This Book reviews Moscow Exile by John Lawton.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews A Death In Denmark by Amulya Malladi
  
• Jeff Ayers reviews The Forgotten War by Don Bentley
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Skin Deep by Antonia Lassa, translated by Jacky Collins. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick.
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings.
• Marlene Harris reviews Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews A Flicker of a Doubt by Daryl Wood Gerber and tries a recipe from the book.
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Proof in the Pudding by Rosemary Shrager.
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews issue 1 of Dark Yonder. 
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1926 crime novel The Shadow on the Wall by Moray Dalton a.k.a. Katherine Mary Deville Dalton.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1944 Dr. Priestley mystery Death Invades the Meeting by John Rhode.
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1948 Jane and Dagobert Brown mystery She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames.
  
• Steven Nester revisits the 1960 heist novel The Dark Corners of the Night by Lionel Olay.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1966 mystery The Man Who Cried All the Way Home by Dolores Hitchens. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1969 adventure novel The Grabbers a.k.a. The Diamond Boomerang by Lester S. Taube. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1970 serial killer thriller Deadly Pattern by Douglas Clark.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1972 police procedural Victims by Jack Pearl. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1989 MIA Hunter men's adventure novel Desert Death Raid by Jack Buchanan a.k.a. Bill Crider.
  

Con and event reports:

• Teresa Peschel shares her experiences at the 2023 Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland.
  
• Brenda Buchanan shares a preview of the 2023 Maine Crime Wave event in Portland, Maine.
• The program for the 2023 Alibis in the Archive crime fiction event at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, Wales, has been announced.
  
• Chris Wiegand calls August in England, which is currently playing in London, UK, a remarkable one man show about the Windrush scandal written and performed by Lenny Henry. 
• Mark Lawson declares that the stage adaptation of Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, which is currently playing in Newbury, UK, has turned a true crime classic into a tense drama.
  

 

Research: 

• Frank Bill talks about his father's experience during the Vietnam War and how it influenced his childhood.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares some thoughts on content moderation. 
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Poker and See" by Russell Thayer in Mystery Tribune.
• "Beyond Belief" by Libby Cudmore in Tough.
  
• "The Rabbi’s Wife Stayed Home" by Debra H. Goldstein in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast.
• "Rise" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's Fiction Podcast 
• "New Dawn" by Beau Johnson in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Baby Sister" by Archer Sullivan in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "Her Mother's Secrets" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "The Worm in the Rose" by Tony Dawson in The Five-Two.