Crime Fiction Links of the Week for September 29, 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 season 3 of Only Murders in the Building, The Long Shadow, Fair Play, season 3 of Reservation Dogs, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the debate about AI-generated writing and art, tributes to David McCallum and Michael Gambon and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

•  Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week.
• Criminal Element share their most anticipated crime novels for October 2023. 
• David Barnett tackles the debate over cozy crime novels.
  
• Laura Matlin shares six crime novels and thrillers set in creepy houses.
  
• Cindy Fazzi shares her seven favourite books about bounty hunters.
• Lyn Squire shares her favourite historical mysteries featuring real life historical figures.
  
• J. Lee shares ten Big Pharma conspiracy thrillers. 
• Gretchen Rue explains why so many cozy mysteries feature single women as sleuths.
  
• Lauren Muñoz explains why the existence of smartphones is such a challenge for writers of YA mysteries and any contemporary set mystery.
• Crime Reads hosts a roundtable on dark academia.
  
• L. Wayne Hicks celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Robert B. Parker's Spenser. 
• Claire Kirch discusses the enduring popularity of genre fiction. 
  
• Molly Templeton wonders whether reading goals are actually good. 
  

 

Film and TV:

• Paul Hirons calls The Woman in the Wall a superb crime series. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Reptile a gruesomely ambitious noir thriller.  
• Linda Codega declares that season 2 of Our Flag Means Death is more mature and more heartbreaking than season 1.
  
• Paul Levinson calls Harlan Coben's Shelter "Stranger Things meets Hunters".
• Leslie Felperin calls Where the Wind Blows an ambitious but over-the-top crime epic from Hongkong.
• Sam Barsanti declare that the Easter eggs in the John Wick prequel The Continental cheapen the John Wick movies.
  
• Lucy Mangan declares that the true crime documentary Who Killed Jill Dando?only highlights the lack of evidence in that case.
• Jack Seale calls the reality show Grand Slammers about professional rugby players training prison inmates a show about how rugby can help men to deal with their problems and not just the prisoners. 
• Ryan Gajewski celebrates the twentieth anniversary of NCIS by interviewing many producers involved with the show.
• Simon Hattenstone interviews Joan Collins, star of Dynasty, The City on the Edge of Forever, Tales from the Crypt and many others.  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1987 thriller No Way Out. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2017 revenge thriller The Foreigner.
  
• Adrian Horton notes that the era of binge-watching may be coming to an end. 
   

Comments on season 3 of Only Murders in the Building: 

• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on "Thirty", the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building.
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on "Thirty". 
• Melody McCune also shares her favourite quotes from Only Murders in the Building.
  

 

Comments on The Long Shadow: 

• Lucy Mangan calls The Long Shadow a shattering serial killer drama that breaks all the rules
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first episode of The Long Shadow.
• Mark Lawson interviews cast and crew of the true crime drama The Long Shadow.
  

 

Comments on Fair Play: 

• Benjamin Lee calls Fair Play a knock-out thriller. 
• Brent Simon calls Fair Play a riveting thriller.
  

 

Comments on Reservation Dogs: 

• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the Reservation Dogs series finale 
• Noetta Harjo shares her thoughts on the Reservation Dogs series finale.
  
• Manuel Betancourt explains what Reservation Dogs taught us about great TV
• Noetta Harjo shares her appreciation for the character of Elora Danan Postoak in Reservation Dogs.
  

 

Tributes to David McCallum:

• Actor David McCallum, star of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Sapphire and Steel, NCIS, The Invisible Man and many others, has died aged 90. 
• Lesley Kaufman shares an obituary for David McCallum. 
• Mike Barnes shares an obituary for David McCallum. 
• Carmel Dagan shares an obituary for David McCallum. 
• Jason Whiton remembers David McCallum. 
• Matt Schimkovitz remembers David McCallum. 
  
• Bill Koenig remembers David McCallum. 
• Bill Koenig also remember David McCallum's most famous role, Ilya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 
  

 

Tributes to Michael Gambon: 

• Actor Michael Gambon, star of Harry Potter, Maigret and The Singing Detective, has died aged 82
• Mark Lawson remembers Michael Gambon's TV career from The Singing Detective to Top Gear.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Michael Gambon. 
• David Jays remembers Michael Gambon. 
• Greg Whitmore shares photos from Michael Gambon's long career. 
  

 

Comments on the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike:

• Oliver Darcy and Chris Isidore report that negotiations between the WGA and the Hollywood studios have resumed and that a deal is immiment.
• Variety reports that the WGA and the studios have reached an agreement after 146 days of striking. 
• Linda Codega shares a breakdown of the concessions that the WGA won.
  
• Linda Codega reports that video game actors in SAG-AFTRA have voted to authorise a strike. 
• Cheryl Eddy reports about General Strike, a new comic supporting the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. 
• Paul Morton reports about a strike at the Max Fleischer Animation Studio in 1937.

 

Awards:

• The Bloody Scotland festival announced the creation of the new Scottish Crime Writing Prize for Unagented Writers.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Dana Cameron explains how misconceptions about writing held her back for decades.
  
• Lesley Thomson talks about research.
• S.M. Carriére explains how reviews help authors. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about opening her own online bookstore. 
  
• Victoria Strauss lists a couple of scams aimed at writers. 
• Betsy Gomez reports that actor LeVar Burton will be the honourary chair for the 2023 Banned Books Week.
  
• Ayana Archie reports that there have been attempts to ban or censor more than 1900 library books in the US.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that book bans in US public schools have risen by a third in a year.
• Jordan Blumetti reports about students and parents fighting against book bans in Florida. 
• Emily Tencer reports that the King's English Bookstore in Salt Lake City, Utah, had to be evacuated due to a bomb threat during a drag queen story event.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that libraries in Northern Ireland can no longer afford to buy books.
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy: 

• Alex Reisner offers a searchable database of the 183000 books in the Books3 database used to train AI Large Language Models like ChatGPT. 
• Alex Reisner also takes a closer look at the kind of books found in the Books3 database. 
• The Authors Guild explains what to do when you find out that your book has been used to train AI. 
• Associated Press reports that Amazon is investing up to four billion US-dollar in the AI start-up Anthropic.
  

 

Interviews: 

• Literary Hub interviews Ken Follett. 
• Gina Grillo interviews William Kent Krueger.
  
• Rick Pullen interviews James Patterson and Mike Lupica.
• Paul Burrke intervviews Andrew Nette. 
• Richie Narvaez interviews Michelle Campbell.
  

Reviews:

• Publishers Weekly reviews Dark Ride by Lou Berney.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Opposite of Lonely by Doug Johnstone  
• Publishers Weekly reviews Remi Bone by William L. Myers. 
• Jen Lucas reviews Stop Them Dead by Peter James
  
• BOLO Books reviews The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey. 
• Kirkus reviews The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey. 
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews Not the Ones Dead by Dana Stabenow 
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Returned by Amanda Cassidy  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Before You Found Me by Brooke Beyfuss
• Jen Lucas reviews Tell Me Your Secrets by Mel McGrath 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews With a Kiss We Die by L.R. Dorn 
• BOLO Books reviews Viper's Dream by Jake Lamar. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer  
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb. 
  
• Mary Picken reviews The Short Straw by Holly Seddon
  
• Grab This Book reviews Sleep When You’re Dead by Jude O’Reilly   
• Paul Burke reviews The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Bay by L.J. Ross
• Kevin Tipple reviews Lost Mountain Pass by Larry D. Sweazy
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Exploit by Daniel Scanlan 
  
• The Plain Spoken Pen reviews The Plinko Bounce by Martin Clark
• Amanda's Book Corner reviews Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare, 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Paris Mystery by Kirsty Manning
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
• Marlene Harris reviews The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman  
• Erin Britton reviews You’d Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel by Glenda Young
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Murder in an Italian Village by Michael Falco
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder and Mamon by Mia P Manansala and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys by Liz Ireland
  
• Grab This Book reviews The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black by Lisa Hall  
• Alex Preston reviewsw Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford 
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Murmurs by Michael J. Malone. 
• Mary Picken reviews The Murmurs by Michael J. Malone. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1917 Tarzan adventure novel Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1940 Toby Dyke mystery Remove the Bodies by Elizabeth Ferrars  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1945 mystery Scarecrow by Eaton K. Goldthwaite
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1956 Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte mystery Man of Two Tribes by Arthur Upfield
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 Jim Breen detective novel The Knave of Diamonds by Jack Karney.
• Alan Scovell revisits the 1963 spy novel The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carré.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1975 spy novel The Spy Who Sat and Waited by R. Wright Campbell.
• Lucy Popescu revisits the 1988 crime novel Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale
  

Con and event reports:

• Joy Kluver lists some crime fiction related author events.
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club talks about the Fright Reads Book Conference in Millersville, Maryland.
• Maureen O'Hare reports that the Kingsway Exchange Tunnels in London, UK, which have served as a bomb shelter, telephone exchange and spy hideout, will be turned into an immersive tourist attraction.
  

 

Research: 

• Ava Glass shares her experiences with real life spies.
  
• Dani Aguiano reports about the theft of a buddha statue weighing 250 pound from an antiquities gallery in Los Angeles, California. 
  
• Ananya Bhattacharya that a hacker group named "Scattered Spider" has hacked several Las Vegas casinos and demanded ransom payments.
  
• Jessy Edwards reports that the NYPD is letting a security robot patrol Times Square subway station in New York City. 
• Michael Gonzales talks about strip clubs and the women who work there.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Shared Frequency" by Thomas Trang in Shotgun Honey. 
• "There's More Than One Way to Catch a Bank Robber" by Roy Dorman in Yellow Mama.
• "Venom" by Pamela Ebel in Yellow Mama.
  
• "Blood Trail" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailer and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Argylle. 
  
• Watch a trailer for The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial