Crime Fiction Links of the Week for November 18, 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 A Murder at the End of the World, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Curse, May December, the SAG-AFTRA strike, the debate about AI generated art and writing, tributes to Robert Butler and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Laura Wilson shares a round-up of the best recent crime novels and thrillers.
  
• Anna Pitoniak talks about the moral ambiguity of spy fiction. 
• Danielle Arceneaux lists five overlooked crime fighters.
  
• Lee Goldberg talks about using pop culture in crime fiction. 
  
• Valona Jones talks about the various poison used as murder weapons in crime fiction. 
• Gwen Florio shares thrillers about natural disasters.
  
• Celeste Connally discusses the growing popularity of Regency mysteries. 
• Shelley Blanton-Stroud talks about difficult women in historical crime fiction. 
• Lauren Bossett praises unintentional villains.
  
• Judith Berman reports about the rise of the wholesome romance. 
• G.W. Thomas revisits the pulp hero The Avenger by Paul Ernst.  
• Steve Berg explains how the still unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme inspired his latest thriller. 
• Joseph Finders talks about writing his first thriller. 
• Molly Templeton takes a look at the books that keep us company over the years. 
  
• Lucy Knight reports that Nicholas Cornwell a.k.a. Nick Harkaway will write a new George Smiley novel, continuing the work of his father John Le Carré.   
• British writer and critic A.S. Bryatt has died aged 87.

 

Best of 2023: 

• Amazon share their favourite mysteries, thrillers and crime novels of 2023.
  
• Waterstones share their favourite crime novels and thrillers of 2023. 
• Joan Smith shares her favourite crime novels of 2023 and John Dugdale shares his favourite thrillers of 2023. 
• Karen MacPherson shares her ten favourite mysteries of 2023.
  
• Jill Pelletieri shares her twelve favourite thrillers of 2023. 
  
• Barry Forshaw shares his five favourite crime novels of 2023. 
• Crime Time share their favourite crime novels of the year.
  
• Kirkus shares its ten favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2023. 
• BookPage share their favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2023. 
• She Reads shares their favourite crime novels and thrillers of 2023.
  
• Indigo share their ten favourite mysteries of 2023. 
• Indigo share their ten favourite thrillers of 2023. 
  
• Audible share their favourite mysteries and thrillers of 2023. 
• Audible share their favourite true crime audiobooks of 2023. 

 

Film and TV:

• Frank Falisi shares his thoughts on the Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot films.
• Garrick Webster calls Scrublands a must-watch crime drama.
  
• Paul Levinson highly recommends The Killer, but has some questions. 
• Cath Clarke calls Muzzle a cop and dog film where Aaron Eckhart is outacted by his canine co-star.  
• Leslie Felperin calls Inside Man a 1970s-set undercover-cop mob thriller that is a karaoke GoodFellas
• Peter Bradshaw declares that not even Toni Collette can save the mob comedy Mafia Mamma. 
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Control a wooden and occasionally deranged science fiction thriller about a murderous GPS system.
  
• Thomas Graham reports that the drug thriller Hurricane Season has drawn criticism for depicting Mexico as a violent drug hellhole. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the first episode of NCIS Sydney.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episodes of Bosch Legacy. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the final episode of The Long Shadow. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Time.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on Black Snow.
  
• Michael Ledwidge claims that 1987 was the best year in Hollywood history. 
  
• Rebecca Nicholson interviews Jodie Whittaker, star of Broadchurch, Time, One Night and  Doctor Who. 
• Kate Kellway and readers of The Guardian interviews Tilda Swinton, star of many things 
• Ryan Gilbey interviews Rosamund Pike, star of The Wheel of Time, Gone Girl, Die Another Day and many others. 
  
• Jude Rogers interviews Greta Scacchi, star of Bodies and many terrible erotic thrillers in the 1980s. 
  

 

Comments on A Murder at the End of the World:

• Rebecca Nicholson calls A Murder at the End of the World a stylish whondunnit for Generation Z. 
• Matt Schimbovitz calls A Murder at the End of the World the Gen Z Sherlock Holmes.
  

 

Comments on Killers of the Flower Moon:

• Alyssa Shotwell explains how Killers of the Flower Moon highlights some ongoing issues in indigenous communities.
  
• Ethan Millman shares star Lily Gladstone's advice to indigenous people considering whether to watch Killers of the Flower Moon.
• Alyssa Shotwell is disturbed by the behaviour of some white audience members while watching Killers of the Flower Moon.
  

  

Comments on May December: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls May December a Highsmithian suspense thriller. 
• Manuel Betancourt calls May December an intoxicating portrait of an emotional predator
  

 

Comments on The Curse: 

• Joel Golby isn't quite sure how to describe the TV drama The Curse, but finds it excellent. 
• Manuel Betancourt calls The Curse a satire that's as biting as it is absurd
• Manuel Betancourt also declares that The Curse is unlike anything else on TV right now.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls The Curse an exquisitely cringe-worthy drama that is like nothing else on TV. 
• Saloni Gajjar calls episode 1 of The Curse the tensest hour of television of 2023.

 

Tributes to Robert Butler:

• Robert Butler, director of the original Star Trek pilot, the 1966 Batman, Mission Impossible, The Twilight Zone, Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman, Hawaii Five-0, Columbo and Hill Street Blues as well as co-creator of Remington Steele and Moonlighting, has died aged 95. 
• His family remembers Robert Butler. 
• The Director's Guild of America remembers Robert Butler. 
• Justin Carter remembers Robert Butler.
  

 

Comments on the SAG-AFTRA strike:

• Gene Maddaus reports that SAG-AFTRA members have approved the deal with the studios, ending the 118 day strike.
• Krystie Lee Yandoli and Marlow Stern report about some details of the deal between SAG-AFTRA and the studios.    
• William Hughes explains what SAG-AFTRA got out of the 118-day strike.
• James Whitbrook reports that the agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the studios still contains some worrying points regarding AI.
  
• Alan Sepinwall explains how long it will take for TV to get back to normal after the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have ended.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards in the Mystery and Thriller category have been announced.
• Ella Creamer reports that the awards ceremony for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize was interrupted by Pro-Palestinian protestors. 
• Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter report that political statements regarding the war between Israel and Hamas are also expected during the 2023 US National Book Award ceremony, causing sponsors to pull out.
• Sian Cain reports that several winners made statements calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war at the 2023 US National Book Award ceremony. 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tim Waggoner shares 61 horror clichés and how to make them fresh again.
  
• Rhys Bowen talks about incorporating real life experiences into your fiction. 
• Constance Fey finds some parallels between cross country running and writing.
  
• Matthew Ward discusses what happens when characters take over a novel. 
• Chin-Sun Lee talks about writing about landscapes. 
• Mark Lawrence analyses Goodreads ratings.
  
• Victoria Strauss warns about a fraudulent writing contest. 
• Michael J. DeLuca wonders what will happen to genre magazines after the demise of Amazon Newsstand. 
• Dia L. Michel explains why small presses and indie publishers are vital in promoting underrepresented voices.
  
• Julie Tremaine reports about the Lovecraft Arts & Science Council shop in Providence, Rhode Island.
  
• Horror writers Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni announce that they are opening the Vortex Books & Comics store in Columbia, Pennsylvania,
  
• Camestros Felapton reports about a visit the Harry Hartog Bookstore in Penrith, Australia.
  
• Adam Gabbatt reports that G/O Media is shutting down the feminist news site Jezebel and has fired several staff writers, including io9's Linda Codega.
• Andrew Higgins reports how Hungary's new anti-LGBTQ laws are terrifying Hungarian booksellers and have led to the firing of the director of the Hungarian National Museum for hosting an exhibition of award-winning press photos, some of which happened to depict gay people.
• Khaelda Rahman reports that the pro-book banning and anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty failed in their attempts to take over school boards across the US.
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy:

• Various novelists and poets share their thoughts on AI.
• Andrew Albanese reports that a judge will toss out parts of the lawsuit several author levelled against Meta's AI chat bot.

 

Interviews: 

• Craig Sisterson interviews Gunnar Staalesen. 
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Fiona Cummins.
  
• Robert Justice interviews Shelly Ellis.
• Lisa Haselton interviews Emma Dakin. 
• E.B. Davis interviews Lisa Malice.
  
• Sarah Weinman interviews Mandy Matney.
  

Reviews:

• Aunt Agatha's reviews Past Lying by Val McDermid. 
• Matt Pechey reviews Past Lying by Val McDermid. 
• Kevin Tipple reviews The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson
• Kevin Tipple reviews Calico by Lee Holdberg. 
• Fiona Sturges revviews The Rise by Ian Rankin 
  
• Mary Picken reviews The First 48 Hours by Simon Kernick  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Watch Maker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver 
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Hanging the Devil by Tim Maleeny  
  
• Oline H. Cogdill reviews Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly.
• Sandra Hoover reviews Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie. 
• Beth Kanell reviews A Good Rush of Blood by Matt Phillips 
• Jen Lucas reviews Bad Blood by Angela Marsons
  
• Becky LeJeune reviews The Wolf by Samuel Bjørk  
• Publishers Weekly reviews In the Dark I See You by Mallika Narayanan
  
• The Book Decoder reviews The Rich by Rachel Lynch
  
• Kirkus reviews The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend 
• Leo W. Banks reviews The House of Love and Death by Andrew Klavan.
• Jen Lucas reviews Upstairs At The Beresford by Will Carver
  
• Judith Reveal reviews Betrayal by Philip Margolin. 
• West Words reviews Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker
• Doreen Sheridan reviews It Takes Monsters by Mandy McHugh
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Deus X by Stephen Mack Jones 
• Mark Yon reviews Red River Seven by A.J. Ryan.
  
• Tzer Island reviews Kennedy 35 by Charles Cumming
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu 
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Big Island L.A. by Boston Teran
  
• She Treads Softly reviews Death at Paradise Park by Ross Greenwood
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Party Season by S.J.I. Holliday
• Mary Picken reviews The Fake Wife by Sharon Bolton 
• Kirkus reviews Sweet Thing by David Swinson
  
• BOLO Books reviews City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop
• Alex Wallace reviews Three Fires by Denise Mina. 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews A Well-Earned Death by L.C. Tyler
  
• Meredith Frazier reviews A Cold Hiighland Wind by Tasha Alexander.
  
• Beth Kanell reviews Freedom's Ghost by Eliot Pattison. 
• Kirkus reviews Viviana Valentine and the Ticking Clock by Emily J. Edwards.
  
• Publishers Weekly reviews Vamp by Loren D. Estleman.
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower.  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Murder Wears a Hidden Face by Rosemary Simpson
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder By Degrees by Ritu Mukerji
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Conally.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger
  
• Grab This Book reviews Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict 
• Aunt Agatha's reviews The Stuff of Murder of Kathleen Marple Kalb. 
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The 12 Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Twilight Falls by Juneau Black   
• Erin Britton reviews Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah
  
• Paul Burke reviews the graphic novel Noir Burlesque by Enrico Marini, translated by Dan Christensen.
• Iain Cobain reviews Dirty Linen by Martin Doyle. 
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Bruno’s Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Family Kitchen by Martin Walker and Julia Watson
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1940 mystery The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1944 Lady Lupin mystery Who Killed the Curate? by Joan Coggin.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1951 DCI William Austen mystery Mediterranean Murder by Anne Hocking.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1970 Joe Gall spy novel The Fer-De-Lance Contract by Philip Atlee.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1973 political thriller Ultimatum by Richard Rohmer. 
• Tim Maleeny revisits the 1976 crime novel Confess, Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1995 crime fiction collection Blood Lines by Ruth Rendell.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Ayo Onatade reports that the 2024 CrimeFest in Bristol, UK, has announced its featured guests.
  
• Martin Edwards reports about the 2023 Detective Fiction Fair in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
• Graeme Strachan reports about the Perth Noir crime writing festival in Perth, Australia.
  

 

Research: 

• Alicia Andrzejewski and Carole Levin report that Shakespeare's First Folio has been stoen multiple times. 
• Steven Morris reports that magicians are less prone to mental disorders than other creatives. 
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Irish Devil" by Patrick Whitehurst in Shotgun Honey.
• "The Readout" by Andrew Campolieto in Shotgun Honey. 
• "Tongues" by Paul J. Garth in Tough. 
  
• "Steadying the Ark" by Rebecca K. Jones in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast.
  

 

Trailer and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Mr. Monk's Last Case. 
• Watch a trailer for The Family Plan. 
• Watch a trailer for Lift. 
  
• Watch a trailer for Dead Boy Detectives. 
• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Miss Scarlet and the Duke. 
• Watch a trailer for Monsieur Spade. 
• Watch a trailer for Fast Charlie.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Artful Dodger.