Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 2, 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 best mysteries and thrillers of 2023, season three of Slow Horses, the final season of Fargo, Silent Night, Obliterated, Bad Behaviour, Eileen, season 2 of Our Flag Means Death, It's a Wonderful Knife, the casting woes of Screm VII, the debate about AI generated art and writing, tributes to Tim Dorsey and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new cirme novels coming out this week. 
• Alison Flood shares a round-up of the best recent crime novels and thrillers. 
• Crime Reads shares the best reviewed crime novels of November 2023.  
• Catriona McPherson shares her favourite holiday crime novels.
  
• Amber Camp shares seven cozy mysteries set during autumn.
  
• V.M. Burns shares a list of bookish mysteries. 
• Martin Edwards shares his favourite theatre set mysteries.
  
• Charlotte Vassell shares books in which rich people think they can get away with murder.
  
• Lily Sparks takes a look at Agatha Christie's most romantic murder mysteries. 
• Leslie Klinger talks about the rise, fall and inexplicable appeal of S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance.
  
• Alex Clark wonders whether we should abolish genres.  
• Molly Templeton wonders how much you should know about a book before reading it. 
  
• Royston Reeves talks about the inspiration for his crime novel The Weatherman 
• Rachel Lynch talks about writing her new thriller The Rich. 
• Science fiction, mystery and romance writer D.G. Compton a.k.a. Guy Compton a.k.a. Frances Lynch has died aged 93. 
  

 

Best of 2023: 

• The Chicago Public Library share their favourite mysteries, crime novels and thrillers of 2023.  
• Aunt Agatha's share their favourite crime novels and mysteries of 2023.
  
• Joan Smith and Mark Sanderson share their fourteen favourite crime novels of 2023.
• John Dugdale and James Owen share their fourteen favourite thrillers of 2023.
• Robin Agnew and Carla Schantz share their favourite cozy mysteries of 2023. 
• George Easter, Steele Curry and Jeff Popple share their favourite spy novels of 2023.
  

 

Tributes to Tim Dorsey:

•  Thriller author Tim Dorsey has died aed 62. 
• Colette Bancroft remembers Tim Dorsey and his connection to Florida. 
• Lesa Holstine remembers Tim Dorsey.

 

Film and TV:

• Alex Wallace shares his thoughts on the film adaptation of The Marsh King's Daughter.  
• Alasdair Stuart shares his thoughts on the science fiction crime drama Bodies. 
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on the science fiction thrillers Hypnotic and Awareness. 
• Stuart Heritage calls Reservation Dogs the most heartbreaking, life-affirming TV you’ll ever see.
  
• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Curse. 
• Lucy Mangan calls The Couple Next Door a suburban thriller with a flimsy plot and lots of sex. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episodes of Bosch Legacy. 
• Matt Schimovitz shares his thoughts on the latest episode of A Murder at the End of the World.
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Scrublands. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Boat Story. 
• Garrick Webster looks ahead at season 2 of the Irish Belgian crime drama Hidden Assets.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls Lockerbie a compelling and gripping documentary. 
• Kimberly Terasaki reports that Lily Gladstone's role in Killers of the Flower Moon is a huge anomaly, since very few indigenous actors appear in films and even fewer of those are women. 
  
• Sam Wasson takes a look behind the scenes of the 1979 war movie Apocalypse Now.
  
• Adam Fleet revisits the 1997 science fiction action thriller Face/Off.  
• Tim Lewis interviews Suranne Jones, star of Vigil, Scott and Bailey and many others.  
• Catherine Bray interviews Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, star of Misfits, Utopia and Femme.
  
• Miranda Sawyer interviews Jasmine Jobson, star of Top Boy. 
• Benjamin Secher interviews Quentin Tarantino, director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown and many others.
  
• Linda Marx interviews Keith Nielsen, costume designer for Hallmark holiday movies.
  
• Allegra Rosenberg profiles Dorothy Swanson, co-founder of the organisation Viewers for Quality Television, which organised letter writing campaigns to save TV shows from cancellation in the 1980s and 1990s.  
• John Carreyrou chronicles how Netflix gave director Carl Rinsch 55 million US-dollars to make a science fiction series, only for Rinsch to suffer a mental breakdown and gamble away the money.
  
• Nadia Khomani reports that participants in the reality show Squid Game: The Challenge are threatening to sue Netflix over injuries sustained while filming,
• Denise Petski reports that actress Kelli Giddish will return to Law & Order SVU for its season 25 premiere.
  

 

Comments on season 3 of Slow Horses:

• David Cote calls season 3 of Slow Horses tight, twisty, and bloody as hell
• Rebecca Nicholson calls season 3 of Slow Horses an utter pleasure and praises the performance of Kristin Scott Thomas. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of season 3 of Slow Horses.
  
• Vanessa Thorpe profiles Gary Oldman, star of Slow Horses, The Fifth Element, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the Harry Potter movies, the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and many others. 
  

 

Comments on Silent Night: 

• Benjamin Lee calls Silent Night a solid, almost entirely dialogue-free revenge thriller that fails to bring us anything new
  
• Sam Barsanti declares that Silent Night and Violent Night prove that yes, action films can also be holiday movies.
  
• Charles Bramesco interviews John Woo, director of Silent Night, Face/Off, The Killer, Hardboiled and many others. 
• io9 interviews Joal Kinnaman, star of Silent Night.
  

 

Comments on Obliterated:

• Anita Singh declares that the only explanation for the sheer awfulness of the all-guns-blazing military drama that is Obliterated is that it was dreamt up by intoxicated adolescents
• Leila Latif calls Obliterated a thriller so bad you long for the villains to use the nuke 

 

Comments on Fargo: 

• Matthew Redmond gets ready to say goodbye to Fargo which will end after season 5.
• Tom Philip shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Fargo. 

 

Comments on Bad Behaviour:

• Leslie Felperin calls Bad Behaviour an inconsistent thriller about a troubled former child star who checks into a retreat and praises the performance of Jennifer Connelly.
• Jared Richards interviews Alice Englert, director of Bad Behaviour.
  

 

Comments on Eileen: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls Eileen a solemnly intense psycho-noir
• Murtada Elfadi calls Eileen a stylish thriller.
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Our Flag Means Death: 

•  Vanessa Armstrong interviews Ruibo Qian, who plays Zheng Yi Sao in Our Flag Means Death.
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Vico Ortiz, who plays Jim in Our Flag Means Death.
• Chris Winkle explains what Good Omens can learn from Our Flag Means Deaths.  

 

Comments on It's a Wonderful Knife: 

• Catherine Bray calls It's a Wonderful Knife a seasonal classic refitted as comedy slasher horror 
• Jules Cabot calls It's a Wonderful Knife derivative, but highly watchable.

 

Comments on the Scream VII casting woes:

• Borys Kit chronicles the troubles of Scream VII.
  
• Britt Hayes finds it worrying that Melissa Barrera was removed from Scream VII over Pro-Palestinian remarks. 
• Emma Keates reports that the true reason why Jenna Ortega left Scream VII as well was a salary dispute rather than a scheduling conflict.
  
• Adam Starkey reports that some fans are now threatening to boycott Scream VII after actress Melissa Barrera was dropped over Pro-Palestinian and Anti-Semitic remarks.
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards in the mystery and thriller category have been announced and voting is open.   
• The winner of the 2023 Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers has been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2023 Booker Prize has been announced.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Scott Oden talks about his writing process. 
• Eugenia Triantafyllou talks about her process writing short fiction.
  
• Jane Jesmond explains what she likes best about writing.
  
• Kelly Barnhill talks about trying to write after suffering a traumatic brain injury
• Sarah Pinsker explains why dogs are the perfect pets for writers. 
• Neil Clarke discusses the many issues facing SFF magazines.
  
• Tom Borders chronicles the rise and fall of Borders Books. 
• Ella Creamer reports that the percentage of characters of colour in children's books has risen.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that almost a million children in the UK do not own a single book.
• Locus reports that Peguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against the state of Iowa over book bans.
  
• Charles Lane reports that the New York Public Library in New York City has been defaced by Anti-Semitic graffiti during two Pro-Palestinian protests last week. 
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy:

• The UK Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society shares a statement regarding the principles of the relationship between authors and AI.
  
• Brian Boucher reports that a prankstar used AI to "improve" on Edward Hopper's classic painting "Nighthawks".

 

Interviews: 

• The Telegraph interviews Patricia Cornwell.
  
• J. Kingston Pierce interviews May Allan Collins.
  
• Social News XYZ interviews James Ellroy. 
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interviews Susi Holliday. 
• Zoe Perzo interviews Nita Prose. 
• Eli Cranor interviews Michael Farris Smith.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews David Swinson. 
• Paul Burke interviews Tom Benjamin. 
• Lisa Haselton interviews J.P. McLean.
  
• Alice Kemp-Habib interviews Katherine Howe.
  

 

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
• Jen Lucas reviews Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Murder Mile by Lynda La Plante
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen
  
• Mary Picken reviews His Favourite Graves by Paul Cleave
  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Trenches by Parker Bilal.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Upstairs at the Beresford by Will Carver 
• Raven Crime Reads reviews Upstairs at the Beresford by Will Carver 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Family Lie by P.L. Kane
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens
  
• Sharon Richardson reviews The Corpse with the Opal Fingers by Cathy Ace.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews When I’m Dead by Hannah Morrissey 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Psychologist’s Shadow by Laury A. Egan
  
• Ayo Onatade reviews The Unpicking by Donna Moore.
  
• Jeff Ayers reviews Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi
• Adam Colclough reviews The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth 
• Jake Arnott reviews Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Murder Most Cold by Victoria Dowd 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Murder Most Royal by S.J. Bennett 
• Tony R. Cox reviews The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead. 
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits A Well-Earned Death by L. C. Tyler
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews The Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating by S.K. Golden
  
• Mary Picken reviews Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Killer’s Christmas List by Chris Frost
  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Murder on Tour by V.M. Burns
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Coaching Fire by Victoria Laurie.
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Twisted Skein by Sally Goldenbaum. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle and tries a recipe from the book. 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Evergreen Chase by Juneau Black

 

Classics reviews:

• Martin Edwards revisits the 1934 Sir Henry Merrivale mystery The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson a.k.a. John Dickson Carr.
  
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1938 Mr. Moto spy novel Mr Moto Is So Sorry by John P. Marquand.
• Philip Gooden revisits the 1938 Inspector Harry Charlton mystery The Case of the Michaelmas Goose by Clifford Witting.
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1941 mystery Death on the Down Beat by Sebastian Farr.
  
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1950 suspense novel Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the November 1951 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. 
• Ben Boulden reviews the 1951 historical adventure novel Fire-Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1955 Jim Little mystery Murder in Jackson Hole by Maude Parker.
  
• James Reasoner revisits the 1957 historical adventure novel Lysander by F. van Wyck Mason
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1961 sleaze crime novel A Diet of Treacle a.k.a.Pads Are for Passion by Sheldon Lord a.k.a. Lawrence Block.
• Paul Vidich revisits the 1963 spy novel The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carré. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1971 suspense novel A Grave Affair by Shelley Smith. 
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1983 historical adventure novel Slave Island by Simon Finch.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Joy Kluver reports about the Mystery & Suspense author event at the West Barnes Library in Merton, UK.
• Martin Edwards looks ahead at the 2024 Alibi in the Archives crime fiction event at Gladstone's Library, in Hawarden, North Wales
• Maya Corrigan reports about Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap which has been continuously playing in London, UK, since 1952.  
• Ella Creamer shares some of the guests who will appear at the 2024 Hay Literary Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.  

 

Research: 

• Harry N. MacLean talks about the 1958 murder spree committed by Charlie Starkweather and his 13-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate
• Tom Donaghy talks about how he possibly solved the unsolved murder of Harry Anglemyer, the fudge king of the Jersey Shore, in 1964.
• Azam Ahmed chronicles Miriam Rodriguez' one woman war against the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped and murdered her daughter. 
• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe talks about reading in prison
• James Bacon shares his experiences during the recent far right riots in Dublin, Ireland, following the stabbing of a young girl. 
• Bruce Robinson remembers the so-called hard hat riots in New York City in 1970, where construction workers beat up protesters against the Vietnam War. 
  
• Leyland Cecco reports that a 17-year-old in Canada has been sentence to life in prison for a deadly attack on a massage parlour motivated by violent incel ideology. 
• Rebecca Gibb chronicles how an outbreak of phylloxera in the Burgundy vineyards in the 1870s led to a flood of false Burgundy wines.
• Erin Holly reports that so-called witch bottles are washing up on the Texas Gulf coast. 
  
• Katie Malone reports that a group of self-proclaimed gay furry hackers hacked the nuclear research hub at the Idaho National Laboratory and demanded that the lab help them to create real life cat girls.

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Ten Times" by Noah Sanders in Mystery Tribune.
• "The Eggplant" by Mehnaz Sahibzada in Shotgun Honey.
• "Sextrasensory Perception" by Lee Hammerschmidt in Shotgun Honey.
• "Drum and Coke" by Steve Liskow in Tough.
  

 

Trailer and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Hidden Assets.
• Watch a trailer for Griselda.