Crime Fiction Links of the Week for December 30, 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 crime works of 2023, season 3 of Slow Horses, Murder Is Easy and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Oscar Jensen explains why cozy mysteries are a Christmas essential.
• Peter Handel looks back on Adrian McKinty's mostly forgotten early works.
  
• British author Hanif Kureishi speaks out about the consequences of a fall last Christmas which left him paralysed. 
  

 

Best of 2023: 

• Criminal Element share their favourite crime novels of 2023.
• Vicki Weisfeld shares her favourite crime novels of 2023. 
• Mike Parker shares his favourite crime novels of 2023.
  
• Marlene Harris shares her favourite books of 2023.  
• Ayo Onatade shares her favourite non-fiction crime books of 2023.
  
• The Killing Times share their favourite crime dramas of 2023. 
• Laura Rosales shares her favourite episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit of 2023.
  

Film and TV:

• Lucy Mangan calls the festive thriller The Heist Before Christmas a total triumph.
• Jack Seale calls the 2023 Christmas special of Vera like Columbo meets Paddington 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on series 8 of Shetland. 
• Paul Levinson advises people to stick with the science fiction crime drama Bodies.
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on The Serial Killer's Wife.
  
• Cath Clarke calls The Goldfinger a cat-and-mouse cop thriller from Hongkong. 
• Cath Clarke calls Freelance a crude action comedy. 
• Phil Hoad calls Miranda's Victim a courtroom drama about a landmark case in the US. 
• Stuart Heritage calls Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare an astonishing documentary.
  
• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Curse. 
  
• Lucy Mangan calls The Unofficial Science of Die Hard the daftest Christmas program of 2023. 
• The Guardian analyses the films most frequenty shown on TV during Christmas in the UK and finds comparatively few Christmas movies.
• Olivia Rutigliano shares ten crime movies set on New Year's Eve.
• Adam Fleet revisits the 1990 science fiction action thriller Dark Angel.  
• Justin Carter looks back on the Hollywood strikes of 2023. 
  
• South-Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, one of the stars of Parasite, has died aged 48. 
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Lee Sun-kyun.
  
• Actor Mike Nussbaum who appeared in Men in Black and Fatal Attraction among many others has died aged 99. 

 

Comments on season 3 of Slow Horses: 

• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on season 3 of Slow Horses.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Slow Horses.

 

Comments on Murder Is Easy: 

• Rebecca Nicholson declares that the latest adaptation of Murder Is Easy shines a whole new light on this Agatha Christie classic
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel find Murder Is Easy rather dull.
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first episode of Murder Is Easy. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the second episode of Murder Is Easy. 
  
• Screenwriter Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre explains how she adapted Agatha Christie's little known 1938 mystery Murder Is Easy for TV.
• The BBC reports about the Scottish setting of Murder Is Easy.
  

 

Awards:

•  The finalists for the 2023 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Darth Vader Parenthood Award have been announced.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Maris Kreizman talks about the many issues with Goodreads.
• Locus reports that the US Copyright Office has solicited comments regarding AI and copyright. 
• Locus reports that the US District Court in Northern California has dismissed part of the class-action lawsuit brought by Christopher Golden and other authors against Meta’s AI pro­gram.

 

Interviews: 

• Debbi Mack interviews F.R. Jameson.
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Andrew Lycett.
  

 

Reviews:

• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Viviana Valentine and the Ticking Clock by Emily J. Edwards 
• Marlene Harris reviews Fall by Tracy Clark
• Kevin Tipple reviews Fall by Tracy Clark
• Kevin Tipple reviews Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
  
• BOLO Books reviews The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski.
• Marlene Harris reviews The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews The Twilight Queen by Jeri Westerson.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Mystery Of Treefall Manor by J S Savage
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan 
  
• BOLO Books reviews Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Christmas Mittens Murder by Lee Hollis, Lynn Cahoon and Maddie Day and tries a recipe from the books.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Irish Milkshake Murder by Carlene O’Connor, Peggy Ehrhart and Liz Ireland  
• Sharon Richardson reviews I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson
  

 

Classics reviews:

• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1939 mystery Catt Out Of The Bag by Clifford Witting
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1940 Cotton Moon and Bert Stanley mystery Holiday Homicide by Rufus King. 
  
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1951 crime novel The Far Cry by Fredric Brown. 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1962 gothic novel Bezill by John Symonds.
  
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1975 thriller The Gargoyle Conspiracy by Marvin H. Albert.
  

 

Research: 

• The Guardian reports that Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been released from prison after killing for abusive mother in 2025.
  
• Robin McKie notes that the fact that many prehistoric handprints have missing fingers hints that there may be ritual reasons for this.

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Make This Holiday Shit Your Own" by T. Fox Dunham in Tough.
  
• "Probable Cause" by Rick Childers in Shotgun Honey.
• "Gift Wrapped" by M.E. Proctor in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "Time To Go" by Arnold Edwards in Mystery Tribune.
• "Halfway To Ghana" by M.B. McDonough in Mystery Tribune.
• "Trouble In Paradise" by Shaun Jex in Mystery Tribune.
• "Hooked" by Daniel Norman in Mystery Tribune.
• "News You Can Use" by Andrew Rodgers in Mystery Tribune.
• "The Professor And The Prettiest Girls" by Linda P. Rose in Mystery Tribune.