Crime Fiction Links of the Week for January 6, 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, The Brothers Sun, season 2 of The Tourist, Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, Echo, tributes to David Sould and Tom Wilkinson and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Fiction Lover look ahead at their most wanted crime novels of 2024. 
• Crime Reads shares twelve new crime novels coming out this week. 
• R.G Belsky shares his favourite kickass women from crime fiction. 
• Patricia Sargeant talks about blending cozy mysteries with other crime fiction subgenres.
  
• Lark O. Jensen shares mystery series that explore wildlife and nature. 
• Terry Parlato explains why forests are such popular settings for fiction. 
• Nicola Heath talks about so-called Outback Noir,
  
• Katharine Faulkner takes a look at the rise of what she terms Mom Noir. 
• Alice McIlroy shares thriller featuring AI.
  
• Alexis Soloski explains how her work as a theatre critic inspired her crime novel Here in the Dark.
  
• Ben Boulden profiles hardboiled crime fiction writer Norbert Davis.
• The "Jack the Ripper in Fiction" issue of Journey Planet is now available for download.   
• Janet Rudolph lists the crime fiction writers we lost in 2023. 
• J. Kingston Pierce lists crime and mystery writers and actors we lost in 2023.
  

 

Best of 2023: 

• Sandra Mangan shares her favourite crime novels of 2023.
• Garrick Webster shares his favourite crime novels of 2023. 
• Mike Ripley shares his favourite crime novels of 2023.
  
• Raven Crime Reads share their favourite crime novels of 2023. 
• Bill Selnes shares his favourite crime novels of 2023. 
• Lesa Holstine shares her favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2023. 
• Andrew Welsh-Huggins shares his favourite crime novels and mysteries of 2023.
  
• Marilyn Brooks shares her favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2023. 
• Ah Sweet Mystery! shares his favourite mysteries and crime novels of 2023.  
• George Easter compiles the top books from various best of the year lists. 
• The Killing Times shares their favourite crime dramas of 2023 in a fourt part post. 
  

Film and TV:

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on Slow Horses. 
  
• Rosy Cordero shares her thoughts on the series finale of Magnum PI and reports that star Jay Hernandez is not happy with the way the show ended.
  
• Stuart Jeffries declares that the latest adaptation of The Famous Five feels oddly like The Da Vinci Code
• Paul Levinson praises the Harlan Coben adaptation Fool Me Once for its unpredictable ending. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Truelove an exquisite drama about bumping off your best mates  
• Sarah Shaffi praises Criminal Record.
  
• Courtney Howard calls Society Of The Snow yet another take on the harrowing true-life 1972 plane crash in the Andes.
  
• Tom Philip shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Fargo. 
• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Curse. 
  
• Olivia Rutigliano interviews Rian Johnson, director of Knives Out, Glass Onion, Poker Face, The Last Jedi, Looper and many others.
  
• Saloni Gajjar interviews Mandy Moore, one of the stars of Doctor Death. 
• Kayleigh Dray wishes that TV seasons of twenty plus episodes were to come back. 
• Rob Young wishes that British television would once again become as weird as it was in the 1970s and 1980s. 
• Angelique Chrisafis discusses how French directors are reinventing the courtroom drama.
  
• Coral Murphy Marcos reports about the current health status of actor Jeremy Renner, best known for playing Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one year after his near-fatal snow plough accident.  
• Nell Frizzell profiles collectors of TV memorabilia.  
• Catherine Shoard reports that the British Film Institute has added content warnings to several movies, including two Bond films, shown as part of its retrospective dedicated to film composer John Barry. 
• Peter Bradshaw is no fan of the content warnings added by the British Film Institute and points out that the issues with Bond movies should be well known to everybody. 
• German American actor Christian Oliver, who appeared in Alarm for Cobra 11, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and many others, has died in a plane crash along with his two daughters, aged 51.
  
• Actress Glynis Johns, best known for her roles in The Court Jester, Mary Poppins, Miranda, Shake Hands With the Devil and many others, has died aged 100.
  

 

Comments on The Brothers Sun: 

• Jack Seale calls The Brothers Sun a supreme and gloriously lethal gangster comedy and praises the performance of Michelle Yeoh.
  
• Max Gao calls The Brothers Sun an action-packed series that is a worthy vehicle for Michelle Yeoh
  

 

Comments on season 2 of The Tourist:

•  Leila Latif calls season 2 of The Tourist twisty, funny and unfailingly engaging
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on season 2 of The Tourist.
  

 

Comments on Mr Bates vs The Post Office: 

• Rebecca Nicholson calls Mr Bates vs The Post Office a devastating tale of a British national scandal  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on Mr Bates vs The Post Office
  

 

Comments on Echo:

• Sam Barsanti shares some background on the character of Echo before the debut of the eponymous series. 
• Germain Lussier interviews Richie Palmer, executive producer of Echo.
  
• Watch a trailer for Echo.

 

Tributes to David Soul:

• Actor David Soul, best known for playing Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in Starsky and Hutch, has died aged 80. 
• Charlotte Gallagher and Mark Savage share an obituary for David Soul. 
• Alexandra Del Rosario shares an obituary for David Soul. 
• J. Kingston Pierce remembers David Soul. 
• Paul Hirons remembers David Soul.
  

 

Tributes to Tom Wilkinson:

• British actor Tom Wilkinson, best known for his roles in The Full Monty, Batman Begins, Michael Clayton, Burke and Hare and many others, has died aged 75.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Tom Wilkinson.
• Justin Carter remembers Tom Wilkinson.
  
• Ryan Gilbey shares an obituary for Tom Wilkinson. 
• Catherine Shoard shares tributes by fellow actors to Tom Wilkinson.
  
• Michael Williams shares photos of Tom Wilkinson's lengthy career.

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2023 Crime Reprint of the Year Award has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2023 Darth Vader Parenthood Award have been announced.
• The winners of the 2023 Jonathan and Martha Kent Fictional Parent of the Year Award have been announced.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Angela Brown explains that there is always time to follow your writing dreams.
  
• Coilin O'Sullivan explains how to integrate your nighrmares into your next novel. 
  
• Heidi Perks talks about the importance of plot twists. 
• Philip Athans explains how to use smell to write vivid descriptions.
  
• Hildy Silverman shares six tips for collaborative storytelling. 
• Kate Brody explains how to write fiction about true crimes.
• Michelle Wildgen shares tips for good author photos. 
• Ella Creamer reports that the British charity Libararies Connected has launched a programm to support libraries at risk of budget cuts.
  
• Andrew Albanese reports that a judge has blocked parts of the propsoed Iowa law to ban books with sexual content from school libraries. 
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy:

• Michael M. Grynbaum and Ryan Mac report that the New York Times is sueing Open AI and Microsoft over the unauthorised use of copyrighted texts.
• Jason Sanford sums up the discussion of AI in the writing and art spheres in 2023. 
• Jason Sanford has collected all of his AI coverage in 2023 in e-book form.
  
• Jason Farago decides that the fact that AI programs can produce art that feels human shows that humans are not imaginative and radical enough. 
• View a list of artists whose work was used to "train" the Midjouney AI art bot. 
• Mike Glyer notes that many Hugo winners and finalists appear on the list of artists whose work was exploited by Midjounrey.

 

Interviews: 

• John Wilson interviews Margaret Atwood.
• The Guardian interviews Francis Spufford.
• Zoe Perzo interviews Alex Michaelides.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Kirsten McDougall.
  
• Lisa Haselton interviews Laury A. Egan.
  

 

Reviews:

• John Valeri reviews The Secret by Lee Child and Andrew Child 
  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Dirty Dozen by Lynda La Plante
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear
• Crime Book Junkie reviews A Treachery of Friends by C.J. Carver. 
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews  Close Enough to Hurt by Katherine A. Olson
• Jen Lucas reviews In The Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
  
• Tony R. Cox reviews Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French. 
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits The Woman On The Ledge by Ruth Mancini 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Amish Wife by Gregg Olsen 
• Jen Lucas reviews A Killer In The Family by Gytha Lodge
  
• Jen Lucas reviews One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall
  
• Kirkus reviews The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell. 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg
  
• Tzer Island reviews Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody. 
• John Mauro reviews House of Bad Memories by Michael David Wilson 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Broadcast Blues by R.G. Belsky.
  
• Niall Harrison reviews Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Deep Freeze by Michael C. Grumley
  
• Publishers Weekly reviews Murder in the Mist by Cora Harrison.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Murder at the Serpentine Bridge by Andrea Penrose
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder Crossed Her Mind by Stephen Spotswood
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas
• Lourdes Venard reviews A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry, 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Now You See It by Carol J. Perry and tries a recipe from the book.
  
• Paul Haggerty reviews Birder, She Wrote by Donna Andrews
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1916 Tarzan adventure novel Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1930 gothic novel The Eternal Journey by Ethel Lina White.
  
• Publishers Weekly revisits the 1939 Gideon Fell mystery The Problem of the Wire Cage by
  John Dickson Carr
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1940 crime novel Here Comes the Toff by John Creasey.
  
• Scott Adlerberg revisits the 1942 serial killer novel Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1943 adventure story "A Gun for France" by Charles Tenney Jackson.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1944 mystery Rim of the Pit by Hake Talbot.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the December 1951 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
  
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1971 true crime book The Family by Ed Sanders. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1996 anthology First Cases: First Appearances of Classic Private Eyes, edited by Robert Randisi. 
  
• Paul Burke revisits the 2001 crime novel Fast Charlie a.k.a. Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• The 2025 Left Coast Crime Conference in Denver, Colorado, has announced its guests. 
• Ayo Onatade shares the theme and the guests of the 2024 St. Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend in Oxford, UK.
  
• Martin Edwards looks back at the various crime fiction cons and events he attended in 2023 and the people he met there.
• Senay Boztas reports about a Charles Dickens Festival in Deventer, Netherlands.
• Chris Wiegand reports that the Suffolk county council is planning to cut arts funding by one hundred percent.

 

Research: 

• Rich Lynch and Guy H. Lillian III recount how Paul Doerr, one of the prime suspects for the still unsolved crimes of the so-called Zodiac killer, was once a member of the Southern Fandom Press Alliance. 
• J.H. Markert talks about terrifying and potentially hautned abandoned train tunnels.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Last Dance in Singapore" by Jessica Minster in Guilty. 
• "Your Purchase is Complete" by E.A. Aymar in Shotgun Honey.
  
• "Dead Wrong" by Alice Baburek in Mystery Tribune.
• "The Chicken And The Eggs" by Jazz Lawless in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "The Kawaii Pups" by Richard Roth in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "Guns On The Roof" by S.R. Bevilacqua in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "The Terminal Diner" by Joseph Natalicchio in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "The Best Defense" by Bela Breslau in Mystery Tribune.
  
• "New Beginnings" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Echo.