Crime Fiction Links of the Week for August 3, 2024

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 Trap, Criminal Minds, Batman: Caped Crusader, sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week.  
  
• Crime Reads shares the best reviewed crime novels of July 2024. 
• Criminal Element share their most anticipated crime novels for August 2024. 
• Crime Reads shares new crime novels coming out in paperback.
  
• Molly Odintz shares psychological thrillers coming out in August. 
  
• Paul French talks about crime fiction set in Ibiza. 
• Kathleen Bryant explains why Sedona, Arizona, is the perfect setting for crime fiction.
  
• Kieran Scott shares a list of mysteries featuring murder victims everybody hated. 
• Catherine Steadman shares five thrillers with life or death stakes. 
• Maggie Auffarth shares six mysteries about female friendships gone wrong
  
• Kimberly McCreight shares her favourite thrillers that explore the complexity of motherhood.
  
• Nev Fountain explains how his experiences with obsessive fans via his relationship with former Doctor Who star Nicola Bryant inspired him to write a fandom mystery 
• Tom Mead talks about the inspiration for his new historical mystery Cabaret Macabre 
  
• Yasmin Angoe talks about the inspirations for her new thriller. 
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel shares an overview of the works of Glyn Carr a.k.a. Showell Styles
• Gregg Podolski pits his character Rick Carter against other action and thriller heroes. 
• Francine Pascal, writer of the Sweet Valley High YA novel series, has died aged 92. 
  

 

Discussion of the allegations against Neil Gaiman: 

• Mike Glyer reports that a third woman has accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault. 
• Mike Glyer reports that two more women habe accused Nail Gaiman of sexual assault, bringing the total to five.
  
• Muccamukk shares a round-up of discussion of the sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman. 

 

Film and TV: 

• Haley Zapal calls Twisters a fun popcorn movie with a greta cast and epic disaster special effects
  
• Alex Wallace discusses how setting helps tell the story in Longlegs
• Rachel Aroesti calls the Mexican crime drama Las Azules a.k.a. Women in Blue almost completely fictional, even though it is supposedly based on true events. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Instigators an underpowered heist comedy 
• Jack Seale calls Cowboy Cartel a poorly told true crime thriller.
  
• Sarah Shaffi calls  A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder a solid YA whodunit
  
• Phil Hoad calls A Place Called Silence a Chinese Malaysian horror thriller literally dripping in sin  
• Lee Weinstein revisits the 1943 superhero serial Batman. 
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1983 James Bond movie Never Say Never Again.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1997 psychological thriller The Leading Man. 
• Rich Pelley interviews Malcolm McDowell, star of Time After Time, Star Trek: Generations, Clockwork Orange, Blue Thunder and many others. 
  
• Claire Keenan shares an update on the lawsuit by Fiona Harvey, believed to be the model for Martha in Baby Reindeer, against Netflix and writer and star Richard Gadd. 
• Ryan Gilbey wonders whether audiences have had enough of movie Easter eggs. 
  
• Adrian Horton discusses the impact of AI on filmmaking. 
  
• Nadia Khomami reports that more than half of film and TV workers in the UK are still unemployed after last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down film and TV productions worldwide.
  
• Raven Brunner shares director Kevin Smith's memories of the late Shannen Doherty 
• British actress Ysanne Churchman, best known for her roles in The Archers, Doctor Who, The Flipside of Dominick Hide, Sara and Hoppity, Gallows Glorious and many others, has died aged 99. 
• Chinese actress Cheng Pei-pei, star of Come Drink With Me, Golden Swallow and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has died aged 78.

 

Comments on Criminal Minds:

• Lara Rosales shares her ten favourite episodes of Criminal Minds.
  
• Lara Rosales interviews Kristen Vangsness who plas Penelope Garcia in Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds Evolution.

 

Comments on Trap: 

• Germain Lussier calls Trap a solid, mid-tier M. Night Shyamalan thriller
• Owen Gleiberman calls Trap a thriller where each twist is more contrived than the last  
• Benjamin Lee calls Trap a suspense-free dud and a mess.
• Germain Lussier talks about the ending and the end credits scene of Trap.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews M. Night Shyamalan, director of Trap.  
  

 

Comments on Batman: Caped Crusader:

• Jarrod Jones calls Batman: Caped Crusader a moody echo of Batman: The Animated Series 
• Justin Carter declares that Batman: Caped Crusader gets the Dark Knight his animated groove back 
• Graeme Virtue calls Batman: Caped Crusader a refreshing reboot.
  
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on season 1 of Batman: Caped Crusader.

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2024 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award has been announced. 
  
• The shortlist for the 2024 Glass Bell Award has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Scribe Awards have been announced,

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Scott Lyerly shares advice for writing better neurodivergent characters in fiction.
  
• Robert Ito chronicles the collapse and bankruptcy of the Romance Writers of America.
• Michael Capobianco shares a brief history of the Science Fiction Writers of America.
  
• Victoria Strauss lists pitfalls to be aware of when evaluating publishing contracts.
  
• Jackson Ryan talks about the danger of scientific journals being hijacked by scammers. 
• Winston Cho shares an update about the lawsuit brought by several writers against OpenAI for copyright infringement.
  
• Locus reports that book sales have grown in the US.
  
• The Reading Agency reports about the decline of reading in the UK.

 

Interviews: 

•  Alex Clark interviews Mick Herron.
• Nightlife interviews Tim Ayliffe. 
• E.B. Davis interviews Ellen Byron.
  
• Ayo Onatade interviews Harriet Evans. 
• Ayo Onatade interviews Reverend Richard Coles.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews Michael J. Young. 
• Crime Time interviews Roger Corke.
  
• Craig Sisterson interviews Emma Viskic, Dinuka McKenzie, Charity Norman and Helen Fitzgerald 
  
• Howard Lovy interviews Dawn Brookes. 
• Andy Onyx interviews John Higgs.
  
  

Reviews:

• Tony R. Cox reviews Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh 
  
• Mary Picken reviews Storm Child by Michael Robotham 
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews The Rush by Michelle Prak 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Trap by Ava Glass
  
• Mary Picken reviews Sharp Glass by Sarah Hilary 
• Adam Colclough reviews Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville.
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Stay Dead by April Henry
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews Shrouded by Sólveig Pálsdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates
• Jen Lucas reviews The Tracker by John Hunt 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Ladykiller by Katharine Wood
  
• Janet Webb reviews One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day 
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Havoc by Deborah J. Ledford
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Kotani, translated by Sam Brett
  
• BOLO Books reviews Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman 
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews The Cardinal’s Curse by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Betrayal of Thomas True by A J West 
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Betrayal of Thomas True by A J West 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead 
  
• Janet Webb reviews Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair 
  
• BOLO Books reviews Shady Hollow by Juneau Black.  
• Marlene Harris reviews Summers End by Juneau Black
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews August Moon by Jess Lourey.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Dog Day Afternoon by David Rosenfelt
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Haunting License by Carol J. Perry
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookstore by Emmeline Duncan.
• Marlene Harris reviews Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookstore by Emmeline Duncan. 
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death by Valerie Burns.
• Paul Burke reviews Dead Ends by Jeffery Deaver 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Dead Ends by Jeffery Deaver 
   
  

Classics reviews:

• Olivia Rutigliano revisits the 1853 novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens and finds that it is a murder mystery.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1897 Horace Dorrington mystery "The Case of Janissary" by Arthur Morrison 
• Sam Reader revisits the 1930 Southern Gothic story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1944 Peter Clancy mystery Five Bullets by Lee Thayer 
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1945 crime play Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1955 Inspector Cockrill mystery Tour De Force by Christianna Brand 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1964 crime novel Brink of Disaster by Guy Cullingford.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1968 suspense novel Disturbance on Berry Hill by Elizabeth Fenwick.
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1979 John Marshall Tanner detective novel Grave Error by Stephen Greenleaf.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1981 mystery The Chief Inspector’s Daughter by Sheila Radley 
• Lesa Holstine revisits the 1996 Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery Winning Can Be Murder by Bill Crider
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Carly Thomas reports that fourteen people were arrested at the 2024 San Diego Comic Con in San Diego, California, in connection with sex trafficking.

 

Research: 

• Anna Moore reports about Vicki Foster whose abusive ex-partner was murdered in 2005 and whose murderer was subsequently hailed as a national hero in the UK after helping to apprehend the London Bridge attacker in 2019.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

•  "Talk, he mouthed" by Wendy Cooper in Mystery Tribune.
• "Careful What You Say" by Stuart Watson in Mystery Tribune.
• "You Never See It Coming" by Meghan Leigh Paulk in Shotgun Honey.
• "Debt Owed" by Patrick Simpson and Brandon Barrows in Guilty. 
• "This Thing of Ours" by Andrew Monge in Punk Noir Magazine. 
• "Two Girls in the Ocean" by Marina Richards in Punk Noir Magazine 
• "Owen Weems" by Karen Harrington in Punk Noir Magazine 
  
• "Blue Christmas" by Melissa Yi in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's Podcast 
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for The Day of the Jackal.
  
• Watch a trailer for Like A Dragon: Yakuza
• Watch a trailer for Bad Monkey.