Crime Fiction Links of the Week for August 24, 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, The Instigators, Daughters, Batman: Caped Crusader, tributes to Alain Delon and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares thirteen new crime novels coming out this week.  
• Crime Reads shares the best debut crime novels coming out in August 2024.
  
• Laura Wilson shares a round-up of the best recent crime novels and thrillers. 
• Ayla Rose shares crime novels focussing on nature.
  
• Louise Mumford explains how she went from writing dystopian fiction to locked room mysteries
• Nick Ripatrazone recalls that poetry used to be an Olympic discipline.
• Michael Ledwidge shares his appreciation for the works of Charles Willeford. 
  
• Vanessa Thorpe reports about the James Bond newspaper comic strips by John McLusky published from 1958 to 1966, which served a visual precursor to the James Bond movies.  
• Martin Edwards visits the locations that inspired Dorothy Sayers' 1931 mystery The Five Red Herrings.
  

  

Film and TV: 

• Leila Latif calls series two of Crime as dark and twisted as Luther.
• Rebecca Nicholson calls Bad Monkey an easy-going detective drama that is tons of fun
  
• Jesse Hassenger calls The Killer John Woo remaking his own classic.
  
• Luke Buckmaster calls Critical Incident a crime drama that commits the worst crime: it’s boring 
• Adrian Horton calls Jackpot! a stunt-heavy dystopian action comedy.  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Only the River Flows an intriguing and ingenious noir thriller from China. 
• Adrian Horton calls The Union a preposterous international caper that has something vaguely to do with justice 
• Benjamin Lee calls Blink Twice a stylish yet scattered #MeToo thriller
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Deliverance a movie about a real life exorcism case that succumbs to tired horror tropes 
• Cath Clarke calls Cadejo Blanco a slow-burn drug gang thriller 
  
• Charles Bramesco discusses why noir filmd often work better in the sunshine  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Sing Sing a big-hearted prison drama  
  
• Jack Seale calls Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story a true crime drama as nonsensical as the crime it’s based on 
• Rachel Aroesti calls The Body Next Door a jaw-droppingly addictive true crime documentary. 
  
• Lucy Mangan declares that the true crime documentary Slavery at Sea shows how depraved humans can be.
  
• Jack Seale declares that the true crime documentary Untold: The Murder of Air McNair offers nothing that you couldn't find out with a quick Google.  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder
  
• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on series 4 of Vienna Blood. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on The Claremont Murders.
  
• Ryan Gilbey interviews the writer and stars of Sherwood. 
• Phil Hoad interviews Ali Kalthani, director of The Night Courier. 
• Entertainment Weekly shares 21 of the most highly anticipated kisses in TV history
  
• Sirin Kale reports about the tragic suicide of true crime producers John Balson and how his work contributed to his death.
  
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1954 prison drama The Weak and the Wicked and the 1959 crime thriller No Trees in the Street 
• Zach Vasquez revisits the 1993 crime drama Homicide: Life on the Streets. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1993 spy movie The Innocent.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1993 suspense thriller Malice.
  
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1996 western crime drama Lone Star. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2007 crime movie Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2016 psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals. 
• Sian Cain reports that actor Michael Madsen has been arrested on domestic violence charges. 
  

 

Comments on Trap: 

• Jesse Hassenger calls Trap perfectly thrilling.
  
• io9 interviews M. Night Shyamalan, director of Trap.
• Christian Holub interviews M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett, director and star of Trap. 
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Trap underperformed at the box office.
  

 

Comments on The Instigators: 

• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls The Instigators a crime comedy as generic as its title 
• Wendy Ide calls The Instigators a heist caper misfire
  
• Alasdair Stuart finds The Instigators a lot of fun.
  

 

Comments on Daughters: 

• Wendy Ide calls Daughters a tender, wrenching documentary about a dance date for girls and their jailed dads  
• Gloria Oladipo calls Daughters a strikingexploration of how incarceration affects families, how children navigate ambiguous grief and of the cruelty embedded in the modern-day prison system

 

Comments on Batman: Caped Crusader:

• Arturo Serrano calls Batman: Caped Crusader a clever reinvention of the costumed crimefighter for the Defund the Police era
  
• Diana Keng shares episode by episode reviews of Batman: Caped Crusader.

 

Tributes to Alain Delon: 

• French actor Alain Delon has died aged 88.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Alain Delon.
• Greg Whitmore shares photos from Alain Delon's lengthy career.
  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2024 Munsey Award has been announced.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Priya Chand talks about finding time to write in unexpected places.
• Austin Conrad talks about discovery writing through gaming.
• Mike Glyer discusses the current trouble inside SFWA. 
• Jason Sanford discusses the current trouble inside SFWA.
  
• Jim Milliot reports about a controversial marketing campaign by St. Martin's Press. 
• Locus reports about the group "Authors Against Book Bans".
  
• Ella Creamer reports that the US state of Utah has banned thirteen books, including titles by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Sarah J. Mass, from every public library and school in the state.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that several school librarians in the UK have been asked to remove LGBTQ themed books from school libraries. 
• The American Chemical Society reports about nineteenth and early twentieth century book bindings containing toxic arsenic dyes.

 

Interviews: 

• Alex Clark interviews Kate Atkinson.
  
• Rosanna Greenstreet interviews Harlan Coben.
• Lesa Holstine interviews Clea Simon.
  
• Ayo Onatade interviews Saima Mir. 
• Rick Pullen interviews John Gilstrap.
  

 

Reviews:

• Jen Lucas reviews Prey by Vanda Symon 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Prey by Vanda Symon 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville
• Jen Lucas reviews Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre  
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Coffin Island by Kate Ellis
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Cold, Cold World by Elena Taylor
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews City of Secrets by P.J. Tracy 
• Jen Lucas reviews Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Girls’ Night Out by J.A. Jance
  
• BOLO Books reviews And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling 
• Matt Pechey reviews Eyes Tight Shut by D.K. Hood 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Last Time I Saw Him by Rachel Abbott 
• Jen Lucas reviews They Thought I Was Dead by Peter James 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Pursued by Death by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews For Our Sins by James Oswald
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Power Play by Tony Kent 
  
• Alex Preston reviews The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Gatekeeper by James Byrne 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Redeemer by Victoria Goldman
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Sentinel Security: Stone by Anna Hackett 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Queen City Detective Agency by Snowden Wright
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Confidence Games by Tess Amy 
• Gwen Moffat reviews The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen 
  
• Mary Picken reviews The Final Act by Lisa Gray 
• Jen Lucas reviews Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jónasson 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jónasson 
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews City Of Vengeance by D.V. Bishop 
  
• Mary Picken reviews The Betrayal of Thomas True by A J West   
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead 
• In Search of the Classics Mystery Novel reviews Murder At The Matinee by Jamie West
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Scandal in Mayfair by Katharine Schellman 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald 
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Murder Your Employer: The McMaster’s Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews To Err is Cumin by Leslie Budewitz 
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Cold Clay by Juneau Black 
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Death Scene by Carol J. Perry
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton 
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Shadowed Circle: Compendium, edited by Steve Donoso  
   
  

Classics reviews:

• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1916 mystery collection Thornley Colton: Blind Reader of Hearts by Clinton H. Stagg.
• Curtis Evans revisits the 1927 Hercule Poirot mystery The Big Four by Agatha Christie.
  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1928 Eustace Hailey mystery Red Scar by Anthony Wynne
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1930 Thatcher Colt mystery The Murder Of Geraldine Foster by Anthony Abbot
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1931 Lord Peter Wimsey mystery The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy Sayers.
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1948 mystery Part for a Poisoner by E. C. R. Lorac 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1949 mystery Crooked House by Agatha Christie 
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1951 mystery The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi,  translated by Jesse Kirkwood.  
• Lesa Holstine revisits the 1952 Inspector Littlejohn mystery Death in Dark Glasses by George Bellairs
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1952 Detective-Inspector Charlton mystery The Case of the Busy Bees by Clifford Witting
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1957 Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw science fiction mystery The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov.   
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1983 Lloyd and Hill mystery A Perfect Match by Jill McGown.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1983 Virginia and Felix Freer mystery Death of a Minor Character by Elizabeth Ferrars  
• William Boyle and Polly Stewart revisits the 1997 crime novel About Yvonne by Donna Masini. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1999 Sara Selkirk mystery Fearful Symmetry by Morag Jones. 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 2012 Mr. Monk mystery Mr Monk on Patrol by Lee Goldberg
  

 

Con and event reports:

• The Red Hot Chilli Writers report about the 2024 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Fiction Festival in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
• Runalong the Shelves looks ahead at the 2024 Edge-Lit festival in Derby, UK.
  

 

Research: 

• Jess Weatherbed reports that Disney has stopped trying to use the Disney Plus user agreement to repeal a lawsuit brought against the company by a widower whose wife died after suffering an anaphylactic shock at a restaurant in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. 
• Elisabeth Eaves explains why psychopaths make good CEOs.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Perfect Crime" by Lawrence Kithcart in Punk Noir Magazine  
• "The Opposite of Polka" by Offer Kuban in Punk Noir Magazine  
• "Quickly, Now" by P.J. McAvoy in Punk Noir Magazine
  
• "Dead" by Charles P.R. Stott in Punk Noir Magazine
  
• "Tee-Tee the Tester" by J.D. Clapp in Punk Noir Magazine.
  
• "Landing Lights" by Renato Barucco in Mystery Tribune.
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Only Murders in the Building.
• Watch a trailer for Disclaimer.