Crime Fiction Links of the Week for September 7, 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 season 2 of Sherwood, season 4 of Slow Horses, season 4 of Only Murders in the Building, Rebel Ridge, The Perfect Couple, Wolfs, Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime, Joker: Folie á Deux, the Bloody Scotland festival, the debate about AI generated writing and art and much more:

Crime fiction in general:  

• Crime Reads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week.  
• Alison Flood shares her favourite crime novels and thrillers of the month.
  
• Crime Reads shares the best reviewed crime novels of August 2024. 
• Mike Maden explains why thrillers matter.
  
• Sandra Block attempts to explain what a screwball thriller is. 
• Andrew Monge lists five indie authors who inspire him.
  
• Jeff Rouner reports that writer and fan Paul Riddell was once investigated by the FBI for allegedly selling military secrets to the Daleks due to misunderstood joke.
  
• Jason Sanford shares an update on the sexual abuse allegations against Neil Gaiman and why Gaiman blaming his transgressions on autism is wrong. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares a quiz asking people to identify crime novels based on their Library of Congress subject categories.
  

  

Film and TV: 

• Paul Hirons shares an overview of crime dramas coming out this fall and winter. 
• Arturo Serrano calls Blink Twice an effective thriller that knows how to maintain high tension even long after all the secrets have been revealed
  
• Catherine Bray call Damaged an absurd crime thriller.
  
• Cath Clarke calls The Whip a heist movie with a conscience
  
• Tomris Laffly calls Nickel Boys a stunning and inventive adaptation of Colson Whitehead's novel.
  
• Jonathan Romney praises the performance of Jude Law in the true crime thriller The Order.  
• Josh Spiegel declares that the true crime drama Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist just doesn't connect
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Maldoror a Belgian true-crime drama that induces stomach-turning horror
  
• Xan Brooks calls And Their Children After Them a drama about racism and revenge in smalltown France 
• Paul French is baffled by the existence of the Miss Merkel Mysteries.
• Michael Hogan interviews the creator and stars of Nightsleeper.
  
• Jazz Tancay interviews actor and science fiction fan Laurence Fishburn.  
• Zoe Williams interviews James McAvoy, star of the X-Men movies, His Dark Materials, Speak No Evil and many others.
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1954 crime movie Third Party Risk a.k.a The Deadly Game  
• Brian Tallerico revisits the 1993 crime drama Homicide: Life on the Streets and shares his favourite episodes.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano shares a quiz where you have to identify crime movies based on their taglines. 
• James Darren, who appeared in The Time Tunnel, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, T.J. Hooker, Gidget and many others, has died aged 88.  

 

Comments on series 2 of Sherwood:

• Michael Hogan shares his thoughts on episode 3 of series 2 of Sherwood.
• Michael Hogan shares his thoughts on episode 4 of series 2 of Sherwood.
  

Comments on season 4 of Slow Horses: 

• Diana Keng calls season 4 of Slow Horses a more personal and emotionally involved story than previous seasons
• Jack Seale calls season 4 of Slow Horses a faultlessly directed spy thriller and praises the performance of Gary Oldman.
• Kaitlin Thomas declares that season 4 of Slow Horses reveals the spy drama's beating heart. 
• Garrick Webster shares his thoughts on season 4 of Slow Horses. 
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the first and second episode of season 4 of Slow Horses. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first episode of season 4 of Slow Horses.
• Gayle Sequeira praises the performance of Gary Oldman in Slow Horses.
  

 Comments on season 4 of Only Murders in the Building: 

• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building. 
  
• Inspired by Only Murders in the Building, David Renshaw wonders why podcasters are TV crime-dramas’ hottest new detectives
• Alex Faccibene lists five cozy mysteries fans of Only Murders in the Building will enjoy. 
• Alex Faccibene reports that Only Murders in the Building has been renewed for season 5.
  

 

Comments on Rebel Ridge: 

• Benjamin Lee calls Rebel Ridge an electrifying thriller.
  
• Jesse Hassenger calls Rebel Ridge an elementally satisfying thriller 
• Dom Sinacola declares that violence haunts every moment of Rebel Ridge
  

 

Comments on The Perfect Couple: 

• Lucy Mangan calls The Perfect Couple a ludicrously good murder mystery.
• Joel Golby calls The Perfect Couple an opulent murder mystery and a masterclass in how to make TV
• Saloni Gajjar calls The Perfect Couple a murder mystery with little to offer aside from its stellar cast. 
• Elijah Gonzalez calls The Perfect Couple a murder mystery that struggles to stay afloat. 
  

 

Comments on Wolfs: 

• Xan Brooks calls Wolfs a a fun and infectious caper thriller.
• Rory Doherty calls Wolfs a charisma-sapped crime story
  
• Nadia Khomani reports that according to George Clooney, the rumours about the extremely high salaries he and Brad Pitt supposedly received for Wolfs aren't true.
  

 

Comments on Sambre - Anatomy of a Crime: 

• Rebecca Nicholson calls Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime an uncomfortable but important true crime drama from France.   
• Garrick Webster shares his thoughts on Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime.
  

 

Comments on Joker: Folie à Deux: 

• Nicholas Barber calls Joker: Folie à Deux a dreary, underwhelming, unnecessary slog
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Joker: Folie à Deux claustrophobic and repetitive  
• David Ehrlich declares that Joker: Folie à Deux feels like it’s bad on purpose
• David Rooney calls Joker: Folie à Deux a frustrating sequel 
  
• William Bibbiani calls Joker: Folie à Deux an impressively odd sequel  
• Siddhant Adlakha finds Joker: Folie à Deux a little too obsessed with Joker 
• Bill Bria calls Joker: Folie à Deux the year's boldest comic book movie and a compelling musical deconstruction
  
• Pete Hammond calls Joker: Folie À Deux a brilliant musical return to a world of madness
  
• Brent Lang interviews Todd Phillips, director of Joker: Folie à Deux.
  
• Catherine Shoard interviews Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, stars of Joker: Folie à Deux.
• Isaiah Colbert reports that Todd Phillips and Lady Gaga inists that Joker: Folie à Deux is not a musical, even though it obviously is.

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2024 Anthony Awards have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Shamus Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2024 Barry Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2024 McIlvanney Prize has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards have been announced. 
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Andrew Coletti talks about food and worldbuilding.
• Rob Starr explains why he tends to write female main characters. 
• Mike Glyer reports that the Internet Archive has lost its appeal in its copyright ingringement lawsuit.
  
• Andrew Albanese shares an update about a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a librarian against Llano County, Texas, for firing her over LGBTQ books.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that more than 180 public libraries in the UK have closed or been handed to volunteers since 2016.  
• Cara Giaimo reports that the historic Joanine Library at the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal, is inhabited by bats who protect the books from insects.  

 

Comments on the debate about AI generated writing and art: 

• Ted Chiang explains why AI is not going to make art. 
• Lincoln Michel responds to Ted Chiang.
  
• Alasdair Stuart criticises the NaNoWriMo organisation for calling criticisms of generative AI use classist and ableist. 
• Cam Wilson reports that trials in Australia have revealed that AI is worse than humans at summarising information in every way.

 

Interviews: 

• Nancie Clare interviews Attica Locke.
  
• John Valeri interviews Eli Cranor.
• Alan Petersen interviews Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado 
• The Red Hot Chilli Writers interview Tom Mead.
  
• Aunt Agatha's interviews Leslie Budewitz 
• Deborah Kalb interviews Fiona Barton.
  
• Nancie Clare interviews Nicholas Meyer and Les Klinger 
• Debbi Mack interviews Catherine Rymsha.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Antonia Senior. 
• Patrick J. O'Donnell interviews Steve Stratton.
  

 

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews Passions in Death by J.D. Robb
  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone.
• Mary Picken reviews Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone
• Jon Morgan reviews The Black Loch by Peter May 
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Kill List by Nadine Matheson 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Wrong Hands by Mark Billingham 
  
• Mary Picken reviews Five by Five by Claire Wilson
  
• Janet Webb reviews City of Secrets by P.J. Tracy 
  
• Mary Picken reviews Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville 
• Mary Picken reviews One Wrong Turn by C.M. Ewan
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Deadlock by James Byrne
• Lesa Holstine reviews Fatal Intrusion by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado 
• Jen Lucas reviews Five Fatal Flaws by Louise Mangos 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews No Way To Die by Tony Kent 
• Janet Webb reviews The Trap by Ava Glass 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Silent Man by David Fennell
  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Murmurs by Michael J Malone
• Marcel Theroux reviews Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd  
  
• Mary Picken reviews Out of the Dark by Caro Ramsay 
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves. 
• Janet Webb reviews The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves. 
  
• M. John Harrison reviews Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner 
  
• Jen Lucas reviews The First Day Of Spring by Nancy Tucker 
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews After Oz by Gordon McAlpine
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Saving Susy Sweetchild by Barbara Hambly  
• Lesa Holstine reviews What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Hell Bay by Will Thomas
  
• Grab This Book reviews Banquet of Beggars by Chris Lloyd 
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah.
• Crossexamining Crime reviews French Windows by Antoine Laurain 
• Erin Britton reviews Murder in the Scottish Highlands by Dee MacDonald
  
• Judith Sullivan reviews Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime by Leonie Swann  
• Jen Lucas reviews We Solve Murders by Richard Osman 
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Smoke and Murders by J. L. Blackhurst  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Shock and Paw by Cate Conte.
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Messy Murder by Simon Brett. 
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Between a Flock and a Hard Place by Donna Andrews.
  
• John Valeri reviews A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Sticks and Scones by Ellie Alexander.
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews Pumpkin Spice Puppy by Laurien Berenson:
   
  

Classics reviews:

• Martin Edwards revisits the 1928 thriller The Factory on the Cliff  by Nail Gordon.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1935 mystery Death on the Campus by Addison Simmons
  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1939 Detective Inspector Northeast mystery They Rang Up the Police by Joanna Cannan
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1944 Huntoon Rogers mystery The Affair of the Dead Stranger by Clifford Knight
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1955 Superintendent Duffy mystery The House is Falling is by Nigel Fitzgerald
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1956 suspense novel The Sleeping Partner by Winston Graham 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1956 crime novel Unhappy Hooligan by Stuart Palmer
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 Sergeant Cluff mystery Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1974 The Lone Wolf men's adventure novel Peruvian Nightmare by Mike Barry
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1974 Black Samurai blaxploitation novel The Inquisition by Marc Olden
  
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1985 men's adventure novel The Ninth Dragon by E.B. Cross
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1989 Nick Hockaday police procedural Sea of Green by Thomas Adcock. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1997 historical crime novel Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Martin Edwards shares his experiences at the 2024 Bouchercon in Nashville, Tennessee.
  
• Grab This Book looks ahaead at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling, Scotland.
• Mary Picken also looks ahead at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival and shares her personal highlights. 
• Ayo Onatade reports about the book launch of Lynda La Plante's autobiography Getting Away With Murder in London, UK.
  
• Gregory Wakeman lists museums cinephiles should visit.
  

 

Research: 

• Ava Glass explains how she came to work in intelligence and shares her experiences with real life spies.  
• Simon Read reports about the 1842 murder case known as the Bermondsey Horror.
  
• Asia London Palomba explains why medieval women sometimes fought in trials by combat, seeking justice for crimes like rape.
• Lucas Ropek reports that the beluga whale Hvaldimir, who has been suspected of being used for espionage purposes by Russia, was found dead off the Norwegian coast, apparently murdered.
• Vincent Ralph talks about the enduring fascination with urban legends.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Big Bad Bruins" by Frank Reardon in Tough.
• "The Vultures Will Feed" by Curtis Ippolito in Tough.
• "Angel's Share" by Jim Wright in Guilty. 
  
• "Going Home" by Sharon Marchisello in Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast.
• "The Lavender-Scented Trash Bag" by Jessica Ramer in Mystery Tribune.
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Those Who Kill.
• Watch a trailer for Nickel Boys.