Crime Fiction Links of the Week for January 11, 2025

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 books of 2024, Vera, Missing You, Playing Nice, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, season 2 of Squid Game, tributes to Andrew Pyper and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week,  
• CrimeReads shares their most anticipated crime books of 2025.
  
• Paul French takes a look at mysteries and crime novels set in Botswana. 
• Ryan Britt shares five great spy novels set in small towns. 
• Daniel Kenitz talks about the difficulties of writing mysteries and thrillers in the age of smartphones. 
• Fiona Davis shares historical crime novels with Agatha Christie vibes. 
• Alec Nevala-Lee recounts how Sherlock Holmes and the extremely litigatious Arthur Conan Doyle estate broke copyright law.
  
• Kate White recounts how she went from women's magazine writer to crime fiction writer. 
• Molly Templeton wonders what escapist fiction means. 
  
• Isa Arsèn asks why the same stories are being told and adapted over and over again.  
• BBC Radio 4 laments the death of cultural originality. 
  
• Thriller and horror author Andrew Pyper has died aged 56. 
• Locus remembers Andrew Pyper.
  

  

Best of 2024:

• Ali Karim shares his favourite crime novels of 2024.
  
• Joy Kluver shares her favourite crime novels and mysteries of 2024.
• Raven Crime Reads shares their favourite crime novels of 2024. 
• Crimeworm shares their favourite crime novels of 2024.
  
• Scott D. Parker shares his favourite crime books of 2024. 
• Amanda Mullen shares her ten favourite thrillers of 2024. 
• George Easter shares a list of the crime novels which appear most frequently on year's best lists for 2024.
  

 

 Film and TV: 

• Phil Hoad calls Blood for Dust a sharply scripted noir film about a travelling salesman turned drug runner 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido calls Joker: Folie à Deux a disappointing slog that fails on multiple levels. 
  
• Lucy Mangan calls the true crime drama  Lockerbie: A Search for Truth worryingly close to a Casualty episode
• Lucy Mangan asks whether we should still be watching true crime drivel like The Amazon Review Killer
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the Swedish crime drama Breakthrough.
  
• Martin Edwards shares his thoughts on the first episode of Patience.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dexter: Original Sin.
  
• Philip Oltermann interviews Magnus von Horn, director of The Girl With the Needle
• Alex Lei revisits the 1955 crime movie Bad Day at Black Rock.
• Haley Zapal revisits the 1955 historical action film Seven Samurai.  

 

Comments on Vera: 

• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on series 14 of Vera.
• Paul Hirons shares his ten favourite episodes of Vera. 
• Martin Edwards bids farewell to Vera.
  

 

Comments on Missing You:

• Lucy Mangan declares that you won't remember a thing about Missing You ten minutes later.
• Paul Levinson calls Missing You a top-notch Harlan Coben adaptation.
  

 

Comments on Playing Nice:

• Rachel Aroesti calls Playing Nice a mindbendingly bad baby-swap thriller.
• Stuart Heritage notes that Playing Nice is controversial due to its baby swap plot disturbing some viewers and takes a look at some other controversial storylines in various TV dramas.
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first episode of Playing Nice.
  

 

Comments on Den of Thieves 2: Pantera:

• Matt Schimkowitz calls Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera a satisfying action sequel.
• Jesse Hassenger declares that Den of Thieves 2: Pantera loses its surprise but sustains its strangeness
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Squid Game:

• Josh Wigler interviews Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of Squid Game.
• Cheryl Eddy shares eight things she'd like to see in season 3 of Squid Game. 
• Watch a Making of for season 2 of Squid Game.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Charlie Jane Anders asks whether unreliable narrators have to be arseholes. 
• Ira Nayman talks about the professional writer/editor relationship. 
• Alafair Burke explains how social media helped her become her true self.
  
• Gareth Rubin notes that writers are expected to work for love, but no one would ever expect that of a dentist.
  
• Victoria Strauss reports that the people behind the scam operations PageTurner Press and Media have been arrested in California.
  
• Phoebe Zhang reports that the Chinese police is cracking down on writers of gay erotica.
• Matt Vasilogambros reports that librarians are gaining legal protections in some US states as book bans soar.

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2024 Deutscher Krimipreis have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2025 Golden Globes have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2025 DGA Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2025 2025 MPSE Golden Reel Awards have been announced.

 

Interviews: 

• The New York Times interviews Alafair Burke.
• Paul Burke interviews Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger 
• John Valeri interviews Tracy Clark
  
• Garrick Webster interviews Charlotte Printz. 
• The Guardian interviews Stuart Turton.
• Lisa Hasleton interviews Ian Coates. 
  
• Alan Petersen interviews Vanessa Cronin.
  

 

Reviews:

• Grab This Book reviews Glory in Death by J.D. Robb  
• Jen Lucas reviews Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Perfect Storm by Paige Shelton 
• Marlene Harris reviews Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz 
  
• The Quick and the Read reviews Making a Killing by Cara Hunter 
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Buried Road by Katie Tallo 
  
• Kathy Martin reviews The Next Grave by Kendra Elliot  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Troubled Deep by Rob Parker
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Treacherous by Gary Phillips 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Collaborators by Michael Idov 
  
• She Treads Softly reviews Watch Your Back by Terri Parlato 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto  
• Sandra Mangan reviews Double Takedown by Kevin G Chapman
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Perfect Couple by Jane McLoughlin
  
• Beth Kanell reviews Love the Stranger by Michael Sears. 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Stranger In The Room by Luca Veste
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews They All Fall the Same by Wes Browne
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O’Donnell 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Holmes and Moriarty by Gareth Rubin
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Unquiet Spirits by Bonnie MacBird 
• Righter of Words reviews The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Rebellious Grace by Jeri Westerson 
  
• Lou Armagno reviews The Tangled String, A Charlie Chan Mystery by John L. Swann 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews A Little Bird Told Me by Rachael Gray 
• Jen Lucas reviews A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Murder On The Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Murder At The Lemonberry Tea by Darci Hannah and tries a recipe from the book. 
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews The Golden Era of Sherlock Holmes and His Contemporaries: A Mystery Guide and Finding List by Michael Cohen 
  
• Crossexamining Crime reviews Agatha Annotated: Investigating the Books of the 1920s: Obscure Terms and Historical References in the Works of Agatha Christie by Kate Gingold 
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1931 Ludovic Travers mystery Dead Man’s Music by Christopher Bush 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1932 Charlie Chan mystery Keeper Of The Keys by Earl Derr Biggers
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1934 mystery collection Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie  
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1935 Thatcher Colt mystery About the Murder of a Startled Lady by Anthony Abbot 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1951 noir novel Fools Walk In and the 1954 noir novel So Wicked My Love by Bruno Fisher.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1954 Hercule Poirot mystery Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1961 mystery Dead of a Physician by Fiona Sinclair.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1976 thriller Deer Hunt by Peter Lefcourt
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1977 disaster novel The Cassandra Crossing by Robert Katz.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Mark Sweeney reports that stage producer Cameron Mackintosh, who operates several theatres and successful shows in London's West End, has reported a dip in profits amidst rising costs in 2024.

 

Research: 

• Kate Winkler Dawson talks about the mysterious death of Sarah Maria Cornell in Massachusetts in 1832 and the writers it inspired. 
• P.J. Nelson talks about the case of Anjette Lyles, a restaurant owner who poisoned four family members in Macon, Georgia, in the 1950s.
  
• Ellie Brannigan talks about smuggling in Ireland.
• Chloe Hamilton reports that the popularity of Jellycat stuffed toys has inspired a wave of shoplifting.
• A.J. West talks about the hidden queer history of 18th century London. 
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship" by Joshua Michael Stewart in Mystery Tribune.
• "A Minor Irritation" by Chris Holm in Shotgun Honey.
• "Payback" by Jerad W. Alexander in Shotgun Honey.
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Reacher.