Crime Fiction Links of the Week for January 25, 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 Prime Target, Out There, Flight Risk, season 2 of The Night Agent, Harley Quinn, tributes to David Lynch and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week,  
• Alison Flood shares her favourite crime novels and thrillers of the month. 
• Molly Odintz shares the best psychological thrillers coming out in January 2025.
  
• Jenny Elder Moke shares five mystery novels with unique settings.
• Kate Alice Marshall shares six great thrillers featuring sisters and murder. 
• Gigi Griffis notes that crime fiction has a dead girl problem.
  
• Martin Edwards shares his appreciation for the Golden Age mysteries of writer and translator  David Magarshack
• Naomi Kaye takes a look at Agatha Christie's experiences in the Southern hemisphere and how they influenced her mysteries.
  
• Dave Bradley reviews the video game Murder is Game Over: The Blackinton Curse
  

 

 Film and TV: 

• Brian Tallerico calls The Agency a naunced thriller and the rare show that trusts its viewers to keep up 
• Lucy Mangan calls High Potential trashy, but a lot of fun. 
• Samantha Nelson calls Watson is a formulaic medical mystery 
• Saloni Gajjar calls Paradise a head-scratching, twisty thriller.
  
• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Inheritance a generic thriller whose only distinguishing characteristic is that it was shot on an iPhone.
  
• Cath Clarke calls Mother Father Sister Brother Frank a cartoonishly grisly comedy with a hint of Fargo, though without the off-kilter humour 
• Cath Clarke calls Sunray: Fallen Soldier a brutal payback thriller 
• Phil Hoad calls Dead Before They Wake a brutal true crime thriller that has both a streak of sentimentality and an appetite for violence 
• Leslie Felperin calls Blackwater Lane a flimsy haunted house stalker thriller   
• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on the season 4 premiere of Astrid: Murder In Paris
  
• Cassie Holguin shares her thoughts on season 2 of Squid Game. 
  
• Leslie Felperin calls Into the Deep a smugglers versus sharks thriller full of cliche-riddled dialogue and bizarre flashbacks
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1949 Japanese noir film Stray Dog and the 1963 Japanese noir film High and Low.
  
• Bill Koenig revisits the 1965 spy comedy Get Smart for its sixtieth anniversary
  
• Scott Tobias revisits the 1984 neo-noir movie Blood Simple. 
• Scott Tobias revisits the 1988 gangster comedy Married to the Mob.  
• Jay Snow revisits the 2014 superhero spy series Agent Carter.
• Ralph Jones investigates whether it's true that Netflix tells writers to deliberately dumb down TV shows to make it easier to casually watch them in the background while doing something else.   
• Brad Curren shares ten little known Indiana Jones adventures.  
• Caroline Siede shares a guide to the action films Michelle Yeoh made in Hong Kong. 
  
• Joshua M. Patton explains why actor Aaron Thorsen left The Rookie
• Stuart Heritage reports that an audience member experienced a medical emergency during an early screening of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
  

 

Tributes to David Lynch:

• Chris Morris shares an obituary for David Lynch.
  
• Stuart Heritage shares his appreciation for David Lynch's 1990 surreal crime drama Twin Peaks. 
• Steve Rose interviews several cast and crewmembers of the original Twin Peaks about working with David Lynch. 
  
• Brittany Allen shares a tribute to David Lynch. 
• Barbara Allen declares that David Lynch deserves all the tributes.
  
• Phil Hoad ranks all of David Lynch's movies and TV shows.
  
• Adrian Horton shares her favourite quotes by David Lynch.
• Catherine Shoard shares tribute to David Lynch from fellow directors and actors. 
• Readers of the Guardian share tributes to David Lynch.
  
• Leah Schnelbach discusses two upcoming documentaries about David Lynch.

 

Comments on Prime Target: 

• Lucy Mangan calls Prime Target a stylish thriller
• Rachel Aroesti calls Prime Target a silly but entertaining maths thriller
• Manuel Betancourt calls Prime Target an unremarkable thriller about a remarkably hot math whiz 
• Joshua Harris declares that Prime Target fails to hit the mark 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on episodes 1 and 2 of Prime Target.
  

 

Comments on Out There:

• Rebecca Nicholson calls the Welsh thriller Out There an unexpected January treat 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Out There. 
  

 

Comments on season 2 of The Night Agent:

•  Jack Seale calls season 2 of The Night Agent a thrilling spy drama. 
• Brian Tallerico declares that season 2 of The Night Agent is more confident and has a tighter pace. 
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the season 2 premiere of The Night Agent. 
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the season 2  of The Night Agent.
  

 

Comments on Flight Risk: 

• Andy Crump calls Flight Risk a pulpy thriller.
• Jesse Hassenger shares his thoughts on Flight Risk.
  

 

Comments on season 5 of Harley Quinn:

• Rendy Jones calls season 5 of Harley Quinn rushed but emotionally satisfying.
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on episode 2 of season 2 of Harley Quinn.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Erin Cotter explains how to write historical fiction.
  
• Keith Roysdon investigates the practice of journalists to use the term "occult hand". 
• Christine Hauser reports that Fables, am app which offers AI generated summaries of books, has served up offensive and racist remarks.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that British children's laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce has said that British children are facing a happiness recession and has stressed the importance of reading.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2025 Edgar Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2025 Diamond Dagger has been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2025 Audie Awards have been announced. 
  
• The longlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award has been announced.
• The nominations for the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards have been announced.  
• The nominations for the 2025 Golden Rasberries have been announced.  

 

Interviews: 

• Janet Christie interviews Paula Hawkins.
  
• Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee interview Tom Hindle.
  
• Nancie Clare interviews Robert Crais.
• Peter Larsen interviews Robert Crais.
  
• Chris McGinley interviews Rick Childers.
  
• Paul Burke interviews Rob Parker.
  
• Alan Petersen interviews J.D. Barker. 
• E.B. Davis interviews Jennifer Chow.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews Matt Cost. 
• Lisa Haselton interviews Sara Winokur 
• CrimeReads interviews Kevin Shinick.
  

 

Reviews:

• Kevin Tipple reviews Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen 
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Broken River by Chris Hammer
  
• Robin Agnew reviews Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove. 
• Rod Miller reviews Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove. 
  
• Alice Carey reviews The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O’Donnell
  
• BOLO Books reviews The Lost House by Melissa Larsen.
• Marilyn Brooks reviews The Lost House by Melissa Larsen.  
• Gwen Moffat reviews The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong  
  
• Angela Crowther reviews A Voice in the Night by Simon Mason 
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Torments by Michael J. Malone 
• Jen Lucas reviews Poison Garden by L.J. Ross
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews They All Fall the Same by Wes Browne
• Jen Lucas reviews Into Thin Air by Ørjan Karlsson, translated by Ian Giles
  
• Grave Tapping reviews Pro Bono by Thomas Perry  
• Matt Pechey reviews A True Verdict by Robert Rotstein
  
• Tzer Island reviews The Forger's Requiem by Bradford Morrow 
• Lou Jacobs reviews A Serial Killer’s Guide to Murder by Asia Mackay
  
• BOLO Books reviews Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.
• Gwen Moffat reviews The Best Enemy by Sergio Olguin 
• Jen Lucas reviews Notes on a Drowning by Anna Sharpe
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Dead Below Deck by Jan Gangsei
  
• The Quick and the Read reviews The Serpent Under by Bonnie MacBird 
• Paul Burke reviews Nightingale and Co by Charlotte Printz, translated by Marina Sofia. 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Queen of Diamonds by Beezy Marsh
  
• Kirkus reviews The Enigma Girl by Henry Porter.
  
• Robin Agnew reviews Eleanor and the Cold War by Ellen Yardley.
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Death In The Arctic by Tom Hindle 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Death On The Pier by Jamie West
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Lethal Walk in Lakeland by Nicholas George.
  
• Robin Agnew reviews A Lethal Walk in Lakeland by Nicholas George.
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead by Antony Johnston 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Haunting and Homicide by Ava Burke 
• Janet Webb reviews A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Loose Lips by Kemper Donovan
• Fiona Sturges reviews The Peepshow by Kate Summerscale 
  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews Getting Away with Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen by Lynda La Plante
• Martin Edwards reviews Secrets from the Agatha Christie Archives by Jared Cade 
  
• Alice Cary reviews The Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy
   
  

 Classics reviews:

• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1946 mystery The Ghost It Was by Richard Hull 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1947 Gervase Fen mystery Swan Song by Edmund Crispin 
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1973 mystery Tea on Sunday by Lettice Cooper
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1981 The Sergeant war novel Doom River by Gordon Davis
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1987 mystery play A Touch of Danger by Francis Durbridge 
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2006 near future dystopian thriller Empire by Orson Scott Card. 
  

 

Con and event reports:

•  Ayo Onatade reports about the guests of the 2025 CrimeFest in Bristol, UK.
• Martin Edwards reports about the Lansdowne Club's Literary Festival in London, UK.
  

 

Research: 

• Laura Niebauer profiles Rebecca Bradley, the so-called Flapper Bandit who robbed a bank in Texas in 1926. 
• S.J. Bennett talks about several murders of women in 1950s London. 
• Cynthia Weiner talks about the 1986 killing of Jennifer Levin by Robert Chambers in New York City and recalls that she knew Chambers.
  
• Matt Broomfield discusses the history behind medieval torture museums and notes that many of the devices on display are not actually medieval.
  
• Pagan Kennedy explains how rape kits changed how law enforcement understands and investigates sexual assault
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Game_Night_Prep_Sheet.docx" by Nick Kolakowski in Shotgun Honey.
  
•  "Gifts From an Unknown Angel" by Rachel Sterlings in Mystery Tribune.
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for The Alto Knights.
• Watch a trailer for Zero Day.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Yellowjackets.