Crime Fiction Links of the Week for April 26, 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 Leverage: Redemption, Bullet Train Explosion, the final season of You, 9-1-1, Havoc, The Accountant 2, Black Mirror and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week,   
• Criminal Element share their most anticipated crime novel and mysteries for May 2025. 
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite psychological thrillers for April 2025.
• Louise Hegarty explains why fair play mysteries can be comfort fiction in difficult times,
• Paul French takes a look at crime fiction set in Dundee, Scotland.
• Samantha Crewson wonders why there is so little fiction about incarcerated women. 
• Francesco Paola shares his appreciation for the noir thrillers of Dorothy B. Hughes. 
• Patrick Sauer shares his appreciation for the Miami set Tony Rome mysteries by Marvin H. Albert
  
• Paperback Warrior shares an overview over the work of crime fiction, science fiction and western pulp author Kendell Foster Crossen  
• Joe Offenhartz wonders whether Edgar Allan Poe may have been a time traveller. 
• Catherine Shoard reports that actor Pedro Pascal has criticised J.K. Rowling for her transphobic views in very strong words. 
  
• German-Ukrainian writer Alexandra Fröhlich has been murdered on her houseboat in Hamburg, Germany, aged 58. 
  

 

Film and TV:  

• Joe George declares that Daredevil: Born Again offers a much-needed corrective to relentless copaganda
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Cloud a bizarre internet action thriller
• Phil Hoad calls The Accidental Spy a remarkable decumentary about a CIA operative abandoned by his handlers  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel shares their thoughts on The Residence.
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on The Stolen Girl.
  
• Lara Rosales shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Equalizer. 
• Phuong Le calls An Army of Women a shocking and timely documentary about sex-assault survivors’ fight for justice
• Tim Lowery declares that the death of Omar in The Wire is still the TV death that hurt him the most. 
• Vince Keenan revisits the 1982 crime comedy The Comeback Trail and its 2020 remake.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano revisits the 1985 mystery comedy Clue. 
• Paul Hirons revisits the 2000 British crime drama Waking the Dead. 
• Saloni Gajjar interviews Zahn McClarnon, best known for his roles in Dark Winds, Reservation Dogs, Fargo and Westworld.
• Diana Keng visits The Lighterman pub where an important scene from Slow Horses takes place.
• Andrew Pulver reports that Ben Affleck hated wearing the Batman suit, because it was very hot and uncomfortable.
• Catherine Shoard reports that the Actors Guild of Nigeria calls for better regulations after two actors died while filming.
• Catherine Shoard reports that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has called going to the cinema outmoded and claims that audiences want to watch movies at home right away.  
• Readers of the Guardian share their memories of video stores. 
  
• Ryan Gilbey shares an obituary for Ted Kotcheff. 

 

Comments on Leverage: Redemption:

• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on season 3 of Leverage Redemption.
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on episode 4 of season 3 of Leverage Redemption.
  
• Diana Keng shares her appreciation for the character of Parker from Leverage: Redemption.
  

 

Comments on the final season of You: 

• Rebecca Nicholson declares that the final season of You brings the series to an insultingly rubbish ending 
• Saloni Gajjar declares that You goes out on a wild, frustrating note
• Lacy Baugher Milas declares that Joe Goldberg’s story comes full circle at last in the final season of You.  
• Paul Hirons ranks every season of You.
  

 

Comments on Bullet Train Explosion:

• Jacob Oller calls Bullet Train Explosion a sluggish update to the 1970s original.
• Jacob Oller also revisits the original 1975 Bullet Train.
  

Comments on 9-1-1 (spoilers):

• Nellie Andreeva interviews Tim Minear and Angela Bassett, showrunner and star of 9-1-1.
• Lara Rosales wonders whether a shocking death in 9-1-1 really needed to happen.
  

 

Comments on Havoc:

• Jesse Hassenger calls Havoc a trashy, cartoony crime thriller
• Jim Vorel declares that Havoc joyously revels in bloody, comic overkill

 

Comments on The Accountant 2:

• Jesse Hassenger declares that the performances of Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal make The Accountant 2 more than just a routine thriller. 
• Jacob Oller finds The Accountant 2 just taxing

 

Comments on Black Mirror:

• Ann Michelle Harris declares that season 7 of Black Mirror offers strong acting and innovative stories explore our difficult relationship with technology
  
• Keith Stuart notes how the Black Mirror episode "Plaything" was inspired by Charlie Brooker's time as a games journalist for the magazine PCZone in the 1990s.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Art Bell talks about building suspense in nonfiction narratives 
• The SFWA alerts writers to problematic clauses in the contracts of Asimov's, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. 
• Melina Spanoudi reports that the British MPs argue that the proposed AI text and data-mining exemption to British copyright law lacks effective an ‘opt-out’
• Ella Creamer reports that UK publishers and authors propose a collective licence to make sure writer get paid when their books are used to train AI.
  
• BBC Witness History discusses the origin of World Book Day.
  
• Susan Wise Bauer reports that her longtime US-based printer dumped her small press Well-Trained Mind Press, because Penguin Random House is moving its printing operations from China to the US in response to the Trump government's tariffs.

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2025 Publishing Triangle Awards have been announced. 
  
• Brooks Barnes reports about new Oscar rules, including about the use of AI. 
  

 

Interviews: 

• Dóra Ósk Halldórsdóttir interviews Jo Nesbø
• Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee interview Lucy Atkins. 
  
• Paul Burke interviews Georgina Clarke.
  
• Debbi Mack interviews Edward Zuckerman.  
• Scott Adlerberg interviews Dennis Tafoya.
  
• Shane Whaley interviews Michael Idov.
• Howard Lovy interviews Ali Steed.
• Eric Olson interviews Matthew Sullivan.
  

 

Reviews:

• Sharon Richardson reviews Carved in Blood by Michael Bennett
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg 
• Matt Pechey reviews Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg
• Adam Colclough reviews When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews A Long Time Gone by Joshua Moehling 
• Marilyn Brooks reviews Bitterfrost by Bryn Gruley. 
• Russell James reviews Red Water by Jurica Pavicic 
  
• Robin Agnew reviews The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips.
• Beth Kanell reviews The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips.
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews This Is Not A Game by Kelly Mullen
  
• Mary Picken reviews Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine 
• Jen Lucas reviews Murder On Line One by Jeremy Vine 
  
• Fresh Fiction reviews One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman 
• Kirkus reviews The Death of Us by Abigail Dean. 
• Chapter in My Life reviews The Cost by Morgan Cry  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Splintered Justice by Kim Hays. 
  
• Kirkus reviews Splintered Justice by Kim Hays.
  
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Mailman by Andrew Welsh-Huggins  
• Jeff Popple reviews Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman 
• Sarah Reida reviews The French Honeymoon by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Other People by C.B. Everett 
• Jen Lucas reviews Human Remains by Jo Callaghan
  
• Janet Webb reviews The Department by Jacqueline Faber
  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Castle by John Sutherland  
• She Treads Softly reviews Coram House by Bailey Seybolt
  
• Mary Picken reviews The Secret Room by Jane Casey
• BOLO Books reviews No. 10 Doyers Street by Radha Vatsal.
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan 
• Marlene Harris reviews Who Will Remember by C.S. Harris  
• Fully Booked reviews No Precious Truth by Chris Nickson.
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
• Jen Lucas reviews Dangerous by Essie Fox 
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Dangerous by Essie Fox 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Darkest Sin by D.V. Bishop 
• Meg Dowell reviews Glitter in the Dark by Olesya Lyuzna.
• Rob Merrill reviews The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler
  
• Robin Agnew reviews A Death on Corfu by Emily Sullivan.
• Aubrey Nye Hamilton reviews The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson 
  
• Carolyn Scott reviews Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
• Carla Schantz reviews Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Fudge And Marriage by Nancy Coco and tries a recipe from the book.
• Carla Schantz reviews Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss.
• Marlene Harris reviews A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett  
• Gravetapping reviews The Cleveland John Doe Case by Thibault Raisse
  
• Adam Sisman reviews The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1924 adventure story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1933 mystery Death of the Home Secretary by Alan Thomas.
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1945 John J. Malone mystery The Lucky Stiff  by Craig Rice 
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1957 Nigel Strangeways mystery End of Chapter by Nicholas Blake
• James Reasoner revisits the 1958 crime novel Cornered by Louis King  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1964 Three Investigators YA mystery The Secret Of Terror Castle by Robert Arthur
  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1964 Three Investigators YA mystery The Secret Of Terror Castle by Robert Arthur
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1968 Tommy and Tuppence mystery By the Pricking of my Thumbs by Agatha Christie 
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1975 police procedural The Assassinator by David Vowell.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1977 The Butcher men's adventure novel The Terror Truckers by James Dockery.
  
• Crossexamining Crime revisits the 1979 Inspector Pel mystery Death Set to Music by Mark Hebden   

 

Con and event reports:

•  Joy Swift talks about creating Murder Weekend events.
• Sinèad Campbell reports about a new wave of literary events and live readings in the UK. 
  

 

Research: 

• April J. Skelly discusses the rise of Scotland Yard in Victorian England
• C.L. Miller talks about art trafficking in the twenty-first century and the fight against cultural plunder
  
• J.T. Falco talks about crime in the world of wine. 
• Corinna Barrett Lain declares that everything you thought you knew about lethal injection is wrong
• Lila Shapiro reports that Neil Gaiman is sueing Caroline Wallner, who accused him of sexual assault, for 500000 US-dollars for allegedly breaking a non-disclosure agreement.  
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Shed" by Nils Gilbertson in Shotgun Honey.
• "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" by Steve Liskow in Tough.
  
  

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Secrets We Keep.