Crime Fiction Links of the Week for July 5 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 season 2 of Poker Face, season 3 of Squid Game, Smoke, Scrublands: Silver, F1 - The Movie, the future of James Bond, tributes to Lalo Schifrin and Michael Madsen and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares five new crime novels coming out this week,   
• Criminal Element shares the hottest mysteries and thrillers of July 2025 
• Molly Odintz shares psychological thrillers coming out in July. 
• Paul French takes a look at crime novels set in Seattle, Washington.
• Jo Firestone recommends five laugh-out-loud mysteries 
• Gloria Chao wonders why humor and murder go together so well. 
• Anna Fitzgerald Healy shares six mysteries featuring linguistic puzzles. 
• Amy McCullogh explins how she ran an ultramarathon to write a thriller  
• Crime fiction writer Jane Stanton Hitchcock has died aged 78. 

 

Film and TV:  

• Olivia Rutigliano lists new crime series to watch this weekend. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls An Ordinary Case a tense Ruth Rendell-ish crime procedural  
• Jacob Oller calls Pretty Thing a terrible erotic thriller 
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Duster.
• Garrick Webster shares his thoughts on the Danish crime drama The Sommerdahl Murders 
• Lucy Mangan calls To Catch a Stalker a harrowing documentary. 
• Lucy Mangan calls Crime Scene Cleaners a vomit-inducing documentary.
• Justin Carter discusses the woes of the Fast amd Furious series. 
• Diana Keng takes a look at the locations where the scenes of the Hotel Continental in the John Wick films were filmed.
• Rich Pelley interviews Maxine Peake, star of Silk, Black Mirror, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Words of War and many others.  
• Paul Hirons revisits the 1972 crime drama The Streets of San Francisco. 
• Stuart Heritage wonders why Steven Spielberg and other directors of that generation refuse to retire. 
• Emma Russell reports that voice actors who dub movies are protesting against the possibiliy of AI stealing their jobs and voices. 
• Actor Peter-Henry Schroeder, best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Enterprise and Argo, has died aged 90. 
   

Tributes to Michael Madsen:

• Actor Michael Madsen, best known for his roles in Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Species, The Getaway, Donnie Brasco, L.A. Confidential, Natural Born Killers, Thelma and Louise, War Games, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Hateful Eight and many others, has died aged 67. 
• Peter Bradshaw shares his appreciation for the work of Michael Madsen. 
• Actress Virginia Madsen, sister of Michael Madsen, remembers her brother. 
• Michaela Zee shares a tribute to Michael Madsen. 
• Emma Keates remembers Michael Madsen. 
• Jim Vorel remembers Michael Madsen. 
• Joanna Ruck shares photos from Michael Madsen's life and career. 

 

Tributes to Lalo Schifrin:

• Film composer Lalo Schifrin, best known for his work on Mission Impossible, Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Harry, The Sting, The Man from UNCLE, The Amityville Horror, THX 1138 and many others has died aged 93. 
• Bob Mondello remembers Lalo Schifrin. 
• Paul Hirons shares his favourite scores by Lalo Schifrin. 

 

Comments on season 2 of Poker Face: 

• Noel Murray shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Poker Face. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Poker Face. 
  

 

Comments on Smoke: 

• Lucy Mangan declares that no TV show has ever been worth sticking with more than Smoke.  
• Paul Hirons offers an overview of the cast of Smoke. 
• Paul Hirons wonders if Smoke is based on a true story. 

 

Comments on Scrublands: Silver:

• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Shrublands: Silver.  
• Garrick Webster shares his thoughts on the Australian crime drama Shrublands: Silver.  

 

Comments on F1 - The Movie: 

• Jesse Hassenger declares that F1 looks good while going in circles
• Alex Lei declares that F1 The Movie transforms the sport into just another piece of intellectual property
• Jason Gorber declares that F1 may be a commercial, but it sure is a pretty commercial  
• Angelica Jade Bastien notes that Brad Pitt seems to be using F1 to fix his image after Angelina Jolie accused him of abusing their children. 

 

Comments on season 3 of Squid Game: 

• Cheryl Eddy declares that Squid Game delivers a harrowing, heartbreaking final installment  
• Christina Orlando calls season 3 of Squid Game unhinged and wonders whether the show really needed two more seasons at all.
• William Hughes declares that season 3 of Squid Game hits the ground running with one of its nastiest contests yet.    
• William Hughes calls episode 2 of season 3 of Squid Game a claustrophobic masterwork. 
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on episode 3 of season 3 of Squid Game.  
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on episode 4 of season 3 of Squid Game.   
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on episode 5 of season 3 of Squid Game.    
• William Hughes declares that Squid Game ends perfectly—and then keeps going for another 20 minutes  
• Elijah Gonzales declares that Squid Game’s final season begins strong before ending on a misplay 
• Rebecca Nicholson declares that the final season of Squid Game has an ending so WTF it entirely beggars belief 
• Cheryl Eddy declares that the final scene of Squid Game is a cop-out  
• Stuart Heritage discusses the real reason the Squid Game finale is so bleak. 
• Germain Lussier explains how a certain cameo at the end of Squid Game came to be. 
• Jackie Strause interviews Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of Squid Game. 

 

 Comments on the future of James Bond: 

• Tatiana Siegel shares some speculation regarding who should play the next James Bond. 
• Readers of the Guardian discuss who the next James Bond should be.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Alan Erickson explains where he gets his ideas. 
• Chris Fox talks about writers bringing people hope.
• Katherine Wood shares tips for writing a locked room mystery. 
• Victoria Strauss offers an introduction to moral rights. 
• Victoria Strauss explains why the bankruptcy clause in your publishing contract may not protect you 
• James Hill reports about the bookbinder Atelier Devauchelle in Paris, France. 
• Tom Tapp reports that The Booksmith, a bookstore in San Francisco, California, has removed the Harry Potter books in response to J.K. Rowling's increasingly virulent anti-trans views. 
• ABC-7 News also reports about The Booksmith pulling the Harry Potter books. 
• Locus reports that in addition to The Booksmith, the LGBTQ bookstore Fabulosa Books, also in San Francisco, has also pulled J.K. Rowling's books from the shelves. 
• Robert Tait reports that the US Supreme Court has ruled that schools must let kids opt out of LGBTQ+ book readings  
• Chloe Veltman reports that a group of more than seventy authors has launched an open letter and a petition to publishers about the use of AI. 
• Elsie Lange chronicles  how audiobook narrators and voice actors deal with the threat of AI
• Aaron Moss notes that judges are split on the various AI copyright cases.  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2025 CWA Dagger Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2025 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2026 Harper Lee Award has been announced. 

 

Interviews: 

• Ayo Onatade interviews Anna Mazzola. 
• Authors on the Air interviews Sarah Strohmeyer.
• Deborah Kalb interviews Gloria Chao. 
• Deborah Kalb interviews Julia Seales. 

 

Reviews:

• Kevin Tipple reviews King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby 
• Jen Lucas reviews Into the Fire by M.J.. Arlidge  
• Mary Picken reviews We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter  
• BOLO Books reviews Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  
• Mary Picken reviews What Happens in the Dark by Kia Abdullah  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Whiteout by R.S. Burnett 
• Mary Picken reviews The White Crow by Michael Robotham 
• Jen Lucas reviews Deadline by Steph McGovern 
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews The Bonnie Dead by Andrew Raymond
• Jen Lucas reviews Dead To Me by Gytha Lodge 
• A.J. Hill reviews The Bodies by Sam Lloyd 
• Michael Jecks reviews The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney  
• Mary Picken reviews The Protest by Rob Rinder 
• BOLO Books reviews Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman.
• Mary Picken reviews Carnival of Lies by D.V. Bishop  
• Mandie Griffiths reviews The Betrayal of Thomas True by A.J. West
• Marlene Harris reviews The Misplaced Physician by Jeri Westerson 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Immortal Murder by Paul Doherty  
• Jen Lucas reviews A Murder In Paris by Matthew Blake 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman  
• Kate Jackson reviews Actually, I’m a Murderer by Terry Deary 
• Margaret Agnew reviews Winter’s Crown by E.L. Johnson. 
• Robin Agnew reviews Into the Leopard’s Den by Harini Negendra.
• Marlene Harris reviews A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao  
• Carla Schantz reviews There’ll be Shell to Pay by Molly MacRae.
• Carla Schantz reviews A Catered Bake-Off by Isis Crawford.
• Kate Jackson reviews Summers End by Juneau Black  
• Ali Karim reviews Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser  
• Dorian Lynskey reviews Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser 

 

Classics reviews:

• Martin Edwards revisits the 1943 suspense novel The Sister of Cain by Mary Collins. 
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1945 murder mystery play Grand National Night by Dorothy and Campbell Christie 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1945 Inspector Barry mystery Up to the Hilt by Anne Rowe 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1966 suspense novel I Start Counting by Audrey Erskine Lindop 
• Lesa Holstine revisits the 1970 Inspector Sloan mystery The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird

 

Con and event reports:

• Debbi Mack interviews Clay Stafford, who runs the Killer Nashville convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Martin Edwards reports about the crime week at the Stockton Heath Library in Warrington, UK. 

 

Research: 

• Robert W. Fieseler reports how the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee persecuted black people and LGBTQ people in Florida in the 1950s under the pretense of fighting communism and how he rescued the only existing copies of the records about this.

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Dancing Queen Hit" by Thomas Belton in Mystery Tribune.
• "The Wrath of John" by Richie Narvaez in Punk Noir Magazine  
• "Rage of that River" by Kellie Scott-Reed in Punk Noir Magazine  
• "Superbia in Suburbia" by Andrew Monge in Punk Noir Magazine 
• "Blacktop Baptism" by D.J. Tuskmor in Shotgun Honey.
• "D for Dallas" by Roger Netzer in The Five-Two. 
   

Trailers and videos: 

•  Watch a trailer for She Rides Shotgun.