Crime Fiction Links of the Week for September 6, 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 new The Rainmaker, I Fought the Law, tributes to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Graham Greene and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week,    
• Paul French shares crime novels set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
• L.S. Stratton shares five mysteries and thrillers set in the workplace 
• Thomas R. Weaver discusses how technological progress influences crime fiction 
• Leigh Stein explains why she wrote a mystery without a murder. 
• John Copenhaver hosts a roundtable discussion with the contributors to the LGBTQ crime fiction anthology Crime Ink: Iconic 
• Keith Stuart calls Little Problems a cute detective game with no violence or victims 

 

Tributes to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro:

• Horror, science fiction and mystery writer Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has died aged 82. 
• Tom Whitmore remembers Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. 
• Molly Tenmpleton remembers Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. 
• Janet Rudoph remembers Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. 

 

Film and TV:  

• Paul Hirons looks ahead at new TV crime dramas coming out this fall. 
• Paul Burke shares seven spy shows to watch. 
• Lucy Mangan calls The Guest a gloriously ridiculous thriller 
• Catherine Bray calls Borderline a stylish but confused comedy thriller. 
• Jim Vorel declares that the pretentious silent action film Motor City mistakes artifice for art 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Dead Man’s Wire a surreal true-crime thriller 
• Peter Bradshaw calls A House of Dynamite a terrifying, white-knuckle nuclear war thriller. 
• Xan Brooks calls Portobello a glorious saga of TV stars, mafia prisoners and lace doilies 
• Leslie Felperin calls Row a twisty if murky horror thriller  
• Nadia Khomani interviews Kim Novak, star of Vertigo, Bell, Book and Candle and many others. 
• Pamela Hutchinson profiles Chinese American actress Anna May Wong.  
• Richard Lawson revisits the 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley.  
• Paul Hirons revisits the 2012 historical mystery The Bletchley Circle.
• Winston Cho reports that there is a class action lawsuit against Amazon Prime, because movies purchased via Amazon Prime are just licenced and not purchased. 
• Dominic Patten reports that Alisa Clairet, former co-head of Disney's legal department, is sueing her former employer for gender discrimination. 
• Actor Graham Greene, best known for his appearances in Dances With Wolves, Northern Exposure, Reservation Dogs, Twilight, Echo, Longmire, American Gods and many others, has died aged 73. 

  

Comments in The Rainmaker: 

• Josh Spiegel declares that The Rainmaker wants to be both a comfortable throwback and a modern drama with edge.  
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on episode 3 of The Rainmaker.
• Diana Keng visits the real life location of Yog's Bar from The Rainmaker. 

 

Comments on I Fought the Law:

• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on the true crime drama I Fought the Law. 
• Lucy Mangan praises the performance of Sheridan Smith in the true crime drama I Fought the Law. 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Gabino Iglesias encourages people to write. 
• Ken Jaworowski explains what boxing taught him about writing. 
• Christina Baker Kline and Anne Burt share what they learned from an unexpected literary partnership 
• Dream Foundry explains how to create a poetry chapbook.
• Joshua Barnes discusses when books started being divided into chapters. 
• Victoria Strauss notes that several publishers did not register the copyright for many books in spite of promising to do so and urges authors to check. 
• Margaret Atwood speaks out about The Handmaid's Tale being banned from schools in Alberta, Canada. 
• Leyland Cecco reports that the Canadian province Alberta has paused its controversial book banning law.
• Dominic Patten reports that the Alberta book ban law was paused in response to Margaret Atwood making fun of it. 

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards have been announced.

 

Interviews: 

• Shane Whaley interviews Dan Fesperman and I.S. Berry
• Paul Burke interviews Jane Thynne. 
• Abir Mukherjee and Vaseem Khan interviews Kingsley Pearson. 
• Alan Petersen interviews Dan Buzzetta. 
• Garrick Webster interviews S.D.W. Hamilton. 
• Alex Dueben interviews Artis Henderson. 

 

Reviews:

• Marlene Harris reviews Framed in Death by J.D. Robb 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Framed in Death by J.D. Robb    
• Jen Lucas reviews Hangman Island by Kate Rhodes 
• Mary Picken reviews Blood Like Ours by Stuart Neville  
• Mary Picken reviews Watching You by Helen Fields   
• BOLO Books reviews What We Left Unsaid by Winnie M. Li. 
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews The Meaning of the Murder by Walter B. Levis
• Kevin Tipple reviews At What Cost by James L’Etoile 
• BOLO Books reviews The Cut by Richard Armitage  
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Doll Parts by Penny Zang 
• Clare Clark reviews The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith 
• Jen Lucas reviews Belsay by L.J. Ross
• Marlene Harris reviews The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler 
• BOLO Books reviews The Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks. 
• Sandra Mangan reviews Deadly Dancing at the Seaview Hotel by Glenda Young 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews Lies And Dolls by Nev Fountain  
• Raven Crime Reads reviews The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman 
• Robin Agnew reviews The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jonasson. 
• Jen Lucas reviews A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Killer Question by Janice Hallett 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Writing The Murder - Essays On Crafting Crime Fiction, edited By Dan Coxon and Richard V. Hirst 

 

Classics reviews:

• Kate Jackson revisits the 1936 suspense novel Death in the Backseat by Dorothy Cameron Disney
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1936 Iris and Peter Duluth mystery A Puzzle for Fools by Patrick Quentin 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1939 mystery Who Killed Aunt Maggie? by Medora Field 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1956 spy novel  Be Shot for Sixpence by Michael Gilbert. 
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1983 mystery collection  Exeunt Murderers by Anthony Boucher. 

 

Con and event reports:

• Ali Karim shares his experiences at the last ever CrimeFest in Bristol, UK. 
• Grab This Book looks ahead at the 2025 Bloody Scotland crime fiction festival in Stirling, Scotland.
• J. Kingston Pierce looks ahead at the 2025 Bouchercon in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

 

Crowdfunding:

• The estate of science fiction, horror and mystery writer Chelsea Quinn Yarbro needs help with medical expenses.  

 

Research: 

• Stephanie Brown and Manuel Eisner share some insights from a map of medieval murder sites in England. 
• Lawrence Wright reports about nuns from Waco, Texas, who are trying to save women on death row in Texas.
• Alyssa Maxwell talks about marriage in the gilded age. 
• Matthew Petti reports that the FBI once investigated science fiction author Vernor Vinge.  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Suicide Dreams" by Tom Peer in Mystery Tribune.
• "Pushing In At The Circle K" by John Weagly in Punk Noir Magazine  
• "Visiting Mother" by Armand Rosamilia in Punk Noir Magazine 
• "While the Goldfinches Forage" by Andrew Monge in Punk Noir Magazine  
  
  
  

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 5 of Slow Horses.  
• Watch a trailer for Play Dirty.
• Watch a trailer for House of Dynamite. 
• Watch a trailer for Monster: The Ed Gein Story.