Crime Fiction Links of the Week for January 3, 2026

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 novels and TV shows of 2025, The Night Manager, tributes to Brigitte Bardot and Isiah Whitlock, a debate about whether ethical AI use in writing and publishing is possible and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• Katie Bernet talks about narrators from beyond the grave. 
• Ellen Meister recounts how she came to write her first mystery.

 

Best (and worst) of 2025: 

• Sharon Richardson shares her favourite crime novels of 2025. 
• Marlene Harris shares her favourite books of 2025.  
• Lesa Holstine shares her favourite crime novels and mysteries of 2025. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel shares his favourite books of 2025 
• Paul Hirons shares his twenty favourite TV crime dramas of 2025 in a multi-part post. 

 

Film and TV:  

• Saloni Gajjar calls the spy drama The Copenhagen Test heavy on twists and light on coherence  
• Lucy Mangan calls The Hunting Wives the most perfect trash TV ever  
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel shares his thoughts on series 14 of Death in Paradise. 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on season 2 of Red Eye. 
• Graeme Virtue explains how tech bros became Hollywood’s go-to baddie in 2025  
• Alex Rollins Berg shares his favourite classic Warner Bros crime movies. 
• Joe Reid revisits the 1970 satirical thriller Joe. 
• Catherine Shoard shares some tributes of Cary Elwes and Martin Scorsese to the late Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer as well as an update on the mruder investigation. 
• Annette Dionne, last survivor of the famous Dionne quintuplets, has died aged 91.  

 

Tributes to Brigitte Bardot:

• French actress Brigitte Bardot has died aged 91.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Brigitte Bardot. 
• Sarah Gilbert shares photos from Brigitte Bardot's lengthy career. 

 

Tributes to Isiah Whitlock: 

• Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr, best known for his roles in The Wire, Your Honor, Da Five Bloods and The Residence, has died aged 71.. 
• Matt Schimkowitz remembers Isiah Whitlock. 

 

Comments on The Night Manager: 

• Jack Seale calls season 2 of The Night Manager still a class above all other spy thrillers 
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on episode 1 of season 2 of The Night Manager. 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Brandon Sanderson explains why total worldbuilding is a trap for new writers
• Daniel Estrin and Esther Margolis discuss the demise of the mass market paperback. 
• John-Henri Holmberg mourns the demise of the mass market paperback. 
• Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter note that sales of nonfiction and YA books dropped in 2025, but genre fiction and the Buble are booming
• Neda Ulaby lists the most borrowed titles in US libraries. 
• Dave Hansen explains what payouts eligible authors may expect from the settlement of the class action lawsuit against Anthropic AI. 

 

The Debate about intentional and unintentional AI-use in writing and publishing: 

• Erin Underwood shares an open letter to SFWA and claims that avoiding using AI in the writing and publishing process is impossible.
• Paul Weimer responds to Erin Underwood. 
• Chuck Wendig responds to Erin Underwood. 
• Foz Meadows responds to Erin Underwood. 
• T. Frohock responds to Erin Underwood. 
• Shaun Duke responds to Erin Underwood. 
• Robin Anne Reid shares her distaste for AI and how it invades academia. 

 

Awards: 

• The winner of the 2025 Crime Reprint of the Year competition has been announced.

 

Interviews: 

• Victoria Selman interviews Ian Rankin and Mark Billingham.
• Geoff Bennett interviews David Baldacci. 
• Marshal Zeringue interviews Cara Black.
• Marshal Zeringue interviews Christina Kovac. 
• John Charles interviews Rosie A Point 
• Authors on the Air interviews Jeff Circle. 

 

Reviews:

• The Stiletto Gumshoe reviews Hollywood Hit Men by Michele Dominguez Greene  
• Paula L. Woods reviews Only Way Out by Tod Goldberg 
• Jonathan Lee reviews The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson 
• Kevin Tipple reviews The Fatal Saving Grace by Jim Nesbitt 
• Ray Palen reviews The Award by Matthew Pearl
• Kirkus reviews Lit by Tim Sandlin. 
• Robin Agnew reviews Fire Must Burn by Allison Montclair. 
• Peter Handel reviews Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Adreina Cordani. 
•  Joseph B. Hoyos reviews A Wonderful Christmas Crime by Jacqueline Frost
• Kate Jackson reviews The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston.  
• Christine D. Baker reviews Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite   

 

Classics reviews: 

• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1934 mystery Fancy Dress Ball by J. Jefferson Farjeon 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1950 Perry Mason legal mystery The Case Of The Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1960 Dr. Priestley mystery Twice Dead by John Rhode 
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1962 mystery The Wandering Widows by Elizabeth Ferrars  
• B.V. Lawson revisits the 1962 Captain Merton Heimrich mystery First Come, First Kill by Frances and Richard Lockridge.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1966 mystery Devil at Your Elbow by D.M. Devine. 
• Kate Jackson revisits the 1978 mystery Who is Simon Warwick? by Patricia Moyes 
• Happiness is a Book revisits the 1989 87th Precinct police procedural Lullaby by Ed McBain 
• Lesa Holstine revisits the 2004 DS Grace mystery Dead Simple by Peter James 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 2008 historical mystery The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith 

 

Con and event reports:

• Martin Edwards looks back on the crime fiction events he attended in 2025 and the people he met there. 
• David K. Li reports about an accident involving a giant boulder during the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” performance at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
• James Whitbrook also reports about the giant boulder accident at Disney World. 

 

Research: 

• Cannon Taylor reports that the police department in Heber City, Utah, is testing AI software to automatically generate police reports based on bodycam data with some interesting results. 
• Gabe Castro-Root shares some tips how to protect yourself against phone searches at the US border.  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Dead Santas" by Michael Wegener in Shotgun Honey.
• "A Robbery on Main Street" by Kate Kaminski in Shotgun Honey.
• "To My 5-Year-Old Self As I Approach 55" by Robert Plath in The Five-Two. 
    

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Apex.
• Watch a trailer for Memory of a Killer.