Crime Fiction Links of the Week for May 2, 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 Sheep Detectives, Man on Fire, Daredevil: Born Again and much
more.
Crime fiction in general:
- CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week.
- Molly Odintz hosts a round table discussion about the state of the crime novel between the finalists for the 2026 Edgar Awards in two parts.
- Ruth Knafo Setton talks about women, noir and the art of writing dark
- Rea Fray recommends seven thrilling cime novels about the secrets mothers keep
- Lynn Cahoon explores trends in the landscape of cozy mystery
- Charlie Jane Anders is thrilled that Sherlock Holmes is finally free to be gay
- Judith Tarr shares her appreciation for the Mrs: Murphy cat mysteries by Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown
Film and TV:
- Radha Vatsal shares new crime shows to watch.
- Rhik Samadder calls This Is Not a Murder Mystery an irresistibly surreal Belgian drama where cozy crime meets art.
- Lucy Mangan calls The Cage an astonishing, deeply moving state-of-the-nation thriller
- Sarah Dempster calls Secret Service a spy drama that is not, in any conceivable way, fun
- Lucy Mangan calls the action thriller Prisoner stupid fun.
- Cath Clarke calls I’ve Seen All I Need to See a murky indie thriller
- Leslie Felperin calls The Return of Arinzo a noirish Nollywood thriller
- Simon Abrams calls Deep Water a quaint, but solid airplane crash survival thriller.
- Phil Hoad calls Brute 1976 a throwback slasher that summons up the spirit of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- Lucy Mangan calls Should I Marry a Murderer? a docudrama about an amazing woman who spied on her killer fiancé for police
- Radha Vatsal calls the documentary Our Land a portrait of a murder trial – and of indigenous rights and identity in Argentina.
- James Grebey shares ten gimmick-driven shark movies trying to outswim Jaws
Comments on The Sheep Detectives:
- Tim Grierson declares that The Sheep Detectives is probably the best movie about sheep detectives ever made
- Peter Bradshaw calls The Sheep Detectives a baa-rking mad cozy crime caper
- Frank Scheck declares that The Sheep Detectives never achieves the level of magic for which it’s desperately straining.
Comments on Man on Fire:
Comments on season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, Spider-Noir and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on “The Hateful Darkness”, the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on “The Hateful Darkness”, the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Meaghan Darwish interviews Michael Gandolfini who plays Daniel Blake in Daredevil: Born Again.
- Germain Lussier reports that the second season of Daredevil: Born Again has about half the audience of season one.
- Inspired by Spider-Noir, Jonathan Wells wonders why hardboiled detectives are currently experiencing a resurgence.
- Ben Child notes that it appears as if Marvel is going to abandon the Multiverse saga and wonders what the point of all those movies and TV shows was and why he even bothered watching them,
- Watch a trailer for Spider-Noir.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Janes Espenson explains what prose writers can learn from script writers
- James Cleary explains what stage acting taught him about writing and storytelling
- Amin Ahmad shares a lesson on writing monstrous characters
- Maddie Day talks about cozies, touring wineries and turning book research into fun
- Keith Roysdon explains how some writers are finding a new path to publishing
- Rosie Peters-McDonald reports that a new study by HarperCollins has found that the “relentless” focus on measuring literacy progress in schools has “pushed reading for pleasure to the margins”.
- Dwight Garner wonders where all the book reviewers have gone.
- The Authors Guild shares a statement and new model contract clauses regarding the use of consumer AI systems in publishing:
- Hillel Italie reports that book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, with Sold by Patricia McCormick topping the list of the most banned books.
- Jill Repogle reports that the city of Huntington Beach, California, has been ordered to pay one million USD in legal fees for censoring library books
- Camestros Felapton shares some graphs about the development of book prices.
- Jason Sanford announces that Must Read Magazines, the publisher of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, has announced that they are switching to a new printing company due to print quality issues.
- Locus reports that the publishers Bloomsbury is laying off several employees.
Awards:
- The winners of the 2026 Edgar Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2026 Agatha Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2026 Derringer Awards.have been annunced.
- The longlist for the 2026 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2026 Astra Book Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2026 Peabody Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2026 Webby Awards have been announced.
Interviews:
- Scott Simon interviews Anthony Horowitz
- Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee interview Neil Lancaster
- Paul Burke interviews Matthew Carr
- Barbara Peters interviews Spencer Quinn
- D.P. Lyle interviews Adam Richardson.
- Deborah Kalb interviews Gregory Poirier.
- Deborah Kalb interviews Marc S. Perlman.
- Marshal Zeringue interviews Catherine Mack.
Reviews:
- Janet Webb reviews Liar’s Creek by Matt Goldman
- Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Where the Truth Lies by Katherine Greene
- Kevin Tipple reviews Two Truths and a Lie by Mark Stevens
- Mary Picken reviews Last One Out by Jane Harper
- Joseph B. Hoyos reviews I Came Back for You by Kate White
- Kevin Tipple reviews The Monk by Tim Sullivan
- Jen Lucas reviews The Good Listener by Holly Watt
- Mike Parker reviews The Dead Ringer by Dane Bahr
- Jen Lucas reviews The Strange Lives of Eleanor Teague by M.K. Hill
- Doreen Sheridan reviews Such Sheltered Lives by Alyssa Sheinmel
- In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews A Thief’s Revenge by Douglas Skelton
- Mary Picken reviews A Thief’s Revenge by Douglas Skelton
- Mandie Griffiths reviews Dangerous by Essie Fox
- Jen Lucas reviews Thornby Manor by Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes
- Marlene Harris reviews Fierce Poison by Will Thomas
- Marlene Harris reviews In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
- Carla Schantz reviews Confessions of an Amateur Sleuth by Lynn Cahoon.
- Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Murder Mindfully by Karsten Dusse, translated by Florian Duijsens
- Doreen Sheridan reviews Monster In The Moonlight by Annelise Ryan
- Erin Britton reviews The Body that Floats by Jayne Chard
- Marlene Harris reviews Trouble’s Turn to Lose by Susan M. Boyer
- Mike Parker reviews Holy F*ck by Joseph Incardona
- Carla Schantz reviews Death by Chocolate Ladyfingers by Sarah Graves.
Classics reviews:
- Kate Jackson revisits the 1928 mystery The Missing Partners by Henry Wade
- In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1956 Bertha Cool and Donald Lam mystery Beware the Curves by A. A. Fair a.k.a. Erle Stanley Gardner.
- Happiness is a Book revisits the 1965 equestrian mystery For Kicks by Dick Francis
- Martin Edwards revisits the 1972 mystery The Body of a Girl by Michael Gilbert.
- B.V. Lawson revisits the 1980 anthology The Edgar Winners, edited by Bill Pronzini
- Happiness is a Book revisits the 1998 Mr. Montague Egg mystery Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh
- Raven Crime Reads revisits the 2008 crime novel The Ossians by Doug Johnstone.
- Mary Picken revisits the 2008 crime novel The Ossians by Doug Johnstone.
- Runalong the Shelves revisits the 2016 thriller Blind Sight by Carol O’Connell
Con and event reports:
Research:
- Madison Salters explains why audiences love, celebrate and obsess over murderers and manipulators online.
- Hugh Muir talks about witnessing an attempt to forcibly deport a struggling and terrified man from the UK to Jamaica on a regular airline flight.
- Uwa Ede-Osifo reports that a man has been arrested for the 1991 murder of Cindy Wanner in California.
- Rylee Kirk reports that a man in California has been arrested and charged for buying up thousands of US-dollars worth of LEGO sets, replacing the contents with uncooked pasta and then returned them for refunds.
Free online fiction:
Trailers and videos:

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