Crime Fiction Links of the Week for September 19, 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 Lanterns, Spider-Noir, Mayday, Onslaught, The Shards, season 2 of The Gentlemen, Fall 2: Deadpoint, Runner and The Runner, Woman Unknown, tributes to Peter Cullen, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton and much more.
 

Crime fiction in general: 

• CrimeReads shares ten new crime novels coming out this week. 
• Hank Philippi Ryan discusses eight odd couples of crime fiction.
• Carly Hillman shares six great novels where characters try to outrun their pasts. 
• Molly Templeton talks about finding your recipe for literary comfort food  

 

Film and TV:  

• Luke Buckmaster calls Last Seen a gripping thriller and one of the standout shows of the year 
• Lucy Mangan calls Reckless a breathless thriller about siblings in a hit-and-run and a masterpiece 
• Monica Castillo calls By Any Means an uneven buddy-cop period piece.
• Jacob Oller declares that The Whisper Man boasts plenty of stars and little else. 
• Philip Oltermann calls Jupiter a French thriller about nuclear war fears.  
• Kayleigh Donaldsen shares her thoughts on the series finale of Furious.
• Alasdair Stuart finds some unexpected parallels between Reacher, NCIS New York and The Rockford Files. 
• Lyndsey Winship interviews Callie Khouri, writer of Thelma and Louise.   
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1969 domestic thriller La Femme Infidèle 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 1987 satirical science fiction film RoboCop.  

 

Tributes to Peter Cullen, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton:

• Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron in Transformers among many others, shares a tribute to his friend and co-star Peter Cullen who voiced Optimus Prime. 
• Tyler Dean lists his ten favourite Tim Curry roles. 
• Mya Copeland reports that Tim Curry's cause of death has been revealed. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares a guide to the crime movies of Dolly Parton. 

 

Comments on season 2 of The Gentlemen:

• Sarah Dempster calls season 2 of The Gentlemen irritating, stupid and extremely funny 
• Saloni Gajjar declares that The Gentlemen expands its empire of excess in season 2

 

Comments on Mayday:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Mayday a cold war bromance which offers hijinks and hilarity in Soviet Russia  
• Monica Castillo calls Mayday a cold war comedy that is also a cry for help 
• Ryan Britt interviews John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, writers of Mayday.  

 

Comments on Onslaught:

• Jesse Hassenger declares that Onslaught delivers the super-soldier slasher goods, but not much payoff
• Jesse Hassenger calls Onslaught is a natural sequel to The Guest, as far as the military-industrial complex goes 
• Germain Lussier declares that Onslaught is its own worst enemy  
• Brian Davids interviews Adria Arjona, star of Onslaught, Man of Tomorrow and Andor 

 

 Comments on The Shards:

• Ben Rosenstock shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Shards.
• Saloni Gajjar and Drew Gillis wonder how much does The Shards expect them to care  

 

Comments on The Runner and Runner (those are two different movies):

• Benjamin Lee calls The Runner a derivative high-speed, low-rent thriller 
• Jacob Oller calls The Runner a ridiculous, boneheaded thriller.  
• Simon Abrams declares that the stunts in Runner barely make up for the forgettable film. 
• Adrian Horton calls Runner a serviceable B-movie thriller.  
• Jacob Oller discusses whether to watch The Runner or Runner.  

 

Comments on Fall 2: Deadpoint:  

• Simon Abrams calls Fall 2: Deadpoint an underwhelming sequel. 
• Benjamin Lee calls Fall 2: Deadpoint a silly seat-edge sequel that can’t reach heights of the original  

 

Comments on Woman Unknown:  

• Peter Bradshaw calls Woman Unknown a thriller about postwar paranoia with some deliciously dastardly Du Maurier touches
• Philip Oltermann's shares the remarks of Woman Unknown director May el-Toukhy about the challenges facing female directors. 

 

Comments on Lanterns:

• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Dennis Perkins shares his thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "The Weenie”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Joshua Rivera asks whose show Lanterns is anyway 
• Nick Romano interviews the actor who plays the Manhunter in Lanterns.  
• Ronda Racha Penrice interviews Vanessa Baden Kelly, writer of "OutKast"  
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Stephanie Economou, composer of Lanterns.
• Cheryl Eddy reports that Lanterns is getting more popular with each new episode   

 

Comments on Spider-Noir: 

• Nellie Andreeva reports that Spider-Noir has been cancelled after a single season.
• Nellie Andreeva shares the reaction of Nicholas Cage who played Ben Reilly in Spider-Noir to the series' cancellation. 

 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Linwood Barclay talks about writing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations
• Angela Boord asks if trope marketing is ruining literature.
• Sean Delone discusses the collapse of the non-fiction book market. 
• Lois McMaster Bujold talks about printer errors happening to her and other books. 
• Katy Hershberger reports about widespread problems as author begin to receive their Anthropic AI settlement payments. 
• Lee Hae-rin reports about the popularity of literary collectibles in South Korea. 

 

Awards: 

• The longlist for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced.
• The winners of the 2026 Emmy Awards have been announced with lots of love for Widow's Bay and Spider-Noir.  

 

Interviews: 

• Garrick Webster interviews Christopher Harris.
• Garrick Webster interviews D.S. Butler. 
• Garrick Webster interviews Teresa Solana. 

 

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews Fury in Death by J.D. Robb  
• Jeff Ayers reviews Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier 
• Jen Lucas reviews Serenity Falls by C. J. Tudor 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima
• John Valeri reviews The Unknown by Riley Sager
• Robyn Agnew reviews Those Who Are Gone by Laurie R. King.
• Chris Connor reviews The Vanishing Room by Andrew Lowe 
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews All We Hide by Robyn Gigl
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Five Of Us by Sian Gilbert 
• Robyn Agnew reviews Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan.
• Kevin Tipple reviews First Chance by Kasey Lansdale 
• Mandie Grffiths reviews For Any Other Truth by Denzil Meyrick  
• Jeff Ayers reviews Not a Word by Linwood Barclay
• Jen Lucas reviews You’ll Be Sorry by Lisa Gardner   
• Sonja van der Westhuizen reviews Post Mortem by David Lagercrantz 
• Margaret Agnew reviews 6 Days by Jule Selbo. 
• Jen Lucas reviews Split Second by R. C. Bridgestock 
• Alexandra Harris reviews The Bridge by Colm Tóibín
• Jen Lucas reviews The Butterfly House by Teresa Solana, translated by Peter Bush  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury 
• Erin Britton reviews The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews Mrs. Shim Is A Killer by Kang Jiyoung 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Christmas Killer by Ross Greenwood 
• Erin Britton reviews An Uncommonly Festive Fiasco by Hannah Hendy 
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney
• Carla Schantz reviews And Then There Were Bun by Vivien Chien. 

 

Classics reviews: 

• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1941 mystery Death On Heron’s Mere by Mary Fitt 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1977 mystery Murder In The Title by Simon Brett 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel revisits the 1982 mystery Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh 
• Mandie Griffiths revisits the 2018 Kim Stone thriller Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons

 

 

Con and event reports:

• Mary Picken looks ahead at two panels at the 2026 Bloody Scotland festival in Sitrling, Scotland.
• Francis Hamit reports about the panel "Catching a Criminal: Forensics for SF/Mystery Writers" at LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim, California.  

 

Research: 

• The Guardian reports that Sarah Khalifa, presenter of a true crime program on Egyptian TV, has been sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
• Cora Buhlert discusses the struggle over paragraph 218 of the German criminal code. 
• Daniella Lucas reports that mail thieves in the UK are targetting mail order sales of Pokemon cards.  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "This Is Personal" by Armand Rosamilia in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Mickey Was Here?" by J.D. Clapp  in Punk Noir Magazine.
• "Red Flamingo" by Jess Taylor in Punk Noir Magazine.

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Lupin.  
• Watch a trailer for season 24 of NCIS.