Crime Reads » Essays

The Real Through Line from <em>The Godfather</em> to <em>The Sopranos</em> Is the American Family

The Real Through Line from The Godfather to The Sopranos Is the American Family

Mark Seal, author of a new book on the making of The Godfather, looks at the story's influence on David Chase's masterpiece.

By Mark Seal | October 20, 2021

How the

How the "Victorian Mystery" Was Born

At the dawn of a new era, detectives, amateur sleuths, and gentlemen thieves stepped into the spotlight.

By Otto Penzler | October 19, 2021

John Banville Returns to Crime Fiction—This Time Under His Own Name

John Banville Returns to Crime Fiction—This Time Under His Own Name

Banville says his "Benjamin Black" pen name is done, finished, dead. So what is his protagonist Quirke doing in a new novel that moves between Ireland and Spain?

By Peter Handel | October 19, 2021

The Weird Intersection of Noir and Plastic Surgery

The Weird Intersection of Noir and Plastic Surgery

A character with a new face is one of noir's oldest, strangest conventions. Nick Kolakowski explores.

By Nick Kolakowski | October 18, 2021

Under Your Skin: The Horror of the Inexplicable

Under Your Skin: The Horror of the Inexplicable

"it’s the off-kilter portrayal of the mundane, where reality comes unstitched in a vaguely sickening way, that really gets under your fingernails..."

By Andy Marino | October 15, 2021

Steph Cha On Editing The Best American Mystery Series During An Unprecedented Year

Steph Cha On Editing The Best American Mystery Series During An Unprecedented Year

"2020 was full of desperation and injustice and crime, and if mystery writers are paying attention (and I know we are) it should have a transformative effect on the genre."

By Steph Cha | October 14, 2021

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

High-Tech Skullduggery in the Regency Era

By Andrea Penrose | October 14, 2021

Fictional Detectives, Real Hobbies: Appreciating the Leisure Activities of Fiction's Greatest Sleuths

By Jethro K. Lieberman | October 13, 2021

Writing Consent in YA: Empowerment Through Storytelling

By Sara Walters | October 13, 2021

The Eeriness of Minnesota Nice

The Eeriness of Minnesota Nice

Catherine Dang on the dark underbelly of all those polite, respectful interactions.

By Catherine Dang | October 13, 2021

What Can Sherlock Holmes Teach a Young Black Sleuth?

What Can Sherlock Holmes Teach a Young Black Sleuth?

"His pinnacle lesson? Own your self-agency."

By Patricia Raybon | October 12, 2021

An American Outrage: Journalism, Race, and the Clinton Avenue Five

An American Outrage: Journalism, Race, and the Clinton Avenue Five

"During the half decade I spent as a reporter in Newark, the Clinton Avenue Five rarely left my mind."

By James Queally | October 12, 2021

50 Years Later, Looking Back at the Real-Life Crime Network That Inspired <em>The French Connection</em>

50 Years Later, Looking Back at the Real-Life Crime Network That Inspired The French Connection

Andrew Nette remembers life in Vientiane, where "Air Opium" planes flew opium from Laos to Saigon's Chinatown.

By Andrew Nette | October 8, 2021

Why Body Horror Is Such an Evocative Tool in Storytelling

Why Body Horror Is Such an Evocative Tool in Storytelling

"Body horror is powerful because it is personal."

By Caitlin Starling | October 8, 2021

The Obscure French Thriller That May Hold the Secrets to Jack Reacher's World

The Obscure French Thriller That May Hold the Secrets to Jack Reacher's World

In the late '80s, Lee Child—he was still Jim Grant then—picked up a copy of a French novel by Loup Durand. Its influence was profound.

By Heather Martin | October 8, 2021

The Grieving Mothers Whose Stories Inspired A New Novel About Police Violence

The Grieving Mothers Whose Stories Inspired A New Novel About Police Violence

"Behind every shooting is a person, or rather many, many people, often ones who go unnoticed. These were the people and stories we wanted to bring alive with full humanity."

By Christine Pride and Jo Piazzo | October 6, 2021

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