Crime Reads » Essays

A Brief History of 1970s Disaster Movies

A Brief History of 1970s Disaster Movies

The special effects were sometimes lacking, but the stars sure turned out for these thrillers about things blowing up, catching fire, and falling apart.

By Keith Roysdon | March 21, 2025

The Role of Family Secrets in Crime Novels and Thrillers

The Role of Family Secrets in Crime Novels and Thrillers

How family histories and secrets serve as catalysts for criminal behavior and plot development.

By January Gilchrist | March 21, 2025

Detections and Digressions: <br>A Close Reading of P.D. James’ <em>Devices and Desires</em>

Detections and Digressions:
A Close Reading of P.D. James’ Devices and Desires

James set out to capture British society more broadly than her predecessors, yet her novels had more in common with the Golden Age than she ever cared to admit

By Curtis Evans | March 20, 2025

Golden Age Detectives in Love

Golden Age Detectives in Love

Celebrating the love lives of Lord Peter Wimsey, Harriet Vane, Roderick Alleyn, Albert Campion, and more.

By Rosanne Limoncelli | March 20, 2025

Science Fiction, Locked Room Mysteries, and the Joy of Literary Games

Science Fiction, Locked Room Mysteries, and the Joy of Literary Games

Olivia Waite on rewriting the rules of the universe and solving a mystery in space

By Olivia Waite | March 19, 2025

Writing a Character Through a Psychotic Breakdown

Writing a Character Through a Psychotic Breakdown

Nicci French on the delicate task of an extreme psychological event.

By Nicci French | March 19, 2025

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

Mining Gig Work for the Plot

By Hannah Deitch | March 18, 2025

Sherlock Holmes in the World

By R.P. O'Donnell | March 17, 2025

Criminals Don’t Take Holidays, Or, A Crime Writer's Take on St. Patrick's Day

By Norman Birnbach and Tilia Klebenov Jacobs | March 17, 2025

Scientist Storyteller: Crafting a Thin Line Between Science Fiction and Science Fact

Scientist Storyteller: Crafting a Thin Line Between Science Fiction and Science Fact

"When an author draws upon real science—rather than “in a galaxy far, far away—where does the known world end and the imagined one begin?"

By Michael Nayak | March 14, 2025

Jacqueline Faber: Rewriting Kitty Genovese on the 61st Anniversary of Her Murder

Jacqueline Faber: Rewriting Kitty Genovese on the 61st Anniversary of Her Murder

Kitty Genovese's death was framed as the cost of urban callousness. But the true story is far more complicated—and contains far more humanity.

By Jacqueline Faber | March 13, 2025

How Emma van Straaten Wrestled with Her Mixed Race Identity and Wrote a Thriller

How Emma van Straaten Wrestled with Her Mixed Race Identity and Wrote a Thriller

The author of 'Creep' reflects on her journey.

By Emma van Straaten | March 13, 2025

How TV Procedurals Make What’s Bad Feel So Good

How TV Procedurals Make What’s Bad Feel So Good

On "the procedural as its own separate space in mystery storytelling."

By Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare | March 13, 2025

On Listening to Your Stories: Writing Across Genres in a Shelf-Specific World

On Listening to Your Stories: Writing Across Genres in a Shelf-Specific World

Kate Maruyama on horror and...not fiction.

By Kate Maruyama | March 12, 2025

Why We Find Bad Friendships So Compelling, In Fiction and IRL

Why We Find Bad Friendships So Compelling, In Fiction and IRL

"The intensity of the connection becomes the intensity of the repulsion."

By Hayley Scrivenor | March 12, 2025

How a Career as a Diplomat Informed a Life as a Writer

How a Career as a Diplomat Informed a Life as a Writer

"[D]iplomatic life can look charming and elegant in movies. In reality, it can prove dangerous and stressful. What does this have to do with writing? Everything."

By Stephen Holgate | March 12, 2025

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