CrimeReads Brief: Week of October 28, 2018

THIS WEEK: In 1942, Michael Crichton, author of such thrillers as Jurassic Park and The Lost World is born.

• • “Women have always had an affinity for horror, they always have.” How Hollywood reinforces the (false) perception that horror is a guy’s thing. | LongReads
  • “Polidori, in presenting the vampire as a depraved and amoral English aristocrat, triggered a cultural sensation.” On the decadent rise of the literary vampire. | Lit Hub
  • After a wealthy Canadian couple were found strangled in their home, theories have proliferated. But does anyone know what really happened?  | Bloomberg Business Week
  • Looking to add to your Halloween playlist? Our podcast correspondent Emily Rose Stein rounds up 8 great horror podcasts and recommends their most chilling episodes. | CrimeReads
  • The art of the inglorious demise: Cecilia Ruiz on four untimely deaths caused by inanimate objects, from murder by cactus, to death by coffin collapse. | CrimeReads
  • Okay, we know this isn’t exactly news, but Reese Witherspoon proves once again that she has great taste in mystery in her By The Book column. | The New York Times
  • From exsanguination to ghost-related mortgage fraud, Robert Masello recommends six classics with supernatural crimes at their center. | CrimeReads
  • Time to examine what exactly we’re getting out of all those serial killer and home invasion novels. Recasting crime fiction as horror. | CrimeReads
  • The votes are in: and America’s favorite novel is, indeed, a crime novel. Here, you can read a roundup of classic reviews that first heralded the official great American novel. | Book Marks
  • “Nobody wrote scoundrels the way Ross Thomas could.” Neil Nyren breaks down the life and work of a master. | CrimeReads
  • On the ancient practice of foundation sacrifices, and how legends of sacrifice may have led to the modern idea of the haunted house.| JSTOR Daily
  • Where hardship meets scenery: Aussie crime writer Emma Viskic rounds up five crime novels that perfectly their rural Australian settings. | CrimeReads
  • Mourning the passing of Evelyn Anthony, a trailblazer for women and authors of spy fiction. | New York Times
  • “I think we look to discover things about ourselves…through other people’s stories.” Sarah Meuleman and Lily Meyer talk mysteries, biographies, and vanishing authors. | CrimeReads
  • “To smoke, or not to smoke?” On the difficult decision of choosing whether or not to have your futuristic hard-boiled detective smoke in science fiction.| Den of Geek
  • A second novel should be just as celebrated as a first. Rounding up the rising stars of mystery in our list of fall’s best sophomore crime releases. | CrimeReads
  • “I ended up shoving the gun in the bottom of a trash can.” Legendary French crime writer Patrick Modiano encounters a crime scene in Paris. | Lit Hub
  • “When it comes to nurturing new writers, networking, and opportunity, Chicago leaves all other cities in the dust.” Julie Hyzy makes the case for Chicago as a crime writer’s paradise. | CrimeReads
  • The military thriller marches on: a report on new trends in the world of war novels, and their closely linked thriller cousins|The Big Thrill
  • “All of us believe our families have remarkable histories, complete with..lots of deep dark secrets.” A conversation with John Grisham. | CrimeReads
  • Jeff Abbott on the pain of losing his library to a house fire, how to go about rebuilding, and lessons for future preservation. | CrimeReads
  • “Both women were there to stay.” The surprising and ambiguous history of Wilkie Collins’ blended family. | Narratively
  • Erica Wright rounds up 9 private eyes who challenge and expand our ideas of what a crime solver should be. | CrimeReads
  • On the literary forger behind the new film Can You Ever Forgive Me? and how she turned her thwarted ambitions into a life of crime. | Refinery 29
  • From gothically evil, to utterly indifferent, to the kind and caring, Catriona McPherson looks at the many kinds of mothering we encounter in crime fiction. | CrimeReads
  • Five crime writers imagine the near future and take Trump’s actions to their (il)logical conclusions.  Featuring Laura Lippman, Jason Matthews, Zoe Sharp, Joseph Finder, and Scott Turow. | The New York Times
  • YA novelist Amy Giles on why we shouldn’t shy away from hard discussions in teen fiction, and how fiction can help process the trauma of school shootings. | CrimeReads
  • Looking for your next Sherlock read? We rounded up 8 books out this year featuring Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Conan Doyle and co. | CrimeReads

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