Crime on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

There's been some more great crime fiction stories on the Web this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and fellow bloggers. Hopefully you will all like finding an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Before I dive into all the fantastic stories out there however, I thought I'd quickly mention my own feature that was in last weekend's Weekend Herald, for those that missed it. You can read my article on bestselling British crime writers Peter James and Peter Robinson, here.

I was fortunate enough to also meet Peter James in person earlier this week, at a great, packed event at Takapuna Library on Tuesday evening. He had the audience in stitches, and is a very funny, interesting, and humble guy. I am currently about two thirds of the way through DEAD LIKE YOU, and enjoying it a lot.

Onto the round-up.

Crime Watch Weekly Round-Up: In the News and on the 'Net

• In his regular slot for the Huffington Post, thriller writer Jason Pinter shares a cool little post from Don Winslow (SAVAGES, THE GENTLEMAN'S HOUR) - whose books Pinter describes jabbing "a fountain pen in the eye of anyone who can read one of his tomes and state with conviction that crime fiction isn't literature" - about using a little poetic license in his latest novel.
• Katie Allan of The Bookseller reveals that Wellington-based crime writer and TV screenwriter - and Ngaio Marsh Award finalist - Neil Cross is to write three spin-off novels for Simon & Schuster, based on his character Luther, made famous by Idris Alba in the recent TV series of the same name.
• In further Neil Cross-related news, it has been announced that Luther will premiere in the United States on 17 October, and that the BBC has also commissioned "a spine-chilling new single drama" from Cross for Christmas - Whistle And I'll Come To You, a "thoroughly modern re-working of the evocative Edwardian ghost story "Oh, Whistle and I'll come to You, My Lad" by M.R. James". Busy man, Mr Cross.
• Echoing a view that I've shared on this blog several times, Justin Peacock of The Daily Beast takes a much more eloquent and lengthy look at how crime fiction really has become the modern social novel. "Tom Wolfe and other writers used to tell us about the state of America, but now if you’re looking for great social novels you’d better turn to crime writers like Richard Price and Dennis Lehane", says Peacock.
• Paul Robinson of the Yorkshire Post talks to actor Stephen Tompkinson about playing Peter Robinson's famous sleuth Inspector Alan Banks in the upcoming "gritty" ITV crime drama, DCI Banks: Aftermath.
• Mike Nicol of Crime Beat SA interviews longstanding South African crime writer Wessel Ebersohn about his latest novel, and much more, as his new political thriller Those Who Love Night, which sees the return of Abigail Bukula, the brilliant young lawyer, is released.
• In a nice little article, "Murder, we read", that seems to have only recently popped up online, Malcolm Jones of Newsweek takes a closer look at our centuries-long preference for crime fiction, a literary trend that dwarfs temporarily 'hot' phenomena like vampires or boy wizards.

What do you think of the round-up? Which articles do you find interesting? Is crime the modern social novel? Is crime fiction the biggest, most longstanding modern literary trend of all? Are you looking forward to DCI Banks: Aftermath? Will you read books centred on the intriguing 'Luther'? Please share your thoughts. I'd love to read what you think.