In the news and 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.


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

• In a well-written and intriguing feature that is well worth a read, Andrew Taylor of The Independent examines why Agatha Christie remains so popular and influential in the crime genre, when so many people go out of their way to make clear their dislike of her work".
• Corey Hague of ABC.net interviews Australian crime fiction blogger Karen Chisholm about the attraction of crime fiction and the impact of digital publishing and social media.
• K. Austen in the Squamish Chief takes a look at the stories that may have started various 'genres' of storytelling, and asks whether the Egyptian stone tablet recordings of the legend of Osiris and Isis, almost 4,000 years ago, was the first murder mystery?
• The Telegraph reports that Baronness Ruth Rendell has accused television broadcasters of corrupting young people, with the routine broadcast of torture scenes and a tendency to be over-violent on screen.
• In a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece looking at the place of morality in modern society, columnist Elizabeth Farrelly makes the interesting observation: "Why are crime stories and westerns the most popular fiction genres of all time? Because they dramatise and even (like Dickens) melodramatise the implacable necessity of doing what is right."
• The Washington Post takes a look at how the recent Semana Negra Festival seeks to break down publishing barriers for Spanish-language writers, and aims to lure new readers and prevent existing ones from looking down on crime-writing, science fiction, fantasy and other novel forms often referred to in a dismissive fashion by literary snobs as "genres."
• Tim Oglethorpe of the Daily Mail takes a closer look at the modern-day TV reincarnation of the classic Sherlock Holmes character in the new BBC series Sherlock.
• The Bookseller reports on RJ Ellory's Theakston win, with Simon Theakston, T&R Theakston executive director, calling A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE "a most impressive, fascinating and surprising book and a worthy winner".
• JC Patterson in the Madison County Herald takes a look at the latest releases from two of the biggest-name female crime writers, Tess Gerritsen and Karin Slaughter.

What do you think of the round-up? Which articles do you find interesting? Is TV crime becoming too violent? What do you think of Agatha Christie's status in the genre? Was the legend of Osiris and Isis really the first murder mystery? What types of stories, articles, and reviews would you like me to focus on in future round-ups? Thoughts and comments welcome.