Links

Our Links section aims to provide brief summaries of some of the most interesting and useful web sites.  We will be adding to it regularly and would be grateful for any suggestions (please contact us, giving a brief description of the site you would like us to include).

The links that can be found below are:

• Contemporary crime writing ~ authors' sites
• Contemporary crime writing ~ publishers' sites
• Pulp fiction: collections and booksellers
• Critical commentaries, forums and online reviewers
• Journals with websites
• Crime films
• True crime
• Crime related entertainments
   

Contemporary crime writing ~ authors' sites

http://www.jasonstarr.com/ ~ Jason Starr's site - very full information on bio, novels, tours, book and film recommendations, and lots more.

http://www.meganabbott.com/ ~ Megan Abbott's site - an excellent and comprehensive site, offering critical opinions, appearances, side projects and much else on one of the very best of contemporary crime writers.

http://www.charliestella.com/ ~ Charlie Stella's site - an enjoyable mix of information, short fiction, interviews, reviews (including Momma Stella's - “It was good … but ... there were too many characters.”)

http://www.kevinwignall.com/  ~  Kevin Wignall's site, offering answers to a lot of questions - about themes, plans, genre, character and the choice of a hitman as a protagonist. 

http://www.woodsontheweb.com/  ~ Paula L. Woods official web site, containing 'excerpts, interviews, book reviews, recipes, cool links, event information, and more'.

http://www.brookmyre.co.uk/  ~  Christopher Brookmyre - the official Brookmyre website, maintained by his UK publisher and containing "everything you could possibly want to know about the author and about Chris’s Books as well as all the Latest News, plus Links to some of Chris’s favourite websites and a few added extras".

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/  ~  Michael Connelly - ‘michaelconnelly.com’ is a well-organised site containing lots of information - biographical details, book descriptions and excerpts from reviews, interviews - even a photo gallery of the places in LA that Connelly writes about.

http://www.suegrafton.com/  ~  Sue Grafton - The Sue Grafton’s site is full and lively - a well-designed site containing lots of personal details (photos, bio, answers to readers’ questions, favourite foods), fairly full book descriptions, reviews and interviews

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/  ~  Carl Hiaasen’s official website includes interviews and summaries of his novels.

http://www.johnbakeronline.co.uk  ~ John Baker’s Fiction Pages:  the site of British crime writer, John Baker, author of the Sam Turner and Stone Lewis novels (Baker has been described as the creator of "A noir series for the thinking person."). The site offers sample pages from all of the Sam Turner novels as well as reviews, pictures and other related material, including an extensive links page.

http://www.elmoreleonard.com/  ~  Elmore Leonard ~ ‘The Official Elmore Leonard Web SIte’ is colourful and useful - with info on films, books (including some review extracts), an article by Martin Amis on Leonard’s style, etc.

http://www.waltermosley.com/ ~ the official Walter Mosley site, offering excerpts, news, interviews, details of tours and so on.

http://www.vachss.com/  ~  Andrew Vachss ~ the Vachss site, ‘The Zero’, is exceptionally full and informative, with sections on the whole range of Vachss’ writings (novels, stories, articles, graphic novels, speeches - even haiku), articles, interviews, free downloads and much else.

http://www.hardluckstories.com/  ~  Hardluck Stories Zine:  an enjoyable sampling of the work of new crime writers. Each issue has a different Guest Editor: ‘the taste and style of the stories selected will be depend on the editor. One thing that will be consistent, though. Only hard-boiled or noir stories will be considered.’

http://www.lafterhall.com/filmnoir.html  ~ Film Noir Portraiture:  a site for authors who would like to look as noir as their novels.  Jim Ferreira, whose studio is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, specialises in 'film noir portraiture'. His studio - 'where dishy dames and private dicks are shot!' - is showcased on his web site. 

 

Contemporary crime writing ~ publishers' sites

http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/blacklizard/ ~ Vintage Crime/Black Lizard: 'From Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler, Andrew Vachss to Ruth Rendell, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard publishes the finest in classic crime fiction and suspense writing available today.'

http://www.serpentstail.com  ~  Serpent's Tail, "established in 1986, Serpent's Tail is committed to publishing extravagant, outlaw voices neglected by the mainstream."    

http://www.canongate.net/  ~  Canongate, Edinburgh-based publishing house that since 1994 "has emerged as one of the most dynamic publishing houses in Britain" - includes such imprints as Canongate Crime, Payback Press, Rebel Inc and Mojo Books. "We have no specific agenda other than to promote and publish challenging, quality work from as broad a perspective as we are able."

http://www.noexit.co.uk  ~  No Exit, one of the leading UK publishers of independent crime fiction: "more than just the usual suspects".

http://www.pointblankpress.com/  ~  PointBlank, established in early 2004 by JT Lindroos and John Betancourt, is an imprint of Wildside Press specializing "in publishing cutting edge fiction and non-fiction: crime, mystery, and otherwise".

http://www.hardcasecrime.com/about.shtml  ~  Hard Case Crime " brings you the best in hardboiled crime fiction, ranging from lost noir masterpieces to new novels by today's most powerful writers, featuring stunning original cover art in the grand pulp style."  Authors include Lawrence Block, Max Allan Collins, Donald E. Westlake, Allan Guthrie; plus Golden-Age pulp writers like Day Keene, and Wade Miller.

http://www.birlinn.co.uk/  ~ Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn - "a vibrant list of new Scottish fiction, poetry and general-interest, formerly part of Edinburgh University Press". Polygon's list includes Alexander McCall Smith & other crime fiction.

http://www.harpercollins.com/ ~  HarperCollinsPublishers UK website, featuring latest book and author news, interviews with authors, book features, competitions, sample chapters, audio clips, regularly updated (newsletter also available).

http://www.luath.co.uk/ ~  The Edinburgh-based Luath Press was established in 1981 and aims to offer "distinctive writing with a hint of unexpected pleasures". The crime writers publishing with Luath include Lin Anderson, author of an investigative crime series featuring forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod (Driftnet and Torch); and Nick Smith, author of Milk Treading and Kitty Killer Cult, hardboiled thrillers featuring anthropomorphic cats - highly recommended by a rara-avis contributor as weird but effectively deadpan ("To be honest, it seemed so whacked out that I had to try it...but it works very well.").

 

Pulp fiction: collections, pulp online, booksellers offering vintage and contemporary crime fiction

http://uk.book-club-offers.com/mystery-thriller/  ~ The Mystery and Thriller Club markets a large range of the latest titles and gives readers quite substantial savings (and attractive introductory deals). They offer: "mystery, thriller, adventure, spine-chilling horror and supernatural books with this frighteningly good introductory offer. All the big names plus the hottest new talent." 

http://www.pulporiginals.com  ~ Pulp Originals:  making available in e-book form some of the very best mid-century American crime novels.  At present offering: Harry Whittington's The Devil Wears Wings, James McKimmey's Squeeze Play, and a Day Keene double, Sleep With the Devil and Who Has Wilma Lathrop?
  
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/home.html  ~   Stanford’s Dime Novel and Story Paper Collection: over 8,000 individual items, including long runs of the major dime novel series (e.g., Frank Leslie’s Boys of America, Happy Days) and story papers like Saturday Night – genres that flourished in the second half of the 19th century in America and England (as "penny dreadfuls").

http://www.cinemarquee.com/cine/pulp.htm  ~ Cinemarquee:  great links to pulp collections (library archives as well as booksellers), articles on collecting pulps, pulp magazines, pulp characters.

http://www.zardozbooks.co.uk  ~ Zardoz Books:  advertises (justifiably) as Europe's largest out-of-print and collectible fiction bookdealer.  Indispensable for students of crime fiction - affordable copies of hundreds of pulp titles, online catalogues, search facility. 

http://www.murderone.co.uk  ~ Murder One:   web site for huge crime bookstore in London (Charing Cross Road); vast collection of crime titles (mainly new, plus smaller second-hand section), as well as true crime, sci fi, fantasy and romance sections.  Site includes weekly news updates, reviews, news of forthcoming events, catalogue and online ordering.  

http://www.cs.uku.fi/~vaisala/Pulp.htm ~ Pulp links:  good collection of links to pulp-related sites, from Doc Savage to Stanford’s Dime Novel Collection. 
 
http://thepulp.net/ ~ The Pulp.Net:  offers ‘information about books, zines and other interesting pulp-related items that can help you on your pulp quest,’ plus more links to other pulp-related sites. 

http://www.vintagelibrary.com/ ~ The Vintage Library:  a specialty online bookstore featuring ‘a unique selection of hundreds of paperbacks, collector's editions, e-books, magazines, fanzines, and other formats that captures the spirit and excitement of the early to mid 20th century world of fiction’.

http://members.tripod.com/~writer89/index.html ~ Hardboiled Heaven: site reproducing great vintage paperback covers, together with a ‘Hardboiled Checklist’, links to ‘the best hardboiled sites on the Web, a few original articles on the subject, and whatever else I come up with when I'm sober’.  

http://www.cultureandthrills.com/ ~ David T. Alexander Collectibles:  claims to have ‘the world’s largest selection of vintage paper collectibles’ – and does indeed provide an impressive resource for students and collectors, including comics, classic pulps, cover paintings, etc.

http://home.comcast.net/~pulpgallery/welcome.html ~ The Pulp Gallery:  a site selling a good selection of vintage pulp magazines: "a visual reference guide to the wonderful cover art of pulp and pin-up magazines. Primarily the Gallery focuses on pulp cover art from the 1920's through the 1950's".

http://www.detective-fiction.com/   ~  Detective Fiction is a retail site, exclusively crime and mystery with free worldwide delivery.

http://www.mysteryguild.com   ~  Mystery Guild Book Club - Murder Mystery Books, Detective Fiction, Thriller Books, True Crime Novels. The Mystery Guild Book Club offers discount mystery books including murder mysteries, detective fiction, thriller books, crime novels and true crime books from best selling mystery authors. 

 

Critical commentaries, forums and online reviewers  

http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/ ~ The Rap Sheet - a consistently lively and informative blog, the Rap Sheet "is always on the lookout for information about new and forthcoming books, special author projects, genre innovations, and distinctive crime-fiction-related Web sites".

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/ ~ Crime Time - "This is what the rest of the magazines want to be when they grow up" - James Sallis

http://www.deadlypleasures.com/ ~  Deadly Pleasures is "America's premier fan-oriented mystery magazine.  In it and on this site we celebrate all that is good about the mystery genre."

http://shotsmag.co.uk/  ~  Shots - "the magazine for Crime & Mystery," offering news, columns, reviews, interviews, plus some fiction.

http://www.twbooks.co.uk/index.htm  ~ Tangled Web Crime & Mystery Fiction Journal - huge online repository of reviews, interviews, author profiles, etc.

http://www.thrilleruk.fsnet.co.uk/  ~  ThrillerUK is "a small press fan magazine that celebrates 'Pulp Fiction' both old and new" - combining articles on series characters and their creators and short stories by new and up and coming writers.

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/   ~  Thrilling Detective Web Site:  contemporary private eye fiction,‘Thrilling Detective Comics’, plus a ‘never-complete listing of private dicks and janes, and selected other tough guys and gals, listed by character, with all appearances in novels, short stories, film, television, radio and other media’.
 
http://uwpress.wisc.edu/popularpress.html  ~  Popular Press: the Catalog: one of the leading publishers of academic studies of crime literature; their online site provides full list of current and recently-published titles available from the Popular Press, with links to full descriptions.

http://www.murderone.co.uk  ~  Murder One: primarily a site for crime fiction (see above), but also has a substantial section of critical texts, well-stocked and regularly updated.   

http://internationalnoir.blogspot.com/   ~  International Noir Fiction - Glenn Harper's blog offers excellent sections on Italian and Latin American noir, publishers of international noir in English, definitions of noir,  and so on -   "current and classic detective fiction, mostly from outside the U.S., in English translation", generally available either through U.S. or international sources. The aim is to talk about "books that rise above the formula, books that reveal something about their setting, books that (like the best crime fiction) reveal something about us and our times."

http://www.mysteryinkonline.com/   ~  Mystery Ink - Crime fiction book reviews, author interviews and more, edited by David Montgomery, book columnist, Chicago Sun-Times.

http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~jkimura/   ~  The Gumshoe Site:  interesting links to interviews, news, reviews, etc.; particularly good on contemporary crime writers. 

http://www.otr.com/private.html  ~ Private Eyes:  lively introduction, with audio links (RealOne), to radio adaptations of private eye stories – ‘Beginning with America's love affair with pulps such as True Detective magazine in the twenties and combining with our love of mystery, especially in the forties and continuing into the fifties, radio's love affair with private eyes brought us many good series.’

 http://www.twbooks.co.uk/ ~ Tangled Web UK:  - an enormously useful collection of information about individual crime writers, bibliographic details, reviews, etc.

http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/arsenelupin.ht  ~ Arsène Lupin:  site dedicated to Maurice Leblanc, creator of the character of gentleman-burglar Arsène Lupin who, in France, was as popular as Sherlock Holmes (some comparisons are developed).

 

Journals with websites
                   
http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/blackmask.html  ~ Black Mask Magazine:  an excellent site, the ‘cyber-revival of the classic hard-boiled pulp crime mag (Black Mask) that first introduced the world to such writers as Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler’; also incorporating Dime Detective, Dime Mystery, Strange Detective Mysteries, Terror Tales, Horror Stories, Adventure and Famous Fantastic Mysteries.  Holding the rights to a number of pulp magazines, the site is able to ‘cyber-publish’ the vintage stories, and offers in addition interviews, non-fiction articles and many samples of the original art work. 
 
http://intensities.org/  ~ Intensities – The Journal of Cult Media:  a lively interdisciplinary e-journal, publishing two issues a year; includes articles on ‘all aspects of cult media including cult television, cult film, cult radio, literary cults and cult authors, new media cults, cult figures and celebrities, cult icons, musical cults, cult geographies, historical studies of media cults and their fandoms, cult genres (e.g. science fiction, horror, fantasy, pulp fiction, Manga, anime, Hong Kong film etc.)…’ 

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/  ~ Crime Time:   web site for one of the most important British crime journals – containing interviews, reviews features, etc.
                                                                                              
http://paradoxa.com/ ~ Paradoxa: the site for an excellent American journal that publishes articles on genre literature  - mysteries and crime fiction (e.g., an issue called ‘Dark Alleys of Noir’), science fiction, horror, the fantastic, the occult, westerns, etc.; site itself doesn’t include everything published in the journal, but provides lots of good articles and excerpts. 

http://www.mysteryreaders.org/journal.html  ~ Mystery Readers Journal:   an e-journal that has been publishing online since 1989. Not all of its earlier articles are available online, but since 1996 four articles a year are available, covering such topics as 'Technological Mysteries', 'Animal Mysteries', 'The Ethnic Detective', etc.

Crime films

http://www.filmsite.org and http://www.greatestfilms.org  ~ Tim Dirks - The Greatest Films: Landmarks in Classic Hollywood/American Films:  For the last decade, Tim Dirks site has provided this award-winning resource for film enthusiasts. The site includes "interpretive and detailed plot synopses, review commentary, an unparalleled wealth of film reference material, and historical background for hundreds of classic Hollywood/American and other English-language films in the last century".  It has been praised, for example, by Encyclopedia Britannica (as a "rich collection of commentary and information about masterpieces of American cinema") and by Roger Ebert as a site that "offers many ways of looking at important films", its centerpiece being Dirks' "series of 100 long reviews of classics, including downloadable still photos, highly extensive plot summaries, and a lot of quotes... He has essays on genres, periods and types of movies, and suggested titles in each area, and his sheer love for the movies comes across in his accuracy and energy." 

Dirks' vast project includes, for example: http://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html  ~ Crime and Gangster Films:  an account of the history of gangster films, plus listings of some key films, with links to longer discussions of some of the most famous ones (Public Enemy, Scarface, Little Caesar).

http://www.cinemagebooks.com ~ Cinemage Books - hard to find, out of print, rare film books -  browse an inventory that includes of out of print film books, screenplays, photography, graphic design, animation, horror and fantasy, signed books, posters, fiction, literature, mysteries and more.

http://www.suspense-movies.com/  ~ Film Noir, Suspense & Classic Action Movies - a lively site with discussion of directors (e.g., Hitchcock, Anthony Mann), themed articles (femmes fatales, tough guy talk, etc.), at:

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Movies/Genres/Film_Noir/  ~ Open Directory Project – Film Noir:  large number of links to film noir-related sites, with brief descriptions.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/noir/index.html  ~ Film Noir Studies, including "No Place for a Woman: The Family in Film Noir and Other Essays":  in addition to offering a good discussion of the portrayal of women, the site links to essays on the detective hero in film noir and 'the outer limits' of film noir. 

http://web.mac.com/classicnoir/Classic_Noir_Online/  ~  Classic Noir Online:  extensive listings of individual films.  These only link to the IMDb, but the site also offers several entertaining features, including articles on classic noir, on actors, directors, individual films, themes , etc., plus advice on good films in different categories (e.g., "Femme Fatales" or "Slug Fest”).

http://www.eskimo.com/~noir/  ~ Dark City: Film Noir and Fiction: well-presented summary of noir as a genre and sections on important noir writers (e.g., Hammett, Chandler, Thompson), noir directors, etc.; includes images, memorable lines, plot summaries and reviews.
 
 
 
 
True crime
 
http://www.crimelibrary.com  ~ The Crime Library: a site that offers ‘hundreds of in-depth, true stories about the most notorious crimes of all time’, plus crime news, criminal profiling and crime fiction. 
 
http://www.courttv.com  ~ Court TV:  the internet site dedicated to the Court TV network, launched in 1991 - ‘the first and only cable network dedicated to crime and justice seven days a week’, it has so far broadcast over 700 trials and claims to offer ‘a unique window on the American legal system’. 
 
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/  ~ The Smoking Gun:  linked to Court TV: offers ‘exclusive documents--cool, confidential, quirky’, using material from government and law enforcement sources, court files, etc.
 
http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/  ~ Crime Scene Investigator:  a site that is designed to appeal to those interested in crime scene investigation and photography; includes articles on the topic, a bookstore, etc.
 
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/org/cases99.htm  ~ FBI Laboratory:  part of a large FBI site, providing information on forensic analysis, investigative and intelligence activities, surveillance, ‘field evidence response, crisis response, hazardous materials’, etc.
 
 
 
Crime-related entertainments

http://www.malinche.net/murdermystery.html  ~ Malinche Entertainment: Experience interactive crime fiction where you are the detective in a murder mystery.  Howard Sherman, Implementor for Malinche Entertainment, offers a "unique brand of fiction": "My latest mystery title, Greystone, is an incredible fictional experience since the reader becomes the detective and must catch the killer...and fast. With forty different endings, mystery fans are blown away by all the possibilities. Visitors to your website might be interested since they BECOME the detective in the story and conduct their own investigation."

http://www.gumshoe-online.com/  ~ Gumshoe Online:  "Gumshoe Online will require all your powers of deduction to unravel a host of mysteries, and find out who is the greatest online detective.  Set in 1930's America, Gumshoe Online puts you in the shoes of a private detective trying to scrape a living in a corrupt city. By exploring crime scenes, finding clues, interviewing suspects and solving puzzles you'll discover the evidence to unlock the case. Unlike traditional computer games, Gumshoe Online uses web technology and is therefore available to anyone with an Internet connection..." 

http://www.MysteryNet.com/timeline/  ~ MysteryNet.com:  a fairly commercial site catering to people who like solving mysteries, including accounts of ‘the greatest crime-solvers’, online mysteries, discussions of TV and movies, games and puzzles, books, offers, and shopping.