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).
Some of the
best sites devoted to contemporary crime writers are listed
below. SEE ALSO the Links section of our new feature, 21st-Century Crime. For other links to specific writers, see the Reading
Lists section (Primary Sources).
The
links that can be found below are:
Contemporary
crime writing ~ authors' sites
Pulp
fiction: collections and booksellers
Critical
texts: publishers and booksellers
Crime
writers and their detectives
Generally
useful crime fiction sites
Crime
films
Journals
with websites
True
crime
Crime related
entertainments
Contemporary
crime writing ~ authors' sites
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. http://www.lafterhall.com/filmnoir.html
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.johnbakeronline.co.uk
Christopher Brookmyre
~ the Brookmyre site, complete with bombs and some funny sound effects,
contains interviews, news, book descriptions, etc. http://www.brookmyre.co.uk/index.htm
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.michaelconnelly.com/
James
Ellroy ~
several interesting sites. The Richmond Review ~ Demon Dog Central
- good collection of links to material on Ellroy, at: http://www.richmondreview.co.uk/features/ellroy.html.
There is also a site ‘dedicated to’
the work of James Ellroy that includes biographical details, brief
descriptions of the novels - and a glossary – at: http://www.ellroy.com/index.html.
For another interview with Ellroy check out: http://www.worldmind.com/Cannon/Culture/Interviews/ellroy.html
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.suegrafton.com/
Carl
Hiaasen ~ Hiaasen’s official
website includes interviews and summaries of his novels, at: http://www.carlhiaasen.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.elmoreleonard.com/home.htm
Walter
Mosley ~ a Walter Mosley site that
offers a ‘bookshelf’, news, interviews, details of tours
and so on. http://www.twbookmark.com/features/waltermosley/article.html
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. One of the best, at: http://www.vachss.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.hardluckstories.com/
Pulp
fiction: collections, pulp online, booksellers offering vintage
and contemporary crime fiction
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.mysterythriller.co.uk/visit/index.asp
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.pulporiginals.com
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-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/home.html
Cinemarquee:
great links to pulp collections (library archives as well as booksellers),
articles on collecting pulps, pulp magazines, pulp characters. http://www.cinemarquee.com/cine/pulp.htm
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.zardozbooks.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.murderone.co.uk
Crime in Store:
one of London's specialist crime bookstores, offering printable
online catalogue and purchasing, recommendations, author profiles,
signed copies, etc. http://www,crimeinstore.co.uk
The Pulp Page:
a site dedicated to the pulp magazines of the 1920's, '30's and
'40's; each section includes a brief historical essay, a bibliography,
a special feature and links to other pulp sources.
http://www.columbia.edu/~mfs10/pulp.html
Pulp links:
good collection of links to pulp-related sites, from Doc Savage
to Stanford’s Dime Novel Collection. http://www.cs.uku.fi/~vaisala/Pulp.htm
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://thepulp.net/
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://www.vintagelibrary.com/
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://members.tripod.com/~writer89/index.html
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://www.cultureandthrills.com/new.htm
Pulp Magazines Gallery:
a site selling a good selection of vintage pulp magazines.
http://www.oldsfbooks.com/pulpgal/html
No Exit Press:
the UK's leading independent publisher of crime fiction. http://www.noexit.co.uk/index.htm
Alibris: "From Pulp to Noir: Collecting Vintage Paperbacks": advice and links for the first-time collector of paperback originals. http://www.alibris.com/articles_features/features/pulp/pulptonoir/intro.cfm
Publishers
and booksellers specialising in critical texts dealing with crime
fiction and film
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.bgsu.edu/offices/press/bcat2.html
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://www.murderone.co.uk
Crime
writers ~ tough guys, detectives, private eyes
Clerical (and Other) Detectives - an enjoyable site created by Philip Grosset, including introductions to Reverend Randollph, Rabbi Small, Sister Fidelma, Father Brown, Charlie Mortdecai, John Appleby and Michael Gilbert's characters. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/philipg/detectives/
The Hank Janson Website: an excellent site dedicated to the leading "tough gangster author" of Britain's post-World War II mushroom publishing phenomenon. Stephen Frances, under the pseudonym of Hank Janson, wrote more than 100 pulp novels in the late-1940s and 1950s. This site offers discussions of the historical background, of Frances's writing career, of the Hank Janson illustrator Reginald Heade, and the prosecution of the publisher and distributor of the series under the Obscene Publications Act. http://www.hankjanson.org.uk/?
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.otr.com/private.html
Tangled Web UK:
- an enormously useful collection of information about individual
crime writers, bibliographic details, reviews, etc. http://www.twbooks.co.uk/
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). http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/arsenelupin.ht
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://www.thrillingdetective.com/
Generally
useful crime fiction sites
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://internationalnoir.blogspot.com/
Mystery Ink - Crime fiction book reviews, author interviews and more, edited by David Montgomery, book columnist, Chicago Sun-Times - at http://www.mysteryinkonline.com; for more reviews, articles, etc. of David Montgomery, visit: http://www.montgomeryweb.net
Classic Crime Fiction contains in-depth bibliographies of crime and mystery first editions, lots of pictures of rare books, etc. Most major authors covered with new articles going weekly - now over a 1000 pages. www.ClassicCrimeFiction.com. See also allied site at: www.detective-fiction.com ~ Detective Fiction, a retail site, exclusively crime and mystery with free worldwide delivery.
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. http://www.mysteryguild.com
Internet
Resources for Detective and Mystery Fiction: an excellent
collection of links at http://www.unbsj.ca/library/subject/mystery1.htm
The
Gumshoe Site:
interesting links to interviews, news, reviews, etc.; particularly
good on contemporary crime writers. http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~jkimura/
Crime
films
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." http://www.filmsite.org & http://www.greatestfilms.org
Dirks' vast project includes, for example:
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.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html
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 at http://www.cinemagebooks.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://www.suspense-movies.com/
Dr
Noir’s Crime Posters: great collection of vintage
crime, mystery, detective and film noir cinema posters; all for
sale, though the best ones are definitely priced beyond the reach
of most students and academics. http://www.drnoir.com/
Open Directory Project – Film Noir:
large number of links to film noir-related sites, with brief descriptions.
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Movies/Genres/Film_Noir/
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://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/noir/index.html
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.classicnoir.com/features/features.html
Film Noir:
The Pseudo-Origin of a Non-Genre: a light-hearted look at
definitions, oddities and 'pesky questions' - plus links to more
academic study guides, entitled 'Cinema and Subjectivity'. http://www.anotherscene.com/cinema/fnoir.html
The Incredible World of Bowling
Noir: possibly not of
mainstream importance, but hard to resist this one – includes
not only The Big Lebowski but Cape Fear, Double Indemnity, Criss
Cross, etc. http://members.aol.com/bobbuttman/bowlingnoir/bowlingnoir.htm
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. http://www.eskimo.com/~noir/
The Noir Connection: focuses
on the German influence on film noir. http://www.german-way.com/german/noir.html
The Ultimate Gangster and Crime Film Web Site:
good list of gangster films from early days to present, though with
links just taking you to the IMDb; lots of poster images, with details
of where you can purchase them online; but not too much by way of
more solid information. http://www.geocities.com/~mikemckiernan/gangposters.html
A new detective duo, Trillo and Suede - Jonathan Geffner, of Geffner Productions Inc., has sent us a link to an intriguing film short, a parody called "Oxford Park" that's currently touring the film festival circuit, and is part of a long-range project to produce feature films and a TV series featuring Van Trillo and Sam Suede: "A fast-talking, no-nonsense detective duo with a difference: Trillo is a ventriloquist, and Suede is a dummy. Set in a place that looks very like the 1940's in New York City's Chinatown, Trillo and Suede grapple with an endless array of gangsters and grifters, murderers and misfits, spies and saps, con men and cops, politicians on the take and femmes fatales on the make...It's film noir through the eyes of the Marx Brothers…" http://trilloandsuede.com/
Journals
with websites
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://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/blackmask.html
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.cult-media.com/
Crime Time:
web site for one of the most important British crime journals
– containing interviews, reviews features, etc. http://www.crimetime.co.uk/
Crime Factory:
online Australian crime fiction magazine, providing reviews of new
crime fiction and of critical texts on crime fiction, plus interviews,
true crime articles, etc. http://www.crimefactory.net/
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://paradoxa.com/
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. http://www.mysteryreaders.org/journal.html
True
crime
Garretdom:
a site dedicated to accounts in old newspapers of death, oddities,
quackery, racism and crime; the ‘Crime and Punishment’
section offers stories of ‘the lethal and non-lethal varieties
of crime’ reported in 19th-century newspapers. http://asylumeclectica.com/garretdom/crime/
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.crimelibrary.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.courttv.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.thesmokinggun.com/
Crime
Scene Investigation: 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.crime-scene-investigator.net/
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. http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/org/cases99.htm
Crime-related
entertainments
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.malinche.net/murdermystery.html
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.gumshoe-online.com/
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. http://www.MysteryNet.com/timeline/
Minuit
Moins Dix: a French site offering ‘Un spectacle-polar
interactif inspiré de la "Murder-Party" et du Cluedo.’
http://www.minuitmoinsdix.com
Impossible Heists: CourtTV Tuesday and Sunday nights at 11:00 pm in the US. The pitch - "Oceans 11" meets "Survivor". A game in which rival teams compete to steal the prize. Two teams of security and stunt professionals re-create real and physically demanding heists that have been unsolved for years whilst trying to evade high-tech security: "You watch them plan the heists, work together, argue, laugh, and sometimes cry as they compete for the $100,000 grand prize."
http://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/impossible_heists/index.html?link=IHlkschp
