Crime fiction link catch-up

in lieu of a proper Weekend Update, which will be back Sunday…

Patrick Anderson pretty much digs Richard Hawke’s SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, but I haven’t decided if his last paragraph is meant to be tongue-in-cheek or not. And besides, the pseudonym thing is hardly a secret…there’s always Google, you know.

In the same paper — well, the Book World portion — Dennis Drabelle plays up the highlights of DC NOIR, the latest entry in Akashic’s Noir series.

Oline Cogdill gives a lot of props to Jesse Kellerman (whose play THINGS BEYOND OUR CONTROL debuts tonight in Manhattan) for his debut novel SUNSTROKE, and rightfully so.

The Times’ Marcel Berlins looks at new books by Ken Bruen, Fred Vargas and Linda Fairstein. Meanwhile, Susanna Yager offers her take on the latest by Michael Pearce and Olen Steinhauer.

The Imagine Festival in Wrexham features a whole slew of crime writing types like Michael Jecks, Alanna Knight and Anne Perry.

And look for Murder in the Magic City to begin anew in early February — the Birmingham News has a preview of what the one-day conference has to offer.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, PD James reveals that the island where her new novel THE LIGHTHOUSE is set is based on Lundy, which has, shall we say, a fairly bizarre history….

David Morrell went to lecture at Seton Hill University and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports back on what he said.

What’s the state of Cuban crime fiction at the moment? the Miami Herald’s Enrique Fernandez offers a round-up of sorts, concentrating mostly on Leonardo Padura Fuentes and his Mario Conde novels.