The Weekend Update for the Bouchercon-minded

More on the convention, including other award wins, in a separate post, but first up is my newest “Dark Passages” column, which takes the idea of the serial killer as a folk hero and does its best to run with it.

NYTBR: Stephen King tries to understand what ails the short story; Neil Genzlinger has an unusual take on Michael Gates Gill’s Starbucks-drenched memoir; and Kathryn Harrison takes aim at a book embellishing a now-famous aside.

WaPo Book World: Jabari Asim has his say on Junot Diaz’s novel; Ron Charles does the same for the Russo; and ditto Dirda on Philip Roth while Marc Weitzmann engages the author in conversation.

LA Times: Dick Lochte is underwhelmed by the Dick Francis reset with son Felix in tow; David Ulin expounds on Philip Roth and EXIT GHOST; Elaine Dundy talks about being an overnight sensation at the age of 86; and Susan Salter Reynolds chats with Richard Russo about his new novel THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS.

G&M: Elizabeth Renzetti talks to Graham Swift all about his latest novel, TOMORROW; Mark Kingwell looks at towers tall and not-so-tall; and Keith Garebian remembers the late, great entertainment journalist Brian Linehan.

Guardian Review: DJ Taylor flashes back to the Bright Young Author movement of the early 20th century; Christopher Tayler is the latest to compare and contrast Philip Roth with Nathan Zuckerman; James Ellroy re-examines Dashiell Hammett; and George Szirtes feasts on Irene Nemirovsky’s latest undiscovered treasure.

Observer: The broadsheet offers a guide on how to write a Katie Price-like blockbuster; Anthony Holden is thoroughly entertained by Robert Harris’s roman a clef THE GHOST; and late in the game is another rave for Scarlett Thomas’s THE END OF MR. Y.

The Times: Rod Liddle takes aim at Robert Harris’s attempt at political thrillerdom, as does Peter Millar; Eric Clapton gets touchy when the subject of his missing mother comes up; and Andrew Taylor describes how to thicken that burgeoning plot, while Andrew Lycett sums up the best ones from Arthur Conan Doyle’s pen.

The Scotsman: Robert Nye takes a peek through Graham Greene’s collected letters; Stuart Kelly scoffs at the Jordan/Booker Prize “controversy”; and Sandra Dick tracks Peter Kerr’s trajectory from DJ to bestselling author.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill enthuses about new crime novels from Chelsea Cain and Yrsa Sigurdardottir (yes, I wrote that in one take. You can, too!)

Jeff Lindsay talks to the WSJ’s Jeff Trachtenberg about how to make a serial killer likeable.

Sara Paretsky, Nancy Pickard, Rochelle Krich and others chat with the Chicago Sun-Times about the 20th anniversary of Sisters in Crime, commemorated with a new paperback anthology.

Also in the Sun-Times is David Montgomery’s newest column, reviewing the latest by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Alison Gaylin, Dave White, John Sandford & Elaine Flinn.

At the Telegraph, Susanna Yager reviews new offerings from Dreda Say Mitchell & Ruth Dudley Edwards while Toby Clements goes historical with recent books by Jason Goodwin, Christopher Fowler, Philip Kerr and Andrew Martin.

The Age’s Sue Turnbull laments Rebus’s exit but hails Ian Rankin’s work.

Jeffery Deaver talks with the Malaysian Star about his new series, his old one, and why what readers want is what Deaver wants.

And finally, RIP Miss Moneypenny. (via)