Murder in the Links Vol. 7

A weekly roundup of links, books I’m reading and other murderous miscellanea

This week I’ve been…

Reading about Julian Symons. I’ve never been a particular fan - his criticism always seemed to me more like complaints about a genre he generally disliked, served with a side of misogyny - and this article didn’t exactly convert me, but it tracks Symons’ seeming disillusionment with the detective novel between the 1940s-1950s, when he wrote a column for the Manchester Evening News and the publication of his famous book on crime fiction, Bloody Murder, in 1972.

Spooked by this article enumerating the Christmas ghost stories written by Charles Dickens (it’s not just A Christmas Carol!). I’m unfamiliar with most of these and am looking forward to diving into them over the holiday break.

Reading Rian Johnson (no slouch himself when it comes to crafting mysteries) on John Dickson Carr. The article is an excerpt from Johnson’s introduction to the re-release of Carr’s The Problem of the Wire Cage.

Enjoy the weekend! I’ll be back on Tuesday with a look at Kate Atkinson’s Death at the Sign of the Rook, followed by a short holiday break.