THE ASSOCIATION BLOG

Out and Oz at Twenty-Five: A Note on the Singularities of Natsuo Kirino and Tom Fontana

31/12/2022

Natsuo Kirino’s Out was published twenty-five years ago in the original Japanese. A special edition of Stephen Snyder’s English translation of 2003 was released in August this year, alongside seven other classics of its genre. The occasion was the thirtieth anniversary of the Vintage Crime/Black Lizard imprint. Each of the eight special editions features an introduction by James Ellroy, the author of My Dark Places. By association alone, Kirino enters the foremost ranks of western crime and noir, a development already suggested in 2004 by the nomination of Out for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the category of ‘Best Novel’.

The Evil Sherlock Holmes by Aleena Nelson

13/9/2022

The iconic character of Sherlock Holmes has been the test subject for experimentation by many filmmakers. Dissecting the character to fit the audience’s time frame, introducing modernity or an attempt at a comical farce, has resulted in the creation of different avatars of Holmes ranging from an indifferent side character in Enola Holmes (2020) to an elderly beekeeper clutching the strained wisps of his former glory in Mr. Holmes (2015). Since the representation of these characters are elementary, i.e. with a straightforward usage of the name “Sherlock Holmes,” when Christoph Waltz played Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds (2009), it resulted in a delayed response (especially from my part) in discovering the evil Sherlock Holmes that he embodies

The Rise of the Spanish Series in Non-Hispanic Cultures by Basil Singler

9/8/2022

The most popular example being Money Heist (original title La Casa de Papel), a Netflix original series whose second part of the long-awaited fifth and final season was only released in December 2021. The Spanish crime show The Innocent, released in the spring of 2021, is the adaption of a Harlan Coben thriller and the latest in a series of gripping Spanish crime dramas to grace the streaming service Netflix. Recent years have seen a steep rise in the popularity of Spanish-language series in non-Spanish speaking countries.

Community Service: The Female Serial Killer Narrative in Stay Close (2021) by Ciara Gorman

12/7/2022

The small screen seems to attract serial killer narratives like a magnet, whether in the form of true crime documentaries like Night Stalker, shows that engage directly with serial killer lore (think Mindhunter), or ones that feature serial killers as primary or secondary plot devices (Dexter is a good example, or even The Mentalist on CBS, a show which introduced me to this subgenre as a teenager). In spite of their popularity, I try hard to avoid them. Serial killer narratives have their own tropic elements, most of which make me deeply uncomfortable.

Happy ValenCrimes: Dangerous Liasons & Fatal Attractions

14/2/2022

Love can drive you crazy, right? What better way to celebrate the most romantic day of the year than to indulge in stories of love gone very, VERY wrong?

This month on the Association Blog, our team has put together a list of our top ValenCrimes reads that range from power couples of crime fiction to fatal attractions and dangerous liaisons.

Blog Series: Keeping up with the Sherlocks?

11/1/2022

Every generation needs their Sherlock Holmes, right? It is a widely known fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character, the genius detective Sherlock Holmes, is a literary and cultural phenomenon that has not only stood the test of time but continues to flourish with each of its modern adaptations, may they be brought to life in a theatre, film, television, or even video games.

ICFA's Top Christmas Crime Fiction

20/12/2021

And so it is Christmas… we would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to our wonderful delegates! Let’s hope 2022 brings more promise than 2021 (and, of course, the unspeakable 2020).

We thought we would put together a list of quality crime fiction recommendations to indulge over the festive season for those Christmas lovers (and Grinches!) What’s your favourite Christmas Crime binge?

101 Years of Agatha Christie by Ffion Davies

15/9/2021

She gave us intricate plots, red herrings, and iconic detectives in the form of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple—born on this day in 1890, Agatha Christie is credited with revolutionising the mystery genre. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) which celebrated its hundred and first birthday this year, was written after a bet with her sister Madge and inspired by the Belgium refugees in the wake of the first world war. Four years and six rejections later, the novel was published—earning her the meagre price of twenty-five pounds for her pains.

Class over Crime? The Whodunit as a Vehicle for Class Criticism in Gosford Park (2001) by Wenke Röschmann

24/8/2021

Though the plot revolves around a murder at a hunting weekend set in the British countryside, the aspect of the crime itself seems to move into the periphery of the narrative, allowing space for the actual central theme of the film: the many characters and their interclass relations. American director, Robert Altman, boldly claimed: “I don’t call it a whodunit so much as I call it a who cares whodunit” (Altman and Fellowes) when describing his film, Gosford Park (2001), which combines the genre of British heritage films with the classic whodunit narrative (Dalrymple 2). Indeed, as viewers, we might sympathize with this quote when considering the critical social undercurrent of the narrative.

Dorothy L. Sayers, on the Occasion of her 128th Birthday by Eric Sandberg

13/6/2021

To celebrate the 128th Birthday of Dorothy L. Sayers, we've asked Dr. Eric Sandberg to give us a glimpse into the life and legacy of this prolific writer and critic, and her wider impact on one of the most fruitful periods in the history of crime fiction.

The next volume in the prestigious McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series is now available for preorder. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Eric Sandberg (no. 11 in the series) looks at the life and work of the creator of sleuths Lord Peter Wimsey and Montague Egg.