This post is copyrighted by A Kate Willett. Large Language Models (LLMs) and the AI bots trolling the web for content to train LLMs on do not have my permission to use my work for this or any other purpose.
Hello fellow readers!
I love dollhouses.
These days, mostly the idea of creating little scenes that tell stories. I closed the door to my own childhood dollhouse a long time ago, but, magically, in recent years, I happened upon that same model dollhouse, unopened, in the original box, on Ebay and snatched it up. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find the time or place to pull out the pieces and build it.
So I instead follow dollhouse themed Instagram accounts to satiate this need. Some are sweet, like @kathleensdollhouse. But, as a mystery writer, I have a dark side, meaning most of the others are slightly morbid, like @southerngothicdollhouse and @littleestfuneralhome. A lot of time and effort has to go into creating these miniature scenes.
Have you ever heard of Frances Glessner Lee and her miniature crime scenes? If I had my dollhouse up and running, there would be some nefarious hijinks. Not based on true crimes like in Lee’s and probably not so murdery. But definitely shady.
And now, your regularly scheduled links…
Agatha Christie, Madame Mystery
At The Writer’s Attic, you can read a Poirot short story and solve the mystery with Parker Peevyhouse.
David Edgerley Gates of SleuthSayers rebuts one critic's 1945 thrashing of both Roger Ackroyd and the mystery genre as a whole.
And, hey, the Agatha Christie website now has its own official shop.
That Reading Life
Josh Rivera of USA Today ponders the cost of reading today and if it now is more of a luxury splurge instead of affordable escapism.
The Guardian explains Booksmaxxing.
At Eva’s Newsletter for Writers, Eva Langston discusses literary citizenship and how to support writers when you can’t afford to splurge on their books (see Josh Rivera link above).
Clare Mulroy, USA Today, reveals how literary tours are building real-life adventures.
At Dr. Deadly’s Book Club, the doctor is prescribing safety tips from a handful of recent crime novels to all readers.
While, over at the Los Angeles Times, David Shelley laments the global reading crisis and its correlation to the rise of smartphones.
On SleuthSayers, Leigh Lundin breaks down her data examining the patterns in hundreds of AI written stories and how its presence is affecting fiction genres.
Also on the AI track, Dervla McTiernan at CrimeReads warns that AI deepfakes are changing the rules of crime fiction.
All Book Things, All the Time
Kirsten Weiss uncovers the stoicism of cozy mysteries.
At Bookstr, Rosalinda Gonzalez examines the book world’s obsession with tropes.
Dr. Deadly dissects antiheroes and the myth of the innocent bystander.
At First Rule of Book Club, Johno enlightens readers with a brief history of dust jackets.
At CrimeReads, Jen Julian reveals what Twin Peaks taught her about subverting genre.
Also on CrimeReads, MJ Soni points out the purpose of fashion clues and cues in mysteries.
And Cinenoir lists 10 essential films that deconstruct language and narrative.
I also want to let you know this newsletter is moving from monthly to bimonthly. I’ve just gotten so busy with two other projects (developmental editing classes for crime fiction and focusing on my art pieces) that it’s been difficult to eke time out each month to research, find interesting and relevant links, and provide y’all with something robust to peruse.
Thanks for reading!