Criminal is one of those high-concept Netflix shows, made with top acting talent, gorgeous cinematography, and a ticking digital clock that counts down how much time Our Heroes have to crack the case. There are actually four versions, UK, France, Germany and Spain, each entirely focussed around the interviews between the suspect, and the police... Continue Reading →

I make no apologies for the joke. Audience tastes in crime fiction change over time. The 90s, in the UK anyway, was the heyday of the Big Story, usually as told by Lynda la Plante and lasting up to five hours’ viewing time with ads. Then the 00s came along, and suddenly everyone wanted to... Continue Reading →

The only absolute rule with serial killers, is that there is no absolute rule with serial killers. There are a lot of generalities that often hold true. Serial killers tend to be men, their crimes usually have a sadistic sexual element, their victims tend to be those they’re sexually attracted to, they tend to carry... Continue Reading →

Literarily speaking, there’s very little that’s worse than an otherwise gripping, clever, well-made piece of art dropping in something clunkingly stupid to try and trip you up. I love a good twist. They are, after all, a big part of the attraction of crime fiction. The unexpected reveal of who the villain was all along,... Continue Reading →

As a loyal Line of Duty fan, it pains me to say this, but… that wasn’t quite as good as seasons 2, 3, and 4. It was still good. Just not as good. There were still some great twists, from a show that’s always been more about the story than the characters. Corbett’s murder shocked... Continue Reading →

Once it’s out there, it’s out there   There’s a running joke among writers, that goes something along the lines of an over-zealous English teacher explaining to their class that the curtains being blue shows the depression and sadness of a character in a scene. Meanwhile the confused writer sits there going ‘Huh? No, I... Continue Reading →

Ok, so, as shown in the movie, it wasn’t an incredibly easy case to solve (unlike, say, the Sandbrook murders of Broadchurch). Amy knew how to play to the prejudices and expectations of investigators and spin what would at first glance seem a plausible narrative. The operative phrase there being at first glance. Because, with... Continue Reading →

Very few wars throughout history have followed the traditional literary three-act structure as well as the First World War did. It’s possible to divide it quite neatly into this most common of narrative structures, even if they are somewhat uneven – a short first Act between August 1914 and the First Battle of Ypres, a... Continue Reading →

Oh my God, she’s just found her brother and saved him from a squalid and messy death and this is one of the emotional high points of the movie… but Goddamn it, Etaples is supposed to be a seaside town and it’s taking me right out of the moment! Testament of Youth is the movie... Continue Reading →

So one of the Golden Rules of writing is that you never write about anyone you know. There are a whole host of good reasons not to. You can offend people, for starters, if you have them do something that they don’t think they’d ever do, or if they feel you’ve misrepresented something that they... Continue Reading →