Molly Odintz

Austin, Brooklyn

Managing Editor at CrimeReads

Managing Editor at Literary Hub

managing editor, @crimereads. Slattern. Jewish. Cat fancier. Peter Lorre stan. Ceasefire now. She/her, they/them

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Articles

Caroline Fraser On Serial Killers, Lead Poisoning, and Other Midcentury Disasters

2 weeks ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

Caroline Fraser won the Pulitzer Prize for the biography Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, then turned her creative and capable hand towards an altogether different subject matter: the proliferation of serial killers at a time of ubiquitous lead poisoning, and the rapid decline of both environmental lead pollution and extreme violence against strangers. In particular, Frasier zooms in on the Pacific Northwest as her horrifying case study.
The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of Summer 2025

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

Summer is coming! And in some parts of the country, it’s already here. And that means that summer thriller season has arrived. We hope the following titles will provide comfort and distraction during this garbage fire of a year—whatever your taste, you’ll find something special. In particular, this summer brings a plethora of legal thrillers, books in which women cooperate to commit murder, and lots of crimes on trains.
The Best Psychological Thrillers of May 2025

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

This May, the psychological thrillers come from all across the globe! Along with two books written in English, both excellent, this list features four novels in translation. While fiction in translation has a heavy bias towards noir and thrillers, these days you can find plenty of thoughtful, literary suspense making its way to American audiences.
Murder at the Museum

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

As funding gets cut off and climate change gets worse, all our cultural treasures are at risk of being stolen by kleptocrats, sold off by bankrupt cities, or at the very least, environmentally damaged in heat waves. So while we still have museums, why not read some museum-based mysteries and thrillers! here are four excellent recent and upcoming novels featuring cultural institutions and plenty of crimes.
Margot Douaihy Talks Hardboiled Fiction, Queer Themes, and her Iconic Sleuthing Nun

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

I know, the series is only three books in (and that’s if we count the upcoming installment), but I’m already batting hard for Sister Holiday as one of the most startlingly original protagonists of the century. Margot Douaihy is just as cool as her protagonist, and let me ask a few questions about the series and its characters as we reveal the cover design for the next installment in the series, Divine Ruin, to be published in January 2026.
The State of the Mystery, Part 2: Issues, Concerns, and The Long Road Ahead

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

Welcome to part two of our roundtable discussion featuring nominees for the Edgar Awards (as well as other special categories awarded during the same ceremony). 29 writers weighed in on the most pressing issues facing the genre today, and the place of crime writing in our current political landscape (perfectly timed for May Day!). Article continues after advertisementCheck out part one of the discussion, published yesterday, for thoughts on craft, tropes, and favorite reads.
The State of the Mystery, Part 1: Craft Lessons and Favorite Reads

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

For the past 7 years, I’ve had the privilege of putting together a roundtable discussion between the nominees for the Edgar and other MWA awards, with predictably spectacular (and somewhat long-winded) results, necessitating the result of publishing the collated responses in two parts. This year had the most contributors yet, and may be my favorite conversation thus far (I know, I say that every year).
The Best Psychological Thrillers of April 2025

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Molly Odintz

A look at Joni Mitchell’s life and her music’s influence from the perspective of three booksTo love Joni Mitchell, and there are no casual Joni Mitchell fans, is to acknowledge an uncanny affinity between her music and your innermost feelings. She is our secret sharer, the songwriter who trusts us with the storms of her life, which are invariably consonant with the anguish that informs …
The Best Psychological Thrillers of April 2025

2 months ago | crimereads.com | Molly Odintz

This month’s batch of psychological thrillers features an eclectic bunch of authors and a wide variety of plots, yet a surprisingly unified theme emerges: stay off the internet! Stay off social media! And don’t believe anything you read in the marketing copy (that is, except for the quotes that shall inevitably be taken from the blurbs below and placed upon front and back covers of future editions). This is also a rather fun list.
7 Novels Set In Supernatural Hotels

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Molly Odintz

Pope Francis' conservative critics had a unique way to oppose him: a retired pontiffVATICAN CITY (AP) — As Amazonian bishops gathered at the Vatican on Oct. 21, 2019, a man entered a nearby church after dawn and stole three Indigenous statues brought to Rome for the occasion. He threw them into the Tiber River in a videotaped protest to denounce what he called the “pagan idolatry” …