Crucifixion Convergence

I was kind of stunned when I saw this today. I read Allan Guthrie's Hard Man a couple of weeks ago, and (Stop reading here if you don't want to learn a plot point of Guthrie's new novel.)


it also prominently features a crucifixion. What are the odds that two prominent UK crime writers would both use a two-thousand year old method of execution in novels that are coming out at the same time? Was there some real crime they were both drawing from for inspiration, or is it an instance of hard-boiled minds thinking alike? I'll be curious to see how Bruen handles it, because I've been wrestling with that particular incident in Guthrie's book. It was an unsettling plot development and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I was repulsed, and felt like the act needed more explanation, but at the same time I couldn't quit reading. I'm very curious to hear what Guthrie has to say about it, and will be first in line to listen to his interview at Behind the Black Mask, when it is posted tommorrow.