B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 168

Media Murder for Monday

It's Monday, and that means it's time once again for the latest crime drama news roundup:

AWARDS

The annual Academy Awards announced the nominees in the Oscar race for best picture, acting, and technical achievements. Among crime drama offerings, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri received seven nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell), and Best Original Screenplay. Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor for his role in the legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq.; and Christopher Plummer became the Academy's oldest-ever nominee at age 88 for his supporting role in All the Money in the World, the film based on the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty II.

The 24th annual SAG Awards were handed out at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, including some serious front-runners for the acting Oscars. Fox Searchlight’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won three Actor trophies, including the marquee film ensemble prize, the equivalent of Best Picture. Also, Frances McDormand won for her lead role in the film, and Sam Rockwell won for supporting actor.

 

MOVIES

Twentieth Century Fox is planning a live action film based on the Hasbro detective board game Clue, which will reteam actor Ryan Reynolds with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who wrote the first Deadpool film. No word on whether Reynolds will play one of the iconic suspects such as Professor Plum or Colonel Mustard. Clue was previously adapted to film in the 1985 cult classic starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael McKean.

Assassination Nation, the thriller starring Bill Skarsgard and Bella Thorne, has sold to Neon and and AGBO production company at the Sundance Film Festival. The film also stars Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Colman Domingo, Joel McHale and Anika Noni Rose, and was written and directed by Sam Levinson. The story follows four teenage girls in a quiet town who become the focus of worldwide attention when their personal information is leaked by a hacker, turning their town upside down.

Also from Sundance, Magnolia Pictures acquired North American rights to Gustav Möller’s critically acclaimed Danish thriller The Guilty. The film stars Jakob Cedergren as a former police officer and dispatcher who answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. When the call is suddenly disconnected, he begins a search for the woman and her kidnapper using a phone as his only tool. But soon he realizes that he is dealing with a crime that is far bigger than he first thought. The film also stars Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen, Omar Shargawi and Katinka Evers-Jahnsen.

More Sundance Acquisitions: Neon acquired domestic rights to Reinaldo Marcus Green’s directorial debut Monsters and Men, starring John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chanté Adams, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Nicole Beharie, Cara Buono and Rob Morgan. Monsters and Men is a triptych following three stories — a family man captures an unlawful police shooting on video; a police officer with conflicting feelings about what that video shows; and a high school athlete who, in the aftermath of the shooting, is inspired to stand up for what he believes in. Also, Saban Films bought the North American rights to Craig William Macneill’s biopic Lizzie, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, which revolves around real-live ax murderess Lizzie Borden.

RLJE Films has nabbed the rights to Margot Robbie's sexy noir thriller Terminal. The film also stars Simon Pegg, Mike Myers, Max Irons, and Dexter Fletcher, and centers on two hit men agreeing to a borderline suicide mission for a mysterious employer and a big paycheck, only to find a mysterious woman named Annie (Robbie) could be more involved than they originally thought.

Original Robocop writer Ed Neumeier has revealed that he's working on a new movie centered on the cyborg law enforcement officer, but it won't be a sequel to the reboot or even a continuation of the earlier Robocop sequels or the 2014 reboot. Neumeier revealed he wants to return to the original Robocop continuity and pick up after 1987 version. It's unclear if this means Peter Weller will reprise Robocop or if the new project will follow a new protagonist with Weller playing a mentor-like role.

Suicide Squad's Jai Courtney has been set to star with Nat Wolff in Henry-Alex Rubin’s crime thriller Semper Fi. The story sees Courtney as Cal, a by-the-book police officer who makes ends meet as a Marine Corps reservist along with his rowdy and inseparable group of childhood friends. When Cal’s younger, reckless half-brother Oyster (Wolff) accidentally kills a guy in a bar fight and tries to flee, Cal forces him to face the music at first, then plans on breaking Oyster out of prison after an unfair sentence.

Noir on the Boulevard kicked off a year-long noir festival at Digital Gym Cinema in San Diego with The Maltese Falcon and Brick. The series will also bring in guests to introduce films, including Victoria Mature, daughter of actor Victor Mature, who will introduce her father's film I Wake Up Screaming on Feb. 25, and TCM Noir Alley host Eddie Muller, who will host the March 11 screening of This Gun For Hire. There's also a Noir Book of the Month Club with monthly posts by KPBS Cinema Junkie introducing the books that inspired these films.

If you're in the San Fran area, note that Eddie Muller's 16th Noir City Film Festival continues through February 4 at the Castro Theatre. Highlights this year include I Wake Up Screaming, This Gun for Hire, Shadow of a Doubt, Destiny, Conflict, The Blue Dahlia, and The Unsuspected.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

ABC has put in development the legal drama Illusion of Justice based on Jerome F. Buting’s book. Written by ER alum David Zabel, Illusion of Justice is a fictional show reflecting the life of Jerry Buting, one of the lawyers for Steven Avery, who was profiled in the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer. The series is described as equal parts legal procedural and family drama, focusing on a husband and wife who balance raising their children with running a criminal defense firm specializing in underdog clients who face ostensibly insurmountable odds in the judicial system.

Reboots are also in the news: ABC is planning on a new version of Get Christie Love!, 44 years after it originally premiered on the network as the first drama to star an African American actress. The hourlong drama will be an action-packed, music-driven drama that centers on Christie Love (Bunbury), an African American female CIA agent who leads an elite ops unit. Not to be outdone, CBS also ordered pilots for the Magnum P.I. and Cagney & Lacey reboots. The original Tom Selleck Magnum series ran from 1980 to 1988, while Tyne Daly and Sharon Glass’s female-fronted police procedural was on the air from 1982 to 1988. CBS’s third new drama pilot order is Chiefs, a series about "three driven, successful, but very different women who are each Chiefs of Police."

ABC has picked up a pilot for the mystery thriller Salvage, from For the People showrunner Don Todd. Written and executive produced by Todd, Salvage centers on ex-cop Jimmy Hill who just wants to be left alone after moving back home in rural Florida. But when a local murder is linked to the sunken treasure of a lost Spanish galleon, he’s drawn into the investigation by an idealistic deputy and pitted against the powerful town patriarch, outside criminal agents, and his own father.

Rounding out its slate, ABC announced more drama pilots including Whiskey Cavalier, which follows a tough but tender FBI super-agent Will Chase (codename Whiskey Cavalier) who, following an emotional breakup, is assigned to work with badass CIA operative Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge (codename Fiery Tribune); The Fix, written by Marcia Clark, Elizabeth Craft, and Sarah Fain, which centers on former prosecutor Maya Travis, who has left Los Angeles for a quiet life in rural Oregon after losing the biggest case of her career and being shredded by the media, but eight years after her devastating defeat, the murderer strikes again, forcing Maya to return to Los Angeles to confront him one more time; an untitled Holmes sisters drama from CSI alum Pam Veasey, about five African-American sisters, all officers in the NYPD; Safe Harbor, written by Detroit 1-8-7's Jason Richman, chronicling the colorful, complicated lives of cops on and off the beat; and Staties, which centers on a hard-charging NYPD detective, Eliza Cortez, who is banished to the boonies after a high-profile mistake and is paired with a new partner, Oregon State Trooper Sam King.

CBS also gave a nod to Murder, from producer Dan Lin, which is based on the BBC miniseries. Written by Amanda Green (Lethal Weapon), the investigative drama explores crime through the unique and often-conflicting perspectives of cops and killers, witnesses and victims, friends and family. Shot like a true-crime documentary, the series invites the audience inside the emotional journey of an investigation, allowing them to discern the truth and judge the suspects’ guilt or innocence for themselves.

NBC has given a pilot order to The Enemy Within from Gotham executive producer Ken Woodruff, The project is described as a character-driven investigative thriller set in the world of counterintelligence. It focuses on former CIA agent Erica Wolfe, the most notorious traitor in modern history and most hated woman in America, who is brought out of a federal supermax prison by the FBI to help stop some of the most dangerous acts of espionage threatening the United States today.

The CW handed out its first two pilot orders including Dead Inside, which follows an underachieving beat cop who starts seeing the ghost of her hotshot detective big brother as they work together to help crime victims both living and dead, and figure out the unfinished business keeping his spirit on Earth.

Netflix has given an eight-episode order to Unbelievable, a limited series from Erin Brockovich writer Susannah Grant, CBS TV Studios, studio-based producers Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (Elementary) as well as Katie Couric. Co-written by Grant, who will serve as showrunner, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman, Unbelievable is based on The Marshall Project and ProPublica Pulitzer Prize-winning December 2015 article, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape," written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong, and the "This American Life" radio episode about the same case. It tells the true story of Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the two female detectives who followed a twisting path to arrive at the truth.

Neon and AMC Networks’ streaming video service Shudder are partnering for North American rights to Coralie Fargeat’s debut thriller Revenge. The film stars Matilda Lutz (Rings) as Jen, a pretty young woman who goes on vacation at a remote desert villa with her millionaire boyfriend (Kevin Janssens). But their romantic weekend goes off the rails when her lover’s hunting pals show up, triggering a wave of violence. Revenge plunges Jen into an arid, drug-induced hell, but one she resolves to emerge from, leaving a tidal wave of righteous violence in her wake.

Meryl Streep is set to join the cast of Big Little Lies for the show’s second season. The Oscar-winning actor, fresh off her record-breaking 21st Academy Award nomination for her role in The Post, will join the multi-award-winning drama alongside Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern. Streep will play the mother of Alexander Skarsgård’s character, described as a woman arriving in the town of Monterey looking for answers about what happened to her son.

Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) will be heading to the small screen later this year, as the BBC has confirmed he's joined the cast of an upcoming John le Carré adaptation of The Little Drummer Girl. The series also stars Alexander Skarsgård and Florence Pugh, and sees Pugh play young actress Charlie, who becomes involved with an intriguing stranger while holidaying in Greece in the 1970s. The man (Skarsgård) turns out to be an Israeli intelligence officer – and Charlie is soon embroiled in a scheme to find a Palestinian terrorist named Khalil.

Netflix has released the first full trailer for their upcoming crime drama series Seven Seconds. The series is set in Jersey City where tensions run high between African American citizens and Caucasian cops when a teenage African American boy is critically injured by a cop.

Amazon has set March 9 for the Season 2 premiere of its critically praised drama series Sneaky Pete and unveiled a new trailer. Created by Bryan Cranston and David Shore, Sneaky Pete stars Giovanni Ribisi as con man Marius, who left prison only to find himself hunted by the vicious gangster he once robbed. With nowhere else to turn, he took cover from his past by assuming the identity of his cellmate Pete, “reuniting” with Pete’s estranged family.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomed back Robert Crais to the studio to chat about his best-selling Elvis Cole novels and the latest in that series, The Wanted.

Crime Cafe host Debbi Mack interviewed UK mystery author Curtis Bausse (prounounced Bose), who has lived in England, Wales, and France, about his private eye series featuring Magali Rousseau that's set in Provence.

THEATER

The Chattanooga Theatre Centre is staging an adaptation of Agatha Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, through February 11. The story served as the debut of Christie's iconic detective Hercule Poirot, and is set in Essex, England, during summer 1917. Back from war, Capt. Arthur Hastings is convalescing at Styles Court. When the lady of the house suspiciously dies, the tranquil manor turns treacherous. The cause of her death is deemed murder and the killer could be anyone: her unappealing new husband, her ne'er-do-well son, the blunt female groundskeeper, even the local toxicologist.

           Related StoriesMedia Murder for MondayMedia Murder 

FFB: Mrs. Knox's Profession

Jessica Mann (b.1937) has a background in archaeology, Anglo-Saxon studies, and law and worked in various fields in the UK before turning to writing crime fiction with 1971's A Charitable End. She's also a well-known and respected radio and television broadcast, particularly her radio program, "Women of Mystery", and authored a treatise on women crime writers entitled Deadlier than the Male.



Mrs. Knox's Profession was Mann's second novel, and centers around Sarah Foster, a selfish, self-centered woman who is transplanted from her comfortable home in London to a Midlands suburb when her husband Jeffrey, an architect, takes a new job there. She and the other bored executive wives fill their days with outings at the tennis club, at coffee parties and gossiping. Then, Sarah finds an altogether different side of her new neighborhood, with wife-swapping parties and an affair with an MP, Victor Nightingale.



Sarah is also introduced to Mrs. Knox, a childless woman whose husband is away abroad most of the time and fulfills her loneliness by being a foster mother. It would spoil the plot to reveal that child-sitting isn't the only thing Mrs. Knox is good at, but Sarah finds out on her own when she is asked to look after a neighbor's child who promptly disappears. The kidnapping draws Sarah into a nightmarish world of intrigue, ransom, and murder that threatens to shatter her carefully-constructed web of lies and her marriage.



As Betty Rowlands notes in her preface to the Black Dagger edition, Mann defies convention by making almost all of the characters unattractive. Victor is greedy, ruthless and ambitious, his assistant is a rogue, his fiancee a calculating predator. Even Sarah's children are spoiled and demanding. As Rowlands adds, "Only Sarah's devoted husband Jeffrey, a kindly, hard-working architect, her shy neighbor Flora Millington, and ultimately Ms Knox herself, move us to compassion."



One interesting bit of trivia: Mrs. Knox's Profession was a 1973 Raven Mystery Award Winner for best Hardcover Book Jacket.

            

Mystery Melange

The Mystery Writers of America announced the Edgar Award nominations for 2018. Best Novel contenders include The Dime by Kathleen Kent; Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr; Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke; A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee; and The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti. For all the various categories and finalists, follow this link to the official MWA website.

Likewise, Deadly Pleasures Magazine announced the 2018 Barry Award finalists, who were voted on by readers of the publication. The award winners, named in honor of Barry Gardner, a well-known fan reviewer and American critic, will be announced at the St. Petersburg Bouchercon opening ceremonies on September 6. Criminal Element has a listing of all contenders for Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Paperback Original, and Best Thriller.

On Wednesday, February 7, Heffers Bookstore in the UK will welcome two of the greats of the crime fiction genre, Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny, as they discuss their latest novels and their lives as bestselling writers. Ann Cleeves is the award-winning author of the Shetland and Vera series' of crime novels, both of which have been adapted for television, and Louise Penny is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Gamache series, set in the fictional Canadian village of Three Pines.

Coming up on February 18 are two Noir at the Bar events, one in New York City (at the Shade Bar) and the other in Richmond (at McCormack's Irish Pub). The NYC lineup includes Scott Adlerberg, Jay Butkowski, Jen Conley, Laura K. Curtis, Nick Kolakowski, Nik Korpon, SJ Rozan, and Vincent Zandri. Richmond's "My Bloody Valentine" festivities will feature crime writers Marietta Miles, Phillip Thompson, Eryk Pruitt, LynDee Walker, Steve Weddle, Shawn Reilly Simmons, and Shawn A. Cosby.

If you're interested in finding a Noir at the Bar event closer to you, Do Some Damage has a listing of upcoming events in cities across the U.S., as Noir at the Bar celebrates the tenth anniversary of the very first literary funfest organized by Peter Rozovsky in Philadelphia back in 2008.

On February 26, the Orenda Roadshow returns to Waterstones Liverpool in the UK. The collection of 14 international crime authors includes Louise Voss, Michael Malone, Thomas Enger, Antti Tuomainen, Lilja Sigurdardottir, and more, for an evening of book readings and signings.

Club Book, the Metropolitan Library Service Agency’s free lecture series that brings notable writers to libraries throughout the greater St. Paul/Minneapolis area of Minnesota, will feature a slate of bestselling and award-winning authors including William Kent Krueger (March 1) and Laura Lippman (March 14).

This year’s Thriller School, a seven-week program that begins April 2nd, will offer up instruction for authors in all skill levels through a real-time, Facebook Live video. Students will also have an opportunity to ask questions during or immediately after the video presentation with of each week’s instructor. The expert lineup includes authors Steven James, Grant Blackwood, F. Paul Wilson, Hank Philippi Ryan, James Scott Bell, Gayle Lynds, and DP Lyle.

Registration is open for "A Scintillation of Scions," a symposium of fans of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which returns to Linthicum Heights, Maryland, June 8-9. The annual event draws attendees from around the U.S. and Canada and features speakers offering brief talks on subjects related to the famous sleuth of Baker Street, the era that spawned him, and the culture that continues to celebrate him.

In honor of Edgar Allan Poe's recent birth anniversary on January 19, Bustle's Cat Winters noted "10 Facts About Edgar Allan Poe That Will Completely Change How You Feel About The Mystery Writer."

If you like a spot of tea with your cozy mystery, Margot Kinberg has an overview of how crime fiction is steeped with tea and tea shops.

2017 was a good year for digital reading in libraries, according to Overdrive, which saw their 40,000 library and school partners circulating a quarter-of-a -billion eBooks and audiobooks through OverDrive-powered collections. The more than 225 million borrowed titles represent a 14% growth in checkouts from 2016, which was also a record-setting year.

The Swedish audiobook subscription service Storytel isn't doing all that badly, either, announcing it had surpassed 300,000 paying subscribers in its homeland and is aiming for distribution in thirty countries.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "A Real Doctor" by A.F. Knott.

In the Q&A roundup, Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre chatted with The National about technology in culture, which relates to his latest crime novel, Want You Gone; and the Indie Crime Scene interviewed Nick Dorsey, author of Bleeding Levee Blues.

           Related StoriesMystery MelangeMystery Melange Christmas Edition 

Media Murder for Monday

The start of a new week means it's time for another roundup of crime drama news:



MOVIES

The Mark Gordon Company acquired feature film rights to All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderer’s Row. The upcoming book, to be published next January by Little, Brown and Company, is penned by bestselling author James Patterson and Alex Abramovich, with Mike Harvkey, based on their investigative reporting. It will dissect the story of Hernandez, the former all-star tight end for the New England Patriots who was convicted of murder in 2015, later indicted but acquitted of a second murder, and who committed suicide in his prison cell last year.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is set to star as the female lead opposite Will Smith in Gemini Man from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media. The Ang Lee-directed project (which has been in development for the past 20 years) follows an over-the-hill assassin who faces off against himself, a clone who is younger and in his prime.

Director Ben Rekhi has wrapped filming on the feature thriller Maria, based on a true story and starring Italian-Filipino actress Alessandra de Rossi in the title role. Set against the drug wars in the Philippines, the timely story finds Maria fending for her three children alone after her husband is murdered under mysterious circumstances. As she delves into Manila’s dark underworld of cops, criminals and drugs to find answers, she realizes she must explore her own darkness to keep her family safe.

Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Pasha Patriki’s action thriller Black Water which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. Black Water tells the story of a deep cover operative who awakens to find himself imprisoned in a CIA black site on a submarine. With the help of a fellow prisoner and an amateur agent, Wheeler (Van Damme) must race against the clock to escape the vessel and expose who set him up.

Aloe Entertainment has released a trailer for their upcoming crime drama Beast of Burden. Blondie helmer Jesper Ganslandt directs from a script by Adam Hoelzel, with Daniel Radcliffe starring as Sean Haggerty, a drug mule who becomes involved in a dangerous mission with the drug cartel, a hitman, and the DEA in order to save his wife.

TELEVISION AND STREAMING SERVICES

ABC is developing the supernatural cop drama Then Again from Flightplan writer Peter Dowling. The story is set in a world where reincarnation is prominent and follows LAPD officer Steven "Coop" Cooper, who has been taking medication to suppress memories of his past lives for as long as he can remember. Everything changes when he must relive his past life in order to hunt down a mass murderer.

Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair) will star in Mrs. Wilson, a three-part drama inspired by the memoir of her grandmother. Set in 1940s and 1960s London and 1930s India, the series follows Alison Wilson, who is happily married to her mystery-writer husband. When he dies, a woman shows up at her door, claiming that she, too, is Mrs. Wilson and was married to her husband. In addition to learning about his multiple wives, Ruth Wilson’s grandmother learns her husband was also a spy.

Doctor Who and The Crown star Matt Smith is in talks to play Charles Manson in the indie movie The Family, which hails from the American Psycho team of director Mary Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner. Based on the nonfiction book The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond The Cult by Karlene Faith as well as Ed Sanders’ 1971 novel The Family, the film will follow grad student Faith as she works with three brainwashed young women who were part of the Manson family — Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins.

Vandit Bhatt (Ripped) is set for a recurring role on the third season of ABC’s Quantico, which follows young FBI recruits training at the Quantico base in Virginia. Bhatt will play Jagdeep “Deep” Patel, a member of the new elite black ops team.

Acorn TV announced a new season of the mystery series Agatha Raisin for premiere in 2018, with Ashley Jensen returning in the lead role. Based on MC Beaton’s best-selling novels, Agatha Raisin follows a London PR whiz turned amateur sleuth who becomes entangled in mischief, mayhem, and murder when she opts for early retirement in a small village in the Cotswolds. Series 2 begins production in April 2018 for a late 2018 premiere and will adapt three of MC Beaton’s novels, The Wizard of Evesham, The Curious Curate, and The Fairies of Fryham.

Godless star Scoot McNairy has been cast opposite Mahershala Ali, Carmen Ejogo, and Stephen Dorff in the third season of Nic Pizzolatto’s HBO crime anthology series True Detective. Season 3 will tell the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ali will play the lead role of Wayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas, while McNairy will play Tom, a father who suffers a terrible loss that ties his fate to that of two state police detectives over 10 years.

Fox Networks Group has released the first trailer for Deep State, the new action/espionage drama starring frequent spy star Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Kingsman) as a former agent lured back into the game. Deep State currently has no U.S. broadcaster, but the show premieres April 5 in Europe.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

For the first episode of 2018, the Writer Types welcomed bestselling authors Alafair Burke, Nick Petrie, CJ Tudor, and Frank Bill to the podcast, as well as featuring a Debut Author Unpanel with Aimee Hix, Michael Pool, and Tess Makovesky.

In the latest Crime Cafe podcast, host Debbi Mack chatted with mystery author Curtis Bausse all the way from Provence.

Author Sujata Massey visited 2nd Sunday Crime with host Libby Hellmann to talk about Massey's Agatha and Macavity Award-winning historical Rei Shimura novels.

           Related StoriesMedia Murder for MondayMedia Murder 

FFB: A Gentleman Called

Dorothy Salisbury Davis is considered one of the Grand Dames of crime fiction, but she didn't start out as a writer, working first in advertising and as a librarian. She published her first novel in 1949, The Judas Cat, and eventually authored 20 novels for which she received seven Edgar Award nominations. She was a big influence on the crime fiction community, serving as Mystery Writers of America grandmaster in 1985 and on the initial steering committee for the formation of Sisters in Crime (along with Charlotte MacLeod, Kate Mattes, Betty Francis, Sara Paretsky, Nancy Pickard and Susan Dunlap).



By her own account, Davis was an "odd fit" in crime fiction, unhappy with her perceived inability to create a memorable series character and uncomfortable with violence and murder. But she was very happy creating villains, and often commented that villains are much more fun to write about than heroes. Her themes trended more toward psychology than out-and-out detection and religious tensions are often found in her work, not surprising considering her own background (as a Roman Catholic who left the church).



A Gentleman Called from 1958 was nominated for an Edgar in 1959 and included in The Essential Mystery Lists by Roger Sobin. It features characters who were to be featured in three books, including attorney Jimmie Jarvis and his housekeeper, Mrs. Norris, and the District Attorney's chief investigator, Jasper Tally.



The story starts off revolving around middle-aged bachelor Theodore Adkins, who is slapped with a paternity suit. Adkins is also from a wealthy family who are old clients of Jarvis' law firm, which prompts Jarvis to take the case. At the same time, Jasper Tally is involved in an investigation into the strangulation of wealthy Arabella Sperling and the theft of her diamond pin. Eventuallly, the two plots converge around several other unsolved murders involving matrimony-minded women, which threatens to ensnare Mrs. Norris and put her own life in danger.



Salisbury is adept at characterization and using dialogue to flesh out her characters. The psychological underpinnings of A Gentleman Called are as important, or really more so, than the whodunnit aspect, but it's entertaining to follow her characters through their interactions or, as Kirkus noted, enjoy the "Insidious indirection which gives the novel a crafty glint."

            

Mystery Melange

The 2018 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award nominations were announced this weekend:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

• Donna Andrews, Gone Gull 

• Ellen Byron, A Cajun Christmas Killing

• Marla Cooper, Dying on the Vine 

• Cynthia Kuhn, The Art of Vanishing

• Cindy Sample, Dying for a Diamond 

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1960. The nominees are:

• Rhys Bowen, In Farleigh Field 

• Jennifer Kincheloe, The Woman in the Camphor Trunk 

• Renee Patrick, Dangerous To Know

• Priscilla Royal, The Proud Sinner 

• Jeri Westerson, Season of Blood 

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

• Susan Alice Bickford, A Short Time To Die

• Kellye Garrett, Hollywood Homicide

• Wendall Thomas, Lost Luggage 

• Nancy Tingley, A Head in Cambodia 

• Kathleen Valenti, Protocol 

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories). The nominees are:

• Matt Coyle, Blood Truth 

• William Kent Krueger, Sulfur Springs

• Louise Penny, Glass Houses 

• Terry Shames, An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock

• James W. Ziskin, Cast the First Stone

The winners will be announced at the 28th annual Left Coast Crime Convention in Reno, Nevada, March 22–25, with this year's Guests of Honor, Naomi Hirahara and William Kent Krueger. (HT to Mystery Fanfare)

On February 9 - 11, 2018, Southern California will host the nation's largest rare book exhibition as thousands of book lovers, dealers, and scholars converge at the 51st California International Antiquarian Book Fair. The Book Fair also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a special exhibit spotlighting holdings from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; Occidental College Library's Ned Guymon Mystery and Detective Fiction Collection; University of California Riverside Library's Eaton Collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy; and a guest appearance by Sara Karloff, the daughter of Boris Karloff.

On March 31 at University Centre Shrewsbury, Dr. Lucy Andrew and Sam Saunders will discuss their forthcoming research project, A Study in Sidekicks: The Detective’s Assistant in Crime Fiction, which explores the significance of the sidekick across a wide range of crime narratives from the 19th century to the present day.

The University of Tampere, Finland, is soliciting papers for an upcoming conference titled "Murder, She Tweeted: Crime Narratives and the Digital Age." Organizers invite proposals for presentations on crime narratives and the digital age from different language and cultural spheres covering a variety of contemporary crime narratives (novels, films, TV series, adaptations, true crime, fan fiction, vlogs, blogs and other social media). The event will be held August 23-24, 2018.

Registration has opened for Iceland Noir, which returns to Reykjavik on November 16-17, 2018. In addition to the two days of panels and readings, there will also be the Icelandic Crime Disco Night and an Iceland Noir Excursion day trip into the Icelandic wilderness.

The Guardian's Tim Adams set out to discover more about Daniel Mallory (a/k/a AJ Finn), the editor-turned-author behind the debut crime novel, The Woman in the Window, which spawned a bidding war, a worldwide rights frenzy, and a movie deal. The work is described as in the same vein as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, and Mallory says he never would have written his book without the other two.

Fortunately, there are also plenty of good books other than The Woman in the Window worth looking forward to adding to your To Be Read pile. The Rap Sheet has a handy listing for you of upcoming titles set for release in the first quarter of the year.

The New York Times took a look at the annual Sherlock Holmes conference in Manhattan that takes place every January. This year's festivities included a costume constest (won by an English teacher from Germany dressed as the Scottish moor, a setting from the Doyle classic The Hound of the Baskervilles), a ball held by a female group of Holmes devotees called the Baker Street Babes, the 16th annual Christopher Morley Walk, and the usual discussions about all things Sherlockian.

The New York Post profiled several crime fiction authors who were hired by the estates of deceased authors and how these authors risk the wrath of readers to keep book franchises alive.



If you're in the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin area, you might consider submitting to a murder mystery writing contest sponsored by The Rogue Theater. The theater is seeking submissions of plays approximately sixty to ninety minutes with clues hidden in the script that will help the audience guess "who done it" (and a touch of comedy) by February 28. The winner will receive a cash prize and have their play staged by the theater.

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the FBI’s Hazardous Devices School? Here's your chance.

Sometimes, using books as a design element in your home can go just a bit too far.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Thought Crime" by Joe Nazare.

In the Q&A roundup, Crime Fiction Lover spoke with Jonathan Lyon, a young British author who has suffered from chronic and seemingly incurable pain for many years, an affliction which served as the inspiration for his debut Carnivore featuring a tortured anti-hero who diffuses his myalgia by inflicting pain on others; the Mystery People welcomed Terry Shames to discuss A Reckoning In The Back Country, which has her hero Samuel Craddock looking into a murdered doctor’s dark double life; Nick Dorsey stopped by Indie Crime Scene to share insights about his writing and new thriller, Bleeding Levee Blues; and Criminal Element hosted a Q&A with Christopher Reich, the New York Times bestselling thriller author whose latest novel, The Take, marks the launch of a new series featuring spy Simon Riske.

           Related StoriesMystery MelangeMystery Melange Christmas Edition 

Media Murder for Monday

Welcome to Monday, my friends, and the latest update of crime drama news:



AWARDS

The Critics' Choice Awards, voted on by critical bodies the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, were handed out last Thursday. In the crime drama realm, Sam Rockwell won a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and the film also won the Best Acting Ensemble Award. Over on the TV side, Big Little Lies won for Best Limited Series, and the Bernie Madoff biopic, The Wizard of Lies, was awarded Best TV Movie. Big Little Lies also pulled in acting nods for Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgard, while Ewan McGregor was named Best Actor in a TV Movie for Fargo.

MOVIES

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, which is set around the time of the Charles Manson murders. The structure is said to resemble a Pulp Fiction-esque ensemble piece, with the Oscar winner playing an aging actor in 1969 Los Angeles whose life intersects with the murders. Margot Robbie is also being eyed for the role of Sharon Tate.

Oscar-winning Moonlight director Barry Jenkins is set to direct Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman in Expatriate, an international thriller set around a 1970s plane hijacking. Boseman wrote the script with his writing partner Logan Coles.

Legendary Entertainment has made a deal with Emmy-nominated Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown to star in and produce a feature film series based on Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes Mystery novels that began with the 2006 title The Case of the Missing Marquess. The series revolves around mysteries investigated by Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ much younger sister, Enola, who proves to be a highly capable detective in her own right.

Screen Media Films has nabbed North American distribution rights to director Eric England’s thriller Josie, toplined by Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, Dylan McDermott, and Jack Kilmer. The film, based on a script by Anthony Ragnone, will be released in March and follows the tattooed, sweet-talking stranger Josie (Turner) who, upon arriving to a small, southern town, strikes up relationships with local young punk Marcus (Kilmer) and her loner neighbor Hank (McDermott). She quickly becomes a hot topic of local gossip, but her true intentions for arriving in town are far more sinister when her dark past comes to light.

Two more big names have signed on for Drew Goddard’s upcoming "noir thriller," Bad Times At The El Royale, with Dakota Johnson and Russell Crowe both joining the already impressive cast that includes Jeff Bridges and Chris Hemsworth. There is no synopsis for the film as yet, with only the vaguest of details given for the plot so far. It is reportedly set in the 1960s at a rundown motel near Lake Tahoe in California, which attracts a motely group of strangers for an unknown reason.

Clive Owen is in talks to join Will Smith in Ang Lee’s upcoming clone assassin movie Gemini Man, with Smith starring as an aging assassin fighting his own clone who is 25 years younger than he and at the peak of his abilities.

Bleeker Street has released the first trailer for their upcoming film Beirut, directed by The Machinist helmer Brad Anderson and based on a script written by Bourne Trilogy scribe Tony Gilroy. Set in 1982, John Hamm stars as a diplomat and negotiator who receives a mission from the CIA to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. The film also stars Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, Larry Pine, and Shea Whigham.

Jennifer Lawrence is featured in the new trailer for the upcoming thriller Red Sparrow, starring Lawrence as Dominika Egorovaa, prima ballerina turned assassin with an intense mastery over seduction and manipulation.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The John Wick franchise is heading for the small screen. Starz and Lionsgate are teaming to develop The Continental, a television series adaptation of the highly successful Lionsgate film franchise. The Continental will be set in the John Wick universe, focusing on the inner workings of the exclusive Continental Hotel which serves as a refuge for assassins. Writer/producer Chris Collins (Sons of Anarchy, The Wire, The Man in the High Castle) will write the series and serve as showrunner, with the team behind the film franchise executive producing, including John Wick star Keanu Reeves.

Former Hawaii Five-0 star Daniel Dae Kim's production company 3AD is creating First Rule of Ten, a show based on a mystery novel series by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay. The story follows a young monk, who after years spent struggling with the teachings of his Tibetan monastery, leaves to find his identity in the unlikeliest of places – Los Angeles. There, he’s forced to reconcile the differences between the Buddhist teachings he’s grown up with and the new fast-paced lifestyle filled with temptations. His path to self-discovery becomes further complicated when he witnesses a brutal crime and becomes inextricably entwined in its investigation.

The streaming network Sony Crackle announced two new series including the crime drama The Butcher, produced by Gary Oldman and Douglas Urbanski. Written by Charles Burmeister, The Butcher follows Los Angeles homicide detective Mitch Dixon as he attempts to find, hunt down, and kill a serial killer who has discovered the key to immortality, the price of which is consuming human flesh.

NBC has ordered the drama pilot, In Between Lives, from Madam Secretary co-executive producer Moira Kirland, Heyday Television (the joint venture of Harry Potter producer David Heyman), and NBCUniversal. Written by Kirland, In Between Lives centers on a mysterious young woman who reluctantly uses her gift of clairvoyance to help a veteran LAPD detective and a damaged ex-FBI outsider solve the most unnerving and challenging cases the city encounters. This eerie ability also opens the door for her to see and talk to the dead, who are seeking help for unresolved problems, whether she likes it or not.

Doctor Who and Victoria actress Jenna Coleman has been cast to star in a new four-part BBC drama to be filmed in Scotland and Australia. The psychological thriller The Cry will also star Australian actor Ewen Leslie and is adapted from the novel by Helen FitzGerald about a couple dealing with the trauma of their baby being abducted from a small Australian town.

Bill Nighy has been hired for a role in the to-be-re-shot scenes for the BBC Agatha Christie drama Ordeal By Innocence. The move comes after Ed Westwick was hired to replace actor Christian Cooke following sexual misconduct allegations against Westwick, which the actor strongly denies.

Sony Crackle’s tech-driven thriller StartUp announced Mira Sorvino will guest star for the new season, joining the cast as NSA agent Rebecca Stroud, who has come to investigate ArakNet, and will do whatever it takes to have ArakNet partner with the government. She joins series’ stars Adam Brody, Ron Perlman, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, and Addison Timlin.

Hugh Laurie’s Hulu drama Chance has been canceled after two seasons. The psychological thriller is based on Kem Nunn’s novel of the same name and featured Laurie again starring as a doctor, his first series regular role since House.

AT&T Audience Network has announced its full slate of original programming for the first half of the new year, including the new series premiere of Condor on June 6. The conspiracy thriller series is based on the novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady and the screenplay Three Days of the Condor by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel, and follows a young CIA analyst who stumbles onto a terrible but brilliant plan that threatens the lives of millions. Condor stars Max Irons, William Hurt, Leem Lubany, Angel Bonanni, Kristen Hager, with Mira Sorvino, and Bob Balaban, and special guest star Brendan Fraser.

ABC set the premiere dates of its midseason shows, including Quantico, which has its third season bow on Thursday, April 26; the premiere of For the People (March 13), the network's new legal drama about a female prosecutor who was highly attracted to the suspect in high school and must now choose to either prove him guilty or compromise her moral standards; and the premiere for another new drama, Deception (March 11), about Las Vegas illusionist Cameron Black who becomes the world's first "consulting illusionist" as he works with the FBI to solve odd crimes.

LIkewise, CBS also announced its midseason schedule, including season 6 of the modern Sherlock Holmes series Elementary on April 30, and the third season of medical thriller Code Black that launches on May 2.

Fox Networks Group has unveiled the first-look at its global espionage thriller Deep State, starring Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s Mark Strong. The show, which is the company’s first regional scripted commission for Europe and Africa, sees Strong play an ex-spy whose past comes back to haunt him.

VIDEO/RADIO/PODCASTS

Host Simon Mayo welcomed author Andy Weir to the first Radio 2 Book Club of 2018 to discuss Artemis, a high-concept thriller about a heist set on the moon.

TCM Noir Alley host Eddie Muller talked about femme fatales, hardboiled fiction, and Noir City Festival on a KPBS podcast.

Authors H. Terrell Griffin (Vindication) and Tom Straw (the scribe behind the Castle tie-in novels) joined Suspense Radio for a discussion of their latest works.

THEATER

The Murray Theatre in Clearwater, Florida, is staging the world premiere of Mike Hammer: Encore for Murder, a tribute to crime novelist Mickey Spillane written by Max Allan Collins. The play stars Gary Sandy (WKRP in Cincinnati) as Mike Hammer, the toughest PI of all, who draws a seemingly routine assignment—playing bodyguard to diva Rita Vance on the eve of her big Broadway comeback. Rita is an old flame of Hammer’s and when their romance is rekindled, the detective finds the actress facing death threats and himself the target of one hit man after another. When the actress disappears, the show must go on, which with Mike Hammer means swift, violent retaliation. The production runs through February 3.

           Related StoriesMedia Murder for MondayMedia Murder 

Mystery Melange

On January 25, 2018, Friends of Mystery will welcome Ellie Alexander (Bakeshop Mysteries), Cindy Brown (Ivy Meadows series), and Angela Sanders (Joanna Hayworth Vintage Clothing mysteries) for a Women of Mystery Panel at TaborSpace in Portland, Oregon. The fun kicks off with a reception at 7pm followed by what the bookstore "promises to be a lively panel discussion with these delightful women of mystery."

Another event to add to your calendar: the Virginia Festival of the Book's Crime Wave event is set for March 21-25, with a lineup that includes Rob Hart, Alex Segura, Alison Gaylin, Steve Weddle, Kate Moretti, Attica Locke, Deanna Raybourn, Lyndsay Faye, and many more. The festivities kick off with a brunch with Attica Locke, to be followed by a series of panels and booksignings, with the full schedule to be announced in a few days. (HT to Do Some Damage)

The Rap Sheet’s 10th Best Crime Fiction Book Cover of the Year contest is still taking votes on the list of 15 shortlisted contestants, all with eye-catching and memorable covers. As blog proprietor Jeff Pierce adds, "As usual, I’ve been collecting prospective nominees for the last 12 months now, browsing bookstores and book-oriented Web sites in search of qualified contenders, and watching design-attentive blogs."

Clues editorial board member Rachel Schaffer needs a few more essays for her edited collection on Walt Longmire (both the TV series and books by Craig Johnson) to be published by McFarland. Elizabeth Foxwell has contact information on her blog for those who are interested in contributing.

According to Nobel archives, author Graham Greene might have won 1967 prize for literature, with the novelist backed by the chairman before losing out to Miguel Angel Asturias. Greene is known for literary thrillers such as The Third Man, Our Man in Havana, The Heart of the Matter, Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, and A Gun for Sale.

The Telegraph profiled Betsy Reavley, co-founder of Bloodhound Books, on surviving and thriving as an indie publisher of crime fiction titles.

Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s new web-only column Stranger Than Fiction is a brand new free feature of the zine's website. Written by award-winning Canadian author and journalist Dean Jobb, the new department explores the true-crime field through reviews of true-crime books and occasional articles about real-world crimes and criminals. Editor Janet Hutchings offered a sneak peak of upcoming topics and explains why it took a while to add true crime to the lineup.

Speaking of true crime, research published in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice found that the "CSI effect" is a myth: forensic detective series do not make criminals better at crime.

Prince Harry’s rhino conservation charity , naming a rhino. Fans of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels by Alexander McCall Smith are being asked to pick one of three animals which will be given the name of the author’s heroine, Precious Ramotswe. The prince is UK patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana (RCB) which has selected three female rhinos for the naming competition, that match McCall Smith’s description of his lead character, “traditionally built and beautiful”. Black rhino are classed as critically endangered with fewer than 5,000 left in the wild, while white rhino are near threatened with an estimated population of around 20,000. Voting to choose one of three white rhinos to be named will remain open until June 30.

The late David Bowie was “a beast of a reader," and his son, Duncan Jones, has started a book club in his father's honor. Although he didn’t give it a name, the official Instagram account of the late rock star dubbed it the Bowie Book Club. For the first book selection, Jones chose Peter Ackroyd's 1985 postmodernist crime novel, Hawksmoor, which follows two parallel storylines: one follows an 18th century church builder in London who performs human sacrifices, while the other is about a detective who is investigating murders in the same churches in the 1980s. Readers have until Feb. 1 to read the novel before an online discussion of the book - if they can find a copy, since it's out of print.

As part of "an epic birthday surprise," Carina Greyling of Johannesburg, South Africa, realized a lifelong dream recently when she spent the night locked inside an Exclusive Books store. Greyling had apparently listed being "locked inside an Exclusive Books for the night" as her top birthday wish, and the store granted her wish on January 7. Greyling was surprised with a pop-up bedroom, snacks and drinks, "and the freedom to roam the store all night, browsing and reading to her heart's content." (HT to Shelf Awareness)

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "January" by Donora Rihn.

In the Q&A roundup, Criminal Element spoke with Aimee Hix, about her debut mystery, What Doesn’t Kill You and also sat down for a chat with C.J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man; the Jungle Red Writers' Ingrid Thoft grilled Nick Petrie, whose newest book in the Peter Ash Series, Light It Up, will released January 16; Chillers, Killers, and Thrillers held a "cheeky Q&A" with Lori Anderson – the main protagonist from Steph Broadribb's latest novel.

           Related StoriesMystery MelangeMystery Melange Christmas Edition 

Media Murder for Monday

We get back to a more normal schedule today with this latest edition of Media Murder for Monday (on Monday once again!) wrapping up the latest in crime drama news:

AWARDS

The Golden Globes were handed out last night and included several nods to the crime dramedy film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Best Picture, Drama; Best Actress, Frances McDormand; Supporting Actor, Sam Rockwell; Best Screenplay, Martin McDonagh). On the TV side, Ewan McGregor won for Best Actor (Fargo); and several awards were handed out to Big Little Lies (Best Limited Series; Best Actress, Nicole Kidman; Best Supporting Actress, Laura Dern; and Best Supporting Actor, Alexander Skarsgård).



MOVIES

Lakeith Stanfield has joined the cast of Sony’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web, although his role is being kept under wraps. The film, set for release on Oct. 19, 2018, is being directed by Fede Alvarez and is based on the global bestseller written by David Lagercrantz, continuing the fourth installment of the "Millennium" series of crime novels featuring Lisbeth Salander that were originally written by the late Stieg Larsson.

Victorious alum Avan Jogia has been cast in New Line’s reboot of Shaft. He joins previously announced cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Regina Hall, Alexandra Shipp and Richard Roundtree. Details about Jogia’s role haven't been disclosed, but Tim Story will direct a script from Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow which follows a nerdy FBI agent who launches his own investigation after his friend dies under suspicious circumstances. Needing help with the case, he reluctantly enlists the help from his estranged father — the legendary, stuck-in-the-70s-but-still-cool-as-hell titular John Shaft.

A trailer was released for the remake of the 1974 revenge thriller Death Wish, which stars Bruce Willis as Kersey, a surgeon who begins dishing out vigilante justice when his wife and daughter are viciously attacked in their suburban home. Kersey hunts down the city’s criminals like a badass superhero in today’s new trailer, which asks a pressing question: Is Paul Kersey a hero, or has he, himself, become a villain? Death Wish arrives in theaters on March 2, 2018.

The Guardian looked ahead to "The most exciting action and thriller films of 2018."

And Deadline looked back on the career of Peggy Cummins, one of Hollywood’s most unforgettable film noire molls for her role in 1950’s Gun Crazy, as well as appearances in 1943’s Old Mother Riley Detective and 1949’s If This Be Sin. Cummins died this past week from a stroke at the age of 92.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Kate Beckinsale is set to star in The Widow, an eight-episode drama series from Amazon and ITV. The Widow follows Georgia Wells (Beckinsale) who has cut herself off from her previous life and is no longer the woman she once was. After seeing her "late" husband on the news, she is pulled back to face the world and will stop at nothing until she gets the truth about her past. Described as an emotional, gut-wrenching thriller, The Widow will take Georgia into the depths of the African Congo where danger and revelation will greet her at every turn.

Apple has landed Are You Sleeping, a thriller drama series project starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures), which hails from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. The project is based on the novel by Kathleen Barber, and is described as a "twisty psychological thriller about a mega-hit podcast that reopens a murder case—and threatens to unravel the carefully constructed life of the victim’s daughter."

Good news for Fargo fans: the Noah Hawley anthology series is likely to return to FX next year, according to cable channel boss John Landgraf, who said that Noah Hawley "has told us that he has an idea — which excites me enormously — for a fourth cycle of Fargo." Hawley added, "The plan is to have that ready for 2019. I'm focused right now on what will come in 2018, but the anticipation is that there's another cycle in 2019." Hawley declined to give any details on what Season 4 may look like, but said that the next Fargo project will actually be a book of scripts and photos and interviews covering the first three seasons.

Stephen Dorff has been cast opposite Mahershala Ali and Carmen Ejogo in the third season of Nic Pizzolatto’s HBO crime anthology series True Detective. Ali will play the lead role of Wayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas. As with the breakout original installment of True Detective, Pizzolatto is the sole writer with the exception of Episode 4 of Season 3 which he co-wrote with David Milch.

English actor Ed Westwick has been axed from the BBC's Agatha Christie drama Ordeal of Innocence after being accused of sexual assault. Producers have made the decision to replace him with actor Christian Cooke and will reshoot sections of the series with Cooke. Westwick, who is best known for his role in US drama Gossip Girl, has denied all allegations, adding, "It is disheartening and sad to me that as a result of two unverified and probably untrue social media claims, there are some in this environment who could ever conclude I have had anything to do with such vile and horrific conduct. I have absolutely not, and I am cooperating with the authorities so that they can clear my name as soon as possible." Ordeal By Innocence had been intended to air on BBC One over the Christmas period but was pulled amid the allegations.

Matt Letscher (The Flash) is set to co-star alongside new stars Michael Peña and Diego Luna in the upcoming fourth season of Netflix’s drug trafficking saga Narcos. In Season 4, Letscher will play James Kuykendal, part of a new team of DEA agents and Colombian police who turn their attention to the Cali Cartel. But this time they have an advantage – a mole in the Cartel.

Debra Winger has signed for a series-regular role on Season 2 of Amazon Prime’s quirky genre-bending spy dramedy Patriot. The three-time Oscar nominee will play Bernice Tavner, mother of lead John Tavner (Michael Dorman), the melancholy intelligence officer who works out his issues by writing folk songs. Bernice is a high-ranking federal government official whose obligation to her country requires distance from her son’s complicated work, though her son’s worsening mental state requires the close care of a mother.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

This Weekend's Book TV Sunday, January 7, featured David Ignatius, author of The Quantum Spy: A Thriller.

Crime Cafe podcast host Debbie Mack interviewed mystery author, Ray Flynt about his writing and series featuring P.I. Brad Frame.

Episode 2 of Crime Friction welcomed author Alison Gaylin, whose next book, If I Die Tonight, launches March 6.

THEATER

Calgary's Vertigo Theatre is presenting a two-man show as part of its Mystery Series. Torquil Campbell and Chris Abraham star in True Crime, which centers on Clark Rockefeller, a real life con man of the highest order, now serving a near-life sentence in a California State prison, and iconic musician and provocateur Torquil Campbell, who wants to try Rockefeller on for size. What does it mean for an excellent fabulator to embody an excellent fabulator? And in the end, does an intricate con differ that much from a successful work of art? "Entirely scripted or absolutely extemporaneous, True Crime is a mind-twisting encounter with an artist obsessed with how we all fake it, one way or another."

In an unusual Agatha Christie staging, the Vancouver International Puppet Festival's HomeGrown Series is presenting Who Killed Gertrude Crump?, a plot-twist-a-minute puppet caper playing at Performance Works, February 13-18. Acclaimed actor/puppeteer Tara Travis inhabits the ghost of Agatha Christie and animates this tale with a cast of original puppets and a gamut of voices in a haunted house fraught with surprises. The project was written by Ryan Gladstone who borrows from every single Agatha Christie book and play creating an amalgamation of her strangest characters and most shocking plot twists.

           Related StoriesMedia Murder for MondayMedia Murder 

FFB: Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries

Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was born into a prosperous family in West Virginia and practiced criminal and corporate law for several years. However, after the success of his first novel series, he promptly dropped his law career to write full time. He was a prolific writer, penning numerous stories in national magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and The Ladies Home Journal.



He wrote a couple of series and some standalone novels, but it may have been his twenty-plus stories featuring the mystery-solving and justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman, Uncle Abner, which helped make Post popular. Ellery Queen called the stories "an out-of-this-world target for future detective-story writers," and the 1941 review of the mystery genre, Murder for Pleasure, declared that Uncle Abner was, after Edgar Allan Poe's Arsène Dupin, "the greatest American contribution" to the cast of fictional detectives.



Uncle Abner is described as "a big, broad-shouldered, deep-chested Saxon, with all those marked characteristics of a race living out of doors and hardened by wind and sun. His powerful frame carried no ounce of surplus weight. It was the frame of an empire builder on the frontier of the empire. The face reminded one of Cromwell, the craggy features in repose seemed molded over iron but the fine gray eyes had a calm serenity, like remote spaces in the summer sky. The man's clothes were plain and somber. And he gave the impression of things big and vast."



Abner is also a Puritan at heart who always carries a Bible in his pocket and has a knack for finding out the truth. As his nephew, Martin, who frequently narrates the stories, says, "for all his iron ways, Abner was a man who saw justice in its large and human aspect, and he stood for the spirit, above the letter, of the truth." He is a stern authoritarian figure but equally so a kind and compassionate philosopher.



Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries was the first anthology (1918), and contained 18 Uncle Abner stories all told by Martin. The crimes primarily deal with murder or robbery and start after the crime has been committed and the killer thinks he's gotten away with it. "The Doomdorf Mystery" is the first story in the collection and also one of Post's best known. It features more than one possible suspect who all admit to being the killer, as well as a locked-room scenario ("the wall of the house is plumb with the sheer face of the rock. It is a hundred feet to the river ... but that is not all. Look at these window frames; they are cemented into their casement with dust").



The stories are most definitely of their pre-Civil War setting, in that they feature the attitudes toward African-Americans prevalent at the time (with the associated language that today's readers will likely find offensive). If you can get past that, these are entertaining for the shrewd characterizations, tight plots and for the dispensing of frontier justice in an era that predated American police forces and procedures.