B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 187
February 20, 2017
Media Murder for Monday
Monday greetings, and welcome to another wrap-up of the latest crime drama news:
AWARDS
The Writers Guild of America handed out their annual awards this weekend, including Moonlight for Best Original Screenplay and the sci-fi mystery Arrival for Best Adapted Screenplay. The spy program The Americans also was honored as Best Drama Series, and The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story won for Best Adapted Long Form.
MOVIES
DreamWorks Pictures is adapting the upcoming murder mystery novel Into the Water from The Girl on the Train author Paula Hawkins. The story is set in a town where a single mother and a teenage girl were found dead in a river within a few months of each other, and follows a 15-year-old girl who has been left parentless while caring for her mother’s sister — a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from.
Jared Leto will make his feature film directorial debut with Paramount's crime thriller 77, which is based on an original screenplay by author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential). Set in politically charged 1974 Los Angeles, the story centers around two police officers who team up to recover kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst while simultaneously investigating the brutal murder of a fellow officer. They uncover not only relentless corruption and crime, but a dark and violent conspiracy as well.
Universal Pictures has optioned City Of Saints & Thieves, the bestselling debut novel by Natalie C. Anderson, with Will Packer Productions and Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street production company in negotiations to produce. The protagonist is Tina, a girl who has been living on the streets of Kenya since her mother’s murder. Recruited by a gang of orphans and street kids, Tina gets closer to exacting revenge for her mother’s death, but soon discovers that she may not have all the facts. This is the second book that Scandal star Washington has come involved in following on The Perfect Mother, a thriller novel by Aimee Molloy that will be crafted as a star vehicle for Washington, who'll produce with Amy Pascal.
North American rights to Roman Polanski’s thriller Based on a True Story have been sold to Sony Pictures Classics. The French-language thriller stars Emmanuelle Seigner as a Parisian author with writer’s block who discovers a mysterious woman — played by Eva Green — at a book signing. Olivier Assayas and Polanski adapted the movie from Delphine de Vigan’s novel of the same name.
Screenwriter Andrea Berloff will direct and adapt the female-driven mob drama The Kitchen, marking the directorial debut for the Academy Award-nominated Straight Outta Compton screenwriter. The story is based on the comic book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle and is described as "a classic gangster story told from a fresh POV. When a group of Irish mobsters are sent to prison, their wives take over their jailed spouses’ organized crime operations, subverting gender tropes to become the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in 1970’s Hell’s Kitchen."
TELEVISION
Mystery Productions has teamed up with Truenorth for the new series, The Valhalla Murders, an international detective drama that follows a displaced detective who, against his will, is ordered to leave his life in Denmark to investigate a series of murders in Iceland. Dark parts of his past will be brought back to the fore as he is forced to battle his own demons as well as the island nation’s first serial killer. The two production companies have also recently acquired a number of dark detective stories from Iceland’s enormously popular author Stefan Mani, hoping to develop them into a series beginning with the novel Black Magic.
Finland-U.S.-based Snapper Films has unveiled a new TV series, Sherlock North. It's based on a Conan Doyle short story where Sherlock Holmes travels to Scandinavia after faking his own death and is on the run from nemesis Professor Moriarty. Under a false identity – an explorer named Sigerson – Holmes settles in dark and cold Lapland, in northern Finland, sparking a culture clash between the upper-class, fast-talking and eccentric Brit and the down-to-earth Nordic characters.
The CBS S.W.A.T reboot has just cast Bond girl Stephanie Sigman in a starring role in the pilot, which is based on the movie of the same name. The project follows a locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant who is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a highly-trained unit that’s the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles. Sigman will play Jessica, who’s described as ambitious and fastidious, and has earned her high rank at S.W.A.T. headquarters.
Versace: American Crime Story has signed the Bourne Ultimatum's Edgar Ramirez to play fashion designer Gianni Versace and Glee alum Darren Criss to play serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the third installment of Ryan Murphy's FX crime anthology series. The story will explore the July 1997 assassination of legendary designer Gianni Versace, whose killer, Andrew Cunanan, committed suicide eight days later as Miami Dade police were on the verge of capturing the serial killer behind five slayings.
Britne Oldford (Syfy’s Hunters), Ben Rappaport (The Good Wife), and veteran Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie) are set to star in an ABC legal drama pilot from Shondaland and ABC Studios. The project is set in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Federal Court, aka "The Mother Court," and follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution as they handle the most high-profile and high-stakes cases in the country
BBC America has hired Kevin Smith to write, direct and executive produce a series based on the Sam And Twitch comic book series about big-city homicide detectives who face a series of super grizzly crimes that are connected to the occult.
Amazon has renewed Goliath, its legal drama starring Billy Bob Thornton, for a second season. Clyde Phillips, who oversaw Dexter as showrunner through its first four seasons, will take over as boss. Playing disgraced alcoholic lawyer Billy McBride, Thornton won the best actor in a TV drama Golden Globe this year for the role.
Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games) is to star as English headmistress Hester Appleyard in Foxtel’s six-part drama Picnic at Hanging Rock. The project is a "re-imagining" of Joan Lindsay’s novel, which was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of three schoolgirls and a teacher on Valentine’s Day in 1900 in Australia. The teachers of Appleyard College for Young Ladies will be played by French actress Lola Bessis, Yael Stone, Anna McGahan, and Sibylla Budd.
Jessica Biel is making her return to television a memorable one, starring in and executive producing the new USA anthology crime thriller The Sinner, which just released its first trailer. Based on a novel by Petra Hammesfahr, the show stars Biel as a young mother named Cora who commits a horrific crime in full view of her family and public bystanders. It's a seemingly inexplicable act for she claims she has no motive, which puzzles the lead investigator (Bill Pullman).
Wondering which of your favorite shows are going to be renewed and which aren't? TV Guide published a list of a 2016-2017 TV Scorecard.
PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO
NPR's Scott Simon interviewed Tom Rosenstiel (who is also the executive director of the American Press Institute) about his debut novel Shining City, which focuses on Washington D.C. politics, power brokers, spin doctors, compromise, and the press.
The mystery of Ireland and writing were some of the topics discussed with Lisa Alber, author of the County Clare mystery series, on the Authors on the Air podcast.
Swedish novelist Christoffer Carlsson, who's written five novels, won Sweden's top award for crime fiction, and has a PhD in criminology (all under the age of 30), spoke to Kate Evans on Radio National about his writing career and his novel Master, Liar, Traitor, Friend, the third in a series about a cop named Leo Junker.
Picking apart three of her favorite pieces of crime fiction, Nicola Davis sat down in the studio for the Guardian Books podcast with Dr. Kathryn Harkup, a chemist, science communicator, and author of A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie.
Seattle's KUOW radio featured arts and culture reporter Marcie Sillman and librarian Nancy Pearl talking about thrillers, with a few recommendations.
THEATER
A new production adapted (by Simon Brett and Antony Lampard) from one of Ruth Rendell's most celebrated novels is on tour in the UK, visiting 26 venues through December of this year. The story follows Eunice, a woman struggling to fit in, and when she joins a wealthy family as their housekeeper, the very reason for her awkwardness, long hidden and deeply buried, leads inexorably to a terrible tale of murder in cold blood – on Valentine’s Day.
Houston's Theatre Suburbia will present Sherlock Holmes: John Watson's Body from February 24 to March 25, 2017. The play was penned by C.P. Stancich and starts with Dr. Watson investigating the disappearance of a family's priceless emeralds, but when he finds and then loses a body, it draws Holmes and friend Oscar Dove into a web of murder, larceny and intrigue.
I caught this piece almost too late, but from Feb. 8 to 26, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Company (RMTC) is honoring Agatha Christie at the 17th annual Master Playwright Festival, an event that takes on a selected number of works from a celebrated artist. The festival provides opportunities for artists from a variety of organizations to produce work under the umbrella of a larger festival, and also provides patrons with an opportunity to thoroughly immerse themselves in the works of a renowned playwright. Agatha Christie is only the second woman to be honored by the RMTC Festival and the first mystery writer.
GAMES
Ink Spotters 1: The Art of Detection is a new app written by NY Times best-selling author Sean Stewart that creates a new Sherlock Holmes adventure. Players can follow Sherlock from Victorian London's high society to its rank underbelly as they breeze through the game's comic-like pages. By typing in key words, players unlock more pages that lead to the rest of the story. The more clues you find, the more pages you unlock.
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February 19, 2017
Your Sunday Music Treat
Classical music may seem staid to today's younger generations, but in its day, it was often revolutionary. Beethoven's famous Egmont Overture is a perfect example. Egmont celebrates the life and heroism of the Dutch nobleman, the Count of Egmont, in his fateful opposition to Spanish tyranny. Beethoven penned the overture in part to express his opposition to Napoleon’s having crowned himself Emperor in 1804 (and it later became the unofficial anthem of the Hungarian revolution of 1956). Here's Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic:
February 18, 2017
February 17, 2017
Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Death of a Mystery Writer
The theme for Patti Abbott's Friday's "Forgotten" Books today is "children gone wrong"; although the children in the book I'm highlighting in my post are grown, they are nonetheless all fairly nasty and all suspects in a dastardly murder puzzle that centers around the death of their despised father and a rather lucrative inheritance.
Robert Barnard (1936-2013) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer, whose first crime novel, Death of an Old Goat (1974), was written while he was teaching in Australia, followed shortly after by A Little Local Murder (1976) penned while he was a lecturer at University of Tromsø in Norway. He went on to write more than 40 other books and numerous short stories and was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2003 by the Crime Writers Association and the Malice Domestic Award for a lifetime of achievement.
He had several series protagonists including policemen Perry Trethowan, Idwal Meredith, and Charlie Peace, even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, either under his given name or the pen name Bernard Bastable. He once said that favorite crime writer was Agatha Christie and published a critique of her work titled A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie in 1980. This is likely why his stories are primarily of the traditional British detective story school, with the author himself once referring to his style as "deliberately old-fashioned."
Death of a Mystery Writer, published in 1978 (and received an Edgar Award nomination for Best Novel), follows that "old fashioned" theme, centering around Sir Oliver Fairleigh-Stubbs, an overweight and overbearing man who revels in stirring up trouble, after he collapses and dies at his birthday party. He left behind a family who was relieved to be rid of him, especially since he'd amassed quite a fortune as the author or best-selling detective novels.
To the family's surprise, Sir Oliver left most of his estate to his eldest son who openly hated his father, while the long-suffering wife, calculating daughter, and unpleasant younger son are each to receive the income from one carefully chosen book. But the manuscript of the unpublished volume left to Sir Oliver's wife—a posthumous "last case" that might be worth millions—has disappeared, and the author's death is beginning to look less and less like an accident.
The spirited Welsh Inspector Meredith, who in some respects resembles Sir Oliver's fiction hero, steps into the picture to look into the proceedings. It doesn't take long to discover the old man had been poisoned, his favorite after-dinner liqueur spiked with nicotinic acid, and that there are plenty of suspects. Meredith also begins to suspect that the clever murderer is taking his scheme from the plot of Sir Oliver's missing novel.
Barnard's trademark charm and wit are evident here, as in the passage:
"Oliver Farleigh sank into a mood of intense depression: he gazed at the cutlet as if it were a drowned friend whose remains he was trying to identify at a police morgue. He picked up a forkful of mashed potato, inspected it, smelled it, and finally, with ludicrously overdone reluctance, let it drop into his mouth, where he chewed it for fully three minutes before swallowing. Conversation flagged."
Kirkus Reviews added, "Sir Oliver is so robustly, vitally hateful that the story sags ever so slightly after his removal from the scene; but the denouement is neat, the pace brisk, and the satisfaction almost total—proof positive, once again, that the Olde English Detective Story can still, in the right hands, be an un-dusty delight."
After Barnard's death in 2013, several of his fellow crime fiction authors paid tribute and offered up fond remembrances via online posts, including Mike Ripley in The Guardian and , who recalled Barnard's "sharp and mischievous sense of humour."
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February 15, 2017
Mystery Melange
The longlist for the Crime Writers Association 2017 Dagger in the Library was officially announced last week. The Dagger in the Library (a prize for a body of work by a crime writer that users of libraries particularly admire) is one of the most prestigious crime writing awards in the UK. This year's finalists include Alison Bruce; Kate Ellis; Chris Ewan; Tana French; Mari Hannah; Brian MacGilloway; James Oswald; C J Samson; Andrew Taylor, and Nicola Upson.
The Audio Publishers Association announced the finalists for the 22nd annual Audie Awards, which recognize distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment, and include Best Mystery and Best Thriller categories.
The Open University/Institute of English Studies Contemporary Culture of Writing Seminars are presenting a Spring Seminar Series On Detective and Crime Fiction, beginning April 21 at the Senate House in Malet Street, London. Speakers at these free events will tackle such topics as how crime novels reflect contemporary politics and culture; have advances in psychology, neuroscience and digital technology changed the fictional landscape; is there a gender divide in the type of crime fiction written by men and women; who are the victims – and who are the perpetrators; and does the crime always have to be solved?
The Golden Age of Crime Weekend at Essex Book Festival will take place on March 11-12 in Southend-on-Sea. This year's line-up includes Sophie Hannah. who will talk about writing the first Poirot novel since Agatha Christie's death; Frances Fyfield, Jill Paton Walsh and former CWA chair and Detection Club president Simon Brett will celebrate the long-lasting legacy of Dorothy L Sayers; debut crime writers join the "Fresh Blood" panel; there's a Golden Age of Crime Quiz Night; Charles Beck will share insights into Dennis Wheatley's life and work; Sheila Mitchell will profile HRF Keating; and CWA member Isabelle Grey will host a crime-writing workshop.
At the other end of the country, also in March on the 25th, the Deal Noir conference on crime fiction at The Landmark Centre in Deal will feature CWA members Susan Moody, Barry Forshaw, Katerina Diamond, Sarah Ward, Susi Holliday, Guy Fraser-Sampson speaking on crime fiction in all its forms from dark psychological thrillers through police procedurals to light-hearted romps and Interactive sessions where you have chance to put your questions to the panel and join in the debate.
The 2017 Edgar Week activities in NYC were recently announced, kicking off with an evening featuring members of Mystery Writers of America, the 2017 Edgar Award nominees, bestselling authors, and publisher representatives at the Mysterious Bookshop. There's also an all-day writers' symposium, and, of course, the annual Edgar Awards banquet.
There is a blog-centered Mystery Thriller "Week" (it's actually 11 days) that runs through February 22, with 220+ authors from over a dozen countries represented. You can follow the links to dozens of book reviews, author Q&As, guest posts, and giveaways via this website calendar.
Academics, authors and fans of the "Queen of Crime" will gather at Cambridge University to discuss Agatha Christie's legacy. Lucy Cavendish College will host Agatha Christie: A Reappraisal in June as "fans and fellow writers coming together to try and unravel the mysteries behind some of the best-loved crime fiction of all time."
One sad bit of news to report: Canadian YA writer Norah McClintock has died at the age of 64 from the effects of ovarian cancer. McClintock published over 60 books, including the popular Robyn Hunter mysteries, Chloe & Levesque mysteries, and the Mike & Riel mysteries. She won five Arthur Ellis Awards for crime fiction for young people, and her books have been translated into 16 languages. In addition to books for young adults, McClintock has published two graphic novels, I, Witness with Mike Deas and Tru Detective with Steven Hughes.
San Diego's Fleet Science Center just opened a new interactive exhibit titled "Sherlock Holmes and the Clocktower Mystery." You can catch it through early June and try your hand at solving the mystery as you walk through several settings such as a carnival sideshow, a séance room and a caretaker's room, searching clues amid all the red herrings. When you think you know the name of the murderer, you'll enter the study to be questioned about your conclusions, and the mystery will be solved in a dramatic finale.
Another new exhibit coming up in April in Philadelphia will tackle "Clever Criminals and Daring Detectives," taking a historical look at criminals and detectives in fiction. Materials on display will include the earliest account of an American multiple murderer, the original manuscript of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Empty House" and reflections on mystery collecting of Ellery Queen. Visitors willl also have a chance to test out their own sleuthing skills. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)
As filming gets underway for another series of ITV dramas featuring Rowan Atkinson playing Inspector Maigret, Penguin continues to publish its new translations of Georges Simenon’s Maigret novels at a rate of one a month. Of the 76 novels in the series, 63 take place in Paris, and because of that close relationship to setting, Crime Fiction Lover took a closer look "at the man and his city, with photography to depict the locations and the mood that the author established throughout the novels."
EuroCrime's Karen Meeks noted the publication of three new Agatha Christie-related crime fiction titles including a couple where the author herself stars as the sleuthing protagonist.
While much has been made about Agatha Christie's contribution to mysteries especially during her recent 125th anniversary celebrations, Criminal Element and Kristen Lepionka reminded us of other groundbreaking women in crime fiction.
A statistical analysis by Peking University Library showed that when its student body isn't reading course-assigned books about economics and politics, they are showing a preference for Japan's top thriller and mystery writer, Keigo Higashino. According to the report, Higashino's thriller Mysterious Night is the library's third-most borrowed book for 2016, and Higashino is also credited as having written the two most reserved books in Peking University Library, The Miracle in the Grocery Store as well as Journey Under the Midnight Sun.
Ever wonder ? Writing for LitHub, Michael Sims looks into the early history of the iconic detective's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sarah PInborough, author of new book Behind Her Eyes, compiled a list of the "Top 10 unreliable narrators From Edgar Allan Poe to Gillian Flynn" for The Guardian.
Fans of young adult crime fiction (or those of you who have family members who are) should check out this list of "5 YA Crime Families You’ll (Almost) Wish You Could Join" on the Barnes & Noble blog.
I'll bet this is one event commemorating Agatha Christie you haven't heard of - pancake day races in Wallingford featuring an Agatha Christie-themed challenge on Tuesday, February 28, with competitors dressed as villains and investigators. Even RAF Benson has agreed to send a team along to take part in the adult race.
Cracked profiled "20 Mysteries That Absolutely No One Can Solve" (although "no one" seems to be a bit of an exaggeration), fascinating real-life puzzles culled from historical events. (HT to Bill Crider)
This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Inquest: A Missing Person" by Daniel D'Arezzo.
In the Q&A roundup, Omnivoracious snagged author Louise Penny to interview author Deborah Crombie about the the latest in her very popular Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series; the Mystery People spoke with author Robert Knott, who took over Robert B. Parker’s Old West law duo Hitch and Cole; Chris Bell took Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" challenge about his latest story collection; the Mystery People also chatted with KJ Howe, Director of ThrillerFest, who is making her fiction debut with Freedom Broker; and author/reporter Betty Webb was the Q&A subject for Huffington Post, talking about her Lena Jones mysteries.
Related StoriesMystery Melange, Valentine's EditionMystery Melange
February 13, 2017
Media Murder for Monday
Welcome to another new week and another wrap-up of the latest crime drama news:
MOVIES
The production company The Firm picked up rights to the untitled Big Pharma/Whistleblower corporate thriller from screenwriters Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi. The ensemble piece tells intersecting stories surrounding a new controversial behavioral drug being peddled to inner city families while a scrappy, driven district attorney clashes with a young, ambitious pharmaceutical rep forced to participate in a wide-ranging conspiracy. The Firm has several other projects in development, including the Angela Davis biopic about the first woman placed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list as well as a film based on the famous 1981 Signal Hill police brutality case.
TriStar has preemptively acquired rights to The Perfect Mother, a thriller novel by Aimee Molloy that just sold in a seven-figure HarperCollins publishing deal. Kerry Washington is attached to star in the film, which revolves around a Brooklyn group called May Mothers, a group of moms who meet up to socialize and relish a couple hours away from their babies. But when one mother learns her 6-week-old son has been abducted from his crib, three new moms go to increasingly desperate lengths to find him alive in a hunt that ends up revealing damaging secrets and testing marriages and friendships.
WWE Studios acquired exclusive English-language remake rights to the Norwegian thriller franchise Cold Prey, which follows a group of friends who decide to ski out of bounds and are forced to take shelter when a storm hits, finding themselves imprisoned in an abandoned ski lodge along with a maniacal killer. Cold Prey was hailed as one of the best modern Norwegian horror movies and the most successful franchise of its kind.
Film Movement picked up North American rights to Frédéric Mermoud’s French psychological thriller Moka starring Emmanuelle Devos. Moka is based on a 2006 novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and centers on a grieving woman who pursues a couple whom she suspects killed her son in a hit-and-run accident.
Jake Gyllenhaal is joining Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly in the cast of The Sisters Brothers, based on Patrick deWitt’s novel of the same name. The story is set in 1951 Oregon and follows two brothers and notorious assassins, Eli and Charlie Sisters, who are hired to kill a gold prospector named Hermann Kermit Warm, who has stolen from their boss.
Joel Edgerton has signed on to star opposite Jon Bernthal (Daredevil) in the dark crime thriller Stingray. Edgerton will play a powerful small town racketeer whose brother is accidentally killed by a petty criminal played by Bernthal. As a result, Bernthal’s character must kill one of his own family members in the next two days to pay off his debt.
Jeremy Saulnier has set the cast for his next film, the thriller Hold the Dark, which is based on the book by William Giraldi and is being produced for Netflix. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Jeffrey Wright, James Badge Dale, Riley Keough, and James Bloor, the story set in the Alaskan wilderness, where wolves are killing children. A biologist arrives on the scene to investigate and tangles with a dead boy’s dysfunctional parents. Wright will play the biologist, Badge Dale plays a detective. Skarsgard plays the father and Keough will play the mother, while Bloor’s character is described as a creepy drifter.
Oscar Issac has signed on to star in the spy thriller The Garbo Project. Set during World War II, the project is based on the true story of Juan Pujol Garcia, an eccentric double-agent who, with no military or covert training, somehow persuaded both the Germans and the British to hire him as a spy. As it turned out, his real allegiance was to England, and working closely with MI5, he created a fictional network of 27 spies said to be spread out over England, Scotland, and Ireland. His ruse enabled the English to deceive the Germans about the invasion of Normandy.
Oscar-winning screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen have come on board to polish the script for Universal’s Scarface remake, which stars Diego Luna (Rogue One) in the title role. All that's left is to hire on a director (after Antoine Fuqua had to drop out), with Hell Or High Water's David Mackenzie and Patriots Day's Peter Berg said to be in the running. Universal plans to release the film in August 2018.
Production has wrapped on Nicolas Pesce’s psychological thriller Piercing, which is based on Ryu Murakami’s 1994 novel of the same name. The film stars Christopher Abbott as a man who kisses his wife and baby goodbye, seemingly headed away on business, with a plan to check into a hotel, call an escort service and kill an unsuspecting prostitute - until his plans are thwarted by an alluring and mysterious call girl (Mia Wasikowska), who arrives at his room, leading to a pulsating game of cat-and-mouse.
Sarah Paulson has landed the starring role in Amazon Studios' serial-killer drama Lost Girls. Documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus is making her narrative-film debut with the film, which is based on investigative reporter Robert Kolker's 2013 nonfiction book of the same name. Michael Werwie wrote the adaptation, which centers on a mother searching for her missing daughter in Long Island who makes a horrifying discovery in the woods, where the murdered bodies of four girls have been dumped.
The first trailer was released for Oren Moverman’s psychological thriller The Dinner (based on the international best-selling novel by Herman Koch) starring Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, and Laura Linney in the tale of two couples and the dark secrets that bind them together over one intense dinner.
The first trailer was dropped for Unlocked, the fast-paced thriller about a CIA operative played by Noomi Rapace (from the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), who, after the interrogation of a captured terrorist underling, comes upon crucial information about a biological attack on London that suddenly makes her a target from ersatz agents working for the terrorists. Forced to go on the run, the only person she can trust is a brash MI5 agent played by Orlando Bloom.
TELEVISION
Amazon is teaming up with Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn on the new crime thriller Too Old To Die Young, which was greenlit with a straight-to-series order with 10 episodes. The show explores the criminal underbelly of Los Angeles and is described as being in a similar vein to Refn’s Pusher trilogy, which looked at Danish criminals caught up in the drug trade.
NBC is giving a pilot order to a drama inspired by the the literary works of best-selling author Charlaine Harris, Redliners, based on short stories by Harris, whose books also inspired HBO’s hit vampire drama True Blood. In the tone of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Redliners mixes humor, romance and espionage. It follows a pair of former operatives who get reactivated and drawn into a larger conspiracy while attempting to maintain their undercover lives.
Fans of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder can breathe easier after ABC announced they were renewing the series for their fourteenth, seventh, and fourth seasons, respectively.
BBC Four acquired the new Canadian procedural drama Cardinal, adapted from the novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the first of six mystery novels featuring the character John Cardinal, written by Giles Blunt. The story sees Cardinal, who has been demoted for following a hunch on a case of a missing teenager that he wouldn’t let go, brought back to the homicide unit when the teen’s body is found, proving his instincts correct. His hunt for the murderer becomes an all-consuming race to stay one step ahead of a serial killer.
Annette Bening set to make a rare TV appearance after she was added to the cast of Katrina: American Crime Story, the second season of the FX series, which will focus on the events that led up to and followed Hurricane Katrina. Bening will be playing former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco who served as Governor during and following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and was responsible for the mass evacuation of the New Orleans area and the rescue of residents left behind in the aftermath of the storm.
ABC’s magician FBI drama pilot Deception has found its lead in Jack Cutmore-Scott, who takes on the role of superstar magician Cameron Black. When his career is ruined by scandal, Black has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, illusion, and influence — the FBI.
Jennifer Finnigan is set as the female lead in Salvation, CBS' straight-to-series summer suspense thriller drama based on the story by Matt Wheeler about MIT grad student Liam and tech superstar Darius, who bring low-level Pentagon official Grace (Finnigan) a staggering discovery – that an asteroid is just six months away from colliding with Earth. Brought into the government’s secret task force to save humanity, Grace struggles to keep the secret from the ones she loves and finds herself tested in ways she never imagined.
Heroes alum Jack Coleman is set to co-star opposite Reba McEntire in ABC’s Marc Cherry drama pilot, from ABC Studios. The untitled project stars McEntire as Ruby Adair, the sheriff of colorful small town Oxblood, KY, who finds her red state outlook challenged when a young FBI agent of Middle Eastern descent is sent to help her solve a horrific crime. Coleman will play Deke Adair, Ruby’s ruggedly handsome ex-husband who is now married to Ruby’s former best friend, Randa (Amanda Detmer).
Bradley Whitford, still widely known as The West Wing's Josh Lyman, has signed on to guest star in the crossover episode arc between Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice, taking on the role of Albert Forest, a very powerful defense lawyer who basically wrote the book on the best way to cross examine witnesses on the stand.
NYPD Blue alum Esai Morales is also heading to the Windy City. Morales, who played Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue, is joining Chicago P.D. in a recurring role to be introduced in the upcoming three-show crossover that will launch Chicago Justice.
BBC America has set Saturday, June 10, as the premiere of the fifth and final season of its critically praised series Orphan Black. Star Tatiana Maslany returns to her Emmy-winning role as multiple clones in the Peabody Award-winning series, which will likely pick up where Season 4 left off, with Daya Diaz (Dascha Polanco) pointing a loaded gun at two of the prison guards during a riot following the death of Poussey (Samira Wiley).
The 2016 production of Four Seasons in Havana has made its way to Netflix. It's based on novelist Leonardo Padura's fictional detective Mario Conde who's been described as "Cuba's Philip Marlowe." WLRN had a preview of the TV program, and the Mystery People's Molly Odintz profiled the novel series. Meanwhile, an American, English-language version, titled Havana Quartet, is in production for the U.S. cable network Starz, with Antonio Banderas playing Conde.
A trailer was released for ITV's Broadchurch, which will return in 2017 for its 3rd and final season, bringing back almost all of its familiar faces in the process. The story will follow detectives Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and Alec Hardy (David Tennant) as they investigate a serious sexual assault in the area.
BBC One dropped a trailer for the upcoming SS-GB, the alternative history thriller series based on the novel by Len Deighton, in which the Nazis were successful in occupying London during WWII.
POCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
MPR chatted with Ellen Hart, recently named a Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America, one of the highest distinctions in the genre, for her thirty years of crime fiction work. Hart talked about her career and how writing about a gay detective made her feel like she "was writing science fiction."
Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, hosts of the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast, discussed the success of Waterstones, books vs. ebooks, writing vs. editing, and optical illusions, and also chatted with award-winning author Stav Sherez.
2nd Sunday Crime welcomed author David Taylor, whose Night Life was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel.
The latest Suspense Radio podcast included guest authors Alexandrea Weis, Elizabeth Heiter, Kimberly Howe and Lisa Gardner.
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February 11, 2017
February 10, 2017
FFB: Rising of the Moon
In honor of our penumbrual lunar eclipse tonight, I thought I'd pull this post out of the FFB archives today:
Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell (1901–1983) taught English, Spanish, history and games in various schools in and around London and was a lifelong student herself, interested in poetry, archaeology, medieval architecture, Freud, and witchcraft (thanks to the influence of her friend, author Helen Simpson), and she was also a member of the British Olympic Association. She penned sixty-six detective novels under her own name, published between 1929 and a posthumous book in 1984, all featuring Mrs. Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley. She also wrote another series of detective stories under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie (with architect Timothy Herring), as well as historical and children's books.
One of the earliest members of the British Detection Club, along with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, Mitchell is often compared to the other two Grande Dames and included on lists of the brightest lights of the Golden Age of detective fiction. But with 76 books to her credit, critics like to point out that quantity didn't always mean quality in her novels, something the author addressed in an interview published in the Armchair Detective in 1976: "I know I have written some bad books, but I thought they were all right when I wrote them. I can't bear to look at some of them now...The books I dislike most are Printer's Error and Brazen Tongue—a horrible book." That may be, but her beloved protagonist Mrs. Bradley still stands as one the most unusual and memorable in detective fiction.
The thrice-married Mrs. Bradley is a medical practitioner, psychiatrist, criminologist and consultant to the Home Office. She herself is an author, including A Small Handbook of Psychoanalysis and articles in psychological journals, specializing in the psychology of crime. In the nonfiction book Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers, Michele Slung wrote that Mrs. Bradley's "detecting methods combine hocus-pocus and Freud, seasoned with sarcasm and the patience of a predator toying with its intended victim." Mrs. Bradley is variously described by other characters in the books as being "dry without being shriveled, and bird-like without being pretty," "a hag-like pterodactyl," and "Mrs. Crocodile." She is an accomplished player at bridge, pool, snooker, darts and throwing knives, and a dead shot with an airgun.
Although Mitchell always denied she included much blood and violence in her stories, there's plenty of poisoning to be found (such as deadly nightshade grafted onto to a tomato plant) with horrific side effects, lots of throat-cutting, and one victim was even minced into sausages and hung from hooks. The main premise of 1945's Rising of the Moon, one of Mitchell's personal favorite books, involves a a Ripper-like killer wreaking havoc on the streets of the small village Brentford by mutilating young women and slitting their throats when the moon is full.
Reminiscent of the precocious narrator of Alan Bradley's Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie over sixty years before that book's publication, Rising of the Moon is told through the eyes of 13-year-old Simon Innes, who teams up with his 11-year-old brother Keith, becoming junior Hardy Boys trying to solve the bloody crimes. Their task becomes even more urgent when they spy the potential murder weapon at a local junk shop run by their friend—an eccentric old lady who has a "rag and bone man" as a lodger—then realize the knife may belong to their older brother/guardian and worry he'll be accused of murder.
In that same Armchair Detective interview referenced above, Mitchell remarked Rising of the Moon recalled much of her own Brentford childhood, she being Simon in that story and her "adorable brother Reginald" the model for Keith. That may be one reason Mitchell doesn't patronize her young protagonists, painting them as curious, clever and witty in their matter-of-fact observations, such as "All detective work is sneaking. That's why only gentlemen and cads can do it," or Simon's solemn thought after one almost-disastrous attempt at sleuthing:
In this innocent belief, our progress back to the high street was robbed of much of its terror. The moon was now flooding the sky. Her image reflected in the water was no longer a thing of murky terror, for we were vain-glorious; we were heroes. We had been under fire. We had been suspected of being murderers. We had filled some female heart with excessive terror. We felt we had been blooded, and were men.
In Mrs. Bradley they find a sympathetic ear and are immediately put at ease by her confidence in them, as she becomes their greatest ally and supporter. She in turn offers up little insights into life as part of their education, as in "These bestial realities must sometimes be faced...Life is inclined to be sordid. Our friends are not always what they seem." Mrs. Bradley's role in Rising of the Moon is important, although she actually only appears half-way through the book, with the heart of the story carried by the winsome Simon.
The book is at turns darkly tongue-in-cheek, eccentric, warm and ultimately charming. Though the plotting is a bit muddled and disjointed at times, if you're willing to put that aside, the endearing narration and almost dreamy setting pull you in and make you feel a little like you've become immersed in a surrealistic painting. That may be why Christopher Fowler said in the Independent that Mitchell's works are "more interesting than Christie's, if more problematic."
Radio adaptations for the BBC were made of two of her books with Mary Wimbush starring as Mrs Bradley, and five of Mitchell's novels were loosely adapted for the 1990s television series The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries featuring Diana Rigg (Rising of the Moon was one, although the plot barely resembles the novel). One critic groused that the latter turned Mrs. Bradley into a glamorous Miss Marple, but it may have helped rekindle some interest in the author.
February 7, 2017
Mystery Melange, Valentine's Edition
Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Mystery People posted "(Extremely) Unauthorized Relationship Advice Inspired by Crime Fiction: Part 1."
In the mood for some romantic crime fiction? Check out Mystery Fanfare's list of Valentine's Day Mysteries.
Book Riot also posted a gallery of "23 Valentine's Day Cards for Book Lovers," including this fun one featuring Edgar Allan Poe.
Congrats go to investigator and author John Straley, who was honored with an Alaskan Legislative Citation for his more than three decades of public service to the state of Alaska in the fields of poetry, law, and literature.
Congratulations are also in order for the nominees for the Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a U.S. or Canadian author, handed out annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers.
The short list for the UK's inaugural Jhalak prize honoring writers of color includes two crime titles, Abir Mukherjee’s debut thriller A Rising Man and Jacob Ross’s The Bone Readers, as well as Gary Younge's Another Day in the Death of America, a nonfiction title that follows the stories of ten young people murdered on November 23, 2013, in a book about the impact of lax US gun laws.
San Antonio's Gemini Ink is presenting Nights of Noir that begins tonight with a discussion of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and a noir-tinged happy hour. Future events will include The Galton Case by Ross Macdonald on March 8; The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith on April 12; and Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis on May 10.
Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an afternoon Literary Salon with Ian Rankin in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ian Rankin's Detective Inspector John Rebus, on Monday, February 20, at 1 p.m. This is a free event, but you must RSVP for venue address. Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, the Edgar Award, and has won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir, and the Deutscher Krimipreis.
Registration for the 2017 Writers’ Police Academy will open at noon on February 19, 2017. Craig Johnson, Mr. Longmire himself, is Guest of Honor, joining fellow featured guests, Paul Bishop, author and a thirty-five year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dr. Katherine Ramsland, director of the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Program at DeSales University' and Les Edgerton, ex-con-turned award-winning author and teacher. This year's academy will also include giveaways worth over $1,500, with anyone who registers the first day is automatically entered.
There's still time to register for Sleuthfest coming up later this month February 23 through 26. SleuthFest is an intensive four day conference featuring writing workshops, social events, and pitch session with top literary agents and editors, as well a chance to meet Keynote Speaker David Baldacci, Forensic Guest of Honor Dr. Vincent Di Maio, legendary publisher Neil Nyren, and authors Jeff Lindsay, Reed Farrel Coleman, SJ Rozan, Jane Cleland, and Jess Lourey.
The Bath Festival in the UK in May will include a Killer Women panel featuring authors Sarah Hilary, Erin Kelly and Mel McGrath talking with Guardian crime reviewer Laura Wilson about the female appetite for crime fiction.
The New York Times had a nice profile of Mysterious Bookshop in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City. Otto Penzler explained why the shop has managed to thrive for so long, "Detective stories are essentially fairy tales. They’re the battle between good and evil."
Another recent NYT profile investigated the works of Hideo Yokoyama, one of Japan’s most popular crime novelists, who says that he's particularly interested "in the psychology and social dynamics of characters who happen to be affected by crime." Yokoyama's novel Six Four was adapted into a movie nominated for the Japan Academy Prize, that country’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.
Proving that crime fiction is not only a reflection of its time and culture, the Palestianian Authority has banned the crime thriller A Crime in Ramallah on the grounds it contains "violations of ethics and morals," although it is believed by some to have been censored because it made the Palestinian Authority look bad.
The BBC profiled Guy Hamilton, the James Bond director who went undercover in WWII. Although it's well known that Bond creator Ian Fleming drew literary inspiration from his wartime work in espionage, the heroic war exploits of the director of Bond films including Goldfinger and Live and Let Die are less well documented.
Meanwhile, Listverse compiled "10 Shocking Crimes Of The Real James Bond." Ian Fleming one told a friend he'd had been inspired to create James Bond after reading about the life of Sidney Reilly, known as the "Ace of Spies," who was also a ruthless and dangerous man, loyal to no one but himself, and ready to betray or murder anyone who got in his way.
Via Lithub, we have a profile of "The Asian Detective Novel: from Racist Caricature to Authentic Representation A Short Introduction to 9 Contemporary Asian Mystery Writers."
Mike Ripley's latest "Getting Away with Murder" column for Shots Ezine previewed the long-awaited television adaptation of Len Deighton’s alternative history thriller SS-GB, profiled the Golden Age mysteries of Anthony Berkeley, and compiled the usual entertaining slew of reviews of new and upcoming crime fiction titles.
In this day and age of smart technology being ubiquitous and attached to just about every appliance imaginable, the Time Lives wondered what happens with the "Fridge foils the perfect crime: how tech could murder detective novels."
A mystery benefactor is buying up revolutionary books like George Orwell's 1984 to give away at indie bookstores. Meanwhile, 1984 is also headed for Broadway.
Got the flu? Feeling depressed? Jane Sullivan of The Age takes a look at "The authors you read when you need a bit of comfort," including Raymond Chandler and Georgette Heyer.
Raymond Chandler is also featured in this list from the New York Public Library of "5 Films Noir Inspired by Novels."
This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Mother McMuffin" by Kent Peterson.
In the Q&A roundup, the Book Club Mom interviewed Debbi Mack about her mystery, thriller, and YA novels and about being an independent author (Debbi also hosts the Crime Cafe podcast); Criminal Element welcomed Chris Ewan, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Good Thief's Guide to... series and several successful thrillers; and Lisa Haselton spoke with mystery author Deborah Coonts about her new thriller After Me.
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February 6, 2017
Media Murder for Monday
Monday means it's time for the latest wrap-up of crime drama news:
AWARDS
The Directors Guild of America handed out its annual awards on Saturday evening. Several crime dramas were among the nominees, but only one ended up winning its category, Steven Zaillian for HBO's The Night Of, which is based on the BBC series Criminal Justice and stars John Turturro and Riz Ahmen in a story about a complex NYC murder case.
MOVIES
Paramount Pictures has acquired the Stephan Talty book The Black Hand as a starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio. The book is based on the real-life story of Joe Petrosino, a courageous NYPD cop who unflinchingly went after a ruthless gang that came out of Italy and into America (whose calling card was a black hand) which kidnapped people and then extorted money from their families. The Black Hand existed in the U.S. in the late 1890s and early 1900s and were considered the precursor of the American mafia.
Lionsgate has picked up international rights for the action thriller Hotel Artemis, starring Jodie Foster. Drew Pearce is making his directorial debut on the future-set project that sees Foster play a nurse who runs an underground hospital for Los Angeles' most sinister criminals and finds that one of her patients is actually there to assassinate another. Pearce, whose previous writing credits include Mission: Impossible, Rogue Nation, and Iron Man 3, is also writing the script for the project.
Colin Farrell is in talks to join Denzel Washington in Dan Gilroy’s legal drama Inner City. Washington plays a liberal lawyer named Roman J. Israel who suddenly takes on the role of the law firm’s frontman when his partner has a heart attack and soon discovers secrets of the law firm. Farrell would play another attorney in the firm.
Viola Davis and Julia Roberts are set to star in a new drama about white supremacists, an adaptation of the book Small Great Things from author Jodi Picoult. Davis, who is also favorite to win the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Fences, will play a nurse who is told not to touch the newborn baby of a white supremacist couple. But when the baby dies, she is taken to court and accused of murder. It's not known yet which role Roberts will play, but it’s likely to be the public defender who takes on the case.
Zoe Saldana is set to star in the action-thriller Hummingbird as a female black-ops assassin. Described as in the vein of Lucy, the story follows an assassin whose latest mark forces her to confront her true identity.
Gerard Butler has mounted the action film Snow Ponies, the directorial debut from Darrin Prescott. The story follows a crew of men who travel across difficult terrain to deliver a mysterious package, but are forced to choose between survival and honor when they face brutal obstacles and bandits along the way.
Liam Neeson has signed on to star in the revenge thriller Hard Powder. Set in the Rocky Mountains, Neeson will play Nel, an upright snowplow driver who is awarded a Citizen of the Year prize by his glitzy Colorado ski town. His life takes a drastic turn when his son is murdered by a powerful local drug kingpin. Nel’s vengeance causes a relentless battle between Native American mafia boss and the deadly gangster known as a Viking.
Academy Award-nominated Hacksaw Ridge director Mel Gibson is re-teaming with the film’s co-star Vince Vaughn for the upcoming gritty thriller Dragged Across Conrete, written and directed by S. Craig Zahler. This time, Gibson will be in front of the camera playing an old guard policeman to Vaughn's volatile younger partner, Anthony. The duo find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arming tactics makes its way to mainstream media and soon descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due.
Antoine Fuqua has decided not to take on director duties for Universal’s Scarface remake, stepping aside to focus on a sequel to 2014’s The Equalizer (Fuqua directed the first Equalizer movie which starred Denzel Washington and spent considerable time developing a follow-up). Universal is still planning on a spring start for Scarface which stars Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), in the tale of the rise and fall of a Latino gangster in Los Angeles. Previous versions of the crime drama include the 1932 original starring Paul Muni and a 1983 remake starring Al Pacino.
The Ocean’s 8 cast is ready to roll in the first official image from the upcoming heist film.
A first look was also released for the adaptation of The Snowman, based on the crime novel by Norweigian author Jo Nesbø. The film stars Michael Fassbender as brilliant but unorthodox detective Detective Harry Hole, with Rebecca Ferguson also playing his smart roookie partner Katrine Bratt.
TELEVISION
Black-ish creator Kenya Barris has been given the greenlight by ABC for the pilot Unit Zero, an action dramedy starring Toni Collette as a brilliant but unassuming CIA engineer and single mom as she leads a team of desk jockeys into the field as secret agents. Overlooked in the workplace, their invisibility makes them perfect for the CIA’s most covert missions. ABC also announced at the same time that the network was picking up the thriller drama Salamander, based on a Belgian format, from writer-producers Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg (CBS’ Zoo).
ABC is also moving forward with Las Reinas from executive producer Mark Gordon (Quantico) and writer Dean Georgaris. Las Reinas, originally developed at ABC in October 2014, revolves around Detective Sonya De La Reina, who is forced to confront her past when a case compels her to reconnect with her estranged family, the most powerful criminal outfit in Miami.
CBS has given a pilot order to an untitled drama from House executive producer and Bull co-creator Paul Attanasio and Blue Bloods executive producer Leonard Goldberg, which follows the multi-generational members of a Mexican-American family with deep roots in San Diego that intertwine personally and professionally due to their powerful careers in law enforcement.
CBS also ordered an untitled drama pilot about a team of investigators who specialize in hate crimes, described as "The Good Wife meets Homicide." The project will follow an elite team of investigators for the Northeast Regional U.S. Hate Crimes Unit, who solve a myriad of crimes against humanity as they confront their own biases. Noted journalist Katie Couric, who recently produced the gun control documentary Under the Gun, will serve as an executive producer on the pilot.
Busy CBS has given another pilot order to S.W.A.T., a drama series inspired by the 2003 Sony movie that was in turn based on the 1975 TV series. Written by Sleepy Hollow alum Thomas with Fast & Furious helmer Lin set to direct, S.W.A.T. is described as "an intense, action-packed procedural following a locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a highly-trained unit that is the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles."
A comedic procedural CBS show is also in the pipeline. Titled Brothered Up, the multi-camera buddy cop comedy centers on an emotionally guarded African-American cop who is partnered with an emotionally available Pakistani cop and they are forced to find a way to connect as they patrol a Detroit neighborhood.
It looks like the reboot of LA Law is becoming a reality. The project, from L.A. Law co-creator Steven Bochco and one of the series’ original writers, Billy Finkelstein, was developed in-house at 20th Century Fox TV and was recently taken out as a spec. The project will target broadcast, cable, and streaming networks. Fox also ordered Sheldon Turner’s Controversy, which follows the junior counsel of a prestigious Illinois university which must deal with an out-of-control scandal when a young co-ed accuses several star football players of sexual assault.
A&E has extended its reality police docuseries Live PD with an order for 13 more episodes, bringing the Season 1 total to 21 episodes. The show also quickly established itself as an awards contender, landing a Directors Guild Award nomination in the Reality Programs category.
A&E also announced the renewal of another reality program, its groundbreaking docuseries 60 Days In, for another two seasons. The upcoming season the show will head to Atlanta where nine average individuals will go undercover as felons in the Fulton County jail, which is regarded as one of America's most dangerous prisons.
The series based on Stephen King's novel Mr. Mercedes has rounded out its list of cast members for the the AT & T Audience Network show that will run for 10 episodes in the fall. Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter) leads as Detective Bill Hodges, along with Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful) as Brady Hartsfield. The show follows a demented killer who taunts retired police detective Hodges with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.
The Sopranos star Edie Falco has been tapped to play famed defense attorney Leslie Abramson on NBC’s upcoming Law & Order: True Crime — The Menendez Murders. The eight-episode anthology series will focus on Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents. Abramson represented Erik Menendez in both trials and claimed the brothers had suffered a lifetime of abuse from their parents.
A digital adaptation is being developed of the YA drama The Dead Girls Detective Agency based on the HarperCollins book written by Suzy Cox. The project is a who done it, coming-of-age love story about a young Manhattanite who wakes up in a glamorous hotel to discover that she’s dead, apparently in purgatory. Her only hope of passing to the other side may be in solving the mystery of her own murder with the help of others like herself.
It's now official: the female-skewing cable network Oxygen will change its focus and branding next summer as a crime-focused network. In addition to adding a pair of new unscripted shows, the network has picked up a revival of Law & Order mastermind Dick Wolf's Cold Justice, which was quietly dropped at TNT
Hawaii Five-0 is set for a crossover with another CBS drama, the freshman hit MacGyver, on March 10. The crossover will follow MacGyver and his team to Hawaii where they end up partnering with the Five-0 crew to save a group of government scientists who've gotten stuck in a building that's very close to collapsing following an earthquake.
A&E has released the first teaser for the final season of Bates Motel including two images of Rihanna as Marion Crane, the role originally played by Janet Leigh in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. She joins Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga, who star as Norman Bates and his twisted mother.
The first official picture from BBC One's upcoming thriller McMafia was released. The show stars James Norton stars as the English-raised son of Russian exiles with a mafia history who's spent his life trying to escape the shadow of that criminal past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca (Juliet Rylance).
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
The crew behind the popular Serial podcast is launching another new true crime show titled S-Town, which debuts in March. This time, the focus is on an Alabama man asking for a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who had allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder.
The New Hampshire Public Radio Booklist podcast welcomed author Lisa Gardner to talk about her writing and new novel Right Behind You, which features FBI profiler Pierce Quincy
The latest Crime and Science Radio's featured guest was Douglas White, who leads the National Software Reference Library project for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is an expert on digital forensics.
Debbi Mack's Crime Cafe welcomed Wisconsin crime fiction author Allan Ansorge to talk about his series featuring Chief of Detectives Victor Verie.
Crime fiction author and substance abuse counselor Daniel Vlasaty visited on Noir on the Radio talking about his books Amphetamine Psychosis, Only Bones, and A New and a Different Kind of Pain.
Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, hosts of Two Crime Writers and a Microphone, chatted with SJI Holliday about the third novel in her Banktoun trilogy, The Damsel Fly, and Ali Karim also recommended a host of new books.
THEATER
Calgary's Vertigo Theater continues its Mystery Series with a stage adaptation of Wait Until Dark, based on Frederick Knott’s classic thriller about a blind woman living in New York City’s iconic Greenwich Village who finds herself terrorized by con men until she discovers her blindness might just prove to be her secret weapon. The show runs through February 19.
Chicagoland's Hammond Community Theatre will present Act of the Imagination,the play by Tony-nominated playwright Bernard Slade. The story follows mystery writer Arthur Putnam, who's just penned a new novel about a married man having an affair who's afraid someone is trying to kill him. Putnam has based the character on himself, but denies to his suspicious wife and editor that he's having an affair like his protagonist. But when a woman who claims to be the lover in the story shows up and threatens Putnam with blackmail, the mystery deepens.
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