B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 38

Media Murder for Monday

[image error]It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Following their work together on the 2013 Best Picture-nominated crime comedy, American Hustle, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale are in talks to re-team on Best of Enemies, a new film based on the book Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War by Eric Dezenhall and Gus Russo. The story follows CIA agent Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko, new entrants to the Washington, D.C. intelligence scene back in 1978. The pair were involved with solving some of the most famous spy stories of the 20th century, including the rooting out of Soviet mole Robert Hanssen. While Vasilenko spent some time in a Soviet prison after it came to the government’s attention that he’d been working as a double agent for the U.S., he was ultimately freed with help from the CIA during the Spy Swap of 2010. Among other advocates during his period of incarceration was none other than American Hustle's Robert De Niro. Sources say Cooper will play Platt, with Bale as Vasilenko.

Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, and Michael Shannon will star in Nuremberg, a historical thriller set in post-World War II Germany. James Vanderbilt, who wrote David Fincher’s Zodiac and the two Murder Mystery movies for Netflix, will write and direct, with production slated to begin in February 2024. It is based on the 2013 book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII, by Jack El-Hai. Malek plays American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who, according to the official synopsis "is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their war crimes, and finds himself in a complex battle of wits with Hermann Göring (Crowe), Hitler’s right-hand man." Shannon has been tapped to play Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials.

After a fierce bidding war between multiple major studios, Apple Original Films has emerged victorious in acquiring the package Two for the Money, a heist thriller set to star Charlize Theron and Daniel Craig with Justin Lin attached to direct and produce. Dan Mazeau, who previously collaborated with Lin on the Fast X screenplay, has been tapped to write the script. Though the plot is being kept under wraps, the story will center on the relationship between two seasoned professional thieves spanning three high-stakes heists.

Al Pacino, Diego Boneta, Xolo Maridueña, KiKi Layne, Alexander Ludwig, Ron Livingston, Kendrick Sampson, Nicole Beharie, Logan Marshall Green, and Titus Welliver will star in the spy thriller, Killing Castro. Eif Rivera will direct the movie from a script by Leon Hendrix, Thomas DeGrezia, and Colin Bateman. Based on true events, the film is set in 1960 shortly after Fidel Castro won the Cuban revolution and traveled to New York City to deliver his first speech to the United Nations. When faced with hostility at his original hotel, Castro meets Malcolm X who invites him to stay at famed Hotel Theresa in Harlem. With the eyes of the world watching, a rookie undercover FBI agent originally assigned to investigate Malcolm X suddenly becomes the FBI’s most valuable asset, and is tasked with keeping Castro from being eliminated by the CIA and the Italian mafia, by any means necessary.

Paramount Global Content Distribution has acquired worldwide rights to the film, Depravity (previously known as Sic), the directorial debut of screenwriter, Paul Tamasy, who also wrote the script. The thriller stars actress and singer Victoria Justice (The Tutor), model and actress Devon Ross (Irma Vep), Taylor John Smith (Where The Crawdads Sing), Sasha Luss (Anna), and Dermot Mulroney (Ghosts of Beirut). The story follows three residents of an old apartment building who suspect their creepy neighbor is a serial killer, and after acting on their suspicions, stumble upon an art heist worth millions.

Oscar winner J.K. Simmons has joined the cast of Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 at Warner Bros. In the Jonathan Abrams penned movie, family man Justin Kemp, while serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict — or free — the wrong killer. Simmons will play a juror and joins the ensemble cast that counts Nicholas Hoult (Justin Kemp, juror), Toni Collette (prosecutor), Gabriel Basso (accused), Zoey Deutch (Kemp’s wife), Leslie Bibb (juror), Chris Messina (public defender) and Kiefer Sutherland (Kemp’s AA sponsor).

Eric Dane (Euphoria), Maia Mitchell (Good Trouble), Tyriq Withers (Atlanta), and Thomas Doherty (Gossip Girl) have been set to star in the thriller, Family Secrets. Currently in production in Montenegro, the film follows a charming young man (Withers) who makes himself part of a destination wedding to exact revenge on the family’s patriarch (Dane) by seducing his affluent goddaughter (Mitchell) and befriending the groom-to-be (Doherty). But as their relationship gets steamier, the truth gets closer to the surface, forcing the question of whether anyone is safe… and who is conning whom?

John Patton Ford is set to direct an untitled film for Netflix which follows a mysterious Union spy named James Andrews. Along with infantry volunteers, Andrews stole a Confederate steam engine and planned to destroy the entire Confederacy’s supply line to end the war by gutting tracks and shutting down communications via cutting telegraph lines. The six surviving raiders became the first to receive the Medal of Honor, awarded by Abraham Lincoln. The caper also would be the historical basis for Buster Keaton’s 1926 silent film, The General. Ford will write and direct the drama, which is based on his idea and is part of a package that includes Russell Bonds’s seminal Civil War book, Stealing the General.

Veteran action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme is set to star in Kill 'Em All 2, which will shoot on the Caribbean island of Antigua beginning in January. Following the events that unfolded in Kill 'Em All (2017), the sequel will see Phillip (Van Damme) and Suzanne retired from the spy game, living peacefully off the grid. That’s until their whereabouts are discovered by Vlad, the vengeful brother of their target from the first film. Bianca Brigitte Van Damme will star in the film alongside her father.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Priority Pictures, the production company of Emmy-winning producers Lizzie Friedman, Karen Lauder, and Greg Little, has optioned Douglas Brunt‘s NYT bestseller, The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, and will develop it for the screen. It’s not clear at this point whether the adaptation will be for film or TV. Also recently named a Best of 2023 Staff Pick by Apple Books, The Mysterious Case tells the true story of Rudolf Diesel, one of history’s greatest inventors, who vanished into thin air on the eve of World War I. His revolutionary invention, the Diesel engine, was highly sought after by global industries and political figures around the world. It had the power to threaten empires and change the fate of nations, turning him and his technology into both a prized asset and a potential threat.

Jason Priestley has boarded the upcoming CBC drama, Wild Cards, playing lead character Max’s father and master conman George in the series launching January 10 in Canada. It will later debut January 17 on The CW in the U.S. followed by Family Law at 9 pm on the network. Set in Vancouver, Wild Cards follows the unlikely duo of Ellis (Grey’s Anatomy's Giacomo Gianniotti), a gruff, sardonic cop and Max (Riverdale's Vanessa Morgan), a spirited, clever con woman.

Prime Video is rounding out the guest stars for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, its re-imagining of New Regency’s 2005 Doug Liman-directed action comedy film that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Joining the eight-episode series, which stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in the title roles, are Alexander Skarsgård, Eiza Gonzalez, Sarah Paulson, Sharon Horgan, Ron Perlman, Billy Campbell, and Ursula Corbero. The new additions join previously announced guest stars Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Parker Posey, and Wagner Moura.

ITV dropped the first trailer for Mr, Bates vs the Post Office. It stars Toby Jones, Monica Dolan, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Lia Williams, Alex Jennings, Ian Hart, Katherine Kelly, Shaun Dooley, Will Mellor, Clare Calbraith, Lesley Nicol, Amit Shah, and Adam James, and is written by acclaimed screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes. The drama tells the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history when hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud, and false accounting due to a defective IT system. Many of the wronged workers were prosecuted, some were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, and their lives were irreparably damaged by the scandal.

A trailer was also released for the crime drama, The Brothers Sun. Michelle Yeoh stars as Eileen, head of the Jade Dragons gang in Taipei, living in America, and mother to one notorious killer, Charles (Justin Chien), and one completely in-the-dark teenaged son, Bruce (Sam Song Li). In the trailer, Eileen appears to be interrogated by a man from a rival faction, one wanting to seize the crime ring crown by going after Bruce — who's not quite clued into his family's secret lives. Charles decides it's time for Bruce to get briefed and trained up, despite his younger brother's protests. The Brothers Sun is streaming on Netflix Jan. 4.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

On NPR's Fresh Air, critic Maureen Corrigan reviewed new mysteries by Alexis Soloski and Nita Prose.

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with author and screenwriter, Michael Farris Smith. Two of his previous novels, Desperation Road and Rumble Through the Dark, have been adapted for film, with both released this year.

On the Spybrary podcast, host Adam Brookes was joined by Stuart Reid, executive editor at Foreign Affairs and author of The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination. They delved into the fascinating and shocking story of Patrice Lumumba, the Congo crisis of 1960, and the CIA's role in Lumumba's assassination.

On Crime Time FM, Tom Mead chatted with Paul Burke about his books The Murder Wheel and Death and the Conjuror, featuring sleuthing stage magician Joseph Spector; the Golden Age era; true crime; and theatre, magic and illusion.

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with barrister and author, Imran Mahmood, about his latest thriller, Finding Sophie; discussed the height of author winterwear as modeled by your hosts; and dissected the most famous tea party in fiction.

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Friday's "Forgotten Books" - The Ethnic Detectives

[image error]The Ethnic Detectives, edited by Martin Greenberg and Bill Pronzini (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985) is an anthology of seventeen stories whose sleuths are members of minority groups and whose cultural experiences often play a primary role in a crime or in crime-solving. Obviously, the editors had to determine how exactly to define "ethnic" for inclusion in this book. In the introduction, they say that such a distinction isn't all that simple and point out how in one sense, even Edgar Allan Poe's C. August Dupin qualifies. The principal definition is that the sleuth is a member of a minority group within a dominant culture, and whose mannerisms, world view, and approach reflect upon his or her background.

The reasons for writing such a character are many and varied, but as Greenberg and Pronzini point out, "These are particularly interesting characters because their adventures frequently concern problems of identity, of the search for one's roots, and of reconciling different heritages — problems that are the stuff of emotion and high drama." And, as the editors ultimately conclude, "Vive le roman policier! Vive la difference!"

This particular group of stories were chosen to represent different ethnic groups, without duplication. Thus, we have one each of the Chinese detective (Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik); one of a couple of different Native American tribal detectives (David Return by Manly Wade Wellman and also Tony Hillerman, mentioned below); the Czechoslovakian detective (Dr. Jan Czissar by Eric Ambler); the Filipino detective (Jo Gar by Raoul Whitfield) and so forth. Most of these authors will be new to the majority of crime fiction readers, with only a handful well-known, such as Georges Simenon (Inspector Maigret), Tony Hillerman (Jim Chee), and Marcia Muller (Elena Oliverez).

Reading the book is something akin to eating at an international food fair, with little tastings that may satisfy, but leave you wanting more. The most effective stories are those from the authors who have lived the longest with their characters, primarily Hillerman and his Navajo Corporal, Jim Chee, and for the most intense banquet of all, a novella-length story from Ed McBain featuring the various multi-cultural detectives of his 87th Precinct series the author featured in dozens of novels and stories.

The Ethnic Detectives is a fascinating look at the various ways writers slip into worlds not their own and try to create fiction that conveys the spirit of people who live there. Like most such efforts, some of these attempts are successful, others a little less so. But it's an easy way to travel around the world vicariously and be pleasantly entertained at the same time.

          

Mystery Melange

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Renita D’Silva’s psychological thriller, The Neighbour, has won the Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour 2023. The prize was established in response to "the paucity of diverse voices being published in crime fiction," with an aim to seek out writers from communities that are underrepresented in the genre and support them in building sustainable careers. The judges, including author Nadine Matheson, literary agent Nelle Andrew, and Joffe Books editorial director, Emma Grundy Haigh, praised D'Silva's book for its "wide ranging, ambitious cast of characters and stories that interlock but don’t overwhelm."

This past weekend, at the annual Black Orchid Banquet held in New York City, the Wolfe Pack (the official Nero Wolfe literary society), announced that The Day He Left, by Frederick Weisel won the 2023 Nero Award for best crime novel. "Alibi in Ice," by Libby Cudmore, also received the 2023 Black Orchid Novella Award and will be published in the July 2024 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Honorable mentions for the Black Orchid Novella Award include Paul A. Barra's "Death of a Papist," Lawrence Coates's "Jimtown," and Tom Larsen's "El Cazador."(HT to The Rap Sheet)

The end of the year "best" lists just keep coming, with the latest being from several newspaper compilations. Oline H. Cogdill's list for The Sun-Sentinel narrowed down her 120 reads to 18, noting that major trends in the genre continued to be diversity, regional stories, veterans and domestic suspense. Over at The Guardian, Laura Wilson curated her list of the best, which unsurprisingly tilted more toward European crime fiction authors, while Alison Flood picked five of her own. New York Times writer-at-large, Sarah Lyall, chose six titles for her Best Thrillers list, including an espionage caper, the tale of a murderous librarian and a high-stakes adventure that takes place inside the various stomachs of a whale. NYT regular crime columnist, Sarah Weinman, chose a mix of traditional mysteries and thrillers, from the U.S. to Scandinavia, as her picks for "The Best Crime Novels of 2023." And the Washington Post's Karen MacPherson shone the spotlight on her top 10 best mystery novels of 2023.

Kate Jackson, a/k/a the "Armchair Sleuth" also put together a list of her picks for the best Classic Crime Reprints of 2023 by publishers such as American Mystery Classics, British Library Crime Classics, and Galileo Publishing. The recommendations range from titles like The Wheel Spins (1936) by Ethel Lina White to Suddenly at His Residence (1947) by Christianna Brand, to Four Days Wonder (1933) by A. A. Milne (also known as the creator of Winnie the Pooh).

Writing for Mental Floss, April Snellings profiled the iconic UK institution, The Detection Club, from its founding in 1930 through the evolution of the mystery novel. But the article notes some of the lesser-known tidbits such as the club’s headquarters being originally located between an oyster bar and a brothel, and a group of members enlisting the head of Scotland Yard’s Criminal Investigation Department to help them break into the club’s headquarters to retrieve materials for a new member induction after they'd all forgotten their keys. While the club initially formed as a social group for writers of detective fiction, it did have an official purpose: to uphold a rigid set of standards for crime fiction, and weed out any potential members who wouldn’t agree to meet them.

As historian Lucy Worsley notes, Arthur Conan Doyle secretly hated his creation Sherlock Holmes and blamed the cerebral detective character for denying him recognition as the author of highbrow historical fiction, which laid around unread. "Arthur must have hated himself. And he would have hated the fact that today, 93 years after his death, his historical novels lie unread, while his ‘cheap’ – but beloved – detective lives forever on our screens."

In the Q&A roundup, spy novelist Mick Herron spoke with The Daily Mail about his latest book, The Secret Hours, and the TV adaptation of his successful "Slough House" series set in a place where MI5 puts "failed" spies; and SJ Rozan, who has won practically every major award for Best Novel and the Best Short Story (and is also the recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon Award and Life Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America), applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Mayors of New York.

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Author R&R with Michael J. Cooper

[image error]MICHAEL J. COOPER emigrated to Israel in 1966 and lived in Jerusalem during the last year the city was divided between Israel and Jordan. He studied and traveled in the region for eleven years and graduated from medical school in Tel Aviv. Now in retirement after a forty year practice of pediatric cardiology, Cooper lives in Northern California and is able to devote more time to volunteer missions and to writing.

His debut novel, Foxes in the Vineyard, set in 1948 Jerusalem, won the grand prize in the 2011 Indie Publishing Contest. His second novel, The Rabbi’s Knight, set in the Holy Land at the twilight of the Crusades in 1290, was finalist for the Chaucer Award for historical fiction. His just-completed third novel, Wages of Empire, is set in Europe and the Middle East during WWI and won the 2022 CIBA Rossetti Award for YA fiction along with first-place honors for the 2022 CIBA Hemingway award for wartime historical fiction. All three novels stand-alone, though they’re connected by the common threads of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the St. Clair/Sinclair bloodline and the subversive notions of coexistence and peace.

[image error]Wages of Empire begins in the summer of 1914, when sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair leaves home to join the Great War for Civilization. Little does he know that, despite the war raging in Europe, the true source of conflict will emerge in Ottoman Palestine, since it's from Jerusalem where the German Kaiser dreams to rule as Holy Roman Emperor. Filled with such historical figures as Gertrude Bell, T.E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, Faisal bin Hussein and Chaim Weizmann, Wages of Empire follows Evan through the killing fields of the Western Front where he will help turn the tide of a war that is just beginning, and become part of a story that never ends.

Michael Cooper stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing his books:

 

For writers of historical fiction, research is a paramount. To be sure, writing any type of fiction requires research, but with a historical, and especially one set in a remote time and place, the writer must be positioned to inform the reader about every detail of the setting and time period. To “get things right,” or even close to “right,” a massive amount of research is required. And to make things even more challenging, the research shouldn’t show; the weaving of historical detail into the story should be so subtle as to be invisible. Nothing wakes the reader more rudely from the dream of a good story than a ham-handed display of detail. Or, to put it simply, the writer must be able to show without showing off.   

In referring to requisite research as “massive,” the task appears exhausting and thoroughly unpleasant. Clearly, if one only follows the adage of “write what you know,” only minimal research might be required. However, if we are drawn to write outside of ourselves, outside of the confines of our known world, we have no choice but to do a prodigious amount of research. But the secret of doing this, and actually enjoying it, can be encapsulated in an alternate adage: “Write what you love.”

And that’s been my joy in researching and writing my series—having spent my formative years living in Israel, I actually look forward to returning there in my mind, to a land where history waits for you around every corner— remembering the quality of light in early morning and toward evening, tasting the freshness of mountain air and the sun-heated warmth of the desert, or the joy of floating in the Sea of Galilee at night beneath a sky crowded with stars. 

Likewise, it’s been invigorating to select interesting historical characters and to create compelling fictional characters—for their nobility, humor, and brilliance; for their passions, human failings, and for their interesting, ingenious, and sometimes evil designs. And then, there are those wondrous times when a historical or fictional character takes over, dictating the action and dialogue, and all one has to do is sit back and transcribe. 

The other thing about writing in this genre is the wonderful way that historical events and, indeed the historical characters provide the scaffolding for stories that are, at once, very old, and still being written. Also, as I researched and wrote all my books, I was often astonished by fascinating elements of hidden history, unsolved mysteries, and unbelievably engaging and bizarre characters that insisted on being included in the final draft. In this genre, storylines arise organically from the historical timeline, and from the historical characters themselves—creating a portrait that is enhanced by the fictional characters who allow for additional surprises, plot twists, betrayals, loves and alliances. And, as each book progresses, I love watching the weave tighten as storylines are drawn together.

And historical novels set in wartime offer the writer an even richer buffet—with all the elements for compelling stories; drama, heroism, conflict, tension, intrigue, action, heartbreak, and perhaps romance. And the effect of armed conflict on history is itself dramatic since war is an accelerant to history, and often with dramatic changes in human and natural topography.

Lastly, as writers of history, we also seek out the compelling tension between knowing and unknowing—to engage with our historical characters in the grip of their threatening present, infused with their anxiety at the uncertainty of outcome, the unknowable future. And we, knowing their future, are touched by the poignancy of their ignorance.

But now, it’s our turn to be anxious in our ignorance in a time of great uncertainty—with war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and in a time of civil strife in our own country bordering, it often seems, on civil war. Now it’s our turn to share the anxiety of having no idea as to the outcome of all this conflict.

Clearly, Wages of Empire is a novel about war in a time of war, holding up a mirror to time past that reflects on present uncertainties and current wars. And so we ask the obvious questions—what do present wars have to do with the past? What do our present travails have to do with history? In a word? Everything. 

 

You can read more about Michael Cooper and his writing via his website and follow him on Goodreads. Wages of Empire is now available via Koehler Books and all major booksellers.

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Media Murder for Monday

[image error]It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) has signed on to star opposite Sofia Yepes in The Low End Theory, an indie thriller based on Yepes’s script, which she co-wrote with director Francisco Ordoñez. Billed as a film noir set in the Latinx and LGBTQ+ world of Los Angeles, The Low End Theory centers on Raquel (Yepes), an aspiring beats producer in the low-budget hip-hop world moonlighting as a drug money launderer, who ends up stealing from her crime-lord boss to pay off debts owed by the woman with whom she is having an obsessive affair. Flanigan plays Raquel’s troubled lover, Veronica.

Saban Films has acquired the U.S. rights to Knox Goes Away, a film directed by and starring, Michael Keaton. Al Pacino, James Marsden, Marcia Gay Harden, Suzy Nakamura, John Hoogenakker, Joanna Kulig, Ray McKinnon, and Lela Loren also star. Knox Goes Away, written by Gregory Poirier, premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and, according to the official synopsis, "follows John Knox (Keaton), a contract killer with a rapidly evolving form of dementia, who is offered the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of the adult son from whom he had been estranged." Saban is targeting a 2024 first quarter release.

Quiver Distribution has picked up North American rights to the action thriller, Wanted Man, co-written, directed by and starring Dolph Lundgren, for release in select theaters and on VOD on January 19, 2024. Also starring Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) and Christina Villa (The Wedding in the Hamptons), the film centers on Johansen (Lundgren), an aging detective whose outdated policing methods have given the department a recent public relations problem. To save his job, he is sent to Mexico to extradite a female witness (Villa) to the murders of two DEA agents. Once there, he finds not only his old opinions challenged, but that bad guys on both sides of the border are now gunning for him and his witness.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

MarVista Entertainment, the Fox-owned studio, is turning Seraphina Nova Glass's thriller novel, On A Quiet Street, into a television series. Set in an exclusive Oregon coast community, the story follows two female best friends, Paige and Cora. Cora thinks her husband, Finn, is cheating – she just needs to catch him in the act. That’s where Paige comes in. Paige lost her son to a hit-and-run accident last year, and she’s drowning in the kind of grief that makes people do reckless things like spying on the locals, searching for proof her son’s death was no accident…and agreeing to Cora’s plan to reveal what kind of man Finn really is. All the while, their reclusive new neighbor, Georgia, is acting stranger and stranger every day. But what could such a lovely young mother possibly be hiding?

Amazon’s Prime Video has renewed Reacher for a third run ahead of the debut of season 2 on December 15. Alan Ritchson, who plays the title character, revealed the news from the set of season 3 during a panel at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil. He also debuted an extended trailer for the second season. The series is based on Lee Child’s novels with the second season based on the 11th book in the series, Bad Luck and Trouble.





The BBC ordered a second season of the heist drama, Gold, based on the infamous real-life events of the Brink’s-Mat robbery and the decades-long chain of events that followed. First-season cast members Hugh Bonneville, Charlotte Spencer, Emun Elliott, Tom Cullen, Stefanie Martini, and Sam Spruell are confirmed for season 2. The season 2 plot will follow what happened to the half of the Brinks-Mat gold stolen in the daring 1983 raid, after police realize those they convicted didn’t have all of it.

Kelli Giddish‘s former Detective Amanda Rollins will return for the Season 25 premiere of Law & Order: SVU. Giddish exited the series midway through Season 24 and last appeared in a guest-starring role in the Season 24 finale, which was part of a three-way crossover among Law & Order, SVU and Organized Crime. In that episode, Giddish’s character Rollins married ADA Sonny Carisi Jr (Peter Scanavino) and revealed she was on a new career path and had accepted a teaching job at Fordham University.

Found and The Irrational have been renewed for second seasons at NBC, the network announced this past week. In Found, Shanola Hampton stars as PR specialist Gabi Mosely, whose crisis management team is determined to share the stories of the hundreds of thousands of people of color who go missing each year in the U.S. The Irrational is based on Dan Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational, and stars Jesse L. Martin as prolific behavioral science professor Alec Mercer, whose unique expertise lends itself to high-stakes cases across governments, law enforcement and corporations.

Andrew Koji (Warrior), Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones), and T’Nia Miller (Fall of the House of Usher) have boarded the upcoming third season of Gangs of London, joining fellow actors, Phil Daniels and Ruth Sheen. Created by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery, the Sky and AMC+ series follows the struggles between rival gangs and other criminal organizations in present-day London. Koji will play an unnamed assassin at the heart of the unfolding mystery; Dormer will play Cornelius Quinn, a face from the past whose arrival awakens old rivalries; and Miller takes on the role of the formidable new Mayor of London set to wreak havoc for the gangs. Season 3 kicks off with ex-undercover cop Elliot Carter, played by Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísu, now operating as a top-level criminal alongside the Dumanis, but their business is thrown into chaos when their shipment of cocaine is spiked, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians all over London.

The first trailer for the Apple TV+ series Criminal Record has been released. Criminal Record will premiere the first two episodes on January 10 followed by new episodes dropping weekly, every Wednesday through February 21. The new eight-episode, one-hour crime thriller stars Peter Capaldi (Dr. Who) and Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife) as detectives in a tug-of-war over a historic murder conviction.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Dateline NBC is set to launch its 15th original podcast Mortal Sin, to be reported by Dateline correspondent Josh Mankiewicz. The first two episodes will be available for download and streaming for free across podcast platforms on December 5; the remaining three will drop over the following two weeks. Mortal Sin investigates how the death of a pastor’s wife after a house fire uncovers a web of sex, murder, and deception.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed mystery books for Native American Heritage Month.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up, the first of three Christmas episodes over the next few weeks, this one featuring the mystery short story "Christmas Cookie Caper" written by Margaret S. Hamilton and read by actor Donna Beavers.

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Liz Alterman about her new thriller novel, The Perfect Neighborhood.

On Crime Time FM, Paul Burke reviewed a selection of November crime fiction releases, including author elevator pitches from CL Pattison, Jane Jesmond, Alexandra Benedict, Paul Durston, and Stephen Ronson.

The latest Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine podcast featured "The Green Man" by James G. Tipton, a mystery story with Sherlock Holmes's friend and confidant Dr. John H. Watson. This time around, Dr. Watson travels to coal-mining country in northern Wales to investigate corrupt railroad barons.

On the most recent Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, nominated for Shamus, Derringer, and ITW Thriller awards, read his story, "Home for the Holidays," a Christmastime thriller from the Jan/Feb 2020 issue.

Pick Your Poison featured a poison that causes blindness, which is also why some prison commissaries don’t stock fruit, and how toxins were intentionally used to adulterate alcohol during Prohibition.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Mystery Melange

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The 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards winners were announced this past weekend following a special presentation in Christ Church, New Zealand, which included a pub quiz hosted by Kiwi crime author, Vanda Symon. This year's winners are Best Novel: Remember Me by Charity Norman; Best Non-Fiction: Missing Persons by Steve Braunias; and Best First Novel: Better the Blood by Michael Bennett. For all the finalists, check out this link.

In an unprecedented and unanimous decision, Nicole Prewitt of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has won the 2023 Sisters in Crime-sponsored PRIDE Award for emerging LGBTQIA+ writers. Prewitt’s win duplicated her win of the SinC-sponsored Eleanor Taylor Bland Award celebrating emerging writers of color earlier in 2023. Prewitt’s winning submission, Harts Divided, follows Neema Hart, a black, bisexual thief-turned-P.I., who owns a detective agency and therapy office with her estranged wife, Genie Hart. Prewitt will receive a $2,000 grant intended for a beginning crime writer to support activities related to career development, including workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of their work. Five runners-up were also chosen: Chloë Belle, Chicago, Illinois; Melissa Berry, Canton, Ohio; Kim Hunt, Wellington, New Zealand; Linda Krug, Duluth, Minnesota; and Emmy McCarthy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Publishers Weekly released the finalists for its 2023 Booklife Prize for fiction in various categories. In the Mystery/Thriller, the finalists were Deep Fake Double Down by Debbie Burke; Death in the City of Bridges: A Miles Jordan Mystery Thriller by J.C. Ceron; Funeral Daze by Dorian Box; A Measure of Rhyme by Lloyd Jeffries; and The One by Audrey J. Cole. Burke was the top vote-getter in the category and will be pitted against finalists from the other categories for a chance to be named overall winner on December 11, 2023.

Washington, D.C.'s next Noir at the Bar is going virtual and will take place on Sunday, December 10, at 7 pm ET. The lineup of writers includes Amina Akhtar (author of #Fashionvictim and the upcoming Almost Surely Dead); Sara Divello (author of The Broadway Butterfly); Tara Laskowski (author of One Night Gone and The Mother Next Door); James Grady (author of Six Days of the Condor); Jennifer Anne Gordon (multiple award-winning author and co-host of the popular podcast, Vox Vomitus); and Sandra SG Wong (Anthony award-finalist of In the Dark We Forget, and former national president of Sisters in Crime). The event will also feature a custom cocktail demonstration from mixologist Chantal Tseng.

The British Crime Writing Archives are held at Gladstone's Library, in Hawarden, North Wales, a collection that includes the archives of both the Crime Writers' Association and the Detection Club. As honorary archivist , new loan agreements will help ensure the library can continue on sound footing for years to come. Recent donations include works from the family of E.R. Punshon (a former Secretary of the Detection Club), Peter Lovesey, the estates of Robert and Louise Barnard, and Edwards himself. Tickets are set to go on sale shortly for the annual Alibis in the Archive to be held (both virtually and in person) at the library on June 9, 2024. Although the lineup has yet to be announced, Edwards hinted that "some wonderful speakers lined up for Alibis, including an international bestseller and the creator of a very famous TV crime series." Proceeds from ticket sales will help support the library and the archives project.

It’s well known that Quentin Tarantino has been heavily influenced by other acclaimed filmmakers when it comes to his creative vision. But in a feature with The Telegraph, the director highlighted his passion for the writer Elmore Leonard. The iconic crime novelist was known for such novels and short stories as those featuring Raylan Givens, which were adapted as the Justified TV series, and Get Shorty, adapted for both film and the small screen. "He was probably the biggest influence on my life: I have been reading Leonard since I was 14 and got caught stealing his novel The Switch from K-Mart." Tarantino said. Tarantino would later make the film Jackie Brown, based on Leonard's Rum Punch.

A bit of sad news this week: Florida author Tim Dorsey has died at 62. Dorsey was author of twenty-six satirical crime capers about a unique Florida Man and serial killer named Serge Storms and his heavily self-medicated sidekick, Coleman. The most recent title, The Maltese Iguana, was published in February. Fellow Florida author Carl Hiaasen, said that "Tim wrote about Florida as if it was a rollicking, free-range paradise for lunatics, which of course it is. The unforgettable characters he created fit in perfectly. He rose to the challenge of satirizing a place where true life is routinely weirder than fiction."

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton interviewed thriller author JP McLean about her new supernatural thriller, Scorch Mark, Dark Dreams Novel #3; bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell chatted with The Telegraph about how to avoid being a crime victim, adding that she can point out "things that can kill you everywhere" and she always has her radar going; and Nita Prose spoke with the American Booksellers Association about The Mystery Guest, chosen as the top pick for the ABA's December Indie Next List, which has Molly the maid returning to solve another mysterious death in the Regency Grand Hotel.

         Related StoriesMystery Melange - Thanksgiving EditionMystery Melange 

Media Murder for Monday

[image error]It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Following his Oscar for Best Foreign Film (All Quiet On The Western Front), director Edward Berger may have found his follow-up project with one of the biggest action heroes of the past few decades. Deadline reported that Universal Pictures is in early development stages of a new installment in the Jason Bourne franchise, and Berger is in negotiations to direct. The report also noted that Matt Damon, who starred as Bourne in four of the five films, would be first approached to return in the iconic role once a script is finished.

New Regency's Jeff Nichols-directed crime drama, The Bikeriders, which was at 20th Century Studios, is getting acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, re-teaming them with New Regency (with whom they partnered on 2022’s The Northman), and is planning a 2024 theatrical release. The movie, which made its world premiere at Telluride, was also written by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy, and follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

After the settlement of the recent Hollywood strikes, the cast has now been set for the erotic thriller, Babygirl. Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), and Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw) lead an ensemble that also includes Sophie Wilde and Jean Reno. The film, written and directed by Halina Reijn, follows a successful CEO who begins an illicit affair with her much younger intern.

Netflix has shared a first-look photo of Eddie Murphy's return to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise as Axel Foley. Murphy returns to reprise the Axel role nearly 30 years after the premiere of Beverly Hills Cop 3. Mark Molloy directs the sequel, which also stars Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Taylour Paige, along with Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot reprising their characters from previous installments. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is set to be released in 2024.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Peaky Blinders producer, Caryn Mandabach Productions (CMP), has optioned P.D. James's Cordelia Gray novels, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin, which were penned in 1972 and 1982 respectively by the celebrated British author. Gray’s character at the time was hailed for being a pioneering protagonist in the rise of feminism. The first novel sees her hired to investigate the death of a young university student who is found hanged under mysterious circumstances, while the second book is set in a Victorian castle and centers around actress Clarissa Lisle, who has been receiving death threats. James, who died a decade ago, only wrote two Gray novels and was best known for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which have recently been adapted by Channel 5, starring Bertie Carvel.

Happy Valley and Grantchester actor James Norton has been set to lead an ITV adaptation of JP Delaney’s bestselling novel, Playing Nice. Norton will star in the four-part limited series alongside Niamh Algar (Mary and George), James McArdle (Mare of Easttown), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey). Norton, a BAFTA nominee who has been on the list of actors in the running to play James Bond, also serves as executive producer. The series follows two couples who discover their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up. Set against the sweeping backdrop of Cornwall, they face an agonizing dilemma: do they keep the son they have raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child? Pete (Norton) and Maddie (Algar) are jettisoned into the world of the other couple: Miles (McArdle) and Lucy (Brown Findlay). All four agree to a solution, but it becomes clear that hidden motives are at play.

The upcoming 14th season of CBS's venerable cop family drama, Blue Bloods, will be its last. The popular series starring Tom Selleck is getting an extended farewell with a two-part final season which will consist of 18 episodes. The first 10 will air this coming midseason, premiering on CBS Feb. 16 and streaming live on Paramount+; the remaining 8 will run in fall 2024. Blue Bloods follows multiple generations of the Reagan family working in New York law enforcement. The cast also includes Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Marisa Ramirez, and Vanessa Ray.

NBC has announced its midseason premiere dates, which include mid-January returns for Wolf Entertainment’s three "Chicago" dramas (Chicago Med, Fire, and PD) and the three "Law & Order" dramas (Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Organized Crime). The "Chicago" trio will premiere on Wednesday, January 17, and the "Law & Order" set will debut on Thursday, January 18. That is a month before dramas on the other major broadcast networks are set to return with new episodes and a couple of weeks before any scripted series elsewhere come back. Previously announced shows that have yet to be dated include the remaining episodes of this season’s Quantum Leap and Magnum P.I.

The cancellations continued ahead of the holiday weekend. Amazon axed a trio of scripted series from its Prime Video service, including The Horror of Dolores Roach and Harlan Coben’s Shelter. The Horror of Dolores Roach starred Justina Machado as a woman released from prison after 16 years and returns to a severely gentrified Washington Heights with $200 and the clothes on her back. Harlan Coben’s Shelter, which premiered in August, is a mystery drama based on Coben’s 2011 YA novel. The series starred Jaden Michael, Constance Zimmer, Abby Corrigan, and Adrian Greensmith.

Fox is looking to the beginning of March for the return of its scripted slate, unveiling its midseason schedule that includes the return of The Cleaning Lady (Tuesday, March 5 at 8pm), Alert: Missing Persons Unit (Tuesday, March 5 at 9pm), and Animal Control (March 6 at 9pm). Fox had already pushed 9-1-1: Lone Star to the 2023/24 fall schedule alongside new series, Doc and Rescue Hi-Surf, which had previously been eyed for a 2022/23 launch. There are no signs of the second season of Accused, however.

Reid Scott has joined the upcoming season as a new series regular on the NBC police procedural, Law & Order, portraying an as-yet unnamed NYPD detective. Scott will fill the void left by former series regular Jeffrey Donovan, who recently exited the show over creative differences. The Law & Order cast also includes Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, Hugh Dancy (Hannibal, The Path) as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price, and Camryn Manheim (The Practice) as Lt. Kate Dixon. Law & Order premieres its 23rd season on January 18, 2024.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

CBS News spoke with James Ellroy, the author of L.A. Confidential and over a dozen other novels, about his new book, The Enchanters, which focuses on a private investigator looking into the death of Marilyn Monroe.

The latest episode of The Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with David Swinson, a former D.C. Police Department detective and author of the Frank Marr Trilogy and two stand-alone crime novels, including his latest, Sweet Thing.

On Crime Time FM, Tom Benjamin chatted with Paul Burke about Last Testament in Bologna; British private eye Daniel Leicester; the porticos of the ancient city, Giallo; AirBnB and tourism in a university town.

The Red Hot Chili Writers talked with crime writer Susi Holliday and discussed female serial killers, before Susi took a stab at explaining the meaning of Diwali.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Mystery Melange - Thanksgiving Edition

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The Irish Book Awards today announced the winners of the various categories including Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year, awarded to Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. The other finalists included The Lock-Up by John Banville; The Close by Jane Casey; Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh; No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara; and The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard.

NPR compiled a listing of "Books We Love" for 2023, including mystery and thriller titles. You can check out the forty-plus novels on that list via this link.

Janet Rudolph has updated her growing list of Thanksgiving crime novel and short stories, which includes a wide-ranging mixture of cozy, noir, and traditional whodunits.

That list can only help with Jenn over at Jenn's Book Shelves, where she is hosting her annual Thankfully Reading day, or innstead of braving the crowds and shopping this weekend, spend time curled up with a book. Anyone wanting to participate can tag her on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using the #thankfullyreading hashtag.

The Black Friday sales in the U.S. will be hitting the stores on Friday, and book lovers should have their pick of items to choose from. You can add volumes in the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series to that list. Editor Elizabeth Foxwell notes that there's a 40-percent off sale on all McFarland books running through November 27, 2023 (use coupon code HOLIDAY23).

This weekend also sees the annual Small Business Saturday celebration in the U.S., a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities. When you're doing your holiday shopping this weekend, be sure and stop by your local indie bookstore. To help, Indie Bound has a handy store locator for your zip code.

Kings River Life posted a free Thanksgiving mystery short story, "It’s Only Fair," by Jane Limprecht.

The authors over at Mystery Lovers Kitchen have some Thanksgiving recipes and reads for you, including Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup from Cleo Coyle; Butternut Squash and Fried Sage Casserole from Lucy Burdette; Green Beans with Toasted Almonds and Oranges by way of Leslie Budewitz; Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple Syrup-Brown Butter Glaze by Leslie Karst; Pumpkin Streusel Muffins via Peg Cochran (aka Margaret Loudon); Gluten-Free Cannoli, courtesy of Libby Klein; and the notorious Turducken by Maya Corrigan.

Have you ever wondered about the mystery of how the astronauts on board the space station make Thanksgiving dinner? NASA sent up cosmic culinary delights on an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, including oranges, apples, cherry tomatoes, and carrots. Dana Weigel, NASA's deputy manager for the space station, added, "Because we're in the holiday season, we've got some fun holiday treats for the crew like chocolate, pumpkin spice cappuccinos, rice cakes, turkey, duck, quail, seafood, cranberry sauce, and mochi." Starbucks? Yep, and the crew even has a special sci-fi space cup for drinking them.

It's hard to believe, but A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving turns 50 this year.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton chatted with cozy mystery novelist, Catherine Dilts, about her new amateur sleuth title, The Body in the Cornfield; Writers Who Kill's E.B. Davis interviewed Annette Dashofy about her new mystery, Keep Your Family Close; and The New York Times spoke with spy thriller author, Mick Herron (the Slow Horses series), about why he relates more with failures, but after millions of his books sold and the third season of the series airing next month, how he may have to wrap his head around success.

         Related StoriesMystery Melange 

Media Murder for Monday

[image error]It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

As expected, the end of the actors' and writers' strikes is creating a flood of announcements about new projects and the resumption of ones that were stalled. Amateur, the 20th Century terrorism thriller starring Rami Malek, will be among the first studio shoots to resume filming in London next month. Amateur, which also stars Rachel Brosnahan and Laurence Fishburne, was halfway through production when the feature’s hundreds of cast, crew, and contractors were put on hiatus in July. Amateur is directed by James Hawes (whose debut feature was the critically acclaimed Anthony Hopkins vehicle One Life) and follows a CIA cryptographer who, after his wife is tragically killed in a London terrorist attack, demands his bosses go after them. When it becomes clear they won’t act due to conflicting internal priorities, he blackmails the agency into training him and letting him go after them himself. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, it was adapted by Ken Nolan.

The end of the strikes has also shifted the movie and TV release schedule quite a bit. Universal Pictures is pushing back the release of The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, originally set to premiere on March 1, 2024, which will now move to May 3, 2024. The Fall Guy revolves around Gosling’s Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie—being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno (Blunt), goes missing. Also starring in the film are Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, and Stephanie Tsu. The film is inspired by the 1980s ABC series created by Glen A. Larson that starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers.

Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) and Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) have entered production overseas on Hallow Road, a new psychological thriller, which Babak Anvari (Under the Shadows) is directing from a script by William Gillies. Commissioned and developed by London Film & TV, the film follows two parents who enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident.

The first trailer has been released for Fast Charlie, which features Pierce Brosnan as a violent fixer attempting to identify a headless victim in order to prove he completed a hit job. The action thriller also stars Morena Baccarin, and, in his final performance, the late James Caan.

A trailer was released for Role Play, a comedic action spy thriller starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo, which will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on January 12, 2024. Cuoco plays the role of Emma, a woman who is seemingly living the perfect life alongside her loving husband and two kids in the suburbs of New Jersey. When the couple decides to spice up their love life by doing a little role-playing, things go haywire when her husband David finds out his wife leads a secret life as an assassin for hire. Thomas Vincent directed the film written by Seth Owen. Bill Nighy and Connie Nielsen also star in the film which was mainly shot in Berlin, Germany.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

The Bosch universe is expanding, with Prime Video giving a 10-episode series order to an untitled Renée Ballard project, a Bosch spinoff about the LAPD’s Cold Case Division. The newly greenlighted series is one of two projects in the works at Amazon MGM Studios inspired by the novels of bestselling author Michael Connelly. The other, the Untitled J. Edgar project, remains in development, and follows Harry Bosch’s former partner, Detective Jerry Edgar, who is tapped for an undercover FBI mission in Little Haiti, Miami. The Renée Ballard project is centered on Detective Ballard, who is tasked with running the LAPD’s new cold case division—a poorly funded, all-volunteer unit with the largest case load in the city. When she uncovers a larger conspiracy during her investigations, she’ll lean on the assistance of her retired ally, Harry Bosch, to navigate the dangers that threaten both her unit and her life.

Gato Grande, an Amazon MGM Studios company, has optioned the rights to Ana Reyes’ bestselling novel, The House in the Pines, for television development. The psychological thriller revolves around a woman, armed with only hazy memories from witnessing her friend’s sudden death years ago, who sets out to track down answers even though she's spent her lifetime trying to forget. The House in the Pines was on the New York Times Bestseller list for over two months, and was a pick for Reese’s Book Club when it was published in January 2023.

Mad Men alum Jon Hamm and producer Shawn Ryan (S.W.A.T., The Night Agent) are teaming on a live-action television series adaptation of the podcast American Hostage, with Hamm set to reprise his role from the audio series. American Hostage is described as a "psychological thriller that tells the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program." Ryan envisions the series as an anthology, which will focus on a different hostage case each season.

Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) and Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects) have landed the lead roles in the BBC's upcoming crime drama, Dope Girls. Umi Myers, Eilidh Fisher, and Geraldine James have also landed major parts in the series. Dope Girls has been described as "a spiritual successor to Peaky Blinders," and is set in London’s Soho in the early 20th century when female gangs ran the clubs, drugs, and moonshine. Nicholson will play Kate Galloway, a single mother who establishes a nightclub amidst the hedonistic uproar of post-World War I London, embracing a life of criminal activities with the dedicated aim of providing for her daughter. Scanlen will play Violet Davies, one of the first wave of female officers for the Metropolitan Police, who is assigned to go undercover and investigate the illicit world of underground Soho nightclubs.

CBS has announced its winter schedule for the end of 2023 and start of 2024 with some variations from its previously announced lineup. Premiere week will start right after the Super Bowl, with new episodes of NCIS; NCIS: Hawai’i; FBI; FBI: International; FBI: Most Wanted; S.W.A.T.; Blue Bloods; The Equalizer; and CSI: Vegas. The new action-adventure drama, Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, will still air following the Super Bowl on February 11. CBS will air another new program, Elsbeth (a spinoff of The Good Fight) starring Carrie Preston, on February 29. However, another new CBS show, Matlock, originally scheduled to premiere during the 2023-2024 fall season, has been pushed back to the 2024-2025 season

ABC also revealed its midseason lineup, with crime dramas Will Trent and The Rookie returning with new seasons on Feb. 20 at 8-10 p.m. ET, while 9-1-1 and Station 19 premiere March 14 beginning at 8 p.m. The previously announced new series, High Potential, will debut during the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

 

Law & Order star Jeffrey Donovan, who starred as Det. Frank Cosgrove, will not be returning to the NBC procedural for its 23rd season. According to TVLine, who first reported the news, the former Burn Notice star exited the show due to creative reasons. The main cast, including Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, Hugh Dancy as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price, and Camryn Manheim as Lt. Kate Dixon are expected to return.

Prime Video has set a revised winter release date for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, its re-imagining of the 2005 action comedy film that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. All eight episodes will drop on February 2, 2024, exclusively on Prime Video. In this version, two lonely strangers (Donald Glover and Maya Erskine) land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?

Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Flesh & Blood) are among the stars boarding season 2 of Ben Richards’s BBC legal drama, Showtrial. The pair are joining the previously announced Adeel Akhtar, Nathalie Armin, and Michael Socha in the five-part season from Line of Duty maker World Productions. Dempsie will play DI Miles Southgate, while Annis will play a character called Dame Harriet Kenny. Other high profile cast members include Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard) and Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper).

A new trailer dropped for the six-part television series, Monsieur Spade, set in the South of France in 1963 in which Dashiell Hammett’s dashing private investigator, Sam Spade (played by Clive Owen), is forced out of a quiet retirement and is back on the case to solve murders. Monsieur Spade will premiere on AMC and AMC+ on January 14.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Tim Shipman, the chief political commentator at the Sunday Times, interviewed author David McCloskey on the Spybrary podcast. The interview delves into the complexities of modern espionage, as well as themes of betrayal, love, loyalty, and vengeance in the clandestine war between the West and Moscow.





The new episode of the Crime Cafe features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Kathleen Kaska and how she got the inspiration to write the Sydney Lockhart mysteries, a series set in the 1950s featuring a young woman trying to make it as a private detective in a man's world

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club chatted with Lee Goldberg about his book, Malibu Burning, the first in his new series featuring arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker.

The Crime Time FM podcast featured the Christmas Debate in which eight top critics and writers picked their best reads of the year.

Read or Dead's Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed books perfect for holiday gifting.

The Pick Your Poison podcast delved into such topics as a risky behavior that often targets pregnant women and children; a type of drug that requires surgical intervention after an overdose; and what exactly is a drug loo and where can you find one?

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Friday's "Forgotten" Books - Blood Lines

[image error]Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) is an author who needs very little introduction, having created the popular Chief Inspector Reginald "Reg" Wexford series under her own name and many other books under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, as well as having been nominated numerous times for Dagger and Edgar Awards. But the very first Edgar she ever won was in 1975 for a short story, "The Fallen Curtain" from a book by the same name (she won another short-story Edgar in 1984). Following that success, she had nine short story collections published, the latest a compilation in 2008.



[image error]One of her collections, Blood Lines, dates from 1995 and includes ten shorter stories and one novella. Most of the stories are familiar Rendell territory including the villages of Kingsmarkham and Stowerton, which are the stomping grounds of Chief Inspector Wexford and his assistant Mike Burden. The duo is featured in the initial story. "Blood Lines" which finds Wexford and Burden solving a bludgeoning death that Wexford doggedly pursues despite the fact everyone else thinks it's a mere robbery gone bad. In the end, they piece together a picture of infidelity, spousal abuse, and betrayal.



"Lizzie's Lover" takes a new and literal twist on a Browning poem that comes to life; "Burning End" explores the difficult relationships between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law and what it takes to push someone over the edge; the accidental discovery of a poisonous mushroom in a garden leads to a game of culinary Russian Roulette by a mad man in a supermarket, in "Shreds and Shivers"; "Clothes" is the only story not to deal with death but rather peers inside an unusual obsession that drives a woman to emotional collapse.



The longest story, the novella, "The Strawberry Tree," was one of seventeen televised feature-length adaptations of Rendell's work which aired on ITV in the UK and on some PBS stations between 1987 and 2000, under the title Ruth Rendell Mysteries, which Acorn Media later released in a DVD boxed set. It was apparently intended as a sketch for a Barbara Vine novel, a foreboding and atmospheric tale of lost innocence embedded in a lonely young woman's deep desire for love and friendship on the island of Majorca.



Rendell (and alter ego Vine) is known for her exploration of the darker human impulses forged out of society’s moral codes. Passion, jealousy, anxiety, guilt, shame, rage are the colors she uses to paint psychological portraits as she allows the reader to delve into the minds of her characters. If you haven't read a Rendell novel (and you should!), stories such as these make for a fine introduction.