B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 49

The Strand's 2023 Best of the Best

Quarterly crime-fiction and mystery magazine The Strand has announced its list of nominees for the annual Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing, The Strand Critics Awards are judged by an ever-changing group of book critics and journalists, which this year include judges chosen from The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press. In addition, James Lee Burke and Lee Child take home Strand Lifetime Achievement Awards. Congratulations to them and to the nominees for Best Novel and Best Debut:

 

BEST NOVEL

Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow)
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
Desert Star by Michael Connelly (Little Brown)
Her Last Affair by John Searles (Mariner Books)
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Secret Identity Alex Segura (Flatiron Books)

BEST DEBUT

Jackal by Erin E. Adams (Bantam)
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/Emily Bestler)
Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho)
Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho)

 

Both winners will be named during an online event in September. Past recipients of The Strand Critics Awards include Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, Richard Price, John Banville, Megan Abbot, Sheena Kamal, and William Landay.

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Chinese Femme Fatale

The term "femmes fatales" is from French for "fatal women," but its origins date back to the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Hindu cultures, and of course, even the Bible gave us Salome, Delilah, and Jezebel. Whatever the culture or setting, a femme fatale typically refers to a mysterious and alluring woman who ensnares men with her charms, often luring them into compromising or even deadly traps.



One region of the world you may not associate with the femmes fatales tradition is China, but Anne E. McLaren tries to show otherwise in her book, The Chinese Femme Fatale: Stories from the Ming Period (published 1994). In her Foreword, McLaren places the three included stories in context in Chinese culture of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and also provides a brief, informative introduction for each story. Although not in the same vein as the femme fatale trope of the strong scheming women in film noir and pulp fiction, the stories carry a lot of the misogynistic themes that many such tales do in European/American literature. As McLaren notes, the misogynistic tone of the stories results from the fear of female dominance and sexuality in Chinese culture and provides "a paradigm of women who defied traditional feminine virtues and suffered the full wrath of a punitive society."



The first story tells of a wife who cooks a magic eel her husband brings home, before he can decide what to do with it, which results in a series of murderous ends for their daughter and her succession of lovers and husbands; the second story shows the disastrous results of a sexually insatiable woman and what happens when she cheats on her traveling-salesman husband; and the third is a gruesome and twisty tale that begins with the theft of a coin. McLaren points out that these stories and others of that same time period show women as either virtuous or vixen (with little room in the middle), continuing a theme that has lasted through the centuries in almost every global culture.

          

Mystery Melange

The shortlist was announced for the 2023 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, which is open to writers of any nationality writing in English, and is judged by a team of librarians and library staff. The shortlisted titles include Paddy Crewe's My Name is Yip; Anthony McCarten's Going Zero; Priscilla Morris' Black Butterflies; Natasha Pulley's The Half Life of Valery K; Emma Styles' No Country for Girls; and Jenny Tinghui Zhang's Four Treasures of the Sky. These books now progress to an expert judging panel, which includes one seat reserved for readers. The Reader’s Vote will be open through August 31, and gives everyone three votes to award, whether they go all to one or to three different titles. Readers are encouraged to "dive into the shortlist, to read, share and recommend, and decide where their votes are placed." The winner for the £10,000 Best Published Novel award will be revealed on October 18 at an Awards Ceremony hosted at London’s Royal Geographical Society. Also being celebrated on the same night will be the New Voices award for aspiring writers and the Author of Tomorrow award for writers aged 21 years and under who have completed a short piece of adventure writing.





In honor of Pride Month, Sisters in Crime has opened applications for the 2023 Pride Award, a legacy project of past president Sherry Harris. According to Sherry, "Each past president is required to do a legacy project, something that they feel passionate about. When thinking about what I wanted to do, I kept two things in mind. First, why SinC was formed — to equal the disparity in how female crime fiction writers and male crime fiction writers were reviewed and won awards. Second, I love our Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for emerging crime writers of color. With those two thoughts in mind, I realized I wanted to start a similar award for the LGBTQIA+ community." Authors can submit an unpublished work of crime fiction through July 31st, with the winning entry receiving a grant of $2,000. For more information, check out the official SinC page.

Clues: A Journal of Detection 41.1 has been published, with a themed issue on Detective Fiction and Borders and including an introduction by Manina Jones of Western University, Canada. The issue includes essays on Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, Carlos Bulosan, Agatha Christie, Calling All Cars, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Japanese crime fiction, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Henning Mankell, China Mie´ville, Miguel Pajares, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

In honor of Pride Month, CrimeReads compiled a list of queer crime fiction summer reads, from gritty noir to "killer quozies."

Lovers of detective-fiction have the chance to study Agatha Christie’s writing for free. The OpenLearn short course, "Agatha Christie and the Golden Age of Detective Fiction," sets out to show why her style of writing was popular and reveals some of the secrets behind Christie’s success in constructing the perfect mystery plot. In this free course, participants will focus on one of Christie’s most important works: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Smile" by Paul Hostovsky.

In the Q&A roundup, Susan Van Kirk chatted with E.B. Davis at Writers Who Kill about her latest Jill Madison novel, Death in a Bygone Hue; thriller author Russell Brooks spoke with Lisa Haselton about his new crime thriller, Jam Run; S.A. Crosby stopped by CrimeReads to discuss inspiration, serial killers, and his writing process; and the Globe and Mail interviewed Jo Nesbø about his Harry Hole series, bestsellers, and writing children's books.

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Media Murder for Monday

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

Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible franchise) is in final talks to star in Best Served Cold, a new film based on Joe Abercrombie’s bestselling book of the same name, which Tim Miller (Deadpool) will direct for Skydance. Originally published as part of Abercrombie’s First Law World series in the summer of 2009, Best Served Cold tells the story of the legendary mercenary Monza Murcatto (Ferguson), the betrayal that ostracizes her, and her ensuing quest for revenge that will forever change a nation.

Following a surprise end-credit return in Fast X, Dwayne Johnson confirmed he will make his return to the Fast & Furious universe in an untitled installment starring Johnson as Luke Hobbs. According to Deadline, the upcoming film is not a sequel or spin-off to Hobbs & Shaw but its own separate film and is based on a screenplay by longtime Fast & Furious collaborator, Chris Morgan. Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious) is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a television series, toys, video games, live shows, and theme park attractions. The films are distributed by Universal Pictures.

The American Film Institute, which has honored the heritage and art of motion pictures and celebrated monumental films for over fifty years, compiled a list of the 10 best mystery movies of all time. Did your favorite make the list?

TELEVISION/STREAMING

A limited TV series adaptation of John le Carré’s The Constant Gardener is being developed by The Ink Factory, coming almost two decades after the Oscar-winning movie. Lydia Adetunji (Dark Materials and Noughts + Crosses) is penning the TV adaptation, although no network or cast is attached as of yet. The TV version is described as a "post-pandemic" contemporary retelling of one of the author’s most popular novels and follows Justin Quayle, a British diplomat and avid horticulturalist who meets an Amnesty International activist in London called Tessa. After striking up a romance, they head on a journey that weaves together a brutal murder, government corruption, and corporate malfeasance in a plot that unravels across Kenya, the UK, and mainland Europe. The 2005 movie starred Ralph Fiennes as Quayle and Rachel Weisz as Tessa, with Weisz winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Author Jens Lapidus and actor Alexander Abdallah are combining on a TV adaptation of the former’s novel, Paradis City. Abdallah will star alongside Julia Ragnarsson (End of Summer) in the six-parter. Paradis City follows a Home Secretary who delivers a speech in a deprived area and is kidnapped by masked men. Security Service agent Fredrika (Ragnarsson) then turns to Emir (Abdallah), a former MMA fighter facing a life sentence in prison, with an ultimatum – go undercover in Paradis City and find the Home Secretary if you want to see your daughter again. Félice Jankell (The Playlist) and Lancelot Ncube (The Restaurant) co-star.

Raylan Givens is back on the job in the first full trailer for FX’s limited series Justified: City Primeval, based on the stories of Elmore Leonard. Timothy Olyphant reprises his Emmy-nominated role as the U.S. marshal from Kentucky with a slow manner and quick temper, as the new series takes the action to the Motor City. There, Givens is assigned to a task force to find the guy who has "left a trail of sh*t from Oklahoma to Detroit."

Prime Video has released the official trailer for the fourth and final season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, which sends John Krasinski’s title character on his most dangerous mission yet. The trailer also gives us the first glimpse of new Season 4 characters, Michael Peña as Domingo Chavez and Louis Ozawa as Chao Fah.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

On Read or Dead, Kendra Winchester and Katie McLain Horner discussed books for Pride Month.

Tim Sullivan chatted with Crime Time FM host, Paul Burke, about his novel, The Monk; DS George Cross; autism; the monastic life; and killing your darlings.

Author Stephen England stopped by Spybrary to offer up his choice of "5 Must-Read Spy Books."

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured Radioland by Matt Cahill.

For the latest episode of the Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine podcast, Joslyn Chase took listeners back to Victorian England to tell the thrilling tale of a woman trying to survive Jack the Ripper's 1888 killing spree, in "The Wolf and Lamb" which originally appeared in the May/June 2020 issue.

In this month’s episode of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast, Senior Managing Editor, Jackie Sherbow, read the classic tale, "Hush-a-Bye, My Baby," by the great Russian playwright and author Anton Chekhov, reprinted in the February 1958 issue of EQMM.

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A Thrill a Minute (or Two)

The winners of seven categories in the 2023 Thriller Awards were announced last night at the celebratory dinner at ThrillerFest XVIII in New York City. Charlaine Harris and Walter Mosley were also presented with 2023 ThrillerMaster Lifetime Achievement Awards, and Minotaur Books was named as the winner of the 2023 Thriller Legend Award. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

Best Hardcover Novel: Sundial, by Catriona Ward (Macmillan)



Also nominated:

The Violence, by Delilah S. Dawson (Del Rey)
Things We Do in the Dark, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur)
The Fervor, by Alma Katsu (Putnam)
The Children on the Hill, by Jennifer McMahon (Simon & Schuster)
Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone (MCD)

Best Audiobook: Things We Do in the Dark, by Jennifer Hillier; narrated by Carla Vega (Macmillan Audio)

Also nominated:

Young Rich Widows, by Kimberly Belle, Fargo Layne, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie; narrated by Dina Pearlman, Karissa Vacker, Helen Laser, and Ariel Blake (Audible)
The Lies I Tell, by Julie Clark; narrated by Anna Caputo and Amanda Dolan (Audible)
The Photo Thief, by J.L. Delozier; narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs and Jeffrey Kafer (CamCat)
The Silent Woman, by Minka Kent; narrated by Christine Lakin and Kate Rudd (Blackstone)

Best First Novel: The Resemblance, by Lauren Nossett (Flatiron)

Also nominated:

Blood Sugar, by Sascha Rothchild (Putnam)
Dirt Creek (aka Dirt Town), by Hayley Scrivenor (Flatiron)
A Flicker in the Dark, by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)
The Fields, by Erin Young (Flatiron)

Best Paperback Original Novel: The Housemaid, by Freida McFadden (Grand Central)

Also nominated:

The Lies I Told, by Mary Burton (Montlake)
No Place to Run, by Mark Edwards (Thomas & Mercer)
Unmissing, by Minka Kent (Thomas & Mercer)
Anywhere You Run, by Wanda Morris (Morrow)
The Couple Upstairs, by Holly Wainwright (Pan Macmillan)
The Patient’s Secret, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake)

Best Short Story: “Stockholm,” by Catherine Steadman (Amazon Original Stories)

Also nominated:

“Russian for Beginners,” by Dominique Bibeau (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, a/k/a EQMM, March/April 2022)
“The Gift,” by Barb Goffman (from Land of 10,000 Thrills, edited by Greg Herren; Down & Out)
“Publish or Perish,” by Smita Harish Jain (EQMM, September/October 2022)
"33 Clues Into the Disappearance of My Sister,” by Joyce Carol Oates (EQMM, March/April 2022)
“Schrödinger, Cat,” by Anna Scotti (EQMM, March/April 2022)

Best Young Adult Novel: Daughter, by Kate McLaughlin (Wednesday)

Also nominated:

Our Crooked Hearts, by Melissa Albert (Flatiron)
Sugaring Off, by Gillian French (Algonquin Young Readers)
What’s Coming to Me, by Francesca Padilla (Soho Teen)
I’m the Girl, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)

Best E-Book Original Novel: The Couple at Causeway Cottage, by Diane Jeffrey (HarperCollins)

Also nominated:

Evasive Species, by Bill Byrnes (Self-published)
The Seven Truths of Hannah Baxter, by Grant McKenzie (Self-published)
The Hollow Place, by Rick Mofina (Self-published)
Fatal Rounds, by Carrie Rubin (Self-published)

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books:

Magdalen Nabb was born in Lancashire in 1947 but lived in Florence, Italy, from 1975 until her death in 2007. She wrote both children's fiction and crime fiction, the latter featuring her literary creation Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia. She modeled the Marshal on a real Florentine law officer who used to keep the author up to date on crimes in the city being investigated by the Carabinieri, the national Italian police force. Critic Susanna Yager of the Sunday Telegraph once noted that "The mystery for me is why Magdalen Nabb is not better known," certainly not as well as Michael Dibdin (Aurelia Zen) and Donna Leon (Commissario Guido Brunetti).



After the first book featuring Guarnaccia appeared in 1981, it impressed Georges Simenon so much that he wrote to congratulate Nabb. After the publication of the sequel, Death of a Dutchman, he said, "Your first novel was a coup de maitre, your second is a masterpiece." That second book (she wrote 14 Guarnaccia installments in all) opens as Marshal Guarnaccia finds a jeweler dying in an apparent suicide from slashed hands and a barbiturate overdose, uttering his last words, "It wasn't her." The only witnesses to the crime are a blind man and a notoriously untruthful 91-year-old woman.



Although the case seems to be a dead end, the Marshal refuses to let it go, fighting his way through bureaucratic red tape, hordes of tourists, the soggy July heat, the secret police known as Digos and the dead Dutchman's troubled past in order to reach the truth. The dead man is known as a "Dutchman" even though his father was Dutch and his mother Italian. This neither-here-nor-there sense of belonging echoes the life of the Marshal himself, a Sicilian stationed in Florence, living at the station barracks without his wife and sons, as they care for his invalid mother back home.



Marshal, lower down the police hierarchy than a Lieutenant or Magistrate, is nonetheless a dedicated, sensitive and caring officer, not particularly articulate but with a subtle humor who patiently helps the young and inexperienced officer in charge of the case. The city and culture that is Florence becomes another character, focusing on the importance of family, place and tradition. Or as the Washington Post added, "The richest scene here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit."



It's unfortunately difficult to find Nabb's work in print, although Soho Crime reprinted Death of a Dutchman in 2007, along with several of the other titles in Nabb's Florentine Mystery series.

          

Mystery Melange

The Bouchercon Conference Board announced that Sara Paretsky is this year's winner of the David Thompson Special Service Award, given to honor the memory and contributions to the crime fiction community of David Thompson, a beloved Houston bookseller who passed away in 2010. Recipients are recognized for their extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime fiction field. As the Board noted, "Sara's contributions as a founder of Sisters In Crime; as a leader in helping to lay the publishing groundwork for women authors of mystery and crime fiction, and as an ongoing literacy activist, have been phenomenal." The award will be presented during the General Members Meeting at the Bouchercon 2023 convention in San Diego.

The second annual Motive: Crime & Mystery Festival, an adjunct of the Toronto International Festival of Authors, takes place at Harbourfront this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Following last year’s inaugural event, one of the first in-person literary festivals after the COVID-19 lockdowns, the format will once again include a combination of readings, panel conversations and master classes focusing on the craft of writing in the crime genre. Among those authors scheduled to participate are Canadians Linwood Barclay, Margaret Cannon, Maureen Jennings, and Sheena Kamal, as well as many others from countries including Scotland, Britain, Iceland, and the U.S.

 

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has appointed Vaseem Khan as its first non-white chair in the organization's 70-year history. Khan, who is the author of two crime series set in India and also co-hosts the Red Hot Chilli Writers podcast with fellow author Abir Mukherjee, said he aimed to make the CWA "a home for all crime writers." He takes over the role of chair from author, editor, publisher and critic Maxim Jakubowski. Previous chairs include Ian Rankin, Dick Francis, Peter James and Lindsey Davis.

Now in their sixth year, the Danger Awards continue to honor books featuring Australia as a setting for stories about crime and justice. At BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival in November 2023, three awards will be presented: one for crime fiction, one for crime non-fiction and thanks to the generous sponsorship of OverDrive Australia, for the first time a People’s Choice award will be presented covering both categories. The winners will each receive $1000 In prize money, a Danger Award trophy and be invited to speak at BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2023. Organizers will be accepting submissions, of both crime fiction and non-fiction books that explore and shed light on crime and justice issues in Australia, by no later than 5pm on June 10th. All books must have been first published between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022.

Andrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of Strand Magazine, announced that the periodical will publish for the first time a "lost" short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, and a "poet of the tabloid murder," whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce. Gulli made the discovery simply by asking the Library of Congress to look in its Cain papers, and he found the unfamiliar title and story, which he dates to the late 1950s. The newly discovered story, "Blackmail," is set in Washington, DC, and concerns a blind Korean war veteran tormented by his sister-in-law.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "The Dream" by Adam Stemple.

In the Q&A roundup, Alison Goodman was interviewed by E. B. Davis about her fiercely feminist historical mystery series including The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies; and Lisa Haselton chatted with suspense author Regina Buttner about her new domestic suspense, Down a Bad Road.

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In Reference to Excellence

I'd planned on compiling a list of the award-winning nonfiction/reference crime books from last year's awards cycle, oh, somewhere back in January, but somehow that blog post got put on a back burner. At any rate, in keeping with the original theme of this blog, here are the "Crème de la Crème" of those books that were awarded in 2022. I hope to post lists of some of the other finalists titles, too (and be a little more timely with next year's similar posts). These reference and nonfiction books often don't get as much love as the fiction titles, but they make for fascinating reading, and I hope you'll seek them out. (And if I missed one, feel free to post it in the comments, and I'll add it to the list!)

How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction; the Anthony Award for Best Critical or Nonfiction Work; and the Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction/Critical).  Mystery Writers of America collected essays from 70 of the most successful mystery writers in the business on various aspects of their craft, from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers, as well as the piece of writing advice they wish they'd had at the beginning of their careers. Kirkus reviewed it as "Everything you wanted to know about how to plan, draft, write, revise, publish, and market a mystery."

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and an NPR Best Book of the Year). This is a chilling true story, told here for the first time, of the Last Call Killer and the gay community of New York City whom he preyed upon in the '80s and '90s. The murders had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers, but because of the sexuality of his victims, the sky-high murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.

Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995 by Patricia Highsmith, edited by Anna von Planta (Winner of the CrimeFest H.R.F. Keating Award for Best Biographical or Critical Book). At once lovable, detestable, and mesmerizing, Highsmith put her turbulent life to paper for five decades, acutely aware there must be "a few usable things in literature." A memoir as significant in our own century as Sylvia Plath’s journals and Simone de Beauvoir’s writings were to another time, Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks is an historic work that chronicles a woman’s rise against the conventional tide to unparalleled literary prominence.

The Beatle Bandit by Nate Hendley (Winner of the Crime Writers Awards of Excellence for Best Nonfiction Crime Book). On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario. Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped―only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. He was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang, and his murderous rampage had tragic consequences for multiple families, fuelling a national debate about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defense.

The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice by Julia Laite (Winner of the Crime Writers Association Non-fiction Dagger). In 1910, Wellington, New Zealand, Lydia Harvey is sixteen, working long hours for low pay, when a glamorous couple invite her to Buenos Aires. She accepts - and disappears. Later that year in England, amid a global panic about sex trafficking, detectives are tracking a ring of international criminals when they find a young woman on the streets of Soho who might be the key to cracking the whole case. Historian Julia Laite traces Lydia Harvey through the fragments she left behind to build an extraordinary story of aspiration, exploitation and survival―and one woman trying to build a life among the forces of history.

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (Winner of the Edgar for Best Critical/Autobiographical). Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon—what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Along the way, White illuminates a vital truth: that Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist, and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.

Banquet: The Untold Story of Adelaide’s Family Murders, by Debi Marshall (Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime). Only one suspect, Bevan Spencer Von Einem, has been charged and convicted for The Family Murders of Adelaide, "the City of Corpses." With her combination of investigative skills and sensitivity, award-winning investigative journalist, Debi Marshall, treads a harrowing path to find the truth, including confronting Von Einem in prison, pursuing sexual predators in Australia and overseas, taking a deep-dive into the murky world of pedophiles, challenging police and judiciary, and talking to victims and their families. The outcome is both shocking and tragic.

 

The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek by Kate Holden (Winner of Davitt Award for Best Non-Fiction Book). In July 2014, outside Croppa Creek, New South Wales, 80-year-old farmer Ian Turnbull took out a .22 and shot environmental officer Glen Turner in the back. On one side, a man hoping to secure his family’s wealth and future by farming the richest agricultural soil in the country. On the other side, the object of his obsession–the government employee trying his best to apply environmental laws. The brutal killing of Glen Turner splits open the story of our place on this land, and ultimately what happens when, in pursuit of an inheritance for his family, a man creates terrible consequences.

 

          

Author R&R With Katie Graykowski

Texas writer, Katie Graykowski, is a #1 Amazon and international bestselling author of 20+novels, including several romance and young adult series. She's also the author of the PTO Murder Club mystery series featuring Mustang Ridges who lives in the small town of Lakeside, Texas and whose police-chief husband fled to Grand Cayman with his mistress and a million dollars in diamonds he stole from the police evidence lockup. Now a single mother and chair of the Bee Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, Mustang and her friends often find themselves in the middle of unexpected crime investigations.

In the fifth book in that series, Puzzled Pieces, Mustang finds the body of her son’s school bus driver, Imogene Puzzle. Mustang and her best friends Haley and Monica are on the hunt for anyone who might want Ms. P. dead, but she was seemingly loved by everyone. The only possible lead is Ms. P.’s true crime group, The Puzzlers, who were investigating the Hill Country Strangler, a twenty-year-old cold case. When two other bus drivers from surrounding school districts also end up with their throats cut, Mustang begins to think that the Hill Country Strangler might have decided that throat-cutting was a better way to kill. How many more people will die before Mustang, Haley, and Monica puzzle out the killer?

Katie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about her research and writing process:

 

My mystery novel series, the PTO Murder Club Mysteries, is set in the fictional town of Lakeside, Texas. My heroines are three mothers who ran the PTO (parent teacher organization) at their children’s elementary school. I like to incorporate current events into my mystery novels which means research.

I love research. Whether it’s reading everything ever written about a particular subject or binge-watching hours of the History Channel, listening to hours of podcasts, or searching the internet, I could happily OD on research. If I’m in an active writing phase, I have to limit my research because it’s a rabbit hole I will gladly dive into.

I tend to do my research either while I’m writing or if the words are really coming, I’ll make a note on the manuscript of what needs to be researched. After I finish the book, I go back and add in the researched information.

When I’m not in an active writing phase, I’m off the chain and down the research rabbit hole. I’ll find an interesting topic and immerse myself in it.

For example, female spies in World War II. Many women from all over the world risked their lives to help the allied forces. There are some really good books on that subject. While I haven’t written or have plans to write about women spies in WWII, it’s filed away in the back of my mind and will get worked into story at some point.

Or, Artificial Intelligence and how it will change our world. We are watching history in the making. This technology is in its infancy. Whether it’s good or bad remains to be seen. As a mystery writer, AI could be an incredible research tool. As far as AI as a character in a story, there is so much trouble it can get into.

It’s interesting, in 1889 Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of US Patent Office at that time, said that the patent office would soon shrink in size and close, because “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Man was he wrong.

See how random facts can pop up in a story?

For new writers wondering how to go about research, do it your way. Find what makes sense to you. Because I’m an auditory learner, I love listening to biographies and nonfiction audio books. If you’re a visual learner, try a site visit. If the smell of books helps you focus, go camp out at your local library. There’s no right or wrong way to research. Just remember, writing is about the journey and the destination. So, make it a fun ride.

 

You can learn more about Katie and her books via her website and also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The ebook of Puzzled Pieces is available now via Amazon and the print book can be ordered from all major booksellers.

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Media Murder for Monday

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

The French murder mystery film, Anatomy of a Fall, took the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Director Justine Triet won the Palme d'Or for her tense courtroom drama, which tells the story of a writer accused of her husband's murder. Triet becomes the third female director ever to win the prestigious prize, which was first awarded in 1955. Her thriller stars German actress Sandra Hüller, who also stars in the Cannes runner-up, The Zone of Interest.

Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino (American Crime Story: Impeachment) and Geza Rohrig (Son of Saul) have joined the spy thriller, Fog of War, which Michael Day is directing from a screenplay by Luke Langsdale. Also starring are Jake Abel (Walker), Briana Hildebrand (Lucifer), and John Cusack (Love & Mercy). Set during WWII, the story follows an injured American pilot Gene (Abel), and his OSS agent fiancée Penny (Hildebrand), who retreat to a remote estate in Massachusetts to visit her extended family (Cusack and Sorvino). Unbeknownst to Penny, the OSS has recruited Gene to spy on the family and the surrounding community, including Belgian immigrant Viktor (Rohrig), as top-secret documents related to the D-Day Invasion have been stolen, and an enemy mole is somewhere nearby preparing to turn these plans over to the Axis Powers.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

On June 24 at the Billy Wilder Theater, the UCLA Film & Television Archive will salute Ida Lupino's directing contributions to TV mystery and horror through the program "Directed by Ida Lupino: Macabre Television," showing the episodes "A Crime for Mothers" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents), "Guillotine" (Thriller; screenplay by Charles Beaumont, based on a story by Cornell Woolrich), and "The Masks" (Twilight Zone). One of the few women directors working in TV in the 1950s and 1960s, and the most prolific in primetime, Lupino defied barriers to helm over fifty network episodes in a wide variety of series across genres, from rugged westerns to the fantasy-themed sitcom Bewitched. But Lupino’s artistic mark on the medium is perhaps best illustrated by her directorial work in a trio of iconic crime/horror-tinged television series: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller and The Twilight Zone. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)

Amazon Prime Video has ordered the spy thriller, Butterfly, to series, with Daniel Dae Kim set to star and executive produce. Amazon has given the show a six-episode order, but production will not commence until all guild negotiations have been resolved. The show is based on the graphic novel of the same name created by Arash Amel, written by Amel and Marguerite Bennett, and illustrated by Antonio Fuso and Stefano Simeone. Per the official logline, the series centers on David Jung (Kim), "an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former US intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him.”

AMC Networks’ Acorn TV and UK's Channel 5 are serving up a third season of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, including a Christmas special and six regular episodes. Filming is currently underway, with the Christmas special set to air on Acorn TV and Channel 5 in 2023, while the rest of the season will continue in 2024. Starring and created by Sally Lindsay, The Madame Blanc Mysteries see renowned and respected antiques dealer Jean White (Lindsay) return with her expertise in the world of antiquities, proving to be the key to solving a series of murders and mysteries against the backdrop of the beautiful French village of Sainte Victoire. Also reprising their roles are Sue Vincent, who returns as Gloria Beaushaw and as series co-writer, as well as Steve Edge, Robin Askwith, Sue Holderness, Alex Gaumond, and Tony Robinson.

Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for Hijack, the upcoming thriller starring and executive produced by Idris Elba (Luther). Created by George Kay (Lupin; Criminal), who penned the script, and Jim Field Smith (Criminal; Truth Seekers), who will direct, the seven-part series also stars Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife; Blindspot). Told in real time, Hijack follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven-hour flight, and authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba stars as an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers—but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing. Panjabi will play the role of a counter-terrorism officer who is on the ground when the plane is hijacked and becomes part of the investigation.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The 100th episode of the Red Hot Chili Writers podcast featured a chat with crime writer, Robert Dugoni; a reflection on the British Book Awards; and a discussion of appropriate behavior at literary festivals.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Jordan Harper to talk about his latest crime novel, Everybody Knows, featuring black-bag publicist Mae Pruett, who doesn’t worry about the truth, only "The Story."

The Books & Looks podcast spoke with debut author Mary Ann Miller, who at age 63 has penned the enthralling murder mystery, Bones Under the Ice, set in a small Indiana town

On Crime Time FM, Paul Burke reviewed a selection of the April and May crime fiction releases.

Pick Your Poison tackled the topics of "what to know about the dangers of black-market butt lifts," and "what hotels and hardware stores have to do with health care."

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