B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 56

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Trent's Own Case

Edmund Clerihew "E.C." Bentley (1875-1956) was an early 20th-century popular English novelist and humorist who's also credited with being the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics. His 1913 detective novel Trent's Last Case was well-received, numbering Dorothy L. Sayers among its admirers, and its tricky plotting has led some to label it as the"first truly modern mystery." It was adapted as a film in 1920, 1929, and 1952.



Despite its title, Trent's Last Case was actually the first novel in which artist and gentleman sleuth Philip Trent appears, and after collecting all the evidence and coming to all the wrong conclusions, he vows he will never again attempt to dabble in crime detection. That was not to be the case, however, followed by a book of short stories, Trent intervenes, and finally Trent's Own Case, a sequel of sorts that was published twenty-three years after the original in 1936 (co-written with H. Warner Allen).



When the first book appeared, Trent was a breath of fresh air in the early Edwardian era but by the time the sequel appeared, the Golden Age era of crime novels was in full swing with books from the likes of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Georgette Heyer, John Dickson Carr and many more. So, perhaps it was something to be expected that Trent's Own Case would begin to feel less path-breaking and more ordinary.



In this outing, the murder of a sadistic philanthropist sparks off an elaborate investigation led by Trent, who'd been painting the portrait of the man before he was killed. When a friend of Trent's confesses to the murder and tries to commit suicide, Trent comes out of retirement and offers to assist his police friend, Inspector Bligh. with the investigation. After a meandering investigation that finds Trent visiting France, two subsequent murders, and the disappearance of an actress, Trent finally solves the mystery and nails the guilty culprit.



Reviewer Mike Grost once said of the book, "This novel is full of many little subsidiary mysteries, each lasting a chapter or two, and each focusing on a new cast of characters. It gives the work as a whole the feel of a short story collection, or a loosely linked short story sequence à la The Arabian Nights." Bentley (and Allen) seem to have absorbed and "repurposed" bits from the new influencers of the genre such as Sayers and Freeman Wills Croft. [Content warning:  It is also a book of its time, containing references that are considered offensive to many modern audiences, including racism and sexism.]



As a side note, from 1936 until 1949 Bentley was president of the Detection Club and also contributed to two crime stories for the club's radio serials broadcast in 1930 and 1931 (later published in 1983 as The Scoop and Behind The Screen). In 1950 he contributed the introduction to a Constable & Co omnibus edition of Damon Runyon's "stories of the bandits of Broadway", which was republished by Penguin Books in 1990 as On Broadway.

          

Mystery Melange

 

Walter Mosley is the 2023 recipient of the Diamond Dagger, the highest honor in crime writing from the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA). Mosley receives the award in the CWA’s 70th Jubilee year (the CWA was founded in 1953). The Diamond Dagger recognizes authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre. Mosley is the author of more than 60 critically acclaimed books across a wide range of genres including his popular series featuring private detective, Easy Rawlins. Previous winners of the award have included Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, Peter Lovesey, John Le Carré, Martina Cole, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, Eric Ambler, Ed McBain, and CJ Sansom.

The Mavens of Mayhem, the Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime, are sponsoring the virtual writers' conference, Murderous March 2023 on March 10-11. There will be a Master Class with Guest of Honor Deborah Crombie on "How to Keep Your Series Alive and Your Readers Coming Back for More," as well as a Pitch Workshop with Edwin Hill; a discussion by Retired Detective Sergeant Bruce Robert Coffin on police procedure, murder investigations and more; plus various other panels. For more information and to register, check out this link.

Submissions for the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award are open through March 31. Although the award is sponsored by Sisters in Crime, applicants do not need to be a member of SinC to submit materials. The $2,000 grant is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. The grantee may choose to use the grant for activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work.

Clues journal has a call for submissions on the topic of BIPOC Female Detectives. Guest Editor, Sam Naidu with Rhodes University in South Africa, is seeking articles that focus on female detectives who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color); span eras, genres, and geographical locations; and appear in texts, TV programs, films, and other media. Of particular interest are intersections among race, indigeneity, gender, age, class, or sexuality in these works, as well as projects that center BIPOC scholarship. Submissions should include a proposal of approximately 250 words and a brief biosketch and are due by April 30 to s.naidu@ru.ac.za. Accepted full manuscripts of approximately 6,000 words will be due by September 30.

Over at the Rap Sheet blog, guest Steven Powell, a British author and scholar, gave some insight and background into his new biography, Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy. Powell has become something of a dedicated documentarian of Ellroy's fiction in such previous books as Conversations with James Ellroy (2012), James Ellroy: Demon Dog of Crime Fiction (2015), and The Big Somewhere (2018). Some readers of this blog may also know Steven Powell as the creator of the crime fiction blog, The Venetian Vase.

A new full-length biography of Mickey Spillane, one of the most popular and influential mystery writers of his era, was released this week via Mysterious Press. Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor bills itself as the definitive biography (and the first full biography of the author), which contains a detailed account of Mickey Spillane's life and literary career, illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Collins became Spillane's friend and collaborator, continuing the Mike Hammer series for years after the author's death, building upon unfinished manuscripts the writer left behind.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is the author of the popular Morland Dynasty novels and contemporary Bill Slider mystery series, as well as her recent series, War at Home, which is an epic family drama set against the backdrop of World War I. Harrod-Eagles applied the Page 69 Test to the new Bill Slider mystery, Before I Sleep.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Victimless" by Eric D. Goodman.

In the Q&A spotlight, Walter Mosley (see Diamond Dagger announcement above) spoke with The New York Times about the publishing world’s idea of "representation"; what to make of the cultural dominance of the Marvel Universe; his new book, Every Man a King; and why he thinks America is getting dumber.

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Author R&R with Patrick H. Moore

Patrick H. Moore is a Los Angeles based Private Investigator, Sentencing Mitigation Specialist, and crime writer. He has worked in virtually all areas including drug trafficking, sex crimes, crimes of violence, and white-collar fraud. Patrick holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University where he graduated summa cum laude in 1990. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, he was lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar for Crash Carnival, a San Francisco rock ‘n roll band, and experienced the "naked lunch" of life on the streets for more than a decade. In February of 2013, Patrick started All Things Crime blog, a true crime and crime fiction website, which for several years was one of the most popular crime blogs in the U.S.

 

In 27 Days, Patrick's first traditionally published thriller, it's the spring of 2019 and veteran LA PI Nick Crane is on the run in the Pacific Northwest, pursued by a cabal of wealthy right-wing power brokers and domestic terrorists (the "Principals") led by Marguerite Ferguson and Desmond Cole. Things get worse when Nick’s close friend and business partner Bobby Moore is kidnapped by Marguerite and the Principals. Nick is then informed that he has twenty-seven days to surrender to Marguerite. If he does not turn himself in, Bobby will be sent to Scorpion prison in Egypt to be tortured and murdered, but if Nick surrenders, Bobby will be released. Help appears in the form of a young, idealistic female FBI agent named Carrie North who wants to arrest Marguerite for conspiring to commit domestic terrorist operations against the United States. Nick and Carrie join forces, and the race against time to rescue Bobby Moore begins.

 

Patrick stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about his work and writing:

 

The Making of 27 Days

by Patrick H. Moore

It is of course a curious thing that writers are able to take the wisp or thread of an idea and turn it into a full-length novel. I imagine every writer has his or her own distinctive method of moving from start to finish. In the case of 27 Days, my new Nick Crane thriller, I combined my own “lived history” with knowledge I accrued working as a Sentencing Mitigation Specialist for a PI firm in Los Angeles for the last 19+ years.

My Lived History

During my formative years, I spent a great deal of time roaming around the hardscrabble streets of California. This period of “in person” research was instrumental in giving me many of the necessary tools to write thrillers and crime fiction.

What did I learn on the streets? First, I learned that the world is full of colorful, eccentric characters––the sort of folks who do not appear in polite sit-coms or attend PTA meetings. I learned that many of these characters have utter disrespect for law enforcement and little respect for the ordinary mores of middle-class society. At the personal level, I learned that the cops are often not to be trusted. I also developed a great love for the vernacular of the streets.

At the age of 30, I made the decision to go to college. I had always wanted to be a writer, and while in college I wrote a couple of decent books including the memoirs of a PTSD Vietnam veteran named Warren Larry Foster. Warren became the inspiration for Bobby Moore, my protagonist Nick’s Crane’s sidekick and loyal friend. I met Warren in 1982 in an English class at Foothill Community College in tony Los Altos, CA. There he was, a big, tough muscular badass wearing shorts and a pink prosthesis on his right leg, which had been amputated just below the knee due to a war wound. Looking like he chewed nails for breakfast, Warren stood out like a sore thumb.

I was scared, I kid you not. Imagine my surprise when Big Warren insisted that we become pals. I got to know him and within a year I was writing his Vietnam memoirs. Based on the strength of this work, I landed an East Coast agent who shopped our book around New York unsuccessfully for the next two years.

My Legal Work and Education in Criminal Matters

Fast forward 20 years. In 2003, I moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles to take a job as an investigator and sentencing mitigation specialist at a small LA firm. Here, on the job, I met scores of serious and accidental criminals of all stripes. As a sentencing mitigation guy, I learned the Law at both the state and federal level as it pertains to criminal matters. Over the last 19 years I’ve personally handled literally hundreds of federal criminal cases ranging from fraud to drug offenses to sex crimes. In the course of my LA education, I’ve learned that there are dirty cops everywhere and that the best thing a person can do is to simply give them a wide berth. Yet, I’ve also learned that at the individual level, most cops are good guys. I’ve represented plenty of them (after they’ve taken a fall, of course).

One of the most important things I’ve learned is how wicked and violent this world can be. One of my early cases was representing a dude facing serious federal charges for smuggling heroin into a state prison. As part of my workup, I interviewed him extensively at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. I learned his mother was a raging alcoholic and his father was a most cruel junky. I learned the local cops shot and killed his older brother after a ruckus at a house party. All of this was fascinating, but perhaps the single most interesting tidbit was this: One day when he was about 17, he and his homies got loaded on PCP and went out shooting. Shooting, you say? Yes, shooting, but not at a gunnery range. Rather, they grabbed a couple of handguns and went driving around town firing randomly into other vehicles and at passing strangers. According to my client, they shot at 18 different groups of people that afternoon. Damn, that’s a lot of lead flying around town!

27 Days

This brings us to my current novel, 27 Days, which is a political thriller in which my protagonist Nick Crane is locked in a life and death struggle with “the principals,” an alt-right group of domestic terrorists. 27 Days is part of a series. Its prequel, Rogues and Patriots, will probably be published in sometime in 2024. I chose this basic set-up because I found it intriguing and highly relevant to our world.

In planning 27 Days, I made two important decisions. First, I decided to put my protagonist Nick Crane in a truly impossible situation. His partner Bobby Moore has been kidnapped by Marguerite Ferguson, a fiendish member of “the principals” who despises Nick. He is given 27 days to turn himself into Marguerite, who will then torture him as a prelude to execution. If he doesn’t surrender, Bobby Moore will be sent to the infamous Scorpion Prison in Cairo, Egypt, to be tortured and murdered. It is the devil’s own choice.

This led me to my second decision. Nick knows he needs help. He joins forces with an idealistic young FBI agent named Carrie North who is obsessed with bringing the evil Marguerite to justice. Thus, we have a sincere young FBI agent, who naturally tends to do things “by the book,” locked in uneasy alliance with Mr. Crane, who does virtually nothing “by the book.” Yet they need each other and learn, at first grudgingly, to work together. Over the course of a few short and desperate weeks, they learn to respect and even like one another.

In Conclusion

To conclude, 27 Days was made possible by my early years on the mean streets of America, my 19 years of working in criminal defense in Los Angeles, my belief that the alt-right poses a clear and present danger to the United States, and my decision to put my protagonist in such a treacherous position that he has no choice other than to make common cause with a certain progressive faction within the FBI.

 

You can learn more about Patrick Moore and his books via Down & Out Books, and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and the All Things Crime blog. 27 Days is available today via Down & Out Books and 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

J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot banner have teamed up with Warner Bros. for the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s 2021 novel, Billy Summers. A year ago, Bad Robot was developing the project as a limited television series, but the focus has changed to the big screen. The story centers on a 44-year-old hitman, the eponymous Billy Summers, who is considering retirement when he accepts one last job from a regular client. Taking up a cover story that he is a novelist, Summers ensconces himself in a small town as he preps for the hit, and in his spare time actually begins to write a novel, which turns into his life story, from his little sister being killed by their mother’s boyfriend to him becoming a decorated sniper. The hit goes awry when the regular client doesn’t pay and Summers escapes a trap. His life gets even more complicated when he finds out there’s a bounty on his head, and he saves a rape victim named Alice. Summers and Alice then end up on a cross-country journey to rectify the hitman’s many wrongs.

Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men franchise) have been set to lead the true-crime movie, The Order, which acclaimed Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) will direct. Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated writer Zach Baylin (King Richard) wrote the screenplay based on The Silent Brotherhood, the book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. The tale chronicles the escalating crimes of the titular white supremacist domestic terror group, who in 1983 was responsible for a series of increasingly violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations, and armored car heists that frightened communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. As baffled law enforcement agents scrambled for answers, a lone FBI agent (Law), stationed in the sleepy, picturesque town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, came to believe the crimes were not the work of traditional, financially motivated criminals but a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, inspired by a radical, charismatic leader (Hoult), plotting a devastating war against the federal government of the United States.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

Four new projects have been ordered from CBS Studios, including three crime dramas, a Matlock reboot starring Kathy Bates; a project based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries; and a Carrie Preston-led spinoff of The Good Wife. The latter will follow Elsbeth Tascioni (Preston), an astute but unconventional attorney who uses her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD. The Matlock reboot is centered on Madeline Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian who rejoins the work force at a prestigious law firm, where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. The new series is said to have a tie to the original Matlock that starred Andy Griffith as criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock, a renowned, folksy and popular, though cantankerous, attorney. The last project, Watson, focuses on Holmes’s friend Dr. John Watson. After Holmes’ death, Watson continues his medical career as the head of a clinic committed to treating rare genetic disorders. However, he uncovers a startling secret that puts him in the crosshairs of Moriarty once again.

Entertainment One (eOne) has acquired the rights to Janice Hallett’s bestselling novel, The Twyford Code, to be spearheaded by BAFTA award winning film and television writer, director, and producer, Paul Andrew Williams. The Sunday Times bestseller is told via automatic transcriptions of recordings made by Steven Smith, a former prisoner determined to discover what happened to his English teacher, Miss Iles, who vanished on a school trip in 1983 after becoming convinced there were hidden codes in the work of a disgraced children’s author. The Sunday Times called it "A modern Agatha Christie," where Hallett "has constructed a fiendishly clever, maddeningly original crime novel for lovers of word games, puzzles, and stories of redemption."

Annette Bening has signed on to star in the upcoming Peacock limited series, Apples Never Fall, based on the Liane Moriarty domestic thriller novel of the same name. Per the official logline, the series "centers on the Delaneys, who from the outside appear to be an enviably contented family. Former tennis coaches Joy (Bening) and Stan are parents to four adult children. After decades of marriage, they have finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. But after Joy disappears, her children are forced to re-examine their parents’ marriage and their family history with fresh eyes." Apples Never Fall is the latest of Moriarty’s books to be adapted for the screen, which have included the HBO adaptation of Big Little Lies, which won multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, and Nine Perfect Strangers, adapted into a series for Hulu.

Amazon Studios is finalizing deals for Criminal, a TV adaptation of Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips’ bestselling crime comic book series. Details are scarce for the project, but it's described as an interlocking universe of crime stories that tell the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past. As Brubaker explained in a 2019 interview. "One of the big events in many of these characters’ pasts, which has been referenced since the very first Criminal story, was the death of Teeg Lawless. Before we even met Teeg, we knew that he had died when his son was a teenager, but other than the identity of his killer, we have never told the rest of that story. It’s just been a ghost haunting the series, as Teeg Lawless has become one of the most popular characters in the comic.”

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Michael Hearns (the Cade Taylor series), who also spent 27 years working as a South Florida police officer and detective and has worked as a technical advisor in film and television.

In honor of Black History Month, It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured a two-parter (part one here and part two here) taking at look at four books by Black authors S. A. Cosby, Abby Collette, Valerie (V. M.) Burns, and Faye Snowdon.

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with crime writing legend Peter May about his new novel in which crime fiction meets climate change. They also discussed Friday the 13th, superstitions, and how numerology often trumps rational decision-making.

On Crime Time FM, Louise Candlish chatted with Paul Burke about her new thriller drama, The Only Suspect, unlovable characters, twists and reveals, instant fame after fifteen years of hard craft, and seeing your work on TV.

The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's podcast featured the work of Twist Phelan, winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence and an International Thriller Award, reading from two of her shorter-length stories: "Used to Be" and "It's A Small World (After All)."

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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

Academy Award nominee, Amy Ryan, is joining the cast of the Apple Original Films thriller Wolves (working title) starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, that will be written, directed, and produced by Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home). Ryan’s role is being kept under wraps, but the film will star Clooney and Pitt as two fixers who prefer to work alone but find themselves assigned to the same job. Ryan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her performance in Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

Hulu is developing The Midcoast, a drama series based on Adam White’s bestselling novel, from Escape at Dannemora co-creator Brett Johnson, The Littlefield Company, and 20th Television. With a script adaptation by Johnson, The Midcoast is an hourlong drama set on the scenic coast of Maine exploring the rise and fall of Ed Thatch, a lobster fisherman turned blue collar criminal with an unstable devotion to his wife. From the blurb, the story "explores the machinations of privilege, the dark recesses of the American dream, and the lies we tell as we try, at all costs, to protect the ones we love."

Bill Camp (The Queen’s Gambit) and Elizabeth Marvel (The Dropout) have been tapped to star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga in Presumed Innocent, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series from David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. Additionally, Greg Yaitanes (House of the Dragon) has come on board as director on the series alongside Anne Sewitsky. Inspired by Scott Turow’s courtroom thriller, Presumed Innocent is the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. The book was published in 1987 and was turned into a 1990 feature starring Harrison Ford in the role Gyllenhaal is taking on.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring something a bit different, an excerpt from a sci-fi novel that has a mystery side to it, "The Path" by Peter Riva, read by actor Terrance McArthur.

Crime Time FM host, Paul Burke, spoke with the director of American Murderer, Matthew Gentile, about the movie starring Tom Pelphrey and Ryan Philippe, which is based on a true story about a dogged FBI agent determined to take down a charismatic con man.

On the latest episode of It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club, Missy, Tracey, and Ann talked about a few of the new movies they enjoyed over the past few weeks. Each of these movies is currently available on Netflix including The Glass Onion and more.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed cozy mystery novels.

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Agatha Accolades

The annual Malice Domestic conference announced this year's finalists for the Agatha Awards. The Agatha Awards celebrate the traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie, for whom the award is named. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence, and would not be classified as "hard-boiled." Winners will be presented Saturday, April 29, 2023, during Malice Domestic 35 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Best Contemporary Novel

Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron (Berkley Prime Crime)
Death By Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley)
Fatal Reunion by Annette Dashofy (Level Best Books)
Dead Man's Leap by Tina de Bellegarde (Level Best Books)
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best Historical Novel

The Counterfeit Wife by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Berkley)
The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson (Mobius)
Under a Veiled Moon by Karen Odden (Crooked Lane Books)

Best First Novel

Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)
Death in the Aegean by M. A. Monnin (Level Best Books)
The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra (Constable)
Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane Books)
The Finalist by Joan Long (Level Best Books)
The Gallery of Beauties by Nina Wachsman (Level Best Books)

Best Short Story

"Beauty and the Beyotch," by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Magazine, Feb. 2022)
"There Comes a Time," by Cynthia Kuhn (Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical) Wildside Press
"Fly Me to the Morgue," by Lisa Q Mathews,( Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical) Wildside Press
"The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot," by Richie Narvaez, (Land of 10,000 Thrills, Bouchercon Anthology) Down & Out Books
"The Invisible Band," by Art Taylor (Edgar & Shamus Go Golden) Down & Out Books

Best Non-Fiction

The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)
The Handbook to Agatha Christie: The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie by Mary Anna Evans and J. C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury Academic)
The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine (Sourcebooks)
Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction, Diane Vallere Ed.(Sisters in Crime)
Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

Best Children's/YA Mystery

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young People)
In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
#shedeservedit by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes Books)
Sid Johnson and the Phantom Slave Stealer by Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Publishers)
Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books: A Long Fatal Love Chase

When most people think of Louisa May Alcott, Little Women comes to mind, and indeed, that is her chief claim to fame in literary history. However, she also penned Gothic thrillers ("potboilers") under the name A. M. Barnard, a fact that was brought to light in the early 1940s by a rare book dealer, Madeleine B. Stern, and a librarian, Leona Rostenberg. This led to Stern's book Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott.



One of those thrillers is more of a Gothic suspense romance which she originally titled A Modern Mephistopheles, or The Fatal Love Chase, which she'd dashed off when publisher James R. Elliot asked her to write another novel suitable for serialization in the magazine The Flag of Our Union. After it was rejected for being "too long and too sensational", she reworked it and retitled it as Fair Rosamond, but ultimately it was shelved in a drawer.



Fair Rosamond ended up at a Harvard library, while the original was auctioned off by Alcott's heirs and eventually fell into the hands of a Manhattan rare book dealer. In 1994, a New Hampshire headmaster bought the manuscript and sold publication rights to Random House, receiving a $1.5 million advance. Random published it in 1995 under the title A Long Fatal Love Chase, and it turned out to be a bestseller 129 years after its creation.



The plot centers on lonely, trusting 18-year-old Rosamond Vivian, who lives with her unloving grandfather on an English island and falls for the suave Phillip Tempest, a man almost twice her age. After promising to marry her, he takes her off to his Mediterranean villa near Nice, but when she discovers he's secretly married and may have murdered the son he never acknowledged, Rosamond flees to Paris, assuming one new identity after another. But Phillip stalks her obsessively across Europe, even as Rosamund tries to take shelter with a Roman Catholic priest with whom she falls in love.  



Publishers Weekly observed that "This absorbing novel revises our image of a complex and, it is now clear, prescient writer,"  alluding to the novel's ripped-from-modern-headlines of domestic violence and abuse. The New York Times also noted that genius burned for Alcott following A Long Fatal Love Chase, but never again with such primitive and joyful heat and "One wonders what kind of writer she might have been had she been able to ... take her thrillers as seriously as her feminist editors and elucidators do today."

          

Mystery Melange

In addition to the announcement of the Edgar Awards by Mystery Writers of America, various other tributes also related to Edgar Allan Poe transpired around his birthday anniversary this month. The decades-long "Poe Toaster" Baltimore tradition continued at Westminster Presbyterian Church in which an unnamed man paid tribute at Poe's gravesite with flowers, words in Latin, and a toast. Several publications also contributed to the lore, as in the Washington Post's look at Poe's brief military journey; and Raidió Teilifís Éireann's take on how Poe became the darling of the maligned and misunderstood. Untapped New York listed "10 Places to Remember Edgar Allan Poe in NYC." And if you want to own a piece of Poe memorabilia all your own, you can bid on a rare signed letter by Poe at the online Bonhams Skinner's Fine Books and Rare Manuscripts Sale. Plus, coming up Feb 16 – Mar 2 at the 92 Street Y in NYC, Warburg Institute Professor and author John Tresch will conduct a mini-workshop on a lesser-known side to Poe: a man of science who was an avid consumer of scientific developments.

 

Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare blog is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a look back at Mystery Readers Journal: Mystery in Asia (Volume 34: 3: 2018), and a list of mysteries that take place during the Lunar New Year.

The Mystery Writers of America Midwest chapter is sponsoring Queering the Crime Genre, a panel discussion with Greg Herren, John Copenhaver, JM Redmann, and Robyn Gigl, hosted by Anne Laughlin and Meredith Doench. This an online event on February 9 at 6:00pm Cental / 7:00pm Eastern, and you can register for free to attend via this link.

A Katonah Village Library mystery and thriller writers panel will be held Thursday Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. Fran Hauser will moderate the panel featuring authors Wendy Corsi Staub, Katie Sise, Wendy Walker, and Liao Butler discussing their latest releases. The event in Katonah, New York, is free and open to the public with no advance registration required.

More and more crime conferences are returning to in-person events after going online only during Covid. The California Crime Writers Conference (CCWC) will also be back with an in-person, two-day event to be held June 10-11, 2023 at the Hilton Los Angeles (Culver City). This year’s Guests of Honor are Deborah Crombie, bestselling and award-winning author of the Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James detective series, and critically acclaimed crime novelist Rachel Howzell Hall.

Twenty years after the end of the iconic television series Columbo, featuring Peter Falk as the seemingly bumbling but shrewd Los Angeles homicide detective, Tumblr users have rediscovered "the ultimate comfort TV show" and turned it into one of the internet's new darlings.

Writing for Book Riot, Adam Rizer investigated the history of "the Butler Did It" trope in crime fiction.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Allison Brennan, applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Don't Open the Door.

If you're currently part of the dating scene and also love mysteries, you might want to help this guy out.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Roe vs. Wade Falls" by Jennifer Lagier.

In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene interviewed Chad Boudreaux, whose debut novel, Scavenger Hunt, will be published on January 31, 2023; Writers Who Kill spoke with Annette Dashofy about the first book in her new series featuring photographer Emma Anderson and police detective Matthias Honeywell, Where the Guilty Hide; and Nerd Daily spoke with thriller author Allison Brennan about Don’t Open The Door, the second installment in her Regan Merritt series and follows Regan and her husband, Grant, seeking justice for their murdered 10 year-old son.

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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 thriller drama, Rainbow Six, a sequel to the 2021 film Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, is now officially moving forward. Helmed by the director behind the John Wick movies, Chad Stahelski, and based on Tom Clancy’s 1988 novel (which also has long been a popular video game franchise), Rainbow Six will star Michael B. Jordan reprising his role as John Kelly, a Navy SEAL who becomes a CIA operative. The actor’s 2021 debut as the Tom Clancy character was released straight to Amazon Prime. Clancy's novel sees Jordan's character (named John Clark in the novels) become the newly named head of Rainbow, an international task force dedicated to combating terrorism. In a trial by fire, he must stop a terrorist group of men and women so extreme that their success could literally mean the end of life on earth as we know it.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

PBS’s MASTERPIECE Mystery! announced that it will co-produce and broadcast Moonflower Murders, a new six-part drama based on the best-selling novel written by Anthony Horowitz. The first book in that series, Magpie Murders, was adapted as a PBS miniseries in 2022. Returning in the lead roles they originated in Magpie Murders are Academy Award-nominee Lesley Manville (The Crown, Phantom Thread) as editor-turned-sleuth, Susan Ryeland, and Timothy McMullan (Patrick Melrose, The Crown) as famous literary detective, Atticus Pünd. Published in 2020, Moonflower Murders was lauded as "a fiendishly plotted crime novel, with a fabulous twist" by The Guardian and picks up where Magpie Murders left off: Susan has left the cut-throat world of publishing and is living in Crete with her longtime boyfriend, Andreas. She ends up returning to London when she is asked to investigate a mystery relating to Alan Conway, the author of the best-selling Atticus Pünd mysteries, whose death changed her life in Magpie Murders.

Fox is developing a one-hour drama about undercover FBI agents from Joy Blake (Beacon 23), The Nacelle Company, and Fox Entertainment Studios. Written and executive produced by Blake, the untitled project follows a female FBI agent suffering a bad case of career burnout who is sent to train a team of ambitious, determined rookies in what it takes to go deep undercover. Former FBI agents Scott Payne and Melissa Fortunato are serving as consultants to the project.

Only Murders in the Building is adding the legendary Meryl Streep to the third season cast. In a surprise announcement made via social media, star Selena Gomez posted a behind-the-scenes video that shows her with her co-stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, and Paul Rudd. Suddenly, Streep pops up to make sure her new castmates are comfortable with pillows. Hulu confirmed the news but didn't provide additional information about Streep’s character.

NBC has ordered a pilot for the drama series Murder by the Book from Good Girls creator, Jenna Bans. Good Girls executive producer, Bill Krebs, will pen the script with Bans. Starring actor/comedian "Retta," the story will follow a big city Instafamous book reviewer who takes a page from the murder mystery books she reviews and becomes an unlikely detective to uncover the shocking truths about an eccentric seaside town. The project, which had received a put pilot commitment in September, reteams Retta with Bans and Krebs after the actress previously starred in all four seasons of NBC’s crime comedy-drama, Good Girls.

Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer has added Matt Angel (Dave) to its Season 2 cast in a recurring role. Angel joins previously announced additions Yaya DaCosta and Lana Parrilla. He will portray Henry Dahl, the host of a successful true crime podcast. Distrustful of Henry’s motives, Mickey (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) warns him not to interfere with an ongoing case. Based on the series of bestselling novels by Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer follows the redemption of Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles attorney who regains much of what he lost due to addiction with hard work and hustle. His success is also thanks to his devoted supporters: his ex-wives Maggie (Neve Campbell) and Lorna (Becki Newton), his driver and unofficial sponsor Izzy (Jazz Raycole), and the best investigator in town—and Lorna’s newly minted fiancé—Cisco (Angus Sampson).

Sharon Taylor (Fire Country) has joined the cast of the Amazon Original series, Cross, which stars Aldis Hodge in the role of Alex Cross. Taylor will portray Lt. Oracene Massey, Alex’s immediate superior at the Metro PD, and replaces the originally cast Karen LeBlanc, who exited due to scheduling conflicts. Alex Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify — and ultimately capture — the murderers. He is brilliant, flawed, and full of contradictions. A doting father and family man, Cross is single-minded to the point of obsession when he hunts killers. He is desperate for love, but his wife’s murder has left him too damaged to receive it. The series, which is based on the bestselling books by James Patterson, also stars Ryan Eggold, Isaiah Mustafa, Alona Tal, Johnny Ray Gill, Eloise Mumford, and Siobhan Murphy.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Speaking of Mysteries featured City Under One Roof, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Iris Yamashita’s debut crime fiction novel.

On the latest Crime Writers of Color podcast, Robert Justice interviewed Sulari Gentill, author of The Woman in the Library.

Spybrary Spy Book podcast host, Shane Whaley, interviewed David Brierley (Big Bear, Little Bear), joined by Mike Ripley, publisher, thriller critic, and author of the award-winning "Angel" series of comedy thrillers.

The Red Hot Chili Writers chatted with crime writer Helen Fields to discuss her new novel, The Institution; dissect Prince Andrew's autobiography; and talk about their favorite biographies, "quite possibly the best biographies of all time."

On the Writer's Detective Bureau, Detective Adam Richardson took a look at US Marshal Task Forces; warrant time restrictions; and "good faith."

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club chatted with Claire Douglas, author of The Girls Who Disappeared.

Crime Time FM's Paul Burke continued his look ahead to the crime titles of 2023 with the second part in that series.

THEATRE



The world premiere of Rebus: A Game Called Malice will be staged at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch in London, February 2-5. The play is written exclusively for the stage by Ian Rankin (based on the character from Rankin's novels) and Simon Read, and will be directed by award winner Robin Lefevre. The lead role will be played by John Michie (best known for his roles as DI Robbie Ross in STV’s Taggart and Karl Munro in ITV’s Coronation Street). Michie will be joined by Rebecca Charles, Billy Hartman, Emily Joyce, Forbes Masson, and Emma Noakes. A splendid dinner party concludes with a game created by the hostess. A murder in a stately home needs to be solved. Suspects, clues and red herrings await… but the dinner-party guests have secrets of their own, threatened by the very game they are playing. And among them is Inspector John Rebus. True crime is his calling – is he playing an alternative game, one to which only he knows the rules? There is danger with every twist and turn – and a shocking discovery will send this game called Malice hurtling towards a gasp-inducing conclusion. (HT to Shots Magazine)

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books: A Thief in the Night

Ernest William Hornung (1866–1921) was an English poet and author who also happened to be the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle. He also worked as a journalist in England, France and Australia, and centered many of his stories around Aussie settings and culture. He's perhaps best known for his series featuring gentleman thief A. J. Raffles, who first appeared in a story in Cassell's Magazine in 1898.



Raffles may have been one of the earliest anti-heroes in crime fiction, spending his days playing cricket and his nights carrying out ingenious burglaries, aided by his sidekick Harry "Bunny" Manders, a man he once saved from suicide and disgrace. Raffles the "Amateur Cracksman" appears in several stories that divide into two periods, one before he was unmasked while plying his trade on board a cruise ship and presumably jumped overboard and drowned, and the other following his return where he and Manders continue their thieving ways in disguise.



The stories were collected into several volumes, including A Thief in the Night, published in 1905. They include "The Criminologists," about a society of crime experts who invite Raffles and Manders to discuss crime in sport, but have more nefarious purposes in mind, believing him to be the notorious gentleman thief; "A Trap to Catch a Cracksman," in which Raffles attempts to rob American heavyweight boxing champion Barney Maguire, only to have it backfire on him; and "The Raffles Relics," where Ruffles—now in hiding—hears about an exhibit dedicated to his "work" at Scotland Yard's Black Room, and decides to steal back his trophies.



Raffles is a cynical character, whose philosophy is "we can't all be moralists, and the distribution of wealth is all wrong anyway." Still, he has his own code of honor, once stealing money from a miserly man to make a donation to their former school and volunteering for the Boer War, where he dies in battle after exposing an enemy spy. The stories in A Thief in the Night are actually told from Bunny's point of view, a la Watson and his accounts of Holmes, as Bunny reflects back on their adventures prior to the master thief's demise.



Several of Hornung's stories were later adapted for the theater, television and film, including portrayals by John Barrymore, David Niven, and as recently as 2001, a production starring Nigel Havers (Dangerfield, Coronation Street, Downton Abbey).