B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 69

Mystery Melange

The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2022, awarded to the best Scottish crime book of the year, was announced this week (with the Debut Prize Shortlist to be announced in July). The McIlvanney Prize shortlist will then be revealed in early September, with the winner unveiled on September 15 at the 10th annual Bloody Scotland conference in Stirling. You can check out the ten longlisted titles via this link and also learn more about conference registration and the schedule.

A new crime fiction program is coming to Ledbury in the UK. Titled Ledburied, the schedule will see crime-reading events featuring top crime authors taking place throughout the year. The inaugural event on June 16 will feature award-winning Ledbury-based author Sarah Hilary talking with Fiona Cummins (When I Was Ten, Into The Dark) and CM Ewan (The Interview, A Window Breaks) about the enduring lure of dark thrillers. Sarah is also one of the brains behind the festival, working alongside Ledbury Books and Maps and Ledbury Places to bring the idea to life.

The Dead Good Reader Awards are back to celebrate the very best in crime fiction, with six new categories. Readers can nominate their favorites using the form via this link. The books with the most nominations will form the shortlists and go to a public vote, with winners announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate this July. You'll also be entered into a prize drawing for the chance to win £100 worth of thrilling crime books.

Although many conferences have returned to in-person events this year, a few are still offering virtual events you can attend if you're uncomfortable traveling. One such event is Mystery in the Midlands, scheduled for July 16. For a very minimal charge, you can hear the keynote event with David Heska Wanbli Weiden interviewed by Hank Phillippi Ryan; plus there will be a panel on crime short fiction with Alan Orloff, Shawn Reilly Simmons, and Joseph S. Walker; a discussion of cozy mysteries with recipes with Daryl Wood Gerber, Raquel V. Reyes, and Abby L. Vandiver; and a look at "Sweltering Settings and Suspense" with Hallie Ephron, John Hart, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

A crime writer and a crime fighter have been honored by the Queen as part of her Platinum Jubilee weekend. Inpector Rebus author, Ian Rankin, and Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone have both been handed knighthoods. The Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honors List celebrates the public service of individuals across the UK. This year's recipients have been awarded for their outstanding contributions across all sectors, but in particular for sustained public service, the environment and sustainability, and youth engagement. Sir Ian said: "It is amazing to be honoured in this way as we celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee...It may not make writing my next book any easier but it is gratifying to be recognised both for my crime novels and the work I do for charity."

The Big Think magazine's Tim Brinkhof discussed how detective fiction reveals the way a particular society or time period looks at crime and criminal justice, in his article "From Poe to Mao: piecing together the evolution of detective stories."

Three of Britain's bestselling crime writers – including Ann Cleeves, Sam Blake and Robin Stevens – shared their literary inspirations with The Telegraph.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "A Modern Frankenstein" by Tony Dawson.

In the Q&A roundup, Writers Who Kill welcomed Donnell Ann Bell to chat about Until Dead, the second novel in her "A Cold Case Suspense" series; Ellen Byron stopped by Lesa's Book Critiques to discuss launching a brand new series set in New Orleans with Bayou Book Thief; Indie Crime Scene interviewed L.M. Weeks, whose novel Bottled Lightning debuts June 14; and The Millions spoke with Katie Gutierrez about her debut crime novel, More Than You’ll Ever Know.

         Related StoriesMystery Melange 

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

WWE Superstar, Liv Morgan, will make her film debut in the darkly comic thriller, The Kill Room. She joins an ensemble that also includes the previously announced Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello, Maya Hawke, Debi Mazar, Larry Pine, Dree Hemingway, and Leah McSweeney. The film centers on hitman Reggie (Manganiello), his boss (Jackson), an art dealer (Thurman), and their money laundering scheme that accidentally turns the hitman into an overnight Avant-Garde sensation, forcing the dealer to play the art world against the underworld. Morgan will play an art purist who bemoans the vapidness of art dealers.

Ryan Phillippe (MacGruber), Mireille Enos (Hanna), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), and Taryn Manning (Orange Is the New Black) are the latest additions to Michelle Danner’s courtroom drama, Miranda’s Victim. They join an ensemble led by Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia, and Donald Sutherland. The film will tell the true story of Trish Weir (Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Her case notably results in the establishment of the Miranda rights afforded to criminal suspects taken in police custody, to ensure the admissibility of statements made during interrogation, as part of subsequent criminal proceedings. Phillippe will play ACLU lawyer Flynn, who successfully argues in front of the Supreme Court to get the landmark ruling for the Miranda Rights, with MacLachlan as Chief Justice Warren, who announces the ruling. Enos will portray Trish’s mother Zeola, who struggles to support her daughter while processing her own trauma, with Manning as Miranda’s wife Twila, whose testimony is pivotal in the case.

Erin Moriarty (The Boys), Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad), Dina Shihabi (Archive 81), and Ryan Corr (House of the Dragon) have signed on to star in Catching Dust, an upcoming Texas noir marking the feature debut of writer-director Stuart Gatt. The drama is set in the isolation of Texas’s Big Bend, where a lone trailer on an abandoned commune has become a hideout for Geena (Moriarty), at the behest of her criminal husband, Clyde (Courtney). Geena’s lust for life and desire for interaction with the outside world are quashed by Clyde’s insistence they remain hidden from the law and his former cohorts looking to settle old scores. Exhausted by Clyde’s controlling ways, Geena decides to leave, but then a trailer arrives carrying Amaya (Shihabi) and Andy (Corr), a couple from New York seeking a respite from the city. Ignoring the risks their presence will bring, Geena convinces Clyde to let them stay—a decision that will have dangerous consequences for them all.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Fox is developing Felonious Monk, a one-hour drama based on William Kotzwinkle’s novel, from writer Michael Brandon Guercio (Treadstone) and Fox Entertainment. Felonious Monk is about a disgraced cop with anger issues-turned-monk who returns to his hometown to take care of his dead uncle’s outstanding business debts. But when he suspects foul play, he’s forced to abandon his serene monastery life in order to solve his uncle’s murder and other homicide cases.

Erin Young’s recently published crime thriller, The Fields, is being adapted for the small screen, with Kate Brooke attached as writer/showrunner (although no network home was yet announced). Young is the pseudonym of bestselling historical novelist, Robyn Young, and The Fields is her crime thriller debut. The story centers on Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, who investigates the death of a young woman found in an Iowa cornfield on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture. The murder becomes deeply personal when Riley discovers the victim was a childhood friend connected to a dark past she thought she’d left behind. The investigation grows more complicated as more victims are found, and Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.

Magnum P.I. is looking to join an elite group of popular broadcast series that overcame shocking cancellations to continue their runs. Deadline reported talks are underway for NBC and/or USA Network to potentially carry the series starring Jay Hernandez. One scenario would be for new episodes to air on NBC while USA would run previous seasons of the action drama, a reboot of the 1980s series that starred Tom Selleck. Immediately following CBS’s surprise May 12 cancellation of Magnum P.I. after four seasons, Universal Television, which co-produces the series with CBS Studios, sprang into action and started exploring potential new homes for the show.

MASTERPIECE Mystery! announced the 2022-2023 lineup of programming, which includes new seasons of returning popular shows and a few newcomers. Endeavour returns Sunday, June 19 with the first of three all-new mysteries featuring the cerebral, solitary hero, Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans); Grantchester Season 7 returns on July 10, with Tom Brittney as Reverend Will Davenport and Robson Green as his crime-solving partner, DI Geordie Keating; Season 2 of the darkly comic Scottish thriller Guilt starring Mark Bonar returns August 8; three all-new episodes of Van der Valk, with Marc Warren starring as maverick Dutch detective, Piet Van der Valk, returns September 25; and the Victorian London-set Miss Scarlet and The Duke returns for Season 2 on October 16 with Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin. The new shows are Magpie Murders, based on the book by Anthony Horowitz, and Annika, both of which premiere as a double-header on October 16. The first stars Lesley Manville and Timothy McMullan, while the latter features Nicola Walker as Scottish DI Annika Strandhed. PBS released a trailer for the lineup you can watch here.

U.K. broadcaster ITV has commissioned Six Four, a four-part crime thriller inspired by the bestselling novel by Hideo Yokoyama. Set primarily in Glasgow, the drama follows the O’Neills, police detective Chris and his wife, former undercover officer Michelle, whose teenage daughter goes missing. Meanwhile, the daughter of the justice minister is suddenly kidnapped, just as the minister is on the cusp of achieving an election victory. The cast is led by Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Vinette Robinson (BIFA winner for Boiling Point) and also includes Richard Coyle (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), James Cosmo (The Bay), Alex Ferns (The Irregulars), Iona Anderson (The Long Call), Andrew O’Neill, and Nilani Chetty.

Amanda Peet has joined the cast of Fatal Attraction, Paramount+’s series reimagining of the classic 1980s psychosexual thriller film. She joins previously announced series leads Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson. Written by Alexandra Cunningham from a story she co-wrote with Kevin J. Hynes, the series explores the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes towards strong women, personality disorders, and coercive control. Peet will play Beth Gallagher, a loyal wife, loving mother, and successful small business owner whose world unravels when her husband Dan’s (Jackson) indiscretion threatens to destroy their life together. Caplan plays Alex Forrest.

Miguel Gomez will not be returning to FBI: Most Wanted when the crime drama series is back for a fourth season next fall. The recent Season 3 finale provided a suitable ending to the arc of Gomez's Special Agent Ivan Ortiz, a former LAPD Gang Unit officer born and raised in Los Angeles who, after a stint with the FBI’s counter-terror unit in Washington, DC, joined the team that tracks down the country’s most wanted fugitives. In the finale, which aired last week, Ortiz returned to Los Angeles to take care of his ailing father. FBI: Most Wanted underwent a major casting change this season when original lead Julian McMahon exited and was succeeded by Dylan McDermott playing a new character. McDermott will be back for Season 4, joined by the rest of the remaining series regular cast members, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Roxy Sternberg, and Alexa Davalos.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Meet the Thriller Author shared a replay of an interview with John Hindmarsh, who passed away on Sunday, May 29th. John was the author of the Mark Midway futuristic spy series and the bestselling Jack Foster space opera series (with the fifth and final installment due out in September).

On Wrong Place, Write Crime, author Greg Levin talked about his dark novels (tinged with humor), including The Exit Man, Sick to Death, and In Wolves Clothing.

My Favorite Detective Stories welcomed Andy Straka, whose works include the Shamus Award-winning Frank Pavlicek series and his recently released Split City, the first in a new amateur sleuth series.

Writers Detective Bureau host, Detective Adam Richardson, discussed how 9-1-1 calls get dispatched over the police radio; what would happen if the morgue becomes unusable; and how detectives worked with the phone company on investigations in the 1950s and 60s.

Joachim B. Schmidt chatted with Crime Time FM's Paul Burke about his new novel, Kalmann, set in Iceland and translated from the German by Jamie Lee Searle.

On the Red Hot Chili Writers podcast, thriller writer Stephanie Merritt discussed her latest novel, Storm, while her alter ego S.J. Parris talked us through the life of her historical crime series protagonist, Giordano Bruno, a philosopher and cosmologist.

The All About Agatha podcast interviewed Carla Valentine, author of Murder Isn't Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie. Carla Valentine is a forensic pathologist and a "massive" Agatha Christie fan.

The latest episode of the Ellery Queen Magazine podcast featured Rob Osler reading his 2022 Robert L. Fish Memorial Award winning story “Analogue,” from the January/February 2021 issue.

On the latest Queer Writers of Crime, Dharma Kelleher, Bud Gundy, Anthony Bidulka, and Meredith Doench offered up some suggested books for readers.

On Read or Dead, Katie and Nusrah talked about mystery series you can dive into.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club also shared three books to get you started for summer reading.

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Killer Thrillers

The International Thriller Writers announced the winners of the annual Thriller Awards at a gala banquet last night in New York City. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

 

THRILLER MASTER AWARD:  Frederick Forsyth and Diana Gabaldon

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL:  Razorblade Tears, by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated:



The Turnout, by Megan Abbott (Putnam)

Rock Paper Scissors, by Alice Feeney (Flatiron)

These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)

Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (Putnam)

I Am Not Who You Think I Am, by Eric Rickstad (Blackstone)



BEST AUDIOBOOK:  Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White (Macmillan)



Also nominated:



Sleeping Dog Lie, by Samantha Downing, narrated by Melanie Nicholls-King and Lindsey Dorcus (Audible Originals)

How It Ends, by Rachel Howzell Hall, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Audible Originals)

Prodigal Son, by Gregg Hurwitz, narrated by Scott Brick (Macmillan)

The Jigsaw Man, by Nadine Matheson, narrated by

Davine Henry (HarperCollins)



BEST FIRST NOVEL: My Sweet Girl, by Amanda Jayatissa (Berkley)



Also nominated:



Girl A, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)

Repentance, by Eloísa Díaz (Agora)

Damascus Station, by David McCloskey (Norton)

Bones of Hilo, by Eric Redman (Crooked Lane)



BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL: Bloodline, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

Also nominated:



Flight Risk, by Joy Castro (Lake Union)

Under Color of Law, by Aaron Philip Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

The Lighthouse Witches, by C. J. Cooke (Berkley)

My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black, by Terry Roberts (Turner)



BEST SHORT STORY:  “The Lemonade Stand,” by Scott Loring Sanders (EQMM, January/February 2021)

Also nominated:



“Not My Cross to Bear,” by S.A. Cosby (from Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland; Down & Out)

“Demon in the Depths,” by William Burton McCormick (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], September/October 2021)

“The Interpreter and the Killer,” by Jeff Soloway (EQMM, January/February 2021)

“Bad Chemistry,” by John Wimer (EQMM, July/August 2021)



BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL:  The Project, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)

Also nominated: 



The Box in the Woods, by Maureen Johnson (HarperCollins)

Calculated, by Nova McBee (Wolfpack)

Dark and Shallow Lies, by Ginny Myers Sain (Penguin Young Readers)

House of Hollow, by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Young Readers)



BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL:  Blood Parish, by E.J. Findorff (Neutral Ground)

Also nominated:



The Dark Side: Alex Hunter 9, by Greig Beck (Pan Macmillan)

Where the Wicked Tread, by John A. Connell (Nailhead)

Little Girl Taken, by Wendy Dranfield (Bookouture)

Mother May I, by S.E. Green (SEG)

Blue Madagascar, by Andrew Kaplan (Smugglers Lane Press)

Last One Alive, by Karin Nordin (HarperCollins)

         Related StoriesCrimefest GarlandsCWA Dagger Shortlists AnnouncedLonglist Revealed for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Comfortable Coffin

Richard S. Prather was a former WWII Merchant Marine and author of some fifty books, including forty novels and story collections featuring his Tinseltown detective, Shell Scott. He served on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America and received The Eye, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Private Eye Writers of America, in 1986. In 1960, the MWA was ready to publish their 13th anthology and chose Prather to serve as editor.



The result was The Comfortable Coffin, which had the same wisecracking and wacky sense of humor reflected in Pather's own writing. Prather chose the 15 stories to make the reader "smile, and chuckle, and—more than once—laugh out loud." They vary from Robert Arthur's "A Coffin for Mr. Cash," about the supervisor of a crematorium who becomes involved in an intricate plan to steal a fortune; to Stanley Ellin's "The Faith Of Aaron Menefee," about a shady faith healer, later made into an episode of Alfred Hithcock Presents; to Michael Gilbert's "Mr. Portway’s Practice," about an unexpected fall from grace by a staffer at the British Inland Revenue Service.



The chosen stories include a mix of well-known and more obscure (now) authors:

The Bottled Wife (Michael Fessier)
A Coffin for Mr. Cash (Robert Arthur)
The Faith Of Aaron Menefee (Stanley Ellin)
My Queer Dean! My Queer Dean! (Ellery Queen)
Your Cake And Eat It (Berkley Mather)
Squeakie’s Second Case (Margaret Manners)
First Man At The Funeral (Dion Henderson)
The Strange Case Of Mr. Elsie Smith (Dana Lyon)
The Live Ones (Richard S. Prather)
The Gentleman Caller (Veronica Parker Johns)
Mr. Portway’s Practice (Michael Gilbert)
Fin de Siecle (William O’Farrell)
Kiss Me, Dudley (Evan Hunter)
To Strike A Match (Erle Stanley Gardner)
It Wouldn’t Be Fair (Jack Finney)

          

Shamus Award Finalists

          

Mystery Melange

The Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance announced the winners of the 2022 Maine Literary Awards in various categories from over 400 entries. In the Best Crime Fiction category, Paul Doiron took top honors for Dead by Dawn. The other finalists include Jule Selbo for 10 Days: A Dee Rommel Mystery and Caitlin Wahrer for The Damage. Doiron previously won for his novel, Trespasser, in 2012.

The shortlist was announced for the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, culled from a panel of UK librarians and library staff. These six titles are now with a judging panel and over the summer months, readers will be invited to participate in the Reader's Vote, which equates to one seat on the judge's panel. The finalists include The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield; Where Blood Runs Cold by Giles Kristian; The Vacation by John Marrs; The Plant Hunter by T.L. Mogford; Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo; and Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook. (HT to Shots Magazine)

If you live in or plan to visit the UK, June is National Crime Reading Month, sponsored by the Crime Writers’ Association in partnership with national charity The Reading Agency. The festival aims to promote and celebrate crime reading across the genre through exciting events and activities in bookshops, libraries, museums, theatres and online, culminating in the prestigious CWA Daggers ceremony at the end of the month. You can check for events throughout the UK and Ireland via this link.

The Back Room, "An Evening of Cocktails and Conversations with Your Favorite Authors," announced its lineup for the summer. Starting June 12, there will be two events each summer month hosted by Karen Dionne and Hank Phillippi Ryan. Each online event starts with a short introduction to a panel of 4 authors, and the audience is then divided into 4 breakout rooms where they remain for the rest of the program while the authors visit each room in turn. Everyone’s video is turned on and their mics are unmuted, allowing for informal, face-to-face discussion. Panels will include topics like "Summer Books!" and "Crime and Legal Thrillers" and feature several noted crime fiction authors. Registration is free, but space is limited.

Sisters in Crime is accepting applications for its second annual Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers, a $2,000 grant awarded to an up-and-coming writer who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Candidates must apply by July 31. The award was established as the legacy project of former Sisters in Crime president, Sherry Harris, and is intended for a crime writer beginning their career and will support activities related to career development including workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of his, her, or their work. Complete guidelines and the application can be found at sistersincrime.org/page/Pride.

The deadline for submissions to the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction is growing closer. The literary prize recognizes outstanding writing in the genre of crime or thriller fiction, sponsored by the author L J Ross through her publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing, in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival and Newcastle Libraries. It is open to all writers who are from, or whose work celebrates the North East of England, and who have not previously had their submission published in any form. The winning entry will be awarded a prize of £2500 to support the completion of their work and funding towards a year’s membership of both the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors, with smaller financial awards to shortlisted candidates. Entries are open through June 30, 2022.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Black-Eyed Susan" by Sharon Waller Knutson.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton chatted with author Stephen Zimmerman about his new crime thriller, The Missing; and over at Writers Who Kill, E. B. Davis spoke with Krista Davis, who is back for the fifteenth book in the Domestic Diva mysteries series, The Diva Says Cheesecake.

         Related StoriesMystery Melange 

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

Participant Pictures announced that Laurence Fishburne and Clifton Collins Jr. will star in the studio’s upcoming film, Frank & Louis. Directed by Petra Volpe from a screenplay she co-wrote with Esther Bernstorff, Frank & Louis follows a man serving a life sentence who takes a job caring for fellow prisoners who are aging and suffering from memory loss diseases. What starts as a self-serving mission for parole turns into an emotional and transformative relationship, offering a glimmer of redemption in an otherwise unforgiving place.

Saban Films has acquired U.S. rights to the Mel Gibson thriller, On The Line, in which the Oscar winner portrays a radio host confronted by a hostile caller. In the film, the anonymous caller threatens to kill the host’s entire family while he is on air. To save loved ones, the radio host has to play a survival game over the course of one night and the only way to win is to find out the identity of the criminal. The film is director, writer, and producer Romuald Boulanger’s second feature following his 2020 debut, Connectés. On The Line also stars Kevin Dillon, Enrique Arce, William Moseley, and Nadia Farès. The film is currently in post-production, with a planned November 2022 release.

J.K. Simmons, Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, and Alice Lee have signed on to star alongside Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry in the Netflix thriller, Our Man from Jersey, from director Julian Farino. The film centers on Mike (Wahlberg), a down-to-earth construction worker from Jersey, who is quickly thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school ex-girlfriend Roxanne (Berry) recruits him on a high-stakes U.S. intelligence mission.

Oscar winner, Rita Moreno, is joining the cast of the latest Fast & Furious installment, Fast X, set to portray the grandmother to Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto in the film. Louis Letterier is set to direct, replacing Justin Lin, who departed the project over creative differences but remained on as a producer. Reacher breakout star, Alan Ritchson, also recently joined the cast. Moreno and Ritchson will be joined by fellow newbies Brie Larson and Jason Momoa, as well as franchise returnees Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, and Ludacris. Fast X will open in theaters May 19, 2023.

Utopia picked up North American rights to Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi’s Iranian thriller that has earned rave reviews after premiering at Cannes. Abbasi, who is an Iranian-Swedish director known for his previous Cannes winner, Border, has described Holy Spider as a "Persian Noir." The film follows female journalist Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) who travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer (Mehdi Bajestani) who believes he is doing the work of God, cleansing the streets of sinners by murdering sex workers. As the body count mounts, and Rahimi draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain as the "Spider Killer" is embraced by many as a hero.

Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia, and Donald Sutherland have signed on to star in the courtroom drama, Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner (The Runner), with production underway in New Jersey. The film, written by J. Craig Stiles and George Kolber, will tell the true story of Trish Weir (Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Wilson will play Lawrence Turoff, the country prosecutor that convinces Trish to testify and helps her bring her aggressor to justice, with Garcia playing public defender Alvin Moore, who takes on Miranda’s case. Sutherland will protray Judge Wren, who convicts Miranda for the rape of Weir.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The Silence of the Lambs star, Jodie Foster, is set to lead the fourth iteration of HBO’s True Detective franchise, True Detective: Night Country. The story centers on Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro who are looking to solve the case of six men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station and vanish without a trace when the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska. The detective duo will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice. True Detective, which was created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, ran for three seasons between 2014 and 2019. The third and most recent season, set in the Ozarks, aired on HBO in 2019 and starred Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff.

Tim Roth is replacing Ian McShane in the role of antagonist Ezra Shipman in Paramount+'s Australian crime drama series, Last King of the Cross, inspired by John Ibrahim's autobiography, Deadline reported, adding that McShane withdrew due to health concerns. The 10-part series is currently filming in and around Sydney and follows John Ibrahim and his rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross, a mini-Atlantic City with every form of criminality on offer. Roth's Shipman is the most powerful and most feared man in Sydney, but now he is confronting his looming mortality. For all his power and material success, there's been no one to continue his legacy—until John Ibrahim.

After ten successful years, the critically acclaimed and beloved Endeavour is coming to a close, and the season currently filming in Oxford (Season 9) will be the last. The series was a prequel to the long-running series, Inspector Morse, and chronicled his coming of age. Fans in the US can look forward to Season 8 of Endeavour which airs Sundays, June 19- July 3 on Masterpiece PBS.

The Good Fight, a spinoff of The Good Wife, will also conclude, with its upcoming sixth season. The upcoming final season will see Diane (Baranski) feel like she’s going crazy as she struggles with an uneasy sense of déjà vu, with everything from Roe v. Wade, to voting rights, to Cold War aggression returning. Meanwhile, the lawyers of Reddick & Associates wonder if the violence that they see all around them points to an impending civil war, per a logline from the streaming service. CBS Studios president David Stapf praised executive producers Robert and Michelle King for pushing "creative boundaries" with the show.

Leonine Studios has taken worldwide rights to the German-Norwegian thriller series, The Seed (working title), which is set around the explosive takeover of a seed company and comes from Chameleon writer Christian Jeltsch. The Seed follows German detective Max (Heino Ferch) and Norwegian policewoman Thea (Bolsø Berdal), who set out to find Max’s missing nephew Victor (Jonathan Berlin) in Spitsbergen. It soon becomes apparent his disappearance may be connected to the takeover of a seed company that is causing controversy in Brussels. As they plunge deeper into webs of intrigue and political interests, they find their own lives in danger too. Rainer Bock (Better Call Saul), Seumas Sargent (Spy City), Erik Madsen (Vikings) and Friederike Becht (Labyrinth of Lies) round out the international cast.

Original S.W.A.T. cast member Lina Esco is exiting the CBS procedural after five seasons. Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make," Esco said farewell to fans in a statement on social media. Her character Officer Christine "Chris" Alonso, who is openly bisexual, worked her final shift in Sunday night’s season finale. The storyline began to pave the way for Esco’s departure a few weeks ago when Alonso announced to her colleagues that she would be leaving S.W.A.T. in two weeks to take over the safe house for Mama Pina. S.W.A.T. was renewed for a sixth season in April.

Lex Medlin and Ariana Guerra are set as new series regulars, along with Jay Lee, who recurred last season as Chris Park, for the upcoming second season of CBS’s CSI: Vegas. Season 1 of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation sequel series opened a new chapter in Las Vegas – the city where it all began, introducing a serialized storytelling to the classic crime procedural drama. Facing an existential threat that could bring down the entire Crime Lab and release thousands of convicted killers back onto the neon-lit streets of Vegas, a brilliant new team of investigators led by Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) enlisted the help of old friends, Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), to investigate a case centered around former colleague David Hodges (Wallace Langham). The first season also starred Matt Lauria, Mandeep Dhillon, and Mel Rodriguez.

Anthony Anderson will not be returning for Season 22 of NBC’s Law and Order. Anderson had only signed up to play Det. Kevin Bernard, a role he originated on the network from 2008-2010, for one season. After fulfilling his commitment, he’s set to move on. In his character’s final appearance in the Season 21 finale, Bernard recruited the help of SVU character, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), in the investigation of a police officer’s murder.

The Blacklist stars Amir Arison and Laura Sohn are departing the NBC series following Friday’s Season 9 finale. Arison will soon star as Amir in a Broadway adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s acclaimed novel, The Kite Runner, while Sohn is leaving to pursue other projects. Arison has portrayed FBI Special Agent Aram Mojtabai since the thriller-drama’s inception and was promoted to a series regular role in Season 2 after playing a recurring character in the first season. He was one of the few actors to remain with the series throughout all nine seasons, alongside star James Spader, Diego Klattenhoff, Harry Lennix, and Hisham Tawfiq.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Edwin Hill stopped by It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club to discuss his new thriller, The Secrets We Share.

On Wrong Place, Write Crime, Frank Zafiro welcomed Jill Maser, to discuss her eclectic catalog, and also Jamie Lee Fry to talk about her psychological thrillers.

This week's guest on My Favorite Detective Stories was John Gaspard, author of the Eli Marks mystery series as well as four other stand-alone novels.

On Queer Writers of Crime, Brad Shreve, author of the Mitch O'Reilly Mystery Series, offered up a sample of his current work in progress.

The "Heads Together Special" of Crime Time FM featured host, Paul Burke, chatting about the 15th CrimeFest held in Bristol with CrimeFest organizer, Donna Moore; Shots Magazine's Ayo Onatade; authors Victoria Selman and Luke McCallin; and Financial Times book critic, Barry Forshaw.

THEATRE

Angela Lansbury (known to many fans for her iconic Murder She Wrote TV role) will receive the 2022 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Lansbury made her Broadway debut in 1957 in Hotel Paradiso, followed by A Taste of Honey (1960), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), and Mame (1966), for which she won her first Tony. She also won Tonys for Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1974), and Sweeney Todd (1979).

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction

Hofstra University hosted an Agatha Christie interdisciplinary conference in 1991 in honor of the centennial of Christie's birth. The result of that conference was the book Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction, published in 1997 and edited by Hofstra professors Jerome H. Delamater and Ruth Prigozy. The editors were attempting to offer "a variety of new and innovative approaches to classic detective fiction," by including essays of a theoretical approach to the genre, then tracing the genre back to Agatha Christie and traditional British detective fiction.



Part I looks at the nature of and the audience for detective fiction, as well as at the genre as a literary form. This first half of the book includes an inquiry into the role of the detective, applications of psychology to the genre, and a look at literary criticism positing that "traditional detective fiction contained the seeds of its own subversion." Part II focuses on the writing of Agatha Christie and her heirs in the British ratiocinative tradition.



The 16 essays include topics such as "Shamus-a-um: Having the Quality of a Classical Detective" by Timothy W. Boyd and Carolyn Higbie; "Parody and Detective Fiction" by Janice MacDonald; "Christie's Narrative Games" by Robert Merrill; "The Game's Afoot: Predecessors and Pursuits of a Postmodern Detective Novel by Kathleen Belin Owen; and "Class, Gender, and the Possibilities of Detection in Anne Perry's Victorian Reconstructions" by Iska S. Alter.



Some of the themes underlying the book are the way the genre reflects important social and cultural attitudes, contributes to a reader's ability to adapt to the challenges of daily life, and provides alternate takes on the role of the detective as an investigator and arbiter of truth. As one of the essays notes, thanks to the detective novels of Tony Hillerman, set among the Native American population around New Mexico, "many American readers have probably gotten more insight into traditional Navajo culture from his detective stories than from any other recent books."

          

Canadian Accolades

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the winners for the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Started in 1984, the annual Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, then known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors. Congratulations to all this year's winner and finalists!

 

Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize: Dietrich Kalteis, Under an Outlaw Moon (ECW Press)

Also nominated:

Linwood Barclay, Find You First, William Morrow

Daniel Kalla, Lost Immunity, Simon & Schuster

Shari Lapena, Not a Happy Family, Doubleday Canada

Roz Nay, The Hunted, Simon & Schuster

Best Crime First Novel: Ashley Audrain, The Push (Viking Canada)

Also nominated:

Fiona King Foster, The Captive, HarperCollins Publishers

Byron TD Smith, Windfall, Shima Kun Press

Katherine Walker, All Is Well, Thistledown Press

David Whitton, Seven Down, Rare Machines

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery: Candas Jane Dorsey, What’s the Matter with Mary Jane? (ECW Press)

Also nominated:

Alice Bienia, Three Dog Knight, Cairn Press

Jackie Elliott, Hell's Half Acre, Joffe Books

Catherine Macdonald, So Many Windings, At Bay Press

Vicki Delany, Murder in a Teacup, Kensington Publishing Corp

Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada: C. S. Porter, Beneath Her Skin (Vagrant Press)

Also nominated:

Cathy Ace, Corpse with an Iron Will, Four Tails Publishing

Alice Walsh, Death on Darby’s Island, Vagrant Press/Nimbus Publishing

Sam Wiebe, Hell and Gone, Harbour Publishing Co.

Kevin Major, Three for Trinity, Breakwater Books

Best Crime Novella: Wayne Ng, Letters From Johnny (Guernica Editions)

Also nominated:

Marcelle Dube, Identity Withheld, Falcon Ridge Publishing

Brenda Gayle, Murder in Abstract, Bowstring Books

Elvie Simons, Not So Fast, Dr. Quick, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021

Best Crime Short Story: Elizabeth Elwood, Number 10 Marlborough Place, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Also nominated:

Pam Barnsley, What can You Do?, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November/December 2021

Hilary Davidson, Weed Man, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2021BR

Charlotte Morganti, All My Darlings, Die Laughing

Melissa Yi, Dead Man's Hand, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2021

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction): Patrick Senécal, Flots (Editions Alire)

Also nominated:

Roxanne Bouchard, Le murmure des hakapiks, Libre Expression

Marc-Andre Chabot, Dis-moi qui doit vivre…, Libre Expression

Guillaume Morrissette, Conduite dangereuse, Saint-Jean

Richard Ste-Marie, Stigmates, Editions Alire

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book: Kevin Sands, The Traitor's Blade, Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated:

Karen Bass, Blood Donor, Orca Book Publishers

Rachelle Delaney, Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster, Puffin Canada

Cherie Dimaline, Hunting By Stars, Penguin Teen

Jordyn Taylor, Don't Breathe a Word, HarperTeen

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book: Nate Hendley, The Beatle Bandit (Dundurn Press)

Also nominated:

Sarah Berman, Don't Call it a Cult, Viking Canada

Aaron Chapman, Vancouver Vice: Crime and Spectacle in the City's West End, Arsenal Pulp Press

Catherine Fogarty, Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary, Biblioasis

Lorna Poplak, The Don: The Story of Toronto's Infamous Jail, Dundurn Press

 



The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript: Renee Lehnen, Elmington

Also nominated:

Delee Fromm, The Strength to Rise

Pam Isfeld, Captives

Katie Mac, Ken's Corner

Mark Thomas, Part Time Crazy

          

Mystery Melange

In its annual awards ceremony held this week, the British Book Awards, a/k/a "The Nibbies," announced winners in the various categories. The top book in the Crime & Thriller category went to the late William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin for The Dark Remains. Rebus creator Rankin finished the incomplete novel, a prequel to McIlvanney's Laidlaw mysteries, left by the revered Scottish crime writer upon his death in 2015. Also making the shortlist this year were 1979 by Val McDermid; A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins; Girl A by Abigail Dean; The Appeal by Janice Hallett; and The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced the winners of the 57th Annual Nebula Awards. The Nebula Award for Best Novel went to A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, which follows an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities who has to investigate the gruesome mass murder of members of a secret society dedicated to "uncovering the wisdom" of a missing wizard. The Nebula for Best Novella was won by Premee Mohamed's And What Can We Offer You Tonight, about a woman who's shaken when her friend is murdered by a client, but somehow comes back to life, leading the duo to get revenge by confronting the limits of loyalty, guilt, and justice. For all this year's winners, follow this link.

In a virtual awards ceremony held the afternoon of May 24, Publishers Weekly editorial director, Jim Milliot, named The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas. Authors, booksellers, and publishing professionals testified how The Raven supported authors and books during the pandemic and that their actions helped sustain the indie bookstore industry itself. The Raven Book Store was founded in 1987 as a mystery-specialty store, and it retains a strong mystery section to this day, with additional specialties in fiction, poetry, current events, and environmental writing.

If you're a fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels and the Reacher Amazon Prime television series, here's a rare opportunity for you: Lee Lofland announced that the Writers’ Police Academy is offering the chance via auction for one lucky person to win "the opportunity to join Lee Child on the set for Amazon’s Reacher Season Two, sometime in the fall, and (hopefully!) show up as a background extra in the show." You do not have to attend the Writers’ Police Academy event to enter your bid. To submit your bid by email, enter REACHER BID in the subject line and in the body of the email include your bid (in U.S. dollar amount), your name, address, and phone number. Then send the email to Lee at lofland32@msn.com. Bidding ends on June 19, 2022 at midnight EST, and the winner will be notified on June 21, 2022. (Sealed bids will also be accepted in-person at the June 2-5, 2022 Writers’ Police Academy conference.)

Fans of thriller author, Karin Slaughter, will be happy to hear that her "Slaughterfest" is back for 2022 on Wednesday, June 22 at Waterstones, London - Piccadilly. Slaughter, herself, who is known for her Will Trent series currently being developed as an ABC pilot, will be in conversation with bestselling thriller writer, Simon Toyne. There will also be a panel with some of crime writing’s rising stars (Nadine Matheson, Sam Holland, Rahul Raina, and Robert Gold), as well a panel titled "Destination: Murder" with bestsellers Erin Kelly, Lucy Clarke, Adele Parks and Lucy Foley.

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series "The First Two Pages," hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. Following her passing, the blog series relocated to Art Taylor's website, with the latest guest, Sarah M. Chen, joining in to continue a series of essays celebrating the release earlier this month of Low Down Dirty Vote, Volume 3. Edited by Mysti Berry, this new volume centers on the theme "The Color of My Vote" and features contributions from 22 authors. Proceeds will benefit Democracy Docket, "an organization that is successfully fighting against voter suppression in the United States." 

Every week, the Library of America publishes a selection from one of their collections on their website. This week's offering is "Creeping Siamese" from Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories and Other Writings. Published originally in the March 1926 issue of The Black Mask, this was the last Hammett story to appear under the editorship of Philip C. Cody. In the wake of the box-office success of the 1941 adaptation of The Maltese Falcon, King Features licensed several early Hammett stories for republication, hence the collection. The illustration accompanying the story online is by Stuart Hamilton for the reprint edition distributed by King Features Syndicate to newspapers for their Sunday supplements in 1942 (provided by Davy Crockett’s Almanack).

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Take No Prisoners" by Tad Tuleja.

In the Q&A roundup, Alex Segura spoke with Hilary Davidson on the Criminal Element blog about his new novel, Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comic books; also at Criminal Element, J.B. Stevens interviewed Peter Farris, author of The Devil Himself, a southern noir novel first published in France with enormous critical acclaim and which has won multiple literary awards; Rose Kerr stopped by The Stiletto Gang to discuss her new book, Death on the Set, the first book in the Brenna Flynn Mystery Series; and Writers Who Kill's E.B. Davis chatted with Annette Dashofy about Fatal Reunion, the eleventh book in Dashofy’s Zoe Chambers mystery series.

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