B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 86

FFB: Spence At Marlby Manor

Born in 1939, English author Michael Derek Allen had a career in education, first as a teacher and then as a university administrator at the University of Bath, and also served a brief stint working for the New York Herald Tribune. When he retired from all his various day jobs, he started his own small press, Kingsfield Publications, and turned his hand to writing novels full-time under the pen names Michael Bradford, Anne Moore and Patrick Read.



Allen has penned mostly standalone novels and short stories, but he did write three books in a series featuring his police detective Superintendent Ben Spence. The third and final book in that series was Spence at Marlby Manor, dating from 1982, in which wealthy Lady Dinnister of Marlby Manor begins to suffer from "accidents" she suspects are actually attempts on her life. When Lady Dinnister's companion Emily Fosdyke dies from arsenic poisoning, it's only natural she thinks she herself was the intended victim.



Detective Ben Spence agrees with the Lady of the Manor after interviewing a houseful of servants and family members that are all-too-eager to sell off Marlby Manor and inherit Lady Dinnister's considerable fortune. Chief among them is an artist son-in-law; a handsome but unmotivated grandson in love with a secretary neither Lady Dinnister nor Emily Fosdyke deemed good enough for him; and a selfish, greedy granddaughter and her husband who tend to live well beyond their means. But, as Spence and his assistant, Inspector Laruel, take a closer look, they uncover undercurrents of malevolence coming from an unexpected source.



Although Publishers Weekly was a little critical of the book's "awfully implausible murderer-catching traps to snare the culprit," the publication's reviewer ultimately deemed it "comfortable, mildly beguiling entertainment in the traditional style." It deviates a bit from the traditional police procedural into more of the classic whodunit format.

Michael Allen's last Spence novel was in 1982, but Lume Books recently re-released the three Spence books. His blog, the Grumpy Old Bookman, was listed by The Guardian as one of the top 10 literary blogs worldwide in 2005, but fell inactive until recently, when in a poignant post, he notes that the reason he's been away is due to his age (82) and a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

          

Mystery Melange

Here's one crime-themed conference I had overlooked:  The Perfect Crime Writing Festival 2021 will be held on Saturday, November 13th in Liverpool, UK. The in-person event will feature panels including Ann Cleeves, Sophie Hannah, Elly Griffiths, Mel Sherratt, M W Craven, David Jackson, Martin Edwards, Margaret Murphy, Caz Finlay, Rhiannon Ward, Susanna Beard, Amanda Brooke, Heather Burnside, Barry Forshaw, and Prof James Grieve. There will also be a chance to mix with fellow attendees and author guests, buy the latest crime fiction releases from the featured authors, and have your books signed. (HT to Shots Magazine)

Also, the BAD Sydney Festival is featuring some online events this month ahead of the in-person conference in December. Coming up soon are Scottish author Val McDermid, dubbed the Queen of Crime, who will discuss her latest novel, 1979, with Sydney Morning Herald crime fiction reviewer, Sue Turnbull, on September 15; U.S. author Karin Slaughter discusses her latest thriller, False Witness, with fellow author Andy Muir on September 22; and Ann Cleeves, whose works have been adapted into hit TV shows Vera and Shetland, will join Turnbull online to talk about The Heron’s Cry on the 29th.

Collins Crime Club has scooped a new book by Martin Edwards, billed as the first major history of crime fiction in 50 years. Scheduled for publication in May 2022, the book traces the evolution of the crime fiction genre from the 18th century to the present. Publisher David Brawn noted: "In what will surely be regarded as his magnum opus, Martin Edwards has thrown himself undaunted into the breadth and complexity of the genre to write an authoritative – and readable – study of its development and evolution. With crime fiction being read more widely than ever around the world, and with individual authors increasingly the subject of extensive academic study, his expert distillation of more than two centuries of extraordinary books and authors – from the tales of E T A Hoffmann to the novels of Patricia Cornwell – into one coherent history is an extraordinary feat and makes for compelling reading."

A rarely seen picture of Agatha Christie and her second husband on their honeymoon forms part of a new exhibition opening in Torre Abbey, Devon, this month. This latest exhibition uses her own words, photographs, letters and poetry to tell the story of her second marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan. Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie's grandson said: "What better place to launch a new Agatha Christie exhibition than at Torquay during the Agatha Christie festival?...This new exhibition covers the years after 1930 and my grandmother's second marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan." The exhibit, titled Agatha Christie: Destination Unknown includes poetry, pictures, and archaeology and runs from September 11 to November 28, while the International Agatha Christie Festival runs from September 11 to September 18.

It's nice to see community "one read" events popping up around the globe. The 15th One Book One Valley community read program this month in Conway, New Hampshire, will be featuring Paul Doiron, who writes the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels.

If you're in the St. Louis, Missouri, area this weekend, check out this interactive murder mystery for a good cause.

In an essay for The Bulwark, Bill Ryan profiled the late, great Donald Westlake (a/k/a Richard Stark), who had far more to offer than just his stories featuring Parker, the sociopathic thief.

Writing for CrimeReads, Nick Rennison took at look at the "American rivals of Sherlock Holmes": the early days of American detective fiction and the sleuths who competed with Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic Holmes for mystery readers.

On Creative Boom, Emily Gosling discussed an illustrated Chinese edition of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye from artist Klaus Kremmerz. The work draws on 1950's "hard-boiled crime" and Californian artist Ken Price, known for his abstract ceramic sculptures resembling blobs, geodes, and surreal take on crockery. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)

Apparently, September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month. I still maintain there's no better value in the universe than a free library card, the true portal to other worlds.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Robbin' Hoodie" by Jim George.

In the Q&A roundup, the NYT spoke with S.A. Cosby, author of noir crime novels, who "claims the rural South as his own"; the NYT also interviewed Colson Whitehead who won back-to-back Pulitzers for The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys and takes a detour with his new crime novel, Harlem Shuffle; Scottish author Ian Rankin explained to The Express about how the frustrations of being a special needs parent fuel his writing; and the Nerd Daily spoke with Australian attorney-turned-author Lisa Ellery about her debut thriller, Private Prosecution.

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Author R&R with Lorie Lewis Ham

Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California and has been writing ever since she was a child. Her first song and poem were published when she was thirteen, and she has gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper and publish six mystery novels. For the past eleven years, Lorie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she also produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast.



Her latest novel, One of Us, is the first in the new Tower District Mystery Series set in Fresno's dining, arts, and entertainment hub. It centers on children’s book author, Roxi Carlucci, who finds herself starting over again after her publisher drops her book series. With no income, she has to pack up her life on the California Coast, along with her pet rat Merlin, and move in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen Carlucci, who lives in Fresno. 



Stephen talks Roxi into helping out with a community theatre production, which is also a fundraiser for a local animal rescue. Little did she know that someone would be murdered during a rehearsal, and that she and Stephen would be hired to find the killer. The culprit has to be one of Roxi’s new acquaintances, since the theatre was locked at the time of the murder, but no one seems to have a motive. Could the local gossip website hold any clues? Can Roxi and Stephen stop the killer before he strikes again?



Lorie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching her novels:

 

My books tend to rely heavily on the old adage “write what you know.” A lot of that comes from the fact that I prefer to sit down and write the first draft without doing a lot of research and editing—then later do what research is needed to fill in the gaps. Writing what I know makes that possible. I am very much a pantser! The only real exception is information I need for the murder.

My first book series was published in the early 2000s and featured a gospel singing amateur sleuth named Alexandra Walters. I spent over 20 years singing gospel music with my family. It was set in a fictional version of my hometown. The new book, One of Us, is set in one of my favorite local places to hang out in, the Tower District of Fresno, CA.

When I first decided to start a new series, I was going to have my main character Roxi Carlucci run a small animal rescue—I ran one out of my home for over 10 years. But by the time I actually got around to working seriously on the first book, the mystery book world had been flooded with books involving animal rescue, so I decided to change things up a bit—although there is an animal rescue connection in the book. The plot of the book involves community theatre—something else I have a connection to. And by the end of the book, Roxi becomes a podcaster—something I have been doing for the past three years with my podcast, Mysteryrat’s Maze.

Roxi also works as a part time P.I. with her cousin Stephen, which isn’t something I have done, but it is something I did a lot of research on for my first series in which Stephen also appears. The Carlucci family has ties to the Mafia, something I also did a great deal of research on for my first series. Now saying I did research into those things may seem to contradict what I first said, but the difference is that they were things I already had an interest in and already knew something about.

When it comes to the mystery side of things there is still a certain amount of “write what you know” as well. As soon as I was old enough that I didn’t need my parent’s permission, I went on several ride-alongs with the local police department—partially because I wanted to be a mystery writer, but also because I considered becoming a cop. For those same reasons, I took some Criminal Justice classes at community college—funny enough I knew enough from all of my mystery TV watching and reading that the classes were a breeze.

For the rest of the details of the crime I have a wonderful library of How Dunnit Books and a couple of great resources I can go to and say—“Hey if this happened how do you…?” One is a former chief of police, and the other many of you may know, mystery author D.P. Lyle.

For any other little things along the way, I am thankful for the internet! Especially during a pandemic. While finishing One of Us I went online several times to double check details about the Tower District like street names and business names, since I couldn’t go there in person. So for me, research is mostly what I know and what I already love!

 

You can learn more about Lorie and her book One of Us on her website mysteryrat.com and find her on Twitter and Facebook. One of Us is available on Amazon; for the Nook and paperback on Barnes and Noble.com; and on Kobo. You can also hear an excerpt from One of Us read on the Mysteryrat's Maze podcast via this link.

         Related StoriesAuthor R&R with Larry (and Rosemary) MildAuthor R&R with Melissa LarsenAuthor R&R with Katherine Dean Mazerov 

Author R&R with Larry (and Rosemary) Mild

Rosemary Mild (a graduate of Smith College and former assistant editor of Harper's) and Larry Mild (digital systems and instrument designer for major Government contractors in the signal analysis field), are cheerful partners in crime who recently released Death Rules the Night, their fourth Dan & Rivka Sherman Mystery Series. The Milds are also coauthors of the popular Paco & Molly Mysteries; Hawaii adventure/thrillers Cry Ohana and Honolulu Heat; and three volumes of short stories, many of which appear in anthologies.

Making use of his past creativity and problem-solving abilities, Larry naturally drifted into the realm of mystery writing, where he also claims to be more devious than his partner-in-crime and best love, Rosemary. So he conjures up their plots and writes the first drafts, leaving Rosemary to breath life into their characters and sizzle into their scenes. A perfect marriage of their talents.

In Death Rules the Night, reluctant sleuths Dan and Rivka yearn for a tranquil life as owners of The Olde Victorian Bookstore in Annapolis, Maryland. When copies of a tell-all book on the prominent Atkins family go missing from the bookstore, from all the local libraries, and even from the author's bookshelves, Dan wants to know why. But the price of "why" brings threats, stalking, break-ins—and a brutal murder. He and Rivka fear for their lives.  

The Atkins family secrets are weaving a sinister web. Tom Dwyer, a retired truck driver, is ready to confess to a crime that he and Frank Mulhaney, another driver, committed twenty years ago. Frank plots revenge on Tom. Bookstore clerk, Ivy, hears ugly gossip aimed at derailing her wedding. Will the family secrets finally see the light of day? And will the killer ever be caught?

Larry stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R on researching and writing mysteries:

 

A Little Research Goes a Long Way

Researching for a novel can be fun. Who doesn’t like to learn a little something every day? An era of history, a science fact, a bit of poetry, a touch of foreign language, a dash of art, a part of the anatomy—endless tidbits that can enhance and add credibility to what we authors write.

But beware of the consequences that I fell victim to by researching too much. You ask: How much is too much? In my earliest attempts at novel writing, I got so wrapped up in the research, showing off my erudition, that I allowed it to deteriorate my plot. I took the research so far, adding fact after fact, that I had to keep modifying the plot, molding it to the research until I was unsure whether I was writing fiction or nonfiction. My first and second attempts at a novel went south. Did I learn my lesson? Finally, yes. Now I include only the relevant research that fortifies the plot, engages the reader, and moves the story forward.

For years the general guideline has been “Write about what you know”—so you don’t have to delve deeply into a subject where only genuine scholars mine.

Rosemary, my wife and coauthor, and I draw heavily on our own personal experience, but only as a starting point. We’ve published short stories set in countries where we’ve traveled: Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, England, and Italy. But we’ve also ventured into the future with a sci-fi novella. Aside from personal experience, where do we get our research? Like most authors, often we rely on the Internet, the dictionary, and thesaurus. Local newspapers are filled with police beats and extensive accounts of crimes. For a particular setting, the local papers can provide authentic flavor.

Six of our seven mystery novels are set in Maryland, where we lived for most of our married lives. Our newest, just out, is Death Rules the Night, our fourth Dan & Rivka Sherman Mystery. Reluctant sleuths Dan and Rivka, owners of The Olde Victorian Bookstore, find themselves stymied. Copies of a tell-all book about a famous Annapolis family have disappeared from the bookstore, from all libraries, and even from the dead author’s bookshelves. Dan wants to know why. But the price of “why” brings threats, stalking, break-ins—and a brutal murder. He and Rivka fear for their lives. The prominent Atkins family—and their eighteenth-century house—harbor secrets unknown even to the three unhappy sisters living there. As I invented the story, I gave it credibility by incorporating historical research: the fictional Atkins family’s “role” in the American Revolution, the Underground Railroad, and Prohibition, as well as eighteenth and nineteenth century architecture relating to the family house.

How do we keep from going overboard in our research? In Hot Grudge Sunday, our second Paco & Molly Mystery, our detective and gourmet cook are on their honeymoon at the national parks out West. They’d rather smooch than sleuth, but conspirators and thieves disrupt their bliss. Rosemary and I took this fabulous tour ourselves and drew on our own photos, maps, and tour brochures to be accurate. But we had to rein in our research to keep from sounding like a travelogue instead of an edge-of-your-seat mystery. For accuracy, we called a park ranger at Yellowstone and she allowed us to send her a copy of some of our dramatic scenes. In one, we had a suspect’s wrists handcuffed in front of her on the bus. The ranger wrote back, “No way” and corrected other details as well.

My inspirations come from unexpected places. In Death Goes Postal, our first Dan & Rivka Sherman Mystery, I focused the plot on rare fifteenth-century printing artifacts that led to a trail of hair-raising violence. I chose that subject because, in my seventh-grade shop class, I learned about Printing. But as I did the research I needed, I worked hard to build a strong, suspenseful plot and fresh, realistic characters. We created Dan and Rivka as a Jewish couple in their mid-fifties, very much like us in personality. So I wove together what we knew about Historic Annapolis and Bath, England, plus some esoteric research that gave depth to the story. But we took off from there, with a plot involving stalking, kidnapping—and murder.

Of course, I wound up with a pile of factual data I couldn’t possibly squeeze in. Was the time wasted? Yes, in terms of that particular novel. No, in terms of making me a more rounded person. Whatever research I do, it now depends on two words: credibility and enhancement. Will it add either to a gripping plot or to fleshing out the characters?

 

You can learn about the Milds and their books via their website, or follow them on Facebook or LinkedIn. Death Rules the Night is available in print to order 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

Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright, and Hopper Penn are set to star in Where All Light Tends to Go, which will be directed by Ben Young (Hounds of Love; Extinction). The screenplay was written by Robert Knott and is based on the novel by David Joy. Set in the Appalachian Mountains, Where All Light Tends to Go is described as "a tense thriller about a family dominated by a crime lord who controls his family and his business with his fists. When his son meets the girl of his dreams, desperately wanting to escape the life he is expected to lead and freeing himself from the clutches of his father, he is forced to go head to head with the terrifying man who will stop at nothing to ensure loyalty from all of those around him."

Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver are attached as the leads in Master Gardener, a crime thriller that Paul Schrader (The Card Counter) is directing from his original screenplay. It follows a meticulous horticulturist (Edgerton) who is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate and pandering to his employer, a wealthy dowager (Weaver). When she demands that he take on her wayward and troubled great-niece, it unlocks dark secrets from a buried violent past.

Tom Berenger and Cam Gigandet are set to lead the cast of the action thriller, Black Warrant, directed by Tibor Takács. Based on a story by Michael Paré and D. Glase Lomond, the project follows a semi-retired special ops assassin (Berenger) and a DEA agent (Gigandet) who cross paths on separate missions to stop a cyberterrorist group in possession of a dangerous machine that could attack the power grid and threaten global catastrophe. Jeff Fahey also co-stars in the film, which heads into production next month.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Alfred Molina is set to star in Amazon's police drama series, Three Pines, which comes from The Crown producer, Left Bank Pictures. The project is based on Louise Penny's novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (played by Molina), who investigates a spate of murders in Three Pines, a seemingly idyllic village where he discovers long-buried secrets and faces a few of his own ghosts. The cast also includes Rossif Sutherland, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Tantoo Cardinal, Clare Coulter, Sarah Booth, Anna Tierney, Julian Bailey, Frédéric-Antoine Guimond, Pierre Simpson, Tamara Brown, Marie-France Lambert, Frank Schorpion, Marcel Jeannin, Georgina Lynn Lightning, Crystle Lightning, Isabel Deroy-Olson, and Anna Lambe.

HBO Max has given a pilot order to Dead Boy Detectives, a series based on the DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman, from The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey, Doom Patrol creator Jeremy Carver, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Brothers TV. Written by Yockey, the one-hour series would follow the Dead Boy Detectives (Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine) who decided not to enter the afterlife in order to stay on earth and investigate crimes involving the supernatural.

Joseph Russo has been tapped to play "Crazy" Joe Gallo opposite Miles Teller and Matthew Goode in The Offer, Paramount+’s upcoming limited series about the making of The Godfather. The project is based on Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy’s (Teller) experience of making the iconic 1972 film that Francis Ford Coppola directed and adapted with Mario Puzo from Puzo’s bestselling novel. The movie starred Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, and Talia Shire; it was nominated for 11 Oscars and won three, including Best Picture for Ruddy.

Rainn Wilson is set as a lead opposite Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon in Dark Winds, AMC’s Western noir thriller series based on Tony Hillerman’s popular Leaphorn & Chee book series. Dark Winds, which has a six-episode order, is a psychological thriller that follows two Navajo police officers, Leaphorn (McClarnon) and Chee (Gordon), in the 1970s Southwest as their search for clues in a grisly double-murder case forces them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs and come to terms with the trauma of their pasts. Wilson will play Devoted Dan, a "pious" missionary who recruits followers to the gates of his used-car lot—all the while being a degenerate practitioner of every biblical sin he decries.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast features the mystery short story, "Water Fall," written by Merrilee Robson and read by actor Teya Juarez.

Debbi Mack interviewed crime writer, Samantha Downing, for the Crime Cafe podcast. Downing's third novel, For Your Own Good, was recently optioned by a production company.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Karen Cleveland to discuss her new thriller, You Can Run, which follows a CIA analyst who makes a split-second decision that endangers her country but saves her son—and must now team up with an investigative journalist she’s not sure she can trust.

Suspense Radio chatted with Chuck Wendig about his latest novel, The Book of Accidents. Wendig also writes the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, the Wanderers series and more.

Matthew FitzSimmons stopped by Meet the Thriller Author. He pens the bestselling Gibson Vaughn series, which includes The Short Drop and Poisonfeather.

Criminal Mischief: Episode #47, hosted by Dr. DP Lyle, tackled the topic of "Amnesia and Trauma Amnesia," used in such novels as The Bourne Identity, and which may have even affected Agatha Christie...or not.

This month's Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast offered something new: A reading by Canadian journalist, author, and professor Dean Jobb of his true crime piece "Arthur Conan Doyle and the Mutineers," which was published in the September/October 2020 issue.

Queer Writers of Crime spoke with award-winning author, C. L. Brees, who holds degrees in Police Studies and Cyber Forensics and writes the DS Anderson series.

Crime Time FM chatted with Simone Buchholz about Hotel Cartagena, featuring Public Prosecutor Chastity Riley who's dropped unwittingly into the middle of a tense hostage situation.

The Red Hot Chili Writers podcast welcomed indie publisher Orenda Books, along with founder Karen Sullivan and authors Awais Khan, Will Carver, and Lilja Sigurdardottir chatting about their terrific new novels.

The Cozy Ink podcast featured a look at cozy mysteries that include cats. 😼

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FFB: She Shall Have Murder

Delano Ames (1906-1987) was born in Ohio to a newspaperman father. In 1929 Ames married Maysie Grieg, who later became a highly successful author of lighthearted romances, and the duo settled in Greenwich Village where Ames published his first novel, a philosophical look at the Greek gods entitled A Double Bed on Olympus. When the couple divorced, Ames moved to England where he remarried and worked for British intelligence during the second World War.



After the war, according to his tongue-in-cheek autobiography, he "translated an erudite history of keyboard instruments from the French, and believes that at least 100 copies were sold." Fortunately, his later efforts were more successful, beginning with in 1948 with She Shall Have Murder, the first in what was to become a 12-book series featuring the British husband-and-wife sleuthing team of Jane and Dagobert Brown. Ames produced a Brown book every year until 1959 when he moved to Spain and switched to writing a four-book

series featuring Juan Llorca of the Spanish Civil Guard.



She Shall Have Murder, made into a movie on British television in 1950, introduces Jane Hamish, a pretty young executive in the law firm Daniel Playfair and Son, and Dagobert Brown, Jane's lover and a researcher/writer who is so absorbed in the thriller he and Jane are concocting around the law firm's staff, that he is astonished when the wrong victim dies. Said victim is Mrs. Robjohn, the least favorite client of the firm, thanks to her frequent calls, letters and visits and unwavering paranoid belief that the mysterious "they" are out to get her.



She Shall Have Murder was labeled as "Detection with Wit" when first published in 1948, an apt description of the characters of Jane, always the common-sense, down-to-earth narrator, and her other half Dagobert, whose eccentricities and passing fads often leave Jane alternatively delighted and driven to despair ("Dagobert is my hero, but he persistently refuses to behave like one"). One of Dagobert's primary pursuits is amateur sleuthing that he puts to good use as he resorts to bluffs, disguises, charm, and insightful detection in his efforts to prove Mrs. Robjohn was murdered.



Jane makes a delightful narrator, as in this bit about her thoughts on her potential novel-writing career at the start of the story:

"On the other hand, thrillers have nowadays become an accepted art-forom; bishops and minor poets read practically nothing else, and the New Statesman reviews them....The beginning of a book is always the tricky part. It should arrest. A shot should ring out in the night, or if you prefer, a rod should cough or a Roscoe belch forth destruction. Personally, I like to meeet my corpse on page one, and I like him (or her) to be very dead."

In Peter Walker's foreword to the Black Dagger edition of She Shall Have Murder, he notes that the novel is a time capsule of post-World War II life, with utility clothing, conscription, rationing, listening to the wireless, putting lavender in the clothes closet, feeding gas meters with shillings, and girls who resemble Rita Hayworth. But the writing sparkles over 60 years later and is far from dated in its ability to entertain.

          

Mystery Melange

The Australia Crime Writers Association announced the 2021 winners of the Ned Kelly Awards, handed out annually since 1995 for excellence in crime fiction by Aussie authors. Best Crime Fiction was awarded to Consolation, by Garry Disher; Best Debut Crime Fiction: The Second Son, by Loraine Peck; Best True Crime: Stalking Claremont: Inside the Hunt for a Serial Killer, by Bret Christian; and Best International Crime Fiction: We Begin at the End, by Chris Whitaker.

The other major Aussie crime fiction awards, the Davitts, were also handed out this past weekend. Sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia and named after author Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) the ceremony was once again virtual this year via Facebook due to the ongoing pandemic. Best Adult Novel went to Sally Hepworth’s domestic thriller, The Good Sister; Best Young Adult Crime Novel: Where We Begin, by Christie Nieman; Best Children’s Crime Novel: A Clue for Clara, by Lian Tanner; Best Non-fiction Crime Book: Witness: An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking Justice, by Louise Milligan; Best Debut Crime Book: Sheerwater, by Leah Swann; and Readers Choice Award: The Shifting Landscape, by Katherine Kovacic.

The upcoming Bloody Scotland conference revealed the shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2021. They include The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie; The Coffin Maker’s Garden by Stuart MacBride; Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison; The April Dead by Alan Parks; and Hyde by Craig Russell. The winners of both the McIlvanney Prize and the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year will be revealed in person on September 17 and also broadcast live online. Both events require tickets in advance, but they're free and open to the public worldwide.

Some sad news for mystery fans: Caroline Todd, one-half of the mother-son writing team that went by the name Charles Todd, passed away this weekend. Son Charles posted on Facebook that the duo had "Caroline left the world a better place and was immensely happy to have met and gotten to know so many readers, authors and booksellers. She was to the very end a class act." He also noted the team had completed A Game of Fear, the latest installment in the historical mystery series featuring Ian Rutledge, and the next book in the Bess Crawford series. The tributes are pouring in, as in this remembrance from , and another from Janet Rudolph. A memorial service will be held at a later date, and the family has designated Faithful Friends for memorial contributions.

Agatha Christie’s beloved amateur sleuth is set to return in a new authorized collection. Miss Marple was last seen in 1976, solving a "perfect" crime committed years earlier in Agatha Christie’s Sleeping Murder. Now, twelve authors, including Val McDermid, Naomi Alderman, Kate Mosse, Elly Griffiths, Ruth Ware, and Dreda Say Mitchell, will continue the adventures of the elderly amateur sleuth, with the first ever "new" Agatha Christie short story collection out next year. The authors are all Christie devotees, said publisher HarperCollins, and will reimagine Miss Marple "through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery."

Cozy Mystery fans will also want to take note of this sweepstakes courtesy of Criminal Element. You can enter through September 12 to win ten different print copies of cozies from Ellie Alexander, Donna Andrews, MC Beaton, Sheila Connolly and more.

Is the new Barnes and Noble CEO, James Daunt, finally turning the fortunes of the bookseller around? He credits his staff for B&N sales being up about 5% to 6% so far this year compared to 2019, with book sales up by double digits.

Meanwhile, there's apparently a mystery afoot about the lag in sales of thriller and suspense titles, traditionally the top-selling genre.

The topic of the evolution of language has always been a fascinating one for me. After all, why are humans the only Earth creatures sitting down reading this blog post today? According to linguistics expert Sverker Johansson, you can thank Neanderthals and women for helping to create language.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Ella Watson" by John D. Nesbitt.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Towles spoke with The Writers' Fun Zone about her new thriller, Ninety-Five; Writers Who Kill's E.B. Davis interviewed Carol J. Perry about her new paranormal mystery novel, Be My Ghost; and Megan Abbott spoke with CrimeReads about how to create an atmosphere of dread, anxiety, and obsession.

         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

Jason Statham and Miramax are partnering for a third time on The Bee Keeper, a spec script by Kurt Wimmer for which the studio shelled out seven figures. A September 2022 production start is being eyed, with filming in London and Atlanta. The Bee Keeper is described as "a lightning-paced thriller deeply steeped in the mythology of Bee Keeping...that explores universal themes with an unconventional story that will have fans sitting on the edge of their seats." Miramax is currently searching for a director.

Tyson Ritter has joined the cast of Prisoner’s Daughter, from director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight), joining previously announced actors Brian Cox and Kate Beckinsale. The film is written by Mark Bacci and tells the story of Max (Cox), a tough but proud ex-con, who’s struggling to find a way to reconnect with his only daughter Maxine (Beckinsale), as well as his grandson. But as he begins an attempt at reconciliation, his violent past catches up to him once again. Ritter will play Maxine’s ex-husband, Tyler, who fights with her to stay connected to their son Ezra.

Showtime announced that the Ray Donovan feature-length movie will debut in the first quarter of 2022, which would be exactly two years after the TV series’ surprise cancellation that led to an outcry from fans. Showrunner David Hollander admitted at the time that the show’s creative team had been blindsided by the decision, as the seventh season had not been planned as a final chapter. Showtime's President of Entertainment, Gary Levine, is promising viewers a satisfying ending with the movie, in which Liev Schreiber returns as uber fixer Donovan, Jon Voight as Mickey Donovan, and Kerris Dorsey as Ray’s daughter Bridget.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICE

The Wire writer/producer, George Pelecanos, who has had an informal home at HBO for nearly two decades, has made it official with a recently signed two-year overall deal. Under the pact, Pelecanos will develop and produce original content for the network and has set for his first project a drama series based on John D. MacDonald’s novel, The Last One Left. Pelecanos will serve as co-writer along with Megan Abbott (The Deuce; Dare Me) and serve as showrunner. The logline: In 1967 Miami, a pleasure cruiser carrying a wealthy deal-maker and his guests explodes en route to the Bahamas with only the captain found alive. The mysterious Gold Coast resident, Crissy Harkinson, may know far more about the explosion than she’s telling, and when Sam Boylston, the brother of one of the victims, arrives to find answers, he joins forces with Francisca Torcedo, who works for Crissy and has her own suspicions about her ambitious employer.

In a competitive situation, Paramount+ has won rights to develop Yellow Bird, a series based on Sierra Crane Murdoch’s Pulitzer Prize finalist, Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country. The series will focus on Lissa Yellowbird, newly released from jail and returning to her reservation in North Dakota in the midst of one of the largest oil booms in modern history. Her attempts to reconcile with her estranged family are complicated when she becomes obsessed with a young oil worker’s disappearance. "An amateur sleuth from the wrong side of the law, Yellowbird ultimately exposes a sweeping criminal conspiracy of murder and corruption, healing her own family in the process of helping the oil worker’s mother find closure regarding her son’s fate." The real-life Yellowbird has gone on to investigate cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women nationwide, which will be the focus of subsequent seasons.

Amazon Studios has put into development Infinite Thread, which began as a spec script written by Julius and Alston Ramsay, who will also serve as co-showrunners alongside Byron Balasco. The logline:  "After a pair of twins are abducted, a determined sheriff deputy embarks on a quest into the unknown that will alter the course of human history. Infinite Thread is described as blending true crime and science fiction in its depiction of one man’s epic investigation into a crime that breaks the boundaries of time and space."

CBS Studios is developing Broadmoor, a drama series intended for the UK/International premium and streaming market. Inspired by true events, Broadmoor is based on the famous British high-security psychiatric hospital, originally known as the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. It features overlapping stories about the staff, the visitors and, of course, the patients that included maniacs, stranglers, slashers, and serial killers. Set against the backdrop of a crumbling 1970s-80s Britain on the edge of violent social change, the series follows a young woman who goes to Broadmoor "believing that murderous behavior can be understood, treated, even tamed, only to find she has entered a warehouse for England’s fears, the locked attic where its demons reside in a Gothic hell."

FX has rounded out the ensemble cast to join Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the studio’s new limited series, Under the Banner of Heaven, tapping new additions Sam Worthington, Denise Gough, Wyatt Russell, Billy Howle, Gil Birmingham, Adelaide Clemens, Rory Culkin, Seth Numrich, Chloe Pirrie, Sandra Seacat, and Christopher Heyerdahl. Inspired by the New York Times bestseller from Jon Krakauer, the story follows a detective whose faith is tested as he investigates a brutal murder that seems to be connected to an esteemed Utah family’s spiral into Mormon/LDS fundamentalism and their distrust of the government.

Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz is set as a series regular opposite Elle Fanning, Colton Ryan, and Chloë Sevigny in the Hulu drama, The Girl From Plainville. Based on the Esquire article by Jesse Barron, the project stars Fanning as Michelle Carter and is inspired by the true story of her controversial "texting suicide" case.The limited series will explore Carter’s relationship with Conrad "Coco" Roy III (Ryan) and the events that led to his death and, later, her controversial conviction of involuntary manslaughter. Butz will play Conrad "Co" Roy II, Coco’s father. Toughened by life and work at the docks and on the boats in Mattapoisett, MA, Co is forced to face his own mistakes as a father and sets out to come to terms with the death of his son.

During the recent Big Sky panel at a Television Critics Association event, actor John Carroll Lynch announced he will be returning for Season 2 of the crime drama, although the details on his return are being kept under wraps. The character Lynch played in Season 1 was sex trafficking Montana state trooper, Rick Legarski, who was shot in the head in the Season 1 finale. Even if he’s dead though, showrunner and executive producer, Elwood Reid, noted during the panel that Legarski has a twin, as alluded to in the first season. Reid also confirmed that this season’s "new baddie, who is going to bring in more baddies," is Ren, the character played by new series regular Janina Gavankar. Another addition to the cast coming in to shake things up is Logan Marshall-Green’s Travis, a man from Jenny (Katheryn Winnick)’s past, who was friends with her and her late husband Cody (Ryan Phillippe). 

Rob Yang has landed a recurring role on the six-part second season of the BBC spy drama series, The Capture, which is now underway in the UK. Starring Holliday Grainger as Detective Inspector Rachel Carey, the second season of the surveillance thriller will see Carey trying to navigate a Britain under siege from hacked news feeds, manipulated media, and interference in politics. Yang will play the head of an internationally renowned Chinese tech company based in the UK. Grainger is returning alongside Ron Perlman, Ben Miles, Lia Williams, Nigel Lindsay, Cavan Clerkin, and Ginny Holder.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The Read or Dead podcast discussed translated works of crime and mystery written by women authors, in celebration of Women in Translation Month.

This week's guest on Queer Writers of Crime was Garrett Hutson, who writes upmarket mysteries and historical spy fiction.

Patricia Sargeant, author of Murder by Page One, was interviewed by Robert Justice for the Crime Writers of Color podcast.

Speaking of Mysteries co-founder, Les Klinger, talked about the astounding series of vintage mysteries that he edited, wrote introductions for, and annotated for The Library of Congress Crime Classics.

Meet the Thriller Author welcomed John Gaspard, author of the Eli Marks mystery series, as well as the Como Lake Players mystery series under the pen name Bobbie Raymond.

Margaret Murphy stopped by My Favorite Detective Stories to chat about the psychological thrillers she writes under her own name, and forensic thrillers penned as Ashley Dyer and AD Garrett.

Crime Time FM discussed the film version of The Dry; upcoming books by Victoria Selman and Barry Forshaw; Bloody Scotland; Sherlock on film; The Da Vinci Code, and much more.

The latest Cozy Ink podcast focused on Alexis Morgan’s Abby McCree Mystery Series.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with Sheryl Ickes about Death of a Dispatcher, the first installment in her Becky and Rufus Cross-Country Mystery Series.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Anthony Accolades

 

The annual Anthony Awards are usually anounced in-person at the Bouchercon crime fiction conference, but due to this year's event in New Orleans being cancelled, the award ceremony was held virtually online tonight. Congratulations to all this year's winners!

 

Best Hardcover Novel:  Blacktop Wasteland - S.A. Cosby - Flatiron Books

Also nominated:

What You Don’t See– Tracy Clark – Kensington
Little Secrets – Jennifer Hillier – Minotaur Books
And Now She’s Gone – Rachel Howzell Hall -Forge Books
The First to Lie – Hank Phillippi Ryan – Forge Books

 

Best First Novel :  Winter Counts - David Heska Wanbli Weiden - Ecco Press

Also nominated:

Derailed – Mary Keliikoa – Camel Press
Murder in Old Bombay – Nev March – Minotaur Books
Murder at the Mena House – Erica Ruth Neubauer – Kensington
The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – Pamela Dorman Books

 

Best Paperback Original Novel : Unspeakable Things - Jess Lourey - Thomas & Mercer

Also nominated:

The Fate of a Flapper – Susanna Calkins – Griffin
When No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole – William Morrow
The Lucky One – Lori Rader-Day – William Morrow
Dirty Old Town – Gabriel Valjan – Level Best Books

 

Best Short Story :  "90 Miles" - Alex Segura - Both Sides: Stories From the Border - Agora Books

Also nominated:

“Dear Emily Etiquette” – Barb Goffman – EQMM – Dell Magazines
“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” – Art Taylor – AHMM (Jan-Feb) – Dell Magazines
“Elysian Fields” – Gabriel Valjan – California Schemin’ – Wildside Press
“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” – James W. Ziskin – In League with Sherlock Holmes – Pegasus Crime

 

Best Juvenile/Young Adult :  Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco - Richie Narvaez - Piñata Books

Also nominated:

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel – Fleur Bradley – Viking Books for Young Readers
Premeditated Myrtle – Elizabeth C. Bunce – Algonquin Young Readers
From the Desk of Zoe Washington – Janae Marks – Katherine Tegen Books
Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall – Alex Segura – Disney Lucasfilm Press

 

Best Critical or Nonfiction Work : Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession - Sarah Weinman, ed. - Ecco Press

Also nominated:

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy – Leslie Brody – Seal Press
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI – Kate Winkler Dawson – G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club – Martin Edwards, ed. – Collins Crime Club
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia – Emma Copley Eisenberg – Hachette Books
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock – Christina Lane – Chicago Review Press

 

Best Anthology or Collection : Shattering Glass: A Nasty Woman Press Anthology - Heather Graham, ed. - Nasty Woman Press

Also nominated:

Both Sides: Stories from the Border – Gabino Iglesias, ed. – Agora Books

Noiryorican – Richie Narvaez – Down & Out Books
The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell – Josh Pachter, ed. – Untreed Reads Publishing
California Schemin‘ – Art Taylor, ed. – Wildside Press
Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic – Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle, eds. – Polis Books

 

David Thompson Award Special Service Award :  Janet Rudolph
          

Free Mini-Bouchercon This Weekend

 

Although the in-person Boucheron Crime Conference originally scheduled for August 25 to 29 in New Orleans has been cancelled, the organizers pulled together a free two-day online event that anyone can attend. Check out those live video links here. They include James Lee Burke and Alafair Burke in conversation tonight; and the Anthony Awards presentation tomorrow evening, with presenters to include Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, Dennis Lehane, Caroline Todd, Charles Todd, Jonathan Maberry, and a special welcome from Craig Johnson.