B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 89

Mystery Melange

David Joy’s When These Mountains Burn (Putnam) has won the 2020 Hammett Prize from the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers. The award is handed out annually to a book originally published in the English language in the U.S. or Canada, "That best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing." The other finalists included: Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev March (Minotaur); The Mountains Wild, by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur); Three Hours in Paris, by Cara Black (Soho Crime); and Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco).

Craig Sisterson, founder of the Ngaio Marsh Award for excellence in crime writing by New Zealand authors, announced on Facebook the longlist for 2021. This year there will also be an inagural commendation presented to a novel written specifically for younger readers. The finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-fiction are scheduled to be announced on Saturday, August 28, during the WORD Christchurch Festival, with winners to be revealed during a special WORD Christchurch event in October. (HT to The Rap Sheet and Craig Sisterson)

 

Submissions are open through August 3 for the Capital Crime and Amazon Publishing contest to discover new voices in the crime and thriller fiction community, and to further their writing careers. The competition is open to unpublished mystery, thriller, and crime fiction manuscripts in English from writers around the world. The winner will receive £1000, complimentary registration to the next Capital Crime Festival, a trophy, and a potential offer of publication from Thomas & Mercer, the mystery and thriller imprint of Amazon Publishing.

On Wednesday, August 4th at 7pm ET both live and online, the Mystery Writers of America's reading series returns to the KGB Bar (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003). Authors currently scheduled to participate in readings include Annamaria Alfieri, Ann Aptaker, D.M. Barr, Carole Bugge, Philip Cioffari, R.L. Crossland, Jeff Markowitz, and James McCrone.

The U.S. Postal Service issued a "Mystery Message" stamp at the International Spy Museum in Washington. According to the USPS, this Forever stamp has been designed by Antonio Alcalá to "put your sleuthing skills to the test!" If you want try your hand at solving the riddle, follow this link.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Stegosaurus swallows man! Read all about it!!" by Tony Dawson.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton interviewed mystery author, Michael Devendorf; and over at Writers Who Kill, Grace Topping chatted with Ginger Bolton about her Deputy Donut mystery series.

         Related StoriesMystery MelangeMedia Murder for Monday 

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

John Slattery, Ayden Mayeri, Lorenza Izzo, and Annie Mumolo have joined the cast of Confess, Fletch, starring Jon Hamm. The reboot closely follows the plot of the classic Gregory McDonald mystery novel series that inspired the 1980’s Chevy Chase films. Hamm stars as I.M.Fletcher, the hotshot investigative reporter played by Chase in the 1985 neo-noir comedy of the same name. Mcdonald’s eleven mystery books, the first of which was published in 1974, center on Fletcher as he juggles writing exposés while avoiding headaches caused by his two ex-wives.

Oscar nominee, Anna Kendrick, is reteaming with Lionsgate for the psychological thriller, Alice, Darling, currently in production in Canada. The project sees the feature directorial debut of Mary Nighy and follows Alice (Kendrick) who is behaving strangely and keeping secrets about her mercurial boyfriend (Charlie Carrick) from her two best friends (Wunmi Mosaku and Kaniehtiio Horn). When the three friends take a girl’s trip out of town, all secrets are revealed when a local girl goes missing and Alice’s boyfriend arrives unannounced.

Ian McShane is set to reprise his role as Winston opposite Keanu Reeves in the Chad Stahelski-directed John Wick: Chapter 4. Marko Zaror is also in negotiations to play one of the film's villains, joining the ensemble cast of Donnie Yen, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Lance Reddick, and Shamier Anderson.

Chris Gray is set to play young Ray in Showtime’s follow-up feature-length movie, Ray Donovan. The film picks up where Season 7 of the popular series left off following its surprise cancellation last year, with Mickey (Jon Voight) in the wind and Ray (Liev Schreiber) determined to find and stop him before he can cause any more carnage. Gray plays the younger version of Schreiber’s Ray Donovan, and like his older self, he is a physically imposing young man who can convey much with only a few words and is decisive and calm in times of crisis.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICE

The recently announced Emmy Award nominees were fairly bereft of crime drama nods but did have a couple for Perry Mason, including Matthew Rhys for Lead Actor and John Lithgow for Best Supporting Actor. Mare of Easttown was also nominated for Best Limited Series; Best Actress, Limited Series (Kate Winslet); Supporting Actress, Limited Series (Julianne Nicholson and Jean Smart); and Best Supporting Actor, Limited Series (Evan Peter). Hugh Grant (The Undoing) was also nominated for Lead Actor, Limited Series, Movie or Anthology. For all the nominees, follow this link.

AMC Networks has greenlighted the Western noir thriller series, Dark Winds, based on the popular Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman. Created and executive produced by Graham Roland (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), the series stars Zahn McClarnon (Westworld) and Kiowa Gordon (Roswell, New Mexico) as Navajo Tribal Police Officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, respectively. Dark Winds, which has received a six-episode order, is a psychological thriller that follows the two officers 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.

The Last Police, an adaptation of Ben Winters’ sci-fi mystery novel The Last Policeman, has received a pilot order at Fox. The hour-long project, which has a slightly different title from the book, will be written, directed, and executive produced by Kyle Killen (Lone Star). The Last Police follows a small-town police detective, who, as an asteroid races toward an apocalyptic collision with Earth, believes she’s been chosen to save humanity, while her cynical partner can’t decide what he’ll enjoy more: her delusional failure, or the end of the world itself. The book was first published in 2012 and won the Edgar Award in the category of best original paperback before being followed up by two subsequent books – Countdown City and World of Trouble.

Law & Order: For the Defense, which had been slated for a fall 2021 launch with a straight-to-series order, has been scrapped by NBC. The legal drama, which was supposed to be part of an all-Law & Order Thursday lineup alongside Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime, will be replaced on the schedule by veteran The Blacklist, which will relocate from Fridays to the Thursday 8 PM berth for its ninth season. For the Defense, which took an inside look at a criminal defense firm, had progressed to the casting stage, with offers made to name actors over the past two months.

Starz has found its lead director for the upcoming TV spinoff of John Wick, titled The Continental. Albert Hughes will direct the first and third episodes of the drama, which focuses on the origin of the hotel for assassins from the Keanu Reeves-led film franchise. Starz had initially developed the project as an ongoing series, but it was recently reported that it will now be a three-part TV event across three nights.

Amazon’s Tiger King series, which would have starred Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic (based on the story of Joe Schreibvogel), has been scrapped. The series was one of two scripted takes on the subject, the other set at Peacock starring Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell, which is still moving forward. In an interview with Variety, Cage expanded on the decision: "I read two excellent scripts... but I think Amazon ultimately felt that it was material that had become past tense because it took so long for it come together. They felt at one point that it was lighting in the bottle, but that point has since faded into the distance and it’s no longer relevant."

Alexa Davalos has been tapped as a lead opposite Julian McMahon on CBS’s FBI: Most Wanted for the show’s upcoming third season. As a new series regular, she will play an FBI agent who joins Jess’s (McMahon’s) team. From Dick Wolf and the rest of the team behind FBI, spinoff FBI: Most Wanted focuses on the Fugitive Task Force, an elite unit that relentlessly pursues and captures the notorious criminals on the Bureau’s Most Wanted list. In addition to McMahon, Davalos joins fellow series regulars Kellan Lutz, Roxy Sternberg, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Miguel Gomez.

Oliver Hudson has been tapped as a male lead opposite Elodie Yung in Fox’s new drama series, The Cleaning Lady. Hudson is joining as a new series regular in a recasting that also involved a role redevelopment. He will play FBI Agent Garrett Miller, a newly created character that will replace FBI Special Agent Gavin Ross.

The Wrap posted a list of the premiere dates for broadcast TV’s new and returning fall shows. They include the NCIS franchise series (minus the Louisiana version but with the added new Hawaii version); the FBI franchise series (with the added FBI: International); S.W.A.T.; Magnum P.I.; The Equalizer; and SEAL Team.

NBC announced its fall lineup, which includes many of the same returning crime dramas such as the "Chicago" and "Law and Order" franchises.

The new season of Britbox's modern cozy mystery series, McDonald & Dodds, premieres on August 3rd. The series follows newly promoted DCI McDonald and veteran sergeant Dodds as they investigate complex mysteries with a web of clues that has everyone guessing who are the real victims and villains. Ahead of the new season, Britbox dropped a trailer, which you can view here.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the first chapter of Haunting Dreams by Jan Christensen, read by actor Ariel Linn

Speaking of Mysteries chatted with Jeff Abbott about his aptly-named new crime fiction novel, An Ambush of Widows, (ambush is the collective noun for widows), in which two men with no apparent connection to each other are shot and killed in a warehouse in Austin, Texas.

Meet the Thriller Author spoke with former Hollywood finance exec Lorraine Evanoff about her new thriller, Pinot Noir.

Queer Writers of Crime welcomed Meredith Doench, author of the Luce Hansen thriller series.

Chris Racknor, who has a Ph.D. in physics, was the latest guest on My Favorite Detective Stories. Racknor is author of a series with disgraced physicist turned private eye, Shawn Ronin.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured a Beach Reads Roundup.





THEATRE

The Gloucester Stage in Worchester, MA, is presenting an outdoor staging of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. In the fast-paced comedy, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson must crack the mystery of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" before a family curse dooms its newest heir. The timeless duo investigate a dizzying web of clues along with three actors who deftly portray more than 40 characters. Performances run through July 25.

The Ivoryton Playhouse in the town of Essex, Connecticut (believed to be the first continuously operating, self-supporting summer theatre in the United States and listed in the National Register of Historic Places), is staging Murder for Two, a spoof by Kellen Blair and Joe Kinosian, through August 1. The show features one piano, one wannabe detective, one murder (until it’s two), two gifted actors and a lucky baker’s dozen of suspects.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Agatha Accolades

The 2021 Malice Domestic Agatha Awards winners were announced today at More Than Malice, the virtual Malice Domestic festival taking the place of an in-person event this year.  Here are the honorees:

 

Best Contemporary Novel: All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews; Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books); From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris (Kensington); The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (William Morris) 

Best Historical Novel: The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)

Also nominated: Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin); A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington); Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell (Beyond the Page Publishing); The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson (Quercus) 

Best First Novel: Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)

Also nominated: A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison (Crooked Lane Books); Winter Witness by Tina deBelgarde (Level Best Books); Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (Epicenter Press, Inc.); Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker (Kensington) 

Best Short Story: "Dear Emily Etiquette" by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)

Also nominated:  "The Red Herrings at Killington Inn" by Shawn Reilly Simmons Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories (Level Best Books); "The Boy Detective & The Summer of '74" by Art Taylor (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb); "Elysian Fields" by Gabriel Valjan California Schemin': The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology (Wildside Press); "The 25 Year Engagement" by James Ziskin In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon (Pegasus Crime) 

Best Non-Fiction: Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

Also nominated: Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody (Seal Press); American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson (G. P. Putnam); Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club); H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best Books) 

Best Children's/Young Adult: Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Piñata Books) 

Also nominated: Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers); Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers); Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin); From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (Katherine Teagen Books)

          

FFB: Trouble with Product X

Joan Aiken (1924-2004) began her writing career with YA fiction as a 16-year-old contributor for the BBC Children's Hour. Indeed, one of her most popular creations was her prize-winning Wolves of Willoughby Chase series for children. She also delved into horror and fantasy, which Todd Mason profiled on a previous FFB installment. All told, Aiken published over 90 novels for children and adults, 38 story collections, four plays, several picture books, and dozens of other short stories, many included in anthologies.



Aiken's efforts at mysteries and suspense novels won her an Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel (Night Fall) in 1972. The same touch of the quirky, whimsical inventiveness in her writing for young people often found its way into her adult crime fiction. She once said, "Stories are like butterflies, which come fluttering out of nowhere, touch down for a brief instant, may be captured, may not, and then vanish into nowhere again."



Trouble with Product X (aka Beware of the Bouquet) dates from 1966 and is one of the author's earlier novels for adults. Product X is a new perfume to be manufactured by a small company aiming to go upmarket. The ad agency hired to handle the promotion is Salmon & Bucknell, including employee Martha Gilroy, who suggests shooting a television commercial in the same remote Cornish castle where she spent her honeymoon—before her husband had a nervous breakdown and left her.



Another bad idea is to use the beautiful young Italian wife of the client as a model, as it soon becomes clear she's at the heart of a conspiracy regarding the origin of Product X. The remote TV shoot soon turns into a parade of nightmares and intrigue, including the kidnapping of a baby; monks who oppose the filming and one particularly mysterious monk who Martha thinks she recognizes; a venomous spider mailed as a "gift"; exploding soup cans; and an assortment of gothic thrills and chills that will please fans of Mary Stewart.



As The Telegraph said in Aiken's obituary, you could usually count on "slightly scatty but independent-minded young women who end up marrying slightly scatty but charming young men. Mysterious, corridor-ridden Gothic houses figure prominently, along with a variety of curses and enchantments. And there is always a strong sense of right and wrong." Although bits of that formula are present in Product X, so too is Aiken's trademark humor:

I spent a moment or two wondering where the devil I was, who the devil I was, in a weak and lackadaisical way...My mind wobbled about like a half-set jelly, full of unrelated fragments: the address of a man I'd meant to write to about detergents before coming down to Cornwall, lines from Twelfth Night, the fact that my library subscription needed renewing, a series of slogans for Bom which I'd been trying to hatch on the way down. 'Whether you're coming or going, mending or mowing, scything or sewing, reading or rowing...you need Bom, the meat'n milk drink, made from pure fresh milk and lean juicy beef. Bom, tiddly, om BOM!' I can't offhand think of any nastier beverage than Bom, but at that moment, I felt hazily that I might even have accepted a cup of the stuff if someone had offered it to me, hot.

Martha tends to muse on Bom promotions while she's in the midst of danger, but ultimately she proves to be an insightful sleuth, even as she fights her feelings for her ex and for a fellow employee who seems to be taking a suspiciously keen interest in the client's beautiful wife. The plot isn't so much a whodunit as a pleasant modern (albeit 1960s) Gothic romp.

          

Mystery Melange

 

Mystery Writers of America has established a new scholarship program in honor of the late Barbara Neely, a trailblazing Black crime novelist who was named a Grand Master by MWA in late 2019. A novelist, short story writer, and activist, Ms. Neely was best known for creating the distinctive amateur sleuth Blanche White. Ms. Neely was to be publicly honored by her colleagues and presented with the Grand Master award at the 2020 Edgar Awards banquet, but sadly, Ms. Neely passed away in March 2020 before she could be feted and honored as she deserved. After her unfortunate passing, the organization’s board of directors received permission from Ms. Neely’s family to establish an annual scholarship in her memory for a Black crime writer. After some discussion, the MWA Board of Directors decided to give out two scholarships of $2000 each per year: one for an aspiring Black writer who has yet to publish in the crime or mystery field, and another for Black authors who have already published in crime or mystery.

Bastille Day was yesterday, but you can still celebrate with this list from Mystery Fanfare of crime fiction books set in France.

Ahead of this month's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the Daily Express gathered some of the world's leading thriller writers to reveal the inspirations behind their much-loved sleuths, from Vera to Inspector Rebus and more.





In a sign that things are returning to normal, the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, hosted its first live author event since March 2020, a publication day party for T.J. Newman and her debut thriller, Falling. Owner Barbara Peters said, "We were touched and thrilled to welcome a limited number of readers into the store for our conversation which can be viewed on our FB video page."

Summer travel conjures up dreams of global vacations (at least before the pandemic). To help ease your wanderlust, Book Trib profiled "8 Historical Thrillers From Around the World."

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "A Daughter Remembers Her Father" by Charles Rammelkamp.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton chatted with Monique Gliozzi about her new thriller, Facets of the Past; over at the Shots Magazine blog, John Parker spoke with about his latest adventure featuring his troubled detective, Charlie Parker; speaking with The Guardian, Christopher Fowler explained why it was hard to let go of his detective duo of Arthur Bryant and John May who have solved their last case after twenty outings; and thriller author Karin Slaughter spoke with The Orange County Register about her new book, False Witness, and cooking with Coca-Cola.

         Related StoriesMystery MelangeMedia Murder for Monday 

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

Judas and the Black Messiah's director-producer and co-scribe Shaka King, along with producers Ryan Coogler and Charles D. King and star Lil Rel Howery, are collaborating on an untitled original movie centering around an American political insurrection. Details are being kept secret although Shaka King will be part of the writing team that he's currently assembling. Judas and the Black Messiah received six Oscar noms including Best Picture, and won for Daniel Kaluuya’s turn as Black Panthers chairman, Fred Hampton

Working Title has optioned rights to best-selling author Ruth Ware’s suspense thriller, The Turn of the Key. Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Jamie Bell (Rocketman) have signed on to write the screen adaptation of the novel, which tells the story of a young woman who stumbles across an ad to take on a position as a live-in nanny at a high-tech "smart" house in the Scottish Highlands. In spite of the extremely generous salary, a beautiful location, an incredible home and the seemingly picture-perfect family, it soon becomes clear that all is not what it seems.

Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Thomas Doherty (Gossip Girl) and Lorenza Izzo (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) will lead the cast of Fall Into Darkness, an English-language remake of Spanish thriller, La Cueva. Billed as a "Lord of the Flies survival tale," the story follows two American travelers in the Dominican Republic as they join a backpacking trip with experienced locals. When the hike takes them into the disorienting depths of a vast cave system, desperation for survival drives them to make choices that will change them forever.

Lionsgate has reportedly closed a deal for Lance Reddick to reprise his role as Charon, the concierge of New York’s Continental Hotel, in the John Wick franchise. He’s the guy who helps out Keanu Reeves’s title character whether he’s fending off bad guys or looking after Wick’s dog. Reddick joins the previously announced cast of Reeves, Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson in the Chad Stahelski-directed sequel.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICE

Apple is set to produce a series adaptation of the Garth Risk Hallberg novel, City on Fire. The project is being developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who are writing the series and will all serve as showrunners and executive producers. In City on Fire, Samantha Cicciaro, an NYU student is shot in Central Park on the 4th of July with no witnesses and very little physical evidence. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious city-wide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.

Kyle MacLachlan is set for a key role opposite Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell in Joe Exotic (working title), Peacock’s limited series based on the Wondery podcast. The project centers on Carole Baskin (McKinnon), a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel (Mitchell) is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. MacLachlan will play Howard Baskin, Carole’s (McKinnon) even-keeled husband who supports her throughout the endeavor with Joe (Mitchell). 

Lily Rabe is set as a lead alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, and Patrick Fugit in HBO Max’s Love and Death, a limited series about the true story of Texas housewife Candy Montgomery’s murder of Betty Gore in 1980. Rabe will portray Gore opposite Olsen’s Montgomery in the series from David E. Kelley, Nicole Kidman, and Lionsgate Television. Love and Death is inspired by the book, Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs and a collection of articles from Texas Monthly. The series revolves around two churchgoing couples enjoying small-town family life in Wylie, until somebody picks up an ax. 

Kaley Cuoco is in negotiations to star in and produce the "high concept" thriller, Role Play, which follows a young married couple whose life turns upside down after secrets are revealed about each other’s past. The screenplay is from Seth Owen, also wrote the 2015 Ridley Scott produced sci-fi thriller Morgan, and is said to have "a franchise-able hook." 

Virgin River‘s Benjamin Hollingsworth is set for a recurring role in Joe Pickett, the Spectrum Originals drama based on C.J Box’s novels. The ten-part series will be headlined by Michael Dorman and also features David Alan Grier, Julianna Guill, Sharon Lawrence, Mustafa Speaks, Paul Sparks, Skywalker Hughes, and Kamryn Pliva. Joe Pickett follows a game warden (Dorman) and his family as they navigate the changing political and socio-economic climate in a small rural town in Wyoming. Surrounded by rich history and vast wildlife, the township hides decades of schemes and secrets that are yet to be uncovered. Hollingsworth will portray Ote Keeley, a big game poacher whose brazen and unpredictable behavior makes him both intimidating and a bit scary.

MASTERPIECE Mystery! released a 2021 preview video on YouTube. This year's programs include Unforgotten Season 4 with a July 11 premiere (6 episodes); Guilt, with a September 5 premiere (packaged as two, 2-hour episodes); Grantchester Season 6, with an October 3 premiere (8 episodes); and Baptiste Season 2, premiering on October 17 (6 episodes).

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

On CrimeTime FM, Laura Lippman talked to Paul Burke about her new novel, Dream Girl; Baltimore; #Me TOO and racism; and why being a writer is a little like playing for a living.

The latest edition of Writer Types featured authors turned co-writers Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver talking about their new collaboration, Choose Me; Willa C Richards discussing her debut novel, The Comfort of Monsters; and there was a panel with Palm Springs Noir contributing authors Tod Goldberg, Janet Fitch, and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Susan Elia MacNeal to talk about The Hollywood Spy, the tenth installment in MacNeal’s World War Two-era series featuring Maggie Hope, a code breaker and bomb defuser.

The feature guest on Queer Writers of Crime was Christopher Murphy, an activist, artist, and author of the breakout thriller, Where The Boys Are.

Debbi Mack interviewed crime fiction writer, Richard Meredith, for the Crime Cafe podcast.

The Suspense Magazine podcast had a Q&A with Author Riley Sager (the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer), as he talked about his latest book, Survive the Night.

The latest guest on Meet the Thriller Author was Jeffrey James Higgins, a former reporter and retired supervisory special agent who writes thriller novels, creative nonfiction, short stories, and essays.

The Red Hot Chili Writers chatted with regular contributor, Amit Dhand, about his new book, The Blood Divide, and with Tariq Ashkanani about his thriller, Welcome to Cooper. Tariq also told us about the Capital Crime New Voices Award, which is open to anyone who wants to write a crime novel.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Killer Thrillers

          

FFB: A Different Kind of Summer

Gwendoline Butler (b. 1922) had limited success as a writer before she began a police procedural series featuring a young Scotland Yard Inspector, John Coffin, penning eight Coffin novels between 1956 and 1962. When Butler's husband took a job teaching in St. Andrews, Scotland, the author decided she wanted a change from Coffin and found her inspiration one day when she saw a young red-haired Scottish policewoman. She later asked the local police chief about the young officer and was told she was a recent graduate on a rapid promotion track. Thus was born the character of Detective Charmian Daniels of the fictional Deerham Hill CID and, as some have given credit to the author (written under her pen name of Jennie Melville), the birth also of the woman's police procedural.



Butler also dipped her pen into the romantic suspense well for a time, evening receiving a Romantic Novelists Association Major Award in 1981, but eventually returned to both Inspector Coffin and Detective Daniels. She went on to write over 70 novels and was a recipient of the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger in 1973 and shortlisted for the Golden Dagger for another novel.



One critic elevated Butler to a status equal to the Four Great Founding Mothers: Christie, Sayers, Allingham and Marsh, not only due to their writing, but in light of how many other elements they had in common: all well-educated (Butler lectured at Oxford), all prolific writers, all wrote on subjects other than detective fiction, and four of the group had supportive husbands. If she is not as well remembered as the others, it may be due to the fact that writers who she helped paved the way for, such as P.D. James and Ruth Rendell, eventually eclipsed her in acclaim.



Butler's writing of her female detective, Charmian Daniels, shows elements of early feminism and as the character grew through the years, Detective Daniels also reflected the changing roles of women and attitudes toward them, particularly in a traditional man's field, law enforcement. Daniels grows in her career through time and is eventually promoted to Chief Superintendent with a move to Windsor. In an interview with Clues: A Journal of Detection in 2000, Butler said, "I was determined she [Daniels] should be a success and I suppose in a sense I was basing her on what would have happened to me if I'd remained in academic life when on the whole in my day, even more so now, women do climb the ladder. I was in the generation that was expecting to be successful as a woman in whatever field they ventured."  



In Butler's A Different Kind of Summer, dating from 1967, the fifth outing for Detective Daniels, Daniels is still a sergeant when an unidentified body arrives on a train into town in a coffin minus head or hands. It's up to Daniels to figure out which of many missing women this could be, including an increasing number of young girls vanishing in London. As she gets deeper into the case, she tries to stay objective and focused even as she starts receiving menacing phone calls and has to deal with a new young assistant, Christine Quinn, and a hysterical troublemaker who claims she's lost her sister.



There's been a lot of hue and cry lately about the amount of violence against women in crime fiction novels, and a mutilated female corpse would fall into that category, but in a commentary included in the original publication of A Different Kind of Summer, Butler said that she was interested in people committing crimes and why some people, usually women, form the victim syndrome, in that the bad guys sense these victims are afraid (a reason why policewomen acting as decoys often fail to lure attackers, because their sense of confidence is too obvious).



Butler has a low-key writing style, blending social commentary with quirky characters, detailed plotting and thoughtful writing for the most part, although in general, it's her novels with Inspector John Coffin where she's had her greatest success. One wonders if writing from a woman's point of view was too close to home to provide the inspirational distance required or if perhaps the fact the author's brother was Warden of the Toynbee Settlement in London gave her more of a first-hand experience with male protagonists. In either case, with Butler's Daniels or Butler's Coffin, there's a lot of good material there, enough to show that grouping her with the "Four Great Founding Mothers" isn't that much of a stretch. If you're a fan of the "Golden Age" of detective fiction, then you'll enjoy these series.

          

Mystery Melange

The Maltese Falcon Society of Japan has announced that C.J. Box is the winner of the 2021 Maltese Falcon Award for Breaking Point, the 13th in the Joe Pickett series, as the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year. Mr. Box will receive a wood-crafted Falcon statuette. (HT to The Gumshoe Site) Previous winners have included Walter Mosley, Don Winslow, Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, and more.

Musician-turned-mystery-writer Corey Lynn Fayman took top honors in the 2021 San Diego Book Awards for Ballast Point Breakdown, a wisecracking novel that features a guitar-playing detective, Navy SEALs, and trained dolphins. This is the fourth book by Fayman, who has also worked day jobs as a keyboard player, sound-designer, and college instructor. All the stories feature Rolly Waters, an eccentric detective the author created out of "boredom and a warped sense of literary ambition."

The long-running Colorado Authors League (CAL) writing competition announced finalists this week in various categories. Those of interest to the crime fiction community include:

Best Novel: Mystery (Cozy)

Judilee Butler and GaGa Gabardi: The Last Hurrah: A Phoebe Korneal Mystery

Kate M. Lansing: Killer Chardonnay

Irv Sternberg: The Mervin Gardens Murders

Bets Novel: Mystery (Crime, Suspense)

Margaret Mizushima: Hanging Falls: A Timber Creek Mystery

Barbara Nickless: Gone to Darkness

Sheri Cobb South: Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?

Best Novel: Action, Adventure

Jodi Bowersox: The Diamond Diva Vendetta

Sheri Cobb South: Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?

Robert G. Williscroft: Operation Ice Breaker: A Mac McDowell Mission

 

Comma Press is calling for submissions to the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction, an award run in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire. The competition is open to both published and unpublished writers in the UK, and aims to seek out the best established or up and coming voices in the form. This year's theme is crime stories. The winning writer will receive £500 and will have their story published online by Northern Soul, while all shortlisted authors will be featured in an e-book anthology, published by Comma Press and sold online.





Sad news in the publishing world: Perseverance Press is closing its doors after long run. In a statement by Meredith Phillips, originally sent to the Dorothy-L Listserv, she announced that "Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co. will be going out of business soon, with the recent sad demise of John Daniel [in December 2020]. We ended our 22-year publishing history this spring on a high note: the starred PW review for Lev Raphael’s DEPARTMENT OF DEATH.

In the last two decades we’ve published over 80 books by more than 30 authors. Some of them continued longstanding series; others started new ones or wrote stand-alones; two were nonfiction writing guides. Several were award-nominated (Edgar, Shamus, Ellis, Anthony), and some of them won awards as well (Agatha, Barry, Willa). In every case, our relationships with our authors have been rich and rewarding. John and Susan Daniel’s motto for their publishing company (which was almost twice as old as the Perseverance division) was always 'Our authors are our friends' and PP/JD has maintained that. We’ve also continued the high standards and visual quality of the books, largely due to Eric Larson, our designer/typesetter/ebook magician. Susan Daniel will gradually close down the company throughout this year, but Lev’s new book will be obtainable from the usual retail venues and via our website through Dec. 31. The remaining books will be returned to their authors, along with their publishing rights...so anyone who wants to purchase should contact them directly." (HT to Sisters in Crime)

The modernist landmark Isokon Building, aka London's Lawn Road Flats—which served as Agatha Christie's wartime flat—offers a short film on Agatha Christie's residence there from 1941 to 1947. It also is presenting an exhibition on Christie in its gallery. Christie lived and wrote there while her second husband, Max Mallowan, was on assignment in the Middle East and while she was working in the dispensary of University College Hospital. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell at The Bunburyist blog)

Speaking of Dame Agatha, since it's summer, CrimeReads has an appropriate article on how the author helped popularize surfing. Cowabunga, dame!

The Spectator also took a look at "How a mysterious Harrogate hotel became a Mecca for crime fiction fans." (Hint: Agatha Christie again)

Wondering what the "most bookish" cities in the world are these days? This list might surprise you.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Heloise's Epistle" by Jennifer Lagier.

In the Q&A roundup, Deborah Kalb chatted with Hilary Davidson, author of the Lily Moore series, about her new novel, Her Last Breath; Deborah also featured interviews with Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the new mystery novel, The Hollywood Spy, the 10th in her World War II-era Maggie Hope series, and Carol Goodman, author of the new thriller, The Stranger Behind You.

         Related StoriesMystery MelangeMedia Murder for Monday 

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

Scott Adkins is in negotiations to join the cast of Lionsgate’s John Wick 4, with Keanu Reeves reprising the role of Wick. Donnie Yen, Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson are also joining the cast, with Chad Stahelski returning as director. The film, written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, is set for theatrical release on May 27, 2022.

Inbar Lavi and Jack Kesy have signed on to star in Vronika, a psychological thriller from writer/director Geert Heetebrij. Heetebrij’s debut feature centers on strong-willed Roni (Lavi) and her ambitious husband Stephen (Kesy), a stay-at-home crypto-currency day trader who manifests a twin version of his wife named Vronika (also played by Lavi), to assist him in winning trades.

Logan Marshall-Green, Matt Craven, and newcomer Ridley Asha Bateman have joined the cast of Lou. They join previously announced cast members Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett. In Lou, a young girl is kidnapped, and her mother, with no other option, teams up with the mysterious older woman next door to pursue the kidnapper – a journey into the wilderness that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts.

Sarah Goldberg and Jimmy Akingbola have joined the cast of the UK thriller, Freegard. As previously revealed, the cast is led by James Norton, Gemma Arterton, Shazad Latif, Marisa Abela, Edwina Findley, and Julian Barratt. Based on true events, the movie will chart the story of career conman, Robert Freegard, played by Norton, with Gemma Arterton as the woman who brought him down.

The John Leguizamo crime movie, Dark Blood, has been picked up for distribution in North and South America by FilmRise. The film, directed by Colombian filmmaker Harold Trompetero (Diastole systole: Los movimientos del Corazon), follows a father who is imprisoned after committing a brutal revenge crime. During his confinement he must adapt to a new life of abuse, including injury and humiliation by guards and other prisoners. Deadline provided the first trailer for the project.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICE

John Lithgow is returning to his old Dexter stomping grounds, making a "short but decisive appearance" in the Michael C. Hall-led revival of Dexter on Showtime this fall. Awarded his fifth Emmy for the role as the revered but feared “Trinity Killer” in the fourth season of the series’ original run, Lithgow’s character was soundly bumped off by Dexter Morgan himself in season-finale episode back in late 2009. This of course, raises the question of how Lithgow’s Arthur Mitchell will return, but the writers say they've "concocted a pathway for the Trinity Killer to come back that works within the larger Dexter narrative."

Antonio Banderas is set to play the Italian crime reporter Mario Spezi, who investigated one of the most notorious serial murder cases in Europe alongside American fiction writer Douglas Preston. The limited series project is based on Preston and Spezi’s book, The Monster of Florence: A True Story, the investigation into a serial killer who murdered 14 people between 1974 and 1985 in the Italian province. Preston and Spezi uncovered mistakes made by police in their investigations of the crimes, all of which were tied to young couples killed during romantic rendezvous in the Italian countryside. Preston and Spezi at one point became entangled in the case and accused by police of crimes associated with the murders.

Netflix is developing The Craving, a new thriller drama series from Escape Room director, Adam Robitel, and writer Gavin Heffernan (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension). The Craving explores "the real-world horrors of addiction through a genre lens" and centers around a female sheriff in a Colorado ski town besieged by an unprecedented new threat.

Lifetime has greenlighted Safe Space, a new original movie thriller starring Nicole Ari Parker and her husband, Boris Kodjoe, who also makes his directorial debut. Drea de Matteo, Nik Sanchez, and Mackenzie Astin also star. Safe Space centers on recently widowed Lila Jackson (Ari Parker) and her 14-year-old, autistic son Ian (Sanchez). Since the death of her husband, Lila is grateful for their kind neighbor Neil Hargrove (Kodjoe), who looks out for them. After Ian accidentally witnesses a break-in at the house across the street and records the horrific murder of the homeowner, Lila becomes embroiled in a deadly struggle to protect her son from intruders Dominic (Astin) and Rocco (De Matteo), who will stop at nothing to retrieve the video evidence of the crime and silence them. Hiding and trapped in a makeshift panic room created by her late husband, Lila and Ian must use all of their strength and intelligence to outsmart the intruders to save themselves.

Janine Nabers, who has written on HBO’s Watchmen and Netflix’s Away, has signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios. The playwright and television writer has also set up her first project in development, a tech drama called Syd. The series follows a powerful Black tech CEO who wakes up one morning to discover that a mysterious entity has hacked its way into his life. In order to regain control, he must follow a series of sinister clues.

William Fichtner has been tapped for a key role opposite Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell in Joe Exotic (working title), Peacock’s limited series based on the Wondery podcast. Fichtner will play Rick Kirkham, Joe’s (Mitchell) reality show producer in a recasting, taking over for Dennis Quaid, who had to exit the project due to a scheduling conflict. The project centers on Carole Baskin (McKinnon), a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel (Mitchell) is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy.

Wunmi Mosaku is set to join the growing ensemble of HBO’s We Own This City limited series, from The Wire’s EP David Simon and producer George Pelecanos. Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector are also on board in the cast. The series is based on Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton’s book, We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption and chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force — and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.

13 Reasons Why showrunner, Brian Yorkey, has inked a new overall deal with Netflix and has set up the limited thriller series, Echoes. The seven-episode series is described as “a mystery thriller about two identical twins, Leni and Gina, who share a dangerous secret." Since they were children, Leni and Gina have secretly swapped lives, culminating in a double life as adults: they share two homes, two husbands, and a child, but everything in their perfectly choreographed world is thrown into disarray when one of the sisters goes missing.

Allison Tolman, J.C. MacKenzie, Chris Bauer, Hamish Linklater, and Chris Messina are set for recurring roles in Starz’s Watergate drama, Gaslit, starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn. Based on the first season of the Slate podcast, Slow Burn, Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal — from Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

Michael Stuhlbarg is set as a lead in The Staircase, HBO Max’s limited series drama adaptation based on the true-crime docuseries. He joins previously announced Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Rosemarie DeWitt, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, Odessa Young, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, and Sophie Turner. The eight-episode series, from Christine director Antonio Campos and American Crime Story writer Maggie Cohn, explores the life of Michael Peterson (Firth), his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen (Collette). Stuhlbarg will play David Rudolf, Michael Peterson’s criminal defense attorney.

Telma Hopkins, Linda Park, and Vanessa Marano are set as series regulars opposite Shanola Hampton and Dascha Polanco in the NBC pilot, Dangerous Moms. Written by Janine Sherman Barrois and based on the Spanish series, Señoras del (h)Ampa, Dangerous Moms is an off-center dark dramedy about four diverse mothers who accidentally kill the queen bee of their school’s PTA during the demonstration of a new high-end food processor. The story becomes a female anthem about friendship and family as it tells the story of one completely unprepared group of women who must juggle their everyday lives while their worlds are turned upside down.

Agent Clinton Skye won’t be returning to FBI: Most Wanted. Nathaniel Arcand’s Clinton Skye was introduced in the 18th episode of the first season of the mothership FBI series, which served as the backdoor pilot for the spinoff. He appeared in the first 14 episodes of the 15-episode first season of the spinoff, but only three episodes in Season 2. FBI: Most Wanted is a high-stakes drama that focuses on the Fugitive Task Force, a unit that relentlessly pursues and captures the notorious criminals on the Bureau’s Most Wanted list. The series stars Julian McMahon, Kellan Lutz, Roxy Sternberg, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Miguel Gomez.

ABC has decided not to go forward with the Kevin Costner-executive produced National Parks Investigation. The crime drama, starring Billy Campbell, will be shopped around to other networks.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Author Cate Holahan (Her Three Lives) joined Eric Beetner from the co-host seat on Writer Types as they chatted with guests Tracy Clark (Runner) and Morgan Cry (Thirty-One Bones).

Read or Dead tackled mysteries that work great on audio in celebration of Audiobook Appreciation Month.

Speaking of Mysteries spoke with Hilary Davidson about her new psychological thriller, Her Last Breath.

This week's guest on Queer Writers of Crime was Ann McMan, author of twelve novels and two collections of short stories. She is a two-time Lambda Literary Award winner, a nine-time winner of Golden Crown Literary Society Awards, a three-time IPPY medalist, a Foreword Indies finalist, and a recipient of the Alice B. Medal for her outstanding body of work

Meet the Thriller Author welcomed Mary Keliikoa, author of the Lefty and Agatha award nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series and the upcoming Misty Pines mystery series featuring Sheriff Jax Turner, slated for release in September 2022.

CrimeTime FM featured Sarah Vaughan (Anatomy of a Scandal) and Harriet Tyce (Blood Orange) discussing courtroom dramas, the lure of the wig and gown, and why British writers shouldn’t be talking about the gavel.





A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up, this one featuring the mystery short story, "Pig Lickin' Good," by Debra Goldstein as read by actor Ariel Linn. The story takes place on the 4th of July, perfect for your holiday-themed listening.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has a tradition of including work written by writing teams and collaborators. Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet, who have been writing together for more than forty years as Hal Charles, saw their fiction debut in the magazine’s Department of First Stories. In this month’s podcast, Hal Blythe reads “Draw Play” by Hal Charles from the May 2003 issue.

The Criminal Mischief podcast with Dr. D.P. Lyle investigated "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning" and its potentially criminal applications.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday