B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 9
June 2, 2025
Media Murder for Monday
[image error]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
Miramax won an bidding war for Supermax, a "high-concept" spec script written by David Weil and David J. Rosen, best known for their work on the TV series Hunters and Invasion. The new project, Supermax, is described as "a propulsive and twist-laden action thriller" that follows two FBI agents investigating a murder that has taken place in the world’s most secure prison.
Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Issa Rae (Insecure) is set to star in and produce Good People, Bad Things. Written and directed by Scottish filmmaker Ninian Doff (Get Duked!), the projected, described as a "comedic thriller," follows an overwhelmed woman (Rae) who gets lost in a seemingly infinite parking garage and soon discovers she is not alone.
Former NFL star Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski (The Roaring Game), Sistine Stallone (47 Meters Down: Uncaged), and Mischa Barton (The O.C.) are among the latest additions to Bad News on the Doorstep, the 1950s mafia crime thriller starring Chazz Palminteri and Robert Davi and their sons, Dante Palminteri and Nick Davi. Other new additions include Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager), Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever), Federico Castelluccio (The Sopranos), Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), Ed Marinaro (Blue Mountain State), John Fiore (The Sopranos), Kea Ho (Junction), Rob Goon (The Roaring Game) and Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna (Bleed for This). Filmed in Rhode Island, Bad News on the Doorstep unfolds as a poignant coming-of-age narrative chronicling the lives of Frank and Gino, two Italian-American high-school football prodigies amidst the gritty backdrop of late 1950s New Jersey. Beyond the gridiron, they confront a myriad of trials, from the complexities of post-football existence to the allure of delving into the underworld of organized crime.
Netflix unveiled the first trailer for the third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man, once again starring Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc. "The impossible crime," Craig says in the trailer, referring to a murder he must solve: "This is the Holy Grail." The film will be released globally on December 12 and also stars Josh O’Connor Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
Netflix has unveiled the first teaser for The Thursday Murder Club, its anticipated adaptation of the international bestseller by Richard Osman that is set to premiere August 28. Directed by Chris Columbus, the murder mystery stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as four irrepressible retirees — Elizabeth (Mirren), Ron (Brosnan), Ibrahim (Kingsley) and Joyce (Imrie) — who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
Apple and A+E Studios have set a new, as-yet-untitled series based on the novels of Lars Kepler (a pseudonym for writing partners Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril), starring Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), and Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire). Rowan Joffe and John Hlavin will co-showrun the project and executive produce alongside Tim Van Patten, who will direct the first two episodes. The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer, Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his adopted daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?
Oscar winner J.K. Simmons has been tapped as the lead of The Westies, MGM+'s upcoming period crime drama series from co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner Chris Brancato. Co-created by Brancato and Michael Panes, The Westies is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall for the Irish-American organized crime gang. Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia. Simmons will play Eamon Sweeney, the charismatic but ruthless leader of The Westies whose old-school charm and neighborhood loyalty mask fierce criminal ambition and calculated brutality.
Following the 2024 launch of The Darkness, the Icelandic series based on his Dimma novel series, author Ragnar Jónasson is expanding his partnership with Stampede Ventures and producer John-Paul Sarni via the launch of Dimma Pictures. The new venture will produce film and television projects from Jónasson’s catalogue of IP, as well as writers from across Scandinavia and Europe. As of now, the company has several TV projects in motion, including Jónasson’s psychological thriller, The Girl Who Died; Reykjavík: A Crime Story, co-written by Jónasson and Katrin Jakobsdóttir; and Snowblind, a TV adaptation of Jónasson’s Dark Iceland book series, to star Þorvaldur Davíð Kristjánsson.
CBS's Watson just wrapped its 13-episode first season, but fans will have to wait a bit for the aftermath of the finale that revealed Moriarty’s fate. The medical drama with a Sherlock twist is not on the network's fall schedule and will instead return in January, airing Sundays at 10 p.m. Following CBS’s fall schedule reveal earlier this month, the network’s Entertainment President, Amy Reisenbach, explained that it was due to a full schedule with "no other real logical place for it," primarily because the network will use Watson's fall slot to launch the new Taylor Sheridan-produced music competition series, The Road.
The Indian adaptation of Monk has found its lead detective in Ram Kapoor, who will play Armaan Mistry in the series. Mistry is ostensibly the Indian version of Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk, a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who worked with the San Francisco Police Department on unconventional cases. Mona Singh (Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin) plays ACP Sehmat Siddiqui, while Shikha Talsania (Wake Up Sid) and Kshitish Date (Mulshi Pattern) also star. It marks the first adaptation of the series in South Asia, after the original Monk ran on USA Network from 2002 – 2009 and spawned a movie that aired on Peacock in 2023.
Melissa George (The Mosquito Coast) is set to star in Ms. X, a new crime dramedy commissioned by Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV3 in New Zealand and expected to premiere next spring. Written and created by New Zealanders Hannah Marshall and David de Lautour, Ms. X centers on a suburban mum (George) who teams up with an old high school friend to scare her cheating husband into staying faithful. But when things turn (accidentally) homicidal, she is pulled into a criminal underworld, caught between the cops, the cartel, and a vicious PTA.
PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
NPR's Terry Gross interviewed James Patterson on Fresh Air about his career and the "voices that keep him up at night."
On the Spybrary podcast, Paul Vidich stopped by to discuss his new novel, The Poet's Game, a contemporary espionage thriller rooted in the tense geopolitics of modern-day Russia and the United States.
Wrong Place, Write Crime host, Frank Zafiro, spoke with Derrick Jackson about his new book, Shadow One, and many of his experiences as an OSI agent that *aren't* in the book.
On Crime Time FM, Thomas Trang chatted with Paul Burke about Dark Neon Dirt, LA heists, Caravaggio, Hollywood money, Elmore Leonard, and Andor.
Authors on the Air welcomed Eliot Parker, author of Double-Crossed, his latest thriller featuring Ronan McCullough.
Pick Your Poison profiled a toxin used by Nazis that's treated with vitamins and is potent enough to kill a moose in 20 minutes; also a poison where the antidote changes the color of your blood and skin.
Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday
May 31, 2025
May 30, 2025
2025 Canadian Awards of Excellence Winners
Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the winners of the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents. This year, the CWC is also sponsoring a very special presentation of the Derrick Murdoch Award, which is celebrated every two years, honoring those who have contributed greatly to the development of crime writing in Canada through their work as writers, editors, producers, publicists, and organizers. The 2025 recipient is William H. Deverell, a distinguished Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer.
The Miller-Martin Award for Best Crime Novel : Conor Kerr, Prairie Edge (Strange Light, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada)
Other finalists:
Colin Barrett, Wild Houses (McClelland & Stewart)
Jaima Fixsen, The Specimen (Poisoned Pen Pressed Pen Press)
John MacLachlan Gray, Mr. Good-Evening (Douglas & McIntyre)
Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf (Minotaur Books)
Best Crime First Novel : Ashley Tate, Twenty-Seven Minutes (Doubleday Books Canada)
Other finalists:
Suzan Denoncourt, The Burden of Truth (Suzan Denoncourt)
Peter Holloway, The Roaring Game Murders (Bonspiel Books)
Jim McDonald, Altered Boy (Amalit Books)
Marianne K. Miller, We Were the Bullfighter (Dundurn Press)
Best Crime Novel Set in Canada: Shane Peacock, As We Forgive Others (Cormorant Books)
Other finalists:
Brenda Chapman, Fatal Harvest (Ivy Bay Press)
Barry W. Levy, The War Machine (Double Dagger Books)
Greg Rhyno, Who By Fire (Cormorant Books)
Kerry Wilkinson, The Call (Bookouture)
The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery : Thomas King, Black Ice (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Other finalists:
Cathy Ace, The Corpse with the Pearly Smile (Four Tails Publishing Ltd.)
Raye Anderson, The Dead Shall Inherit (Signature Editions)
Susan Juby, A Meditation on Murder (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Jonathan Whitelaw, Concert Hall Killer (HarperNorth/ HarperCollins Canada)
Best Crime Novella: Pamela Jones, The Windmill Mystery, Austin Macauley Publishers
Other finalists:
Marcelle Dubé, Chuck Berry is Missing , Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
Liz Ireland, Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper, Kensington
A.J. McCarthy, A Rock, Black Rose Writing
Twist Phelan, Aim, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Best Crime Short Story : Therese Greenwood, "Hatcheck Bingo," from The 13th Letter, Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem, Carrick Publishing
Other finalists:
Catherine Astolfo, "Farmer Knudson," from Auntie Beers: A Book of Connected Short Stories, Carrick Publishing
Billie Livingston, "Houdini Act," Saturday Evening Post
Linda Sanche, "The Electrician," from Crime Waves, Dangerous Games, A Canada West Anthology
Melissa Yi, "The Longest Night of the Year," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) : Guillaume Morrissette, Une mémoire de lion (Saint-Jean)
Other finalists:
L. Blanchard, La femme papillon ( Fides)
Lavallée, Le crime du garçon exquis ( Fides)
Jean Lemieux, L’Affaire des montants ( Québec Amérique)
Johanne Seymour, Fracture (Libre Expression)
Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book : Sigmund Brouwer, Shock Wave, Orca Book Publishers
Other finalists:
Meagan Mahoney, The Time Keeper , DCB Young Readers
Twist Phelan, Snowed , Bronzeville Books, LLC
David A. Poulsen, The Dark Won't Wait, Red Deer Press
Melissa Yi, The Red Rock Killer, Windtree Press
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime : (tie) Denise Chong, Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse, Random House Canada and Tanya Talaga, The Knowing, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Other finalists:
Nate Hendley, Atrocity on the Atlantic: Attack on a Hospital Ship During the Great War, Dundurn Press
John L. Hill, The Rest of the [True Crime] Story, AOS Publishing
Dean Jobb , A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Best Unpublished Crime Novel : Luke Devlin, Govern Yourself Accordingly
Other finalists:
Robert Bowerman, The Man in The Black Hat
Delee Fromm, Dark Waters
Lorrie Potvin, A Trail's Tears
William Watt, Predators in the Shadows
Related Stories2025 CWA Daggers ShortlistsAnthony AccoladesCrimefest Awards Shortlists
Friday's "Forgotten" Books - The Midnight Plumber
[image error]British author Maurice Procter (1906–1973) worked faithfully as a Police Constable in Yorkshire for nineteen years, with part of his time spent on motorcycle patrol. He was also involved in the investigation of the Halifax Slasher in 1938. All during his time on the force, however, he harbored a secret desire to write crime novels and kept his hobby hidden from his colleagues until his first book was due to be published, when he promptly resigned.
Being the first British author to specialize in police procedurals would have been enough to make him stand out in the crowd, but Procter's background led an air of credibility and authority to his works that made them popular. His first series didn't appear until 1951 with two back-to-back titles featuring Chief Inspector Philip Hunter, but he reached his peak with a fourteen-book series begun in 1954 with Hell Is a City and ending with Hideaway in 1968, all featuring Chief Inspector Martineau.
Procter invented cities and towns for settings, chiefly the city of Granchester, likely a stand-in for Manchester or Liverpool. Granchester is an inland port called the "Metropolis of the North," a police force 1,100 strong with its own forensic experts that believes they can hold their own with Scotland Yard. Martineau's superintendent realizes his man is a born detective better at solving cases than merely supervising others, something Martineau puts to the test most of the time.
[image error]The Midnight Plumber is the second outing with Inspector Martineau and puts Martineau and his men, including the normally-stalwart Detective Sergeant Devery, in the position of having to track down a swift and ruthless gang of burglars whose leader is known only as "The Plumber." But the police have a problem finding leads among the usual police informants who don't want to get involved for fear of getting killed for their troubles, something The Plumber has already demonstrated he's more than willing to do. Martineau's substantial skills are put to the test, and his patience, too, as he deals with Devery's affair with a criminal's wife on top of everything else.
Procter uses his work background to good effect in his novels, weaving in procedural tips and insights (from a 1950s UK point of view), although his methods may seem unusual at times, like going undercover as a gypsy. In his foreword to the Black Dagger reprint, Martin Edwards notes that although this may seem outlandish at first, Procter is careful to point out in the story that Martineau is taking his cues from the police handbook by Dr. Hans Gross, Criminal Investigation. Procter also manages to maintain a tight pace even after the identity of The Plumber is revealed by using a technique he'd turn to often, the POV reversal: switching back and forth between criminal in flight and the police, leading to what Martin Edwards called "a splendid, savage irony" in the very last sentence of the novel.
Although this particular novel wasn't made into a movie or TV program, a few of Procter's novels were, including the first Martineau work, Hell is a City, released in 1960 and starring Stanley Baker, Billie Whitelaw and Donald Pleasence. Interestingly Procter's works are collected and available for inspection at the Howard B. Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University, Massachusetts, as part of the Sam Wanamaker Collection that contains the actor/director's manuscripts, correspondence, and production files.
Related StoriesFriday's "Forgotten" Book: Final ProofFriday's "Forgotten" Books: Murder Before MatinsFriday's "Forgotten Books" - The Night the Gods Smiled
May 29, 2025
Mystery Melange
The Romantic Novelists Association announced the winners of their 2025 awards in various categories, including Romantic Thriller, won by Whatever it Takes by Joy Wood (Self Published). The other finalists in the category include Cold Fury by Toni Anderson (Self Published); The Memory of Us by Dani Atkins (Aria/Head of Zeus); Freja Born by Jessi A. Charles (Austin McCauley); and Deadly Treasures by Jane McParkes (Self Published).
The longlist was announced for the 2025 Davitt Awards, an honor bestowed by Sisters in Crime Australia, which has celebrated Aussie women’s crime writing since 1991. Judges whittled down 129 eligible books to compile the longlist of 29 titles in four categories. The shortlist will be revealed in July, with winners announced at the Davitt Awards Gala Ceremony in August or September. At the gala, two additional awards will be revealed: Best Debut Book (any category) and Readers’ Choice (as voted the 600+ members of Sisters in Crime Australia). The Davitts are named after Ellen Davitt, the author of Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, in 1865.
This Saturday, May 31st, the 2025 Sacramento Book Festival will include a Thriller Panel, featuring Simon Wood, James L’Etoile, Terry Shames, Richard Meredith, and Anne Da Vigo, along with moderator, Robin Burcell. Burcell will also serve as moderator for a second panel on Mystery & Crime, featuring Karen Phillips, Jennifer Morita, Cara Black, Cindy Sample, and Claire Booth. The luncheon keynote address speaker is James Rollins, the New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers, whose writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books.
Noir at the Bookstore will hit One More Page Books on June 12th in Arlington, Virginia, with E.A. Aymar moderating. Authors scheduled to read from their works include John Copenhaver (Hall of MIrrors) Libby Klein (Vice and Virtue); Vera Kurian (A Step Past Darkness); KT Nguyen (You Know What You Did); Brendan Slocumb (The Dark Maestro); and Aggie Blum Thompson (You Deserve to Know). In addition to also regularly hosting D.C. Noir at the Bar, author E.A. Aymar (When She Left) is a frequent contributor to the Washington Post, former member of the national board of the International Thriller Writers, and an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Sisters in Crime.
The ghostwriters and editing firm Kevin Anderson & Associates are the new sponsors of the coveted Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) Gold Dagger, which recognizes the best crime novel by an author of any nationality, originally written in English and first published in the UK during the judging period. The award has been given annually since 1960 (between 1955 and 1959, it was called the Crossed Red Herring Award). Previous honorees have include John le Carré, P.D. James, Colin Dexter, Ruth Rendell, Mick Herron, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, and Chris Whitaker. (HT to Promoting Crime Fiction)
Malden, Massachusetts, honored its native son, author-attorney Erle Stanley Gardner, by unveiling a mural by Fred Seager on May 19 that pays tribute to Gardner's iconic Perry Mason mysteries. Gardner was born in Malden in 1889, moving to California with his family when he was 10 years old. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)
This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 is "Red Vase" by Kenneth Pobo.
In the Q&A roundup, Publishers Weekly interviewed Denise Mina about her books and their police detectives, forensic scientists, a reporter, a psychiatric patient—all who have one thing in common with their creator: they are all imperfect or messy in one way or another; Crime Fiction Lover spoke with Andrew Raymond, author of the Novak and Mitchell political thriller series, and the Duncan Grant spy thriller series as well as a newer series featuring DCI Lomond, a Glasgow detective; husband-and-wife writing duo Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski stopped by The Stiletto Gang blog to talk about their writing; Crime Fiction Lover chatted with Timothy Jay Smith about his latest thriller set in Greece, Fire on the Island; Megan Abbott was interviewed by The Washington Post about her new novel, El Dorado Drive, and what keeps her motivated; and People Magazine spoke with Gillian Flynn, author of bestsellers like Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, about her writing and her new imprint, Gillian Flynn Books.
Related StoriesMystery Melange
2025 CWA Daggers Shortlists
The UK's Crime Writers’ Association announced the shortlists for the annual Dagger Awards, one of the most prestigious honors in the world of crime writing. The 2025 awards include two new categories: The Twisted Dagger, which celebrates "psychological thrillers and dark and twisty tales that often feature unreliable narrators, disturbed emotions, a healthy dose of moral ambiguity, and a sting in the tail"; and The Whodunnit Dagger, for books that "focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery, including cozy crime, traditional crime, and Golden Age-inspired mysteries." The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner on July 3. Congrats to all the finalists!
GOLD DAGGER
A Divine Fury by D V Bishop (Macmillan)
The Bell Tower by R J Ellory (Orion)
The Hunter by Tana French (Penguin Books Ltd)
Guide Me Home by Attica Locke (Profile Books Ltd)
Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola (Orion)
I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel (Bedford Square Publishers)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Dark Ride by Lou Berney (Hemlock Press/ HarperCollins)
Nobody's Hero by M W Craven (Constable/Little Brown, Hachette)
Sanctuary by Garry Disher (Viper/Profile Books)
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill & Secker/ Penguin Random House)
Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville (Simon & Schuster)
City in Ruins by Don Winslow (Hemlock Press/HarperCollins)
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Miss Austen Investigates by Jessica Bull (Penguin Random House/ Michael Joseph)
Knife River by Justine Champine (Bonnier Books UK/ Manilla Press)
Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten (Penguin Random House/ Hamish Hamilton)
A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder by Gay Marris (Bedford Square Publishers)
All Us Sinners by Katy Massey (Little, Brown /Sphere)
Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (Bonnier Books UK/ Zaffre)
HISTORICAL DAGGER
A Divine Fury by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
Banquet of Beggars by Chris Lloyd (Orion Fiction/Orion Publishing)
The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola (Orion Fiction/Orion Publishing)
The Betrayal of Thomas True by A.J. West (Orenda Books)
Poor Girls by Clare Whitfield (Aries / Head of Zeus)
CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Dogs and Wolves by Hervé Le Corre (Europa Editions UK) tr. Howard Curtis
Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre (Maclehose Press) tr. Frank Wynne
The Night of Baby Yaga by Akira Otani (Faber & Faber) tr. Sam Bett
The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Rämö (Zaffre) tr. Kristian London
Butter by Asako Yuzuki (4th Estate) tr. Polly Barton
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán (4th Estate) tr. Sophie Hughes
GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Unmasking Lucy Let by Jonathan Coffey & Judith Moritz (Seven Dials)
The Lady in the Lake by Jeremy Craddock (Mirror Books)
Framed by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Criminal Mind by Duncan Harding (PRH/Michael Joseph)
Four Shots in the Night by Henry Hemming (Quercus)
The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury Circus)
SHORT STORY DAGGER
"The Glorious Twelfth" by S.J Bennett in Midsummer Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
"A Date on Yarmouth Pier" by J.C Bernthal in Midsummer Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
"Why Harrogate?" by Janice Hallett in Murder in Harrogate, edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)
"City Without Shadows" by William Burton McCormick in Midsummer Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
"A Ruby Sun" by Meeti Shroff-Shah in Midsummer Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
"Murder at the Turkish Baths" by Ruth Ware in Murder in Harrogate, edited by Vaseem Khan, (Orion Publishing Group/ Orion Fiction)
WHODUNNIT DAGGER
A Death in Diamonds by SJ Bennett, (Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)
Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani,(Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)
The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl by Lisa Hall, (Hera Hera)
A Good Place to Hide a Body by Laura Marshall, (Hodder & Stoughton )
A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah, (Joffe Books)
Murder at the Matinee, by Jamie West, (Brabinger Publishing)
TWISTED DAGGER
Emma, Disappeared by Andrew Hughes (Hachette Books Ireland)
Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings (HarperCollins/ HQ FICTION)
The Stranger In Her House by John Marrs (Amazon Publishing/ Thomas & Mercer)
The Trials Of Marjorie Crowe by CS Robertson (Hodder & Stoughton)
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra: (PRH/ Viking)
Look In The Mirror by Catherine Steadman (Quercus)
DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
Kate Atkinson
Robert Galbraith
Janice Hallett
Lisa Jewell
Edward Marston
Richard Osman
PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER
Bitter Lemon Press
Faber & Faber
Orenda Books
Pan Macmillan
Simon & Schuster
EMERGING AUTHOR DAGGER
Bahadur Is My Name by Loftus Brown,
Funeral Games by Shannon Chamberlain
Soho Love, Soho Blood by Hywel Davies
Ashland by Joe Eurell
The Fifth by Shannon Falkson,
Murder Under Wraps by Catherine Lovering
Related StoriesAnthony AccoladesCrimefest Awards ShortlistsThe Excellence of Edgar
May 27, 2025
Author R&R with N.L. Holmes
[image error]N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist who attended The University of Texas but dropped out midway to enter into the antiques business. Two years later, she entered the Discalced Carmelite convent in Texas. She left the convent twenty years later and returned to school to get her B.A. in Classical Studies and then a doctorate from Bryn Mawr College. She has since excavated in Greece and Israel and conducted archaeological artwork for excavations from Lebanon. She also taught ancient history and humanities at Stockton University in New Jersey and the University of South Florida for many years. Her fourteen published novels embrace two series of historical fiction: the Lord Hani Mysteries, set in the Egypt of Akhenaten, and the Empire at Twilight series, featuring life in the Hittite Empire in the 13th century BCE.
[image error]The Lord Hani Mysteries center on Neferet, a young woman physician of ancient Egypt, and Bener-ib, the woman of her heart, who just want to help the people of a working class neighborhood of Thebes. But murder victims keep showing up. With the help of Neferet's father Hani and their teenaged apprentice, the two women find themselves launched on a whole new career. In the latest installment, Melody of Evil, a corpse washes up on the riverbank at Lord Hani’s country house, and Neferet, Bener-ib, and apprentice Mut-tuy head for the local village to try to identify it. But they find themselves entangled in a web of murder and lies in the heart of a family of weavers. Can the perseverance of three determined women and the bonds of parental love win out, or will Neferet herself become the next victim?
N.L. Holmes stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about researching and writing the series:
The thing that makes historical novels so wonderful to read — and to write — is the amount of research it necessarily takes to bring a time and place in the past vividly to life. The author needs to have a deep and broad picture of her world in all its details, even if she never uses them, in order for that world to come across as natural and believable and not just a parade of half digested factoids. I've read books (and I'm sure you have too) that crammed such facts down the reader's throat in an inorganic way that seemed to say "Look how much I know." Ugh!
My books are set in the Bronze Age Near East, either in Egypt or in the Hittite Empire. As an archaeologist and professor of ancient history, I had a fair amount of background knowledge before I ever started writing, but I prepped for each series by reading heavily about the time, its historical lead-up, any characters who were real people, and anything I could learn about daily life in all its aspects. The size of my research library testifies to my obsessiveness about this! My principle is that anything we know for certain about a person or period must be observed. If I make any exceptions to this rule (and I have made one or two for the sake of the story), then I'm sure to inform the reader up front. People take seriously what we tell them about the past, and they should be able to trust us. Just because we write fiction doesn't absolve us from being accurate. That being said, there's a lot we don't know about "way back then", and that's a legitimate field for filling in with plausible reconstructions of life. However, the judgment about what's plausible is best made from a place of extreme familiarity with the culture.
Almost all my books are based on real historical events and people. I had to read all references to those folks that turn up in documents and everything sources tell us about how events went down. Then, armed with those few solid facts, I asked, "What actually happened to produce this result? What would the human cost have been? Why might this person have made the choices he did?" I think boring down on the human aspect of history is what make it interesting. I you only know dates and treaties and battles, it's sterile and boring, much the way it's often taught in middle school. Lord Hani, for example, is a real historical diplomat who is mentioned frequently over many years in the Amarna Letters, a happily preserved set of diplomatic correspondences chronicling the reigns of Amenhotep IV and his son Akhenaten, the "Heretic pharaoh." I practically memorized the various references to Hani, then I considered what sort of man he must have been to be entrusted with important missions over twenty years. The king said of him, "Everybody's happy when Hani comes," and that tells us something very important about his human side. This is how research underlies every choice the writer makes about plot and character.
After this initial layer of research, I find there are just little specialized sorts of details to learn about. For instance, each of the Hani's Daughter Mysteries deals with a different profession in ancient Egypt, so I find out whatever we know about each of these worlds to provide the story with lifelike details. There's always the danger that doing more and more and MORE research can take the place of actually writing. It's fun and low-stakes and can become a distraction from ever really getting started on the book. My rule of thumb is do a lot of general background, then just-start-the-heck-writing. Don't wait till you feel sure you know everything. Additional details can be researched as you come to them.
You can learn more about N.L. Holmes via her website and follow her on LinkedIn and Facebook. The Melody of Evil is now available via all major booksellers.
Related StoriesAuthor R&R with Mike CobbAuthor R&R with Jeremy D. BakerAuthor R&R with R. John Dingle
May 26, 2025
Media Murder for Monday
[image error]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
Ketchup Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the thriller, Misdirection, starring Frank Grillo (Superman), Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion), and Oliver Trevena (Plane), slating it for release later this year. Directed by Kevin Lewis, the filmmaker best known for his Nicolas Cage-led genre-bender, Willy’s Wonderland, the thriller Misdirection follows a couple driven to carry out a series of high-end heists to pay off a dangerous mob debt. When their latest break-in — targeting a prominent defense attorney — spirals out of control, the pair find themselves caught in a web of secrets, deception, and deadly consequences.
Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale) and Robert Davi (License to Kill) have signed on to star in the upcoming mafia crime thriller, Bad News on the Doorstep, and their sons, Dante Palminteri (Rocky’s) and Nick Davi (Paper Empire) will take on lead roles. Directed by Tom DeNucci (Vault), Bad News at the Doorstep is described as a poignant coming-of-age narrative chronicling the lives of Frank and Gino, two Italian-American high-school football prodigies amidst the gritty backdrop of late 1950s New Jersey. Beyond the gridiron, they confront a myriad of trials, from the complexities of post-football existence to the allure of delving into the underworld of organized crime.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
Netflix has landed an adaptation of The Secret of Secrets, from author Dan Brown and showrunner Carlton Cuse (Lost; Jack Ryan; Locke and Key), with a series order. The currently untitled drama is set in the world of Brown’s mystery thriller, The Secret of Secrets, the sixth book in his series about Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon, set for a September 9 release by Doubleday. In the book, symbologist Robert Langdon races against ancient forces and time to rescue a missing scientist and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind. Casting for the series is underway.
Executive producer Ryan Murphy is in early development on The Shards for FX, based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, with Max Winkler (American Horror Story) on board to direct and Kaia Gerber set to star. The semi-autobiographical book follows a 17-year-old version of Ellis in his senior year at Buckley prep school in 1981. When a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, comes to campus, Ellis believes that he may have something to do with the activities of a serial killer nearby, known as The Trawler.
A drama project from The Loudest Voice co-creator, Alex Metcalf, has landed at HBO for development after a bidding war. Titled Baby Queen, it's based on the upcoming debut novel of the same name by southern crime fiction writer Ty Landers. Baby Queen centers on Natalie Link who returns home to take over her family’s honey business — but when a body is discovered on the property, three generations of women are forced to confront the secrets, betrayals, and buried crimes that haunt their Southern legacy. The novel is set in Landers’s home state of Alabama.
Prime Video has set Wednesday, July 9 for the premiere of the Bosch spinoff, Ballard, starring Maggie Q. All 10 episodes will be released at once, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Inspired by the work of bestselling author Michael Connelly, Ballard follows Detective Renée Ballard (Q) as she leads the LAPD’s new and underfunded cold case division, tackling the city’s most challenging long-forgotten crimes with empathy and relentless determination. As she peels back layers of crimes spanning decades, including a serial killer’s string of murders and a murdered John Doe, she soon uncovers a dangerous conspiracy within the LAPD. With the help of her volunteer team and retired detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), Detective Ballard navigates personal trauma, professional challenges, and life-threatening dangers to expose the truth. In addition to Q, the series cast includes Courtney Taylor, John Carroll Lynch, Michael Mosley, Rebecca Field, Victoria Moroles, Amy Hill, Ricardo Chavira, Noah Bean, Alain Uy, and Hector Hugo.
The Marlow Murder Club, based on Robert Thorogood's novel, has officially been renewed for a third season in the UK and on PBS. The Marlow Murder Club is a lighthearted cozy mystery set in the small but affluent British town of Marlow, where three unlikely amateur sleuths come together to tackle some puzzling mysteries with wit and humor. In the third season, now an established part of newly promoted DI Tanika Malik’s (Natalie Dew) crime-solving team, the trio of retired archaeologist Judith Potts (Samantha Bond), dog walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin), and vicar’s wife Becks Starling (Cara Horgan) are back and bringing their unconventional methods to a string of high-profile murders. Season 2 will premiere August 24, 2025 on PBS's MASTERPIECE.
PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
Graphic Audio will release a new full-cast dramatization in June of Elizabeth Peters's Crocodile on the Sandbank, the first in her series with 19th-century Egyptologist Amelia Peabody (later Emerson). The intrepid Amelia, armed with her trusty parasol, faces skullduggery on an archaeological dig, including a rampaging mummy. (HT to The Bunburyist)
On Crime Time FM, host Victoria Selman spoke with Clare Leslie Hall about her novel, Broken Country, and Guy Morpuss about his new title, A Trial in Three Acts.
The latest episode of Murder Junction featured an interview with thriller writing legend Jeffery Deaver about his new book, South of Nowhere, featuring Colter Shaw, a "rewardist."
THEATRE
A new stage adaptation of Josephine Tey's classic detective novel The Daughter of Time is coming to London’s Charing Cross Theatre this summer. The Daughter of Time will run for a limited season from July 18 to September 13, 2025. The thriller mixes history, myth, and romance, and is adapted from Tey’s novel by M. Kilburg Reedy and directed by Jenny Eastop. Set in London in 1950, the story follows Inspector Alan Grant, who is laid up in hospital and decides to investigate the alleged crimes of Richard III and the murder of the Princes in the Tower as a "cold case file."
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Friday's "Forgotten" Book: Final Proof
[image error]Marie R. Reno (1929-2008) started out as an assistant society editor of the Rock Island Argus before going to New York to pursue a career in publishing. From 1966 to 1973, she was editor of the Mystery Guild, and in December 1973, she edited and wrote the introduction to A Treasury of Modern Mysteries. She also became fiction editor of This Week Magazine, the Sunday supplement to the New York Herald Tribune, and eventually executive editor of Literary Guild, a position she held for many years. She was nominated in 1977 for an Edgar Award for her first novel, Final Proof.
At the beginning of the Final Proof, Marcia Richardson is found in her home office, shot twice through the head at close range by a .22 revolver and slumped over a set of galley proofs. Although her fingers had been wrapped around the gun in an attempt to make the death look like suicide, there's little doubt she's been murdered. Marcia was editorial director of the Readers' Circle, one of the Big Three book clubs along with Book-of-the-Month and the Literary Guild, and in the small, interconnected world of New York publishing, Marcia's death is talk of the town.
Marcia's friend and colleague, Karen Lindstrom, editor of the Mystery, Suspense and Intrigue line, finds herself working with, and at cross-purposes to, Lieutenant Jack Morrison of the NYPD. At first, he merely seems fascinated by Karen's endless fount of information about the publishing world and isn't particularly thrilled to have her assistance. As the case grinds on, Karen and the Lieutenant find themselves drawn to each other in personal ways that could jeopardize the investigation.
As the publishing world seems to change almost daily in our current day, it's a bit of a throwback to read about a segment of the literary establishment that's shrinking, perhaps disappearing altogether. However, some of the author's observations (speaking through the likely-autobiographical character of Lindstrom) are timeless:
We're caught up in such a tide of manuscripts and galleys that we get sort of jaded. I mean, every once in a while something comes along that I really love, but six months later I'd have a hard time remembering it.
The tough thing is dealing with author. All those fragile egos.
There's a lot of sly humor and oblique poking fun at the industry, and if you want some light entertainment with a touch of publishing nostalgia and romance thrown in, then Final Proof is right up your galley. If you're wondering about who actually won the best first novel in 1977, it was a book titled The Thomas Berryman Number by someone you may have heard of. A fellow by the name of James Patterson.
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