In Reference to Murder

Media Murder for Monday

Since Hollywood typically takes the week off between Christmas and New Year's, so will Media Murder for Monday. Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

Friday's Forgotten Books - Under the Snow

Now that snow has arrived in many parts of the country, I thought this little "rerun" might be appropriate for the season. Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday, and I'll be back with a new "Forgotten" Book next week.

Before the recent Scandinavian crime fiction invasion, before even Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, there was Kerstin Lillemor Ekman (born August 1933), whose debut crime novel, Thirty-Meter Murder (30 meter mord), was published in 1959. Her first few mystery novels grew out of her background as a documentary filmmaker, and she wrote seven crime fiction books in all before turning her hand to more general psychological and social themes (and one book that's a history of Sweden told from the POV of a troll). She did later return to the genre, with the detective novel Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten) in 1993, which won the Swedish Crime Academy's award for best crime novel.

Eckman's novel Under the Snow (De tre små mästarna) from 1961 is set in the harsh, distant landscape of the Arctic Circle's Lapland in the town of Rakisjokk during the extended darkness of winter. Or as one character notes, "You might say this is where the world comes to an end." A drunken evening ends in the death of a local artist and teacher named Matti Olsson, but when Constable Torsson sets out to investigate (a 25-mile trek on skis across a frozen lake), he is met with a conspiracy of silence, mismatched stories and only a single clue: a bloodstained mahjong tile. His efforts aren't helped by the fact that the locals are part of the ethnic Sami group who speak Finnish and don't think very highly of Swedes. Torsson has no choice to close the case. That is, until David Malm, an eccentric redheaded painter and friend of Matti's, arrives in town to investigate the truth on his own and runs into beautiful teacher Anna Ryd who is caught with a bag containing a bloody noose with a human hair clinging to it.

Eckman maintains the dark atmosphere of the unrelenting subzero cold and sunless days (followed by nights where the sun never sets) where nearly everyone has secrets, but still manages to inject bits of humor and her trademark irony: the super-fit younger colleague decked out in the 1960 version of chic Gore-Tex gear who turns an ankle in the first few yards during his first attempt on skis; a language professor who happily scribbles down the ferryman's epithets; a elkhound that barks nonstop. One unusual technique: Ekman wrote Under the Snow almost completely in the third person except for Chapter 12, where Matti's killer explains how the murder was committed. Of her writing influences, Eckman has said "I live in  a small village and I have been living in two other small villages far up north in Sweden. Very close to the forest, the mountains, the waters. They have had a great impact on me, melting into my language."

Under the Snow remained unavailable in English from the time of its publication until the translation by Joan Tate in 1996, 35 years later. Entertainment Weekly called Eckman "Striking...a sort of Graham Greene meets Dean Koontz," and the Library Journal added that "Ekman's brilliant evocation of a place and culture above the Arctic Circle is as compelling and mysterious as the crime itself." Ekman was elected member of the Swedish Academy in 1978, but left in 1989 when the academy didn't take a strong stand after the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. She also turned her hand back to the screen with a Swedish TV movie based on one of her books and appearances as herself in documentaries.

A Merry Christmas to All

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Universal has hired the screenwriting team Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (behind such Bond movies as Casino Royale and Skyfall) to adapt the 1970s TV series Kojak into a vehicle for Vin Diesel.

CinemaBlend posted a trailer for The Place Beyond The Pines, scheduled for release in theaters in March. It centers on a motorcycle stunt professional (Ryan Gosling) who turns to robbing banks to make money for his baby son, but in doing so crosses paths with a cop-turned-politican (Bradley Cooper).

B-movie icon Roger Corman has made 50 movies, including eight films based on Edgar Allan Poe tales. Now, Corman says he plans on remaking those same Poe films and is seeking a modern-day Vincent Price to star with Price's level of "sensitivity and neuroticism."

TV

The two men who played Simon Templar in the two previous Saint TV series, Roger Moore (1960s) and Ian Ogilvy (1970s) have joined the cast for the pilot of the upcoming Saint reboot, starring Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku.

Cinemax has set Friday, January 11 as the premiere date of its new drama series Banshee, starring Antony Starr as an ex-con and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of a small town in Pennsylvania.

David Zayas (from Dexer) has joined the cast of the new Fox show The Following. He'll play a former FBI agent and friend of star Kevin Bacon's FBI agent who is in pursuit of a cunning serial killer (James Purefoy).

Thanks to Omnimystery News for word that Psych is being renewed for an eighth season, even ahead of the premier of its seventh season on February 27th.

From Crimespree comes word that USA has added actors Amanda Schull (Center Stage) and Colombian-born Manolo Cardona to the network's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story "When The Women Come Out To Dance."

Bad news for Leverage fans; TNT has cancelled the caper series after five seasons. Its last episode will be on Christmas Day.

If you live across The Pond and can get the STV network, tune in on Boxing Day (December 26) for an adaptation of author Ian Rankin's novel Doors Open, from Stephen Fry's independent production company. The plot follows three friends who embark upon a major art heist and target the works owned by a national bank and stored in a repository, planning to swap masterpieces with forgeries.

PODCASTS/VIDEO

Open Road Media released a YouTube video interview with Irish author Ken Bruen, the "godfather of Irish crime," speaks about the genre as a reflection of Ireland's sociopolitical history.

CUNY-TV's "Science & U!" program featured host Donna Hanover talking mysteries with author Camille Minichino, who has also worked as a physicist, engineer and nuclear waste manager.

Mystery author Morgan St. James joined true crime author Dennis N. Griffin for a discussion on Crime Wire Radio.

The BBC Strand podcast chatted about science in crime fiction, as well as the Washington Academy of Sciences seal of approval for credible use of science in fiction (starts at 33:30 into the podcasts; it's only available for 30 days).

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Christmas Anthologies

Due to the hectic holidays, I'm re-posting a previous FFB featuring some Christmas-themed anthologies. For some more thoughts and suggestions in that vein, Patti Abbott recently solicited more ideas via her blog, which you can read here.

Starting in chronological order, there's Christmas Stalkings, collected by Charlotte MacLeod and dating from 1991. The anthology includes 13 tales in all, mostly in the "cozy" or traditional vein, perfect for cuddling up with some hot chocolate and gingerbread. MacLeod contributes one story, and there are others from Reginald Hill, Margaret Maron, Eric Wright, Bill Crider and Elizabeth Peters, et al. Evelyn E. Smith's offering features her humorous series character in "Miss Melville Rejoices," where philanthropist/assassin Miss Melville vows to rid the world of a sadistic dictator at a Christmas Eve party.

Mystery for Christmas from 1994 is edited by Richard Dalby and features mostly British stories of "ghosts, murder, strange disappearances and journeys through time." Offerings range from works by Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy to a John Glasby whodunit; a "Christmas Carol" updating from H.R.F. Keating; and one Sherlockian pastiche by Ron Weighell.

Tim Heald edited 1995's A Classic Christmas Crime, with 13 tales ranging from Yorkshire on across the Pond to south Florida. P.D. James contributes a wartime country house mystery, Catherine Aird writes of "Gold, Frankincense and Murder," and Simon Brett takes "Political Corrections" to a twisty end. The stories range in tone and mood "from the light to the disturbing," putting plenty of diabolical presents in your reading stocking.

Carol-Lynn Rössel, Martin H. Greenberg and Jon L. Lellenberg edited two anthologies of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, the first in 1998 titled Holmes for the Holidays. Anne Perry is the headliner with her story "The Watch Night Bell," in which Holmes and Watson must foil a foul murder scheme taking place midnight on Christmas; Loren D. Estleman's story puts the sleuth duo into a real life-murder perilously paralleling Dickens Christmas Carol; and Reginald Hill sets Holmes in Rome for the holidays, matching wits with an ambitious rival.

 

Mystery Melange Pre-Christmas Edition

 

If you think you can whip up a devilish Christmas story in just two days, check out Chuck Wendig's "The War on Christmas" flash fiction challenge. The theme is literal - write a war about or against Christmas, or any other winter holiday (Hanukah, Solstice, Kwanzaa). Details are on his Terrible Minds blog link above.

Rhys Bowen, creator of the Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy mysteries, has been featuring her Twelve Days of Christmas blog posts, with the history and traditions of Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and more.

Want some fun ideas for Christmas treats? The authors at Mystery Lovers Kitchen has several for you, including Caramel Corn, a Christmas Cheesecake and Dark Chocolate Peppermint Oreos. (Until Nabisco makes gluten-free Oreos, I'll just have to watch the rest of you enjoy these!)

GalleyCat has assembled links to 25 Free Christmas eBooks, from  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, to the "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and more.

In-between shopping, decorating, cooking and traveling, why not read a Christmas-themed mystery story or novel? Janet Rudolph has updated her detailed bibliography of holiday books, which has gotten so large, she has to spread it out over several Mystery Fanfare blog posts. Check out the links for books from authors who last names end in A-D, E-H, I-N and O-R (with S-Z coming soon).

The Xmas version of Yellow Mama is out, with "twisted tales of Holiday Horror and Hardboiled Noir." Meanwhile, the latest issue of All Due Respect features the story "A Job for Two" by Eric Beetner. (Hat tip to Chris Rhatigan).

Although not specifically crime fiction-related, the editors of the anthology OH SANDY! An Anthology of Humor for a Serious Purpose, are seeking stories of humorous fiction, poetry and non-fiction of up to 3000 words that are about experiencing a disaster, surviving a hurricane, or living in New Jersey. All proceeds will go to benefit The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. The deadline for submissions is the end of December.

It's never too early to plan ahead, especially if it involves a trip to CrimeFest 2014 in the U.K. The conference is sponsoring a Flashbang micro-fiction contest, with the winner receiving two weekend passes to the event (travel and accommodations not included). A panel of judges headed by author Zoe Sharp will pick the best 150-word story, with other prizes and website publications for finalists. The deadline is March 31, 2013.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Kate Stine, publisher of Mystery Scene Magazine, about the history and future of the magazine and how she found true love at a mystery convention; Quentin Bates takes volleys from Declan Burke; Lloyd Shepherd visits Scene of the Crime; and Thuglit's Todd Robinson takes the 10-Question Challenge.

A reminder: you still have time to comment on yesterday's blog post survey and/or send along an e-mail to [email protected] to enter the drawing for one of 2012's top 15 crime fiction novels.

Also: I'm participating in the blog meme for authors, "The Next Big Thing," and I'd love to have you join me for my answers to The Big Ten questions over at my BV Lawson blog.

Survey and Giveaway

Many of my blog readers already subscribe to the newsletter, but I'm always interested in improving it, to hopefully make it an enjoyable and helpful resource. So in that vein, I've created a simple poll below you can take to let me know which features you prefer in these e-mail newsletters (approximately every two months). You can check as many as you like, and note that there is an "Other" box - you can mention other things you like to see in a newsletter in the comments section.

Speaking of comments - I'm conducting a giveaway for the current newsletter, and all you have to do is take the survey and post your name/e-mail address in the comments area. But if you'd rather not post that info publicly, simply drop me an e-mail at [email protected], and I'll enter you that way. The winner will receive a copy of his/her choice of the top 15 books compiled from the main "best of" lists thus far (Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, etc.). I'll continue to take comments and e-mailed suggestions for a week before drawing one name at random. To see which books made the last, sign up for the newsletter (on the left side of this blog). You can unsubscribe easily at any time.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Director Lynne Ramsey signed Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender to star in her upcoming project Jane's Got A Gun, and Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty) is also in talks to join the cast. The film follows a woman who is forced to reach out to a former lover when her criminal-husband becomes the target of a deadly gang.

Mireille Enos and Scott Speedman are joining Ryan Reynolds in the cast of the psychological thriller Queen of the Night. The plot follows a father (Reynolds) who has spent eight years trying to get over his daughter's abduction and assumed death, but a series of new and disturbing clues makes him believe his daughter is still alive. Enos will play Reynolds' wife and Speedman a detective.

Director Olivier Megaton (Taken 2) has signed on to the action thriller Taking Gotham, based the real-life secret unit of the NYPD created in response to a string of brutal robberies. The team is forced to go underground to clear their names after being falsely accused following a deadly sting operation.

Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan is rewriting American Desperado, a film created as a star vehicle for Mark Wahlberg. The project is based on the book American Desperado: My Life As A Cocaine Cowboy by Jon Roberts, who made a fortune smuggling cocaine into the U.S. for the Medellin Cartel.

During a recent press conference, the producers of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy kept hopes alive for a sequel to the espionage thriller starring Gary Oldman, which would be an adaptation of John le Carre's novel Smiley's People.

TV

Co-developer/executive producer of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Rene Balcer is bringing a "cyber mystery series" called DarkNet to the USA Network. The project is described as The X-Files meets The Matrix and follows a pair of cyber-crime investigators who stumble across a far-reaching conspiracy to change the course of human evolution.

AMC liked the pilot for a remake of the BBC mini-series Low Winter Sun enough that it's decided to order a ten-episode series. The show will star Mark Strong (Zero Dark Thirty) and Lennie James in the "contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption in a world where the line between cops and criminals is blurred." (Hat tip to Ominimystery News.)

"Z," a modern-day version of the legend of Zorro, may be heading to the USA Network, with Naren Shankar (CSI, Grimm) serving as showrunner.  The update would set the tale in Los Angeles and follow the rise of Diego Moreno from orphaned teen to infamous hero fighting to save the city.

Now that AMC appears to have come to its senses and ordered a third season of The Killing, thus rescuing it from cancellation, they're overhauling the cast. Billy Campbell (who played Seattle city councilman Darren Richmond), and Brent Sexton and Michelle Forbes, who played the grieving parents of murder victim Rosie Larsen, have been dropped.

The Hannibal Lecter series has added X-Files star Gillian Anderson to the cast, in a multi-episode storyline in which she will play Hannibal's therapist.

A&E released a promo video for the re-imagining of the classic horror story Psycho, which will focus on Norman Bates in his younger years.

Want to know when your favorite show will return with new episodes in January? Here's a handy chart.

PODCASTS/VIDEO

The Mysterious Bookshop, The Mysterious Press and Open Road unveiled the The Mysterious Podcast, available via iTunes. The first episode features interviews with authors David Corbett and Nelson DeMille!

THEATER

A musical version of Woody Allen's crime-comedy film Bullets Over Broadway is actually heading to Broadway. The plot centers on an idealistic young playwright newly arrived on Broadway who agrees to hire the untalented actress/girlfriend of a gangster in order to get funding for his project. The musical is currently scheduled to open sometime in late 2013/early 2014.

One of the original great works of crime fiction, Shakespeare's play Macbeth, is getting a new West End production starring James McAvoy (Atonement) in the title role.

Shia LaBeouf will make his Broadway debut as he joins Alec Baldwin in the cast of the new production of Lyle Kessler's play, Orphans. LaBeouf will play Treat, a thief supporting his younger brother, while Baldwin plays an older gangster. The play originally premiered in 1983 and has had many staged versions and one film adaptation.

Friday's "Forgotten" Books - Ambush for Anatol

British author John Herman Mulso Sherwood (1913 - 2002) was known primarily for his 11 cozy mysteries featuring amateur sleuth Celia Grant, a professional botanist and horticulturist who operates a retail nursery. Sherwood also penned half a dozen standalone crime fiction novels, including Undiplomatic Exit (1958), shortlisted for Gold Dagger Award.

Another series Sherwood created was the five-book series with Charles Blessington, an official with the Ministry of the Treasury. Blessington is a middle-aged civil servant who enjoys his sedentary lifestyle and dull routine in his drab, gray little office wearing his plain gray suits. However, his sharp intelligence, logical outlook, stubbornness and keen perception allow him to see clues others don't. He can even be deadly when he has to.

The 1952 installment Ambush for Anatol (also published as Murder of  Mistress in the U.S.), is set in post-World War II Britain and follows young married couple Philip and Diana Abinger, who want to keep up appearances despite being strapped for cash. Philip, a dashing former Air Force piliot, is particularly desperate in his search for a job that isn't dull or routine like everything else in post-war Britain. 

Their prayers seem to be answered when Philip and Diana bump into an old wartime flying acquaintance of Philip's, the Polish Count Jan Piatovksy, who is with his lady friend, Lena Watson. The Count has a financial proposition for the Abingers, and arranges for them to meet a man named Anatol on Bank Holiday Monday at Hampstead Heath. At the last minute, however, the Count has a change of heart and refuses to introduce the couple to Anatol.

Annoyed, Philip and Diana secretly follow the Count and Lena to some bushes in the Heath where they are seen meeting with the mysterious Anatol, although the Abingers wind up leaving empty-handed. Not too long afterward, the bodies of the Count and Lena are discovered behind those same bushes.

Blessington reluctantly gets dragged into the mess, leaving his quiet desk at the Treasury as his investigation uncovers currency fraud, illegal mercury trade, sexual deviance, kidnapping and ultimately involves a chase by train across Italy and France ending up at the Louvre.

Top Six TED Talks for Writers

If you're not familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), it's a nonprofit founded in 1984 as an organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." It began as an annual conference and branched out to include a lot of other initiatives, including TED Talks, 18-minute videos that have a global audience with one billion views to date. The talks are wide-ranging but include several relevant to writers and authors, including the following Top Six, using my own subjective criteria. (NOTE: If you can't view the videos due to browser conflicts, click on the hyperlinked lecture titles instead.)

1. Novelist Amy Tan has a number of bestsellers translated into 35 languages, including The Joy Luck Club (adapted into a film), The Hundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetters Daughter. This video from 2008 covers the ups and downs of the creative process in a talk titled "Where Does Creativity Hide?"



2. Filmmaker Andrew Stanton is the imaginative writer behind the three Toy Story movies and WALL-E. Although he writes for animation, his talk, titled "The Clues to a Great Story" is relevant to all fiction writers as he discusses basics like "The greatest story commandment is: Make me care" and shares what he knows about storytelling, i.e., starting at the end and working back to the beginning.



3. It may not seem like billionaire author JK Rowling has much to say on "The Fringe Benefits of Failure," but since many of us do experience failure quite a bit in our writing careers, her words may what you need to keep going. "Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default."



4. J.J. Abrams is best known as the driving force behind such hits as Lost, Alias and Felicity on TV and Star Trek and Mission Impossible III on film. In his TED Talk, "The Mystery Box," he traces his love of and passion for the unseen mystery, his storytelling philosophy and his realization that "In whatever it is that I do, I find myself drawn to infinite possibility, that sense of potential."



5. For most people, the works of Elizabeth Gilbert usually put them firmly in either the love or hate camp, but you can't deny Gilbert's incredible success with the likes of Eat, Pray, Love. Her TED Talk, "Your Elusive, Creative Genius" may get a bit trippy at times, but her enthusiasm is infectious and her thoughts on the nature of inspiration and the fears and frustrations of those who pursue a creative life are sincere and engaging.



6. Julie Burstein is a radio host who interviewed hundred of artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers for her book, Spark: How Crectivity Works. Her talk arose from that book, and she offers up "Four Lessons in Creativity" that are all relevant to authors, such as "Get comfortable with the fact that pushing up against a limitation can actually help you find your voice."