In Reference to Murder

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FFB: The Fortieth Door by Mary Hastings Bradley

Mary Hastings Bradley (1882-1976) published a large number of travel books, short fiction and novels, including mysters and her historical Old Chicago series. Widely-traveled, she often lectured on the topic and was inducted into the Society of Women Geographers, an organization that boasted the likes of members Amelia Earhart, Margaret Mead, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

In her younger days, Bradley traveled to Egypt with a cousin, a trip that inspired The Palace of Darkened Windows (1914) and The Fortieth Door (1920), two books that focused on the veiled, secluded women of Egypt. Both of these stories were later made into films, with The Fortieth Door adapted as a silent film in 1924 starring Allene Ray, Bruce Gordon, David Dunbar.

The plot of The Fortieth Door centers on an anti-social American archaeologist working in Egypt named Jack Ryder, who is reluctantly talked into going to a masquerade ball. He dances with a mysterious veiled woman who he understandably believes to be in costume. The sparks fly between them, but when Jack walks the woman home, he learns she's the daughter of a prosperous Muslim merchant and can't date Westerners.

But he can't get her out of his mind and does a little digging of a more personal sort. He discovers that the woman is named Aimée and is actually the daughter of a Frenchman who vanished fifteen years ago. When Jack also discovers Aimée is headed for a forced marriage her "stepfather" has arranged, he hatches a plan to rescue her that could well put both of their lives in jeopardy.

This is a slight, entertaining action/suspense novel, that includes racism common to its era, with all of the good guys being white, and all the bad guys Egyptian. But the exotic setting, which is drawn fairly nicely, and the earnest characters (if a little too much like Dudley Do Right vs. the moustache-twirling Snidley Whiplash) make for a quick read.

The Big Award Nomination Day

 

Despite the fact there are some other award nominations being announced today in Hollywood, we know that the Edgar nominations, handed out annually by the Mystery Writers of America, are the really important awards. Here are nominees for Best Novel, Best First Novel by an American Author, and Best Paperback Original:

BEST NOVEL

Sandrine’s Case by Thomas H. Cook (Grove Atlantic – The Mysterious Press)
The Humans by Matt Haig (Simon & Schuster)
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin (Hachette Book Group – Reagan Arthur Books)
Until She Comes Home by Lori Roy (Penguin Group USA – Dutton Books)
 

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn (W.W. Norton)
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs (Alfred A. Knopf)
Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman (Minotaur Books)
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight (HarperCollins Publishers)
 

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
 
The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow Paperbacks)
Almost Criminal by E. R. Brown (Dundurn)
Joe Victim by Paul Cleave (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
Joyland by Stephen King (Hard Case Crime)
The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood (Penguin Group USA - Penguin Books)
Brilliance by Marcus Sakey (Amazon Publishing – Thomas and Mercer)

For all the nominees, check out the MWA website.

Mystery Melange

Book sculpture “A Trace of Wings” by Edwin Morgan

And it begins . . . the first nominations of the Awards Season come from the Hammett Prize, handed out annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers. This year's honorees include Craig Davidson for Cataract City; Heywood Gould, Green Light for Murder; Richard Lange, Angel Baby; Lisa Moore, Caught; and George P. Pelecanos, The Double.

One of the more unusual award winners recently may well be the author who won the 2012 St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best Private Eye Novel Contest. His name is Alaric Hunt, and he's a convicted murderer who's been doing time in jail since 1988. Sarah Weinman profiled him in an article for the New York Times.

The Hogarth Shakespeare initiative is launching in 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, with contemporary bestselling authors retelling some of the Bard's plays. Jo Nesbo, author of the bestselling Harry Hole series, has recently been tapped to tackle Macbeth.

The winter edition of Plots with Guns is available, with new stories by Tom Barlow, Marie S. Croswell, C.J. Edwards, Rob Pierce, Brian Feehan, Holly Lopez, Sean O'Kane, and Rob Pierce.

The latest issue of Crime Factory (#15) is also out, with Justin Kirk discussing his role in thwarting what the press dubbed the “Hemet Attacks” on the Hemet Police Department, and in stopping an assassination of a police officer; journalist Tom Darin Liskey recounts getting mixed up with bikers and drug dealers in St. Louis in his teens; Steve Peacock takes us through his difficult journal in seeking justice and peace after being shot in the line of duty; and there's the usual great lineup of interviews, reviews, and  original short stories.

Publisher Jay Hartman has set up Untreed Reads book reading challenge for 2014. To participate, send you name and e-mail address to 2014challenge @ untreedreads.com through January 31. Your name will be added to their New Releases Newsletter and each month Untreed Reads will send you a coupon for a free download from their store. Then, read the book and leave a review in their store or as many other ebook sitesds (but you must reveal you received the free copy in exchange for the review).

The first book-less library has opened in the U.S. The facility, located in Bexar County, Texas, is instead fitted with digital readers,  laptops, tablets, and desktops. Patrons can check out audiobooks and eBooks as well as the actual eReaders.

The Q&A roundup includes two "Short, Sharp Interviews" over at Paul D. Brazill' blog, including Ryan Bracha and Mark Slade; Michael Connelly chatted with The Daily Beast about how he writes (and what he drinks while writing); and Brad Taylor chats with the Mystery People.

A study at Emory University found that reading a good book may cause brain and neurological changes that persist for days in a similar way to muscle memory.

If you live in the UK and have some extra time and money lying around, Random House is launching a creative writing course to begin in March. It will include videos, podcasts and texts from Random House authors and editors

The second annual Twitter fiction festival is also coming in March. The organizers are currently seeking authors from across the world to tell stories in 140-character bursts.

The BBC's popular Sherlock series, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson returns to BBC America on January 19th (it has already been showing in the UK). The Guardian has a tie-in quiz that lets you test your knowledge of the Holmes canon.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Rupert Friend (currently starring in Homeland on HBO), is in talks to replace the late Paul Walker in Agent 47 from Fox International. The film is based on the elite assassin who is the star character in The Hitman video franchise.

Bruce Willis is set to star in the thriller Captive, playing a real estate developer who gets kidnapped in Brazil and has to find a way out of his armored-truck prison while a detective specializing in kidnap and ransom cases works to find him.

Here's your latest trailer for The Muppets Most Wanted, in which Kermit and the gang find themselves involved in a spy ring.  

TELEVISION

Fox has given a 13-episode series order to Backstrom, a one-hour crime drama from 20th Century Fox TV starring Rainn Wilson of The Office. The show is based on Swedish criminologist and novelist Leif G.W. Persson’s hit series of books.

A&E recently revealed the premiere date for their serial-killer drama Those Who Kill will be March 3, and they also released a still from the show featuring star Chloe Sevigny. The ten-episode series is based on a Danish series co-written by journalist turned crime novelist Elsebeth Egholm.

Meanwhile, HBO announced that its beloved mob drama Boardwalk Empire will end after its upcoming fifth season.

NBC picked up the drama Coercion (formerly M.I.C.E.), which is based on the Israeli format The Gordin Cell. It thriller centers on a decorated American war hero and CIA analyst whose parents and sister are part of a dormant Russian sleeper cell that has just been reactivated.

ABC canceled the series The Assets after only two weeks. The eight-part miniseries, set in the 1980s, was based on the CIA's hunt for the most notorious mole in U.S. history.

BBC One has confirmed that there will be four episodes in the new season of the period crime drama George Gently, although, as Omnimystery News reports, there is still no firm word on the broadcast date in the UK or the U.S.

Good news, Sherlock fans: Steven Moffat announced that he and Mark Gattis have planned out Seasons 4 and 5 of the popular BBC drama while sitting on top of the producton bus one day recently. Moffatt added that “The ideas...that day, I thought were the best we’ve ever had.”

David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), is to star in three-part thriller The Driver for the BBC, playing a taxi driver who "blames himself and his inadequacies after a family mystery and makes the mistake of accepting an offer to start driving for a criminal gang."

BBC America has greenlighted a six-episode Cold War spy thriller miniseries titled The Game. It stars Brian Cox and tells the story of the invisible war fought by MI5 as it battles to protect the nation from the threats of the Cold War.

Sundance Channel released a new poster for its upcoming drama The Red Road, which centers on a local sheriff (Martin Henderson) as he struggles to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

CNN announced it has ordered an eight-part documentary series about capital murder cases from executive producers Alex Gibney and Robert Redford, with Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon on board to narrate.

If you like a little comedy with your crime, Comedy Central has a show for you. It picked up an animated cop series produced by Rob Lowe, which is described as "an absurdist take on the gritty, sex-drenched crime dramas from the 1980s."

AMC announced its 2014 scheduling plans, including an April 13 return date for Mad Men and a November launch for Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad prequel starring Bob Odenkirk. AMC's Revolutionary War spy drama Turn will also have a 90-minute premiere on April 6.

Crimetime Preview makes note of new TV crime dramas coming in 2014 to UK audiences (some are American crossovers; hopefully others will get a global distribution in the not-too-distant future).

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Erik Arneson has teamed with Scott Detrow, a reporter for KQED in Sacramento, for the podcast TITLE 18: WORD CRIMES.The show will feature short crime fiction stories, with the debut show including Scott reading Arneson's "For the Honesty," originally published at Out of the Gutter.

THEATER

The Red Bull Theater's Off-Broadway revival of Joe Orton's Loot begins previews Jan. 9, prior to an official opening Jan. 16. The story is described as a "merciless satire of religious hypocrisy, middle-class British morality, and blind faith in authority," and involves a couple of young thieves, Scotland Yard, and the body of a recently-deceased woman that goes missing.

FFB: The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet by Burton Egbert Stevenson

Burton E. Stevenson (1872–1962) was an American anthologist and librarian who also penned his own books, around thirty in all, ranging from young adult fiction, to historical adventure tales, to crime fiction. His main (perhaps only) mystery series included five novels that featured a Holmsian/Watson duo consisting of the urbane, shrewed police detective-turned-reporter Jim Godfrey and his lawyer friend Warwick Lester, who narrates the stories.

The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet was published in 1911. The first half of the novel follows a wealthy client of Lester's, Philip Vantine, who collects antiques. When a mysterious piece of 17th-century furniture, a Boule table, is delivered by mistake, Vantine decides he must have it and asks Lester to track down the real owner to see if he would be willing to sell it. When Lester returns the next day, he finds both Vantine and a stranger lying on the floor in Vantine's parlor, both with two small wounds on their hands. Naturally, Lester turns to his detective friend for help, and they work to discover the secrets of the Boule table and solve the seemingly impossible crime.

The first part of the book takes place almost entirely in the victim's New York house, but then the novel switches gears in the second half with the introduction of a French "Moriarty" style master criminal who is adept as disguises. The bad guy tests Godfrey's detection skills as the trail leads all over New York City, and it becomes apparent that the criminal's real intent is to steal the Boule table, which harbors some valuable and deadly secrets.

Reviewer Mike Grost noted that Stevenson's work is the closest he could name to Mary Roberts Rinehart's early, pre-W.W.I books, in tone, plot, and characterizations, not surprising since they are roughly contemporaries. However, there are also some absurdities and puzzling behavior, such as Lester's tendency to get hysterical at times, as well as a few too many coincidences. The first half is probably better than the second, with more claustrophic tension inside the limited setting. But there is some decent writing throughout, and it's easy to see why the story was entertaining enough to be made into not one, but three separate film adaptations in 1916, 1930, and 1941.

New Year, New Round of Conferences

You may not think of January when you think of writers' and readers' conferences, but in fact, there are several such events coming up this very month. From the Baker Street Irregulars, to the ALA Midwinter Meeting, to Murder Goes South, the fun stretches from California to New York, through Pennsvylania and down to Georgia. Most of these events still have registration slots available, so it's not too late to sign up.

January 16-18, 2014
Baker Street Irregulars & Friends Weekend
New York, NY
The annual gathering of the oldest literary society dedicated to Sherlock Holmes

January 24, 2014
Murder on the Menu
Cerritos Library
Cerritos, CA
Fifteen authors will be participating in panel discussions and book signings, including Avery Aames, Cara Black, Kate Carlisle, Carol Costa, Denise Hamilton, Betty Hechtman, Naomi Hirahara, Linda O. Johnston, Jenn McKinlay, Matt Richtel, Pamela Samuels-Young, Steve Scarborough, Sheldon Siegel, Kelli Stanley and Simon Wood.

January 24-26, 2014
San Diego State University Writers Conference
San Diego, CA
There are numerous panels and breakout sessions on various aspects of the craft of writing, including two panels titled "Building Suspense, One Page at a Time" and "Crafting the Perfect Crime Mystery," with such notable authors as Joseph Wambaugh, T. Jefferson Parker and Don Winslow.

January 24-28, 2014
American Library Association Midwinter Meeting
Philadelphia, PA
List of attending authors TBA, but special guests include David Baldacci

January 25, 2014
Murder Goes South
Smyrna, GA
Featuring authors Debby Giusti, Deborah Malone, Pamela V Mason, Bryan Powell, Tamar Myers, Larissa Reinhart, Louise B Richardson, Lane Stone, and Tina Whittle.

Mystery Melange

Anselm Kiefer's "Book with Wings"

Are you a fan of reading challenges? It's a fun way for many readers to motivate themselves to read more books in the coming year. Here are some of the challenges I've come across that you might enjoy: My Reader's Block celebrates the vintage mystery with categories such as Golden Age Mysteries or "Silver Age Mysteries," which John at Pretty Sinister Books summarizes nicely; Mysteries in Paradise also notes The A-Z Mystery Challenge being run at Red Headed Book Child; if you're an Agatha fan, check out the Agatha Christie monthly reading challenge; there's a Short Story Reading Challenge; and one of my personal favorite ideas is The Banned Book Challenge. For more challenges, check out this website.

The new issue of Thuglit is available for your criminal pleasure. Check out the new stories from Max Sheridan, Eddie McNamara, Harry St. John, R.J. Martin Jr., Rob W. Hart, Jen Conley, Adam McFarlane and Stuart Smith and Stephen Zippill.

Pulp Metal Magazine has also started publishing stories online again, with two new offerings for the new year, "The Colors Of Fall" by B. R. Stateham and "The Weather Prophet" by Paul D. Brazill.

Bouchercon 2014 has issued a call for short story submissions for a conference-related anthology to be edited by Dana Cameron. Stories should be between 3,500 and 5,500 words, with a deadline of March 31.

Mike Ripley's latest "Getting Away with Murder" column for Shots Ezine includes the usual fun roundup of news and reviews, including two new private-eye novels and a look at the Essex Book Fest.

The long-running (in Internet terms) blog, Poe's Deadly Daughters, will be closing down shop on Poe's birthday later this month. The seven authors involved—Julia Buckley, Sharon Wildwind, Sandra Parshall, Elizabeth Zelvin, Sheila Connolly, Jeri Westerson, Darlene Ryan (aka Sofie Kelly), and Lonnie Cruse—will be taking this opportunity to devote more time to writing. We'll miss their posts, but wish them all the best.

Editor/authors Adrian McKinty and Stuart Nevill announced they'd delivered Belfast Noir to publisher Akashic Books for one of the next installments in their "city noir" series. The new anthology will include stories from from Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Arlene Hunt, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Arlene Hunt, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar and Gerard Brennan.   

Do you enjoy reading both crime fiction and science fiction? Mulholland Books has some suggestions of interesting books that blend the best of both worlds.

In the Q&A roundup this week, Declan Burke interviews fellow author Michael Connelly about his two interlinked series featuring police detective Harry Bosch and lawyer Mickey Haller; and the Sons of Spade blog welcomed Zachary Klein to chat about the new publication of his Matt Jacob novels.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

The 12th annual film noir festival Noir City returns to San Francisco January 24 through February 2, at the historic Castro Theatre. This year, the festival takes on an international flavor, adding films from France, Mexico, Japan, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Norway, and Britain to the traditional Hollywood classics.

An international trailer was released for A Most Wanted Man, Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of the John Le Carre spy novel. Headline stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams will be joined by fellow cast members Robin Wright, Wiilem Dafoe, Daniel Bruhl and newcomer Grigoriy Dobrygin.

20th Century Fox tweeted a film still from the upcoming adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, which shows Ben Affleck addressing a crowd as he stands in front of a photograph of his missing wife (Rosamund Pike).

Veronica Mars fans don't have much longer to wait until the film adaptation of the popular cult TV series hits the big screen in March; in the meantime, here's a video trailer. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

Here are even more movie trailers to tide you over until their film's release: an extended clip from the new Jack Ryan outing, as Chris Pine takes on the iconic character from Tom Clancy's movies; and Ralph Fiennes is on the run in the latest trailer from The Grand Budapest Hotel.

TELEVISION

Fox decided to pass on the navy drama pilot Wild Blue, from the producers of Justified. The series was pitched as "a mixture of ER, The West Wing and Top Gun," but talks with Tim McGraw to star in the drama fell through.

The BBC teased the upcoming Sherlock Season Three with an online mini-episode (no spoilers) titled "Many Happy Returns." (Of course, those viewers in the UK have already seen the episode; Americans have to wait until January 19).

The BBC also released a trailer for Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, its new drama centered on the author’s time with the British Naval Intelligence that inspired him to invent super-spy James Bond.

In more BBC news, BBC One announced that the third season of the crime drama Death in Paradise will premiere in January 2014. The first two season starred Ben Miller as Detective Inspector Richard Poole investigating a murder on the tiny Caribbean island of Saint-Marie. Omnimystery News reported on the upcoming third season (but it contains spoilers - avoid if you haven't seen the first two seasons).

Tony Award winner Joel Grey is set to star as a disgruntled airplane passenger on the January 15 episode of CSI on CBS.

The FX series The Americans returns on February 26. It stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys star as two sleeper KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban D.C. in the early 1980s

Angela Lansbury (star of Murder, She Wrote and numerous theater productions) has been made a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.

Even though it was canceled, BBC's period crime-drama Ripper Street was voted the best TV show of 2013 in a survey by the website of British magazine Radio Times. It beat out Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead.

AMC released a trailer for its upcoming drama Turn, starring Jamie Bell as a farmer living behind enemy lines in British-occupied Long Island during the Revolutionary War. He and his childhood friends join together to form “The Culper Ring, an unlikely team of secret agents supporting the Rebel forces.

HBO released a sneak preview trailer for the dark police drama True Detective, starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, which debuts January 12.

Deadline posted a timeline for all the midseason premiere dates for new and returning series on both broadcast and cable networks.

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

The most recent Crime and Science Radio, "The Devil’s Dozen: What Makes the Bad Guys Tick?" featured DP Lyle and Dr. Katherine Ramsland for a discussion of bad guys, who they are, what they do, and why they do what they do. Several cases from her excellent book The Devil's Dozen. were also discussed.

THEATER

Performances of the Olivier Award-winning production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time have been canceled through Jan. 11, due to the partial roof collapse at the historic Apollo Theatre in December. The show is based on Mark Haddon's books about an autistic young man who tracks down the killer of his neighbor's dog, turning to his favorite fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration.

The staged version of Greg Herren's mystery novel Dead Housewives of New Orleans will be presented at the New Play Bacchanal of Southern Rep and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Directed by Aimee Hayes, the play features performances by Peggy Scott Laborde, Nell Nolan, Trixie Minx and others, and takes place on January 10 at the Marigny Opera House.

Quote of the Day