In Reference to Murder

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup (shortened due to the holiday) of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

The Chicago Indie Critics announced their nominees for the group’s fourth annual film awards, with Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women leading with eight nominations. Crime dramas also received a lot of love, including The Irishmen (Best Big Budget Film; Adapted Screenplay; Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for Supporting Actor; and Best Ensemble Cast); Knives Out (Best Big Budget Film; Original Screenplay; Best Ensemble), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Big Budget Film)

Zachary Levi (Shazam) is joining Benedict Cumberbatch, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley, and Tahar Rahim in Prisoner 760, a true-life legal drama being directed by Kevin Macdonald. Billed as a fight for survival against impossible odds, Prisoner 760 tells the true tale of Mohamedou Ould Slahi (whose memoir the film is based on), a man who was captured by the U.S. government and held for years in Guantánamo Bay without charge or trial. Slahi finds unlikely allies in defense attorneys Nancy Hollander and her associate Teri Duncan (played by Foster and Woodley, respectively) and a military prosecutor named Lt. Stuart Couch (Cumberbatch). Levi will play an old friend of the prosecutor's, a federal agent by the name of Neil Buckland.

STXfilms has released a new trailer for Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen. Matthew McConaughey stars as American expat Mickey Pearson, who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery, and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Amazon Studios has put in development Mastermind, a crime drama series based on Evan Ratliff’s critically praised book, The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal, with writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917) set to pen the adaptation. Mastermind is the true-life story of Paul Le Roux, an unassuming former programmer who built a sophisticated globe-spanning criminal empire until he was taken down by his own lieutenant and the DEA. Le Roux eventually became one of the biggest criminal informants in DEA and FBI history.

Korean actor Jung Woo-sung is to exec produce a mystery sci-fi thriller for Netflix titled The Silent Sea. The project is set in a precarious future where Earth is running out of water and follows a group of elite scientists who set off for the moon to retrieve some unidentified samples from an abandoned research station. The drama is based on the eponymous 2014 short film directed by Choi Hang-yong, who will also direct the Netflix series.

Wondering when some of your favorite shows will be returning to the airwaves with new episodes for the midseason? Deadline has a handy list that also includes new dramas: Deputy (January 2 on Fox); The Brokenwood Mysteries (January 6 on Acorn); FBI: Most Wanted (January 7 on CBS); Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (January 10 on NBC); 9-1-1: Lone Star (January 15 on Fox); Tommy (February 6 on CBS); Briarpatch (February 6 on USA Network); and For Life (February 11 on ABC).

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

The most recent Speaking of Mysteries podcast welcomed author Alan Furst to discuss his new historical espionage novel, Under Occupation, set during the German Occupation of Paris.

This week on The Writer's Detective Bureau, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, Adam answered your questions about: your one free phone call, obtaining video evidence, and notifying victims of an offender’s release from custody.

The latest Spybrary podcast featured reviews of A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré and quick reviews from Spybrary listeners on the books they love (and hate!).

THEATRE

The Anne L. Bernstein Theater in New York City continues its production of Perfect Crime, the longest-running play in NYC history. Perfect Crime is a funny and romantic thriller about a psychiatrist who may have killed her husband - but then why is he still alive? It's billed as "a great time at the theater for fans of Law & Order, CSI, and Investigation Discovery who think they can solve the 'perfect crime.'"

The Asolo Repertory Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida, is presenting Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, from January 8 to March 8. With a locomotive full of suspects and alibis for each one, it's the perfect mystery for infamous detective Hercule Poirot.

Merry Bookmas!

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

Five-time Emmy-winner Kelsey Grammer, Thomas Jane, and Denise Richards have signed on to co-star opposite Adam Copeland in the heist thriller, Money Plane, directed by Andrew Lawrence. Co-written by Lawrence and Tim Schaaf, the indie follows a professional thief (Copeland) who must rob an underworld criminal casino on an airplane to settle a debt with his ruthless employer (Grammer). While the heist unfolds in midair, the second man on the ground (Jane) uncovers a sinister double cross that threatens everything.

Marisa Tomei has signed on to star alongside Jason Momoa and Isabela Merced in the Brian Andrew Mendoza-directed Netflix revenge feature, Sweet Girl. The story centers on a devastated husband (Momoa) who vows to bring justice to the people responsible for his wife’s death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter (Merced). Also in the cast are Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Raza Jaffrey, Adria Arjona, Justin Bartha, Lex Scott Davis, Michael Raymond-James, Dominic Fumusa, Brian Howe, Nelson Franklin, and Reggie Lee. 

Shea Whigham (Detective Burke in Joker) is joining both Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8. Director Christopher McQuarrie teased the role he’ll play with the words: "You won’t see him coming," although there were no explanations as to whether he'll be playing for or against Ethan Hunt’s next missions.

Filming is underway on the European thriller A Perfect Enemy, starring Tomasz Kot (Cold War), Athena Strates (The Good Liar), Marta Nieto (Madre) and Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen). The English-language film is adapted from the novel Cosmétique de l’Ennemi by Amélie Nothomb, and follows a sophisticated and successful businessman who is approached in an airport by a chatty woman with sinister intentions. 

The trailer for The Woman in the Window was released last week. Based on A.J. Finn’s psychological suspense thriller, the film stars Amy Adams as an agoraphobic woman who can't convince anyone she's seen a woman murdered in the apartment across the street.

The first trailer dropped for Tenet, Director Christoper Nolan mysterious "mind-bending thriller game." Although few details have been released about the film, it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh and is set in the world of "international espionage." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nolan teased that the film crosses multiple genres and is without a doubt the "most ambitious" project he and producer Emma Thomas have ever made. Tenet is due in theaters July 17, 2020.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Doctor Who and The Catch star John Simm will star in an adaptation of Peter James’ Roy Grace crime novels from Endeavour creator Russell Lewis for ITV. Grace will comprise two feature-length episodes and will be based on James’ first two Roy Grace books, Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead, which introduce Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a hard-working police officer who has given his life to the job. Simm, who also starred in HBO’s first Game of Thrones prequel pilot, will play the tenacious detective.

CBS has assembled an all-female creative team for Cold Shoulder, a cop drama from Nina Tassler and Gail Berman, Little Women producer Denise Di Novi, Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante and former CSI: New York showrunner Pam Veasey. Written by Veasey, Cold Shoulder is based on the novel of the same name by La Plante about a police officer unable to prevent the death of her partner in the line of duty who seeks help from a fellow detective as she attempts to pick up the pieces of her broken life.

The CW has put in development Infamous, an action-drama from writers George Northy (Charmed) and Darren Stein (Jawbreaker), and Mike Tollin and his Tollin Productions. The project is a take on the thrilling spy drama with a modern, satirical celebrity twist inspired by the true stories of world-famous actors, models, and musicians who moonlighted as spies for the Allied Forces in WWII (including Greta Garbo, Hedy Lamarr and Josephine Baker).

The classic 1989s buddy cop comedy feature Turner & Hooch is getting a TV series remake for Disney+ from Burn Notice creator Matt Nix and 20th Century Fox TV. Details about the series are scarce, but it is believed to be keeping the premise of the original movie, which starred Tom Hanks and revolved a police detective and his dog.

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner Viola Davis, Rob Morgan (Just Mercy), and Aisling Franciosi (The Fall) are set to co-star opposite Sandra Bullock in the life-after incarceration Netflix film from director Nora Fingscheidt and Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. Based on the 3-part British miniseries Unforgiven, the drama follows Ruth Slater (Bullock) who is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past. Facing severe judgment from the place she once called home, her only hope for redemption is finding the estranged younger sister she was forced to leave behind.

After taking over as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown and winning an Oscar for The Favourite, Olivia Colman is taking a far different turn to star as a killer in HBO and Sky's crime drama, Landscapers, written by her husband, Ed Sinclair. Landscapers is inspired by the true story of Susan and Christopher Edwards, a Mansfield, U.K., couple who were convicted in 2014 of killing Susan's parents and burying them in their back garden. The series is described as "a darkly comedic true-crime drama based on extensive research, hours of interviews, and direct access to the accused, who have always protested their innocence."

Karen Aldridge (The Get Down) is set as a series regular in the upcoming fourth installment of FX’s anthology series, Fargo, headlined by Chris Rock. Noah Hawley returns as director and showrunner for Season 4, which is set in 1950 in Kansas City, where two criminal syndicates — one Italian, led by Donatello Fadda, one African American, led by Loy Cannon (Rock) — have struck an uneasy peace.


PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Crime Cafe host Debbi Mack interviewed Dexter crime writer Jeff Lindsay about his new series featuring master thief Riley Wolfe.

Writer Types welcomed guest co-host Wendy Heard (author of The Kill Club) for chats with John Vercher (Three-Fifths) and Tori Eldridge (The Ninja Daughter). Plus, there was a meeting of the Writer Types book club with Dan & Kate Malmon.

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham got into the holiday spirit by reading some holiday mystery books.

Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro spoke with Charles Salzberg about his Swann novels and Second Story Man.

Ellison Cooper was the special guest on It Was a dark and Stormy Book Club, discussing the suspense thriller, Buried, an FBI neuroscientist is on the trail of a serial killer who's turned up the heat on a cold case.

Sunday Music Treat - A Christmas Crime Carol

From now until Christmas, I'm featuring a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. This week, it's from the the 1945 American comedic film noir crime film, Lady on a Train, directed by Charles David and starring Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, and David Bruce. After a woman witnesses a murder in a nearby building from her train window and reports it to the police, they quickly dismiss her story so she turns to a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime. The film is set around Christmas, and at one point Durbin sings a version of "Silent Night":

 

Quote of the Week

FFB: Red Christmas

Most people know him as creator of the now-classic Yorkshire detective duo Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe and for his Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. But author Reginald Hill is also known as Patrick Ruell, publishing eight novels under that pen name beginning with The Castle of the Demon in 1971. Whereas most of his books, including the Dalziel and Pascoe series, are police procedurals or P.I. novels, the Patrick Ruell stories are what Mike Ripley of Shots Ezine calls "slightly surreal and very funny thrillers."

In 1972's Red Christmas, a group of strangers are on a Christmas Eve trip for a Dickensian weekend at Dingley Dell. They have seemingly nothing in common: Jules and Suzie Leclerc, a French couple; Arabella Allen, a 23-year-old English lass; and Stephen Swinburne, a "young many of great beauty." They're ensconced in the Dingley Dell manor along with other guests, including a German couple dubbed "Herr Bear" and "Frau Cow" and an American party-crasher, Robert E. Lee Sawyer, all under the watchful eye of the hosts, Wardle and Boswell.

But the festivities soon take a less cheery turn when one of the servants has an accident near a quarry on the property and is taken to the hospital. Arabella soon learns that behind the facade of good-will-toward-men hides conspiracy and intrigue when she learns she's being spied upon. Things take an even nastier turn when she stumbles upon the dead body of the servant who was supposedly recuperating in the hospital. Then the grinning face of yet another corpse is seen buried beneath the ice in a skating pond just as a blizzard is blowing in — and their only means of communication with the outside world, a radio, is sabotaged. As Arabella delves deeper, aided by her growing reliance upon Boswell, who is at the center of the mystery, she finds herself in the thick of an international spy ring, with double-cross and murder all part of the game.

I rather like Robert Barnard's foreword to the Black Dagger reissue from 1995, where he says "The action is fast and furious, the characterisation light but deft, the climax thrilling and satisfying. It is, no doubt about it, a heady brew, such as might have been served at the original Dingley Dell, and just as the Christmas season. Take emergency rations and a bottle of your favorite tipple, retreat to your study and lock out the family, then settle down to a rollicking good read. With a bit of luck it will last you the whole of Christmas Day."

The omniscient head-hopping is a bit dizzying at times, but it serves its purpose of keeping you unsteady and wondering just who is telling the truth and who is not. It's an anti-Christmas romp, so to speak, although there's plenty of spiked punch and red and green in the form of blood and forests and even a Christmas tree used as a diversion. If you get your fill of overly-sweet desserts and watch It's a Wonderful Life too many times, then Red Christmas might just be the antidote.

 

Mystery Melange - Holiday Edition

The Mystery Writers of America announced the 2020 Grand Master, Raven, and Ellery Queen recipients. MWA’s Grand Master Award, which represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing as well as for a body of work, is Barbara Neely, who's best known for her Blanche White mystery series featuring the first black female series sleuth in mainstream American publishing. The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing, and will be presented to the Left Coast Crime mystery conference. The Ellery Queen Award honors "outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry," and will go to Kelley Ragland, associate publisher and editorial director of Minotaur Books.

The Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction recognizes outstanding writing in the genre of crime or thriller fiction and is sponsored by author L J Ross in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival. It is open to all new writers who are from, or whose work celebrates, the north of England and who have not previously had a crime or thriller story published in any form. The winning entry will be awarded a prize of £2500 to support the completion of their work, as well as free editorial and mentoring services from a local independent publisher and funding towards a year’s membership of industry associations. Entries are open through March 31, 2020 and the winner will be announced at a ceremony forming part of the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival in May 2020. (HT to Shots Magazine)

Some good news, just in time for the holidays: San Diego's Mysterious Galaxy bookstore has been saved. The store lost its lease last month and said it would have to close unless a new buyer was found, but help arrived in the form of Jenni Marchisotto and Matthew Berger, who announced not only are they buying the store, it will move to a new location in the city in January. They added that they were "ready to take Mysterious Galaxy into the next decade and beyond!" (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Writing for The Guardian, Tayari Jones profiled the unfairly neglected African-American author Ann Petry and her 1947 literary crime novel, The Street, which was marketed as a tale of vice and violence in Harlem and sold more than a million copies. (Jones had a similar article for the New York Times in 2018.) Virago Modern Classics released a new edition of The Street this week with a new introduction by Jones, author of An American Marriage and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019.

Martin Edwards noted that regarding reissues of classic crime titles in general, it's been a pretty good year.

Country Life Magazine in the UK profiled the great country houses which inspired the tales of Britain’s greatest-ever crime writer, Dame Agatha Christie.

Janet Rudolph has posted her ever-growing list of Christmas crime fiction on her Mystery Fanfare blog, which is so extensive now, it's divided into several parts, including Authors A through E; Authors F through L; and finally, Authors M through Z. There's also a handy listing of Hanukkah mysteries, too.

Paul French, writing for Crimereads, has more thoughts on the "Crime Novels of Christmas," and a guest post by Nigel Bird on Martin Edwards' blog mused on the appeal of Christmas mysteries.

If you're looking for last-minute crime books for Christmas gifts, the latest "Best of 2019" lists may be helpful, from The Rap Sheet contributors Kevin Burton Smith, Ali Karim, Jim Napier, and J. Kingston Pierce; Crimereads; Aunt Agatha's bookstore; Murder by the Book bookstore; and Dead Good Books.

The Mystery Lovers' Kitchen has their usual tasty holiday offerings of recipes for you, including One Pot Gingerbread from Shari Randall; Caramel Almond Cookies from Maryanne Corrigan; and Cranberry Bliss Bars via Leslie Budewitz.

In a recent Page 69 test, New York Times bestselling author James Lovegrove applied the Page 69 Test to his latest Sherlock Holmes novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon.

Yellow Mama's holiday issue is out, featuring fifteen full-length and four flash fiction stories, several related to the Christmas season, including: Dini Armstrong’s "Glitter in the Dark," in which a girl and her dad spend Christmas in a Dutch detainment camp; Gary Clifton’s "Angel," a pooch-loving hooker, who tries escaping from her abusive pimp on Christmas Eve; and Hillary Lyons’ "Red Velvet, White Lies," where a scorned girlfriend has the perfect gift for her philandering beau.

King's River Life magazine has a free holiday short for you, "Two Worlds: A Christmas Story" by Paula Messina.

Manning Wolfe exlains why "short is sweet" in a brief look at the history of brief crime books, including the new imprint he's spearheading, Bullet Books Speed Reads.

The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured "My Christmas Story" by Steve Hockensmith. And as I noted on recent Media Murder for Monday posts, you can also hear the holiday stories, "A Christmas Trifle," a Meg Langslow story by Donna Andrews and "Crime Dog On the Road," by mystery author Neil S. Plakcy, on the Mysteryrats Maze podcast.

Charles Dickens’s stoic response to the destruction of his Christmas turkey in a train fire has been revealed in a letter rediscovered at the National Railway Museum in York, in which the author says he "bore the loss with unbroken good humour towards the Great Western Railway Company." Dickens was sent the turkey in Christmas week of 1869 by the manager of his reading tours, George Dolby, but alas the conveyance carrying the 30-pound bird subsequently caught fire. According to Dolby, Dickens was initially annoyed, but later saw it as a blessing that what was left of the bird had not been wasted, said Anne McLean, an archive volunteer at the museum (the charred remains were later offered to the people of Reading for sixpence a portion.)

Here's an idea that I think the U.S. (and all countries) should emulate: every Christmas, Iceland has the Jolabokaflod, or Christmas Book Flood, a much-loved tradition that has been celebrated in Iceland since 1945. Two-thirds of books in Iceland are published in November and December, and on Christmas Eve, Icelanders traditionally exchange books and spend the evening reading. Among their favorites are the crime novels of Arnaldur Indridason, who’s topped bestseller lists for the past two decades in his native country.

You've probably seen its literary yummy goodness on the Interwebs, and Bookriot has the surprising history of the infamous "Library Cake" that is still making the rounds.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Wondering About the Real Crime" by J.H.Johns.

In the Q&A roundup, Clea Simon has "Five Questions With Art Taylor"; Alana Meike Interviews Joyce Carol Oates on editing Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery & Crime By Women Writers; and Mystery Tribune spoke with to Parnell Hall, author of the Puzzle Lady and the Stanley Hastings series.

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:

AWARDS

The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for the best performances of 2019. On the movie side, crime dramas were represented by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor, respectively (Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood) and also Supporting Actor nods to Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for The Irishman. The Outstanding Cast nominations (the SAG equivalent of Best Picture) also included Once... and The Irishman. On the TV side, Mahershala Ali was a Best Dramatic Actor nominee for True Detective, along with Jharrel Jerome for When They See Us, while Jodie Comer was nominated for her leading role in Killing Eve. Plus, the Best Ensemble nods for TV Series included Big Little Lies.

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Jesse Eisenberg is starring in and exec producing the independent thriller, Wild Indian, written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr. The story follows two Anishinaabe men who are inextricably bound together after covering up the savage murder of a schoolmate. After years of separation following wildly divergent paths, they must finally confront how their traumatic secret has irrevocably shaped their lives. Filling out the cast are Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer, Kate Bosworth and Scott Haze.

Universal Pictures is developing Tapping the Source, based on the "surfer noir" novel by Kem Nunn. The story follows a man who heads to Huntington Beach to look for his missing sister and for the three men who may have murdered her⁠—a search that takes him on a journey through a twisted world of crazed Vietnam vets, sadistic surfers, drug dealers, and mysterious seducers.

Following an Emmy win for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series (for Ozark), Jason Bateman has found his next feature film to direct. He’ll helm Shut In, the spec script by first-time screenwriter, Melanie Toast. The project is an edgy thriller in the vein of Panic Room, in which a single mother is held captive by her violent ex, with her two young children left at risk, and she must do everything to protect them and survive.

Hotel Mumbai director Anthony Maras is set to write and direct Peachtree, a ’70s true-crime saga about the spectacular rise and fall of Atlanta porn king Mike Thevis. Craving respectability, he sank millions into charities but ultimately was bought down in a web of murder, blackmail, arson, and extortion.

Bella Thorne is set as the lead in Masquerade, a home invasion thriller which Shane Dax Taylor will direct and write. The project follows 11-year-old Casey (Alyvia Alyn Lind of Daybreak and The Young and the Restless) who must survive the night after a group of intruders, led by Rose (Thorne), break into her family’s home to steal priceless artwork. The thieves will stop at nothing to get what they want, with shocking developments.

The Film Noir Foundation will present a dark holiday classic from south of the border, Roberto Gavaldon's La Otra /The Other (1946), on Wednesday, December 18. The event will also mark the reveal of the full schedule for Noir City International II, a program of noir from around the globe, coming January 24–February 2 to the majestic Castro Theatre in San Francisco. (HT to Mystery Fanfare.)

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Nashville exec producer Steve Buchanan has teamed up with Synchronicity Films, producer of Jenna Coleman-fronted BBC drama The Cry, for a music-centered mystery thriller. Set in a small Scottish village, the eight-part series begins after the body of a local musician is discovered in the harbor opposite the local village pub, and will feature original songs from a variety of styles including Scottish contemporary folk music and American tracks.

HBO Europe has picked up the Polish crime series The Thaw from the writer behind The Border. The six-part series follows a female police officer⁠—a single mom trying to balance life and work, who is confronted with the case of her life after the body of a young, unidentified woman is discovered under melting ice after the spring thaw.

Roma Maffia and Tony nominee Daniel Breaker are set for recurring roles in the upcoming fifth season of Billions, Showtime’s Wall Street thriller series starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. Maffia will play Mary Ann Gramm, the smart and tough Manhattan District Attorney, while Breaker is recurring as Scooter Dunbar, the brilliant and locked-down Chief of Staff of business titan Michael Prince (Corey Stoll).

ABC has canceled the crime drama Reef Point, starring Poppy Montgomery, after just one season. In the hour-long drama, Montgomery played Cat Chambers, a thief-turned-fixer for the governor of a Pacific Island paradise. The show premiered in June and was based on an idea of Montgomery’s, with former Numb3rs showrunner Ken Sanzel attached to write and executive produce alongside Montgomery. Reef Break also starred Ray Stevenson, Desmond Chiam, Melissa Bonne, and Tamela Shelton.

Discovery and Channel 4 are teaming up to co-produce a U.S. version of the hit British documentary series 24 Hours In Police Custody. ITV Studios-owned production company The Garden Productions has been working on the show for a number of months after securing access to the Kansas City Police Department


PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

The latest guest on Meet the Thriller Author, hosted by Alan Petersen, was Diana Xarissa, author of the Aunt Bessie Mysteries, the Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery novellas, the Isle of Man Romances, and her new series, the Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy mysteries.

The most recent Mysteryrats Maze podcast featured the Christmas mystery short story, "Crime Dog On the Road," written by mystery author Neil S. Plakcy, as read by actor Thomas Nance.

On the Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, host and veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson discussed how human resources at a police department would handle confidentiality of a transsexual employee, poking plot holes through the movie Inside Man, and handling romance while undercover. 

Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro chatted with author Jess Walter, who discussed writing non-fiction, his evolving catalog of novels, NOT getting drunk with Jonathan Tropper, what it means to be "writer famous," and shared a little about his journey as a writer.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club welcomed bestselling author Rebecca Cantrell, whose novels have won the ITW Thriller, the Macavity, and the Bruce Alexander awards.

The Crime Time podcast covered small-town gossip, social media and murder, Christmas gift ideas, and more.

Sunday Music Treat - A Christmas Crime Carol

From now until Christmas, I'm featuring a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. Today's offering is from Lady in the Lake, based the 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler in which the editor of a crime magazine hires Philip Marlowe to find the wife of her boss, and the P.I. soon finds himself involved in murder. The movie featured quite a bit of Christmas music, including a variation of "Balulalow" by Peter Warlock. Here's the Choir of St. John's College conducted by George Guest in a performance of the piece:

Quote of the Week