In Reference to Murder

Edgar Week Events Canceled

Mystery Writers of America announced they have made the decision to cancel the annual Edgar Awards Mystery Week events, originally scheduled for late April. The Edgars Symposium, Deadly Anniversaries launch party, and the Edgars Banquet are all affected. Here's the official statement:

It is with heavy heart that we have to let you know we are cancelling both the Edgar Awards banquet and the symposium.

All bars and restaurants have been closed in New York City due to the pandemic (other than for delivery and pick-up), and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement on Sunday urging people to cancel or postpone all events bringing together 50 or more people for the next eight weeks, including weddings. “Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities,” the CDC said on their website. “Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies.

This year is the 75th anniversary of MWA; our Edgar week festivities were to be a celebration of that anniversary.

But the health, safety, and well-being of our nominees, guests, members and the hotel staff have to be paramount, and it is not in anyone’s best interest that we go forward with the festivities.

We still plan on celebrating the achievements of our finalists and announcing the winners; how we will do that is currently under discussion.

We also still intend to publish this year’s Edgar annual.

We do hope you will join us next year, when we will celebrate this year’s anniversary for MWA along with the 75th anniversary of the Edgars themselves.

Please do everything you can to keep yourself and your loved ones safe, and we look forward to seeing you next year.

MWA National Board of Directors

Media Murder for Monday - Coronavirus Edition

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

The biggest news coming out of Hollywood right now is the fact the coronavirus scare has shut down almost every film production as well as pushed back premieres from spring or summer until fall. I reported last week on the rescheduling of the latest James Bond movie from April to November, but there are plenty more now. If you want a current tally of all the movie schedule changes, you can check out this list, which includes Fast and Furious 9 and Mission Impossible 7 (as well as No Time to Die), with more likely to be added soon. Most global movie theaters currently still open are also using limited seating and ticketing.

Many film festivals have also been canceled or postponed, including the 63rd-annual San Francisco International Film Festival; the Garden State Film Festival (which will go online); Chicago Critics Film Festival (postponed); 39th Istanbul Film Festival; 2020 RiverRun International Film Festival; St Patrick’s Film Festival London; 22nd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival (rescheduled); Sun Valley Film Festival; Miami Film Festival (canceled in the middle of the event); TCM Classic Film Festival and more. Cannes hasn't pulled the plug just yet but will wait until the end of April to decide what shape the festival (scheduled for the second week of May) might take.

Sean Patrick Flanery is set to star alongside Abigail Hawk, Weston Cage Coppola, Mark Dacascos, and Michael Jai White in the indie action thriller, Assault On VA-33. The plot centers on decorated veteran and PTSD sufferer, Jason Hill (Sean Patrick Flanery), who meets his wife, Jennifer, for lunch at the VA hospital where she works. After Jennifer is called away for an emergency consultation, the hospital and everyone in it are taken hostage by heavily armed terrorists. Jason becomes the last line of defense and must battle the terrorists and his own PTSD-induced demons to save everyone.

Flash star Grant Gustin has signed on to headline Operation Blue Eyes, playing Barry Keenan, the infamous businessman who orchestrated the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr. in 1963. Criminal Minds star Joe Mantegna is directing the indie from a screenplay by Bradley Barth and Joseph Nasser. 

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Many TV productions have also shut down due to the coronavirus, including just about every crime drama currently on the schedule, such as the CSI, NCIS, and Chicago franchises, as well as various cable shows like Fargo and streaming shows like The Good Fight. This also includes those companies shooting pilots for consideration for the fall season. Along with the networks canceling the usual spring "upfront" presentations, it will remain to be seen how this affects the fall TV schedule.

So, you'll have to keep that information in mind when considering the next news tidbits, as there's no telling when or if these shows will be going forward:

ITV is remaking the crime drama, Professor T, starring Ben Miller and Frances de la Tour. Based on the hit Belgian series of the same name, Professor T is set against the backdrop of Cambridge University, one of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions. Miller, who also starred in BBC crime drama Death in Paradise, plays the genius OCD criminologist, Professor Jasper Tempest, while de la Tour stars as his colorful but overbearing mother, Adelaide.

Uma Thurman will headline Suspicion, a high-paced thriller about the kidnapping of the son of a prominent American businesswoman, played by Thurman. She's joined in the series by Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory), Noah Emmerich (The Americans), Georgina Campbell (Black Mirror), Elyes Gabel (Scorpion), Elizabeth Henstridge (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Angel Coulby (Dancing On The Edge). The story centers on twenty-one year-old Leo’s abduction from a large, upmarket hotel in central New York, which is captured on video and goes viral. Four British citizens staying at the hotel quickly become the prime suspects, but are they really guilty or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

The Stranger actress Dervla Kirwan has landed the lead role in Smother, the noir thriller produced by BBC Studios for Irish broadcaster RTÉ. Kirwan will play family matriarch Val Ahern, whose partner is found dead at the foot of a cliff the morning after a family party. As she unravels the circumstances that led to his demise, she discovers how his controlling, manipulative behavior may have impacted his children and siblings.

Natalie Alyn Lind is set as a lead opposite Katheryn Winnick and Ryan Phillippe in The Big Sky, ABC’s straight-to-series drama created and executive produced by David E. Kelley. Based on The Highway, the first book in C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels, the project is a procedural thriller in which private detective Cassie Dewell partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. 

Ginger Gonzaga is set as a series regular opposite Shannyn Sossamon in The Cleaning Lady, Fox’s drama pilot based on the Argentinian series. The story follows a whip-smart Filipina doctor, Reyna Salonga (Sossamon), who comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her ailing son. But when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she becomes an on-call cleaning lady for the mob and walks the tightrope of morality. Gonzaga will play Fiona Rivera, Reyna’s undocumented half-sister who gets mixed up in a mess of side hustles and bad boyfriends.

Andy Garcia is set to star opposite Katey Sagal in ABC’s Erin Brockovich-inspired drama pilot, Rebel. Written by Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff, Rebel stars Sagal as Annie "Rebel" Bello, a blue collar legal advocate without a law degree who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. Garcia will play Julian Cruz, "the lawyer for whom Annie ‘Rebel’ Bello consults, although sometimes it seems like it’s the other way around." It was also announced that Lex Scott Davis has joined the cast, playing Cassidy, the daughter of Rebel who is one part attorney and one part recovering juvenile delinquent.

Gavin Stenhouse (Black Mirror) and Gwendoline Yeo (American Crime) are set as series regulars in the CW pilot, Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. The story centers on a young Chinese-American woman who uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and now is targeting her.

Violet Brinson (Sharp Objects) and Kale Culley (Me, Myself and I) are set as series regulars opposite Lindsey Morgan and Jared Padalecki in Walker, a reimagining of CBS’s long-running 1990s action/crime series Walker, Texas Ranger. It centers on Cordell Walker (Padalecki), a widower and father of two with his own moral code, who returns home to Austin after being undercover for two years only to discover there’s harder work to be done at home.

A trailer was released for HBO's limited series, The Undoing, which premieres in May. Nicole Kidman stars as Grace Sachs, a beautiful upperclass New Yorker whose perfect life is torn apart by a scandalous murder. Hugh Grant co-stars as her outwardly perfect husband, but he too appears to have duplicitous ways. Even Grace's dad Franklin (Donald Sutherland) and her son Henry (Noah Jupe) behave suspiciously. Edgar Ramirez co-stars as a police detective determined to find the truth.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

On the Crime Cafe podcast, host Debbi Mack interviewed crime writer June Trop about how she discovered Maria Hebrea, the woman who inspired her protagonist, Miriam bat Isaac, while researching a paper for a class on the history of chemistry.

Writer Types guest co-host Alison Gaylin joined host Eric Beetner to talk with LC Shaw (The Network), Hilary Davidson (Don't Look Down), and Suzanne Redfearn (In An Instant).

A new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze is up featuring an excerpt from the first chapter of The Body in Griffith Park by Jennifer Kincheloe, read by actor Casey Ballard.

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about how the ghost of Agatha Christie might be haunting a museum; Snoop Dogg adapting the IQ series; and some backlist books.

Suspense Radio's Beyond the Cover welcomed Tasha Alexander to talk about her latest book, In the Shadow of Vesuvius, book 14 of the Lady Emily series.

Meet the Thriller Author chatted with Bill Brewer, professor of Human Anatomy & Physiology and author of Dawn of the Assassin, the origin story of the reluctant killer of men, David Diegert, the protagonist of Brewer’s thriller series.

Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro spoke with Shawn A. Crosby about A Grifter's Song; his Anthony Award; and the craziness accompanying the upcoming publication of his new book Blacktop Wasteland.

Writer's Detective Bureau, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the topics of "Interview Dialogue and a Cozy Missing Person turned Murder Mystery."

It was a Dark and Stormy Book Club interviewed Bonnie MacBird about her novel, The Devil's Due, A Sherlock Holmes Adventure.

Listening to the Dead host Lynda La Plante discussed "DNA and Blood Forensics."

More Cancellations

Sleuthfest, scheduled for March 25-29 in Boca Raton, Florida, announced it is canceling the conference for this year.  If you have purchased a manuscript critique, it will become a virtual critique instead of a face to face one. Organizers are also in the process of evaluating refunds after factoring in booking fees and paid expenses, but also add that "We look forward to seeing you in 2021."

Malice Domestic also announced that they are postponing the event, that was to be held April 30 - May 3 in Bethesda, Maryland. Event staff noted they "have chosen to postpone rather than cancel for a number of reasons, not least of which is that we are committed to bringing the Malice family together when it is safe to do so." They're also working with the hotel to finalize the new dates, and all Malice registrations will transfer to those dates. (Note: the website hasn't been updated with the news just yet, although an email was sent to all registrants and the media.)

Quotation of the Week

More Conference Cancellations

It's hard to keep up with all the closings and cancellations among the various organizations and events, but in addition to the previously announced cancellation of the Virginia Festival of the Book and Crime Wave, as well as the postponement of the LA Times Festival of the Book, there are two new additional cancellations to report:

Left Coast Crime was currently in full swing in San Diego, California, when it was abruptly shut down by San Diego County. Janet Rudolph over at Mystery Fanfare has an update.

Murder & Mayhem in Chicago was also just canceled, with no plans to reschedule at this time.

FFB: Victorian Tales of Mystery & Detection

Historical crime fiction has been growing in popularity since the likes of Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and the Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. And of course Victorian fiction is right in the thick of it all, thanks to the enduring legacy of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. This particular 1992 volume of Victorian Tales of Mystery & Detection is an Oxford anthology that includes writers who actually lived and created stories during the reign of Queen Victoria, as opposed to present-day writers looking back on the era. The roster starts off with an Edgar Allan Poe tale from 1845 and works its way up chronologically through writers Sax Rohmer and Robert Barr (1904).

Editor Michael Cox, who selected all the included stories, opens his Introduction with a G.K. Chesterton quotation about crime writers being divided into two types, "poisoners," who prolong the agony of anticipation or bewilderment in novel form, leaving the reader writhing on a sick-bed of baffled curiosity, or "cut-throats," writers who realize that the murder story cuts lives short and therefore chooses to startle readers via the quick stabs of the short story.

Cox goes on to add that, although the short-story form has inherent limitations, in capable hands these are turned into triumphant effect with pleasures for the reader that the detective novel can't provide. And the tools of those capable hands? An engaging narrative voice; a flamboyance of invention and an economy of style, compression and well-paced plot; and characters sketched swifly, but decisively, and tied back to the simple and surprising main idea. That's really not so much to ask, it is?

The 31 stories included more than meet the task, penned by masters, all. In addition to Poe, Rohmer, and Barr, there are also offerings by J.S. Le Fanu, Charles Dickens, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Mrs. Henry Wood, Wilkie Collins, Barones Orczy, and Arthur Conan Doyle. The protagonists include police detectives, gentleman amateurs, lady detectives, one psychic detective and even an "anti-detective," in the form of Guy Boothby's Klimo, who devises a crime for himself to solve.

Stories range from M. McDonnell Bodkin's "Murder By Proxy," in which a gentleman is shot in the head at close range—by a murderer who wasn't in the same room, to J. S. Le Fanu's double-locked-room mystery, "The Murdered Cousin," where gambling habits prove to be fatal. Conan Doyle's contribution is "The Lost Special," in which cunning Herbert de Lernac commits the "inexplicable crime of the century" by making a train and its passengers vanish into thin air.

If you're a fan of the Victorian era and the more genteel crime writing of the day, this anthology is certainly one you'll enjoy and want to add to your collection.

Author R&R with Marty Ambrose

Marty Ambrose’s writing career has spanned almost fifteen years, with eight published novels for Avalon Books, Kensington Books, Thomas & Mercer—and, now, Severn House. She also teaches creative writing at  Florida Southwestern State College. She placed as a finalist in the Florida Writer’s Association Literary Palm Award last year with the first book in her Lord Byron Mystery trilogy, Claire’s Last Secret. Marty lives on an island in Southwest Florida with her husband, former news-anchor, Jim McLaughlin, where they tend their mango grove.  

Her second book in the trilogy, A Shadowed Fate, is set in Florence, Italy in 1873, and narrated by Claire Clairmont—the last survivor of the famous Byron/Shelley circle. She is still reeling from a series of events triggered by the arrival of an old friend, which culminated in a brutal murder, and begins a desperate search for her long-lost daughter while repairing the past with lovers who betrayed her.  Publishers Weekly describes the book as a mix of "regret and wistful longing for dead loves, [which] imbue the story with a seductive power."

Marty Ambrose stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the book:

 

Researching the Lord Byron Mystery Trilogy

When I moved from writing mysteries to historical mysteries set in Italy, I had no idea the “road of research” would take so many twists and turns.  Doing the background work for the Lord Byron Mysteries involves journeying down so many complex avenues, especially because many of my characters are actual literary figures who possess a large degree of fame from their work.  Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, and Percy Bysshe Shelley all figure prominently in my books, though they are narrated by the “almost famous” member of their circle:  Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley’s stepsister.  So, I have to pay respect to their well-known personas, but also find a way to make them work as characters in my own mysteries—a tricky balance, especially when there are so many readers who are quite devoted to these authors’ reputations.  I find that I have to immerse myself in their biographies, letters, and journals; but, I also travel to Italy (a tough job, but someone has to do it) to find details that have never been recorded, one of the most interesting aspects of research.  I love the thrill of connecting with places and people who have knowledge that they are more than willing to pass on.

Biographies:  I always start here because my literary characters have had so many biographies written about them—especially Lord Byron.  His life has been analyzed minutely over the last two centuries.  As a writer, I delve into the facts (though they are sometimes a bit contradictory from bio to bio), so I know the basics of dates, activities, and historical events.  But what I look for is something that stands out as a possible dramatic point that can be used in my novel.  For example, I spent quite a great deal of time researching Byron’s pursuits in Ravenna during 1821, so I could include some of the intriguing episodes in his fictional memoir that I include in my book.  He was involved with the Carbonari—an Italian revolutionary group—and this figures prominently in my book to build tension in the plot.  Luckily, Byron and the others had big lives, so there is no end to mining these kinds of biographical details.

Letters and Conversations:  Famous literary figures in the nineteenth-century tended to write letters—a lot of letters.  And, luckily, the people who received these letters kept them.  What is provocative is each author takes a slightly different perspective on the same event.  Bryon wrote letters about his relationship with Claire, Mary Shelley wrote letters about his relationship with Claire and, of course, Claire wrote letters about her relationship with Byron.  I found by taking all three versions of this central couple in my mysteries, I could shade its complexities and subtleties.  Since Clair is the narrator, I did defer to her at times!  Most compelling, though, was the number of people who wrote about their “conversations” with members of the Byron/Shelley circle.  Much like today, people liked to write “tell-all” books in which these celebrated personalities were “framed” in moments of sharing reflections or simply idle chit-chat.  I read some of these volumes with skepticism but found they often had a nugget of information that I could use in character-building.

Travel:  By far, traveling to Italy twice has been one of my absolute favorite aspects of doing historical research—especially because my husband is fluent in Italian.  I visited the towns where my characters lived (often somewhat remote—which added to the adventure!) and walked through many of the houses where they lived.  I used the descriptions of these spots for setting details.  I find if I don’t see a place, I have a hard time making it “come alive” in my books.  Streets have a certain look and feel and smell.  Palazzos occupy space in a particular way.  The Italian landscape has light and shadow that is so distinctive.  Every locale I visited gave me more and more of an ability to flesh out the background setting for my characters.

Locals:  One of the most delightful aspects of researching in Italy is talking to local librarians, archivists, and academics.  They often had knowledge of my characters’ lives in Italy that I could not find in a biography.  One local whom I met in Bagni di Lucca was considered as an expert on the Byron/Shelley circle in the area (which isn’t covered too extensively in the bios).  He spoke only Italian, so my husband translated, and he showed us sights and explained little historical “footnotes” that I included in my mystery, such as the cave where Mary Shelley and Claire would enjoy the hot steam of the thermal springs, or the woods where they would roam near the town.  It always amazed me how eager locals were to share their knowledge and simply drop everything to spend time with my husband and me on our quest!

Certainly, researching historical mysteries is time-consuming, even frustrating at times; but, the excitement of digging for information and finding some unknown fact propels me through the bumps on “research road.”  And there is nothing so satisfying than having a reader/reviewer comment on the “meticulous research” of one of my books.  Bellissimo!

 

You can learn more about Marty Ambrose and her writing by visiting her website and also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. A Shadowed Fate has just been released and is available via all major bookstores.

Mystery Melange

The 32nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrate LGBTQ books and authors, announced the shortlists in 24 categories. The finalists were selected by a panel of over 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions representing 300+ publishers. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony, hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang, the evening of Monday, June 8, 2020 in New York City. The crime fiction categories include:

Best Lesbian Mystery

The Blood Runs Cold, Catherine Maiorisi, Bella Books
Galileo, Ann McMan, Bywater Books
The Hound of Justice, Claire O’Dell, Harper Voyager
The Mirror of Muraro, Amelia Ellis, Newton Pryce Ingram
Twisted at the Root: A Jane Lawless Mystery, Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books

Best Gay Mystery

Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel, Michael Nava, Persigo Press
ChoirMaster: A Mister Puss Mystery, Michael Craft, Questover Press
Death Takes a Bow, David S. Pederson, Bold Strokes Books
The Fourth Courier, Timothy Jay Smith, Arcade Publishing
The Nowhere, Chris Gill, PRNTD Publishing
The Quaker, Liam McIlvanney, Europa Editions/World Noir
Rewind, Marshall Thornton, Kenmore Books
Royal Street Reveillon, Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books

 

The coronavirus scare is taking its toll on the publishing community. Most bookstore events are still moving forward, although a few in harder-hit areas like Seattle have been canceled. The 2020 Tucson Festival of Books, scheduled for March 14-15, has been canceled; the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, originally scheduled for April, has been rescheduled and will be presented October 3-4, and the Book Prizes awards ceremony, planned for April 17, will not be held this year; the 2020 Virginia Festival of the Book (including Crime Wave) scheduled for March 18-22 in Charlottesville, has also been canceled; however, the Malice Domestic conference schedule for May 1-3 in Maryland, sent out an email notice this morning that the conference is planning on moving forward but to keep checking back. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Sadly, we lost another member of the crime fiction community last week; Brash Books reported that Barbara Neely had passed away after a brief illness. Neely was best known as author of the Blanche White mystery series, the first black female series sleuth in mainstream American publishing, and Neely had been named the 2020 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. In an official statement, MWA noted, "She was an inspiration, a trailblazer, and a remarkable talent and voice whose loss is deeply felt. We are grateful we had the opportunity to let her know how much she meant to the mystery community before she left us. Her talent and memory will live on forever in her wonderful books. She will be missed."

The New York Review of Books profiled crime writer James Ellroy and the forces from his childhood and early adult years—including his mother's murder—that shaped his writing, including his iconic LA Quartet series.

Jeff Pierce, over at the Rap Sheet blog, has published "A Spring Shower of Reading Choices," listing new crime fiction novels to look forward to from March through May, both in the U.S. and the U.K.

One of the "Big Five" publishers (Big Six, if you count Amazon's imprints) is up for sale after ViacomCBS announced it was going to find a buyer for Simon & Schuster. Although the publishing company’s CEO, Carolyn Reidy, told employees the impending sale will not disrupt business, the true impact still remains to be seen. Simon & Schuster has published such crime authors as James Lee Burke, Catherine Coulter, Jeffery Deaver, JA Jance, Stephen King, Kathy Reichs, and many more.

A couple of anniversaries of note: it's been sixty years since the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock psychological horror film, Psycho, which was based on the Wisconsin killer and graveyard robber, Ed Gein; and it's also the 50th anniversary of Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way, the first book to introduce Navajo police officer Joe Leaphorn.

A manuscript by the infamous Marquis de Sade (for whom the word sadism was later coined) can be yours for around a hundred grand. It's actually a historical novel, Histoire secrète d'Isabelle de Bavière reine de France, which tells the story of Isabelle of Bavaria (1371-1435), the queen consort of Charles VI. Bonhams is auctioning the document, but you'd better hurry since bids are due today.

Can you really hire a hitman on the Dark Web? As the New York Times reports (free limited subscription required), several online stores offer murder for pay, but even though some researchers say they are scams, people who want someone dead aren’t listening.

If you are fortunate enough to live to celebrate your 100th birthday, as this woman did, you can always add to your bucket list to be arrested and taken to jail.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Cadillac Prey" by Rena J. Worley.

In the Q&A roundup, crime author Michael Koryta and suspense author Alma Katsu spoke with Crime Reads about "Horror, Craft, and Reinvention"; and Jason Pinter spoke with the Mystery People's Scott Montgomery about his new book and the start of a new series, Hide Away.

Author R&R with Jessica Moor

Jessica Moor studied English at Cambridge before completing a Creative Writing MA at Manchester University where her dissertation was awarded the second Peters Fraser Dunlop-sponsored "Creative Writing Prize for Fiction." Prior to this, she spent a year working in the violence against women and girls sector and this experience inspired her first novel, The Keeper. She currently lives in Berlin.

In Moor's novel, The Keeper, Katie Straw’s body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, and the police are ready to write it off as a standard-issue female suicide. But the residents of the domestic violence shelter where Katie worked disagree. These women have spent weeks or even years waiting for the men they’re running from to catch up with them. They know immediately: This was murder. Still, Detective Dan Whitworth and his team expect an open-and-shut case ... until they discover evidence that suggests Katie wasn’t who she appeared to be.

Jessica Moor stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing her debut novel:

 

THE KEEPER is set in and around a shelter for women fleeing domestic violence. The body of Katie Straw, a young woman who works in the shelter, is found washed up in the local river. The police are inclined to write it off as suicide, but the women in the shelter believe otherwise. The novel follows the investigation, through the eyes of both the investigating officer and the women living in the shelter. We also delve into Katie’s history through flashback, and discover the void between who she seemed to be, and who she was. Really it’s a novel about violence against women, and the social institutions that allow that violence to continue and go unpunished.

I mostly worked in the head office of a charity that supported victims of violence against women (I wasn’t a frontline worker) but I did visit quite a few shelters. A lot of what made it into the book was little details—the kids’ pictures on the walls, the way the heating was always turned way up. But also there’s this unique feeling of entering an underground railroad—a network of secret spaces that exist to keep women safe. You realize that women essentially have to go there because there are men who want to hurt or even kill them—and the police and the courts aren’t stopping them. I think that shook my faith in the social institutions of law and justice.

I found inspiration within anger. There’s a line from Adrienne Rich that I always come back to “my visionary anger cleanses my sight.” I’m interested in the idea that anger can help us to see clearly, rather than clouding our judgement. Anger is often represented as a force that destabilizes women, in particular. I don’t think that’s true. Rebecca Traister’s book Good and Mad expresses this argument beautifully.

I was also inspired by a lot of the true crime narratives that I saw. I started writing this book in 2016, and stories like Serial and Making a Murderer had been very popular in the couple of years preceding. I take issue with the way we deploy female bodies as a narrative hook—I’m sure we can all think of examples of that. So it was a reverse inspiration; I wanted to do the opposite of those lazy depictions of women as silenced victims. I wanted to center women.

I had to work damn hard on the structure—luckily structure is one of those technical things that you can educate yourself on and improve. I took a lot of feedback from the right people to get that balance. I believe that a great story can operate as a sort of Trojan horse; you can sneak whatever themes you like, as long as you get the story right.

I don’t think it was ever particularly difficult to keep the two timelines in balance because they were always informing each other. I wanted every part of Katie’s experience to be in dialogue with the experiences of the women in the refuge. I think they always stayed roughly in balance, because to me they were connected.

The parts that came easiest were the moments of emotion—maybe it’s that visionary anger thing. Those were the bits that had stored up inside me and were just waiting to come spilling out. The tough part was the mechanics of storytelling, particularly because story is essential to crime. There’s nothing more disappointing than a great setup and then a mediocre payoff. In order to subvert some of the crime novel elements, I needed to understand what those elements were and how they work. It was no hardship—I read and studied a bunch of great crime novels.

There was also the challenge of flipping between a number of different narrative voices. My practical solution to that was to assign a certain song to every narrative voice, and listen to that song whenever I was writing that character so I could get into the headspace more easily.

 

You can read more about Jessica and her writing via her website and also follow her on Twitter and Instagram. The Keeper, which The Observer included in its list of "10 Best Debut Novelists of 2020," is now available via all major booksellers.

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

The coronavirus scare is also taking a toll on Hollywood, most notably the postponement of Daniel Craig's last James Bond outing, No Time to Die, from April 10 to November 25, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Several other industry events, festivals, film productions, and even movie theatre closings have already been announced, with more likely to come.

The forthcoming indie mystery-thriller, Awaken, has assembled an impressive slate of actors including Charles Agron, who also wrote the script that Don FauntLeRoy (Gates of Darkness) will direct. The story follows Oliver Cook (Agron), a wealthy businessman dealing with the loss of his only child and the mystery as to whether she was murdered or kidnapped. No one has a clue in this tale of murder and revenge that involves Oliver’s wife (Ford v Ferrari's Alyona Khmara), his lawyer (Saw star Tobin Bell), a person from the past (Aliens's Lance Henriksen), a stripper (Ad Astra's Kayla Adams), a recluse (Ed Asner) and a mysterious woman (Dane Hoffman). As Oliver begins to unravel the mystery, he learns that events of the deep past have a direct bearing on his family’s survival.

Grammy winner Busta Rhymes and Entourage alum Kevin Dillon will star in Red Money, an indie thriller which is being produced and directed by former NYPD officer-turned-filmmaker Steve Stanulis. The film follows Detective Brian Strictland (Dillon) and Detective Clark (Rhymes) as they track down people illegally trying to get rid of their green money after the President of the United States declares that all "green money" must be submitted to the government within one year to be turned into legal "red money." The demands of the President and government create a non-stop intense crime spree throughout the country.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

CBS’s drama pilot, Out the Door, has been put on the back burner due to difficulties casting the lead in the short time frame allotted by the broadcast pilot season. The project, from 24 veteran Evan Katz and Jerry Bruckheimer Television evokes elements of Lethal Weapon, which means it has a larger-than-life character at the center that requires spot-on casting. The project's logline reads: "Upon learning that his impending retirement is being pushed off by several years, an LAPD detective who just wants his pension so he can go off and live the good life decides to do everything in his power to get fired, but his bad behavior only leads to surprising success at solving cases."

Former Pitch star Kylie Bunbury has been tapped as the lead in The Big Sky, ABC’s straight-to-series drama created and executive produced by David E. Kelley and based on The Highway, the first book in C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels. In the procedural thriller, private detective Cassie Dewell (Bunbury) partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. When they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another victim is taken.

Succession star Ashley Zukerman is set to take on the title role in Langdon, NBC’s drama pilot based on Dan Brown’s best-selling thriller novel, The Lost Symbol. Zukerman takes on the character played by Tom Hanks in the movie trilogy The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Inferno. Langdon follows the early adventures of famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Zukerman), who must solve a series of deadly puzzles to save his kidnapped mentor and thwart a chilling global conspiracy.

Following lengthy negotiations, Veep alum Reid Scott has closed a deal for the male lead opposite Janina Gavankar in the NBC drama pilot, Echo. The project is described as "a high-concept, genre procedural" revolving around a team of investigators who solve the highest-profile crimes by sending our heroes into the past — in the body of the victim. They assume the victim’s identity and must race against time to prevent the crime before it happens. Scott will play David, a member of the FBI who volunteers for the most dangerous undercover assignments. For The People alum Wesam Keesh is also set as a series regular.

Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Deuce) and Bill Heck (Locke & Key) are set as two of the leads alongside star Jeff Bridges in FX’s drama series The Old Man, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry. It centers on the aforementioned Dan Chase (Bridges), the titular "old man," who absconded from the CIA decades ago and now lives off the grid. When an assassin (Akinnagbe) arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past. Heck will play Dan Chase thirty years prior to the events of the pilot and replaces Austin Stowell who had been originally tapped for the role.

Glee alumna Vanessa Lengies has been cast as a series regular opposite Josh Peck in Turner & Hooch, Disney+’s reboot of the classic 1989 buddy-cop comedy feature. She'll play Erica, the chief trainer at the US Marshal K-9 facility.

Netflix has rounded out series regulars for the forthcoming female-driven spy thriller series, In From The Cold, with Ivana Sakhno, Cillian O’Sullivan, Lydia Fleming, Charles Brice, and Alyona Khmelnitskaya. The actors join previously announced Margarita Levieva who is set to lead the eight-episode series. Levieva plays an American single mom whose life is turned upside down while on a European vacation when the CIA forces her to confront her long-buried past as a Russian spy—who was the product of a classified KGB experiment granting her special abilities.

Once Upon a Time alum Jeff Pierre is set as a series regular opposite Lindsey Morgan and Jared Padalecki in Walker, a reimagining of CBS’s long-running 1990s action/crime series Walker, Texas Ranger. Pierre will play Trey Barnett, an Army medic recently back from his deployment and doing his best to adjust.

The first trailer is out for the mystery series Home Before Dark, which will premiere Friday, April 3 on Apple TV+. The 10-episode series is inspired by the reporting of young investigative journalist Hilde Lysiak. It follows a young girl (Brooklynn Prince) who moves from Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father (Jim Sturgess) left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury.

Showtime has found its missing President. Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) has been cast in the key role opposite David Oyelowo in The President Is Missing, Showtime’s drama pilot based on the novel by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson. The story centers on a powerless and politically aimless vice president (Oyelowo) who unexpectedly becomes president when President Jillian Stroud (Dowd) goes missing. He walks right into a secret, world-threatening crisis, both inside and outside the White House.

Tory Kittles (Colony) is set to co-star opposite Queen Latifah in the CBS drama pilot The Equalizer, a re-imagining of the classic 1980s series. Queen Latifah stars as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic figure who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Kittles will play Detective Marcus Dante, a highly intelligent, soft-spoken yet powerful and shrewd NYPD detective, with a cultivated veneer.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Crime Cafe host, Debbi Mack, chatted with criminologist and true-crime writer, Judith Yates.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Jason Pinter to discuss his book, Hide Away, the first in a new series featuring vigilante Rachel Marin.

Suspense Magazine's Beyond the Cover spoke with Rhys Bowen, author of more than forty novels, including The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and the World War II-based In Farleigh Field.

Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro grilled Holly West about her Mistress of Fortune series; her new novella, The Money Block; and conferences.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured special guest Bruce Goldfarb, executive assistant to the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland, in a discussion of his first book of popular nonfiction, 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast featured "One Too Many," by Edith Maxwell about a hyperpolyglot—someone with an extraordinary ability to quickly learn many different languages—who turns her talent to criminal purposes.

Listening to the Dead hosts, author Lynda La Plante and CSI Cass Sutherland, discussed "Fire Investigation Forensics" on the latest episode.