In Reference to Murder

Mystery Melange

The Wolfe Pack organization announced the winners for the 2020 Nero Award and the Black Orchid Novella Award. The Nero Award is presented each year to an author for the best American Mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories, and this year goes to David Baldacci's One Good Deed, the first in a new series featuring WWII veteran, Aloysius Archer. The Black Orchid Novella Award is presented jointly by The Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the novella format popularized by Rex Stout. This year's winner is Tom Larsen, whose story, "El Cuerpo en el Barril" ("The Body in the Barrel") will be published in the July issue of AHMM.

They've announced the winner and two runners-up in each of the two categories of the German Mystery Prize, awarded for the thirty-seventh time this year. The German winner is Zoë Beck's Paradise City, and the runners-up are Max Annas with Morduntersuchungskommission (Murder Investigation Commission) and Frank Göhre's Verdammte Liebe Amsterdam. The international winner is Denise Mina's Gods and Beasts, with Garry Disher's Hope Hill Drive and Kim Young-ha's Diary of a Murderer the runners-up.

Somehow, these deadlines slipped past me until now, but there are a couple of contests seeking submissions for first novelists due soon if you just happen to have an unpublished manuscript in your desk drawer. The St. Martin's Press Tony Hillerman Prize is accepting submissions for a debut mystery novel set in the American Southwest, with a prize of $10,000 advance against royalties and publication. The deadline for that one is January 2, 2021. Also, the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel Competition is taking submissions from the author of any unpublished novel who is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel (except that authors of self-published works may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work). That one also has a prize of $10,000 advance, with a deadline of 11:59pm EST on January 1, 2021. Fortunately, you have more time to enter the CWA's Debut Dagger competition, with a deadline of February 26th.

Richard Osman became the first debut author to land the Christmas No 1 title on the bestseller lists in Britain with his book, The Thursday Murder Club, a cozy mystery about elderly sleuths. The book nudged out Barack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, and David Walliams's latest children's novel, Code Name Bananas, for the top slot.

Although many bookstores didn't survive the lockdowns and business stresses of pandemic 2020, the year turned out to be pretty good for publishers, thanks to so many folks stuck at home with time on their hands.

If you'd like to start off 2021 right, check out Mystery Fanfare's list of "New Year's Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year."

A couple of new essays up at CrimeReads take a look at "Why Classic Crime Fiction Was Obsessed With Fashion" and "The Best Loved Detective Agencies in Fiction."

I'm not sure how to feel about this, except to shake my head and agree with the hubster that "humans just aren't ready for prime time yet."

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Last Day, 1966" by Diana Powell Lukoff.

In the Q&A roundup, Deborah Kalb chatted with Edwin Hill, author of the new mystery novel Watch Her, the third in his Hester Thursby series following Little Comfort and The Missing Ones; Punk Noir Magazine's John Wisniewski interviewed Dan Flanigan about his crime suspense novel, The Big Tilt, and his other writings; Irish crime writer Anthony J. Quinn discussed the real life inspiration behind his new thriller, Turncoat; and Author Interviews spoke with Edwin Hill, the Edgar- and Agatha-award nominated author of Little Comfort, The Missing Ones, and Watch Her.

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

Blumhouse Productions won the screen rights to a December 13, 2020, New York Times story that chronicled one desperate mother’s revenge spree in Mexico, where she avenged her daughter’s murder by taking on the drug cartels and tracking down the perpetrators by herself. She saw ten of them apprehended by police before she was shot and killed in front of her home on Mother’s Day, 2017. The story, titled "She Stalked Her Daughter’s Killers Across Mexico, One by One," ignited a heated bidding war immediately after it was published, with over 16 production companies and studios interested in taking on the project.


A trailer was released for The Little Things, starring Denzel Washington as Kern County, CA, Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon who is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a killer who is terrorizing the city. Leading the hunt is L.A. Sheriff Department Sergeant Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), who's impressed with Deke’s cop instincts and unofficially engages his help. But as they track the suspected killer (Jared Leto), Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The Shield creator, Shawn Ryan, is adapting Matthew Quirk's 2020 novel, The Night Agent for television. Published in October to strong reviews, The Night Agent has drawn comparisons to the early novels of John Grisham and David Baldacci. It centers on FBI Agent Peter Sutherland who is thrown into a vast conspiracy and must stop a Russian mole at the highest levels of the US government. To save the nation, Peter plunges into a desperate hunt for the traitor and must take the law into his own hands, question everything, and trust no one.

Netflix has preemptively acquired a feature thriller pitch from screenwriter Sean O’Keefe. The project is billed as being in the spirit of Ron Howard’s 1996 action kidnap thriller hit, Ransom, but with a female bent. The new project is a reteaming of Netflix and O’Keefe, who partnered for the Mark Wahlberg action-comedy, Spenser Confidential (based on the characters from Robert B. Parker's books), which was the third most-watched movie on the streamer (after Sam Hargrave’s Extraction and Susanne Bier’s Bird Box starring Sandra Bullock).

Christiane Seidel (The Queen's Gambit) has joined the cast of Boon, the sequel to the indie crime drama, Red Stone, from Yellowstone's Neal McDonough, who will serve as the project's producer, co-writer, and will take on one of the lead roles. Boon picks up with henchman Nick Boon (McDonough), who is trying to get on with his life. At the same time, the widowed Catherine (Seidel), is busy trying to protect herself and her son from a local criminal organization that's using her land for some unusual activities. When Boon and Catherine’s lives cross paths, they find themselves leaning on each other to protect everything they stand for.

The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle and Netflix have agreed to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the author’s estate, which alleged that the Enola Holmes film infringed copyright by depicting a warmer and more emotional version of Sherlock Holmes. The lawsuit, brought against Netflix, the film’s producers Legendary Pictures, the Enola Holmes author, Nancy Springer, and others associated with the adaptation, argued that Conan Doyle created "significant new character traits for Holmes and Watson" (including a more emotional Holmes) in the 10 stories still under copyright in the US, which were written between 1923 and 1927." The agreement opens the way for a sequel, although details haven't been firmed up just yet.


PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Simon Mayo's Books Of The Year podcast had a chat with Ian Rankin, who talked about his favorite books and authors.

Meet the Thriller Author welcomed Robert B. McCaw, a former army lieutenant and an attorney who has a home on the Big Island of Hawai’i and studies the state's history, culture, and peoples. His latest novel, Death of a Messenger, the third book in his Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery series, will be published on January 5, 2021.

Wrong Place, Write Crime chatted with Connie DiMarco about her Zodiac Mysteries series.

My Favorite Detective Stories host, John Hoda, spoke with Steve Berry, the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of nineteen novels.

The latest Crime Writers of Color podcast featured Tori Eldridge, author of the Lily Wong thriller-mystery series, as interviewed by Robert Justice.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast host, veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, tackled the topics of "Lost Person Behavior, a Rogue Investigation, and the Difference between Probation and Parole."

Mystery Melange, Christmas Edition

 

Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare blog featured its annual (and growing) list of Christmas-themed crime fiction, a list that's so large it's now split into several parts. You can check the list of novels and Christmas-themed short stories and novellas here.

Writing for The Guardian, Peter Swanson compiled a list of "Top 10 Christmas crime stories," from Dashiell Hammett to Agatha Christie and PD James, when the festive season has inspired some of fiction’s finest criminal minds.

What's it like to have to write Christmas books, including Christmas-themed mysteries year 'round? Just how do you get in the spirit outside December, even when writing during heatwaves? By drinking sherry, bingeing Downton Abbey, and more.

The authors at Mystery Lovers Kitchen have quite a few holiday recipe suggestions for you, including Apple Blueberry Holiday Scones from Daryl Wood Gerber; Chocolate Pecan Turtle Bars from Leslie Budewitz; Maw Maw’s Fudge (with Candy Cane Sprinkles) by Amy Pershing; Crinkled Chocolate Espresso Cookies with a Kick via Mary Jane Maffini and much more.

Writing for the Murder is Everywhere blog, Zoe Sharp discussed a celebration in Iceland that I've mentioned before, and one that I think we should start celebrating everywhere, namely, the Christmas book flood (Icelandic: Jólabókaflóðið). But all is not sugar and spice in that country ...check out this "Wicked Feline Murder Floof, a Yule Cat Story."

Was one of the best-loved and most iconic Christmas writings actually plagiarized? Over on the Sleuthsayers blog, Joseph D'Agnese notes that Clement Moore quite possibly did indeed steal the famous poem, "The Night Before Christmas" from a man named Henry Livingston Jr.

The Kings River Life MysteryRats Maze podcast had a couple of Christmas stories up, including the first chapter of the mystery novel, A Merry Christmas Anniversary Mystery, by Anna Celeste Burke as read by Julia Reimer and the story, "Dog’s Only Son" by Neil Plakcy, read by actor Thomas Nance. Also, KRL also had an online print story, "Lady Barbara’s Christmas Miracle: A Christmas Mystery Short Story" by Connie Berry.

Writers Who Kill also featured the story, "A Christmas Near Miss: Santa-Fairy and the Tooth Claus" by Tammy Euliano.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast featured Fei Wu's clever Christmas tale, "Beijingle All the Way," from the January/February 2020 issue, read by the translator of the story—and longtime contributor to EQMM—Josh Pachter.

If you'd like a little homicide with your holiday, Volume 2, issue 2 of Down & Out magazine has been released. Editor Rick Ollerman state that "We are fortunate to feature some of the correspondence between two legends of crime fiction, Walter Satterthwait and Bill Crider, both of whom recently passed away. For those who knew Walter and Bill, or were just fans of their work, there is a touch of their personalities that comes through in these exchanges and, at least for a moment, gives us an opportunity to experience their unique voices just a little bit, just one more time." There are also new original stories by James O. Born, Michael Cahlin, John M. Floyd, Arthur Klepchukov & Kyle Stout, Ken Luer, Stephen Marlowe, Steven Nester, Rick Ollerman, Josh Pachter, Walter Satterthwait, John Shepphird, Don Stoll, and Jeff Vorzimmer.

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle is as close as Arthur Conan Doyle ever came to a Sherlock Holmes Christmas special, and Book Riot has a list of some of the most successful screen adaptations through the years.

From the real-life mystery department, The Guardian took a deep dive into the "tome raiders": an audacious book heist at Feltham in 2017 in which around 240 books and manuscripts were taken, including works by Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci and the 18th-century Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. The total value was estimated at more than £2.5m. According to Ellis, book theft has undergone an evolution over the past 10 to 15 years. "Prior to that, the theft of manuscripts and rare books was unusual, and quite often committed by people who had access." But it was only a matter of time before organized criminals spotted an opportunity.

From the real-life mystery department, part two, comes the question: Why are scammers conning famous (and even indie) authors into sending them unpublished manuscripts?

Unfortunately, there will be many sad news items this holiday season, including deaths from Covid-19. One such recent loss in the mystery community was mystery author Parnell Hall. Hall was the creator of a series with ambulance-chasing New York City private investigator Stanley Hastings and the "Puzzle Lady" Cora Felton series, as well as the screeenwriter for the 1984 cult classic, C.H.U.D. (HT to Mystery Fanfare) ZDF Enterprises bought the rights to the Puzzle Lady series in September for development as a TV series, with VP Robert Franke adding, "Parnell Hall has created, in The Puzzle Lady, a delightful character that has been described as 'Miss Marple on steroids.'"

Ever wonder what patrons are searching for in library catalogs? Proquest investigated and compiled a list of the top 2020 book searches, aggregated from all the public libraries that use Syndetics Unbound in the U.S. UK, Australia, and Canada.

Looking for some last-minute stocking stuffers? These phone cases for book lovers might fill the bill.

Media Murder for Murder

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

French-American actress, writer, and producer, Anna Chazelle, is set to direct a film adaptation of Elmore Leonard's The Trespassers, a crime novel which wasn't published until after Leonard’s death in 2013. Written in 1958, the story is told from the POV of a young wife who becomes increasingly frustrated with her mild-mannered husband. When the husband refuses to confront some men who are illegally hunting on the couple’s remote homestead, his wife takes matters into her own hands. Troy Blake adapted the screenplay which is being produced by Megan Freels Johnston, the granddaughter of the late crime novelist, while executive producers include Stephen Gary and the author's son, Peter Leonard.

Jennifer Lopez is set to star in and produce a feature adaptation of the Isabella Maldonado novel, The Cipher. Lopez will play FBI agent Nina Guerrera, who is pulled into a serial killer’s case after he leaves complex codes and riddles online, which are linked to his recent murders.

Canadian author Silver Donald Cameron's book, Blood in the Water, is to be adapted for the big screen by Pictou Twist Pictures. Blood in the Water is based on the true story of the 2013 murder of Philip Boudreau, a notorious outlaw – equally loved and hated – who was killed while vandalizing the lobster traps of three Cape Breton fishermen.

Neal McDonough has signed on to star in, produce, and co-write Boon, the sequel to the actor’s movie Red Stone. In Red Stone, McDonough plays Boon, a henchman for Southern crime lord Jed Haywood (Michael Cudlitz). Boon is assigned to track Motley (Dash Melrose), who is on the run from Jed as their fate brings them together for a climactic showdown.

Primetime Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee, Ben Mendelsohn, has joined FilmNation’s thriller, Misanthrope. He'll be playing a detective assigned to a disturbing serial killer case, who receives help from the lead character played by Shailene Woodley, "a talented but troubled cop who is recruited by the FBI to help profile and track a murderer."

Recording artist and Latin Grammy winner, Bad Bunny, will join Brad Pitt’s action-thriller, Bullet Train. Logan Lerman, Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Michael Shannon and Andrew Koji round out the rest of the cast. David Leitch is set to direct the project, which is based on the Japanese novel, Maria Beetle, by Kotaro Isaka.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Left Bank is closing a deal to adapt Louise Penny’s bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache crime novels for Amazon in a series titled Three Pines. Left Bank has attached The Tunnel and Law & Order: UK writer Emilia di Girolamo to pen the show, while The Crown and Humans director Sam Donovan will be the lead director, helming four episodes. The title, Three Pines, is a reference to the fictional French Canadian village in which Chief Inspector Gamache operates. The French-speaking detective probes crimes in his Quebec community, digging up long-buried secrets and discovering his own ghosts. Among his quirks is speaking English in an English accent thanks to his Cambridge education.

Sven Hjerson, the debonair Scandinavian master detective invented by crime writer Ariadne Oliver, a character in Agatha Christie’s novels, will get his own series, set in modern-day Stockholm. In Agatha Christie’s Sven Hjerson, Hanna Alström plays Klara Sandberg, a former trash-TV producer who successfully pitches a true-life crime show starring Hjerson (Johan Rheborg), who would solve a real crime each week. The new show may reset Sandberg’s career and life, but the only problem is that she has never met Hjerson.

The best-selling, Costa award-winning debut novel by Stuart Turton, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is being adapted for Netflix UK. The plot is a mind-bending murder mystery set within the grounds of a sprawling country estate. It presents an intriguing puzzle – how do you solve a murder when every time you are getting close to the answer, you wake up in someone else’s body?

UKTV continues to expand its catalogue of original dramas for the crime drama channel, Alibi, with Annika, a co-commission along with PBS's Masterpiece. The six-part series is based on the hugely successful Radio 4 drama, written by Nick Walker and will see Olivier-award-winner Nicola Walker bringing the leading character to screen. Annika follows the sharp, witty and enigmatic DI Annika Strandhed (Walker), as she heads up a new specialist Marine Homicide Unit that is tasked with investigating the unexplained, brutal, and seemingly unfathomable murders that wash up in the waterways of Scotland. Throughout the series, Annika makes the audience her confidante by breaking the fourth wall and sharing her wry observations on the case and her life, as she manages her brilliant yet unconventional team and her equally brilliant yet complex teenage daughter.

Fox has put in development Daylight, a one-hour thriller series based on Marion Pauw’s bestselling Dutch novel, Daglicht. The project follows Iris, a high-powered Korean American lawyer, who makes the shocking discovery that a local convicted murderer is her estranged brother. When she learns the prisoner shares the same developmental disability as her son, she gets pulled into the case and ends up exposing a web of corruption and shocking family secrets that lead her to a truth she never expected.

A sequel to NBC’s L.A. Law starring Blair Underwood is in development, but this time at ABC. The project would see Underwood reprise his role as attorney Jonathan Rollins alongside a new crop of young lawyers. Jesse Bochco, the son of the late Steven Bochco (who co-created the original series), would co-executive produce. Here is the logline for the new version: "The venerable law firm of McKenzie Brackman reinvents itself as a litigation firm specializing in only the most high-profile, boundary-pushing and incendiary cases. Blair Underwood reprises his role as attorney Jonathan Rollins, who has gone from idealistic to more conservative as he clashes with millennial JJ Freeman to decide the best path forward for the firm to effect political and legal change." The original L.A. Law ran for eight seasons on NBC from 1986-1994, and spawned a reunion movie in 2002. Along with Underwood, it starred Corbin Bernsen, Richard Dysart, Alan Rachins, Jill Eikenberry, Michael Tucker, Susan Ruttan, Harry Hamlin, Susan Dey, Jimmy Smits, Michele Greene, Larry Drake and John Spencer.

NBC has put in development Heirs, a thriller drama from East Los High co-creator Carlos Portugal, Davis Entertainment (The Blacklist) and Universal Television. Written by Portugal, Heirs is set in Miami Beach’s exclusive Star Island. It revolves around the heirs of a Latin American ex-dictator who face an unexpected dilemma when a young girl is kidnapped from their home on the night of their own daughter’s lavish quinceañera.

In his first lead role on British television, Oscar winner Christopher Walken has been tapped to star in The Offenders (working title), a six-part series for BBC and Amazon Prime Video, from The Office co-creator, Stephen Merchant, and Mayans M.C. co-creator, Elgin James. Walken is one of seven leads in the project, starring alongside Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins, and Eleanor Tomlinson. Described as crime thriller-meets-state-of-the-nation commentary, the series follows seven strangers, "The Offenders," from different walks of life forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol. As they become involved in each other’s lives, they also become involved with a dangerous criminal gang. 

Apple TV+’s Gary Oldman spy drama, Slow Horses, has rounded out its cast, with Olivia Cooke and Jonathan Pryce joining a lineup that also includes Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden. The adaptation of Mick Herron’s espionage novels stars Oldman as Jackson Lamb, a brilliant but irascible leader of a group of spies who end up in MI5’s Slough House, having been exiled from the mainstream for their mistakes. Scott Thomas features as Diana Taverner, a formidable high-ranker at MI5, while Lowden is on board as River Cartwright, a talented agent who is desperate to claw his way up and out of Slough House.

Condor is heading to Epix for its second season. The spy thriller series aired its first season on the now-defunct AT&T Audience Network until AT&T announced in January the network would cease operations. Season one will run on Epix starting in early March, followed by the U.S. debut of season two later in the year. Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady and the screenplay, Three Days of the Condor by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel, Condor follows CIA analyst Joe Turner (Max Irons) who stumbles onto a plan that threatens the lives of millions.

HBO Max has renewed The Flight Attendant for a second season. The first season was based on Chris Bohjalian’s novel of the same name, following the story of how an entire life can change in one night. It starred Kelly Cuoco as flight attendant Cassie Bowden, who wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened. Season 2 will feature Cassie in a new adventure, per HBO Max.


PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed author Nev March to discuss her debut historical crime fiction novel, Murder in Old Bombay.

The latest episode of Suspense Radio featured Rachelle Dekker, the daughter of bestselling author Ted Dekker and an author in her own right, out with her latest thriller, Nine.

For the last Read or Dead episode of 2020, hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about their favorite reads of the year.

Meet the Thriller Author chatted with Les Edgerton, creative writing professor, writing coach, and author of over twenty books including his latest, Hard Times.

Bruce Robert Coffin stopped by Wrong Place, Write Crime to talk about his John Byron mystery series and his long police career, including a stint on the Joint Terrorism Task Force with the FBI.

Smith Henderson & Jon Marc Smith stopped by It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club to discuss their co-written novel, Make Them Cry, featuring DEA agent Diane Harbaugh.

In GAD We Trust decided to tackle a little controversy by looking at "Criticising the Golden Age."

Bookstore Blues

We're losing another mystery bookstore, it seems. Christine Burke, the owner of Clues Unlimited in Tucson, Arizona, announced in a Facebook post that the store, which she's owned since 1996, is a casualty of "the global pandemic and advancing age." Until the store closes, all new releases will be 20% off, and all used mass market paperbacks will be $2. Used trade paperbacks and hardcovers, will go for $5. The store will be open for appointments until Saturday, December 26. "We have been selling the best mysteries and have presented some of the great writers of the genre for signings and events, including Tony Hillerman, Lee Child, Anne Perry, Laurie R. King, Michael McGarrity, Craig Johnson, and C.J. Box," wrote Burke. "Thank you all for your support over the years. You have become more than customers--you have become friends and allies." (HT to Shelf Awareness)

This is a good time to remind everyone that bookstores are suffering in large numbers during the pandemic. Many have tried a combination of online ordering, limited in-person opening or shopping by appointment, or even delivery and curbside pickup. But even so, we're losing approximately one bookstore EACH WEEK, and many of those will never be replaced. During this holiday season, please remember your local indie bookstores as you shop for presents (books, games puzzles, chocolate, wine, and more). Most do have some form of online ordering, and even if they don't they may participate in Bookshop.org, where you can order books and proceeds will be shared with your local indies. If you prefer audio books, Libro.fm will do the same for that format. You can also donate to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC), which provides grants and aid to booksellers.

Indie bookstores don't just sell books, they are community centers that support literacy, host book clubs and author readings and lectures, contribute to local charities and so much more. Plus, the dollars, jobs, and taxes remain in your community.

FFB: Cast for Death

British author Margaret Yorke (1924-2012) was a prolific writer, averaging one novel a year for four decades, with 44 titles published in English and over 450 reprints in other languages. Her popularity in Sweden culminated in the Swedish Academy of Detection presenting her with its Martin Beck award in 1982, and she was also the recipient of the 1999 Crime Writers Association Cartier Diamond Dagger.

Although most of Yorke's novels were standalone works of suspense, in 1970 she created her one serial protagonist, Oxford English lterature don and amateur sleuth Dr. Patrick Grant, who appeared in five total novels including Silent Witness (1972), Grave Matters (1973), Mortal Remains (1974) and Cast for Death (1975).Yorke chose the fictional St. Mark's College as Grant's employer and often called on her own job as a college librarian for setting and character details.

Yorke's novel Cast for Death is the final installment featuring the handsome, absent-minded professor Grant, who has a habit of quoting Shakespeare. In fact, Yorke herself once admitted she was "nutty about Shakespeare and mad about Macbeth." The plot centers on the death of actor Sam Irwin, whose body is discovered in the River Thames, an apparent suicide. Grant, who is a friend of Irwin, doesn't buy the suicide angle. After all, why would Irwin have taken his own life shortly before opening in a new play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford?

In pursuing the truth, Grant links seemingly unconnected events including the death of a dog, a second suicide and a series of art robberies. Ultimately, Grant's very life is threatened in a denouement concert at the Festival Hall after he uncovers a deception of theatrical proportions. But Grant's personal philosophy drives him in his quest, mirroring a quote from Edmund Burke used toward the end of the novel, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

During her life, Yorke was also a passionate supporter for public libraries in the U.K. and in 1993 was presented with the Golden Handcuffs award by the British library service for becoming the most-borrowed author.

Mystery Melange

New York City Noir at the Bar will host its first virtual event of the New Year on January 9th from 7-9 p.m. Authors currently scheduled to participate include Stuart Neville, Jay Stringer, Peter Rozovsky, Richie Narvaez, Adrian McKinty, Nikki Dolson, Gabino Iglesias, and Jen Conley. Scott Adlerberg will take on hosting duties for the evening. (Wondering what Noir at the Bar is all about? Lit Reactor had this explanation from a few years ago.)

Thriller author John le Carré has died at the age of 89. Best known for stories of complex cold war intrigue, he began his career as a real-life spy in postwar Europe. As The Guardian noted, le Carré explored the gap between the west’s high-flown rhetoric of freedom and the gritty reality of defending it, in novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Night Manager, which gained him critical acclaim and made him a bestseller around the world. The New York Times also had a look back at le Carré, calling him, "a Master of Spy Novels Where the Real Action Was Internal."

This week, we also lost mystery author/editor John Daniel. Daniel wrote four well-reviewed mysteries (the Guy Mallon series) and ten other books in various genres, and published hundreds of books by other authors as an editor of Perseverance Press. (HT to Mystery Fanfare)

The latest edition of Mystery Readers Journal: Irish Mysteries (Volume 36: 4, Winter 2020-2021) is on sale now. In addition to articles such as "Irish Mystery Writers of the Golden Age" by Patricia Cook and columns such as "Crime Seen: Green Screen" by Kate Derie, there are twenty-plus Author! Author! essays from James Benn, John Banville, Tana French, and many more. You can read two of these offerings online, "Stories from Ireland’s Thin Places" by Erin Hart and "Noir in Belfast" by Adrian McKinty.

There are also new crime short stories up at Tough, "The Ballad of John Rider," by Jeff Esterholm; Shotgun Honey: "Fore!" by Alan Orloff; and Beat to a Pulp: "The Way of Our Now" by Kieran Shea.

California’s notorious Zodiac Killer, the subject of numerous films, television series, podcasts and books over the last half-century, has finally had one of his taunting messages decoded. A letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 was finally cracked by a trio of code breakers - David Oranchak, a software developer in Virginia, Jarl Van Eycke, a Belgian computer programmer, and Sam Blake, an Australian mathematician. Their efforts revealed that the serial killer's message mocked the efforts to find him, saying, "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me..." The letter contained a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols, and has been studied by numerous authors, criminologists and detectives over the years. It still doesn’t reveal the name of the unknown killer, but the decoding was done in hopes that it might provide new clues as to the person who's been tied to at least 37 murders.

Crime writers take note: Scientists at Tokyo University of Science have made it possible for forensic identification of single dyed hair strand. In a recent study, the team combined two modern techniques, called surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, to distinguish between different colors in individual hair strands. Both these techniques are almost non-destructive and can be conducted with portable devices, making this a promising way to get supportive evidence in forensic investigations.

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Winter" by Nancy Scott.

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.

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy said this week that the next Indiana Jones installment is on course to go into production this coming spring. As previously announced, James Mangold is directing, and Comscore currently has it dated for a July 29, 2022 release. No mention was made of Chris Pratt, who was rumored to be attached, although Harrison Ford is returning.

Ana De Armas is set to star opposite Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in Joe and Anthony Russo’s action thriller, The Gray Man, for Netflix (and will be the biggest-budget film in Netflix’s history on the feature side). The Gray Man is based on the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books, and features freelance assassin and former CIA operative, Court Gentry, a/k/a "The Gray Man." The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA.

Lionsgate has acquired the crime thriller, Silk Road, starring Jason Clarke, Nick Robinson, Alexandra Shipp, Jimmi Simpson, Katie Aselton, Lexi Rabe, Daniel Stewart, Darrell Britt-Gibson, and Paul Walter Hauser. Tiller Russell wrote and directed the pic and the plan is for a domestic release in theaters, on digital, and video on demand on February 19, 2021. Based on larger-than-life true events, Silk Road focuses on the young, affluent and highly motivated entrepreneur Ross Ulbricht (Robinson), whose ambitious goal is to launch the Internet’s first completely anonymous and unregulated marketplace. With Ulbricht’s passion for the possibilities his invention offers the world, his site – the Silk Road – becomes the world’s fastest-growing drug market, catching the focus of disgraced DEA agent Rick Bowden (Clarke).

Marvel Group CEO, Zygi Kamasa, says that filmmaker Matthew Vaughn is plotting "something like seven more Kingsman films" as part of the company’s expansion plans. Kamasa told the Winston Baker UK Finance Summit late last week that "We have a Kingsman TV series in the works and there are two or three other franchises that are being developed pertaining to Kingsman world." The Covid-delayed prequel, The King’s Man, is due to hit cinemas in February of next year for Disney and stars Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Bruhl, Stanley Tucci, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Djimon Hounsou.

Queen Latifah will star in and executive produce a movie for Netflix called End of the Road, that will see her on the run from a mysterious killer while on a road trip with her family. Millicent Shelton (a director on Black-ish, Insecure, Hunters, and The Walking Dead), will helm the project, while David Loughery, who wrote The Intruder and Obsessed, is writing the script based on a screenplay concept by Christopher Moore.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in negotiations to join Jake Gyllenhaal in the Michael Bay action-thriller, Ambulance, which is based on the original Danish Film, Ambulancen. The logline is being kept under wraps, but insiders say the film is in the vein of the great action thrillers of the ’90s like Speed and Bay’s Bad Boys. In the Danish film, two brothers commit a robbery to pay their dying mother's medical bills, but are forced to steal an ambulance during their getaway....however, the ambulance has a dying heart patient in the back.

Jeremy Irons is set to join the A-list ensemble of MGM’s Gucci movie that Ridley Scott is directing. Lady Gaga is attached to star as Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci who was tried and convicted of orchestrating his assassination on the steps of his office in 1995. She served 18 years in jail before being let out in 2016. Irons joins a cast that includes Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jack Huston and Reeve Carney.

Death on the Nile with Kenneth Branagh is back on the theatrical release slate after Disney previously pulled the 20th Century Studios title from its release date in December. The adaptation of the Agatha Christie movie, starring Branagh as detective Hercule Poirot, will open September 17, 2021.

A trailer was released for Nobody, which stars Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk in a John Wick-style action movie.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES.

Coming off his recent success with the Netflix mini-series, The Queen’s Gambit, filmmaker Scott Frank is said to now be working on the development of a Sam Spade TV series and is hoping to snag Clive Owen to star as the lead. Sam Spade is a San Francisco private detective appearing in a novel and a series of stories by Dashiell Hammett, most notably The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart famously portrayed the character in John Huston’s film adaptation, which also starred Mary Astor and Peter Lorre. This new version, however, would have Spade living in the south of France as an older man in his '60s.


ITV is turning Len Deighton’s spy novel, The Ipcress File, which inspired the 1965 Michael Caine film of the same name, into a television series. The adaptation will be penned by BAFTA-winning Trainspotting writer, John Hodge, while the cast will be led by Gangs Of London and Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole, alongside Bohemian Rhapsody actress Lucy Boynton, and The Night Manager’s Tom Hollander. Cole will star as Harry Palmer, who is serving as a working-class British sergeant in Berlin as the Cold War rages in the 1960s. Palmer is a sharp and savvy operator, with varied side-hustles that ultimately land him trouble with the law for crimes that could mean an eight-year stretch in a grim English military jail. But spotting Palmer’s potential, and his network in Berlin, an intelligence officer offers him a way to avoid prison by becoming a spy. His first case is The Ipcress File — a dangerous undercover mission on which Palmer must use his links to a man suspected of kidnapping a missing British nuclear scientist.

NBC is developing Zorro, a contemporary take on the classic masked vigilante character with a gender swap. Co-written by the brother and sister duo of Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez, Zorro centers on Sola Dominguez, an underground artist who fights for social justice as a contemporary version of the mythical Zorro. Her life is threatened by several criminal organizations after she exposes them.

Marina de Tavira, star of Netflix’s Roma, is set to lead the Spanish-language crime drama, Kolonie. Written by Carlos Rincones, who also wrote for Netflix’s Mexican drama Tijuana, the series centers around an emotionally complex seasoned special agent, Adriana (de Tavira), who is tasked with investigating the brutal murder of a Mennonite boy in rural Chihuahua, Mexico. Once there, she partners with a rookie local policeman who recently abandoned the Mennonite community to join the police force. As they inch closer to solving the crime, they slowly uncover a dark web of corruption and mysticism that extends beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

ABC has made its first back-order pickup of the 2020 season, giving the David E. Kelley drama, Big Sky, an additional six episodes. The crime thriller became the network’s highest-rated debut since The Rookie in October 2018. The series, based on C.J Box’s book by the same name, follows private detective Cassie Dewell, played by Kylie Bunbury, and ex-cop Jenny Hoyt, played by Katheryn Winnick, who join forces to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana

In more Big Sky news, Sharon Taylor is set for a recurring role. Taylor will play Commander Elena Sosa, a decorated twenty-year veteran of the Montana Highway Patrol, who worked her way up the ranks to her current status. She considers herself a community police officer, and takes that role seriously in her efforts to keep the streets and citizens of Montana safe. Commander Sosa is also a proud member of Montana’s indigenous community, and will work with Cassie and Jenny to bring the kidnappers to justice.

Lance Lim is set for a recurring role in the current third season of CBS’s action crime drama, Magnum P.I. Lim will portray Dennis, the son of Det. Gordon Katsumoto (Tim Kang). Starring Jay Hernandez, Magnum P.I. follows Thomas Magnum, a private investigator and former Navy SEAL, who solves crimes in the state after returning home from Afghanistan and repurposing his military skills. Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Kang and Amy Hill also star.

Clarice, CBS’s new series follow-up to Silence of the Lambs (based on Thomas Harris's novel) will debut Feb. 11. Along with the premiere dates, CBS today released a first-look photo and teaser for the new series.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO.

In the New York Times's Book Review Podcast, Jo Nesbø talked about his latest non-Harry-Hole novel, The Kingdom.

Meet the Thriller Author welcomed Jeff Lindsay, creator of the Riley Wolfe novels and the New York Times bestselling author of the Dexter novels, which debuted in 2004 with Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

Wrong Place, Write Crime chatted with TK Thorne about her urban fantasy police procedural, House of Rose.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club covered some Winter Holiday Mysteries in a roundup episode.

The Gay Mystery Podcast chatted with Kristen Lepionka, author of the Roxane Weary mystery series. Her debut, The Last Place You Look, won the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. novel and was also nominated for Anthony and Macavity Awards.

Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast featured the first chapter of the mystery novel, A Merry Christmas Anniversary Mystery, by Anna Celeste Burke and read by actor Julia Reimer.

Quote of the Week

FFB: Publicity for Murder

New Zealand native Elizabeth Messenger (1908–1965), née Betty Margery Esson, began her career as a copywriter and author of stories and articles for women’s and children's magazines. During the Second World War, she served as an ambulance driver and also met her husband, Robin Montrose Messenger, a New Zealand naval officer. After the war, Messenger worked her way into journalism, first in Kenya where her husband was stationed and later back in New Zealand, where her cooking columns eventually turned into published cookbooks. 

It wasn't until the 1950s that Messenger turned her hand to writing crime fiction, which she noted required the same skills as cooking: "You must have imagination in both…rigid obedience to detail, and all the ingredients must be at hand. Every cook and every writer expresses herself differently." She wrote one or two books a year until her untimely death from cancer in 1965.

Several of her novels are set in tourist spots in New Zealand, which may be one reason her London publisher promoted that aspect of the books. Somehow a scenic backdrop in a country known for its laid-back culture may not have been the best way to market what the author intended to be "thrillers," although they did well enough to be translated into other languages. It is her cookbooks for which she's most remembered today, and her crime fiction is harder to find.

Publicity for Murder follows in the same tradition of mysteries with an advertising/marketing theme that Dorothy Sayers popularized in her novel Murder Must Advertise. The story begins with the apparent suicide of the partner of an ad agency, who leaves his entire estate to his colleague, David Eversleigh, instead of his selfish, glamorous wife, Pam. The police don't buy the suicide angle and focus their attention on Eversleigh and his wife Judith as obvious suspects. The POV is Judith's, as she tries to make sense of the tragedy and does some sleuthing on her own to prove her innocence. After two attempts on her life and her husband's continued protectiveness toward Pam, Judith begins to wonder if the greatest danger to her life and liberty lies a little too close to home.

Although set in New Zealand, the book is rather scant on setting details, and at times the plot has a bit of a generic feel to it, as if it could have been set almost anywhere. The characterization and plotting are also a bit on the light side, but Messenger throws in just enough uncertainty and damsel-in-distress elements to keep you turning the page.