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 of crime drama news:

AWARDS

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) unveiled the winners of their annual SAG Awards for both movies and television last night. Among the crime drama honorees were The Trial of the Chicago 7 which won the award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture (the equivalent of Best Picture), and Daniel Kaluuya won the Best Actor in a Motion Picture prize for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. On the TV side, Jason Bateman was named Best Actor in a Drama for his role in Ozark.

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Netflix will buy the rights to produce two sequels to Knives Out, with director, Rian Johnson, and star, Daniel Craig, set to return to the franchise. The Knives Out sequels have casting underway, and the production team hopes to begin filming in Greece in late June. The original Knives Out was a murder mystery that starred Craig as detective Benoit Blanc investigating the death of the wealthy author, Harlan Thrombey (played by the late Christopher Plummer in one of his last roles).

Salma Hayek has joined the cast of House of Gucci, Ridley Scott’s next film that also stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Jack Huston, and Jared Leto. The film tells the story of how Gaga’s character, Patrizia Reggiani, infamously carried out a hit on her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, after he sold the Gucci fashion empire to an investment group. Hayek will play Pina Auriemma, a friend of Reggiani and a clairvoyant who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for allegedly organizing the killing for a fee.

Armie Hammer has been dropped from another film following accusations of sexual assault against him, this time the Cold War thriller, The Billion Dollar Spy. Based on a real-life story, The Billion Dollar Spy was to have starred Hammer as Brad Reid, a fresh arrival at the Moscow station of the CIA, where he’s approached by Soviet engineer, Adolf Tolkachev (Mads Mikkelsen). No re-casting details have been released just yet.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

CBS has given a formal order for the revival series, CSI: Vegas, the first new installment in the "CSI" franchise since CSI: Cyber was canceled in 2016. "Vegas" will see original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation stars Wallace Langham, William Petersen, and Jorja Fox reprise their roles alongside new cast members Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez, and Mandeep Dhillon. Per CBS, the new series "opens a brand new chapter in Las Vegas, the city where it all began. Facing an existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant new team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City."

HBO Max is adapting the true-crime docuseries, The Staircase, into a limited scripted series that will star Colin Firth as American novelist, Michael Peterson, who was on trial in 2001 for killing his wife. The writer claimed his wife died at their home after falling down the stairs, but a medical examiner determined she'd been bludgeoned to death. Peterson was convicted in 2003 for the murder and spent eight years in prison. In 2011, he was granted a new trial, but before it could start, he submitted to an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter. He was sentenced to time served and set free.

Nicky Torchia, Michael Rivera, and Ibrahim Renno are set for recurring roles opposite Christopher Meloni, Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor, and Danielle Moné Truitt in NBC’s Law & Order: SVU spinoff series, Law & Order: Organized Crime. The new series follows Elliot Stabler's (Meloni) return to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. Stabler will aim to rebuild his life as part of a new elite task force that is taking apart the city’s most powerful criminal syndicates one by one.

Netflix revealed that Lucifer will return in May for the second half of Season 5. The supernatural procedural series, which initially aired on Fox for three seasons before moving to Netflix, follows Tom Ellis’s Lucifer, who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell. He resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping LAPD detective, Chloe Decker. Lucifer began airing season 5 in August and will come to an end with an upcoming sixth season.

Shout! Studios has acquired worldwide rights to Emmy-winning director Nancy Buirski’s documentary, A Crime on the Bayou, the third in her trilogy of films that explore vital stories from the Civil Rights era. The project revisits the case of Gary Duncan, who as a Black teenager in 1966 was arrested in Louisiana in a racially-charged incident. Duncan’s "crime" was to break up a fight between white and Black youths outside a newly-integrated school, during which he "gently [laid] his hand on a white boy’s arm," setting in motion a prosecution for assault on a minor. Duncan was defended by Richard Sobol, a young Jewish attorney, and the two developed a friendship as they took their fight for Duncan’s exoneration all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Debbi Mack interviewed crime writer, Daniella Bernett, on the Crime Cafe podcast, discussing Bernett's latest novel, Old Sins Never Die.

Writer Types welcomed Peter Robinson, author of the long-running DCI Banks novels series, and also spoke with debut author, Robyn Gigl (By Way Of Sorrow), and French author, Johana Gustawsson (Blood Song).

The latest Mysteryrats Maze podcast featured the mystery short story, "Sweet Tea and Deviled Eggs" by Sandra Murphy, as read by actor, Donna Beavers.

Meet the Thriller Author chatted with bestselling author Peter May, who was born in Glasgow, but now lives in France. His latest book, The Night Gate, brings back forensics expert, Enzo Macleod, and spans two murders across three generations: from war-torn London to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020, the coronavirus. And Enzo's investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders - the Mona Lisa.

Wrong Place, Write Crime had a Q&A with Michael Poo‪l‬, talking about his episode of A Grifter's Song, "Rocky Mountain Lie."

Karen Dionne was the latest guest on My Favorite Detective Stories. Karen is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novel, The Marsh King’s Daughter.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club celebrated Woman's History Month by featuring four fiction books that include real women of history.

Queer Writers of Crime spoke with Marco Carocari, who grew up in Switzerland and worked in a hardware store before traveling the globe working for the airlines and later as an internationally published photographer. His debut crime novel is Blackout.

Lynda LaPlante's Listening to the Dead forensic podcast tackled the topic, "Cause of Death – Poisoning."

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

Following his Oscar for Best Foreign Film (All Quiet On The Western Front), director Edward Berger may have found his follow-up project with one of the biggest action heroes of the past few decades. Deadline reported that Universal Pictures is in early development stages of a new installment in the Jason Bourne franchise, and Berger is in negotiations to direct. The report also noted that Matt Damon, who starred as Bourne in four of the five films, would be first approached to return in the iconic role once a script is finished.

New Regency's Jeff Nichols-directed crime drama, The Bikeriders, which was at 20th Century Studios, is getting acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, re-teaming them with New Regency (with whom they partnered on 2022’s The Northman), and is planning a 2024 theatrical release. The movie, which made its world premiere at Telluride, was also written by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy, and follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

After the settlement of the recent Hollywood strikes, the cast has now been set for the erotic thriller, Babygirl. Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), and Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw) lead an ensemble that also includes Sophie Wilde and Jean Reno. The film, written and directed by Halina Reijn, follows a successful CEO who begins an illicit affair with her much younger intern.

Netflix has shared a first-look photo of Eddie Murphy's return to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise as Axel Foley. Murphy returns to reprise the Axel role nearly 30 years after the premiere of Beverly Hills Cop 3. Mark Molloy directs the sequel, which also stars Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Taylour Paige, along with Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot reprising their characters from previous installments. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is set to be released in 2024.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Peaky Blinders producer, Caryn Mandabach Productions (CMP), has optioned P.D. James's Cordelia Gray novels, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin, which were penned in 1972 and 1982 respectively by the celebrated British author. Gray’s character at the time was hailed for being a pioneering protagonist in the rise of feminism. The first novel sees her hired to investigate the death of a young university student who is found hanged under mysterious circumstances, while the second book is set in a Victorian castle and centers around actress Clarissa Lisle, who has been receiving death threats. James, who died a decade ago, only wrote two Gray novels and was best known for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which have recently been adapted by Channel 5, starring Bertie Carvel.

Happy Valley and Grantchester actor James Norton has been set to lead an ITV adaptation of JP Delaney’s bestselling novel, Playing Nice. Norton will star in the four-part limited series alongside Niamh Algar (Mary and George), James McArdle (Mare of Easttown), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey). Norton, a BAFTA nominee who has been on the list of actors in the running to play James Bond, also serves as executive producer. The series follows two couples who discover their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up. Set against the sweeping backdrop of Cornwall, they face an agonizing dilemma: do they keep the son they have raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child? Pete (Norton) and Maddie (Algar) are jettisoned into the world of the other couple: Miles (McArdle) and Lucy (Brown Findlay). All four agree to a solution, but it becomes clear that hidden motives are at play.

The upcoming 14th season of CBS's venerable cop family drama, Blue Bloods, will be its last. The popular series starring Tom Selleck is getting an extended farewell with a two-part final season which will consist of 18 episodes. The first 10 will air this coming midseason, premiering on CBS Feb. 16 and streaming live on Paramount+; the remaining 8 will run in fall 2024. Blue Bloods follows multiple generations of the Reagan family working in New York law enforcement. The cast also includes Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Marisa Ramirez, and Vanessa Ray.

NBC has announced its midseason premiere dates, which include mid-January returns for Wolf Entertainment’s three "Chicago" dramas (Chicago Med, Fire, and PD) and the three "Law & Order" dramas (Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Organized Crime). The "Chicago" trio will premiere on Wednesday, January 17, and the "Law & Order" set will debut on Thursday, January 18. That is a month before dramas on the other major broadcast networks are set to return with new episodes and a couple of weeks before any scripted series elsewhere come back. Previously announced shows that have yet to be dated include the remaining episodes of this season’s Quantum Leap and Magnum P.I.

The cancellations continued ahead of the holiday weekend. Amazon axed a trio of scripted series from its Prime Video service, including The Horror of Dolores Roach and Harlan Coben’s Shelter. The Horror of Dolores Roach starred Justina Machado as a woman released from prison after 16 years and returns to a severely gentrified Washington Heights with $200 and the clothes on her back. Harlan Coben’s Shelter, which premiered in August, is a mystery drama based on Coben’s 2011 YA novel. The series starred Jaden Michael, Constance Zimmer, Abby Corrigan, and Adrian Greensmith.

Fox is looking to the beginning of March for the return of its scripted slate, unveiling its midseason schedule that includes the return of The Cleaning Lady (Tuesday, March 5 at 8pm), Alert: Missing Persons Unit (Tuesday, March 5 at 9pm), and Animal Control (March 6 at 9pm). Fox had already pushed 9-1-1: Lone Star to the 2023/24 fall schedule alongside new series, Doc and Rescue Hi-Surf, which had previously been eyed for a 2022/23 launch. There are no signs of the second season of Accused, however.

Reid Scott has joined the upcoming season as a new series regular on the NBC police procedural, Law & Order, portraying an as-yet unnamed NYPD detective. Scott will fill the void left by former series regular Jeffrey Donovan, who recently exited the show over creative differences. The Law & Order cast also includes Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, Hugh Dancy (Hannibal, The Path) as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price, and Camryn Manheim (The Practice) as Lt. Kate Dixon. Law & Order premieres its 23rd season on January 18, 2024.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

CBS News spoke with James Ellroy, the author of L.A. Confidential and over a dozen other novels, about his new book, The Enchanters, which focuses on a private investigator looking into the death of Marilyn Monroe.

The latest episode of The Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with David Swinson, a former D.C. Police Department detective and author of the Frank Marr Trilogy and two stand-alone crime novels, including his latest, Sweet Thing.

On Crime Time FM, Tom Benjamin chatted with Paul Burke about Last Testament in Bologna; British private eye Daniel Leicester; the porticos of the ancient city, Giallo; AirBnB and tourism in a university town.

The Red Hot Chili Writers talked with crime writer Susi Holliday and discussed female serial killers, before Susi took a stab at explaining the meaning of Diwali.

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

As expected, the end of the actors' and writers' strikes is creating a flood of announcements about new projects and the resumption of ones that were stalled. Amateur, the 20th Century terrorism thriller starring Rami Malek, will be among the first studio shoots to resume filming in London next month. Amateur, which also stars Rachel Brosnahan and Laurence Fishburne, was halfway through production when the feature’s hundreds of cast, crew, and contractors were put on hiatus in July. Amateur is directed by James Hawes (whose debut feature was the critically acclaimed Anthony Hopkins vehicle One Life) and follows a CIA cryptographer who, after his wife is tragically killed in a London terrorist attack, demands his bosses go after them. When it becomes clear they won’t act due to conflicting internal priorities, he blackmails the agency into training him and letting him go after them himself. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, it was adapted by Ken Nolan.

The end of the strikes has also shifted the movie and TV release schedule quite a bit. Universal Pictures is pushing back the release of The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, originally set to premiere on March 1, 2024, which will now move to May 3, 2024. The Fall Guy revolves around Gosling’s Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie—being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno (Blunt), goes missing. Also starring in the film are Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, and Stephanie Tsu. The film is inspired by the 1980s ABC series created by Glen A. Larson that starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers.

Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) and Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) have entered production overseas on Hallow Road, a new psychological thriller, which Babak Anvari (Under the Shadows) is directing from a script by William Gillies. Commissioned and developed by London Film & TV, the film follows two parents who enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident.

The first trailer has been released for Fast Charlie, which features Pierce Brosnan as a violent fixer attempting to identify a headless victim in order to prove he completed a hit job. The action thriller also stars Morena Baccarin, and, in his final performance, the late James Caan.

A trailer was released for Role Play, a comedic action spy thriller starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo, which will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on January 12, 2024. Cuoco plays the role of Emma, a woman who is seemingly living the perfect life alongside her loving husband and two kids in the suburbs of New Jersey. When the couple decides to spice up their love life by doing a little role-playing, things go haywire when her husband David finds out his wife leads a secret life as an assassin for hire. Thomas Vincent directed the film written by Seth Owen. Bill Nighy and Connie Nielsen also star in the film which was mainly shot in Berlin, Germany.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

The Bosch universe is expanding, with Prime Video giving a 10-episode series order to an untitled Renée Ballard project, a Bosch spinoff about the LAPD’s Cold Case Division. The newly greenlighted series is one of two projects in the works at Amazon MGM Studios inspired by the novels of bestselling author Michael Connelly. The other, the Untitled J. Edgar project, remains in development, and follows Harry Bosch’s former partner, Detective Jerry Edgar, who is tapped for an undercover FBI mission in Little Haiti, Miami. The Renée Ballard project is centered on Detective Ballard, who is tasked with running the LAPD’s new cold case division—a poorly funded, all-volunteer unit with the largest case load in the city. When she uncovers a larger conspiracy during her investigations, she’ll lean on the assistance of her retired ally, Harry Bosch, to navigate the dangers that threaten both her unit and her life.

Gato Grande, an Amazon MGM Studios company, has optioned the rights to Ana Reyes’ bestselling novel, The House in the Pines, for television development. The psychological thriller revolves around a woman, armed with only hazy memories from witnessing her friend’s sudden death years ago, who sets out to track down answers even though she's spent her lifetime trying to forget. The House in the Pines was on the New York Times Bestseller list for over two months, and was a pick for Reese’s Book Club when it was published in January 2023.

Mad Men alum Jon Hamm and producer Shawn Ryan (S.W.A.T., The Night Agent) are teaming on a live-action television series adaptation of the podcast American Hostage, with Hamm set to reprise his role from the audio series. American Hostage is described as a "psychological thriller that tells the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program." Ryan envisions the series as an anthology, which will focus on a different hostage case each season.

Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) and Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects) have landed the lead roles in the BBC's upcoming crime drama, Dope Girls. Umi Myers, Eilidh Fisher, and Geraldine James have also landed major parts in the series. Dope Girls has been described as "a spiritual successor to Peaky Blinders," and is set in London’s Soho in the early 20th century when female gangs ran the clubs, drugs, and moonshine. Nicholson will play Kate Galloway, a single mother who establishes a nightclub amidst the hedonistic uproar of post-World War I London, embracing a life of criminal activities with the dedicated aim of providing for her daughter. Scanlen will play Violet Davies, one of the first wave of female officers for the Metropolitan Police, who is assigned to go undercover and investigate the illicit world of underground Soho nightclubs.

CBS has announced its winter schedule for the end of 2023 and start of 2024 with some variations from its previously announced lineup. Premiere week will start right after the Super Bowl, with new episodes of NCIS; NCIS: Hawai’i; FBI; FBI: International; FBI: Most Wanted; S.W.A.T.; Blue Bloods; The Equalizer; and CSI: Vegas. The new action-adventure drama, Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, will still air following the Super Bowl on February 11. CBS will air another new program, Elsbeth (a spinoff of The Good Fight) starring Carrie Preston, on February 29. However, another new CBS show, Matlock, originally scheduled to premiere during the 2023-2024 fall season, has been pushed back to the 2024-2025 season

ABC also revealed its midseason lineup, with crime dramas Will Trent and The Rookie returning with new seasons on Feb. 20 at 8-10 p.m. ET, while 9-1-1 and Station 19 premiere March 14 beginning at 8 p.m. The previously announced new series, High Potential, will debut during the 2024-2025 broadcast season.
 

Law & Order star Jeffrey Donovan, who starred as Det. Frank Cosgrove, will not be returning to the NBC procedural for its 23rd season. According to TVLine, who first reported the news, the former Burn Notice star exited the show due to creative reasons. The main cast, including Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, Hugh Dancy as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price, and Camryn Manheim as Lt. Kate Dixon are expected to return.

Prime Video has set a revised winter release date for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, its re-imagining of the 2005 action comedy film that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. All eight episodes will drop on February 2, 2024, exclusively on Prime Video. In this version, two lonely strangers (Donald Glover and Maya Erskine) land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?

Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Flesh & Blood) are among the stars boarding season 2 of Ben Richards’s BBC legal drama, Showtrial. The pair are joining the previously announced Adeel Akhtar, Nathalie Armin, and Michael Socha in the five-part season from Line of Duty maker World Productions. Dempsie will play DI Miles Southgate, while Annis will play a character called Dame Harriet Kenny. Other high profile cast members include Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard) and Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper).

A new trailer dropped for the six-part television series, Monsieur Spade, set in the South of France in 1963 in which Dashiell Hammett’s dashing private investigator, Sam Spade (played by Clive Owen), is forced out of a quiet retirement and is back on the case to solve murders. Monsieur Spade will premiere on AMC and AMC+ on January 14.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Tim Shipman, the chief political commentator at the Sunday Times, interviewed author David McCloskey on the Spybrary podcast. The interview delves into the complexities of modern espionage, as well as themes of betrayal, love, loyalty, and vengeance in the clandestine war between the West and Moscow.


The new episode of the Crime Cafe features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Kathleen Kaska and how she got the inspiration to write the Sydney Lockhart mysteries, a series set in the 1950s featuring a young woman trying to make it as a private detective in a man's world

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club chatted with Lee Goldberg about his book, Malibu Burning, the first in his new series featuring arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker.

The Crime Time FM podcast featured the Christmas Debate in which eight top critics and writers picked their best reads of the year.

Read or Dead's Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed books perfect for holiday gifting.

The Pick Your Poison podcast delved into such topics as a risky behavior that often targets pregnant women and children; a type of drug that requires surgical intervention after an overdose; and what exactly is a drug loo and where can you find one?

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

Conclave, the latest from Oscar-winning director Edward Berger, has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Focus Features. Berger’s follow-up to Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front remake stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne, Merab Ninidze, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini. Based on Robert Harris’s novel, the film centers on a secret papal conclave as they go about electing a new Pope — and a conspiracy amid rival factions, self-serving political ambitions, and secrets held by the former Pope.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Andrée A. Michaud’s novel Boundary is being developed as a thriller series to be known as Boundary Pond. Louis Choquette (19-2; Mafiosa) is attached as showrunner and director, and the project will come to market in coming weeks. The story is set amid the idyllic cottage life and warmth and familiarity of Boundary Pond’s forests, which turn treacherous after a mysterious death rocks the normally peaceful lake community where outsiders keep summer cabins, and locals struggle through the winter. When a second body turns up, murder is suspected.

MGM+ has given the green light to the true crime docuseries, The Wonderland Murders & The Secret History of Hollywood, a four-episode series based on Michael Connelly’s Audible podcast of the same name. The project explores the notorious Wonderland murder case, which took place in Los Angeles in the 1980s when four people were discovered severely beaten to death in a suburban home in Laurel Canyon on Wonderland Avenue. As the description notes, “From a bought-off juror to the biggest porn actor of his generation, an alleged corrupt federal agent and a kind of Zelig of Hollywood’s dark underbelly, much about the case remains unresolved, and there are people who got away with murder."

The BBC will air Return to Paradise, an Australia-set spin-off of the long-running drama, Death in Paradise. Filming next year, the six-part series follows Australian ex-pat Mackenzie Clarke, the seemingly golden girl of the London Metropolitan police force, who is suddenly forced to pull up stakes and move back to her childhood home of Dolphin Cove. When a murder takes place in the idyllic beachside hamlet, Mack can’t help but put her inspired detective brilliance to good use.

The Rookie: Feds has been canceled after one season at ABC. The drama series stars Niecy Nash-Betts as former guidance counselor Simone, who becomes the oldest rookie in the agency as she joins the FBI as an agent. As Simone hones her skills and trusts her intuition, she proves her skeptics wrong, including Special Agent Matthew Garza, played by Felix Solis. Created by Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter, who also served as showrunner for the freshman show, The Rookie: Feds rounded out its cast with Frankie R. Faison, James Lesure, Britt Robertson, and Kevin Zegers.

In more fallout from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, ABC has also opted not to proceed with The Good Lawyer, its planned legal spinoff from The Good Doctor that was going to be toplined by Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman. ABC had planned to launch The Good Lawyer this coming spring, but the broadcasting networks are running out of shelf space as they try to accommodate all of their popular returning scripted series.

A trailer was released for the second season of the hit show Reacher on Prime Video. Based on Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th book in Lee Child’s global best-selling series, the story begins when veteran military police investigator Jack Reacher (played by Alan Ritchson), receives a coded message that the members of his former U.S. Army unit, the 110th MP Special Investigations, are being mysteriously and brutally murdered one by one.

A trailer also dropped for Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, in which everyone’s favorite germaphobic detective (played by Tony Shalhoub) is tasked with solving a murder for his stepdaughter Molly (Caitlin McGee) a journalist who is getting ready for her wedding. Shalhoub reunites with stars from the original series that ran from 2002-2009, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Melora Hardin, and Hector Elizondo. The cast is also joined by Caitlin McGee and James Purefoy. The movie premieres Dec. 8 on Peacock.

Masterpiece Mystery released a trailer for season 4 of Miss Scarlet and the Duke, which premieres Sunday, January 7, 2024 at the special time of 8/7c. The series follows Eliza Scarlet, Victorian London’s first-ever female detective, who spars with Scotland Yard Detective Inspector William Wellington, a.k.a., The Duke. In Season 4, Eliza is running a London-based detective agency. Things are not going entirely smoothly, although help comes from some familiar sources. Outside work, her relationship with William (The Duke) builds towards a looming decision that will shape both their lives.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The second season of Moriarty dropped this week on Audible. This nine-episode audio performance, subtitled "The Silent Order," is inspired by Sherlock Holmes, but Charles Kindinger’s script offers a moral scrambling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic stories. In the latest Moriarty installment, six months after surviving near death at Reichenbach Falls, Professor James Moriarty tracks down the woman he loves in New York City, where she is trapped in the web of The Order – an evil organization that stretches beyond Britain and the Crown. When his attempts to break her free lead to tragedy, Moriarty returns home, determined to bring down the entire global organization. But before he can strike, he makes another shocking discovery: Sherlock Holmes is alive and shares his goal. Moriarty and Holmes must set their animosity aside and join forces to stop the assassination of the American president and a devastating world war.

On the Crime Writers of Color podcast, Robert Justice interviewed Shelly Ellis, author of over a dozen novels including the "Three Mrs. Greys" series and Not So Perfect Strangers.

Norwegian crime writing legend, Gunnar Staalesen, chatted with Crime Time FM's Craig Sisterson about his new hardboiled thriller, Mirror Image; Varg Veum and Bergen; crime fiction as social commentary with humor; Joe Biden, PI; and wolves in a sanctuary.

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with crime writer and former journalist, Fiona Cummins, about her momentous meeting with George Clooney. They also discussed new research showing the range of cats' facial expressions, and dissected the case of the Aussie mushroom poisoning.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club discussed mysteries set in Colonial America.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up, featuring the first chapter of Steadying the Ark by Rebecca K. Jones, read by actor Shauna Dolin.

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

Universal has closed a deal on an action thriller based on the unpublished 43-page short story, "Run For Your Life," by Aaron Jayh. Designated Survivor creator David Guggenheim is attached to adapt the script, and Sam Hargrave (who helmed the Chris Hemsworth action films Extraction and its sequel for Netflix) is in talks to direct. The story centers on a groom marked for death on his wedding day.

Stefan Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters) is set to direct the thriller, Ice Fall, with production set to start in early 2024 and casting to get underway shortly. The film was written by George Mahaffey (Chief of Station) and centers on a young Indigenous game warden who arrests an infamous poacher only to discover that the poacher knows the location of a plane carrying millions of dollars that has crashed in a frozen lake. When a group of criminals and dirty cops are alerted to the poacher’s whereabouts, the warden and the poacher team up to fight back and escape across the treacherous lake before the ice melts.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Grace Caroline Currey (Fall) have joined Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring), Tim Blake Nelson (Captain America: Brave New World) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket) in the true-crime biopic feature, The Leader, based on the 1997 mass suicide of the religious group known as Heaven’s Gate. Michael Gallagher (The Thinning) is directing from his original screenplay. The Leader will chart the memorable true story of the 39 members of the UFO cult known as Heaven’s Gate who committed the largest mass suicide ever on American soil. The film tracks Bonnie Nettles (Farmiga) and Marshall Applewhite (Nelson) as they develop the religion, build a devout following, and face unforeseen conflict when the spaceship they foretold fails to arrive and take them away. Hall will play a key devotee: a wealthy addict who attempts to win favor with Applewhite by financially supporting the cult with his trust fund. Currey will play an Oregon-based boutique owner who drops out of society in the late 1970s to join the cult — leaving her family and fiancé behind.

Josh Duhamel (Transformers franchise) and Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets) are set to lead the cast in the action-thriller, Off The Grid. In the film, a scientist (Duhamel) steals an experiment and hides off the grid in Europe to prevent it from becoming weaponized. His former research partner (Kinnear), along with an extraction team, is sent in to find him and locate the missing experiment. Directed by Johnny Martin (Hangman), the film, which has a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, is currently in pre-production with a shoot scheduled for January.

A trailer dropped for the action-thriller, The Fall Guy, a big-screen adaptation of the 1980s TV series that starred Lee Majors. Directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train), The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as stunt man Colt Seavers. He's fresh off a nearly career-ending accident, and his next gig just happens to be a film directed by his ex, Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt). But Colt's efforts to rekindle their romance take a turn when the movie's mega-action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes missing. Now, Colt has to perform some of the most dangerous stunts of his career and try to solve the mystery of Tom's disappearance. The Fall Guy hits theaters March 1.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Joe Pickett will not return for a third season, as Paramount+ has canceled the series starring Michael Dorman. Based on the novels by CJ Box, Joe Pickett followed a dedicated game warden (Dorman) and his family as they navigated the shifting sociopolitical climate of a small rural town on the verge of economic collapse. The cast also starred Julianna Guill, David Alan Grier, Sharon Lawrence, Mustafa Speaks, Paul Sparks, Skywalker Hughes, and Kamryn Pliva.

Production company Impossible Dream Entertainment is developing a series adaptation of Twenty Years Later, the 2021 bestseller from author Charlie Donlea. A mystery thriller in the vein of Big Little Lies, True Detective, and Gone Girl, Twenty Years Later follows Avery Mason, TV host of American Events, who knows her latest story – a murder mystery laced with sex, tragedy, and betrayal – is ratings gold. With new technology, the New York medical examiner’s office has made its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim in question, Victoria Ford, had been accused of murder at the time of her death. As Avery goes into investigative overdrive, she starts to unwind an intricate puzzle of Victoria’s life, as well as a much darker mystery. But there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own past — one she has kept secret from the world, her bosses, and her audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried.

A fan favorite series, Prison Break, is poised for a comeback. Hulu is in early development on a new incarnation of the Fox drama to be written and executive produced by Mayans M.C. co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner, Elgin James. Described as a new chapter, the new installment is set in the world of Prison Break, although further details are being kept under wraps. It is not expected to involve the characters who were at the center of the original series and its followups on Fox, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell). The original series aired on Fox for four seasons followed by a made-for-TV film titled The Final Break which aired 12 days after the Season 4 finale in 2009 to wrap things up. A 2015 Prison Break sequel limited series starring Miller and Purcell, also on Fox, served as a fifth season.

BBC dropped first images from its two-part Agatha Christie adaptation, Murder Is Easy. On a train to London, Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), who tells him that a killer is on the loose in the sleepy English village of Wychwood under Ashe. The villagers believe the deaths are mere accidents, but Miss Pinkerton knows otherwise – and when she’s later found dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam feels he must find the killer before they can strike again

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writers David Bushman and Mark T. Givens about their new book, Murder at Teal's Pond.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club visited with an old friend, Lou Berney, award-winning author of November Road and The Long and Faraway, about his new book, Dark Ride.

Speaking of Mysteries chatted with Tess Gerritsen, who is launching a new series featuring retired CIA operative Maggie Bird and her fellow former intelligence officers, all of whom now reside in Purity, Maine.

Femi Kayode spoke with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about his new Nigerian crime thriller, Gaslight; Philip Taiwo; Light Seekers; and eduction addiction.

The latest Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast featured "The Picardy Third" by Jacqueline Freimor, originally published in the Jan/Feb 2023 issue, in which a murder strikes close to Private Investigator Jeannie Tannenbaum's granddaughter's music class.

The Pick Your Poison podcast investigated a poison that causes pathological shyness and is historically associated with being mad as a hatter; and also what causes dancing cat fever and might have contributed to the death of John Wilkes Booth.

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

Black Bear is launching international sales on the crime-thriller, She Rides Shotgun, set to star Golden Globe winner Taron Egerton (Rocketman) in the lead role. Nick Rowland will direct the screenplay, written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (The Night House) and based on the novel by crime author Jordan Harper (which won the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Debut Novel). The official synopsis reads: "After years in prison, Nate (Egerton) has made some dangerous enemies, including the powerful criminal gang he worked for on the inside. Desperate for a fresh start, Nate cuts ties with his old crew on his release from prison, but the gang retaliates by putting a hit on his family. Nate picks up Polly, the shy eleven-year-old daughter he hardly knows and goes on the run to keep her out of harm’s way. As they attempt to stay off the radar, it becomes clear their enemies won’t give up easily. Nate teaches Polly how to survive and watches her transform from a timid little girl into a force to be reckoned with. And Nate, in turn, learns what it is to love unconditionally as he bonds with his daughter and battles for their future."

Black Bear, along with BlockFilm, are also behind the new action thriller, Levon's Trade, starring Jason Statham (Fast & Furious franchise) and directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad) from a screenplay adapted by Sylvester Stallone. Based on a graphic novel by author Chuck Dixon, the book is the first installment in the popular Levon Cade thriller series, which centers on Levon Cade (Statham) who left his profession behind him to go straight and work in construction. He wants to live a simple life and be a good father to his daughter. But when his boss’s teenage daughter Jenny vanishes, he’s called upon to re-employ the skills that made him a legendary figure in the shadowy world of black ops. His hunt for the missing college student takes him deep into the heart of a sinister criminal conspiracy creating a chain reaction that will threaten his new way of life.

Paramount Pictures has delayed the next Mission: Impossible installment by nearly an entire year, from its original date of June 28, 2024 to its new spot on May 23, 2025. Like other films of its size and scale, the eighth "Mission" movie was forced to halt production amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike and won’t be completed in time to open next summer. As Variety noted, it’s a fate that faces many big-budget tentpoles if the actors union and studios don’t resolve their contract negotiations in the coming weeks. Mission: Impossible will arrive on the big screen with a new name as Paramount and Skydance are dropping the second half of its title, formerly Dead Reckoning Part Two, though the sequel will directly follow the events of 2023’s Dead Reckoning Part One.

Oscar-winner Halle Berry is set to star in the psychological thriller, The Process, with Tara Miele directing. The story follows a seemingly happily married couple, who attend the weekend seminar of Aiden, a renowned self-help guru, and are asked to examine their individual lives, careers, and ultimately their marriage, but when Kirsa resists Aiden’s "process" and his cult of committed volunteers, and her husband Peter buys in, their relationship and sanity are quickly put to the test. Levin Menekse penned the script.

The action thriller, The Bricklayer, starring Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) and Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), has been picked up by Vertical for release in the U.S. early next year. An adaptation of the same-name novel by former FBI agent Paul Lindsay, using the pen name Noah Boyd, the film also stars Clifton Collins Jr. (Westworld), Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), and Ilfenesh Hadera (Billions). The story is that of a rogue insurgent blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it appear the agency is responsible. As other nations begin turning against the U.S., the CIA must lure Steve Vail (Eckhart), their most brilliant and rebellious operative, out of retirement. With an elite and deadly skill set, Vail is tasked with helping clear the agency’s name, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Swedish actress Lena Olin has been confirmed to play Icelandic policewoman Hulda Hermannsdóttir in the TV adaptation of Ragnar Jónasson’s Darkness trilogy, with Lasse Hällström confirmed to direct. The award-winning trilogy features 64-year-old Detective Inspector Hulda of the Reykjavik Police Department who investigates a shocking murder case while coming to terms with her own personal traumas. Faced with an impending early retirement and forced to take on a new partner, Hulda is determined to find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger. The Hollywood Reporter added that the English-language six-episode series will start shooting in Iceland later this year for local broadcaster Síminn.

Amazon's MGM Studios has won a competitive bidding war to adapt Vanity Fair’s story about a Texas serial killer, titled "True Crime, True Faith: The Serial Killer and the Texas Mom Who Stopped Him." Published in this September’s issue, the piece by Julie Miller walks through the 1981 abduction of Texas mother Margy Palm by serial killer Stephen Morin outside of a Kmart during the holidays. Following her abduction, Palm discussed her religious faith with Morin, eventually convincing him to let her go. While Morin was sentenced to jail time for the abduction, a friendly relationship lingered between the pair, with Palm visiting Morin in prison, and Morin, converting to Christianity after his conviction, before eventually dying at the age of 34 in 1985 via lethal injection.
 

Paramount+ is not going forward with second seasons of two crime series, Rabbit Hole and Fatal Attraction. Rabbit Hole was a spy drama that starred Kiefer Sutherland as John Weir, described as "a master of deception in the world of corporate espionage, who is framed for murder by powerful forces with the ability to influence and control populations." Fatal Attraction was a reboot of the 1987 domestic thriller of the same name, with Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson starring in the series as Alexandra Forrest and Daniel Gallagher, the roles originally played by Glenn Close and Michael Douglass in the film.

A trailer was released for the fifth installment of FX's Fargo. After an unexpected series of events lands Dorothy "Dot" Lyon (Juno Temple) in hot water with the authorities, this seemingly typical Midwestern housewife suddenly is plunged back into a life she thought she had left behind. Jon Hamm also stars as North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman, who has been searching for Dot for a long time.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Speaking of Mysteries spoke with Rebecca Hanover about her debut adult thriller, The Last Applicant, in which a parent desperate to secure her son’s admission to an exclusive Manhattan private school stalks the school’s admissions director.

Crime Time FM welcomed authors Lauren North, Lesley Kara, and Niki Mackay to discuss the enduring popularity of psychological thrillers and where the future lies for the genre.

The Red Hot Chili Writers chatted with screenwriter-turned-novelist Suk Pannu, a core writer on shows such as Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No 10. Suk discussed his debut novel, Dead and Scone, and the unstoppability of Indian aunties.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with Vanessa Riley about her new book, Murder on Drury Lane.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the Halloween mystery short story, "When a Prank Goes Bad," written by John R. Clark and read by actor Theodore Fox.

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 crime thriller, In The Hand of Dante, has secured an interim agreement to resume production with stars Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler. Helmed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julian Schnabel, the picture is based on Nick Tosches’s novel of the same name. Currently in production in Italy, the story follows the original manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy as it mysteriously pops up on the black market. Isaac plays Nick, a weary scholar brought in by New York City’s organized crime elements for the purpose of authentication. It’s when Nick decides to fence the manuscript, however, that he’s put on a dark and violent path from a metaphorical Hell into Paradise with his love, Giulietta.

Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, and Brandon Lessard are in Montana shooting Unholy Trinity, a Western directed by Richard Gray (Robert the Bruce), which has secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement. Described as a tale of revenge, dark secrets, and buried treasures, the film is set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana. It picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, as he gives his estranged son, Henry (Lessard), an impossible task: murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove (Brosnan), the town’s upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St. Christopher (Jackson).

The official trailer for the psychological thriller, Eileen, was released. Based on the 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, Eileen features Thomasin McKenzie as Eileen Dunlop, a young prison secretary in 1960s Boston. Living a dull, routine existence with her alcoholic father (Shea Whigham), there isn't much in Eileen's life for her to get excited about — until the glamorous new prison psychologist Dr. Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway) arrives. Eileen quickly strikes up a friendship with the stylish, sophisticated Rebecca, thrilled to have found a companion. However, things soon take a dark turn, pulling Eileen into sinister secrets that will change her life. Eileen arrives in theatres Dec. 1.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Sherlock co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have adapted Arthur Conan Doyle's short story, "Lot No. 249" as Gatiss's annual Christmas ghost story for the BBC. Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) and Freddie Fox (Slow Horses) are attached to star. Lot No. 249 follows a group of Oxford students, one of whom undertakes experimental research into the secrets of Ancient Egypt and becomes the talk of the college. As the synopsis reads, "Can these experiments truly breathe life to the horrifying bag of bones which is the mysterious Lot. No 249?"

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent has cast an all-Canadian ensemble. The series, which is based on the Dick Wolf-created franchise, has cast Aden Young (Rectify), as Detective Sergeant Henry Graff, Kathleen Munroe (City on Fire) as Detective Sergeant Frankie Bateman, Karen Robinson (Schitt’s Creek) as Inspector Vivienne Holness, K.C. Collins (The Cleaning Lady) as Deputy Crown Attorney Theo Forrester, Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters) as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Lucy Da Silva, and Araya Mengesha (Nobody) as tech expert Mark Yohannes. The series, which is produced by Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures for Citytv, follows two elite detectives from the Specialized Criminal Investigations unit as they probe high-profile crimes and homicides in metro Toronto. The 10-part series, currently filming in Toronto, is set to air in spring 2024.

Peacock unveiled the official teaser and premiere date for Season 2 of Dr. Death starring Edgar Ramírez and Mandy Moore. All eight episodes will drop Thursday, Dec. 21 on the streamer. Season 2 is based on the "Miracle Man" season of the Wondery podcast and follows Paolo Macchiarini (Ramírez), a superstar celebrity surgeon who ascended to global fame after performing the world’s first synthetic organ transplant. When investigative journalist Benita Alexander (Moore) approaches him for a story, the line between personal and professional begins to blur, changing her life forever. As she learns how far Paolo will go to protect his secrets, a group of doctors halfway across the world make shocking discoveries of their own that call everything about Paolo into question

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

NPR spoke with John Grisham, who is out with his latest legal thriller, The Exchange, a sequel to 1991's The Firm, which was the novel that turned the author into a superstar bestseller.

Michael Connelly chatted with Parade Magazine about the second season of Bosch: Legacy on Amazon Freevee, his new novel which pairs Bosch and his half-brother Mickey Haller again, and more.

In the latest episode of the Spybrary Podcast, host Adam Brookes interviews Liza Mundy, author of Code Girls and The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women and the CIA.

A special episode of BBC Scotland’s The Big Scottish Book Club, hosted by Damian Barr, will be available on BBC iPlayer this month. The episode focuses on crime fiction and television adaptations, with Barr interviewing Ann Cleeves (author of the Shetland and Vera series), about her new novel, The Raging Storm. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh is also featured on the episode to talk about The Long Knives and ITV’s Crime, an adaptation of Welsh’s eponymous novel. Leading actor of the Karen Pirie series Lauren Lyle also speaks about bringing Val McDermid’s character to life.

On Crime Time FM, Harriet Crawley chatted with Paul Burke about her spy-thriller-love-story, The Translator, and about living in Russia.

Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Kristen Bird about her latest novel, I Love It When You Lie.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured Robert Bryndza and his latest work, which is his first standalone thriller, Fear The Silence.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed great picks for book clubs.

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

Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap and Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company are in talks to co-produce a remake of the classic 1934 comedy mystery, The Thin Man, after the rights recently became available. Previously, Rob Marshall and Johnny Depp were set to direct and star, respectively, in a remake, until Warner Brothers scrapped that project in 2012. Based on the Dashiell Hammett crime novel, The Thin Man is a murder mystery about a husband and wife who partner up to find a missing acquaintance, later discovered to be murdered. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the 1934 film starred William Powell as husband Nick Charles and Myrna Loy as wife Nora Charles and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for William Powell. (It was followed by five sequels.)

James Patterson is teaming up on a novel with the estate of the late author, Michael Crichton, based on an unfinished manuscript by Crichton set to be released by Hachette in June of 2024. The story centers around a once-in-a-century volcano eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, which threatens a secret cache of chemical weapons that can destroy not only the island but the world. Like Chrichton's Jurassic Park, Eruption is planned to be the first book in a series, and it it's expected that as Deadline states, "we can expect a monster screen auction to erupt early next year."

Jhené Chase has been tapped to direct the forthcoming Christmas serial killer thriller, Santa’s List. Per Deadline: "The film is set in Deep Haven, which is known for its world-renowned Santa Claus festival that keeps the small town alive all year round. But beneath all the Christmas Spirit, tinsel, and lights, there’s a darkness lurking. And this year, the 12 days of Christmas get turned upside down. After the murder of her best friend, big city detective, Eve, is lured back to her hometown to solve the crime. With each passing victim, the killer seems to be closer to home than ever. Will she solve what 'my true love gave to me' before it’s too late or will Santa check the final name off his list?"

Reptile co-stars Alicia Silverstone and Karl Glusman have been set to lead The Bird and the Bee, a sexually charged thriller that marks Justin Kelly‘s third film for Yale Productions. Written by Atlantis actor Jack Donnelly, the film was shot under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement and wrapped production this week. The story follows a successful executive (Silverstone) as she fights back a scorned younger lover (Glusman) who takes his obsession too far.

Taz Skylar is set to co-star opposite Daisy Ridley in the action-thriller, Cleaner, with Martin Campbell directing. The film will shoot at the top of 2024 and falls under the British Equity act allowing it to shoot during the current SAG strike. The story sees radical activists take over an energy company’s annual gala at the Shard – the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe – seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by a zealous extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, Joey Locke (Daisy Ridley) – suspended 90 stories up on the outside of the building – to save those trapped inside and take down the killers, whilst also finding a way to bring the corrupt energy moguls to justice.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Bruna Papandrea‘s Made Up Stories, Erik Feig’s Picturestart, and Fifth Season have acquired the rights to author Jessica Knoll's bestselling thriller novel, Bright Young Women, to develop as a television series. Knoll will pen the adaptation and serve as executive producer. Inspired by real-life events, the novel tells the story of the women whose lives were forever changed by Ted Bundy’s cross-country killing spree. Opening on the night of Bundy’s 1978 attack on a Florida State University sorority house in the early morning hours, the novel follows sorority president Pamela Schumacher as she seeks answers to questions that remain even after four decades. It culminates in a new narrative about the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle — one that suggests that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.

Fox Entertainment has struck a first-of-its-kind drama development deal with a trio of production companies, Eagle Eye, Clapperboard, and Aux Singuliers. With the latter two of those, Clapperboard and Aux Singuliers, Fox is working on Dead Space [working title] from Young Wallander scribe Ben Harris. Grounded in the reality of the current space race, the series attempts to redefine the traditional police procedural as it explores the complex moral, political, and real legal machinations after a murder is committed aboard the International Space Station. It is said to follow in the footsteps of the BBC’s Vigil, which took a similar approach to a murder mystery on a Navy submarine.

CBS Studios is continuing its push into international drama with the Icelandic-based The Darkness. Lena Olin stars as Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir in the series, based on Ragnar Jónasson’s thriller books. It follows Hermannsdóttir as she investigates a shocking murder case while coming to terms with her own personal traumas. Faced with an impending early retirement and forced to take on a new partner, Hulda is determined to find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger. Sam Shore (Mystic) will write and Lasse Hallström will direct the six-part drama.

Peacock has renewed the dark comedic thriller series Based on a True Story starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina for a second season. The show is a satire of the true crime genre with elements that are loosely inspired by true events. Season 1 is about Ava (Cuoco) and her husband Nathan (Messina), a down-on-their-luck couple, whose lives collide with an infamous serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles. They seize the unique opportunity to capitalize on America’s obsession with true crime by making a podcast with the killer.

Netflix dropped a new trailer for Bodies, which is based on the mind-bending graphic novel by Si Spencer and described as a police procedural with a twist. When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London’s East End in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate. As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play? To solve the mystery, our four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years. The series also stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, and Amaka Okafo and premieres October 19th.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

On the latest episode of The Red Hot Chili Writers, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee interviewed historical crime writer, Nev March; discussed the unsolved Bombay Rajabai Clocktower Deaths; and debated research about the happiest times in our lives - and in the lives of orangutans.

On Crime Time FM, Leonora Nattrass chatted with Paul Burke about her historical mystery thriller, Scarlet Town; Laurence Jago; 18th century history; rotten boroughs; and sapient hog.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with Desmond Ryan, author of the Mary Margaret O'Shea mystery series.


A new Mysteryrat's Maze podcast is up featuring the mystery short story, "The Perfect Patsy," written by Bern Sy Moss and read by actor Jessica Williams.

This week's Pick Your Poison podcast took a look at a poison that makes you mad as a hatter and also its brand-new antidote; and a medicine that comes from a bean used in African witchcraft trials.

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

Terence Winter, the master of the gangster genre known for his work on The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and more, is teaming up with Academy Award-nominated producer Rachel Winter (Dallas Buyers Club) to develop a feature adaptation of A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown’s Most Shocking Crime. Marking the latest work of non-fiction from New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman, the book chronicles the deadly love affair between screen legend Lana Turner and her gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. It will be published through Sourcebooks early next year.

Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax released a trailer for the action film, The Beekeeper, which hits theaters January 12, 2024. It stars Jason Statham as a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers." He single-handedly takes on a sinister organization that wronged a friend in a series of violent encounters that end up having national stakes. Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons also star.

Vertical has picked up domestic distribution rights for Fast Charlie (adapted from Victor Gischler’s thriller novel, Gun Monkeys), a crime caper that stars Pierce Brosnan and also the late James Caan in his final performance. Per the logline, "Charlie Swift [Brosnan] is a fixer with a problem: the thug he’s whacked is missing his head and Charlie will only be paid if the body can be identified. Enter Marcie Kramer [Morena Baccarin], the victim’s ex-wife and a woman with all the skills Charlie needs."


TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Starz has handed an eight-episode series order to the thriller drama, The Hunting Wives, based on the novel by May Cobb, which marks Starz’s first new series pickup since the end of the writers' strike. The Hunting Wives tells the story of Sophie O’Neil and her family’s move from the East Coast to deep-red East Texas, where she succumbs to socialite Margo Banks's irresistible charms—and finds her life consumed by obsession, seduction, and murder.

Boiling Point writer Roanne Bardsley is penning a TV adaptation of the Claire McGowan thriller, What You Did, for the BBC. The book charts the reunion of six university friends together again after 20 years apart. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again, as she staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatized, claiming that she has been assaulted—by Ali’s husband, Mike.

Sky Studios is developing a prequel series to Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale, two of the most successful Italian TV series of all time. Inspired by Roberto Saviano’s bestseller, the untitled Gomorrah prequel will spotlight the criminal rise of Pietro Savastano, from when he was a kid on the streets to becoming the most important and ruthless mafia boss in Naples. Gomorrah ran for five seasons on Sky between 2014 and 2021, totalling 58 episodes, while a 2008 film of the same name was loosely based on the book. Meanwhile, Romanzo Criminale will focus on the years before the rise of the Banda della Magliana criminal organization, as recounted in the two seasons of the original series. Also on board for the prequel project is the "father" of the historical series, Giancarlo De Cataldo, judge and author of the novel of the same name that inspired the drama.

Hugh Dennis and Kate Robbins have boarded the Channel 4/Starz drama, The Couple Next Door, which stars Sam Heughan and Eleanor Tomlinson. The thriller series follows Tomlinson’s character, Evie, and Pete (Harry Potter star Alfred Enoch), who move into an upscale neighborhood and find themselves in a world of curtain twitching and status anxiety. They find friendship in the shape of the couple next door, alpha traffic cop Danny (Heughan) and his wife, glamorous yoga instructor Becka (Jessica De Gouw), but after Danny and Evie share a passionate night together, there is trouble ahead.

Netflix released a trailer for PLUTO, a murder mystery in a futuristic world where robots and humans have a strained relationship. Based on "The Greatest Robot on Earth" story from the Astro Boy manga, PLUTO follows an inspector, Gesicht (Shinshû Fuji), as he tries to track down a serial killer picking off both robots and humans alike. PLUTO is streaming on Netflix from Oct. 26.

Hulu released a teaser trailer for The Artful Dodger, starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis, and Maia Mitchell, which is set to premiere Wednesday, November 29. Billed as an irreverent follow-up to Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, exploring the adult double life of the famous prince of thieves, the series is set in 1850s Australia where Jack Dawkins, aka young rogue The Artful Dodger (Brodie-Sangster), is now all grown up and has transferred his skills as a pickpocket to the nimble fingers of a surgeon. His past returns to haunt him with the arrival of Fagin (Thewlis), luring him back into a world of crime, while the local governor’s daughter (Mitchell), who is determined to become the colony’s first female surgeon, appears to be a greater threat, at least to his heart.

Apple TV+ released a first look at Criminal Record, the streamer's London-set crime thriller series starring Doctor Who alum Peter Capaldi and The Good Fight's Cush Jumbo as detectives in a tug of war over a historic murder conviction. The eight-episode series will launch with the first two episodes on Friday, January 12, 2024, followed by one new episode each Friday through February 23. Criminal Record is described as a powerful, character-driven thriller set in the heart of contemporary London where an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives (Capaldi and Jumbo) into a confrontation over an old murder case.

The official trailer for Black Cake offers a glimpse of a family drama that spans both countries and decades — and involves a murder. Based on the book by Charmaine Wilkerson, the series tells the story of the recently deceased Elanor Bennett, who left her adult children Byron and Benny a USB drive containing information about her past. This causes the pair to discover a wealth of secrets about their mother, starting in late 1960s Jamaica, with a murder, runaway bride, and a mysterious disappearance. Black Cake arrives November 1 on Hulu.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Lou Berney, author of the award-winning November Road, joined CBS Saturday Morning to discuss his new thriller novel, Dark Ride, which came after years of struggle and tells a new kind of story for him.

The latest episode of The Crime Cafe features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Brian Lebeau, whose debut novel is A Disturbing Nature.

On Crime Time FM, Doug Johnstone chatted with Paul Burke about his new novel, The opposite of Lonely; the Skelfs; Sci-Fi; mathematical modelling; and being the writer in residence at a funeral parlor.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club discussed Horror or Spooky reads appropriate for October.

On Spybrary, thriller author Alex Gerlis talked about espionage, WW2, and historical accuracy.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: The Art & Science of Crime Fiction, hosted by Dr. DP Lyle, featured a topic of interest to historical crime writers, namely the medical treatments available in Ancient Egypt.

On Writer's Detective Bureau, Detective Adam Richardson answered questions about California’s Alcoholic Beverage Control agency; who investigates murders involving the military; and the surprising limitation on Tribal Police law enforcement powers.

A new episode of Mysterious Journey, a podcast of short radio plays produced by the Artists' Ensemble Theater, features "Poirot and the Body on the Train" (based on Agatha Christie's short story, "The Plymouth Express"). A body is found under a train seat, and Hercule Poirot is called upon to investigate.

The latest Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast featured the story of two former high school football stars who return to their old stomping grounds for a big payday, in Eli Cranor's "Double Fly Rocket 87" from the January/February 2022 issue. Cranor is a former professional football player whose novel Don't Know Tough won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

 

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

Apple Films released a trailer for Matthew Vaughn's Argylle, based on the mysterious novel by Elly Conway (I say "mysterious" because the author's real ID is a bit of a secret). The trailer begins like a scene from any classic spy thriller: Undercover agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) dances with a beautiful woman (Dua Lipa), only to have his cover blown. A speedy car chase ensues... only none of it's real. Agent Argylle is actually the creation of novelist Elly (Bryce Dallas Howard), who loves nothing more than to write at home with her cat, Alfie. However, when she finds out that her novels are mirroring the actions of an actual spy organization, she's thrown into the kind of spy story she's only used to seeing on the page. Argylle also stars Sam Rockwell, John Cena, Ariana DeBose, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Sofia Boutella, Samuel L. Jackson, and of course cat actor, Alfie. Argylle hits theaters Feb. 2, 2024.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

ITV has commissioned the thriller, Protection, starring Siobhan Finneran, Nadine Marshall, and Katherine Kelly, which hails from multi award winning producers, New Pictures, and acclaimed screenwriter Kris Mrksa. Based on the first-hand experiences of a long serving witness protection officer, Protection is about what happens when the system breaks down. It follows a police officer, Detective Inspector Liz Nyles (Siobhan Finneran), who finds herself at the heart of such a breach after being personally compromised by an affair with a colleague, but is determined to fight back and uncover the true source of corruption within her unit.

Toby Jones has come aboard ITV's drama, Ruth, about the last woman to be hanged in Britain, taking on the role of the solicitor who tried to save her life. Also rounding out the cast are Laurie Davidson, Mark Stanley, Joe Armstrong, Arthur Darvill, Juliet Stevenson, and Toby Stephens. Based on Carol Ann Lee’s biography, A Fine Day For Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story, the show sees Lucy Boynton in the title role as Ruth Ellis, a nightclub hostess who was hanged at the age of 28 after fatally shooting her abusive lover, David Blakely. Famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint carried out the death sentence at Holloway Prison in 1955.

ABC has moved the premier of the new crime drama, High Potential, to fall 2024. The series is based on the popular French series, Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (HPI), and follows Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with a by-the-book seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team. The series also stars Javicia Leslie, Deniz Akdeniz, Amirah J, Matthew Lamb, and Judy Reyes.

True Detective: Night Country dropped a new trailer for the six-episode series and also announced January 14 as the date the show will premiere on streaming service Max. Issa López serves as showrunner, writer and director of all episodes. Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, confirmed that the delay was due to the strikes (the WGA one ended last week with the SAG-AFTRA one is ongoing and hopes it too would come to an end soon). As the official logline states: When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice. The cast also includes Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star LaBlanc and John Hawkes. Guest stars are Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna, June Thiele, Diane Benson and Joel D. Montgrand.

The settlement of the WGA strike has opened the door to the creation or recreation of writers' rooms for the various dramas (although the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike is ongoing). Among the series picking up where they left off are the crime dramas Criminal Minds: Evolution (a co-production with CBS Studios for Paramount+), NCIS and FBI (CBS), The Cleaning Lady (Fox), Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU (NBC).

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

James Patterson and Mike Lupica, appeared on Good Morning America to discuss their new co-authored novel, 12 Months to Live. It centers on tough-as-nails criminal defense attorney Jane Smith, who's hip-deep in the murder trial of the century. But Jane doesn’t have much time: She’s just received a terminal diagnosis giving her twelve months—unless she’s murdered before her expiration date.

Also on Good Morning America, Kayvion Lewis stopped by to chat about Thieves' Gambit, a heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves, and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother's life.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed book picks for Hispanic Heritage Month.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the prologue and first chapter of Secret Identity by Alex Segura, as read by local actor Cady Mejias. This one has something not only for mystery fans, but also for comic book and superhero fans.

Crime Time FM featured authors from Orenda Books Publishing to discuss their latest novels, including Jenny Lund Madsen (Thirty Days of Darkness), Paul E Hardisty (The Forcing), and Eva Björg Ægisdöttir (You Can't See Me).

The Red Hot Chili Writers talked to historian Matthew Parker about his new book, One Fine Day; discussed EM Forster and George Orwell in India; dissected the Booker Prize shortlist; and reflected on the British PM's Seven Deadly Bins.

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 action thriller, Your Lucky Day, featuring one of the final performances of the late Euphoria star, Angus Cloud, has landed a U.S. distribution deal with Well Go USA Entertainment. The film will hit theaters across the country on November 10th and arrive on digital on the 14th. Written and directed by Emmy nominee, Dan Brown, Your Lucky Day watches as a dispute over a winning lottery ticket turns into a deadly hostage situation, leaving the witnesses to decide exactly how far they’ll go — and how much blood they’re willing to spill — for a cut of the $156 million. As the spiraling, life-or-death situation unravels in a small convenience store on Christmas Eve, it becomes evident "that the poisonous heart of the American dream can actually be a nightmare."

A trailer dropped for The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, which marks the final film of The Exorcist director William Friedkin following his death in August, as well as the last performance of actor Lance Reddick (who died in March of this year). It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival earlier this month, with a scheduled wide release for October 6. Described as a "a modern update" to Herman Wouk’s 1951 Pulitzer-winning, post-World War II novel, the movie follows a U.S. naval first officer, Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy), on trial after forcibly relieving his captain, Lieutenant Commander Phillip Queeg (Kiefer Sutherland), of his command during a storm at sea. During the court-martial, the subject of Queeg's state of mind at the time proves the core debate, and the question of whether the crew's acts were mutinous or courageous will be unpacked by both sides.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Line of Duty star, Vicky McClure, is set to lead the cast of the Paramount+ UK drama, Insomnia, an adaptation of Sarah Pinborough’s 2022 sleep deprivation thriller novel. McClure plays successful career woman Emma Averill, who fears she might be losing her mind when her hard-won dream life starts to turn into a nightmare. A couple of weeks before her 40th birthday Emma stops sleeping — just as her mother had done right before she suffered a violent psychotic breakdown on the night of her own 40th birthday. Emma’s mother always told her she’d go the same way, that she had the same "bad blood," and now Emma is terrified it’s true. As events worsen, Emma’s world starts to unravel and she realizes that only by investigating the truth of her painful past, can she find the answers to her present and prevent tragedy from striking a second time.

The CW is officially moving into true-crime with the 10-part series, Crime Nation, described as being in the same vein as NBC’s Dateline, CBS’s 48 Hours, and ABC’s 20/20. The series, set to premiere in 2024, will follow mysteries, cold cases, and investigations in each two-hour-long episode, featuring ripped-from-the-headlines stories and interviews. The cases to be covered will include the Delphi murders, the Lori Vallow Daybell case, the Gabby Petito murder, and the Gilgo Beach murders.

Apple TV has released first-look images for season three of Slow Horses, which is based on Real Tigers, the third novel in Mick Herron's darkly humorous espionage series following a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House. The first two episodes of Season 3 will debut on December 1, with new episodes to be released individually each Friday through December 29. Gary Oldman leads a cast that includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, and Jonathan Pryce.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

On Read or Dead this week, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed book picks for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Historian Oliver Webb Carter stopped by the Spybrary podcast to discuss the five favorite spy novels he wants stashed in a dead drop during an undercover mission behind the Iron Curtain; Ashenden by Somerset Maugham, a collection of stories set during World War I; a look at A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre, a non-fiction book that provides a fascinating account of Kim Philby, a member of the Cambridge spy ring, and more.

On Crime Time FM, Paul Burke spoke with Andrew Nette about his new heist thriller, Orphan Road; Gunshine State; pulp fiction; and bodgies & widgies.

The latest episode of It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured a talk with Joyce Elaine and Roasalie Spielman, two of the authors for Fright Reads Book Conference which will be held September 30 to October 1 in Millersville, Maryland.