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

Dylan Douglas, son of of Hollywood legends Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, has booked his first feature role in the action-thriller, Killing Hitler. The story follows two notorious American gangsters who plan the impossible: an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler in 1933 Berlin. The movie shows how the FBI prevented these notable Jewish American gangsters from altering the course of history in 1933 and is told through the eyes of lead character, Ben, whose early years are portrayed by Douglas and whose later years are portrayed by David Arquette. Also starring in the cast are Danny A. Abeckaser (The Perfect Gamble) who also serves as director, Harry Goodwins (The Gentlemen), Greg Finley (The Secret Life Of The American Teenager), Graham Sibley (Lincoln), and Lorenzo Antonucci (Ice Cream Man). Killing Hitler is based on an article by Professor Robert Rockaway called, "The Jewish Plot to Kill Hitler."


James Gray’s Cannes-premiering crime thriller, Paper Tiger, will open the 64th New York Film Festival in its North American premiere on September 25. Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson star. Set in 1986 Queens and Brooklyn, the film is a New York story charting the tragic domestic fallout after family man and engineer Irwin (Teller), who aspires to middle-class comforts, is pulled into a shady deal by his brother, Gary (Driver). A former NYPD cop, Gary thinks he can make a killing on a scheme with Russian mafia, dumping oil by the Gowanus Canal. Instead, he ends up endangering his brother, as well as Irwin’s sons (Gavin Goudey and Roman Engel) and wife Hester (Johansson). Neon pictures is planning a Nov. 13 theatrical debut.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Icelandic producer Glassriver is teaming with ZDF Studios-owned Network Movie to adapt Áróra, a crime drama series based on Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s internationally bestselling “An Áróra Investigation” novels. Network Movie has optioned all five books in the series. Set across Iceland and London, the drama follows Áróra, a tough fraud investigator with Icelandic roots who returns home to search for her missing sister. What begins as a family mission soon expands into a wider criminal investigation as she teams with Daniel, an Icelandic police detective and potential love interest, exposing corruption, betrayal, and violence beneath Iceland’s rugged landscape.


Cooper & Fry is heading to the U.S. after streamer BritBox snapped up the British crime drama. BritBox has snagged Season 1 of the show for U.S. and Canada, while Netflix has taken second window UK rights. Adapted from Stephen Booth’s bestselling detective novels, Cooper & Fry follows unlikely detective duo Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, played by Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey) and Mandip Gill (Doctor Who). Set in and around England’s picturesque Peak District, the series follows Cooper, who is struggling to emerge from the shadow of his late father, while Fry is an outsider fleeing tragedies in her past. Together, they tackle grisly crimes in the remote countryside. The series recently scored a Season 2 commission from 5 (formerly Channel 5), with filming currently underway ahead of a 2027 bow. Specifically, the upcoming season will cover Booth’s novels The Devil’s Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.   


Netflix has announced that Liz Hannah, co-creator and co-showrunner of Netflix’s The God of the Woods, will direct on the show alongside Cory Finley, Meera Menon, and Quyen Tran. Each will tackle two episodes of the eight-episode drama, based on the bestselling novel from co-creator/co-showrunner Liz Moore. Starring Maya Hawke and Kerry Condon, The God of the Woods is a multi-generational series set in the Adirondacks that explores the Van Laar family’s dark secrets, class tensions, and the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from her family’s summer camp — in the wake of an earlier family tragedy that may be related. As the past and present collide, the Van Laars’ wealth and influence unravel, revealing the damaging consequences of privilege and the abuse of power. Hawke plays Judy Luptack, a smart and quietly determined investigator — the first woman in the male-dominated Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who gets assigned to the case of Barbara’s disappearance. Condon, meanwhile, plays Alice Van Laar, mother of the missing 13-year-old.


Australian crime drama Scrublands is back for a third season, with Luke Arnold (Black Sails) and Bella Heathcote (Pieces of Her) returning to lead the cast. Scrublands: Trust, as it will be known, will see the pair chasing conspiracy and corruption through Sydney’s underbelly and the vast vistas of the Blue Mountains. The four-part season is based on Chris Hammer’s bestselling novel, Trust, and will jump the action back a decade on previous seasons. Per the synopsis: Mandy Bond (Heathcote) thought she’d dealt with her past, but an old name has come back to haunt her: Tom Molloy (Lincoln Younes),  the fiancé she never told her partner, investigative reporter, Martin Scarsden (Arnold) about. Molloy stole $15 million before vanishing and now his body has been found and with it, emerging secrets Mandy is desperate to keep hidden.


Gabriel Luna has joined the cast of Showtime's Dexter: Resurrection Season 2, guest starring as serial killer Ray Ballard, who operates under the name The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger. In addition to Luna, the previously announced Season 2 cast will also include Brian Cox as The New York Ripper; Uma Thurman will reprise her role as Charley; Dan Stevens as The Five Borough Killerl Bokeem Woodbine as Capt. Mixon; and Nona Parker Johnson as Fiona Mixon. Krysten Ritter will guest star in Season 2. From Emmy-nominated showrunner and executive producer Clyde Phillips, the series stars SAG and Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under) in the titular role of Dexter Morgan. The original show's first season and characters are derived from the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), the first in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay.


Ella Anderson (Song Sung Blue) is the latest addition to the main cast of Conviction, Hulu‘s upcoming series starring Elisabeth Moss, which is based on the book of the same name by Jack Jordan. Anderson is set as a series regular in the legal drama, joining Moss, who also executive produces, and previously cast Jimmi Simpson, Kevin McKidd, Sebastian De Souza, Adam Godley, and Linda Emond. Written by David Shore (creator of House), Conviction follows criminal defense attorney Neve Harper (Moss), a confident lawyer who finally has her shot at a career-making case: a high-profile murder where the husband is accused of killing his wife by setting their home on fire. But when a mysterious stranger begins blackmailing Neve, she is forced to compromise every legal, moral, and ethical obligation to gain an acquittal — or else risk her dark secrets being exposed. Details about the rest of the characters are not being disclosed.


MASTERPIECE PBS has announced that Season 2 of Maigret will premiere on Sunday, October 18 on PBS at 9/8c and be available to stream via the PBS app and Prime Video. Based on Georges Simenon's novels about the iconic French detective, this ground-breaking, contemporary version of Maigret is written by Patrick Harbinson (Homeland, 24). In the second installment of the series, Chief Inspector Maigret (Benjamin Wainwright) and his team of detectives investigate a series of haunting and complex crimes, while the stakes are raised for Maigret and his wife Louise (Stephanie Martini). Maigret's unique brand of justice exposes him to the critical eye of his mentor, Police Director Xavier Guichard (Nathaniel Parker). He decides that Maigret needs to be taught a lesson and deliberately weakens his team. With the pressure mounting inexorably, Maigret will be forced to make a choice between his personal life and his career.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

In the latest episode of Spybrary, Shane Whaley is joined by fellow Spybrarian and Head of Boston Station, Joe Modzelewski, to welcome bestselling espionage author Charles Cumming back to the show. to discuss his new Lachlan Kite thriller, ICARUS 17, released on July 2 in the UK and July 7 in the United States. Billed as a nail-biting new entry in the BOX 88 series, ICARUS 17 sees Kite pulled back into fieldwork when Martha Rain, a woman from his past, asks for his help in finding her missing son, Max.


In the latest episode of Meet the Thriller Author, Alan Peterson welcomed crime and suspense author Tom Towslee to talk about his fascinating journey from journalism and political communications to writing gripping mystery and thriller novels and to discuss Tom’s latest novel, Finding Lexi Divine, which introduces readers to Charlie Doyle, a suspended police officer hired to track down a missing stripper. What begins as a simple missing-person case quickly spirals into a dangerous investigation involving drug trafficking, corruption, and murder.


The Flamingo Files podcast spoke with Elaine Viets, who has written 36 mysteries in four bestselling series: the Francesca Vierling novels, the Dead-End Job mysteries, the Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper novels and the Angela Richman mysteries; and also with Neil Plakcy about Dog of Secrets, the latest in his dog-centered mysteries.


Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction host DP Lyle, MD, had a fun chat with former police officer, paramedic, and nonfiction author David L. Williams, about interrogation techniques. His debut mystery/thriller novel, The Shadow Box, will be released through Black Rose in February 2027.


Murder Junction chatted with Otto Penzler, legendary owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York, the world's largest specialist crime and thriller bookshop. They also discussed Otto's latest project, editing and releasing a series of "American Mystery Classics."


On Pick Your Poison, Dr. Jen Prosser investigated what ancient remedy was a byword for treating madness in ancient Greece and was used to treat Heracles after he murdered his wife and children. And what flower contains the same toxin as poisonous toads?

Your Sunday Music Treat

I never cease to be amazed by child prodigies. By now, you've hopefully had the chance to hear violinist Joshua Bell as an adult, but here's a peek at what he sounded like as a youngster way back in 1982 at a master class with Josef Gingold:

 

 

Quote of the Week

 

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Habit of Fear

Dorothy Salisbury Davis (1916-2014) was born in Chicago and raised as a Roman Catholic but left the church when she married her husband, actor Harry Davis. Now considered one of the Grand Dames of crime fiction, she didn't start out as a writer, working first in advertising and as a librarian, publishing her first novel in 1949 with the encouragement of her husband. Her 20 novels and numerous short stories went on to receive seven Edgar Award nominations, and her novel Broken Vows was also made into a 1987 TV movie starring Tommy Lee Jones.

She had a clear influence on the crime fiction community, serving as Mystery Writers of America grandmaster in 1985 and on the initial steering committee for the formation of Sisters in Crime (along with Charlotte MacLeod, Kate Mattes, Betty Francis, Sara Paretsky, Nancy Pickard and Susan Dunlap). She was Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic VI, quoting Hilaire Belloc, that "It will not matter if my sins are scarlet, if only my books are read."  
          
By her own account, Davis felt she was an "odd fit" in crime fiction, unhappy with her perceived inability to create a memorable series character and uncomfortable with violence and murder. But she was very happy creating villains, and often commented that villains are much more fun to write about than heroes. Her themes trended more toward psychology than out-and-out detection, and religious tensions are often found in her work, not surprising considering her own background.

That religious undercurrent can be found in The Habit of Fear, the fourth and last in her series featuring Julie Hayes, a former actress and fortuneteller-turned New York City tabloid reporter, but the religious theme is only a small part of the deftly-knit threads of the plot that begin with her husband Jeff telling her he wants a divorce. Angry and hurt, she storms out of their apartment where she's tricked into a nightmare scenario of rape and sodomy by two mysterious men. Although she's reluctant to help the police, preferring to try and put as much emotional distance between her and the events as possible, she's drawn into the case, as well as a search for the Irish father she never knew, a journey that eventually takes her to the land of her beloved Yeats.

But her troubles only follow her, as a strange "Gray Man" seems to be stalking her, there's an appearance by her two attackers who escaped New York on bail, and she finds herself in the middle of tensions involving the Irish Republican Army and a splinter group. Underlying it all is a NYC gangster who watches over Julie as a protective, yet violent, avenging guardian angel. The plot threads ultimately do tie together into a hopeful but bittersweet conclusion.

Salisbury once contributed the chapter "Background and Atmosphere" to the Writer's Digest Mystery Writer's Handbook in 1975, and she is certainly adept with creating atmosphere in The Habit of Fear, first in the seedy side streets, police precincts and courts of New York and then in the bucolic but war-torn landscapes of Dublin, Wicklow, Ballina and Sligo:

Julie climbed the narrow street to where the village came to an abrupt end at a gate to the ruins. The wind gusted fiercely. The river became rapids alongside the ruins and rushed noisily down the hillside. Looking down, she could see boats at anchor, heaving in the heavy waters. Beyond the inlet was the Atlantic, blue and white-capped and dappled with dark patches where the clouds threw their shadows. As she went on, she could see the coast road with an occasional cottage and bits of color where the stacked turf was tucked around with plastic tarps.

Her characterizations are also rich and multi-layered, with no character completely evil or saintly. In an interview with Don Swaim on the CBS Radio studio show "Wired for Books," she talked about this novel and how she created the character of Julie Hayes during a period when the author herself was in therapy. She made Hayes a defender of street people due to Davis's own walking through city areas frequented by prostitutes, where she said she was accepted as "this little old lady with white hair in a raincoat," talking to various people from all walks of life.

Mystery Melange

Noir at the Bar, the long-running live literary event that combines crime fiction, cocktails, and live performance, returns to the Yonder Bar in downtown Hillsborough, North Carolina, tonight, July 16 at 7:00 p.m. Hosted by longtime emcee Tracey Reynolds, the evening will feature live readings from an all-star lineup of acclaimed authors including Eryk Pruitt, S.A. Cosby, Linda Sands, Jen Conley, Russell Johnson, Morgan Sullivan, Nathan Kotecki, and Isaac Hughes Green. Part literary reading, part variety show, and part community gathering, Noir at the Bar gives each author eight minutes to entertain the audience with original fiction, stories, and excerpts. “This is our seventh year in business and Noir at the Bar is what makes it all worth it to me,” said Eryk Pruitt, co-owner of Yonder and author of five crime novels. “I’ve dedicated nearly my whole life to introducing readers and writers to each other and there is no greater privilege than to do it here.” Click here for more information.


The Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference returns to Corte Madera, CA, this weekend. Writers will host panels with tips on classes on setting, dialogue, and character development, while editors, agents, and publishers tell participants what they need to know to get published. Other panels feature detectives, forensic experts, prosecutors, defense lawyers and crime-fighting professionals sharing their expertise and helping writers bring realism to their work. Authors taking part include co-chairs Cara Black and Tim Maleeny, as well as Matt Coyle, Samantha Downing, Hallie Ephron, George Fong, Elizabeth George, Rachel Howzell Hall, Laurie R. King, James L'Etoile, Audrey Lee, Ritu Mukerji, Bill Petrocelli, Lisa Scottoline, Luisa Smith, and Kelli Stanley.


The Talking Volumes series, sponsored by the Minnesota Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio, announced their fall lineup which will take place at the new home of the O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University. Participants will include British mystery novelist Lucy Foley, who will talk about Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, in which she brings back Agatha Christie’s elderly sleuth Miss Marple (Foley was selected by Christie’s estate to create new books). Foley will be at the O’Shaughnessy at 7 p.m. Sept. 25. Emily St. John Mandel will appear on November 4th to talk about her near-future psychological thriller, Exit Party. And on November 11, Colson Whitehead will be the featured speaker, discussing Cool Machine, which concludes his “Harlem Trilogy” about the adventures of a conman who is trying to go straight.


Registration is now open for ShortCon 2027, which will return to Elaine's in Alexandria, Virginia, on Saturday, June 5, 2027. Presenters include Reed Farrel Coleman, Linda Landrigan, Libby Cudmore, and Tom Milani. Registration includes a day filled with useful information specifically for writers of short crime fiction as well as a full breakfast and lunch. Learn more and register via this link.

 
Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" blog featured an essay by Jessica Slee about her story, ”Woodpeckers,” from Shotgun Honey Presents: Thicker Than Water , edited by Ron Earl Phillips.


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "A Man Dredged a River" by Kate Ladew.


In the Q&A roundup, Iceland-based author Erlendur Arason spoke with Crime Fiction Lover about his new thriller, Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder; and Ryan Pote chatted with Deborah Kalb about his new thriller, The Ghost City, a sequel to his novel, Blood and Treasure, featuring professional treasure hunter and adventurer Ethan Cain.

Author R&R with Natasha Díaz

Natasha Díaz is an award-winning author and screenwriter currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. Natasha’s scripts have been developed at FX and Disney. Her essays can be found in The Establishment and Huffington Post. She is an anthology contributor to Wild Tongues Can’t be Tamed, For the Rest of Us, and instant USA Today bestselling Black Girl Power. Natasha coauthored two novels told in stories, The Grimoire of Grave Fates and House Party. Her debut novel, Color Me In, was released in 2019, and her sophomore novel, the YA mystery What Lies Beneath the Flowers, was released this week.

"It" girl Estella Aubergine is everything Pippa and Bidi are not: wealthy, popular, influential...and missing. Finding her and collecting the reward money that Estella’s reclusive mother is offering could turn their lives around. They’d be able to pay off the overdue bills on Pippa’s family’s store, and all the media attention would only help Bidi’s chances of becoming the youngest elected official in San Francisco. 

But to uncover what happened to Estella, they’ll have to enter her wealthy world. Namely, the prestigious Beaumont Academy, where Estella’s classmates and teachers all seem to have dark secrets and enough money to hide them. 

The deeper Pippa and Bidi dig, the more questions come up about Estella’s disappearance. Worse, someone seems to be clocking their every step. And as cracks form in the girls’ friendship, they begin to see that maybe the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Diaz stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing the book:

 

The idea for What Lies Beneath the Flowers, started off with my editor suggesting I do a retelling of Great Expectations. It was an interesting idea, but the issue was, I had never read Great Expectations, so I set to the task of reading five hundred and forty-four pages. (A fun fact I learned along the way was that Dickens wrote the story in a serial format, each week a new chapter was published, and he was paid by the word, so he was incentivized to write as many as possible.) 

As this was the source material, reading the book was an essential type of research, but it was also unique. I don’t often read a book with intent of dissecting the pieces I like best to remix into my own version. This time, reading a book also meant trying to capture the rhythms of Charles Dickens’ writing. I tried to pay attention to his style as much as the story. I tried to fill in the gaps where the world he created and the one I know didn’t overlap. 

Aside from reading the actual book, the second most important research I did was about flowers and plants. For that, I went through a bunch of flower books and read about flowers that caught my eye and took notes, so I had a little log of options. Otherwise, if I came to a moment where Pippa needed to lean on her knowledge of flowers to help get her through a situation and nothing in my log worked, I would search for a flower or plant that experienced a similar conflict in their lifespan. A lot of times, I was able to find as close to a parallel scenario as possible for a certain floral species and then use that information in the story.

You can learn more about Natasha Díaz via her website and Substack and follow her on Instagram and Goodreads.