Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Produucer Edward R. Pressman (Wall Street, American Psycho) has optioned feature film rights to debut author Ted Scofield's thriller novel Eat What You Kill (published just this past week by St. Martin's Press). The film is described as "a high-octane story that tests the limits to which one man will go for wealth and power in a world obsessed with luxury and excess."

British actress Miranda Hart is joining Paul Feig's untitled spy comedy for Fox. Already-signed fellow cast members include Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law and Jason Statham.

Director Susanna White has added Damien Lewis and Jeremy Northam to the cast for the adaptation of John le Carré’s 2010 novel Our Kind of Traitor.

Music Box Films has acquired U.S. film rights to Nadav Schirman's spy thriller The Green Prince, a real-life tale of one of Israel's prized intelligence sources, the son of a top Hamas leader.

Production on the upcoming Australian indie feature, Strangerland, began last week. The film stars Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes in the mystery drama that follows a couple whose relationship is pushed to the brink when their two teenage children disappear into the remote Australian desert. Hugo Weaving is also in the cast, playing the policeman leading the investigation.

Screenwriter Oren Uziel (22 Jump Street) has been hired to pen Heist, a crime movie from DreamWorks to be directed by Scott Waugh.

Warner Brothers released a trailer for the action thriller Edge of Tomorrow, about an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is sent on a suicide mission, killed within minutes, and then finds himself thrown into a time loop where he has to live out the same brutal combat over and over. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

TELEVISION

Amazon TV announced it was picking up six original pilots for full 13-episode series, including Bosch, based on the Harry Bosch character and novels by Michael Connelly.

Two weeks after A&E pulled the plug on Chloe Sevigny cop drama Those Who Kill, the series will air its full run starting Sundays on the Lifetime Movie Network.

Although USA's series Psych has wrapped up its final episode, the producers left the door open for a possible future movie.

AMC announced its upfront slate for the rest of 2014 that includes the development of adventure/thriller dramas Area 51, Police State, Kingmakers, and Bombingham.

Carmine Giovinazzo (CSI: NY) and Jon Sklaroff (24) will appear in recurring roles on USA's police drama Graceland. Giovinazzo will play Sid Markham, the head of LAPD’s Gang Task Force, while Sklaroff will play a villainous human trafficker.

Francois Arnaud (The Borgias) will play the male lead opposite Maggie Q in the limited-run series Red Flag. The project is set in the early 1800s and centers on Ching Shih (Maggie Q), "a beautiful young Chinese prostitute who goes on to become one of history’s most powerful pirates and head one of the most successful crime syndicates in China."

Fans of Michelle Borth's character Cat on Hawaii Five-0 can be prepared to mourn: McGarrett's girlfriend won't be returning for the fifth season, and her last episode has Cat and McGarrett heading to the Middle East for an off-the-grid mission that "goes awry."

Law & Order and Vikings star Linus Roache will guest star on an episode of The Blacklist, playing a dangerous, influential man with political ties around the world who "manipulates democracy to his own ends and is an expert at political assassination."

Fox released another trailer for the upcoming 24: Live Another Day.

Magnolia Pictures acquired U.S. theatrical, VOD and home entertainment rights to Joe Berlinger's Whitey Bulger documentary, Whitey: The United States of America v. James J. Bulger.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

On the latest Crime and Science Radio show, Jan Burke and D.P. Lyle discuss sex crimes with best-selling author Linda Fairstein.

Mystery Melange

Strand Magazine announced the finalists for its Critics Awards and also named Peter Lovesey and R.L. Stine as the recipients of The Strand’s Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in crime and thriller writing.  (Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare). Here are the nominees:

Best Novel:
• The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes  
• Solo, by William Boyd  
• Sandrine’s Case, by Thomas H. Cook  
• A Serpent’s Tooth, by Craig Johnson  
• Ratlines, by Stuart Neville  
• The Double, by George Pelecanos   

Best First Novel:
• Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly
• Ghostman, by Roger Hobbs  
• A Killing at Cotton Hill, by Terry Shames  
• Walking Into the Ocean, by David Whellams  
• Norwegian by Night, by Derek Miller  

The Left Coast Crime conference, which wrapped up this past weekend, handed out the "Leftie" Awards for best humorous, historical, U.S.-based and international mysteries.

If you happen to be in Edinburg on Saturday, April 12, reserve your free tickets to a panel discussion among some of the leading spy fiction writers of the present moment: Charles Cumming, Jeremy Duns, Dame Stella Rimington, and Tim Stevens. This is the culmination of Spy Week activities at the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh.

Noir Nation's latest edition for Kindle is the "Canada issue," with over 20 entries from some of the very best literary crime fiction writers in the international scene. If you don't have a Kindle, stay tuned: the print version is coming soon.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "For Newtown" by Rachel Lynn McGuire. The pulp story of the week at Beat to a Pulp is "Para Bellum" by Kieran Shea.

J. Kingston Pierce has a timely article at Kirkus Reviews, focusing on eight of the best crime and thriller stories set in the former Soviet Union.

The New Yorker posted a slide show online of "American public libraries great and small featuring photos from The Public Library: A Photographic Essay by Robert Dawson (being released in April by Princeton Architectural Press.

A piece on Buzzfeed reimagines six Hardy Boys covers starring True Detectives characters from the HBO series.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Harlan Coben chatting with the New York Times about literary guilty pleasures and more; Jenny Milchman is interviewed by fellow author Cynthia Lott; and Jim Wilsky grills Paul D. Brazill.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Warner Bros and RatPac Entertainment acquired Harlan Coben's upcoming new mystery novel Missing You in a preemptive screen rights deal. The book centers on an NYPD female detective sucked into an intricate scheme led by a calculating killer, after the detective sees a dating website photo of the ex-fiance who dumped her.

DreamWorks has tapped screenwriter Scott Silver to adapt Noble Assassin, an unpublished novel by Paul Kix, with Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) to direct. The war-time story follows French aristocrat-turned-anti-Nazi-saboteur Robert de la Rochefoucauld, who joined the British Special Operations Executive working with the French resistance before he was caught, tortured and escaped his own execution.

Director Clint Eastwood's American Sniper film project starring Bradley Cooper is enlisting some real-life Navy SEALs in the cast.

Fans of film noir should check out author Eddie Muller's listing of "25 Noir Films That Will Stand the Test of Time."

A new teaser poster and trailer were released by Fox for the mystery thriller The Maze Runner. (Hat tip Omnimystery News.)

TELEVISION

Via Omnimystery News: NBC gave early renewals to three dramas, including Grimm, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D.

The USA Network announced its drama White Collar will wrap up its run with a six-episode sixth and final season.

Adam Kaufman (Altered) will play the male lead on the NBC pilot State Of Affairs. The project stars Katherine Heigl (who also serves as producer) as a key CIA attaché who counsels the president on high-stakes incidents around the world. The producers also announced Alfre Woodard is on board to play the U.S. President.

Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Spartacus: War Of The Damned, Arrow, Vampire Diaries) has been cast as the female lead in the History Channel’s miniseries Texas Rising. The project follows the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers, with Robinson playing mythic historical figure "the Yellow Rose of Texas," who gets caught in a love triangle between Houston (Bill Paxton) and Santa Ana (Oliver Martinez).  

Katharine McPhee (Smash) will play the female lead in CBS' drama pilot Scorpion, about an eccentric genius (Elyes Gabel) and his international network of super-geniuses who are the last line of defense against the complex threats of the modern age.

Kim Dickens (Friday Night Lights) has signed on to star in in the CBS terrorist thriller drama pilot Red Zone opposite Anthony LaPaglia. Kevin Rahm (Mad Men) and Samantha Mathis (Under The Dome) have also been cast in the pilot, which is written by Nikki Toscano and directed by James Foley.

Mentalist star Amanda Righetti will guest star on both Chicago Fire and spin-off Chicago P.D., playing a pediatrician on both shows.

EuroCrime noted that the a new Nordic drama will debut in the UK More 4, beginning Friday March 28 at 9 pm. Titled Mammon, the six-episode series delves into the "murky underbelly of finance, politics and journalism," and centers on the uncompromising journalist Peter Verås who uncovers evidence of financial fraud involving Norway's elite.

CBS announced 2014 season finale dates for its programs, including various crime dramas.

A new trailer was released by FX Networks for the crime drama Fargo, an adaptation of the Academy Award-winning feature film.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

On this week's Guardian books podcast, Tom Rob Smith heads for Sweden with his latest crime novel, and Marc Pastor investigates a killer in early 20th century Barcelona.

Appearing on CBS This Morning last week: Harlan Coben, discussing his latest novel Missing You.  

Minnesota Public Radio chatted with Sherlock composers David Arnold and Michael Price, gaining insight into how they joined the show and crafted such a unique soundscape.

Author/journalist Shane Gericke joined host Pam Stack for the Authors on the Air podcast.

The most recent Crime and Science Radio featured Jan Burke and DP Lyle interviewing John Lentini, who is one of the country's leading investigators of arsons.

THEATER

Olivier Award winner Benedict Cumberbatch (star of BBC's Sherlock), will play the title role in William Shakespeare's Hamlet at London's Barbican Theatre, with performances premiering in August 2015.

GAMES

Omnimystery News
posted the new trailer for the supernatural detective thriller game Murdered: Soul Suspect, in which gamers must solve the hardest case of all…their own murder.

Mystery Melange

Kelli Stanley and Lisa Brackmann are helping coordinate a "Noir at the Bar" event at the upcoming Left Coast Crime conference. They're taking over the hotel bar Thursday (tomorow) night in a flashmob event they're calling "Occupy: Noir!" Readers include Gary Phillips, Terry Shames, Darrell James, Holly West, Deborah J. Ledford and many more. If you're headed to the LCC, check them out.

The upcoming issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection features papers discussing the works of Irish author Tana French, including a contribution from Edgar nominee Maureen T. Reddy. Journal editor Elizabeth Foxwell also has a new call for papers on the topic of "Re-Evaluating Patricia Highsmith" (guest editor: Fiona Peters, Bath Spa Univerity in the UK). Article proposals are due by May 1.

The finalists for this year’s New Pulp Awards were announced last week. The winner will handed out March 23, during MidSouth Con in Memphis, Tennessee. (Hat tip to the Rap Sheet.)

The Library Journal's annual survey of public libraries in the U.S. found that libraries lent mysteries more than any other kind of book in 2013. Close to 95% of respondents reported it as one of their top five fiction loan choices. Also good to hear: every size library posted circulation gains, with a 2% increase overall.

Speaking of libraries, Forbes posted a slideshow of its choices for the "World's 20 Most Stunning Libraries."

SJ Parris recommended five of her favorite historical murder mysteries, from Josephine Tey to Matthew Pearl, for The Telegraph.

Glenn Harper, over at the International Noir Fiction blog, wrote about the "Swedish Agatha Christie," Maria Lang, the pen name of Dagmar Maria Lange. She may well be the founder of Scandinavian crime fiction (definitely one of the founders), and her works are getting new editions soon.

The featured story at Beat to a Pulp this week is the previously-unpublished "A Professional Job" by Walter Tyrer (1900-1978), a British writer who wrote in a wide variety of genre fiction. This week's crime poem over at the 5-2 is "The New Ireland" by Seamus Scanlon.

The Q&A roundup features the continuation of author Hank Phillippi Ryan's series of interviews with authors, with this week's guest, Kathy Lynn Emerson (Guest of Honor for the upcoming Malice Domestic conference); Chris Pavone chats with The Mystery People about his latest novel, The Accident; and DA Mishani gets grilled by fellow author Declan Burke.

Whither the Bookstore?

A new bookstore in Texas caught my eye the other day. The Wild Detectives in Dallas is a combination bookstore (a small, curated section of books) and cafe and bar. Or, as the article in the Dallas Observer notes, "you can order up a Lakewood Lager, pull out your beat-up copy of a Jonathan Lethem novel or T.S. Eliot poems and read in peace. An eclectic playlist softly fills the space, only interrupted by the occasional conversation or the hiss of the bartender steaming milk." It also hopes to be a hub for creative thought, perhaps hosting author talks or book clubs, which is something many indie bookstores are already doing today.

So I wonder if this is the new norm for indie bookstores? Combination shops as opposed to books-only (or primarily) stores? I think it sounds like fun, and the owners seem pleased with possibly breaking even, but I can't help but wonder if this is another sign of the demise of traditional bookstores or just the inevitable evolution. Even Barnes and Noble integrated coffee shops into its locations years ago and now sells an increasing amount of non-book items like toys, games and software.

Would a concept like The Wild Detectives make you more or less likely to visit a bookstore?

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Jon Favreau is set to co-star in Universal's crime thriller Term Life, starring Vince Vaughn as a thief who plans and sells heists to the highest bidder. Vaughn's character is forced to take his estranged daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) on the lam when a job goes bad, and takes out a life insurance policy on her for her protection—but it doesn't take effect for 21 days.

Sienna Miller edged out Thor actress Jaimie Alexander to star opposite Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood's film adaptation American Sniper. The film is based on the American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice.

Ciaran Hinds has joined the cast of the thriller Agent 47, playing against villains Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) and Thomas Kretschmann (Stalingrad). Rupert Friend had earlier signed on to play the title character.

A trailer was released for Devil's Knot, headed to theaters in May. Based on Mara Leveritt's book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, the project is directed by Atom Egoyan and stars Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Amy Ryan, Mireille Enos, Stephen Moyer, Alessandro Nivola and Dane DeHaan.

Indiewire posted a featurette that discusses the adaptation of Jose Saramago's thriller novel The Double into the movie showing currently, retitled Enemy. producer Niv Fichman, director Denis Villeneuve, screenwriter Javier Gullón, and actor Jake Gyllenhaal add their thoughts about the making of the film.

TELEVISION

Josh Duhamel is returning to television to star in Battle Creek, the CBS series written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and House creator David Shore. The story follows Detective Russ Agnew (Dean Winters) and FBI agent Milton Chamberlain (Duhamel), two men with different worldviews who team up to fight crime in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Production company eOne is adapting Gloria Killian's true story about putting herself through law school while in prison and fighting a wrongful conviction for murder. Titled Inside Out, the project is based on Killian's book Full Circle: A True Story of Murder, Lies and Vindication (co-authored with Sandra Kobrin).

Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace) has landed a leading role in CBS' untitled terrorism drama (w/t Red Zone). The project centers on a retired CIA operative-turned-high school football coach pulled back into action after a terrorist event rocks Washington, D.C.

TNT announced the premiere dates for several of its summer shows, including the new sci-fi series Falling Skies; the apocalyptic The Last Ship; Legends, starring Sean Bean as an undercover FBI agent who may be losing his grip on reality; and the new crime drama, Murder in the First, from executive producer Steven Bochco. The network also announced show dates for returning series Rizzoli & Isles, Dallas and Franklin & Bash.

Crown Media Family Networks announced it's rebranding the Hallmark Movie Channel as Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, starting the fourth quarter of 2014. One of the cornerstones of the new lineup is the 'Mystery Wheel" feature that will launch in early 2015 with Garage Sale Mystery, a series of movies starring Lori Loughlin (When Calls the Heart, Full House). The second movie franchise in the "wheel" stars Dylan Neal (Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove) who will star in and executive produce The Gourmet Detective, based on the series of books by Peter King. The third film series in the Mystery Wheel is TBA.

Anne Heche is set to star opposite Jason Isaacs in USA six-episode event series Dig. Heche will play the head of Jerusalem's FBI office and Isaacs's boss and love interest. The plot hinges on the accidental discovery of a conspiracy 2,000 years in the making while investigating an archaeologist's murder.  

CBS announced the 18 shows it was renewing for fall in the U.S. markets, including NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Person of Interest, CSI, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, Elementary, and The Good Wife. Not making the cut were The Mentalist and Intelligence, two shows that are on the bubble.

Andrea Bogart (General Hospital) has booked a recurring role on Showtime's Ray Donovan playing the wife of FBI agent Volcheck (Kip Pardue). The project centers around professional celebrity "fixer", Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber).

Gillian Anderson and fellow cast members have begun filming the second series of BBC2's thriller The Fall. Gillians plays Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson who is on the trail of serial killer Paul Spector (Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan).

CBS's Hawaii Five-0 is promoting Jorge Garcia (Lost) to a series regular. Garcia plays plays Jerry Ortega, a conspiracy theorist and high school classmate of Chin Ho Kelly.

Likewise, HBO has upped Nazanin Boniadi (playing a strong-willed Muslim CIA analyst) to a Homeland series regular.

NBC announced Josh Lucas is joining Debra Messing in the drama pilot The Mysteries of Laura. Lucas will play the soon-to-be-ex husband of Messing's titular female detective character.

NBC released a "first look" of Matt Ryan playing occult detective John Constantine in the upcoming series Constantine.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

On CBS This Morning last week: Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum series and co-author, along with Lee Goldberg, of The Heist.

Scottish author Denise Mina joined Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show on CBS talking about the writing life, writer's conferences and her works, with a healthy dose of humor added in (her spot starts about 30:00 into the video).

Plan B III

I'm pleased to have a story in the just-released anthology Plan B III. I'm grateful to editor Darusha Wehm for her hard work on this series, and very happy to be sharing space with such fine authors as the very talented Patti Abbott, who also happens to be a friend and fellow blogger, as well as a writer extraordinaire. Plan B is quickly making a name for itself in short crime fiction circles, with one of Mike Miner's stories recently named a finalist for a Derringer Award.

From the editor's Foreword: "From Cold War espionage to small town stick-ups, high-powered diplomacy to the opportunism of poverty, these are stories of the darkness of the human heart. And once in a while, how the light of our common humanity can transcend that darkness."

Here's the Table of Contents:

“Sirens” by Gary Cahill
“House Cleaning” by Ian Creasey
“Murderous Lies” by Peter DiChellis
“Doing God’s Work” by Wayne Scheer
“Um Peixe Grande” by Patti Abbott
“Loveable Alan Atcliffe” by S.R. Mastrantone
“Slice” by Tom Barlow
“How Green Was My Valet” by John H. Dromey
“The Least Of These” by BV Lawson
“Miscellany” by Eryk Pruitt
“Stars & Stripes” by James Power
“Alten Kameraden” by Ed Ahern
“The Farm” by Kevin R. Doyle

To purchase your reasonably-priced copy, check out the Plan B website, Smashwords, or Amazon.

Mystery Melange

Congratulations to Laura Lippman, the winner of the first Pinckley Prize for a Distinguished Body of Work. Gwen Florio also won the Pinckley Prize for a Debut Novel for her first book, Montana, published by Permanent Press. The Pinckley Prizes were established to honor the memory of Diana Pinckley, longtime crime fiction columnist for The New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Thanks to Janet Rudolph at Mystery Fanfare for noting the 2014 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year shortlist. The finalists include Closed for Winter by Jørn Lier Horst; Stange Shores by Arnaldur Indriðason; The Weeping Girl by Håkan Nesser; Linda, as in the Linda Murder by Leif G W Persson; Someone to Watch Over Me by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir; and Light in a Dark House by Jan Costin Wagner.

The Lambda Literary Awards, honoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) books published in 2013 have announced their finalists, including those in the mystery categories.  (Hat tip to the Rap Sheet).

Dave Zeltserman posted the Readers Choice Awards from all 2013 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine stories, which happens to include his own "Archie Solves the Case" taking the top spot. Congrats to Dave and all the other Top Ten stories of the year. The list will also appear in the May 2014 issue of EQMM, available in bookstores.

Crime fiction blogger Ayo Onatade noted she's one of the participants for the upcoming Queens of Crime Conference in June accepted at The Institute of English Studies, University of London. Her topic is "Contemporary Contenders for the Title Queen of Crime – Who would you pick and why?" The Keynote speakers for the conference are Val McDermid and Dr Lee Horsley, and there will be many more papers and speakers announced in the coming months.

The new Dark & Stormy crime fiction festival in UK's Brighton is gearing up ahead of its May 23-25 launch. The event will include authors, screenwriters, actors, directors and musicians in a variety of discussions, interviews, movie screenings and performances. (Hat tip to Shots Magazine.)

The new issue of Mystery Scene magazine includes a review of Laura Lippman's latest by Kevin Burton Smith; Oline Cogdill chats with author Chris Pavone; Joseph Goodrich considers Sally Cline's new biography of Dashiell Hammett and fictional portraits of the writer in two recent novels; Mystery Scene critics present their "Fave Raves of 2013," and much more.

The March issue of Suspense Magazine includes Jeffery Deaver, Allison Brennan, C.J. Box, Steven Saylor, Allan Leverone, Steven L. Shrewsbury, and B.J. Daniels being interviewed, with insights into their books. There's a new section with the International Thriller Writers (ITW) Reader's Corner where you'll get inside scoop on what ITW members are recommending. Anthony J. Franze (a/k/a Lisa Gardner) and M.J. Rose also "FaceOff on the Rules of Fiction."

The Top Suspense Group announced it was shutting down, three years after it was formed. The experiment was a coalition of eleven authors who sold their books and anthologies together via a web site an on various eBook platforms, as well as sponsoring a blog. Fans of the authors should not despair, because they will continue to write and publish via other platforms.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Take a Bite Out of Crime" by Catherine Wald; this week's featured story at the Beat to a Pulp webzine is "Final Encore" by Bracken MacLeod.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Hank Phillippi Ryan interviews fellow author Julia Spencer Fleming; and Cara Black chats with The Mystery People.

A Real-Life Manuscript Mystery

The 15th Century Voynich manuscript, described by some as either the "world's most mysterious document" or an elaborate hoax, has haunted historians, cryptographers, and linguists for centuries. Although the manuscript was dated to the early 1400s, it virtually disappeared until 1912 when antique book dealer Wilfrid Voynich bought it in a group of other documents. Among the document's strange features are over 170,000 glyphs including exotic plants, stars, and mysterious human figures, as well as many pages written in an unknown text. It's believed that of the many encrypted texts since the Middle Ages, 99.9% have been cracked. The exception was the Voynich manuscript—until (possibly) now.

The theories attributed to the manuscript, other than the hoax theory, included everything from a cryptic language developed for a secret society, to Aztecs, to the lost tribes of Israel, to aliens (the UFO kind). But in February, Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire, announced he may have cracked at least part of the "code." He started by using medieval herbal manuscripts in Arabic and other languages and by identifying patterns in the text placed next to stars and some plants. His initial results lead him to believe the work is "probably a treatise on nature, perhaps in a Near Eastern or Asian language."

Although Bax's work may leave many people disappointed at the relative mundane nature of the strange document, it's only a partial de-coding, and many mysteries still remain: is it an encoded version of a known language or a totally invented language? Who created it? Many other scholars also aren't convinced Bax has really solved anything, and that we may never know the true secrets of the work. If you'd like to take a crack at it, the complete work has been digitized and is available online.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

James Mangold (The Wolverine) is in negotiations to direct The Deep Blue Good-By, an adaptation of the 1964 John D. MacDonald novel that launched the bestselling Travis McGee series. Based on a script draft by author Dennis Lehane, the project was originally intended as a starring vehicle for Leonardo Dicaprio, although he's since pulled out of the front end of the project, staying on board to produce.

Sony Pictures has hired playwright Chris Boal to write the script of its reboot Zorro franchise. The studio has indicated the movie will be less about swashbuckling and more of a Dark Knight-style unveiling of the character.

A trailer was released for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. This adaptation of an installment in Frank Miller's noir graphic novels is a follow-up to the first Sin City movie in 2005. It continues the storyline of the outlaw inhabitants of Basin City, a fictional town in the American west known by its nickname Sin City.

TELEVISON

Julia Stiles (of the Bourne movie franchise) is taking on the lead role of Rachel Knight in TNT's drama pilot Guilt by Association, to be produced by Nelson McCormick, writer/showrunner Dee Johnson and former prosecutor Marcia Clark, on whose book the project is based.

Robert Patrick (The Unit, The X-Files, Terminator) has signed on for a co-starring role in CBS's pilot Scorpion, from writer Nick Santora, director Justin Lin, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Patrick will play a no non-sense, blue collar Federal Agent who works with "a group of super-geniuses who form the last line of defense against the complex threats of the modern age."

Bojana Novakovic, who plays Greg Kinnear's love interest on Fox's freshman drama Rake, has signed conditionally to star as the title character in ABC's police procedural drama Agatha. However, if Fox renews Rake, then ABC will recast the Agatha role.

Desperate Housewives alumna Felicity Huffman is on board to play Timothy Hutton's ex-wife in John Ridley's racially charged legal drama pilot, American Crime, for ABC. Also recently signed to the cast are Benito Martinez and W. Earl Brown.

The Blacklist has cast Peter Scanavino to play the older brother of Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold), who is the husband of FBI Agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), in an episode that will reveal secrets about the two brothers' lives.

Fox announced which shows will be returning for its U.S. network this fall. The network renewed Golden Globe-nominated Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Following, and several comedies. Fox had already announced it was renewing Bones for a 10th season. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

Omnimystery News reported that FX Networks renewed its animated spy caper series Archer for another two seasons.

The BBC crime drama Orphan Black has signed an exclusive deal with Amazon for its espisodes to be streamed only on Prime Instant Video.

Fox unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming sequel to 24, titled 24: Live Another Day.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

NPR takes a look at Benjamin Black's new book, The Black-Eyed Blonde, which continues the exploits of fictional private eye Philip Marlowe, originally created by Raymond Chandler.

THEATER

Operatic baritone Bryn Terfel and prize-winning actress Emma Thompson are teaming up for a production of Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic. It will be taped for a future broadcast of "Live From Lincoln Center" on PBS stations, although a date hasn't been set.

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Read an Ebook Week

This is National Read an eBook Week across the U.S. There are many options for finding eBooks these days, including Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iBookstore, Smashwords, and many more. Several of these are having sales in honor this week's celebrations, such as Untreed Reads, a publisher that has been supportive of crime fiction, both long and short forms. (For Smashwords' discounts, go here.)

Untreed Reads is offering all titles in their store for 30% through March 8, including Mystery, Suspense and Thriller titles. Jack Bates, Nigel Bird, Paul D. Brazill, Michael Bracken, Jan Christensen, Barb Goffman, and Stephen D. Rogers have short stories and collections available at discount during this sale, and there are also novel-length works by Kaye George, Neil Plakcy, Gillian Roberts, and many more. The bargain offerings also include Grimm Tales, an anthology edited by John Kenyon, in which I was honored to have a story, as well as one of my standalone shorts, "Ill-Gotten Games."

Print still rules, but according to a Pew Research report, one in three Americans said they read at least one eBook in 2013. More people are reading eBooks via their smartphones and on laptops and tablets, with 50% of Americans now owning a dedicated handheld device, i.e., a tablet computer like an iPad, or an e-reader such as a Kindle or Nook, with many more reading books on their smartphones. I see a lot of folks reading ebooks on the D.C. Metro these days, although there are plenty of print books on display, too. More options = more readers.

Mystery Melange

The Derringer Award finalists for excellence in short crime fiction were announced last week. For all the finalists, in the categories of Flash Fiction, Short Fiction, Long Stories, and Novelettes, check out the Short Mystery Fiction Society website. There are links there, too, for some of the stories.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is present their third annual Festival of Crime writing from March 18 through 28. Authors scheduled to present talks include David Hewson, Simon Brett, Michael Jecks, Paul Doherty, John Harvey, Will Carver, and Quintin Jardine. (Hat tip to ShotsMag).

Thanks to Mystery Fanfare for noting a fun event in Huntington Beach, California, later this month on Saturday, March 29. It's being called the "First Annual Ladies of Intrigue Event Featuring Remarkable Women Mystery Writers," and is presented by the Orange County chapter of Sisters in Crime. Authors Carolyn Hart and Rhys Bowen are the headline authors, but 15 other fine authors are scheduled to attend and participate in panel discussions.

Are you sick and tired of winter? Take heart (and get ready to read): The Rap Sheet offers up its picks for upcoming spring-publication books for April and May in both the U.S. and the U.K.

The latest issue of Thuglit is out. Edited by Todd Robinson, this edition includes new stories by Eryk Pruitt; Ben Nadler; Edward Hagelstein; Mark Mellon; Ed Kurtz; Terrence McCauley; S.A. Cosby and Aaron Fox-Lerner. Plus, you have your choice of a Kindle or print version.

If you're an aspiring writer of short crime and fiction and want some insights into what editors are seeking, check out this interview with Needle editor Steve Weddle, Thuglit editor Todd Robinson, and Big Click editor Nick Mamatas.

Berkley Prime Crime is celebrating 20 years of publishing cozy mysteries with several special events and promotions throughout the year. Coming up on March 13, Julie Hyzy, Miranda James, and Rebecca Hale will be at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. Then, on March 25, the Poisoned Pen in Phoenix will host Margaret Coel, Carolyn Hart, Earlene Fowler, and Avery Aames. For more information on these events and more, check out the publisher's Facebook page.

Author Declan Burke noted an interesting opportunity for Irish writers. The Dún Laoghaire library and council are offering a paying part-time writing residency for one year. (Wouldn't it be great to see more of these opportunities at libraries around the world?)

Readers of DorothyL listserv posted their favorite books read (for the first time) during 2013 to the DorothyL list.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "The Adjunct Professor's Lament" by Charles Rammelkamp; the latest Beat to a Pulp short fiction offering is "Class Reunion" by Robb White.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Laura Lippman, who visited The Mystery People; Jon Michaelsen interviewed Ellen Hart about her long-running Sophie Greenway series; Scene of the Crime welcomes Sandra Parshall.

We lost another mystery writer recently when Aimee Thurlo passed away in New Mexico following a bout with cancer. Thurlo and her husband wrote over seventy novels, including romantic suspence and three different mystery series.

NoVa TEEN Book Festival

One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, just celebrated its third anniversary, and they are an excellent example of how indie bookstores can contribute to communities and continue to serve readers in ways other stores (online or brick-and-mortar) can't. The store hosts several book clubs each month, as well as meetings of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime and many author book signings and talks. Now, One More Page is partnering with Arlington Central Library, Arlington Public Schools, George Mason's Fall for the Book, and Fairfax County Public Libraries for the all-day free NoVaTEEN Book Festival on March 8.

Two dozen popular YA authors are scheduled to attend and participate in panels on topics like "Who Are You?", A discussion about identity, destiny, and the roles that shape characters," and "Survivor: How dire circumstances and high-stakes situations unite and shape characters to defeat the odds." There will also be breakout panels with various authors. Some of the YA crime fiction authors attending include Lamar Giles (Fake ID) as well as debut authors, Elle Cosimano (Nearly Gone) and Elisa Nader (Escape From Eden).

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

The 86th Academy Awards were held last night, and one of the big winners included crime drama Dallas Buyers Club for Best Actor, Matthew McConaughey and Best Supporting Actor, Jared Leto.

20 Century Fox has tapped Charles Leavitt to adapt Michael Koryta’s book Those Who Wish Me Dead, due out for publication in May. The novel centers on "a teenage murder witness lost in the Montana wilderness, the twin assassins hunting him, a survival expert tasked with protecting him, and a forest fire that threatens to consume them all."

Warner Bros. acquired American Blood, a crime novel by New Zealand author Ben Sanders that will be published in 2015. The project has Bradley Cooper attached to produce and also star as an NYPD officer turned mob informant in a witness protection program who gets drawn into the investigation of a missing woman. (Hat tip to Crime Watch.)

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's dark crime comedy Inherent Vice has been given a release date of December 12. The project is based on the 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Reese Witherspoon and Martin Short.

The film adaptation of the TV series The Equalizer isn't due for release until September, but apparently it's already "testing through the roof." In fact, the buzz is so great that the production company is already planning a sequel. The project stars Denzel Washington as the title character, a retired intelligence officer who combats injustices against those who can't seek protection from the law.

David Michod's thriller The Rover, starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, has been given a release date in July. The project is set in a world following the collapse of the western economic system, where Australia’s mineral resources have drawn the desperados and dangerous to its shores, including a hardened loner (Pearce) and a wounded car thief (Pattinson).

James Bond fans will be happy to note that filming on Bond 24 will begin in October, with a release date for 2015. Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, and director Sam Mendes are all returning for the project.

Yes, they're remaking Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, and Universal just announced they've hired Dutch director Diederik Van Rooijen to helm the film. The project has been in the making for several years, and the studio once indicated that the redo will owe more to Daphne du Maurier's short story than the Hitchcock version.

TELEVISION

BBC is commissioning two new Agatha Christie adaptations of And Then There Were None, the author's most successful work, and Partners In Crime. The latter is planned as a six-part series featuring crime-fighting duo Tommy and Tuppence. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

Omnimystery News reported that the recently-cancelled BBC show Ripper Street is being revived by Amazon, which ordered a third season to stream ahead of the broadcast via Amazon's new Amazon Prime Instant Video serivce in the UK. The broadcast version will be co-produced in the U.S. by BBC America, with shooting set to start in May.

Fox has acquired Cold Comfort (a/k/a How To Catch A Russian Spy), a film to be directed by Marc Webb. The plot is said to be based on the true account of an American civilian-turned-self-taught spy, who worked with the FBI to bring down a Russian intelligence agent on American soil.

Fox is also developing a "series event" based on the gory Manson murders, with the writing help of writer Bret Easton Ellis and musician Rob Zombie.

British actor Max Brown has been cast as the lead in Fox's 13-episode action-adventure series Hieroglyph, set in ancient Egypt. Brown will play a notorious thief plucked from prison to serve the Pharoah (Reece Ritchie), "navigating palace intrigue, seductive concubines, criminal underbellies and even a few divine sorcerers."

Feature writer Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) is returning to television to create a conspiracy thriller drama for TNT titled Black Box. The plot hinges on three strangers whose lives are forever changed following the crash of an airliner that may not have been accidental.

Dylan McDermott has signed on to star in the untitled pilot for CBS from Kevin Williamson (The Following). The story is described as "a psychological thriller revolving around two detectives, Beth and Jack (McDermott), who handle stalking incidents for the Threat Assessment Unit of the LAPD."

Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis (The Help) has signed to star in the Shonda Rhimes pilot How to Get Away with Murder. Davis will play a brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor whose students become involved in a murder plot that could rock their entire university and change the course of their lives.

FX released a clip from their upcoming adaptation of the film Fargo. The projects stars Billy Bob Thornton as a drifter named
Lorne Malvo who arrives in small-town Minnesota and influences the population with his malice and violence, including down-on-his-luck insurance salesman Lester Nygaard, played by Sherlock's Martin Freeman.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

The latest Crime and Science Radio podcast is titled "Working the Crime Scene: An interview With Forensic Specialist Lisa Black."