Indie Bookstore Bash

Last year, the California Bookstore Day celebrating indie bookstores was such a huge success that the project is going bigger in 2015. This Saturday, May 2, Independent Bookstore Day will include 400 indie bookstores across the U.S. participating in the inaugural national event. Meanwhile, our neighbors to the north will be celebrating their first Authors for Indies Day.

The U.S. organizations put it this way as to why they think the event is important:

Independent bookstores are not just stores, they’re community centers and local anchors run by passionate readers. They are entire universes of ideas that contain the possibility of real serendipity. They are lively performance spaces and quiet places where aimless perusal is a day well spent.
 
Indie bookstores, whether dusty and labyrinthine or clean and well-lighted, are not just stores, they are solutions. They hold the key to your love life, your career, and your passions. Walking the aisles of a good bookstore means stumbling upon a novel from India that expands your heart. It’s encountering an art book that changes the direction of your life. It’s the joy of having a perfect stranger steer you toward the perfect book.
 
In a world of tweets and algorithms and pageless digital downloads, bookstores are not a dying anachronism.  They are living, breathing organisms that continue to grow and expand. In fact, there are more of them this year than there were last year. And they are at your service.

We are blessed here in the greater Washington D.C. area with several terrific indie bookstores like Mystery Loves Company, One More Page, Politics & Prose and Kramerbooks and Afterwards Cafe. Check out the event website links at the top of this post for the participating bookstores and authors near you and stop by this Saturday. Help support your local stores and your favorite authors at the same time.

Mystery Melange

The twentieth annual Friends of Mystery Spotted Awards were handed out to Chelsea Cain (for One Kick) and Johnny Shaw (Plaster City). The Spotted Owl award was established in 1995 and is given to the best mystery novel of the year by an author who lives in the Pacific Northwest – or in this case, two authors, thanks to a tie.

Crime Writers of Canada announced the 2015 Arthur Ellis Awards Shortlists for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. In addition to nominees in the novel, novella, short story and nonfiction categories, the CWC announced that the 2015 Derrick Murdoch Award for special contributions to the crime genre is Sylvia McConnell, founder of RendezVous Crime.

The next Noir at the Bar event heads to Austin, Texas, with authors Jamie Kornegay, Bruce Rehburg, George Weir, and Jesse Sublett on hand to read from their works and hang around for mingling and autographs. The festivities start at 7 p.m. on May 4 at Opal Divine’s on 3601 South Congress.

Later this year, Cinemax will debut Quarry, a drama series based on the novels by Max Collins. In advance of the series premiere, Hard Case Crime is publishing new editions of Collins's five original Quarry novels with covers by legendary illustrator Robert McGinnis (the first editions to appear in stores in almost 30 years). Hard Case Crime has been publishing new books in the Quarry series since 2006, and publisher Charles Ardai notes that "Quarry is our most popular series character."

Walter Mosley, best-selling author of the Easy Rawlins series, wrote an essay about "The Future of Reading" for the Wall Street Journal, noting that in the near future books will be more on electronic screens than on paper. "This is good because it’ll save the lives of many trees and because access to the Libraries of History will be open to everyone." He added, "Books will still be published. Writers will still complain about their publishers. Stories will continue to be told, and readers will still hanker after them."

The estate of Agatha Christie has launched a public poll to find the best-loved novel by the queen of crime in honor of the 125th anniversary of the crime writer’s birth. Authors Val McDermid and Sophie Hannah and actor David Suchet are among those who are championing their own favorites from the 80+ novels in the running. Suchet's favorite is the ABC Murders, while McDermid is backing The Murder at the Vicarage, and Hannah voted for After the Funeral. The winner of the public poll will be announced in September, the month of Christie’s birth.

The Guardian's Moira Redmond takes a journey through her favorite crime fiction written to the "rhythm of the rails," inspired by the buzz surrounding Paula Hawkins' Girl on a Train.

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 is "Con Man" by Joe Barnes.

RIP to Charlene Weir who died at the age of 77 in El Cerrito, California. The former nurse started writing after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and went on to write mystery short stories and novels, winning the St. Martin’s Malice Domestic contest for The Winter Widow in 1992.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Olen Steinhauer, who chatted with the New York Times about how the best espionage stories “not only ask questions about how spying is performed, but they also question the value of the job itself"; James Ellroy is his usual quirky self in an interview with The Guardian; debut novelist Renee Knight talked with The Age about her thriller Disclaimer, which has already lined up a Hollywood deal; Attica Locke sat down with the Los Angeles Magazine to discuss her new novel Pleasantville; the Mystery People welcomed George Wier’s to talk about his latest, Murder In Elysium; and Omnimystery News featured a Q&A with legal thriller author Hubert Crouch.

Media Murder for Monday

Happy Monday! Here's the latest news in crime dramas from around the world on stage and screen:

MOVIES

Sony announced it will be making a sequel to the action thriller The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington as a retired black ops government operative.

The film adaptation of John D. Macdonald's Deep Blue Good-by novel featuring Christian Bale as the salvage hunter/private eye Travis McGhee, has suffered a setback due to a knee injury Bale suffered. Although the project's creative team still want to go forward with the potential franchise, production will be delayed until after its director James Mangold completes Wolverine 3 with Hugh Jackman.

Saban Films is in final negotiations to acquire U.S. rights to the psychological thriller Backtrack, which stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Sam Neill and Robin McLeavy in the tale of a troubled psychotherapist (Brody) who uncovers the horrifying secret shared by his patients that leads him to his hometown to solve a decades-old mystery.

Relativity Studios is in final negotiations to pick up Shot Caller, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones). Shot Caller tells the story of a newly released prison gangster forced by leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.

A new trailer is out for Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen as an aging version of Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic consulting detective.

The official trailer has been released for Black Mass based on the book Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil's Deal by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. The project stars Johnny Depp as a creepy Bulger, with a supporting cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Juno Temple, Corey Stoll, Joel Edgerton, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard and Kevin Bacon.

There's also a new trailer for the spy flick Barely Lethal, starring Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) as a teen spy who fakes her own death to leave her secret spy agency and attempt to enjoy a normal teenage life only to have her plans thwarted when her old life catches up with her in the form of enemy agent Jessica Alba and rival spy Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones).  

TELEVISION

The U.K.-based production company SLAM TV (headed by actors Stephen Mangan and Andrew Lincoln) have acquired the option to develop a TV series based on the Maisie Dobbs historical mysteries by Jacqueline Winspear. The literary adventures of psychologist/investigator Maisie Dobbs have taken readers from the battlefields of the Great War to the chaos of 1937 Spain.

The Bookseller reported that two new TV dramas based on UK author Mark Billingham’s crime fiction are in the works at the BBC. The first is to be based on Billingham’s 2008 novel, In the Dark and the second on his new novel Time of Death. 

Frank Langella is set to return for Season 4 of the FX network's Cold War drama The Americans, reprising his role as Gabriel, the mysterious KGB handler of spies Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell).

HBO released a True Detective teaser poster and hints for Season 2, in which a bizarre murder will cause three law-enforcement officers (Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch) to cross paths with a career criminal, played by Vince Vaughn.

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

The Amaaon Kindle "Most Wanted Presents Masters Series" recently featured Max Allan Collins talking about his journey from reading classic detective fiction to becoming a bestselling author.

NPR's Maureen Corrigan revisited a "suburbia-gone-sour" in Ross Macdonald's crime fiction.

Hosts Jan Burke and D.P. Lyle welcomed Investigative Journalist Hank Phillippi Ryan on the latest Crime and Science Radio podcast.

NPR profiled the book Pleasantville, a novel by African-American author Attica Locke, who is also known for her work on the TV series Empire.

Minnesota Public Radio took a look at "Literary mysteries: Who is behind that pen name?"

THEATER

Two central Florida theatrical troupes are performing different plays based on Agatha Christie novels. The Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford is presenting Christie's stage adaptation of And Then There Were None, while the Melon Patch Players in Leesburg are presenting A Murder Is Announced, with both plays opening May 1.

Mystery Melange

Congratulations to the winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller, Tom Bouman's Dry Bones in the Valley. The other finalists included Peter Heller, The Painter; Laura Lippman, After I’m Gone; Shawn Lawrence Otto, Sins of Our Fathers; and Peter Swanson, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart.

CrimeFest has whittled down its awards nominees to the shortlists in the categories of audio books, eBooks, humorous crime novels, and the H.R.F. Keating Award for the best biography or critical book related to crime fiction.

The Bony Blithe Award for best Canadian Light Mystery of 2015 announced their list of finalists: Cathy Ace, The Corpse with the Platinum Hair; Judith Alguire, Many Unpleasant Returns; E.C. Bell, Seeing the Light; Janet Bolin, Night of the Living Thread; Allan Stratton, The Resurrection of Mary Mabel McTavish. (Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare)

Cumbria's new Carlisle arts and entertainment venue is set to stage the region's first ever Crime Writing Weekend. The three-day UK literary festival is supported by the Crime Writers’ Association and will be held between Friday 12 and Sunday 14 June. It will feature more than 30 authors including Ann Cleves, Martin Edwards, Stuart MacBridge, and Zoe Sharp.

The Weekly Standard looked at the "the story within the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" and the research by Doyle biographer Douglas Kerr.

Kevin Robinson, a retired police officer, advisor to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, consultant, and operator of the blog Crime Writing Solutions, has penned a new reference book on police work in the UK. Titled British Police and Crime Directory for Writers and Researchers, it's an informative resource for researchers and authors.

The first bookstore dedicated to self-published authors opened in Fort Myers, Florida. Gulf Coast Bookstore rearranges inventory from local authors every two weeks to keep the space fresh and sponsors book readings and signings.

In a story that could have been penned by any contemporary thriller writer, the Justice Department and FBI acknowledged that "nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000."

The Rosehill Library in Ipswich launched a "novel" promotion in a literal "don't judge a book by its cover" project. The staff wrapped up several books in plain white packaging (with only first line and genre) for people to borrow as mystery items, hoping to to get people more interested in reading.

This week's new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Facts" by Robert Cooperman.

In the Q&A roundup this week, Hilary Davidson talked with Do Some Damage about her writing and latest novel, Blood Always Tells; Gunnar Staalesen, "one of the fathers of Nordic Noir," chatted with the Irish Times; Greg Iles stopped by the Christian Science Monitor to discuss his new book, The Bone Tree, which includes an investigation into the JFK assassination; and Paula Hawkins explained to The Guardian why writing her book Girl on a Trail in a state of panic and dread was good for her.

Media Murder for Monday

It's Monday and time once again for this week's roundup of crime dramas on stage and screen:

MOVIES

Liam Neeson is set to produce the romantic-thriller A Mad and Wonderful Thing, an adaptation of the story of a real IRA sniper by Mark Mulholland.

A delayed film project project based on the comic mysteries by Gregory Mcdonald featuring investigative reporter I. M. Fletcher is back in the production pipeline. Unlike the 1985 film starring Chevy Chase, the new project is envisioned as more of a prequel, with Jason Sudeikis potentially playing the lead.  (Hat tip to Ominimytery News.)

The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival returns to Palm Springs May 14-17, marking its 16th season. Although most of the films are classics from the 1940s and '50s, the opening-night film is the 1990 film Miller’s Crossing by the Coen brothers. Festival host Alan K. Rode notes that “This film put the Cohn brothers on the map as filmmakers" and Jon Polito, one of the actors “whose performance was something to behold,” is scheduled to speak after the screening.

The American Film Institute Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland will host an Orson Welles retrospective April 17 through July 1, including such films as Citizen Kane, The Trial, Man in the Shadow, and Touch of Evil.

The first trailer has been released for Every Secret Thing, the adaptation of the novel by Laura Lippman directed by Amy J. Berg (Deliver  Us from Evil, West of Memphis). The psychological crime thriller stars Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald, Nate Parker, and Common.

TELEVISION

New Metric Media has acquired worldwide media rights for Elisabeth de Mariaffi’s debut novel, The Devil You Know. The 1990-set novel follows rookie reporter Evie Jones as she deals with memories of violence from her past against the backdrop of a series of contemporary serial rapes.

Netflix announced it's renewing Orange is the New Black for a fourth season, even before the third season premieres on June 12.

True Detective director Cary Fukunaga has been hired to direct the upcoming drama series The Alienist, based on the Caleb Carr novel, with Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) on board as executive producer. Set in the tenements and mansions of late 19th-century New York City, the story follows Dr. Laszlo Kreizler who, with the help of newspaper reporter John Moore and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, uses the emerging discipline of psychology to track down one of New York City’s first serial killers.

The third season of Ripper Street (based on Jack The Ripper) returns to BBC America with eight new episodes beginning April 29. The network axed the show, which stars Matthew Macfadyen, back in 2013, and then it was snapped up by Amazon Prime Instant Video but only in the UK. BBC America decided to bring back the historical thriller to U.S. audiences, and has posted a trailer for the new season.

Fans of Constantine, the show featuring Matt Ryan as the mystical con-man John Constantine, may not be as fortunate since the show is on the bubble for renewal vs. cancellation. (Although you never know these days if such a show may wind up being resurrected on Netflix or Amazon Prime.)

The Weinstein Company acquired the TV rights to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, with plans on turning it into an event series. Gary Oldman and Douglas Urbanski’s Flying Studios (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will produce the project, with Kevin Hood attached to write the adaptation.

HBO Films will examine the often brutal torture techniques used in the war on terror in the documentary Rorschach and Awe, based on the 2007 Vanity Fair article of the same name by Katherine Eban. The film will examine how the CIA hired two psychologists to build a torture program with the full knowledge and cooperation of the American Psychological Association.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman joined Libby Hellmann via the 2nd Sunday Crime podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

On BBC Radio 4, American novelist Christopher Bollen talked about his novel Orient, a literary murder mystery set in a remote town on the very tip of Long Island.  

THEATER

Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre and Vertigo Theatre are co-producing a stage adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell My Lovely from Vancouver playwright Aaron Bushkowsky. The show, which stars Graham Percy as Philip Marlowe, continues until May 2.

The Footlight Players are presenting The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Footlight Theatre in Michigan City, Illinois, through May 3. The "solve-it-yourself musical" is an adaptation of Charles Dickens'  unfinished novel and allows the audience to decide who murdered the mysterious orphan Edwin Drood.

"Lost" Golden Age Nuggets

I received a heads-up from Dean Street Press that they are reissuing two lost golden age crime classics by Ianthe Jerrold from 1929-30, both out of print for over eighty years. Jerrold only wrote these two novels in the crime field before moving on to other genres, but her writing nonetheless influenced Dorothy L Sayers, John Dickson Carr and Ngaio Marsh.

The Studio Crime is a London mystery and begins as a fog-bound soiree is about to begin at artist Laurence Newtree's studio. But when his upstairs neighbor is murdered in a seemingly impossible crime, Scotland Yard and the unofficial but resourceful private sleuth John Christmas are called in to solve a baffling and eerie case.

Dead Man's Quarry moves the action to the beautiful border countryside between Herefordshire and Wales where a cycling holiday turns deadly when one of the party is found—shot—at the bottom of a local quarry. John Christmas is once again put into action (along with his forensic assistant, Sydenham Rampson), using his unique sleuthing insights in an ingenious, well-plotted mystery.

FYI, if you enjoy both books and want to get "closer" to the writer and her world, her Elizabethan house Cwmmau in Herefordshire is owned by the National Trust today and available for vacation rentals.

Riding into the Sunset

This past weekend, we lost Ron Scheer, writer, blogger, and long-time contributor to Patti Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books. His Buddies in the Saddle blog focused on Westerns, crime fiction, videos, and anything else that struck his fancy. He also documented his fight with brain cancer over the past couple of years, a battle he ultimately couldn't win.

On his one-year anniversary of brain surgery in February of this year, he posted the following poignant note:

Today marks an anniversary of sorts. A year ago I was just out of surgery, most of a malignant tumor removed from my brain, I was yet to meet the oncologists who would get me started on chemo and radiation. Mostly I was amazed that I felt few effects from having my cranium cracked open, my gray matter invaded by a team of neurosurgeons I hardly knew, then stapled back together, soon to be sent back home.

 

My memories of that time are marked by the sound of cactus wrens outside my bedroom, chattering away each morning as I welcomed the new day, sometimes after an endless night of dreadful dreams and sleeplessness. I read Anne Lamott’s little book about three kinds of prayer (thanks, help, wow), which made me both laugh and cry. And I marveled at the flowering plants sent by a family friend. Here we were alive together.

 

Ron supported the Behrhorst Clinic in Guatemala, where he spent a college summer volunteering. The family has asked that if you want to make a donation, you can do so via the foundation's website.

Mystery Melange

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is this weekend and will include five different crime fiction panels, starting with the two on Saturday: "Crime Fiction: Right Place, Wrong Time," featuring Steph Cha, Naomi Hirahara, Attica Locke, Daniel Pyne, and moderator Paula L. Woods; and another on "Crime Fiction: Haunted by the Past," featuring Tom Bouman, Peter Heller, Peter Swanson with moderator Tom Nolan. Sunday will see panels that include authors Gar Anthony Haywood, Eric Jerome Dickey, Hallie Ephron, Kimberly McCreight, Naomi Hirahara, T. Jefferson Parker, Ivy Pochoda, Joseph Kanon, Thomas Perry, Lisa Scottoline, and Stuart Woods. Dennis Lehane will also be interviewed by Tod Goldberg in a special Sunday session.

The International Thriller Writers announced the finalists for the 2015 Thriller Awards. In the running for Best Hardcover Novel are Megan Abbott for The Fever; Lauren Beukes for Broken Monsters; Joseph Finder for Suspicion; Greg Iles for Natchez Burning; and Chevy Stevens for That Night. Check out all of the categories nominees on the awards website.

Crimefest announced its longlist for their 2015 awards (and it's definitely a long list – too long to reprint here). Check out the Crimefest website for all the nominees for Audible Sounds of Crime Award for best crime audiobook; Goldsboro Last Laugh Award for best humorous crime novel; eDunnit award for best electronic crime novel, and the H.R.F. Keating Award for best non-fiction book related to crime fiction. The finalists will be annnounced soon, with the winners handed out at the Crimefest Gala Awards Dinner on May 17.

There's an new crime fiction website debuting this month. The Life Sentence bills itself as "the destination sophisticated crime fiction/noir fans go to for reviews and stimulating criticism. Our content engages, excites, and inspires people to share and to participate. We cover crime, mysteries, and noir in all genres, including true crime, thrillers, novels, nonfiction, movies, and television." Future content will  include coverage of comics (and actual comics), slideshows, contests, giveaways, a podcast, conversations, recipes, and more. The Editorial Board reads like a "who's who" of heavyweights in crime fiction today.

Author Jeanne Matthews takes note of a mystery author who may soon receive canonization by The Catholic Church. The process is underway of deciding whether to bestow sainthood on G.K. Chesterton, who, among other ecclesiastical works, created the Father Brown mystery series. It doesn't hurt that Pope Francis is apparently a long-time fan of the author's novels.

Penguin Random is introducing free eBook excerpts from select titles for Amtrak riders on the Acela Express. Train riders between Boston and Washington, D.C. will have access to more than twenty free excerpts from a variety of books across all Penguin Random House’s adult imprints.

A handwritten notebook by Alan Turing, the British mathematician credited with breaking German codes during World War II (played by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game), sold for more than $1 million at auction Monday in New York. It's the first time a manuscript by Turing has come to public market.

In honor of National Library Week in the U.S., check out the new book from Alex Johnson titled Improbable Libraries. The book takes a look at unusual libraries around the globe "from library boats for Laotian children on the river to a Mobile Art Library which drives around Mexico City and a Mongolian Children’s Mobile Library that brings books to nomadic herding communities via camel."

Is there anything Legos can't do? Police in Scotland are using the popular toy to help stop crime. It's all part of Operation RAC, an ongoing campaign to reduce the number of house break-ins in Edinburgh using Lego scenes that focus on simple ways people can help prevent a break-in.

In the Q&A roundup, The Mystery People snagged Ryan Gattis to talk about his novel All Involved, based on rioting in L.A. after the exoneration of the policemen who beat Rodney King; debut mystery author Suzanne Spiegoski stopped by Omnimystery News; and James O. Born chatted with the Miami Herald about his new novel that focuses on deputy Tim Hallett and his K-9 unit.

Author R&R with Adam Mitzner

Adam Mitzner graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. and M.A. in politics and went on from there to study law at the University of Virginia. He's currently the head of the litigation department of Pavia & Harcourt LLP, which received some fame because it's the law firm where Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor practiced before she was appointed to the bench. Mitzner is the author of A Case of Redemption, a finalist for the ABA's Silver Gavel Award, and A Conflict of Interest, one of Suspense Magazine's Best Books of 2011.

Losing Faith is his latest novel, which centers on Aaron Littmann, the chairman of one of the country's most prestigious law firms. But Aaron's orderly world is turned upside down when he's offered an opportunity he can't refuse: to represent a Russian businessman accused of terrorism or else the Russian will go public with evidence the attorney had a torrid affair with Faith Nichols, a high-profile judge. Now Aaron and Faith must navigate a psychological game of power, ethics, lies, and justice if they are to salvage their reputations and their careers.

Adam Mitzner stopped by In Reference to Murder as part of his blog tour to take some "Author R&R" about how he approaches reference and research for his novels:

 

Author Reference and Research
by Adam Mitzner,
Author of Losing Faith

The research I do for my books falls into two categories: (1) legal issues; (2) everything else.

The legal issues are actually the easiest to research. As a practicing lawyer, I research the legal issues in my books the same way I would if I was representing a client with those issues. First, I hit the books, which these days means computerized research on the Westlaw database, looking for precedent to support the position that my fictional lawyers are going to cite to the fictional judge. If I'm uncertain about a particular area of the law, I reach out to lawyers with greater expertise – again, just as I do for my clients.

The legal issues that arise in my books usually come from putting myself in the role of defense lawyer and prosecutor and thinking through the strategies that I'd pursue if it were a real case. Sometimes the issues that come up are ones that I've actually litigated. For example, in A Case of Redemption, I dealt with a witness asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. This happened in a case I was handling years ago, and I remember being surprised that the witness' invocation is made outside the presence of the jury. The result at first seems unfair: a defendant who believes that someone else committed the crime for which he stands accused wants to question that person ala Perry Mason, and get him to admit his guilt. However, if the witness asserts his Fifth Amendment privilege because he fears that his testimony will likely incriminate him, the jury never knows about it! But then when you study the reasoning behind the rule, you see the injustice that results if the invocation of the Fifth Amendment is made in front of the jury.

Then there's the research about everything else. That's where I rely on friends and family for their particular expertise. My wife helps me with everything, but I particularly rely on her knowledge of scotch, which for some reason I like my characters to drink, but with I don't personally have any familiarity. My children fill me in on what the slang is among high schoolers, and my doctor friends correct my medical jargon. I reached out to my own doctor during my annual physical regarding an issue and he referred me to a friend of his who is a coroner in the Midwest. The question was whether the coroner's report concerning a woman killed by blunt force trauma to the head would note if the victim had pubic hair. To my surprise, I was told that it varies from medical examiner to medical examiner.

My books are set in New York City, and I try to be as accurate as possible regarding the places depicted. That usually means visiting the restaurants to get the décor right, and even studying menus to make sure that the prices are correct. It has the side benefit of allowing me to have some very nice meals in the name of research.

Finally, I rely extensively on Google. It's a running joke I have with my wife that she has to be extra careful not to become a victim of a violent crime because our computer is filled with searches about ways to kill your spouse or dispose of bodies.

© 2015 Adam Mitzner, author of Losing Faith

 

For more on Adam and his books, check out his website and Facebook page.

Media Murder for Monday

Monday means it's time for the latest roundup of crime dramas on stage and screen:

MOVIES

Willem Dafoe is joining Gerard Butler, Billy Bob Thornton and rapper/actor Common in the cast of the submarine thriller Hunter Killer. The story centers on a renegade Russian military leader whose actions lead to the brink of war with the U.S., leaving an elite U.S. Navy unit to prevent World War III. Dafoe will play Russian submarine Captain Andropoyov.

Danielle Nicolet has been signed as the female lead opposite Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson in the Warner Bros-New Line buddy comedy Central Intelligence. The film follows a mild-mannered accountant (Hart) whose former classmate (Johnson) now  works for the CIA and talks the accountant into helping thwart a plot to sell military secrets. Nicolet will play Maggie, the wife of Hart’s character and his high school sweetheart.

Disney has pushed the release date for Chris Pine’s Coast Guard thriller The Finest Hours to January 29, 2016. The film also stars Casey Affleck and is directed by Craig Gillespie.

TELEVISION

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominations for their television awards, recognizing the best from programs in 2014. Several crime thrillers were honored, including Murdered By My Boyfriend, Happy Valley, Line of Duty, The Missing, and True Detective. Benedict Cumberbatch also received a nod for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

Production has begun on the 1970s-set Cinemax noir drama Quarry, based on Max Allan Collins' book series. The show stars Logan Marshall-Green as Mac "Quarry" Conway, a Marine who returns home from Vietnam and makes his way back into civilian life as a hit man deployed by a mysterious character known as The Broker (played by Peter Mullan).

Amazon Studios has started production on Natchez Burning, a short-run series based on Greg Iles' thriller of the same name that centers on a Southern lawyer and former prosecutor, Penn Cage.

ITV renewed its detective series Lewis for a 9th season. Kevin Whatley and Laurence Fox will return as Detectives Robbie Lewis and James Hathaway, alongside Angela Griffin as Detective Sergeant Lizzie Maddox.

HBO unveiled the first True Detective season two teaser trailer, starring Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. The new season premieres Sunday, June 21.

Chris Cooper and Cherry Jones have joined the cast of Hulu's 11/22/63, based on the Stephen King novel. The project stars James Franco as a high school English teacher who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Robert Sean Leonard (formerly of House), will guest star on a May episode of the NBC drama Law & Order: SVU. He's been added to the episode that will also see the temporary return of former cast members Andre Braugher and Dann Florek. Leonard will play ADA Kenneth O’Dwyer, who once sent a man to jail for raping his daughter, but when the daughter chooses to recant her testimony, the case is reopened. The episode will also welcome back former series regulars Andre Braugher and Dann Florek.

Eliza Dushku is joining the crime drama Banshee on Cinemax, playing Agent Veronica Dawson, "a tough, sexy and shockingly reckless FBI profiler with no shortage of personal demons who joins forces with Hood to hunt down a killer." Banshee centers on an ex-con and master thief (played by Antony Starr), who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, PA, enforcing his own code of justice.  

ABC announced its summer lineup, which includes the fifth season of Rookie Blue, and a new series, the suspense-thriller The Whispers, which follows a group of kids in Washington, D.C., who are being manipulated to do dangerous things by a mysterious force.

The USA Network unveiled its summer and fall broadcast slates. The summer schedule includes the thrillers Complications (from the creator of Burn Notice) and Mr. Robot. The fall programs include AWOL, which deals with the gritty world of an ex-military operative, and Cooley & The Tank, which goes behind the scenes of the fictional 1981 detective drama of the same name to explore the complicated lives of its two feuding stars.

Netflix released a trailer for the third season of Orange is the New Black, featuring scenes with Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, Kate Mulgrew as Galina “Red” Reznikov, and Uzo Aduba as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

On the latest Crime and Science Radio podcast, hosts Jan Burke and D.P. Lyle welcomed Lisa Mayhew, child death investigator.

Meanwhile, the most recent Suspense Radio Beyond the Cover podcast featured special guest Harlan Coben, while SR's Inside Edition hosted authors Jon Land, Edward Freeland, and John Trudel.

The BBC has created an immersive story online told through text, images and video, which follows a trail ot missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls all killed in Winnipeg.

Adnan Syed, the subject of the popular Serial webcast in 2014, will return as the main figure in a spin-off second series. Undisclosed: The State v. Adnan Syed, will dig deeper into the 16-year-old murder case that has Syed serving a life sentence for the alleged murder of 17-year-old Hai Min Lee.

THEATER

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak is taking on the world premiere of Rear Window as part of its 2015-2016 season. The play is an adaptation of the Cornell Woolrich short story that inspired the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film.  

An adaptation of Peter James' thriller novel Dead Simple will premiere at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal from April 13-18. This is the second James novel to be adapted in conjunction with producer Joshua Andrews (The Perfect Murder). The story was the first feature James' now famous character of Detective Roy Grace, who has to solve the disappearance of a man who's been buried alive.

GAMES/COMICS

IDW Publishing announced it's adapting Nicholas Meyer’s bestselling mystery novel The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution into a five-part comic book series from writers Scott Tipton and David Tipton and artist Ron Joseph. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution centers on a “rediscovered” Sherlock Holmes adventure that's a collaboration between Holmes and Sigmund Freud in which secrets about Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes and Sherlock's true whereabouts during the Great Hiatus are revealed.

Mystery Melange

On Monday, April 27th, the Mystery Writers of America will launch the MWA Cookbook, edited by Kate White. The launch party will be held at The Mysterious Bookshop in New York, with many of the contributors and 2015 Edgar Award nominees scheduled to appear. Visit the bookstore's website for more information.

London's Goldsboro Books will host the fourth Crime in the Court evening on the 25th June 2015 to coincide with Independent Booksellers Week in the UK. This annual event celebrates crime fiction in an informal setting for crime fans to meet the best crime writers today (with over forty authors scheduled to attend).

The 2015 Adventure Writer's Competition, sponsored by the Clive Cussler Collectors Society is open for submissions through July 2015. The contest welcomes all new novels of the adventure genre, which can be unpublished, self-published, or traditionally published (with limited release). The winner will recieve a $1,000 cash prize, exposure to industry insiders, and a trophy handed out at the Clive Cussler Collector's Society Convention held at the Tuscany Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 9 – 11.

If you have at least ten grand to spend, you can bid through April 11 on the chance to name a character in the upcoming Michael Connelly novel, The Crossing. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the charity Trinity Cafe, a restaurant for the homeless, hungry and food insecure in Tampa, Florida.

The Radio Spirits blog celebrated the various radio dramas based on the Nero Wolfe novels of Rex Stout in honor the anniversary of the very first radio adaptation, The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, which premiered over a small regional network (The New England Network) on April 7, 1943, and featured J.B. Williams as Wolfe.

Just call him Dr. Walter Mosley. The award-winning author of over forty novels will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tulane University in May.

UKTV created an almost life-sized statue of Sherlock portrayer Benedict Cumberbatch made entirely of chocolate. Meanwhile, a hidden camera allegedly caught passers-by at the statue's display at the Westfield Stratford shopping center who couldn't help themselves from taking a lick or two.

The tribute to National Poetry month continues at the 5-2 with a celebration of crime poetry. Check out the entire month's schedule here.

In the Q&A roundup, Declan Burke chats with RTE about his new spy thriller The Lost and the Blind; Renee Wright talks with The Telegraph about her highly-anticipated debut novel Girl on a Train, which some are calling "the next Gone Girl"; James O. Born discusses his new novel, which focuses on the work of police K-9 units, with Gerald So; and Chris Bond put Joe Nesbo in the hot seat in an interview ahead of his appearance at the Harrogate conference.

Media Murder for Monday

Here's the latest in news of crime dramas on stage and screen:

MOVIES

Jeff Bridges has signed to star in David Mackenzie’s Comancheria, potentially joining Chris Pine and Ben Foster, who are currently in talks to board the project. The story follows two brothers—one an ex-con and the other a divorced father of two—who go on a bank-robbing spree following a farm foreclosure that puts them on a collision course with a Texas Ranger (Bridges).  

Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are all circling a yet-to-be-titled dramatic film about the 1996 bombing of Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, in which Richard Jewell, a security guard, was falsely implicated as the primary suspect.

Filmmaker Ron Mann has produced a documentary on the films of director Robert Altman. Although Altman is best known perhaps for his movie MASH, he also was behind such crime dramas as Gosford Park and The Long Goodbye.

TELEVISION

Netflix has ordered a new original drama that is a mystery-themed series set in Long Island and billed as a "love letter to the '80s classics." The series centers around the disappearance of a boy in Montauk, Long Island, in 1980 and is said to have supernatural elements.

The third series of Endeavour, the Inspector Morse prequel, is currently in production at ITV. Shaun Evans will return as the young Inspector Endeavour Morse, who was last seen framed for a murder he did not commit. No date has been set for the premiere.

Law & Order: SVU alumni Dann Florek and Andre Braugher are returning to the NBC drama for one episode, which sees Ellis (Braugher), an attorney for Project Innocence, taking on the case of a man who is in jail for raping his daughter after she recants her testimony. Cragen (Florek), now retired, returns to help re-open the case and provide evidence that could change the outcome.

TNT announced a slate of ten shows this summer, including new episodes of returning shows Rizzoli & Isles, Major Crimes, Murder in the First, Legends, and the real-life investigation series Cold Justice. The new shows making their debuts include the 1960s-set police drama Public Morals, from writer, director, and star Edward Burns and exec producer Steven Spielberg, and Cold Justice: Sex Crimes, the first spinoff of TNT's Cold Justice.

FX renewed its spy series The Americans for a fourth season. The critically-acclaimed show stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as husband-and-wife KGB spies.

Barbara Walters is returning to Investigation Discovery for a six-part series in which she will reveal personal stories and never-before-seen footage from her coverage of crimes committed by Jean Harris, Jim Bakker, Mark David Chapman and others. ID also announced other new programs including Serial Thriller and Death By Gossip.

CBS set season finale dates for its various shows, including Scorpion, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, the NCIS franchises, CSI: Cyber, and Elementary.

THEATER

The touring company of Bullets Over Broadway announced the stops for their road schedule, including 25 cities in their first season. Bullets Over Broadway, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath for the 1994 film of the same name, centers on an aspiring playwright who finds out that his play is getting the Broadway treatment thanks to a wealthy gangster who has taken a sudden interest in producing.

The Route 66 Theatre Company announced its 2015-16 season that will include three Chicago premieres, including Cops and Friends of Cops by Ron Klier. The play features five men, three police officers, a bartender and a customer, who all end up in a bar on a night designated for off-duty cops and have to "wrestle with regret, loss, racism and their masculine identity in a constantly changing contemporary America."

Author R&R with Jon Land

Jon Land is the bestselling author of over 25 novels. He graduated from Brown University in 1979 Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum Laude and continues his association with Brown as an alumni advisor. Jon often bases his novels and scripts on extensive travel and research as well as a twenty-five year career in martial arts. He is an associate member of the US Special Forces and frequently volunteers in schools to help young people learn to enjoy the process of writing.

Land teamed up with Fabrizio Boccardi for the thriller The Seven Sins, featuring Michael Tiranno (a/k/a "The Tyrant"), who saved the city of Las Vegas from a terrorist attack. The sequel, Black Scorpion, is set five years later, where a new enemy has surfaced in Eastern Europe in the form of an all-powerful organization called Black Scorpion. Once a victim of human trafficking himself, the shadowy group’s crazed leader, Vladimir Dracu, has become the mastermind behind the scourge’s infestation on a global scale. And now he’s set his sights on Michael Tiranno for reasons birthed in a painful secret past that have scarred both men.

Land is hitting the blogosphere for a virtual tour this week in association with the publication of Black Scorpion, and had some interesting things to say about his research and writing process:


Did you have to do any special research to write this book?

Yes, a ton. It’s always that way with thrillers that involve as much cutting edge technology as this one does. But so much of it is speculative, based not on what exists now but will eventually, that I’m essentially forced to go back to school on subjects I had very little knowledge of to start out. And not just pertaining to the villain’s world-threatening plot either. I had to figure out how to construct Black Scorpion’s lair inside a mountain, needed to concoct a away for a commando team to access from beneath a manmade lake in the climax. It’s all very James Bond-like and, as with Bond, with every challenge comes up a wonderful opportunity to do something no one’s ever done before.

How do you approach writing a book like Black Scorpion?

It all starts with the hero, Michael Tiranno. I started Black Scorpion with the premise that in the five years since the events depicted in The Seven Sins, Michael hasn’t changed very much. He’s still pretty much the same man we left at the end of the first book, a tyrant consumed by his desire to expand his empire and holdings. The whole essence of Black Scorpion is watching him evolve into something entirely different - still a tyrant, yes, but a tyrant for good. A superhero without a mask or cape. We watch his view of his entire place in the world change, forced upon him by the shattering truths and tragedy he encounters along the way. And in that respect his quest changes from the pursuit of riches and power to selffulfillment and self-actualization.

So now, above everything else, Michael Tiranno’s character is defined by his obsession for standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Bullies aren’t confined to the schoolyard and he won’t tolerate them under any circumstances. He’s spent his life trying to find the security he lost that day his parents were murdered and once there he uses the power that comes with it to defend those who need him the most. My point is your hero defines the very nature of a book with the sprawl and ambition of Black Scorpion. The book will rise or fall based on how the audience responds to him and you have to approach a book like this with that in mind.

You have written a number of series; is this one of your favorite to write?

Frankly, no, that would be my Caitlin Strong Texas Ranger series. I’m not saying the books in that series are better than Black Scorpion because I think in many ways Black Scorpion is the most ambitious and best realized book in terms of vision I’ve ever written. I’m talking about the process. Black Scorpion is work for hire and I have an obligation to serve the needs of the Tyrant character’s creator, Fabrizio Boccardi. That robs this series, and me, of the spontaneity that defines me as a writer, since I don’t outline.

Writing with someone looking over your shoulder isn’t nearly as fun or gratifying. But, that said, the end result of both this book and its prequel, The Seven Sins, proves I’m capable of adapting. Fabrizio isn’t a writer or a storyteller and he doesn’t grasp all the intricacies of structure. But he has wonderful instincts that are right more often than not and form the perfect complement to my experience and talents. Look, Michael Tiranno is his baby. He turned him over to me to build but he could never be expected to let him go altogether. Ultimately, I think we work so well together because our passion is balanced by our willingness to compromise toward telling the best story we possibly can. It may drive me crazy at times, but the ends justify the means.

Check out Land and his books via his website or via Facebook or Twitter. And look for the feature film in active development based on the franchised character of The Tyrant, a blended adaptation of Black Scorpion and its predecessor, The Seven Sins, both of which have also been licensed to DC Comics for graphic novels publications worldwide.

Poetry is a Crime

April means National Poetry Month here in the States, and it also means it's time for the fifth annual Five-Two Crime Poem Blog Tour, hosted by Gerald So. I'm honored to take part again this year by focusing on some of the fine works showcased in the Five-Two's roster.

When I was first drawn to poetry as a young child, it was the fascination with the interplay of the words that lured me in. A turn of phrase here, a short passage there, nothing big in terms of space on the page, but that's all it takes to communicate a universe of ideas. Then, too, coming from a music background, I loved how poems are often musical in form, which is why so many nineteenth-century chanson and lieder composers based their songs on poems of the day.

So instead of focusing on just one poem from the Five-Two archives, I thought I'd point out some of the more lovely, musical, and poignant phrases from various poems to help illustrate why I love the form so much. Here's a case in point from R.A. Allen's poem "On Car Theft":

Truant, shoplifter, creature of the night,
your calling was low-slung and German.
Like a cheetah prowling the Kenyan plains
the road was your antelope to chase.

Or these lines from Tom Brzezina's "Lew Archer Writes a Poem":

The sun goes down
like a shot of cheap whiskey
and the whole city blacks out.
The moon is a toenail clipping.
And the stars drown in garish neon.

In both cases, the wildness and darker side of nature is used synonymously for the wild, dark side of the human subjects. This technique has probably been used as long as the first poet put quill (or charcoal) to paper or stone, but it's as effective now as then. Humans, the animals, the heavens, we're all born of the same violent universe that also feeds and nurtures us.

Then, there are more contemporaneous nuances in poems, like this from "Just Ice" by Thomas Pluck:

The ultimate in disrespect
Is a so-called man who leaves his son
A useless gun in pocket,
A heart with no justice, just ice.

And this from "Take a Bite Out of Crime" by Catherine Wald:

Admit it: you're starting
to savor the
whiff of danger
frisson of desire
crunch of crisp guilt
between your teeth.

Both of these poems hint of danger, guilt, abandonment, and betrayal. I love the play on words "no justice, just ice," and the visceral punch of the "crunch of crisp guilt between your teeth."

The concept of the air we breathe, the very substance required of all life as we know it, takes front stage in these lines from Peter Swanson in "The Survivor of a Slasher Flick in Middle Age":

A poacher with a bag of fallen birds.
She still can feel the whistle of his breath,
The swish of boning knife through gummy air.

As well as these lines from C.J. Edwards' "Nothing to See Here":

Gawkers and young kids skulk
to peek, and whisper behind
their hands to each other.
Sirens scream
and choked cries
clot the air.

You can practically feel the "gummy air" and "choked cries" that "clot the air." That's another of the aspects of poetry that I think appeal to all poetry fans - the way different words are paired together in unusual ways to create a new, more powerful image.

These are just some of the many powerful and beautiful ways that words become paintings on their own, with the ability to draw us in as deeply and as clearly as an image or sound. And that is why poet Paul Engle said "Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words."

For the entire schedule of the Five-Two's crime poetry lineup, check out this calendar link.

Mystery Melange

The International Thrill Writers announced the finalists for the 2015 Thriller Awards in various categories. Check out the nominated authors and categories on the official ITW site, and congratulations to them all!

The Strand Magazine Critics Awards announced Otto Penzler will receive The Strand’s Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to the crime genre. The publication also listed the nominated books for this year's Strand Book Awards (hat tip to Mystery Fanfare:

Best Novel:

• The Fever, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
• Jack of Spies, by David Downing (Soho Crime)
• The Secret Place, by Tana French (Viking)
• Fear Nothing, by Lisa Gardner (Dutton)
• Die Again, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)
• After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Best First Novel Nominees:

• Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)
• Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking)
• The Home Place, by Carrie La Seur (Morrow)
• Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow)
• Confessions, by Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder (Mulholland)
• The Good Girl, by Mary Kubica (Mira)

Congratulations also to the Derringer Short Story Award winners from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Joseph D'Agnese won for Best Flash Story; Cathi Stoler won for Best Short Story; Hilary Davidson won for Best Long Story; and Doug Allyn won for Best Novelette. James Powell was also named the winner of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement.

The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance is sponsoring the 2015 Maine Crime Wave on Saturday, April 11, at the Glickman Library at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The day-long conference will include panel discussions, theme-specific workshops, editor and agent critiques, and book-signings. For more information visit the MWPA website.

The New York Women's Bar Association Foundation is sponsoring "An Evening of Women Crime/Mystery Writers" on Tuesday, April 21. Those scheduled to take part include Linda Fairstein (moderator) and panelists Alafair Burke, Allison Leotta, and Sarah Weinman. For ticket information, check out the reservation site.

In you're in New York City on May 1, you can catch Otto Penzler in conversation with James Ellroy at 92nd Street Y.

Although the U.S. World Book Night organization folded last year (the U.K. events are still going strong), BookRiot has decided to continue in the spirit of the event, which was created to promote literacy. They're arranging several Book Meet-ups in East Coast cities on April 23, but you can also send books to Operation Breakthrough or even your own local literacy organizations.

William Morrow is set to publish Charlie Martz and Other Stories this June, a collection of 15 short stories by the late Elmore Leonard, 11 of which have never been published before.

Altus Press has announced the premiere of its new line of books, The Argosy Library series. The imprint will include popular pulp authors such as Lester Dent, Otis Adelbert Kline, W.C. Tuttle, and George F. Worts, writing in the genres of adventure, mystery, western, science fiction, fantasy, and crime stories.

The New Yorker profiled mystery author Josephine Tey's book The Daughter of Time and its influence in "convincing a generation" that Richard III wasn't as evil as portrayed in the history books. Meanwhile, the former king's recently-discovered remains, which had been found under a modern-day parking lot, were re-interred next to the altar of Leicester’s Anglican cathedral.

Lawrence Block, a legendary author figure in his own right, wrote an essay on why we keep going back to certain books and why books like Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon never go out of print.

ABC News reviewed the new Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, looking at the food pairings to Gone Girl, True Blood, and more.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "A Contemplation on Killing" by Ron Hayes, and a new story titled "Last Exit" by Chris Leek is up at Beat to a Pulp.

The Q&A roundup includes Megan Abbott, who took part in PEN America's weekly interview series; Duane Swierczynski got interrogated by The Mystery People; The Guardian hosted a webchat with Val McDermid; crime novelist Robert Glinski stopped by Omnimystery News about his debut novel, The Friendship of Criminals; and Graham Smith took Paul D. Brazill's Short, Sharp Interview challenge to talk about a new novel and short story collection.