Mystery Melange

The final Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards of the year were handed out last night, including the Goldsboro Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year, won by Michael Robotham for Life or Death. Karin Slaughter was awarded the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (for best thriller) for her novel, Cop Town, and the CWA John Creasey (new blood) Dagger was awarded to Smith Henderson for his novel Fourth Of July Creek.

Otto Penzler, President and publisher of MysteriousPress.com, announced a new contest for the Mysterious Press Award, to be given for the best e-book original mystery novel. The winning entry, which will receive a prize of $25,000 and guaranteed world-wide publication, will be announced at the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Goethe-Institut London and New Books in German are hosting a Krimi (crime fiction) evening on Tuesday November 10 titled "In the Library with the Lead Piping." The event will feature readings and a panel on German and British crime fiction by authors Mechtild Borrmann, Mario Giordano, Michael Ridpath and Louise Welsh. (HT to Mrs. Peabody Investigates)

The International Thriller Writers organization will once again offer an online "Thriller School" with seven weeks of instruction beginning March 14th, 2016. Each week, a bestselling author will teach an aspect of craft though a podcast, with written materials that include further reading and study suggestions, and an entire week of on-line Q&A with the registered students. Participating authors for the course will include David Corbett, Meg Gardiner, F. Paul Wilson, Hank Phillippi Ryan, James Scott Bell, Peter James, and Lee Child.

The International Crime Fiction group posted a look at the history of crime fiction in Greece, from its precursors, the “roman feuilleton” (or serial) that was very popular during the 19th century, through the hard-boiled writers of the 1950s and 60s, and up to the new generation of writers in the 1990s. The new retrospective is part of the AHRC's Visualising European Crime Fiction project.

Francis Wheen, writing for Vanity Fair, reported on the mystery that still surrounds crime novelist Josephine Tey, the author of The Daughter of Time. Tey showed her disdain for formulaic fiction by breaking the commandments of the Detection Club that was at the heart of the Golden Age of Fiction and "divided her life into discrete spheres so that no one could know her too intimately." The latter fact is one reason there are virtually no biographies about her, although one is due out later this fall.

The Weekly Standard's Benjamin Welton discussed "A Brief History of Stationary Sleuthing," i.e., the particularly American invention of the detective who hates to leave the house, a la C. Auguste Dupin and Nero Wolfe.

The True Crime blog took a look at "The Story of the 1930s 'Impossible Murder' That Utterly Fascinated Raymond Chandler." Chandler wasn't alone - the murder of Julia Wallace in Liverpool in 1931 led Dorothy Sayers tor write a long article on the topic, and at least five full length books have dealt with the "unbeatable" case.

Bustle compiled a list of "8 True Crime Books To Read With The Lights On."

BJ Bourg's Righting Crime Fiction is adding Frank Zafiro to its staff. Frank is a retired police captain and a full time writer best known for his River City crime novels. Righting Crime Fiction aims to help authors correct all the inaccuracies that crop up in crime fiction works and write more realistic law enforcement characters and techniques.

All Due Respect Publishing, one of the last remaining paying markets, has closed the doors of its quarterly magazine. Editor Chris Rhatigan announced the news and noted that the company will continue to publish crime novels, novellas, and short story collections.(HT to Sandra Seamans.)

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Sudden Fear" by Kenneth Pobo.

In the Q&A roundup, Karin Slaughter spoke with The Star Telegram about her latest standalone thriller, Pretty Girls; and Ann Summerville stopped by Omnimystery News to talk about her third Pecan Valley mystery, Night and Day.
 

Buy a Banned Book!

This is Banned Books Week in the U.S., although the problem of censorship remains a problem throughout the world. Banned Book Week has hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country drawing attention to the problem by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. According to the American Library Association, more than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982, plus there were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, with many more going unreported.

How can you help? For one, buy a banned book! The official BBW website has a list of the most-challenged titles of 2014. For a list of the events being held in your area, check this link, organized by state. There are also online events you can participate in, and various resources for more ways you can help in an ongoing fashion and get more information.

As the character of Stephen Hopkins, the representative from Rhode Island to the Continental Congress, declared in the movie 1776, "I've never seen, heard, nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yes, I'm for debating anything!"

Media Murder for Monday

Here's the latest roundup of crime drama news on screen and on the air:

MOVIES

20th Century Fox has acquired the feature rights to Agatha Christie’s classic mystery And Then There Were None and hired The Imitation Game's Morten Tyldum to direct. The novel follows ten strangers invited for a weekend on Soldier Island only to realize they were brought there under false pretenses and are being bumped off one by one for crimes they committed. The Wrap also had some fun speculating on which actors should be hired for the various roles.

Jared Leto and Chris Evans are in talks to play the lead male roles in the film adaptation of the novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Evans will play the ex-husband of the couple, and Leto will play a neighbor, whose wife has gone missing after it's discovered that she was having an affair.

The Jack Reacher sequel starring Tom Cruise in the title role has found its villain, according to Tracking Board, which reported that Patrick Heusinger has now joined the cast as the bad guy.

Adrian Grenier will co-star with Bruce Willis, Christopher Meloni, and Dave Bautista in Marauders, a Steven C. Miller-directed action thriller. The film focuses on an FBI agent, on the trail of bank robbers who give the stolen loot to charity, who discovers the trail of secrets that a bank’s owner has protected.

Matt Damon teased some plot points for the next Bourne film, hinting that the fifth installment in the franchise will unravel previously unanswered questions. “[Bourne] has his memory back, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything. It’s 12 years since Jason Bourne has been on the grid. So we have to answer the questions, Where’s he been? What’s he doing? What gets him going again? So once we solved all that, then we had a movie.”

The thriller MI-5, based on the hit UK series export, will be getting a theatrical release in North America this December. Starring Game of Thrones' Kit Harington and MI-5 vet Peter Firth, the project tracks the hunt for an escaped terrorist, leading MI-5 agent Will Holloway (Harington) to team up with his former mentor, disgraced MI-5 Intelligence Chief Harry Pearce (Firth), to catch the terrorist before he commits a devastating attack in London.

Liam Neeson will continue his string of suspense-thriller films with his next movie, The Commuter, scheduled to begin filming in New York next spring. Written by Byron Willinger and Phil de Blasi, the project centers on a business executive (Neeson) on his daily commute home who unwittingly gets involved in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only him but people close to him.

Maggie Gyllenhaal has signed on to The Deuce, David Simon's upcoming HBO drama about the rise of the porn industry in New York City in the 1970s and '80s. She'll play Eileen Merrell, aka "Candy," a Times Square prostitute. Gyllenhaal is also producing along with James Franco, who is starring as twin porn kingpins.

Fox Searchlight is moving forward with the true story drama The Man Who Got American High, based on an article in Narratively by Jeff Maysh. The project is based on the true story of Alfred Dellentash Jr., a pilot and music producer who flew acts like the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead in lavish private jets but was also one of the key drug smugglers in Pablo Escobar’s empire.

As the Double O Section blog reported, lucky Londoners will be able to enjoy the event of a lifetime next month when Dame Diana Rigg does an on-stage Q&A following a screening of the classic Avengers episode The House That Jack Built, one of a pair of classic Emma Peel episodes screening on October 25 at BFI Southbank.

TELEVISION

Author Tom Clancy's CIA hero Jack Ryan has been the the subject of a movie franchise, and now he's heading to the small screen. Former Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and writer Graham Roland are spearheading the project, which won't be a direct adaptation of the novels but rather a "new contemporary take on the character in his prime as a CIA analyst/operative, using the novels as source material."

The latest TV reboot appears to be The A-Team, as 20th Century Fox Television teams up with Fast & Furious writer-producer Chris Morgan to create a contemporary take on the 1980s series. Sleepy Hollow executive producer Albert Kim has been hired to pen the script and original The A-Team creator Stephen J. Cannell's TV-director daughter, Tawnia McKiernan, is also attached to the project. Like the original (and the movie adaptation), the show will revolve around a diverse team of American special-forces operatives, although the new team would include both male and female members.

TNT has given a pilot green light to Robbers, a project based on Christopher Cook’s 2000 debut novel. Described as "being in the literary-noir tradition of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men, Robbers tells the story of a cop, two running buddies on a crime spree across Texas, and the girl who becomes the complication in a strange love triangle.

Televisa USA is producing an English-language version of the popular Spanish series, Gran Hotel, an English-language adaptation of the popular Spanish series. The setting for the mystery drama is being shifted from 1905 Spain to pre-Castro Havana, with a focus on a man who's led on a dangerous journey that takes him to the opulent Gran Hotel, a frequent getaway for the rich, powerful, famous and infamous, in the search for his missing sister.

BBC Director-General Tony Hall and BBC One chief Charlotte Moore ordered a raft of new dramas including Rush Of Blood, adapted from the Mark Billingham novel by Matt Charman (also behind Steven Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies). The three-part dram
a focuses on three couples who return from a holiday in Florida and realize one of them must have been responsible for a murder.

Another of the BBC's upcoming slate includes The Cormoran Strike Mysteries based on Robert Galbraith’s (aka JK Rowling’s) best-selling novels The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, and the yet-to-be-published third novel in the series, Career of Evil. The contemporary series focuses on war veteran turned private detective, Strike as he investigates crimes with his female assistant Robin.

Law & Order: SVU is adding Broadway actor Andy Karl as Sgt. Mike Dodds, the son of Deputy Chief William Dodds (guest star Peter Gallagher). He will serve as No. 2 to acting commander Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).

Tim Matheson and Camila Banus have landed roles in the FX drama pilot Snowfall, directed by John Singleton. The project is set in the early 1980s at the beginning of a crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles and focuses on three main characters: ambitious dealer Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), ex-Mexican wrestler and now gangster Gustavo Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and prodigal son Logan Miller (Billy Magnussen). Matheson will play Logan’s father, while Banus will play the daughter of a very successful drug dealer.

The Crime Fiction Ireland blog has a roundup of the crime dramas, both new and returning, on BBC One this fall.

BBC One released the first glimpse of Hugh Laurie as Establishment arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Tom Hiddleston as undercover man Jonathan Pine, Elizabeth Debicki as dream girl Jed, and Olivia Colman as drug enforcement agent Burr in the upcoming miniseries The Night Manager, based on a novel by John le Carré. AMC will broadcast the show at some point in 2016.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

NPR's Diane Rehm welcomed Martin Walker to her show to discuss The Patriarch, the latest in his France-set series featuring Bruno, Chief of Police.

J.A. Jance spoke with Seattle's public radio station KUOW about her 50+ novels and how she became a writer.

In the latest Crime and Science Radio podcast, author Hank Phillippi Ryan turned the tables on host Dr. D.P. Lyle, quizzing him about  thriller series, the Royal Pains media tie-in novels, and his consulting work with novelists and the writers of popular television shows.

A new Speaking of Mysteries podcast featured Rhys Bowen discussing how the work of Tony Hillerman inspired her to write the Constable Evan Evans series.

Mystery Melange

The Bouchercon Mystery Convention announced that the recipients of the 2015 David S. Thompson Award are Bill and Toby Gottfried. The award is bestowed on writers, publishers, readers, editors, and fans to recognize extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community. Bill and Toby have attended almost every Bouchercon since 1985 and also participated on several Bouchercon committees as well as chairing two Left Coast Crime Conventions. (HT to Mystery Fanfare.)

Criminal Element is sponsoring a Murder on the Menu Sweepstakes to win fourteen mysteries from Janet Evanovich, M.C. Beaton, Leslie Budewitz, and more.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Patricia Highsmith's death and the 40th anniversary of Per Wahlöö's death, the latest issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection profiles the work of Highsmith, plus reveals Wahlöö's plans for another Martin Beck novel near the end of his life.

The first Imagine Crime Writing Award will be presented to Irish novelist John Banville during this year’s Imagine Arts Festival in Waterford, which runs from from October 15th to 25th. The Irish city has strong family ties to Raymond Chandler and is launching the new award in recognition of Irish writers who have made an outstanding contribution to crime fiction.

There's still time to apply for the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers, offered by the Malice Domestic Conference. The grant includes a $2,500 award plus a comprehensive registration for the upcoming convention and two nights’ lodging at the convention hotel. Unpublished writers with a traditional mystery novel they're working on can send a letter of application, short bio, plot synopsis of no more than 300 words an three consecutive chapters of the work-in-progress by November 1. For more information check out the official grants webpage.

Otto Penzler, editor and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, made a list of "5 Most Under Appreciated Crime Writers."

RIP this week to author Jackie Collins, who died at the age of 77 after a battle with breast cancer. Although best known for her steamy novels about the rich and famous, she also branched out into writing crime fiction, charting the lives of the Santangelo mafia family.

If you're a member of the Oyster ebook subscription service, the company announced the news that the service is shutting down. However, since several of the employees were hired by Google, the rumor mill has it Google Play will soon be starting up a similar service on its own.

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 is "Trophy Hunting" by Robert Cooperman.

In the Q&A roundup, Chris F. Holm talked with The Mystery People about his new novel The Killing Kind, which introduces Michael Hendricks, a hitman who kills other hitmen at the behest of the intended victim; Kalyan Lahiri takes Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Short Interview Challenge"; D.H. Montgomery joined Omnimystery News to discuss his new mystery and the first in a new series, Karma Dead Ahead; HuffPo interrogated Lawrence Block about his longevity in the business and his latest book, The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes; and the Mystery People grilled author Bill Crider about his  series with Clearview Sheriff Dan Rhodes.

Bringing Hope to Children

Authors and publishers are contributing to campaigns to help the Syrian refugees, with a special focus on the children. Young adult authors Patrick Ness, Suzanne Collins and Kenneth Oppel (and many more) in the UK were joined by publishers including HarperCollins, Egmont, and Hachette UK in raising funds for Save the Children. They recently passed the $1 million mark, but are still open to donations via the official fundraising website (donations are accepted in UK pounds, but credit card companies do automatic conversions).

In Canada, children's authors and illustrators, spearheaded by Robin Stevenson and Sarah Harvey, started a campaign for Doctors Without Borders to assist with the children of refugees. In less than two weeks, they reached their goal of raising $20,000, but they are still taking contributions through October 12. Although they are focusing their outreach on the Canadian children's literature community, they stress that anyone is welcome to donate. For more information, check out their site at canadahelps.org.

In the U.S., author Patrick Rothfuss operates the charity Worldbuilders and has set up a campaign for refugees there. You'll have to hurry on that one, since it's only open to donations through tomorrow. Funds will be distributed to Mercy Corps to provide food, clothing, clean water, medical care, and education for children of refugees.

Also in the UK, Benedict Cumberbatch (of the BBC's Sherlock) recorded the intro for a charity single to raise funds for refugees fleeing Syria and other war zones. The single is available for download now from iTunes, and a 7-inch vinyl version will be released September 28 in the United Kingdom, with a previously unreleased B-side. To contribute, you can purchase and download the single, which is a re-release of the Crowded House tune "Help is Coming."

Media Murder for Monday

Top o'the week, and it's time for the latest roundup of crime drama news:

MOVIES

Adrien Brody is set to star in thriller Expiration, playing a former CIA agent gone rogue who finds himself "poisoned in a hospital bed attempting to perform one last job. With only one day left to live, he must find out who his murderer is and see the woman he loves one last time."

Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell will be joining the CHiPs movie from Warner Bros., which is also being directed by Bell's husband, Dax Shepard. Based on the 1990s TV series that followed two California Highway Patrol officers, the big-screen adaptation has Shepard and Michael Pena starring as the cops, with Adam Brody, Rosa Salazar, and Vincent D’Onofrio rounding out the cast.

Sixteen-year-old actress and Heroes Reborn star Danika Yarosh is closing in on a deal to play a lead role in Jack Reacher 2, which will star Tom Cruise and be directed by Ed Zwick (The Last Samurai).

Ato Essandoh (of the BBC's Copper) has joined the cast of the as-yet-untitled next installment of The Bourne Identity at Universal Pictures, in a role being kept under wraps. He joins Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Julia Stiles in the cast.

TELEVISION

Leonardo DiCaprio is developing a mafia drama for Showtime based on a script Ray Donovan scribe Brett Johnson. Accoding to Hollywood Reporter, the untitled drama "traces a decade-long relationship between an unstable mafia captain and a rogue federal agent, each violating the strict codes of their respective organizations. Set in 1980s Brooklyn, the potential series examines the corrosive power the Wall Street era had on both the mafia and the FBI."

Jason Statham is set to star in drama series Viva La Madness, based on the novel by J.J. Connolly. Statham will play a man stranded in the Caribbean itching for the criminal life he left behind - even though he’s still a wanted man back home - and soon joins forces with two charismatic London gangsters.

Mark Gordon, Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence and Lawrence’s longtime producing partner Erwin Stoff, are teaming up for two projects, including an adaptation of the just-released mystery novel House Of Thieves by Charles Belfoure. Set in 1886 New York, House of Thieves centers on a respectable architect who has to use his knowledge of high society mansions and museums to craft a robbery to pay back his son's gambling debts.

NBC has put in development a new take on the 1979 ABC mystery Hart to Hart, which starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as a husband-and-wife sleuthing duo. The reboot  hails from producer Carol Mendelsohn and Sony TV and will center on a gay couple. The new Hart To Hart is described as "a modern and sexy retelling of the classic series that focuses on by-the-book attorney Jonathan Hart and free-spirited investigator Dan Hartman, who must balance the two sides of their life: action-packed crime-solving in the midst of newly found domesticity."

Meanwhile, Sony is aiming to reboot another 1970s series, Charlie’s Angels, with Elizabeth Banks in talks to produce and direct. The reboot would be the fourth incarnation of the franchise, which began with the original series starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith as a trio of female police officers whose careers were marginalized by institutional sexism. Hired by a reclusive millionaire, Charlie, only ever seen as a voice on the other end of a phone, the three work as private investigators, often with the assistance of Charlie’s assistant Bosley.

Spanish actor Juan Diego Botto (Bordertown) has snagged the male lead opposite Michelle Dockery in the TNT drama pilot Good Behavior, which is based on the Letty Dobesh books by Wayward Pines author Blake Crouch. Good Behavior tells the story of Letty (Dockery), a thief and a con artist whose life is always one wrong turn, one bad decision from implosion — which is exactly how she likes it. Botto will take on the role of Javier, the magnetic contract killer who crosses paths with Letty when she overhears his plans to kill a client’s wife and forms "a dangerous, seductive working arrangement" with Letty.

Showtime’s sequel to the 1990s series Twin Peaks has added Amanda Seyfried in "a major role," although details on her character are being kept under wraps.

New cast members were announced for Barry Levinson's The Wizard of Lies, the HBO Films project based on jailed con man Bernie Madoff. Nathan Darrow (House of Cards), Kathrine Narducci (Power), Steve Coulter (The Hunger Games) and Kristen Connolly (Zoo) join the cast led by Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. 

FX released the first teaser trailer for American Crime Story, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson.

In a more unusual move, ABC released the first eight minutes of the new FBI-themed drama series, Quantico.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

NPR's Diane Rehm welcomed David Lagercrantz, author of The Girl in the Spider's Web, the continuation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.

In the latest Crime Cafe podcast, host Debbi Mack interviewed author A.J. Sidransky about the inspiration for his crime fiction novels and other writing.

The two most recent Speaking of Mysteries podcasts featured Matthew Guinn talking about his new novel, The Scribe, and also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse discussing Sherlock Holmes and their new book fe
aturing Mycroft Holmes.

The New Zealand Book Council's Booknotes podcast featured crime author Michael Robotham talking about why he chose to write crime novels, why he thinks crime fiction is so phenomenally successful, and more.

THEATER

The critically-acclaimed 2013 stage production Sherlock Holmes, based on the Conan Doyle stories as adapted by playwright Greg Kramer, is going on tour. Director Andrew Shaver is taking the production first to the The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in L.A. for six "tour preview" performances October 15-18, and then it will move on to Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Mystery Melange

The Ghosts of Altona by Craig Russell won the fourth annual Scottish Crime Book of the Year, as announced this past weekend at the Bloody Scotland conference. (HT to Craig Sisterson.)

The celebrations in honor of the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth continue around the world and the Web. Three original recordings of plays by Agatha Christie, thought lost for 50 years, have been rediscovered in the BBC Archives and will be published on CD and via digital download as "The Lost Plays." They include Butter in a Lordly Dish, Murder in the Mews, and Personal Call and were were first broadcast between 1948 and 1960.

The 23rd METU British Novelists Conference is to be center on "Agatha Christie and Her Work.” The two-day conference will take place at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, on April 5-6, 2016. Event organizers are inviting proposals for 20-minute presentations on any aspect of Agatha Christie’s life and work. (HT to Shots Magazine.)

Deutche Welle had an online feature titled "The world's best detectives: 125 years of Agatha Christie; and The Irish Times asked the question "Agatha Christie: genius or hack?", enlisting crime writers John Banville, Sinead Crowley, Liz Nugent, Sophie Hannah, Val McDermid, Christie scholar John Curran and many more crime writers to pass judgment and pick their favorites.

The first issue of Crime Scene Magazine has a preview of the Sherlock Christmas special, secrets from Series 4, and an exploration of the world of Sherlock Holmes; Dexter creator Jeff Lindsay tells us how it feels to create a monster, while legendary author James Ellroy talks exclusively about LA noir and his life in crime; there's a look at the 25 greatest TV detectives of all time (as voted for by readers); an exploration of Nordic Noir; and an article written exclusively for Crime Scene by Steven Moffat. Plus, there's the latest news and previews of TV shows and DVD releases as well a reviews of new book releases. Crime Fiction Lover has another look and a review.

In early October, Dean Street Press will reissue four novels by the long-lost queen of crime, Annie Haynes. She was the only female crime novelist published in the twenties by the Bodley Head, except for one other, Agatha Christie. Her work has been out of print for more than eighty years, and has grown increasingly rare. Dean Street will eventually re-publish all 12 of her mysteries, beginning with the four featuring the engaging Inspector Stoddart of Scotland Yard.

Edgar Award-winning author Megan Abbott explained "Why Women Love to Read About Crime" in an essay for New York Magazine. She posits that something approaching an answer "lies not in the present, but in the past: the eternals of the genre that reveal its enduring appeal," as seen in the new two-volume set Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels From the 1940s & 50s edited by Sarah Weinman.

Steven Gore penned a lengthy review and essay focusing on Nathan Ward’s new biography, The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett, which includes commentary on Ward's claims about Hammett's many personal failings that may be unknown to many readers and fans - claims Gore answers by saying he finds much of what has been written about Hammett and Sam Spade to be histrionic and overblown. Regarding Spade, Gore concludes that Hammett chose to create a character who has no inner life because he was creating "a character for his era, at a time, typified by World War I, when reason had failed and thinking seemed impotent."

Writing for The New Yorker, Jon Michaud took a look at the forgotten crime novels of Herbert Asbury,  The Devil of Pei-Ling and The Tick of the Clock.

Minnesota Public Radio online wondered, "Do real spies write the best spy novels?"

Some good news for bookstores and book lovers: bookstore sales had one of there best monthly performances in years in July when sales rose 5.9% over July 2014.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Post-Frame-Up Friction" by David S. Pointer.

In the Q&A roundup this week, Matt "M.J." Arlidge was the latest 9MM Interview guest at Kiwi Crime, taking about his debut Eeny Meeny and other topics; Brad Parks spoke with The Daily Press about his Carter Ross mystery series; Sherry Knowlton stopped by Omnimystery News to discuss her second mystery to feature attorney Alexa Williams; the Mystery People snagged Reed Farrel Coleman to talk about his second outing writing Robert Parker’s character Jesse Stone in The Devil Wins; Aidan Thorn is the latest subject of Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview"; and Val McDermid joins the Crime Fiction Lover blog to discuss her new book Splinter the Silence, the ninth in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series.

Media Murder for Monday

Here's some of the latest crime drama news from stage and screen:

MOVIES

Michael Fassbender is in talks to star as maverick Norwegian cop Harry Hole in the adaptation of Jo Nesbø's thriller The Snowman. The story centers on Hole's investigation of what appears to be Norway’s first serial killer, a murderer who always leaves a snowman near the scene of his crime. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s Tomas Alfredson was already announced as the director, and Martin Scorsese will serve as executive producer.

Jennifer Lawrence may be reuniting with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence for 20th Century Fox’s spy thriller Red Sparrow, based on the novel by Jason Matthews. The story centers around a Russian spy and a CIA agent assigned to compromise the other, only to fall into a duel of wills, skills, and forbidden romance. Lawrence would take on the role of the Russian spy, Dominika Egorova, a role for which Rooney Mara was once being considered.

Bruce Willis, Christopher Meloni and Dave Bautista are set to star in Marauders, a Steven C. Miller-directed action thriller centered around an FBI agent who is on the trail of bank robbers who give the stolen loot to charity.

The thriller Hounds of Love is set to start shooting in Western Australia early next year. The project is from writer/director Ben Young and producer Melissa Kelly and is drawn from a real-life case about a teenager's psychological battle to win her freedom after being abducted by a serial killer couple.

The first on-set photo was released from the new untitled Bourne 5 movie that will see the return of Matt Damon returning to the titular role.

If you're a fan of films featuring courtroom theatrics and themes, check out Sergio Angelini's pick of his "Top 25 Courtroom Movies."

The Taste of Cinema blog also chose a list of the "10 Best Movies Written by, Adapted From, or Inspired by Raymond Chandler."

TELEVISION

BBC Two has optioned British author China Miéville‘s fantasy thriller novel, The City & the City, to be developed into a four-part series adapted by screenwriter Tony Grisoni. The story follows Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad in the European city-state of Beszel as he investigates a politically-charged murder.

Hank Azaria has been cast in a lead role opposite Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Alessandro Nivola in the Barry Levinson-directed Wizard Of Lies, the HBO movie about jailed financier Bernie Madoff. Azaria will play Frank Dipascali, Madoff’s right-hand man in the Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions.

Former 24 star Dennis Haysbert has joined the six-part BBC One political thriller Undercover, currently filming in Louisiana and the UK. Haysbert plays a man who has been on death row for 20 years, falsely imprisoned for murder

NCIS: New Orleans is recruiting Sniper star Chad Michael Collins for a recurring role on the procedural’s second season, playing a Navy fighter pilot.

Glee’s Jacob Artist has joined ABC’s new series Quantico, which premieres September 27, with a multi-episode arc playing an FBI trainee.

The Blacklist's executive producer John Eisendrath revealed that the show has plans to serialize the story a little more than usual when it returns for Season 3.

Rowan Atkinson has begun filming the ITV adaptation of Georges Simenon's novels featuring French fictional detective Jules Maigret. Titled Maigret Sets A Trap, the drama is one of two standalone movies featuring the iconic literary detective.

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

Crime writer Mark Billingham and author Michael Carlson are to host a new podcast series for Sphere titled the Crime Vault Live podcast. The first program included a round up and discussion of the summer's crime literature festivals, an interview with Martyn Waites, reviews of new releases, and a round up of recent crime fiction in TV and film.

Hallie Ephron was Nancie Clare’s latest guest on the podcast Speaking of Mysteries, stopping by to chat about her new book Night Night, Sleep Tight.

Crime and Science Radio returned from its August hiatus with an interview of Jan Burke by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

THEATER

The Melbourne Theatre company announced the schedule for the upcoming 2015-2016 season, including a new adaptation by Tom Holloway Of Hitchcock's 1944 noir film Double Indemnity. Holloway plans on incorporating some of the movie script by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, but will also reach back to James M Cain's original novel for inspiration.

Mystery Melange

Sara Paretsky has been named the fourth recipient of the Paul Engle Prize, presented by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization. The award is handed out to "a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts."

Stephen King is among the honorees who will receive National Medal of Arts awards presented by President Obama. The medal is the highest award for artists given by the U.S. government and is given to those who are “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.”

LIMCon Chicago and the Chicago Writers Association are sponsoring a discussion about great writing in the mystery genre. Don Evans will moderate a panel of author that includes Michael Harvey, Lori Rader-Day, and Libby Fischer Hellman on October 4 at 57th Street Books.

Writing for The Guardian, Val McDermid disagreed with the recent reader poll that chose And Then There Were None as Agatha Christie's best novel. She picks her own choice and notes that it was the book that made her a crime writer.

The Guardian's Kathryn Harkup also wrote about Agatha Christie, specifically how her expertise with poisons often goes unnoticed, experiences gleaned in part from her work as a nurse in a hospital pharmacy in Torquay during the First World War.

The New Yorker also took on the subject or Agatha Christie and her poisons, via their profile of the new book A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup.

Whether you're a James Bond fan or are just getting into the canon, Mint on Sunday's Sandipan Deb takes an in-depth look at the iconic spy hero as he is written in the books by Ian Fleming. The essay notes that the character of Bond has little depth on screen as compared to the books and also points out where the books and movies diverge.

Meanwhile, if you think you are already a James Bond expert, see if you can spot which lines are from classic James Bond adventures by Ian Fleming, and which are from Horowitz’s new 007 novel, Trigger Mortis.

Paul Bishop interviewed Charles Ardai, the driving force behind Hard Case Crime Books, about the imprint and its close relationship with award-winning author Lawrence Block.

Self-published books are evolving into a more mainstream force over time and more and more being found in indie bookstores and available via Ingram and other distributors. The most recent sign of this sea change is the first such book to be sold in Walmart stores.

A new eReader from Amazon may help some folks transition to reading at least some of their books in digital form; the company unveiled plans for a $50 Kindle six-inch device, which will make it the cheapest reader on the market (although there will be ads).

Brian Lindenmuth posted a flash-fiction challenge via the blog Do Some Damage: write a story in 1,000 words or fewer using as many book titles as possible while still writing a story that actually makes sense. (Hat tip to Sandra Seamans.)

Editor Brandon ("B.J.") Bourg announced the lineup for the Fall issue of the quarterly Flash Bang Mysteries, with eight new flash fiction crime stories from some top-notch authors.

The new edition of Mystery Readers Journal is the second of two issues devoted to "Culinary Crime." There are close to three dozen articles, essays, and columns on the tantalizing subject, including three sample tastes for free online.

The seventh issue of All Due Respect includes "More kick ass crime fiction than you can handle from Ray Zacek, Joe L. Murr, Math Bird, Matthew J. Hockey, Brian Haycock, and Frank Byrns. Plus interviews with Patti Abbott and Kjetil Hestvedt, reviews, and a sneak peek at Eric Beetner’s upcoming novella, Nine Toes in the Grave."

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "True Romance" by Johnny Longfellow, and the latest story at Beat to a Pulp is "The Best of Friends" by Les Edgerton.

In the Q&A roundup, Linwood Barclay chatted with The Bolton News about his new book Broken Promise; Kittling: Books welcomed Lea Wait to discuss her writing and her Mainely Needlepoint series; Nick Wilgus took Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" challenge about his fourth Father Ananda mystery, The Curious Corpse; the latest 9MM Interview at Kiwi Crime featured Matt Bendoris; Omnimystery News talked with Mark Stevens about his fourth mystery to feature Colorado hunting guide Allison Coil; and Paul Bishop grilled Lawrence Block about how he's stayed on the cutting edge of publishing during his long and illustrious career as well as how his fiction has (or hasn't) mirrored his life.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Scott Eastwood, the 29-year-old son of actor Clint Eastwood, is getting his own crime action drama as he takes the lead in Overdrive. The project will be produced by Taken director Pierre Morel and directed by Antonio Negret (who helmed the Jim Caviezel-starring Transit). Eastwood will play one of two brother car thieves who run afoul of a local crime boss in the south of France.

The Bourne sequel restart with Matt Damon has already found its villain in acclaimed French actor Vincent Cassel. He'll reportedly play a high-level assassin tracking the title hero. Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, and Julia Stile are also on board for the project scheduled for release in summer of 2016.

Sienna Miller was originally hired to play Catherine Greig, a girlfriend of Johnny Depp‘s character Whitey Bulger, in the upcoming biopic Black Mass. However, her scenes ended up being cut from the final project due to "narrative choices" by the film’s director Scott Cooper.

Jason Momoa (Aquaman) is set to star in the action thriller Braven, directed by Lin Oeding. The project is based on an original story by Mike Nilon about a humble logger living along the U.S./Canada border who is confronted by a group of deadly drug runners in his secluded cabin and must do everything in his power to protect his family.

Although Paramount initially turned down a sequel to Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher, a film based on the Lee Child novels and character, overseas box office grosses prompted the studio to change their minds. The as-yet-untitled Jack Reacher 2 is now scheduled to hit  theaters October 21, 2016

A trailer was released for The River, a new thriller from first time feature director Jamie M. Dagg. The film follows an American volunteer doctor in Laos (played by Rossif Sutherland) who intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When he accidentally kills her assailant, he flees and finds himself wanted not only for the murder of an Australian Senator’s son, but also for the rape of the very woman he saved.

TELEVISION

Bryan Cranston‘s new show Sneaky Pete has landed a series order from Amazon. The show revolves around a con-man (Giovanni Ribisi) who assumes the identity of his prison cellmate, and cons his way into a family bail bond business. Cranston will guest star as serve as executive producer.

As soon as it hit the newspapers, the true story of a New Jersey family forced to abandon their new home over chilling letters from a stalker stirred interest in Hollywood. Now, NBC has bought rights to the story for a project titled The Watcher from former Homeland executive producer Alex Cary and producer Aaron Kaplan (Secrets & Lies, The Mysteries Of Laura) and Universal TV.

Although the Pablo Escobar-centric drug war drama Narcos on Netflix just became available last Friday, Netflix has already ordered a Season 2. Narcos follows the rise to fame of the infamous Escobar (played by Wagner Moura) through the eyes of the DEA agents (Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal) ceaselessly trying to take him down.  

The Showtime drama Homeland is welcoming British actor Max Beesley (from Suits) for one episode to play Mike Brown, an ex-Royal Marine turned private military contractor.
 
Looking for a complete Fall TV premiere listing? Deadline has the list for you here. And if you want a little more inside scoop on some of the firings, recastings and showrunner swaps, the Hollywood Reporter has you covered.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Suspense Radio's latest shows welcomed three authors - Rob Dearden, Chevy Stevens and Meagan Beaumont - on one podcast and author Dave Stanton on the other.

The most recent Crime Cafe from Debbi Mack featured Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series and host of Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine blog.

THEATER

Following a successful Kickstarter project, investigative journalist Hillel Levin's play Assassination Theater is playing at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago with a run through November 8. The play by Levin, whose two books on organized crime are both in development to become films, outlines the ways in which the city's mob was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Mystery Melange

This year's Bouchercon, "Murder Under the Oaks," announced the full schedule for the upcoming conference, which runs October 8-11 in Raleigh, North Carolina. For the complete listing and the authors and panels, hop on over to the official website.

The Library of Congress also announced its annual Bookfest lineup this year, which includes several bestselling mystery authors, including David Ignatius, Jane Lindskold, Walter Mosley, Marlon James, Laura Lippman, David Weber, Jeffery Deaver, Dan Wells, and David Baldacci. You can check out all the various featured authors and schedule via this Bookfest page.

Sisters in Crime Australia announced the winners of its 2015 Davitt Awards given for the best crime fiction by Australian women writers: Best Adult Novel went to Sulari Gentill, A Murder Unmentioned; Best Debut Book - Candice Fox, Hades; Best Young Adult Novel - Pamela Rushby, The Ratcatcher’s Daughter; Best Children’s Novel - Lollie Barr, The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog Blindfold; Best Non Fiction Book - Julie Szego, The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama.

The new issue of Thuglit has eight new gritty crime stories available for the Kindle. You'll find new fiction from Don LaPlant, Eryk Pruitt, J. David Jaggers, Mike Miner, Thomas Pluck, Nikki Dolson, Brandon Patterson, and Adam Howe.

There are two new mystery magazines worth keeping your eye on:  the first was profiled on the Sleuth Sayers blog, where Publisher Diane Walton and Editor Constantine Kaoukakis talked about their new venture, Sleuth Magazine; and Kevin Tipple made note of word he'd received about the publication Mystery Weekly Magazine. In both cases, the publications plan on featuring new original crime stories via ebook or online digital avenues, at least initially. Although Sleuth's survival depends upon the success of its first issue, Mystery Weekly is currently accepting submissions for upcoming issues.

Former head of MI5 turned author Stella Rimington told the Edinburgh international book festival that after retiring from her job, she set herself a new mission – to “rescue spy stories from the blokes.”

The Guardian posted some of the photos from the new Agatha Christie exhibition that show the queen of crime as roller-skater and surfer. The previously-unseen Christie photographs are going on display as part of an exhibition marking the 125th anniversary of her birth at Bankside Gallery, London from August 26 - September 6 and at Torre Abbey in Torquay from September - October 18 as part of the International Agatha Christie festival.

Working on your current mystery novel and struggling with getting facts about weapons right? Benjamin Sobieck has a few tips for authors from his book, The Writer’s Guide to Weapons: A Practical Reference for Using Firearms and Knives in Fiction.

Writing for Mystery Scene Magazine, Gary Lovisi profiled the Dell Map Backs of the 1940s and 1950s, which showcased illustrations by fine artists such as Gerald Gregg, Bill George, Robert Stanley, with interior extras such as the inclusion of a "Cast of Characters," and the beautifully rendered scene-of-the-crime representations on the back of the books. As he noted in the article, "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore."

The annual Writers Police Academy just wrapped up, which also included the announcement of this year's winner of the Golden Donut Award handed out to the best micro-fiction story. Conference organizer Lee Lofland has the winner and runners-up on his blog.

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy Book Riot's Literary Tourism report featuring some of the more notable of the 200 Sherlock sites in London and other cities in Europe.

In the Q&A roundup this week, Sue Grafton chatted with the Huffington Post about the latest installment in her Kinsey Milhone series, X; Omnimystery News welcomed Patricia Skalka to discuss her series featuring Door County sheriff Dave Cubiak and also Clea Simon to talk about her series with Harvard graduate student Dulcie Schwartz; Scottish crime writer Craig Robertson was the latest 9mm interview at Kiwi Crime (Craig Sistererson's blog); and Michael Koryta spoke with the Crime Fiction Lover blog about his new novel, Last Words.