Mystery Melange

UK's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate July 21-24 announced their Special Guest lineup, which includes authors Peter James, Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid, and Gerald Seymour. Conference organizers encourage fans to "grab a pint of Yorkshire’s finest ale, and dip into an intoxicating mix of comedy, heated debate and scintillating socialising" at Agatha Christie’s old haunt, the luxurious Old Swan Hotel.

The Romance Writers of American announced the 2016 RITA Award finalists, including the Romantic Suspense category.

Mystery Readers NorCal's Literary Salon will welcome Rhys Bowen on Wednesday, April 6 in Berkeley. Rhys Bowen has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar, and has won many, including the Agatha, Macavity, and Anthony awards. In addition to her titles in the Royal Spyness series, she is the author of the Molly Murphy Mysteries set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries set in Wales.

The Florida Book awards handed out recently included a Gold Medal to the thriller After the Fall by Patricia Gussin in the Popular Fiction category, with a Silver Medal to The Price of Justice by Marti Green, and a Bronze Medal to Perception of Power by Bruce Thomason.

Time's running out for a chance to submit your manuscript to the Mystery Writers Key West Whodunit Writing Competition. The winner will claim a book-publishing contract with Absolutely Amazing eBooks, free Mystery Writers Key West Fest 2016 registration, airfare, hotel accommodations for two nights, and a Whodunit Award trophy to be presented at the 3rd Annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest, June 10-12 in Key West, Florida.

West Hollywood, California, has launched a grant program for residents to build a Little Free Library. In addition, Friends of the West Hollywood Library will "donate a starter set of books to each person who receives a grant from the city to build one."

In not-so-happy library news: the BBC reported on the alarming state of libraries and the librarian profession, especially in the UK where 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared in six years, although there are still a few bright spots that offer up hope.

In response to the popular new BBC adaptation of the John le Carré novel Night Manager, The Independent posted a list of the "10 best spy books."

But if you want to stick the spy thriller master's works only, The Guardian chose "Five of the best Le Carré novels."

At the 68th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science in Las Vegas, one of the big topics hanging over everyone's heads was the spate of recent scandals and flawed convictions based on shaky forensics "expertise."

Sherlock Holmes will soon be immortalized in a Japanese manga series based on the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as his sidekick Watson. “It’s really interesting seeing such a British thing being reinterpreted in Japanese manga,” said Titan Comics editor Andrew James, who acquired the manga series for the publisher.

Author Chris Callaghan offered up "Ten reasons why you should eat chocolate while reading." (Hear, hear!)

Authors take heart: Robert Galbraith, a/k/a JK Rowling, Tweeted some of the rejection letters she'd received for both her Galbraith crime fiction books and the Harry Potter series.

Authors take warning: a bizarre tale of one author's battle fighting a plagiarist who stole all of her out-of-print crime fiction novels and uploaded them as her own.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Better Call Yahweh" by Catherine Wald.

In the Q&A roundup, the latest 9mm interview at Crime Watch is Susan Moody, author of 34 crime and suspense novels over the past three decades; Omnimystery spoke with authors Nancy Herriman (No Comfort for the Lost) and Robert Richter (Something To Die For); journalist and novelist Michelle Davies spoke with Shots Magazine about the first novel in her new crime series, Gone Astray; Do Some Damage welcomed Neely Tucker, author of Only the Hunted Run; The Mystery People chatted with Sarah Weinman, editor of the Library of America’s publication, Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 40s and 50s; and the Financial Times snagged Chris Pavone for a quickie Q&A.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Author Walter Mosley and producer Denise Grayson have hired writer-director Paul Chart to adapt Mosley’s thriller Killing Johnny Fry for a feature film that  Mosley will produce through his company BOB Filmhouse together with Denise Grayson Productions. Mosley’s novel centers on nice guy Cordell Carmel, who discovers his long-time girlfriend is secretly enjoying a darkly sexual double life with the handsome but menacing Johnny Fry, and soon finds himself seduced into a twisted world of sex, drugs and murder.  

Two teaser stills were released for the upcoming film Budapest Noir, featuring actors Krisztian Kolovratnik and Reka Tenki. The project was adapted for the screen by Andras Szeker (The Notebook) from the original novel by Vilmos Kondor, and centers on Zsigmond Gordon, Kondor’s reporter hero, who's often compared with the detective protagonist in Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther historical thriller series.

Warner Bros. added four new movies to its 2017 calendar, including the release date of October 20 for Live By Night, the Ben Affleck-directed adaptation of Dennis Lehane's book that follows Joe Coughlin (played by Affleck), the son of a police captain who gets dragged into the world of organized crime. The studio also announced other 2017 releases including "an untitled mystery project."

TELEVISION

The CBS pilot Four Stars has added Jackson Davis in a potentially recurring role of Jeff, described as an "epic underachiever" who is the love interest of character Krissy. The pilot, which revolves around two powerful rival families in Tampa, Florida’s military community who make decisions at the highest levels in the interest of national security, already signed Wilmer Valderrama, Ashley Zukerman, Bojana Novakovic, and Anna Cruz Kayne to the cast.

A TV series adaption of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels has found it screenwriter in Luther creator Neil Cross.The project is being developed via Endemol Shine with an eye toward a launch in the U.S. and other key territories at the same time.

TNT has given a pilot order to Claws, an hourlong dramedy set in a Southern Florida nail salon and described as "a dark, wickedly funny meditation on female badness which follows the rise of five diverse and treacherous Florida manicurists in the traditionally male world of organized crime."

Elijah Wood has been tapped to co-star in BBC America’s Dirk Gently, an adaptation of the novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams. The Gently series is described as "a comedic thriller that follows the bizarre adventures of eccentric ‘holistic’ detective Dirk Gently and his reluctant assistant Todd (played by Wood), as they wend their way through one big, seemingly insane mystery a season, crossing unlikely paths with a bevy of wild and sometimes dangerous characters, each episode landing them a few random steps closer to uncovering the truth.”

Shemar Moore is bidding farewell to his role on the CBS drama Criminal Minds after playing special agent Derek Morgan on the CBS series (which also stars Thomas Gibson, Joe Mantegna and Kirsten Vangsness) for eleven years. Viewers may not have to miss him forever, since Moore said he is open to returning for appearances.

Following a lengthy and extensive casting search, CBS has found its new MacGyver, with X-Men alum Lucas Till taking on the character that was originally made famous by Richard Dean Anderson. Joshua Boone has also joined the drama pilot as a series regular, playing Gunner, MacGyver's best friend from high school.

NCIS has signed 24 actress Sarah Clarke to play Tess Monroe, guest starring in the final two episodes of the veteran series’ current season with an option to become a new regular in the upcoming Season 14. Monroe is an FBI Special Agent who has recently transferred to D.C. from New York City, who is quick-witted, tough and shrewd.  

Lorraine Toussaint is joining Chicago Justice, NBC’s next installment in its Windy City franchise. Toussaint is set to guest star in the forthcoming backdoor pilot as defense attorney Shambala Green, a role she originated on Law & Order in 1990 and last played in 2003. Chicago Justice's trial run will air this spring, as Episode 21 of Chicago P.D.

Richard Belzer will reprise his role as Detective Munch on Law & Order: SVU in a May episode that centers on a young model who accuses a famous fashion photographer of assault. Det. Munch has also crossed over into other shows, including The X-Files, The Wire, and Arrested Development.

CBS renewed eleven series on Friday including crime dramas Blue Bloods, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Hawaii Five-0, Elementary, and Scorpion. A renewal for NCIS was previously announced, while The Good Wife and Person of Interest are all ending this season. No word yet on the fates of new crime dramas Limitless, Code Black, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CSI: Cyber, or the original Criminal Minds.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

It’s A Mystery to Me host Stacy Verdick Case spoke with bestselling author JA Jance about the 13th book in her Ali Reynolds series Clawback.

THEATER

The play that was named the best on Broadway in 2015 will be ending its run there this summer. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which won five 2015 Tony awards including Best Play, will host a final performance at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Sept. 4. The play, an adaptation of the 2003 Mark Haddon novel, stars Tyler Lea as 15-year-old Christopher, a boy with an exceptional intelligence who sets out to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor’s dog. In the process, Christopher uncovers a deep family secret that shakes his world to the core.

Mystery Melange

RT Book Reviews announced the winners of the 2015 Reviewers Choice Awards and Career Achievement Awards. The latter category included Rhys Bowen for Historical Mysteries, Janet Evanovich for Mainstream Mysteries, and Carla Neggers for Romantic Suspense. You can check out the website listing for all the finalists in the various Mystery/Suspense/Thriller categories, as well as Romantic Suspense.

The Independent Book Publishers Association also announced this year's winners of the Benjamin Franklin Awards in the Mystery & Suspense category, including The Fame Equation: A Cat Enright Equestrian Mystery by Lisa Wysocky; The Lost Concerto by Helaine Mario, and Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk.

This year’s Whistler Writers Festival (October 13–16) will include the presentation of the inaugural Independent Book Awards. The Whistler Independent Book Awards will be open to Canadian authors or permanent residents who have independently published a book or books in the last five years with winners in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, crime fiction and poetry. The shortlist will be selected by the Canadian Authors Association.

Fans of crime fiction in the UK can take note of the new and upcoming Noir at the Bar NE, which will have its inaugural outing on Wednesday, 1st June. Participating authors currently scheduled to appear include Graham Smith, Tess Makovesky, Janet O’Kane, Bea Davenport, Sheila Quigley, Eileen Wharton, Patrich Welsh, Martyn Taylor, Danielle Ramsay and more.

Writer-director Michael Mann has made a deal to launch Michael Mann Books. The imprint will generate a series of novels with a stable of writers, with the properties to simultaneously be developed for film and television. Mann will look through his own long list of credits for ideas, placing high priority on a prequel novel dealing with the principal characters of Heat, Mann’s seminal crime thriller. The prequel novel will cover the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), Chris Shihirles (Val Kilmer), McCauley’s accomplice Nate (Jon Voight), and other characters from the 1995 film.

If you're looking for some fantastic crime fiction by women authors, Lisa Lutz (author of the bestselling author of the “Spellman Files” series) suggests "10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women."

Speaking of women mystery authors, Japanese mystery writer Shizuko Natsuki died at the age of 77 on March 19. She who won the Mystery Writers of Japan award for her 1973 work, Johatsu (Disappearance).

Stephen Pike, hotel manager extraordinaire and the prototype for Le Carré’s lead character in The Night Manager, spoke with The Guardian about his part in sparking the story behind the 1993 novel, which has become a successful BBC television drama.

Deutsche Welle posted some "Travel tips for mystery buffs," international settings that serve as the central location for many of today's crime fiction bestsellers.

ITV in the United Kingdom is broadcasting an adaptation of the Inspector Maigret series by French crime author Georges Simenon. To celebrate, France Today published an essay on how to follow in the steps of the fictional Maigret in the City of Light.

Pulp Modern Issue #10 is now available in paperback format at Amazon, filled "with dangerous women and reckless men and bad craziness all around."

The new crime poem at the 5-2 this is week is "Fair Housing" by Charles Rammelkamp.

In the Q&A roundup, Omnimystery News welcomed mystery authors Ginny Fite and Sibella Giorello; MysteryPeople contributor Scott Butki interviewed Drew Chapman about his new thriller, The King of Fear; Brian Freeman spoke with The Huffington Post about Goodbye to the Dead, the 7th novel in the Jonathan Stride series; and Sara Paretsky sat down with Prose 'n' Cons for a Q&A about her writing and the state of publishing.

Media Murder for Monday

Top o' the week means it's time again for the latest crime drama news:

MOVIES

Michael Mann has set the first publishing project for his new book imprint Michael Mann Books, teaming up with Don Winslow (the bestselling author of The Cartel), to co-create an original novel about the complex relationship between two organized crime giants, Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana. The project will be developed into a feature film that Mann will produce and possibly direct, based on the novel and a preexisting screenplay Mann co-wrote with Shane Salerno.  

Netflix has finished acquiring David Ayer's Bright in a deal worth more than $90 million that saw the streaming service beat out several major studios for the cop thriller starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Bright will also receive a limited, day-and-date theatrical release under the terms of the Netflix deal. Set in a world where orcs and fairies live among humans, Bright boasts a unique protagonist in the form of an orc cop.

Julia Roberts is in final talks to star in the legal drama Train Man, based on a true story adapted by Black List screenwriter Simon Stephenson. The film is centered on Roberts’ lawyer character, who is assigned to defend a man with Asperger’s syndrome with a history of arrests for impersonating New York City transit officials and stealing subway trains.

Nicolas Cage is set to star in Philly Fury, a thriller penned by Jason Mosberg that Steven C. Miller will direct, with production to begin in May. The story revolves around a Philadelphia businessman whose deadbeat brother is kidnapped for a large ransom, but when everyone involved believes the deadbeat is in on the kidnapping, the businessman must take action himself. Cage plays a Philadelphia mobster and alleged kidnapper.

Australia’s most notorious female cannibal killer is to be the subject of an upcoming film based on the book Blood Stains by journalist Peter Lalor. Killer Katherine Knight is an Australian former abattoir worker who decapitated and skinned her de facto husband before trying to serve his flesh to his children and is currently serving a life sentence.

TELEVISION

Helen Hunt is returning to the small screen along with Richard Dreyfuss and Stephen Moyer. The trio have booked starring roles on Fox limited series Shots Fired that will explore the aftermath of racially charged shootings in a small town in Tennessee. Sanaa Lathan stars an expert investigator who digs into the cases; Hunt will play a fictional governor; Dreyfuss will play a real estate mogul and owner of a privatized prison who is intricately involved in the shooting; and Moyer will portray a seasoned veteran in the town's sheriff's department who gets caught in the middle of the investigation.

PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! has announced the schedule for the second season of Grantchester, based on a character created by crime novelist James Runcie and starring James Norton as Reverence Sidney Chambers. The first of the season's six episodes will premiere on Sunday, March 27th and air weekly through May 1st.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has greenlit The Council (working title), an international thriller woven around a remote Canadian Arctic town from Emmy Award-winning showrunner and writer René Balcer (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). The project traces the journey of two cops who uncover a small-town murder that is at the heart of a global conspiracy. Production kicks off this summer, shooting in Resolute, Iqaluit, London, Copenhagen and Manitoba, with the series debuting with 10 episodes in fall 2016.

On the Corner, the UK production company responsible for the Academy Award-winning Amy, has acquired the TV rights for Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series featuring Icelandic police officer Ari Thor, who is based in the northernmost town in Iceland, Siglufjörður.

Holt McCallany (Lights Out) has been cast as the lead in Mindhunter, the Netflix crime drama series based on the 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by former special agent John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Written by playwright Joe Penhall and Scott Buck, the series is set in 1979 and "centers on the inquisitive and skilled FBI Agent Bill Tench (McCallany)." The cast also includes Jonathan Groff and Anna Torv.

Richard Brake (Game of Thrones) is set for a recurring role on the Showtime drama series Ray Donovan. Brake will play Vlad, a dangerous and intimidating man who works for some very powerful people.  

Keesha Sharp, who plays attorney Johnnie Cochran’s wife Dale in the hit FX miniseries American Crime: The People vs. OJ Simpson, is set to co-star opposite Damon Wayans Sr. in Lethal Weapon, Fox’s hourlong pilot based on the hit buddy cop action comedy movie franchise. Sharp will play Wayans' hardworking, perceptive and loving wife Trish, who worries about him and is not thrilled when she hears about his new adrenaline-crazed partner. It was also announced that newcomer Dante Brown has landed the role of Roger “R.J.” Murtaugh, Jr, son to Daman Wayans Sr.’s character.

Michael Weatherly's Tony Dinozo character on NCIS is being replaced by two fresh faces, with the latest going by the name of Clayton, an MI-6 agent in his late 20s/early 30s who will be introduced in time for the Season 13 finale. He's described as "loud, opinionated, and sarcastic" with a dash of chauvinism and a short-tempered streak. The second of the two characters to be announced is FBI Agent Tess, who will make her debut at some point prior to the end of Season 13.

Meanwhile, Michael Weatherly has found his first new role following his NCIS departure, a drama pilot based on talk show host Phil McGraw’s early days running one of the most prolific trial consulting services of all time. He'll play the lead role, which is based on Dr. Phi
l's real-life character, a man who "heads a company that analyzes juries to help develop defense strategies — possesses a physicality, feral intelligence and bruising candor that make him magnetic to women."

Another former Prison Break cast member will be returning to the event series sequel, with Amaury Nolasco confirming that his character Fernando Sucre would be back for the new episodes.

Revolution alum JD Pardo is set as a series regular opposite Jeremy Sisto, Archie Panjabi and Kevin Rankin in ABC’s murder trial drama pilot, The Jury. Written by VJ Boyd and Mark Bianculli and executive produced by Carol Mendelsohn, The Jury examines “the ultimate social experiment” that happens thousands of times a day in the U.S, and is described as “12 Angry Men meets the podcast Serial.”

Ana de la Reguera (Narcos) and Hugh Dillon (The Killing) are among the latest actors added to the reboot of the supernatural crime drama Twin Peaks. They join returning star Kyle MacLachlan, who is reprising his role as Special Agent Dale Cooper from the original series.

Fox renewed Gotham for a third season. The series, which stars Ben McKenzie as Comissioner Gordon, centers on Batman's longtime partner in crime(-solving) years before the Caped Crusader comes to life, when he is still a young boy. Based on the DC Comics origin story for Batman, the show has added several familiar names from the comics this season including Hugo Strange and Mr. Freeze among many others. Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee's Big Holiday) begins a multi-episode arc on March 21.

Showtime has picked up documentary series Dark Net for a second season. The docuseries explores the dangers of the Internet’s unregulated underbelly known as the deep web, with each half-hour episode shedding light on themes such as bio-hacking, cyber-kidnapping, digital warfare, online cults, pornography addiction, and the webcam sex trade.

AMC has picked up a 10-episode third season of its hit Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul, set six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White.

CBS's drama Person of Interest, however isn't so lucky, as the network announced the show will be ending after five seasons. Creator/executive producer Jonah Nolan and executive producer Greg Plageman said in a statement, "We’re eternally grateful to our amazing cast and crew, as well as our partners at the studio and network. Most of all, we want to thank the show’s fans — the best fans in the world. This subversive little paranoia-inducing cyberpunk-thriller is for you and would not have been possible without your support." The fifth and final season will premiere May 3 and will get double-pumped, with originals in its old Tuesday 10 PM slot as well as Monday at 10.

ITV released a broadcast premiere date (and trailer) for its new feature-length adaptation of Maigret. The two-hour film Maigret Sets a Trap will be shown on the Easter weekend, while a second one, Maigret’s Dead Man, will follow shortly thereafter.

CBS also set the spring finale dates for its other series, including Scorpion, Limitless, the various NCIS franchises, Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Blue Bloods, Elementary, and Hawaii Five-0.

BBC America shared a new trailer for Season 4 of Orphan Black, which will premiere Thursday, April 14 at 10/9c. In Season 4, Sarah Manning and her clone sisters (Tatiana Maslany) have finally settled into quieter lives after their victory last season, but a mysterious new acquaintance is leading Sarah back into dangerous territory.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

A recent Talking Books podcast focused on the works of James Ellroy, the "demon dog" of crime fiction. 

The latest Suspense Radio Inside Edition featured four authors, Glen Erik Hamilton, M.C. Beaton, Carter Wilson, and Phillip Donaly.

CrimeFiction.FM welcomed Tim Adler, entertainment and business journalist turned novelist, who discussed his latest thriller, Hold Still.

Mystery Melange

The nominees for the Barry Awards were announced yesterday. Handed out annually by Deadly Pleasures Magazine, this year's Best Novel shortlist includes C. J. Box, Badlands; John Connolly, A Song Of Shadows; Owen Laukkanen, The Stolen Ones; Michael Robotham, Life Or Death; Jeff Siger, Devil Of Delphi; and Don Winslow, The Cartel. For all the categories, follow this link.

Finalists for the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards were also announced this past week, celebrating the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender books of the year, including Best Gay Mystery and Best Lesbian mystery novel.

Many of us just recently got wind of the news that Dilys Wynn died on February 5 of this year. Wynn contributed so much to the crime fiction community, opening Murder Ink, America’s first bookstore devoted entirely to mysteries, publishing two Murder Ink collections of essays and opinions about mystery fiction, and so much more. Wynn was honored with a Special Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1978.  (Hat tip to Janet Rudolph.)

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, and Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare blog has some St. Patty's Day-themed crime fiction suggestions for you. And you can enjoy reading those books while eating Saint Patrick's Day Pork Chops, via The Mystery Lovers Kitchen.

Join Atlanta-based crime fiction authors Ed Brock, James Tuck and Peter Farris, along with visiting authors Eryk Pruitt, Alec Cizak, Grant Jerkins and Ashley Erwin for a night of deadly good story telling in the inaugural "Noir at the Bar Atlanta" reading at McCray's Tavern on the Square in Lawrenceville. Admission is free for the event on  April 3, which starts at 7 p.m.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently opened the new exhibit "Crime Stories: Photography and Foul Play." Doug Eklund, curator in the museum’s department of photography, noted that the intent "was to tell the story of the camera’s role in crime and punishment, and also of how these kinds of pictures influenced artists in their own work."  The exhibition explores the multifaceted intersections between photography and crime, from 19th-century “rogues’ galleries” to work by contemporary artists inspired by criminal transgression. The installation will feature some 70 works, drawn entirely from the Met collection, ranging from the 1850s to the present, and runs through July 31.

The USC Libraries has also gotten into the same spirit, opening the spring exhibition True Crime, documenting the history of detectives and the art of crime solving. The libraries created a mixed-reality game as part of the exhibition’s programming. Students and guests are invited to begin with a short film, pick up a logbook at the exhibition in Doheny Library, and try their hand at solving the mystery before the trail of clues goes cold. The exhibit closes on May 31.

This week, Harper Lee's estate announced it would no longer make To Kill a Mockingbird available as a mass market paperback. Although there is some controversy regarding the late author's Will and executor situation, the fact remains that the mass market paperback format has been on the decline for a while, thanks in part to ebooks.   

The Mystery Writers Key West Fest has announced a call for entries for this year’s Mystery Writers Whodunit Writing Competition. The winner will claim a book-publishing contract with Absolutely Amazing eBooks, free Mystery Writers Key West Fest 2016 registration, airfare, hotel accommodations for two nights, and a Whodunit Award trophy to be presented at the 3rd Annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest, set for June 10-12 in Key West, Florida.

Quercus is launching a new fiction and non-fiction imprint called riverrun set to  launch on May 2nd. The imprint will showcase Quercus’ "high quality literary fiction, upmarket crime and top class, serious non-fiction." riverrun's first title will be Six Four by Japanese author Hideo Yokoyama, with other existing Quercus authors joining the list to include bestselling crime author Peter May.

What is the world's "most literate" nation? Probably not the country you may think. (Hint: The United States is #7.)

Writing for The Guardian, MG Leonard picked the very nastiest of fictional women villains in children's books, from Cruella de Vil and Bellatrix Lestrange to the White Witch and Mrs. Coulter.

The new crime poem over at the 5-2 Weekly is "Define Pi" by Michael A. Arnzen.

In the Q&A roundup, Barry Lancet stopped by Criminal Element to discuss his latest Jim Brodie thriller Pacific Burn (plus, there's a sweepstakes involved); French crime writer Bernard Minier chatted with the Financial Times about his writing and his new book, A Song for Drowned Souls; Joe R. Lansdale was interviewed by The Quietus about his Hap and Leonard novel series and its recent screen adaptation; the Mystery People welcomed British-Israeli writer Lavie Tidhar to discuss his genre-bending literary new novel, A Man Lies Dreaming; and Omnimystery snagged Joe Cosentino for a Q&A about his new book, Porcelain Doll, the second in his Jana Lane series.

Media Murder for Monday

One of the good things about Mondays is that it's time once again for this week's latest roundup of crime drama news:

AWARDS

Room, a film about an abducted woman intent upon survival for her young son and herself, has swept the Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Canadian writer Emma Donoghue, whose bestselling novel was the basis of the movie. Benjamin August won Best Original Screenplay for the Atom Egoyan thriller Remember, which stars Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau. In the television awards, the Canadian police drama 19-2 took three prizes, including Best Dramatic Series.

MOVIES

Leonardo DiCaprio, J.J. Abrams, and Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth are teaming up with Paramount to make a play for David Grann's new nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: An American Crime and the Birth of the FBI (and are the frontrunners to land the rights in one of the hottest Hollywood auction of the year so far). Killers of the Flower Moon is a nonfiction story about the mysterious murders of the Osage Indians tribe in Oklahoma, where oil desposits sat beneath their land. The case was turned over to a brand new law enforcement agency known as the FBI, which fought against corruption to solve the case.

Michael Keaton is the first star to be cast in American Assassin, the adaptation of the Vince Flynn bestselling novel series. Keaton will not be playing Mitch Rapp, the title character (who ruthlessly carries out covert counter-terrorist operations for the CIA) in the book series. Instead, the actor will portray Stan Hurley, a badass Cold War veteran who teaches the young assassin everything he needs to know.

Masters Of Sex star Lizzy Caplan is joining the cast of the untitled film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by Steven Knight and star Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. The plot follows two assassins (Pitt and Cotillard) who fall in love during a mission to kill a German official and marry, but their romance is cut short when Pitt learns a devastating secret about his wife that prompts him to turn on her. Caplan is set to play Pitt’s character’s sister.

Halle Berry, who starred in the Bond film Die Another Day, is stepping into another super-spy franchise, Kingsman 2, playing a CIA head opposite Taron Egerton. It was also reported that Berry would be signed for a two-picture deal, meaning that the next Kingsman film may wind up being the middle chapter in a trilogy.

Studio 8 and Battle Mountain Films have teamed for an untitled crime thriller that will be directed by Italian filmmaker Francesco Munzi. The story is set in New York City's violent but lucrative underworld of cargo theft and centers on a young man who is mentored by a brilliant thief and must choose between ambition and family as he rises to prominence.  

TELEVISION

CSI co-star George Eads is returning to CBS with a role in their pilot MacGyver, a reimagining of the 1985 series about a resourceful and ingenious agent who improvises his way out of sticky situations using everyday items like rubber bands, chewing gum and a Swiss Army knife. Also joining the MacGyver reboot is the original’s creator Lee David Zlotoff who will be an executive producer. Eads will play Lincoln, "a man who could easily be written off as an eccentric conspiracy theorist but he’s a legit government employee with great capability for compassion."

Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Debra Monk rounds out the cast of Drew, the CBS drama pilot based on the Nancy Drew character from the classic mystery book series. The project is being re-imagined as Nancy (star Sarah Shahi) in her 30s, working as a detective for the NYPD where she investigates and solves crimes using her uncanny observational skills. Monk will play one of the main characters in the books, Hannah Gruen, the Drew family’s trusted cook/housekeeper who served as a surrogate mom for Nancy.

Revenge alum Nick Wechsler has been cast as the male lead opposite Tracy Spiridakos in the Fox drama pilot Recon. The project centers on Alexa (Spiridakos), a young, driven FBI analyst tasked with embedding herself in a suspected terrorist family. Wechsler will play Freddie, a skillful and hardworking FBI agent who struggles with moral conflict while at the center of a key mission. He joins previously cast Alexander Siddig and Sarita Choudhury.  

Sarah Wayne Callies (Colony) has closed a deal to reprise her role as Dr. Sara Tancredi opposite fellow returning stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell in Fox’s Prison Break event series, a nine-episode follow-up to the cult 2005 Fox action series. The casting won’t affect Callies’ series regular role on Colony, which was recently renewed for a second season on USA Network, since Prison Break is a limited event series only.  

My Wife and Kids alum Brooklyn Sudano has landed a main role opposite Clive Standen in Taken, NBC’s straight-to-series adaptation of the hit movie franchise. Written and executive produced by Alex Cary (Homeland), the series is a modern-day prequel to the film franchise that depicts how Bryan Mills (Standen) developed and sharpened his particular set of skills. Sudano will play Asha, an attractive, well-educated young student from an upper middle class family who is furthering her education when she first meets Bryan (Standen). It was also announced that Michael Irby will join the cast, playing a member of Bryan’s OPCON (Operational Control) team of elite operatives who take care of America’s national security emergencies on the ground.  

Weeds star Justin Kirk will play the lead in Fox’s drama pilot APB, joining fellow cast member Eric Winter (The Mentalist). The project centers on an enigmatic tech billionaire Gideon Reed (Kirk) who purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a dear friend’s murder and sets out to rethink everything about the way cops do business. Winter will play Sgt. Tom Murphy, a vice cop, a tough guy with a big heart and a family man who is married to homicide detective Amelia Murphy (Natalie Martinez).

The true crime tale Lost Girls is moving from Warner to Amazon. The project is based on the 2013 nonfiction book by investigative reporter Robert Kolker about a serial killer targeting sex workers on Long Island.  

Comedian Craig Robinson is taking a turn for the dramatic with a reoccurring guest role on USA's Mr. Robot, playing a neighborhood local who reaches out to Elliot (Rami Malek) in his time of ne
ed. He joins rapper Joey Bada$$ and Chris Conroy are also new faces this season.

The latest Chicago series from Dick Wolf has a brand-new name, changing from Chicago Law to Chicago Justice, according to Deadline. Deadline also reported that Nazneen Contractor (24) has signed on to star in the fourth installment of the Chicago franchise, playing Assistant State's Attorney Dawn Harper alongside Philip Winchester's lead prosecutor. The spin-off will first air as Episode 21 of Chicago P.D. this season.

Freddy Rodriguez has signed on to play one of the lead roles in the CBS drama pilot Bull. Written by Phil McGraw and Paul Attanasio, Bull is based on popular daytime talk show host Dr. Phil’s early days as head of one of the most prolific trial consulting services of all time. It centers on Dr. Jason Bull, who runs Trial Sciences Inc., a company that analyzes juries to help develop defense strategies. Rodriguez will play Benny, the only lawyer on the team, who provides legal strategy and acts as the lawyer in their mock trials.

Amazon announced that Ripper Street will end after its fifth season, which recently began filming in Dublin. In the final season, Joseph Mawle (In the Heart of the Sea) rejoins the series as the feared Detective Inspector Jedediah Shine, intent on a mission of revenge after last being seen in the series two finale when Inspector Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) plotted with Drake (Jerome Flynn) to take Shine’s life.

Hat tip to Crime Fiction Ireland for posting ITV's "first look" at Rowan Atkinson as Inspector Maigret in the upcoming series based on the character of novelist George Simenon.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

NPR profiled Alphonse Bertillon, the nineteenth century French criminologist and "The Man Behind The Modern Mug Shot."

The most recent This is Criminal podcast profiled Jane Toppan, born 1857, who set up a successful private nursing career in Boston. Said to be cheerful, funny and excellent with her patients, nothing about “Jolly Jane” suggested she could be “the most notorious woman poisoner of modern times.”

THEATER

The Vertigo Theatre in Calgary announced its 40th anniversary season lineup, starting off with a staging of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep starring Graham Percy as the iconic detective Phillip Marlowe.  Other productions in the pipeline include Agatha Christie’s play The Hollow and a new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher of Frederick Knott’s classic thriller Wait Until Dark.

GAMES

Arc System Works is putting together an interactive game called Chase: Unsolved Cases Investigation Division – Distant Memories. It looks to be a detective story that's not wholly unlike the company's Hotel Dusk, which followed former NYPD officer Kyle Hyde as he attempts to unravel the mystery behind a dusty old hotel that's eerily connected to the death of his former friend and partner, Brian Bradley.

Mystery Melange

Lee Child returns to Crime Fiction Academy tonight to talk with CFA Director Jonathan Santlofer about the craft of suspense writing. The event starts at 7 p.m. at The Center for Fiction in New York City.

Writing for The Independent, Barry Forshaw looks at "Crime fiction: Persuasive humanity in society's darkest corners," ranging from Philip Kerr's The Other Side of Silence to Not so Thin Ice by Quentin Bates.

Poland is set to be the market focus for London Book Fair in 2017. Grzegorz Gauden, director of The Polish Book Institute, said that the country had something to boast about, with “many interesting authors in Polish contemporary literature and several literary genres, such as reportage and crime fiction, which are considered around the world as Poland’s specialty.”

Some small and independent publishers are struggling, but many are actually flourishing in the new publishing financial climate. Publishers Weekly compiled a list of the seven fastest-growing independent publishers for 2016, a mix of veterans and newcomers.

Some interesting ebook publication news this week: Barnes and Noble's Nook is pulling out of the UK and transferring its UK customers to Sainsbury's; and Google has patented two new types of e-books that involve digital media interacting with actual physical books.

Looking for a great new crime fiction read? Check out the latest array of reviews from The Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and The New York Times. Plus, Jeff Pierce of The Rap Sheet has compiled a huge listing of crime fiction titles being published this spring to add to your "to be read" pile.

UHArts and the University of Hertfordshire in the UK are presenting A Study in Sherlock, a season of films and presentations throughout March 2016. (Hat tip to Ayo Onatade via Shots Magazine.)

Whether you're a thriller author or just someone who thinks James Bond's Q is the best thing about the franchise, you might enjoy this list of the "Top 20 Spy Gadgets from the Cold War."

Speaking of James Bond, Angie Barry compiled her choices of "The 12 Best James Bond Films: A Feminist’s Take on the World’s Favorite Spy."

Mike Ripley is out with the latest edition of his “Getting Away with Murder” column for Shots Magazine. This month, he chats about the official reopening of London’s “refurbished Sherlock Holmes public house,” a British Library seminar on author Eric Ambler, and new novel releases from Robert Ryan (The Sign of Fear), Philip Kerr (The Other Side of Silence), Elizabeth Wilson (She Died Young), Ken Bruen and Jason Starr (Pimp), and others. (HT to the Rap Sheet.)

There's no way you can't love this irresistible story: a pair of siblings, age 7 and 10, have started their own private detective agency, taking on neighborhood mysteries.

The new issue of Mysterical-e contains eight new short crime stories, as well as Gerald So's regular column on TV and Film, Christine Verstraete's reviews, and author interviews with Nancy Cole Silverman and Cheryl Hollon.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "The Insider" by Angel Zapata, and the brand new story at Beat to a Pulp is "The Nature of the Beast" by Paul D. Marks.

In the Q&A roundup, William Shaw stopped by Crime Watch to take the "9mm Interview Challenge" and chat about his 'Breen and Tozer' trilogy set in late 1960s London and his new standalone, The Birdwatcher, which involves a Police Sergeant who is himself a murderer investigating a murder on the Kent coast; Quentin Bates, author of an acclaimed Icelandic crime series, talked about his lead character, translating, and plans for this year’s Iceland Noir festival, on the Euro But Not Trash blog; Kennedy Quinn joined Omnimystery News for a discussion of her new first in series mystery The Last, Best Lie; and Jeffery Deaver stopped by the Crime Fiction Lover blog to chat about his latest novel, The Steel Kiss, the 12 installment of his series featuring quadriplegic detective Lincoln Rhyme.

Media Murder for Monday

Here's the latest news from the world of crime dramas on air and on the screen, both big and small:

MOVIES

The Mark Gordon Company is producing an adaptation of Blood’s A Rover, the 2009 crime novel by L.A. Confidential author James Ellroy, which hopes to begin filming by the end of the year. The story is set in the underbelly of 1968 Los Angeles, where FBI agent and enforcer Dwight Holly has been tasked by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to find those responsible for a brazen emerald heist in South L.A., the heart of the city’s Black Power movement.

Paramount and MGM have hired Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (from Big Bad Wolves) to direct Bruce Willis in Death Wish, the revamp of the Charles Bronson vigilante franchise adapted from the Brian Garfield novel. Production will begin by the summer. The plot centers on an architect whose life is destroyed by a violent crime against his wife and daughter and takes to the streets to begin dispatching bad guys himself.

Caitriona Balfe, winner of a Saturn Award and and Golden Globe nomination for her role as Claire Beauchamp in Outlander, is joining a cast of young actors making an action/thriller movie funded through Kickstarter. Trust No One has been written by Simon Kassianides (who acted in the Bond film Quantum of Solace), who will both direct and act in the film when shooting begins this summer.

TELEVISION

Person of Interest alum Sarah Shah has been hired to star in CBS' Drew, playing the iconic sleuth from the Nancy Drew book series. The pilot finds Nancy now in her 30s and "serving as a detective for the NYPD, where she investigates and solves crimes using her uncanny observational skills, all while navigating the complexities of life in a modern world."

Great news for fans of the long-running NCIS series: CBS has renewed the show for another two years, and also signed star Mark Harmon to an additional two-year contract. Harmon also serves as executive producer of the the NCIS: New Orleans spinoff.

ABC announced the renewal of some fifteen shows, including How to Get Away With Murder and Quantico. American Crime and Castle are still on the bubble, with their futures up in the air.

Sons Of Anarchy's LaMonica Garrett has joined the cast of ABC’s straight-to-series conspiracy drama Designated Survivor, which stars Keifer Sutherland. Written by David Guggenheim, the story centers on lower level U.S. Cabinet member (Sutherland) who is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession. Garrett will play Ritter, the president' Secret Service officer.

Jahmil French (The Divide) is set as a series regular on A&E’s hip-hop crime drama pilot The Infamous. They story centers on two complicated men on a collision course: an ambitious reformed gangster poised to break out of South LA and the LAPD detective hell-bent on taking him down. It will be set against real events in turbulent 1990s Los Angeles leading up to the LA Riots.

Michael Cristofer and Stephanie Corneliussen have been promoted to series regulars in the USA drama Mr. Robot. Rapper Joey Bada$$ and Chris Conroy will also be joining the cast, with the emcee playing Elliot's childhood friend and Conroy playing Joanna's new beau.

Covert Affairs star Piper Perabo is set as the female lead opposite Daniel Sunjata in ABC’s drama pilot Notorious.The project was inspired by the real-life relationship between famed criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and long-time Larry King Live executive producer Wendy Walker. Notorious is described as "a provocative look at the interplay of criminal law and the media" that follows the professional and personal relationship between charismatic attorney Jake Gregorian (Sunjata) and powerhouse television producer Julia George (Perabo) as they attempt to control the media, the justice system, and ultimately each other."

British actor Paterson Joseph (HBO’s The Leftovers) and Malcolm Barrett (ABC’s Better Off Ted) have been cast in Time, an action adventure drama pilot from Supernatural creator Eric Kripke and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. Described as Back to the Future meets Mission: Impossible, the series follows an unlikely trio who travel through time to battle a master criminal intent on altering the fabric of human history with potentially catastrophic results.

Jordana Brewster (of the Fast and Furious films) has signed on to Fox's Lethal Weapon pilot. In the TV reboot of the film, Brewster will play Dr. Mauren Cahill, a no-nonsense LAPD hostage negotiator and its in-house therapist, serving as an emotional support system for cops and handling the occasional tough case. Brewster will star alongside Damon Wayans, who plays detective Roger Murtaugh, who's recently suffered a heart attached and has to avoid stress.

Vegas alum Taylor Handley will be a series regular opposite Natalie Martinez and Caitlin Stasey in Fox’s drama pilot A.P.B., from writer David Slack and Len Wiseman. Inspired by the July New York Times Magazine article “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans,” A.P.B. explores what happens when an enigmatic tech billionaire purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one’s murder.

Universal Cable Productions is developing The Von Bülow Affair, a scripted true-crime series based on the book by William Wright about the infamous attempted-murder trial of British socialite Claus von Bülow.

National Geographic Channel landed the winning bid for The
Black 22s, a drama series from writer Paul Guyot (TNT’s The Librarians) and Selma star David Oyelowo. Written by Guyot, who will serve as showrunner, The Black 22s is based on the true story of a brilliant African-American detective and one of America’s first all-black police squads in St. Louis who battled the gangland killers of Prohibition even as they are set up to fail by their own bosses.

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

Richard Price, author of the The Whites (recently nominated as a LA Times Book Prize finalist), stopped by NPR's Fresh Air show to talk about haunted cops and cases they couldn't close.

Libby Fischer Hellmann joined CrimeFiction.FM to discuss the fifth installment in her Ellie Foreman Mystery series, Jump Cut.

Suspense Radio Inside Edition welcomed four bestselling authors including Jon Land, D.P. Lyle, Lisa Lutz, and Blue Cole.

Author Philip Donlay was a guest on CrimeFiction FM to discuss the latest book, Pegasus Down, in his series with Donovan Nash and Dr. Lauren McKenna.

The 'Zine Scene

The brand new edition of Mystery Scene Magazine features a cover story on author Gregg Hurwitz; a profile of the influential and widely read Margaret Millar, an author who broke ground for such later writers as Ruth Rendell and P.D. James; Kevin Burton Smith's look at Jessica Jones, a "complex, conflicted TV hero for our troubled times"; Jon L. Breen investigates current legal thrillers that explore the limits of law and order; plus more articles, reviews, and the zine's critical favorites for 2015.

Thuglit Issue #22 is out and ready to "knock your literary teeth out the back of your head with eight brand new tales of misdemeanors, misdeeds, misanthropy and misbehavior." Authors with stories in the latest edition include Tom Barlow, Rob Hart, Matthew J. Hockey, Robert Hart, Joshua D. Moyes, Jon Zelazny, Willian Dylan Powell, and Nolan Knight.

Suspense Magazine's latest issue includes a new feature, "Craft Corner," in partnership with the ITW and The Big Thrill Newsletter, with Vincent Zandri and Darynda Jones kicking off things. Authors featured in this edition include Peter Straub (a Suspense Magazine first), D.P. Lyle, Tilly Bagshawe, and Bev Vincent, plus there over 20 pages of book reviews, short stories, and other articles.  

The new Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast this month features “The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats” by Ellery Queen, reprinted in EQMM’s January 2016 issue, and originally published in the 1934 short-story collection The Adventures of Ellery Queen. This ingenious whodunit by one of the bestselling mystery writers of all time is read by Mark Lagasse.

The February issue of Yellow Mama includes the new stories "A New Cassavetes," in which Malcolm Graham Cooper’s young filmmaker finds his own "Mrs. Robinson"; "Blacksburg Park" by J.J. Sinisi, where a teen girl hides a gun for her bestie’s gangsta brother; Mark Jones’s "Tin Cry," featuring a thief who forfeits his cut for love ... stupidly; and Oliver Lodge’s "Prowler," a testament to obsessive creeps everywhere.

The third issue of Crime Scene features the BBC’s Peaky Blinders on the cover, a TV series starring Cillian Murphy as an Irish gangster in post-WWI Birmingham. Inside, there's more TV coverage, including a brief look at Rowan Atkinson as Maigret, which is coming to ITV soon, and as article about the Welsh crime drama Hinterland. There are also interviews with Harlan Coben and Mark Billingham; Barry Forshaw talks about his upcoming book, Brit Noir; and Orion Publishing’s Sam Eades looks at the anatomy of a bestseller. 

The March/April issue of The Big Click has gone live featuring short stories by and an interview with Libby Cudmore. The sad news is that this is the final issue of the publication, also the editorial indicates they're open to someone buying the zine and taking over. (HT to Sandra Seamans.)

Mystery Melange

Robert J. Randisi is the recipient of the 2016 Killer Nashville John Seigenthaler Legends Award. He's written over 650 novels in the western, mystery, sci-fi, horror, and spy genres under different pseudonyms and has been tireless in advocating, encouraging, and featuring other genre writers. He's edited over 30 short-story anthologies and collections (in which numerous authors found their first breaks), founded The Private Eye Writers of America, and co-founded the American Crime Writers League.

The winners of the Left Coast Crime awards, "The Leftys," were handed out at the annual conference this past weekend. The Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel went to Donna Andrews for Lord of the Wings; Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel went to Rhys Bowen for Malice at the Palace; Lefty for Best LCC Regional Mystery Novel went to Gigi Pandian for The Accidental Alchemist; and the Lefty for Best World Mystery Novel (set outside LCC Geographic Region) went to Louise Penny for The Nature of the Beast.

Also announced this week were the finalists for the Derringer Awards from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. For all the nominees in the categories of Best Flash Story, Best Short Story, Best Long Story, and Best Novelette, check out the SMFS link.

A new conference, Murder and Mayhem in Chicago, is set to launch on March 11, 2017 at Roosevelt University. Dana Kaye and Lori Rader-Day were inspired to form the new event by the annual Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee Conference. Like its cousin, the Chicago venture will be a one-day event filled with panels and interviews with talented mystery authors. Sara Paretsky has already signed on, with many more authors slated to appear.  (HT to Janet Rudolph.)

Deal Noir in the UK is gearing up for its second day-long Crime Fiction convention. The April 2 event will feature best-selling authors speaking on crime fiction in all its forms from dark psychological thrillers through historical fiction to light-hearted romps, as well as Interactive panel discussions. Shots Magazine's Ayo Onatade has more details on the zine blog.

Thanks also to Ayo for noting the upcoming Newcastle Noir event April 30 through May 1, with pre-conference workshops also planned. The Festival will be launched by Ann Cleeves who will be talking about and reading from her work, with panels on Icelandic Noir, Novellas and Short Stories, Historical Mysteries, Thrillers, and more.

The Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis has changed owners for the fourth time, with new propriertors, Dennis Abraham and Meg King-Abraham, taking over on April 1, which also happens to be the bookstore 29th anniversary. Previous owners Pat Frovarp and Gary Shulze said they'll miss the store, but "plan to be there on a regular basis for several months for training purposes. Just thinking about all the details and bookselling wisdom we need to provide and impart makes our heads spin." In 2011, Once Upon a Crime won the Raven Award, for outstanding contributions to the genre, from the Mystery Writers of America. (HT via Shelf Awareness.)

The Nation profiled the late author Ruth Rendell and the British crime novelist's acuity of psychological perception, or as article author Charles Taylor noted, "some novelists write comedies of manners. Ruth Rendell wrote autopsies of manners."

The Men's Journal picked a list of "The Best Old-School Noir Novels."

Author Brad Meltzer, whose list of books range from political thrillers, to inspirational nonfiction, to comic books, and the kidlit "Ordinary People Change the World" picture book biography series, has been chosen as the first Literary Ambassador for Montage Hotels & Resorts. The program will focus on Meltzer's children's books, with guests with young children who check into any of Montage’s five hotels receiving a copy of one of four titles in Meltzer’s series.

Last week, I noted Five Star was dropping its mystery novel line, and now Classic Mysteries’ Les Blatt has reported that the Boulder, Colorado-based independent publisher Rue Morgue Press has gone out of business. Blatt note, "Tom Schantz and his late wife, Enid, were pioneers in republishing some of the great—and often little-known—classic authors and their works, long before many of today’s smaller presses got into the business. RMP was responsible for republishing several of the finest John Dickson Carr mysteries, but they also specialized in other first-rate, if often obscure, mysteries." (HT to the Rap Sheet.)

Martin Edwards, via his blog Do You Write Under Your Own Name, also posted the sad news that crime writer Stuart Pawson has died. Pawson created a series featuring Detective Inspector Charlie Priest and was a member of the Crimewriters’ Association and the Murder Squad in the UK.

Scott Adlerberg penned an essay for The LA Review of Books about the first full-fledged, non-serialized detective novel by an African American to be published, Rudolph Fisher’s The Conjure-Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem (1932). As Adlerberg notes, Fisher’s influence cannot be underestimated in "how he created his rich, funny mini-world of Harlem, with its myriad types and characters from up and down the social and economic ladder, he paved the way for the Harlem novels of Chester Himes."

The Page 69 test this week featured J. Aaron Sanders, is Associate Professor of English at Columbus State University, whose first novel, Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery features a young Walt Whitman’s as he finds himself in the middle of body-snatchers, medical students, and the law.

The Guardian took a visit to the oldest bookstore in the United States - the Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is still thriving 270 years after its founding - and its resident ghost.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 this week is "Mistrust" by Nancy Smahl-Syrop.

In the Q&A roundup, Lawrence Block spoke with the Oregonian about his readers' love for one of his most beloved characters, the introspective assassin, Keller; Chris Jane snagged Barry Eisler for Jane Friedman's blog to discuss his writing and the world of publishing; the Mystery People welcomed Trudy Nan Boyce, whose debut novel, Out Of The Blues, follows newly minted Atlanta homicide detective Sarah Alt (nicknamed Salt) as she stumbles into a cold case that unlocks secrets involving race and city politics; Crime Fiction Lover grilled Dolores Redondo about her Baztan trilogy, set in Northeast Spain's Basque country; and Craig McDonald chatted with The Venetian Vase about his award-winning Hector Lassiter series.