Mystery Melange

Newcastle Noir 2017 announced the program for the event April 24-27, which includes panels, a Noir @ the Bar, plus a special Fringe Festival kick-off with Denise Mina talking about and reading from her work. (HT to Shots Magazine.)

Meanwhile, Echoland, the first novel in Joe Joyce’s spy series set during the second World War in Dublin, was launched this week as Dublin’s One City One Book 2017.

The Metrowest Mystery Festival is expanding on last year's mystery writers' panel and book signing by adding a mystery feature film and a writers' workshop focusing on the theme "New England Crime," to be held April 7 and 8 in the Ashland, Massachusetts Library. The featured panel includes authors Leslie Wheeler, Ray Daniel, Hallie Ephron, and Leslie Wheeler.

The Guardian's David Barnett took a look at how pulp noir and the hardboiled gumshoe are attracting new voices and audiences and getting a 21st-century reboot, thanks in part to contemporary political corruption, violence, and gender politics.

The Guardian also noted how the late Colin Dexter changed the face of crime fiction after his Inspector Morse novels created a boom time in crime fiction on television and in bookshops.

Adam Lerner and Bill Boyle have launched a fund-raising IndieGoGo campaign to get Raymond Chandler a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the approval of the Chandler Estate and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. This would make Chandler the first writer (who is not also a director, producer, or animator) to get a star. They argue that "If there were no Raymond Chandler there would certainly be no Philip Marlowe. And if there were no Philip Marlowe there would arguably be no Hollywood Noir or Hollywood Walk of Fame."  (HT to Kevin Burton Smith of The Thrilling Detective Web Site)

A couple of weeks ago a Twitter hashtag was born that sparked the re-imagining of numerous classic novels as murder mysteries. Inspired by that trend, Book Rio's Kate Scott picked three classics she thought would be amazing as murder mysteries.

Bookstores, bookstores, we all love bookstores! Even the unusual, as in this group of the "most unconventional bookstores in the world."

If you're a fan of historical mysteries, as in really ancient, check out this list of "10 Mysterious Hidden Texts," some buried under monuments and secreted away in machinery or concealed in later works. But modern technology such as X-rays, CT scans, multispectral imaging, is bringing these long-lost works to light. Or maybe, mysterious buildings are more your type of thing. (HT to Bill Crider.) 

Speaking of things ancient - forensic science is helping to uncover all sorts of criminal enterprises, including one of the coldest cases of all: how was Ötzi, the five thousand year old mummy found frozen in ice murdered and whodunnit?

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Nuclear Gift: Mrs. Keitlyn Konou From Bikini Atoll Talks About Her Jellyfish Babies," by Kimo Armitage.

In the Q&A roundup, the Huffington Post spoke with Greg Iles about his Natchez Burning Trilogy featuring Penn Cage and his new novel Mississippi Blood, the last volume in the trilogy; Nancy Pickard spoke with with Parade magazine about her Jenny Cain and Marie Lightfoot series; Thomas Pluck chatted with S.W. Lauden about his Jay Desmarteaux crime thriller series; Kevin Berg took Paul D. Brazill's Short, Sharp Interview Challenge; and Writers Who Kill snagged Edith Maxwell about her various traditional mystery series.

Media Murder for Monday

Monday greetings! To celebrate, here's a roundup of crime drama news:

MOVIES

Emily Hampshire has landed the lead role in Never Saw It Coming, a suspense thriller to be directed by Gail Harvey that's based on Linwood Barclay’s 2013 novel. Hampshire will star as Keisha Ceylon, an opportunistic psychic, who finds herself too much in the middle of a murder case in a small town and must find a way out unscathed.

Fox Searchlight is closing a deal for distribution rights in the U.S., Canada and UK to Old Man And The Gun, the David Lowery-directed drama that stars Robert Redford and Casey Affleck. Based on a true story that originated in a 2003 New Yorker magazine feature written by David Grann, the story revolves around Forrest Tucker (Redford) who's been on the wrong side of the law since he was a teen and became a career bank robber who broke out of prison 18 times, including a daring escape from San Quentin at age 70. Wrapped up in the chase are a detective (Affleck) who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek) who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.

Robert Rodriguez has been hired to direct Escape From New York, the 20th Century Fox remake of John Carpenter’s iconic 1981 film, with hopes of launching a Planet Of The Apes-like franchise. The original version was set in a futuristic Gotham circa 1997 with Kurt Russell playing Snake Plissken, an eyepatch-sporting tough guy who is conscripted to rescue the President of the United States after Air Force One — en route to a summit that could head off World War III — goes missing after it crashes in New York, which has been relegated to a maximum security prison. Plissken, a former special forces operative convicted of trying to rob the Federal Reserve, is given 22 hours to liberate the president and a tape he carries which holds the key to peace, but if he fails, he’s wired to explode.

Fifty Shades Darker's Dakota Johnson is in talks to star in Sony Pictures’ adaptation of Suketu Mehta’s GQ article "Queens of the Stoned Age," which followed the Green Angels, a high-end weed delivery service that hired models to work as drug dealers. The group operated for nearly a decade without being busted, all while growing into a multi-million dollar operation.

Laura Dern has been tapped to play Liam Neeson character’s wife in the revenge thriller Hard Powder, joining Emmy Rossum, William Forsythe, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Domenick Lombardozzi, and Tom Bateman in the English remake of the 2014 Norwegian film In Order of Disappearance. The American adaptation follows snowplow driver Nels, whose son is murdered by the powerful local drug kingpin, and then seeks to dismantle the cartel and navigate a turf war between a local gangster and a Native American mafia boss.

Chris Evans will star in Red Sea Diving Resort, a true-life Mossad spy drama to be written and directed by Gideon Raff, which follows the Israeli spy agency’s effort to rescue and bring home Ethiopian Jews that were trapped in Sudan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Evans will play Ari Kidron, an agent who puts together a team that took over a deserted resort in Sudan as they began their multiyear mission. Variety also reported that Girl on the Train’ Actress Haley Bennett is in talks to join the cast.

Julianne Nicholson, Emma Roberts, and Zachary Quinto have been set to star in Who We Are Now from writer-director Matthew Newton. The drama centers on convicted felon Beth (Nicholson), and her unlikely alliance with a young public defense lawyer Jess (Roberts), who does everything she can to get Beth’s young son back from her sister after Beth went into prison 10 years earlier for manslaughter. Beth finally lowers her guard enough to meet a former U.S. soldier (Quinto) unfazed by her checkered past.

Noir City: Hollywood returns to the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre this week with a program that replicates the movie-going experience of the classic noir era – ten double bills, each featuring a major studio "A" paired with a shorter "B" movie. The full schedule and program notes can be found on the American Cinematheque's website. (HT to Mystery Fanfare)

Fox released the first official trailer for My Cousin Rachel, based on the dark psychological romance-thriller by Daphne du Maurier. Sam Claflin stars as a young Englishman seeking revenge against his cousin Rachel, believing that she is the one behind the murder of his guardian. But when the beautiful and alluring Rachel (Rachel Weisz) comes and visits his large estate, he starts to have a change of heart, leading to tragic consequences.

TELEVISION

CBS has renewed five freshman and eleven returning series, Including MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, Bull, Blue Bloods, Scorpion, and the three NCIS franchises. Shows that are still on the bubble include Elementary, Criminal Minds, and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Last week, it was reported that Jim Caviezel would lead CBS' Navy SEAL pilot but this week, the network has replaced him with Bones star David Boreanaz after Caviezel left over "creative differences." For the still untitled project, David Boreanaz will play a character named Jason, a dedicated and talented commander of a team of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute their dangerous, high-stakes missions.

Chris Messina (Live by Night) will play the male lead, Kansas City Detective Richard Willis, opposite Amy Adams in HBO's eight-episode drama ser
ies Sharp Objects, which is based on the book by Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn. Taylor John Smith was also added to the cast playing John Keene, who has barely slept since the murder of his 13-year-old sister, Natalie, but his sensitive and temperamental nature raises eyebrows and causes him to become a prime suspect in the murder investigation.

John Leguizamo has been cast opposite Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch in Waco, a six-part event series produced by Weinstein TV, set to air on Paramount Network in 2018. The project tells the story of the 51-day Texas standoff in 1993 between the FBI, ATF and David Koresh’s spiritual sect (The Branch Davidians) which resulted in a deadly fire. Leguizamo will play ATF agent Robert Rodriguez who was sent into Koresh’s Mount Carmel to gather evidence and build a federal case against the Branch Davidians but forged a bond with the people inside.

Brian Stokes Mitchell is set for a series-regular role opposite Noah Wyle in Perfect Citizen, CBS’ legal drama pilot from The Good Wife executive producer Craig Turk. Perfect Citizen centers on Deck (Wyle), the former general counsel for the NSA who, after his involvement as a whistleblower in an international scandal, embarks on a new career at a storied law firm in Boston. Once there, he must face the reality that half the country thinks he’s our greatest patriot and the other half thinks he’s a traitor. Mitchell will play Deck’s best friend since law school and a powerful ally.

Penelope Cruz has landed a lead role in the third season of Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story, which centers on the murder of famous fashion designer Gianni Versace. Penelope Cruz will play Versace's sister Donatella and joins stars Edgar Ramirez and Darren Criss, who will play Versace and his murderer, Andrew Cunanan.

Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse) will join CBS’ Bull beginning Tuesday, May 9. Dushku will play J.P. Nunnelly, the savvy head of the best criminal defense firm in New York, who is hired by Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly) when a member of his Trial Analysis Corporation team faces prison time. She will appear in three episodes of Season 1 with an option to become a series regular in Season 2.

Rebecca Henderson (Mistress America) joins Discovery Channel’s upcoming anthology FBI crime drama series Manhunt: Unabomber, which tells the story about the hunt for Ted Kaczynski, who terrified the nation with a letter bombing campaign in the 1980s and early 1990s. Henderson will play Judy Clarke, Ted’s defense attorney and the object of Ted’s affection, a seasoned and savvy defense attorney who has made a career of defending high-profile death-penalty cases.  

Olivia Sandoval (Medium) has booked a key recurring role on the upcoming third season of FX’s Fargo that features Ewan McGregor (in dual roles), Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and David Thewlis. The network recently released a trailer that has Ewan McGregor making his impressive debut as curly haired and successful Emmit Stussy and bald-headed and pot-bellied Ray Stussy.

Dick Wolf has another new show coming, but this one’s not an NBC procedural. The docuseries Inside the FBI: New York will premiere April 27 on USA Network, which also released the first promo for the series that takes an unprecedented look at the Bureau’s New York field office.

Fox is going to hold the final four episodes from the current second season of the supernatural procedural Lucifer for next season, which will air on top of the original Season 3 order of 22 newly produced episodes. Lucifer executive producer Joe Henderson said the four episodes can “stand on their own, but also pick up plots we’ve introduced and bring in new stuff we’ll play with season 3."

The premiere date of April 23 was set for El Chapo, the Univision series starring Marco de la O as drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The first trailer was released for the docudrama Casting JonBenet, which is an unusual hybrid of a true crime drama and a "peek at the actors who auditioned for roles in a dramatic retelling of the world’s most sensational child-murder case."

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Best-selling author CJ Box stopped by KGWN-TV to talk about his latest book, Vicious Circle, once again featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett.

Jimmy Kimmel Live welcomed Noah Hawley, author of Before the Fall.

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomed crime fiction author James L'Etoile to the studio talking about his writing and stories influenced by men doing life behind bars.

Hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste of Two Crime Writers and a Microphone profiled the London Book Fair and were joined by Russel D McLean, author of the new noir tale Ed's Dead, to talk about famous relatives, road signs, crime fiction, and B movies.

Suspense Radio's Inside Edition featured a Q&A with crime fiction authors Brad Parks (Say Nothing), Anthony Franze (The Outsider), and Dale Wiley (Southern Gothic).

The most recent Writer Types (Episode 3) included interviews with Johnny Shaw and Sue Ann Jaffarian and a special audio documentary from the latest Noir at the Bar in L.A. with Glen Erik Hamilton, John Lansing, Nolan Knight, Travis Richardson, and Sarah M. Chen.

John Lescroart (the Dismas Hardy series of legal thrillers) and Steph Broadribb (author of the debut novel, Deep Down Dead) stopped by Next Steps LIVE.

Award-winning author Elizabeth Heiter (the profiler series) joined Alex Dolan on Thrill Seekers.

Author R&R with Charles Salzberg

Charles Salzberg is a novelist, journalist, and acclaimed writing instructor. He is the author of the Henry Swann detective series, including Swann’s Last Song which was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel and Devil in the Hole, which was named one of the best crime novels of 2013 by Suspense magazine. He has taught writing at Sarah Lawrence College, Hunter College, the Writer’s Voice, and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding Member. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, New York Magazine, and GQ. He lives in New York City.

In Salzberg's critically-acclaimed literary thriller Devil in the Hole, detective Charlie Floyd was obsessed with catching an abominable murderer. In the sequel, Second Story Man, Floyd is not-so comfortably settled into being recently retired when he's abruptly drawn back into the game by Cuban-born Miami police detective Manny Perez, who is on a mission to catch a notoriously elusive thief. Working together as an unlikely team, Perez and Floyd act on a rumor that Hoyt is about to depart the wealthy homes of Florida to begin a string of robberies in the northeast. Confident they are hot on their prey's trail, the two detectives embark on their quest only to have Hoyt elude their grasp time and time again.

Salzberg stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the book:

 

Unlike most of my novels, Second Story Man began with research as opposed to beginning with a character or plot. In the past, I’ve relied heavily on interviews with experts, which is where my experience as a magazine journalist kicks in. For instance, for Swann Dives In, which takes place in the world of rare books, I interviewed a rare book dealer. But this time around, I found it more useful to rely on the Internet for my research.

Years ago, I read an article in The New Yorker about a burglar named Blane Nordahl. Nordahl was a master at his chosen trade: breaking into the homes of the very wealthy and stealing only their valuable silver. No plated trays for him. Only the good stuff, especially if it had a provenance, like something made by Paul Revere. Nordahl was acknowledged as one of if not the best in the business, and with good reason. He rarely left forensic “footprints,” and in a long career the clever, athletic thief racked up a number of memorable heists, including, as I recall, Ivana Trump’s silver. The article also told the tale of the lawmen who were obsessed with bringing him to justice.

The first step in my research was finding and rereading that article. By the time I finished, an idea for a novel begin to take form.

For some time, I’ve been fascinated (and disturbed) by Americans’ need to be the best and to win, often at all costs. Perhaps, I thought, I can base create a master burglar and use him to examine this obsession with winning.

I knew very little about breaking and entering (this is a good thing, right?) so I began to research the subject, using Google to find newspaper and magazine articles. Along the way, I read about a fellow named Alan Golder, another master burglar, but with a twist. He only hit at dinner time, when he knew his victims would be home (along with all of their valuables) and most likely having dinner downstairs, while their jewelry and other items of value, sat upstairs, unguarded. Like Nordahl, Golder was also a master at what he did, also making him extremely difficult to catch.

As a result of my research, I was able to create Francis Hoyt, a very loose combination of Nordahl and Golder, adding, of course, a healthy dose of imagination (the character’s backstory and actions are completely made up).

I needed someone to pursue Hoyt, someone just as obsessed with “winning.” Here, I cheated a little by “borrowing” two characters from a previous novel, Devil in the Hole, which was based on a true crime: a man named John List who murdered his three children, wife, mother and the family dog and disappeared into thin air. For that novel, most of my research centered around the actual crime, especially how the bodies were found, since several weeks passed before anyone knew they were dead and List was on the lam. This led to going back to my own earlier novel to research the two other characters, Charlie Floyd and Manny Perez. Floyd was a major character, a cocky Connecticut State investigator, while Manny Perez, a Cuban-American Miami police detective, was so minor he only appears briefly in one chapter of the book. These two men, I decided, would team up to bring down Hoyt. I reread Devil, so I could make sure Floyd would be consistent with his earlier self (for the new novel, I had him as recently retired from his job), while with Perez, I had a little more leeway, since very little was known about him.

Once I had my three major characters, I set out to research the art of burglary. Using articles I found on the web, I learned how to bypass alarm systems (if someone checks my browser history they could make a pretty good case tagging me as a burglar in training), as well as other handy burglary tips. I also used a book called, 400 Things Cops Know, paying special attention to the things pertaining to breaking and entering.

The novel takes place primarily in and around Miami, Florida, as well as in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Obviously, being a native New Yorker, I didn’t need much help there. Ditto with New Jersey and to a lesser extent Connecticut, since I fictionalized Floyd’s hometown of Sedgewick. But still, I needed help with specific places. For instance, the opening scene takes place at the Fountainbleu Hotel, where I’d briefly visited once in my early 20s, but I needed to check it out on the web to get a good picture of what the hotel was like now. And then, on his bus journey from Miami to New York—you’ll have to read the book to find out why a bus rather than a plane, train or car—Hoyt stops in Charleston, S. C., a place I’ve never been. And so, back to the web, where I found maps and descriptions of the city—and even watched a news feature on Charleston, so I could fix in my mind how parts of the city and area looked. I also checked on local bus routes, since Hoyt makes a “special” tour of the city before he continues his trip north.

 

You can find out more about Charles Salzberg and Second Story Man via his website or Down & Out Books, or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Second Story Man is available via all major bookstores in both print and ebook formats.

Mystery Melange

The Lefty Awards from this year's Left Coast Crime conference were announced and include the Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel: Ellen Byron, Body on the Bayou; the Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1960: Catriona McPherson, The Reek of Red Herrings; the Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel: Alexia Gordon, Murder in G Major; and the Lefty for Best Mystery Novel: Louise Penny, A Great Reckoning.

The inaugural Jhalak prize, set up to address UK publishing’s long lack of diversity, has been awarded to Jacob Ross’s crime novel The Bone Readers, topping a varied shortlist to take the £1,000 prize.

Foreword Reviews announced the finalists for their annual INDIES Book of the Year Awards, including those in the Mystery and Thriller categories.

The Independent Book Publishers Association announced finalists for that organization's Benjamin Franklin Awards for literary excellence, including Mystery & Suspense titles.

Ian Rankin announced details of the program for RebusFest, a weekend of literature, music, art and film in Rebus’s hometown of Edinburgh, which takes place from June 30 to July 2, 2017. The three-day festival, curated by Rankin, marks the thirtieth anniversary of John Rebus, one of crime fiction’s greatest and best-loved creations.

Mystery Fest Key West has announced a call for submissions for this year’s Whodunit Mystery Writing Competition. The winner will claim a book-publishing contract with Absolutely Amazing eBooks, free Mystery Fest Key West 2017 registration, airfare, hotel accommodations for two nights, meals, and a Whodunit Award trophy to be presented at the 4th Annual Mystery Fest Key West, set for June 16-18 in Key West, Florida. For more information and deadlines, follow this link.

There is a call for papers for the panel Criminal Heritage: Crime, Fiction, and History to be held September 5 at Leeds Beckett University. This interdisciplinary conference aims to explore, analyse, and debate the relationship between crime, narrative, and history. They invite proposals (of 200 words or less) for 20-minute papers relating to the conference theme. (HT to Shots Magazine)

One bit of sad news to report: Colin Dexter, author of the popular Inspector Morse novels that were later made into a TV series featuring John Thaw as the detective, has died at the age of 86. Several authors paid tribute with remembrances and affection for their late colleague.

Some happy publication news: Down & Out Books, publisher of literary and award-winning crime fiction, is teaming up with author and critic Rick Ollerman to edit and produce an all new quarterly magazine showcasing the best of the short crime fiction market. Debuting in June 2017, Down & Out: The Magazine promises it "will include something for all fans of the genre."

And some not-so-happy publication news: The editors of the small press Blasted Heath, in business since 2011, announced they were shutting down. The press published authors such as Anonymous-9, Ray Banks, Nigel Bird, Gerard Brennan, Douglas Lindsay, and Anthony Neil Smith.

Fans of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys might not recognize their latest iteration as a cross-over graphic novel, The Big Lie. When the teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are accused of the murder of their father - a detective in the small resort town of Bayport - they must team up with the femme fatale Nancy Drew to prove their innocence.

Researchers planned to exhume a grave in Leytonstone, East London, hoping to find remains of the final Jack the Ripper victim, Mary Jane Kelly, but they concluded it would be a "Herculean effort" and would cost too much. Lead researcher Dr. Turi King was part of the team that confirmed a skeleton found beneath Leicester car park in 2012 belonged to Richard III.

Book Riot posted a list of "5 Japanese Crime Writers that Should Be On Your Radar."

Every time writers believe the tired and antiquated "literary vs. genre" fiction trope has been laid to rest, it rears its ugly head once more. This time, in was in the form of William O’Rourke, an emeritus professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, who dissed crime fiction in recent remarks and prompted thirteen authors to take him to task for dismissing them and their readers.

Jacob Stone (the pen name chosen by award-winning author Dave Zeltserman for his new Morris Brick series of serial-killer thrillers) took the Page 69 Test to Deranged, the first Morris Black thriller.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "The Cursed and Captured Highwayman" by Kelli Simpson.

In the Q&A roundup, British/Canadian writer Peter Robinson stopped by Australia's Daily Review to promote the latest novel in his DCI Banks crime series, When the Music’s Over; and Paul D. Brazill had a flurry of "Short, Sharp Interview" Q&As with Matt Bay (Bay of Martyrs); Paul Heatley (Fat Boys), and Gerald M. O'Connor (The Origins of Benjamin Hackett).

Author R&R with Sherri Smith

Sherri Smith wrote two historical fiction novels for Simon & Schuster UK before deciding to try her hand at crime fiction. Her debut thriller is Follow Me Down, which she says is the type of book she also enjoys reading, namely, one filled with small town secrets, a troubled main character, guilt, addiction, and the complexities of sibling relationships. Inspired by the long, cold winters of Winnepeg, Canada that nurture her dark side, the book is set in the chilly fictional town of Wayoata, North Dakota.

Follow me Down centers on Mia Haas, who has built a life for herself far from the small town where she grew up, but when she receives word that her twin brother is missing, she’s forced to return home. Once hailed as the golden boy of their small town, Lucas Haas disappeared the same day the body of one of his high school students is pulled from the river. Trying to wrap her head around the rumors of Lucas’s affair with the teen, and unable to reconcile the media’ portrayal of Lucas as a murderer with her own memories, Mia is desperate to find another suspect. All the while, she wonders, "if he’s innocent, why did he run?" As Mia reevaluates their difficult, shared history and launches her own investigation into the grisly murder, she uncovers secrets that could exonerate Lucas—or seal his fate. In a small town where everyone’s history is intertwined, Mia will be forced to confront her own demons, placing her right in the killer’s crosshairs.

Sherri stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R on how she went about researching and writing the book:

 

When I started writing Follow Me Down, the last thing I wanted to do was research. I was completely research-fatigued (if that’s a thing?) I had previously written two historical fiction novels for Simon and Schuster UK and both required a grueling amount of investigation into the customs, daily life and politics of the two very different periods they were set in. My methods were the same for each. I read from the era, about the era, I’d make contact with PhD professors who specialized in some aspect of said era. This part was fairly enjoyable because I do love history, specifically those everyday life details, but when I got to the writing part I’d seize up. I became nearly paralyzed at the thought of getting something wrong and undoing the research I’d done. Or ruining the believability of the time period because I’d inadvertently included something that shouldn’t be there (and it happened anyway.) Very quickly, writing in this genre became too stifling and clinical for me.  I was too panicky about all the wrong things.

So for Follow Me Down, I was practically going out of my way to do as little research as possible. But of course I wasn’t off the hook completely. My main character, Mia Haas has a pill addiction and because I am not personally a pill-popper, I had to do some reading.

Straight off, there’s the Internet of course. I looked up everything Mia takes in the novel there first, poring over the fine print (AKA dire warning labels) and this gave me an initial feel for whatever medication Mia tosses back. The sort of side effects she might get, or what meds might not mix well.

That of course wasn’t enough. I wanted to get a better sense of what she was actually experiencing when those pills fizzed away in her stomach and let loose in her blood stream. So from there I turned to forums where people freely discussed their drug use. How it made them feel, what they recommended to one another and what one might want more of and why. I lurked around those forums a lot. Probably way too much.

The Internet is a dangerous place to do your research though, it drags you in and next thing you know, you’ve lost countless hours chasing after some bit of information that didn’t matter anyway. I remember spending way too much time one afternoon reading all about Viagra’s origin story, which didn’t show up in my book at all.

Because my main character is also a pharmacist, I followed a few grumbling blogs by pharmacists. These gave me amazing insight into what these particular people felt like working in a chain pharmacy. What their hours were like, what made them mad, how overworked they felt. How they got along with co-workers in a relatively closed space. It definitely helped me get inside Mia’s head.

I’d also call my local Safeway pharmacy a lot. A LOT. I struck up a great friendship with a certain lovely pharmacist (let’s just call her Phyllis the pharmacist because it sounds suitably fake) who patiently answered all my very sketchy questions. Of course not before establishing I didn’t need an ambulance or poison control. I really can’t extoll the virtues of pharmacists enough. They really pick up serious slack in the health care system.  

And while I can’t say Mia is what you’d call a shining example of the pharmaceutical profession, she definitely epitomizes the smarts it takes to be in that line of work. She’s got meds and she knows how to use them (and yes, I am typing this with the tune of She’s Got Legs going off in my head.) This is where my research actually became fun. It was like being in a druggie’s candy-shop, getting to choose whatever I wanted but without any of the risk. I got to pump my character full of pills that would enhance her best (and sometimes worst) qualities. She gets to stay up longer, numb herself to mounting dread and keep herself sharp on stimulates so she can eventually get to the truth. It was a bit like writing a super-hero, but one who gets hangovers.

Unlike my earlier dealings with research, I now know when to stop and how to better dodge getting too embroiled in it. But still, going forward I will continue to avoid it as much as possible.

 

Follow Me Down was released today and is available from all major booksellers. You can read more about the book and follow Sheri via her website, Twitter, or Facebook.

Media Murder for Monday

Here's your weekly roundup of the latest crime drama news:

MOVIES

Sony Pictures is moving forward with the delayed follow-up to the studio’s 2011 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (based on the Millennium book series created by Stieg Larsson), which is now slated for an October 2018 release. However, there is a catch; director Fede Alvarez has decided to use a whole new cast, including the role of the books' heroine Lisbeth Salander, played by Noomi Rapace in the original Swedish trilogy and Rooney Mara in Sony’s Dragon Tattoo directed by David Fincher. The sequel will be based on author David Lagercrantz's The Girl in the Spider's Web, the continuation novel authorized by Larsson's estate.

James Mangold, coming off the hit Logan, is in talks to develop and direct The Force, the upcoming NYPD corrupt cop novel by The Cartel author Don Winslow. The plot has been described by author Stephen King as "Think The Godfather, only with cops. It's that good." It tells the story of a corrupt detective in the NYPD’s most elite crime-fighting unit who has to reconcile the idealistic guardian he still views himself to be with the corrupt cop he’s become, only to find himself attacked on all fronts.

Ridley Scott is currently finalizing plans to direct All the Money in the World, based on a script by David Scarpa that tells the harrowing, real-life story of John Paul Getty III’s kidnapping and subsequent ransom. As a teenager, the grandson of J. Paul Getty was kidnapped in 1973 with a ransom of $17 million sent to the family. While it was initially believed to be staged by the rebellious teen himself, when a lock of his hair and his severed ear was sent to the family, they realized it was real.

La La Land writer-director Damien Chazelle has optioned the movie rights to his mystery thriller The Claim. The project centers on a single father with a criminal background who must uncover the whereabouts of his kidnapped daughter while fighting the mysterious claims of another couple who insist that the child is theirs.

Man Of Steel’s Henry Cavill has officially been cast in Paramount’s upcoming sequel Mission: Impossible 6, a move that director Christopher McQuarrie made last week on Instagram. According to Variety, sources say Cavill would play some sort of a right hand to the head of Cruise’s unit.

Tom Bateman is taking on the role of a villainous gangster in the Liam Neeson starring vehicle Hard Powder, being directed by Hans Petter Moland. It's an adaptation of his Norwegian film In Order of Disappearance and is set in a glitzy Rocky Mountain ski town where an upright snowplow driver's (Neeson) life is turned upside down after his son is murdered by a local drug kingpin. He then seeks to dismantle the cartel, but his vengeful crusade sparks a turf war between a Native American mafia boss and the gangster Viking (Bateman).

Common has been tapped to star in Quick Draw, a revenge action thriller written and directed by Harris Goldberg. The plot is sketchy, but is said to be set in Los Angeles and "feature hyper-intense shootouts, choreographed car chases, and hand-to-hand combat."

Mark Strong has joined Catcher Was a Spy, playing the central role of Werner Heisenberg, lead scientist for the Nazi atomic program who became the main target in the U.S. effort to infiltrate the Nazi party and determine whether they were capable of building an atomic bomb. Paul Rudd stars as baseball player Moe Berg, a spy tasked with ingratiating himself with Heisenberg and ascertaining if the scientist was a genuine threat who should be assassinated. 

TELEVISION

CBS Films prevailed in competitive bidding for screen rights to the Ruth Ware bestselling mystery novel The Woman In Cabin 10. The story follows a journalist given an irresistible travel magazine assignment, a week on a boutique ultra-luxury cruise ship with only a handful of unimaginably wealthy travelers. But the dream assignment turns into a nightmare when she watches a passenger get thrown overboard after a violent act and all of the passengers seem to be accounted for the following morning as the ship sails on like nothing happened.

Justin Lin (The Fast and The Furious, Star Trek Beyond) has made a deal with Netflix for The Stand Off, a period drama written by Black Swan scribe Heyman, which takes place in 1969 when a newly formed Police unit known as the "SWAT team" embarked on their first major operation: to raid the Los Angeles Headquarters of the Black Panther Party. 

Halfway through its first season, CBS All Access’ first original scripted series, The Good Fight, has been renewed for a second season to premiere in early 2018. The Good Fight, a spinoff from CBS’ The Good Wife, is toplined by Christina Baranski.

NBC has picked up the Jennifer Lopez-starring gritty cop drama Shades of Blue for a third season. The series stars Lopez as Harlee Santos, a single mother and dirty cop working for Ray Liotta's Lt. Wozniak, who is equally willing to step outside the law to do what needs to be done to protect and serve.

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon will be joining Ray Donovan for a recurring role for season five, playing Samantha Winslow, the strong, focused head of a motion picture studio. The series stars Liev Schreiber in the title role, a professional "fixer," the man the town’s biggest celebrities, athletes, and business moguls call to make
the most complicated and combustible situations go away. 

Timothy Hutton is set for a recurring guest star role in Amazon’s upcoming original series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. The series stars John Krasinski as Jack Ryan, who uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication that launches him into the center of a dangerous gambit with a new breed of terrorism that threatens destruction on a global scale. Hutton will play Singer, who serves as Deputy Director of Operations. The producers also announced that John Hoogenakker has booked a recurring role in the series playing a tough and salty American who works black ops for the CIA.

Hand Of God star Elaine Tan is set for a series regular role opposite John Leguizamo, Allison Miller and Neil Sandilands in Salamander, ABC’s drama pilot based on a Belgian format. Salamander centers on Ethan, a brilliant but misanthropic engineer who recruits a skeptical Homeland Security psychiatrist to help him track a mysterious bank robber whose theft of 66 specific safety deposit boxes sets in motion a series of blackmails that might be linked to a greater conspiracy. Tan will play Meghan, the master thief and anarchist who works alongside the domestic terrorist Jack Wang (Sandilands).

Elizabeth Perkins and Madison Davenport are set to co-star opposite Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson in Sharp Objects, HBO’s eight-episode drama series from Entertainment One. Adapted by Marti Noxon from the book by Gillian Flynn and directed by Jean Marc Vallée, Sharp Objects centers on reporter Camille Preaker (Adams). Fresh from a brief stay at a psychiatric hospital, Camille must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Trying to put together a psychological puzzle from her past, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too closely. 

Chicago P.D. is getting a new detective in the form of Tracy Spiridakos, who will play Hailey Upton, a detective in the robbery homicide unit. Upton is a detective described as a hard worker who earned her detective shield on her merits alone after working a mysterious undercover assignment. But because the promotion came to her that way, she's had to prove herself to some colleagues in the boys club who don't believe she earned it.

Australian actor Alex Russell has booked a series regular role opposite Shemar Moore in CBS drama pilot S.W.A.T., executive produced by The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, Neal H. Moritz, Justin Lin and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas. The project is described as an intense, action-packed procedural following a locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant Hondo (Moore), torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a highly-trained unit that is the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles. Russell will play a man known as a loose cannon with no regard for safety – who's also the newest member of Hondo’s team.

Shemar Moore is slated to make a return to Criminal Minds in the Season 12 finale, although he is not scheduled to return on a full-time basis. One reason for that is the fact Moore landed the starring role in a new CBS adaptation of the 2003 movie S.W.A.T. 

Jim Caviezel, who played the sly former special op in CBS' cyber-thriller Person of Interest, is returning to the network in a new untitled pilot about Navy SEALs. He's been cast as Jason, the leader of his team of SEALs who's well respected and experienced in the field.

Krysta Rodriguez has booked a key recurring role for the second half of Season 2 of ABC’s Quantico. Rodriguez will play the intelligent, passionate and fiercely driven founder of "the Roster," a network and visibility platform for professional women committed to helping one another rise. 

Starz has unveiled a new trailer for American Gods, which follows ex-con Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) who is hired as a bodyguard and traveling partner to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). The project is from Hannibal executive producer Bryan Fuller who created the show along with Michael Green working from Neil Gaiman’s novel.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste introduced a new feature of book reviews by blogger Craig Sisterson and also welcomed special guest Casey Kelleher, who talked about her books, how she started out, her love for Martina Cole, reality TV, and much more.

The Story Blender podcast featured Allison Brennan discussing the latest installment in her Lucy Kincaid series, Make Them Pay.

Mystery Melange

On Saturday, during the inaugural Murder and Mayhem crime fiction conference in Chicago, organizers presented Sara Paretsky with the very first Sara Paretsky Award, designed to honor great crime fiction from the Midwest. Paretsky, the author of more than 20 books, is best known for her bestselling series featuring crime protagonist V. I. Warshawski, a Chicago private investigator.

The Portland, Oregon-based fan group Friends of Mystery announced that Seattle lawyer-turned-author Robert Dugoni won his first Spotted Owl Award for The 7th Canon. The Rap Sheet has a list of finalists for the award, which celebrates the "best mystery written by an author whose primary residence is in the Pacific Northwest."

The Lamba Literary Awards were announced yesterday by Lambda Literary, the nation’s oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing LGBTQ literature. You can check out all the lists via this link, including the nominees for Best Gay Mystery and Best Lesbian Mystery.

George Smiley is set to return in the new John le Carré novel, A Legacy of Spies. The 85-year-old author is bringing his most famous character in from the cold, 25 years after the debut espionage classic Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Harlequin is launching Hanover Square Press, a new imprint led by editorial director Peter Joseph that will publish beginning in January 2018. Early acquisitions include Neil Olson's The Black Painting, a literary mystery involving a stolen work by the artist Francisco de Goya, and Red River, a debut thriller inspired in part by true crime programs such as Serial and Making a Murderer, by Daily Mail First Novel Competition winner Amy Lloyd. Future titles also include a thriller by Charles Rosenberg, who is a legal consultant for TV shows such as LA Law, Boston Legal and The Practice.

The Irish Independent's Tanya Sweeney surveyed how women are leading the charge in a male-dominated genre with "grip lit."

Pursuit Magazine profiled the daring life history of Stanley Weiss that almost sounds as if was lifted out of a spy thriller. Weiss was a mining magnate and foreign policy expert whose accidental friendship with double-agent Guy Burgess proved one of the most influential of his life.

Cuba’s top detective writer is virtually unknown in his home country, while detective fiction fans and literature buffs worldwide know and love Leonardo Padura, even watching his sleuth Mario Conde on Netflix. 

Lithub profiled Frédéric Dard, the "most prolific and widely read Francophone writer with whom hardly anybody in the English speaking world, even serious crime genre aficionados, is acquainted." Part of the problem may be that only a handful of his 300+ novels were ever translated into English.

These days, libraries not only celebrate books, but they often also offer a variety of other programs to support their communities and the arts. Coming up April 29 to June 2 in the UK, the Warrington borough’s libraries will profile classic American crime thrillers of the 1940s and 50s, such as The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity, with photographer Paul Jackson's exhibition of photographs inspired by the highly stylized black and white films as well as film screenings. Jackson's project has a bit of an interactive component, working with local models and makeup/hairdresser artists for the exhibition called Paint It Black.

Forensic science on television is often portrayed as almost instant magic, but real forensic scientists often do play the role of hero, as this recent story out of Tampa attests.

Speaking of forensics, was Jane Austin poisoned with arsenic? A lead curator of Modern Archives & Manuscripts at the British Library suggested as much in a blog post, but many scholars and medical experts say this theory is bunk, more crime fiction than plausible truth.

From California's John Steinbeck to Maine's Stephen King, here are the most famous authors from every state, including a few crime fiction writers.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "The Pickpocket's Proclamation" by Natisha Parsons.

In the Q&A roundup, Omnimystery News welcomed author Nancy Boyarsky to talk about her new first in series mystery The Swap; Owen Laukkanen talked up crime, train-hopping and "forgotten girls" with the Houston Chronicle; and Deborah Kalb chatted with Denmark's "Queen of Crime," Sara Blaedel, author of the new mystery novel The Lost Woman, the latest in her Detective Louise Rick series.

Author R&R with J.L. Abramo

J. L. ABRAMO is a long-time educator, arts journalist, film and stage actor and theater director. His evolution to writing crime fiction might have been ordained by the fact he was born on Raymond Chandler's fifty-ninth birthday. Abramo's short fiction appeared in various anthologies, but his success as a novelist began when his Catching Water in a Net (the first in his Jake Diamond series) won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America prize for Best First Private Eye Novel. A subsequent Jake Diamond novel, Circling the Runway, won the Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback Novel of 2015 presented by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Abramo also created a new series in 2012 with Gravesend, which introduced Homicide Detectives Samson and Murphy of Brooklyn's 61st Precinct. The detectives return in Coney Island Avenue during the dog days of August in Brooklyn where the men and women of the 61st Precinct are battling to keep all hell from breaking loose. Innocents are being sacrificed in the name of greed, retribution, passion and the lust for power—and the only worthy opponent of this senseless evil is the uncompromising resolve to rise above it, rather than descend to its depths.

Abramo stops by In Reference to Murder today to talk about the book and researching settings and historical periods to make his writing more accurate:

I have always been partial to novels in which location plays an essential role in the narrative.  Dennis Lehane’s Boston, George Pelecanos’ Washington D.C., Loren Estleman’s Detroit—not to mention Dickens’ London and Hugo’s Paris.  I tend, therefore, to take the settings of my novels very seriously—both in terms of significance and accuracy.

In fiction, when a story is set in a real and specific city—be it San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York—I believe the accuracy of the locale needs to be non-fictional.  Geography is sacred.  Readers are willing to suspend belief to a great extent—but if you have two characters meeting at the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway, two streets which never intersect, you will lose a large number of Brooklyn readers very quickly.

When writing places I am not very familiar with—Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Oakland, Chicago—the research is both extensive and educational.  I study maps.  With locations I am more familiar with, having lived in those places or visited many times—San Francisco, Brooklyn, Denver—I rely on recollection but always double-check geography.  In writing Gravesend and Coney Island Avenue, it was a journey back to the places where I had grown from infancy to manhood—re-walking the streets of my past—making certain those streets were represented correctly.

I have also had to do a great deal of research with regard to period.  In the first Jake Diamond novel, Catching Water in a Net set in 2000, Jake turns 40 at the end of the book.  By the time the third in the series was released, set in 2003, Jake was 43.  The fourth book in the series, Circling the Runway, came nearly a dozen years later, 2015, however (since I didn’t wish to have my protagonist pushing 55 years old quite yet) I decided to set the narrative back to 2004.  This required re-familiarization with the sports, music, literature, movies, and other historical events and cultural elements of that year.  It required study.  Similarly, for Chasing Charlie Chan, set in 1994 and flashing back to Hollywood and Las Vegas in the late-forties, I needed to do a great deal of reading about those periods and about the characters in the book who were actual historical figures. In cases like these, research for a novel can be enjoyable—the knowledge gained about the highly successful and prolific Charlie Chan film franchise was fascinating.  Non-fiction books such as The Charlie Chan Film Encyclopedia, Las Vegas: An Unconventional History, We Only Kill Each Other—and many newspaper and magazine articles about Werner Oland, Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel, Mickey Cohen, Meyer Lansky—were invaluable and terrifically entertaining.  I was also aided and inspired by the works of James Ellroy—L.A. Confidential and others.

The investigative work of my protagonists—whether private eye Jake Diamond in California or Brooklyn NYPD detectives Samson, Ripley, Senderowitz and Murphy in Gravesend and my latest novel, Coney Island Avenue—tend to be more about intuition, legwork and often luck than about highly scientific forensics.  For that research I tend to go back to reading about true crime investigations from the pre-CSI era.  I also seek out older private and police detectives who recall the good old days of criminal investigation—when being a gumshoe meant hitting the pavement—and who enjoy sharing reminiscence over Scotch.

Although I write predominantly fiction—I am committed to truth and fact when it comes to specific locations, time periods, vernacular and personalities.  Homework is always required—but it is the kind of homework that is challenging, enlightening and, for this writer, a world of fun.  And more fun yet—my next novel will require brushing up on my Italian language skills.

 

Coney Island Justice is available via Down and Out Books and from all major booksellers. You can find more about J.L. Abramo via his website or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Media Murder for Monday

Welcome to Monday and the weekly wrap-up of crime drama news:

MOVIES

Sony is picking up the rights to Hunting El Chapo: The Thrilling Inside Story of the American Lawman Who Captures the World’s Most-Wanted Drug Lord, the upcoming book by Cole Merrell and Douglas Century. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is the Sinoloa drug cartel boss who, in addition to being one of the most powerful crime lords of all time, had a knack for escaping his prisons. The project will compete with Fox's thriller, The Cartel, adapted from Don Winslow's fictional take on El Chapo, with Ridley Scott attached to helm. 

Tom Hanks' techno-thriller The Circle will have its much anticipated world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 29. Based on David Eggers’ 2013 novel of the same name, The Circle examines how perilous it is for technology companies to know everything about you at all times.

The STX action thriller Den of Thieves starring Gerard Butler and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will be released on Jan. 19, 2018. The movie will also star Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. and Evan Jones, directed by Christian Gudegast from his original screenplay written with Paul Scheuring. The project follows an elite crew of bank robbers who set out to pull off the ultimate heist when they realize $120 million in cash is taken out of circulation daily and destroyed by the Federal Reserve.

TELEVISION

Jonathan Kellerman’s best-selling Alex Delaware novels will be adapted as a TV series by IDW Entertainment. Launched in 1985 with When the Bough Breaks, the novels follow Alex Delaware, a forensic psychologist who works with the LAPD to assist in solving murder cases. His partner in crime, Milo Sturgis, is a gay homicide detective, which has prompted praise from mainstream critics and the LGBT community for creating realistic and developed characters.

A second series of the award-winning spy drama The Night Manager is in development, according to director Susanne Bier. Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman starred in the BBC One thriller based on John le Carre's 1993 novel, but there is no word yet on their return for the follow-up. Although the book doesn't have a sequel, Susanne Bier, who won an Emmy for directing the first series, said that scripts for a second installment were being developed by "a team of writers," and BBC TV chief Charlotte Moore told The Telegraph that "Le Carre is very involved" in discussions about the next series. 

House of Lies alum Larenz Tate is set as the male lead opposite Allison Miller in the ABC drama pilot Salamander. The story centers on Ethan (Tate), a brilliant but misanthropic engineer who recruits a skeptical Homeland Security psychiatrist, Nora (Miller) to help him track a mysterious bank robber whose theft of 66 safety deposit boxes sets in motion a series of blackmails that might be linked to a greater conspiracy. South African actor Neil Sandilands will play Jack, a domestic terrorist of sorts, while John Leguizamo will co-star as an ex-cop and one of Ethan’s best friends.

Shudder, the premium streaming service backed by AMC Networks, has acquired the Scandi-noir drama Jordskott from ITV Studios Global Entertainment. The first two episodes of Season 1 will launch April 6, with two new episodes premiering each week thereafter. The 10-episode first season focuses on the seven-year disappearance of police investigator Eva Thörnblad’s (Moa Gammel) daughter, Josefine.

Patricia Clarkson is set to co-star in Gillian Flynn’s drama Sharp Objects for HBO. The straight-to-series eight-episode drama centers on reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Eventually, she finds herself identifying with the girls too much. Clarkson will play Adora Crellin, Camille’s mother, and queen of Wind Gap’s highest society. 

Hal Holbrook is heading to Hawaii to guest-star on an upcoming episode of Hawaii Five-0. He'll play a veteran who served in the military with Steve McGarrett's (Alex O'Loughlin) grandfather and survived the bombing of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sleepy Hollow alum Lance Gross has booked a series regular role opposite Meaghan Rath in The Trustee, ABC’s dramedy described as "a fun, female buddy cop comedy" about Eliza Radley, a driven but stubborn detective who finds unlikely help from her precinct’s trustee, a larger-than-life ex-con finishing out her prison sentence doing menial tasks for the police department. Gross will play police detective J.D. Hayes, a colleague and love interest of Radley.

Bobby Cannavale is joining the cast of USA Network’s Mr. Robot, while longstanding guest star B.D. Wong will be a series regular when the show returns sometime in October. Cannavale will play the the role of "Irving, described as a “laconic, no-nonsense used car salesman," and Wong continues his role as Whiterose, leader of the Dark Army hacker collective backed by China.

Erin Moriarty will take on a key role in Fox’s untitled university thriller drama pilot (formerly known as Controversy), joining Archie Panjabi, Austin Stowell, and Rita Wilson in the cast. The project tackles the hot-button topic of college campus sexual crimes, with Moriarty playing a co-ed who accuses several star fo
otball players of assault.

USA Network has found its actors to play Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. in the upcoming pilot Unsolved: The Murders of Biggie and Tupac. Marcc Rose (Shakur in Straight Outta Compton) will take on the role of Tupac, while Wavvy Jonez, who was discovered during a nationwide open casting call, will play Biggie Smalls. The drama is based on the experiences of former LAPD detective Kading, who is consulting on the pilot script and will also serve as co-executive producer.

Roslyn Ruff is set for a series-regular role opposite Reba McEntire in ABC’s untitled Marc Cherry drama pilot from ABC Studios. The project stars McEntire as Ruby Adair, the sheriff of colorful small town Oxblood, KY, who finds her red-state outlook challenged when a young FBI agent of Middle Eastern descent is sent to help her solve a horrific crime. Ruff will play Inez Winemiller, a jolly church lady who runs the local bed and breakfast.

CBS has punted (for now) the untitled Paul Attanasio Latino cop family drama pilot, executive produced by Leonard Goldberg, for "casting reasons." Written by Homicide creator Attanasio, the drama revolves around the multi-generational members of a Mexican-American family with deep roots in San Diego intertwine personally and professionally due to their powerful careers in law enforcement. 

Ewan McGregor is almost unrecognizable in the trailer for the third season of Noah Hawley's anthology series Fargo, which returns in April. McGregor will play the dual roles of twin brothers whose lives are turned upside down because of their twisted sibling rivalry that leads to petty theft and even murder.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomed Allison Brennan to the studio to discuss her two series—the Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan thrillers and the Maxine Revere cold case mysteries.

Hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, of the Two Crime Writers and Microphone podcast, discussed censorship, World Book Day, writing, and more and also welcomed special guest Daniel Cole, who talked about his novel Ragdoll.

Beyond the Covers snagged author Alan Jacobson to discuss his latest thriller featuring esteemed FBI profiler Karen Vail who's on the hunt for an escaped serial killer.

Noir on the Radio host Greg Barth welcomed crime fiction author Chris Roy, who has a unique take on crime as a currently-imprisoned author. Independent publishers New Pulp Press signed Chris for his novel Sharp as a Razor in late 2016 and later that same year also picked up his Shocking Circumstances trilogy. 

THEATER

Tony Award-winning 59 Productions (An American in Paris, War Horse) and writer Duncan Macmillan are bringing Paul Auster's seminal American novel City of Glass to life in the world premiere stage adaptation at Manchester's Home Theater. The story follows reclusive crime writer Daniel Quinn who receives a mysterious call seeking a private detective in the middle of the night and quickly and unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a thriller of his own. The production continues at The Home through March 18 before moving on to the Lyric Hammersmith, 20 April-20 May

GAMES

Late Shift: A Cinematic FMV Crime Thriller is headed to PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The setup: after being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. The consequences of his actions take him on a vicious and violent journey across the capital, escaping the twisted web the player has the power to weave.

Mystery Melange

Barnes & Noble announced that Abby Geni’s The Lightkeepers, "a sublime debut novel about a young woman who finds herself at the center of a murder mystery on a remote island," was the winner of the 2016 Discover Award for fiction, a prize that carries with it $30,000 and a full year of marketing and merchandising support from the bookseller.

English teacher Claire McFall took home the inaugural Scottish teenage book prize for her YA thriller Black Cairn Point, set in Dumfries and Galloway. Teenagers across the country voted for her book in the prize that was set up by the Scottish Book Trust with support from Creative Scotland to  encourage teens to actively celebrate the books they love. McFall's Ferryman previously won the Older Readers Category of the Scottish Children's Book Awards 2013 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

Melbourne, Australia's first Noir at the Bar event is heading down under on March 28 at the Grub Street Bookshop. Organizers Andrew Nette and Iain Ryan will be joined by Kat Clay, Liam Jose, Leigh Redhead, Jock Serong and Emma Viskic for readings from the noir fiction stylists "and drinks in a cool establishment."

Tuesday, April 25 at City Lights Booksellers in San Francisco, can catch Oakland Noir, a panel moderated by Eddie Muller a.k.a. the "Czar of Noir" and Jerry Thompson and featuring authors Kim Addonizio, Nick Petrulakis, Jamie DeWolf, Joe Loya. The panel celebrates the new crime fiction anthology from Akashic Books on the topic, continuing the publisher's "city noir" series with each story is a particular anthology set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

The third annual Independent Bookstore Day this year will take place on Saturday, April 29, with 457 stores from around the country participating. Organizers of the event are offering bookstores promotional literary items, and each store will also have its own listing of special guests, author signings, live music, cupcakes, scavenger hunts, kids events, art tables, readings, barbecues, contests more. For participating stores near you, check out this map from the official website. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

The latest issue of Suspense Magazine has interviews with Patricia Cornwell, James Rollins, Mark Greaney, Matt Hilton, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Carey Baldwin, Kelly Parsons, and debut author Mikel Santiago. Jon Land also talks about writing fiction and there is the usual lineup of review galore.

From Sandra Seamans comes news that Rick Ollerman will be launching a new digest-sized magazine this summer called DOWN & OUT: The Magazine. The first issue features a new Moe Prager story by Reed Farrel Coleman and the second a new Sheriff Dan Rhodes story by Bill Crider. It's always a pleasure to welcome a new venue for short crime fiction to the scene, and we wish the endeavor all the best. You can check out the placeholder website link here.

On the other end of the spectrum, The Bookseller reported that subscribers of the quarterly Crime Scene Magazine were told the publication is shutting down. Established only in 2015, the magazine devoted to crime TV, film and books was available in print and digital forms and featured previews and reviews, interviews, features, and on set-reports, all in an eye-catching format.

The UK's National Railway Museum opens a free new exhibition trail March 23 through September 3 titled The Missing Passenger. Participants can unearth the clues on platforms 5 and 6 in this mysterious railway crime scene, unpick motives, and reach the final conclusion of this curious whodunnit. To celebrate, the museum is offering the chance for UK residents to win afternoon Champagne Tea for Two in the Countess of York at the National Railway Museum, plus a stay at the Novotel York Central.

Northern Illinois University is using grant money to digitize a large collection of dime novels, the popular format of short works from the 19th century, and are making them available online for browsing. Titles include the Nick Carter detective series, the James Brady detective series, and the New York Detective Library. (HT to Bill Crider)

Do you like your crime fiction on the cozy side? Then, you should check out this list of the "Top 10 Cozy Mystery Blogs."

Love that old book smell? A Columbia University preservation expert and a curator at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan have created "an unusual poetic-scientific experiment in the little-visited olfactory wing of history, trying to pin down the powerful connection between smell and memory." Part of their efforts to convey a sense of the building’s history beyond just its look and feel is to replicate the aromas inside the personal book vault of John Pierpont Morgan, the financier and collector who built the library in 1906.

The New Yorker had a little fun with a tongue-in-cheek look at "Mystery Novels Inspired by a Co-Working Space."
 
This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Twenty-Seven" by Lisa Olsson.

In the Q&A roundup, Criminal Element sat down with Eliot Pattison, author of The Skeleton God, the ninth Inspector Shan mystery; the Mystery People
welcomed David Joy to talk about his new novel The Weight Of This World, which continues the "rural noir" theme of his debut novel, Where All Light Tends to Go; the MP gang also interviewed Tim Dorsey, known for his mischievous characters and their bizarre adventures, including his latest Florida-based book, Clownfish Blues; and Craig Sisterson snagged Brad Parks (the only author to have won the Nero, Shamus, and Lefty awards for crime writing) for an interview over on the Crime Watch blog.