Mystery Melange - Holiday Edition

Janet Rudolph is continuing her Crime for the Holidays lists of Chanukah and Christmas themed mysteries, over on the Mystery Fanfare blog. The latter list has grown so large that it's split into multiple parts. Here's the first installment, Christmas Books by Authors A-E, following by authors F-L, and finally those that fall under M-Z. She even has a separate list of Winter Solstice Mysteries.

I've reported on this before, but Smithsonian Magazine recently took note of how "Iceland’s Christmas Book Flood Is a Force of Nature," and definitely a tradition I'd love to see embraced everywhere. Bibliophiles the world over cherish the legend of Jólabókaflóð, Iceland’s "Christmas book flood" in which publishers release new titles in time for the holidays. As the legend goes, each and every citizen of the uniquely literary nation gifts and receives books, and on December 24 everybody curls up with steaming cups of hot chocolate and plenty of reading with family and friends.

The Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast has been featuring Christmas-themed episodes this month. The first is the mystery short story, "The Afternoon Before Christmas" by Mark Murphy, as read by actor Sean Hopper; the second is the "Saint Nicked," written by Herschel Cozine (first published by Untreed Reads) and read by actor Larry Mattox.

Kings River Life also has several Christmas mystery short stories for the holiday season, including "Police Navidad" by Josh Pachter; "Bring It" by Terry Shames; "Santa's Helper" by John M. Floyd; and "Home for Christmas" by C.B. Peterson.

Charles Dickens, already a bestselling author of novels such as Oliver Twist, visited the United States just before the Civil War in 1842 and was not impressed. He didn't set foot back on American soil until a quarter-century later, lured by the tireless efforts of James T. Fields, the exclusive American publisher of Dickens's literary works. The resulting tour was a little like the Beatles U.S. event a century later, with crowds camped in frigid streets all night for one-dollar tickets that scalpers sold for $10. Dickens performed alone behind a podium without the aid of scenery, props, music, amplification, or costumes, including a December 1867 version of his abridged A Christmas Carol. One critic wrote that Dickens "dazzles you with 20 personalities."

The Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas, shared a photo on Instagram of its Lone Star state alternative to a snowman, noting: "We don't get snow (usually) in Houston, but there's always enough supplies to make a boxman! Everyone, we'd like to introduce you to Bertram the Boxman!" Inspired by that, fellow Houston bookstore, Murder by the Book, posted an image of its own version, Sherlock Boxman.

Did you know that "Carol of the Bells" comes from Ukraine? Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych wrote "Shchedryk" in 1916, originally as a winter folk song. The Ukrainian National Chorus brought it to the U.S. a few years later when they performed it at Carnegie Hall in October 1922 as part of a cultural diplomacy tour of the U.S. Later, American composer Peter Wilhousky gave the song its English lyrics and title in 1936, creating the contemporary Christmas staple. And now, a century after the song's North American debut and during Ukraine's latest fight for freedom, Ukrainian musicians brought "Shchedryk" back to Carnegie Hall earlier this month when the Shchedryk Children's Choir, along with several choruses and soloists, performed a concert of Ukrainian carols.

The authors at Mystery Lovers Kitchen have some suggestions for your holiday baking, including Sparkly Christmas Cookies from Peg Cochran; Candy Cane Frosting, courtesy of Cleo Coyle; Cranberry Sauce Bread via Maddie Day, Professor Plum Cake by Maya Corrigan, Abby L. Vandiver's Christmas Cookies, and many more.

Ever wonder where Advent Calendars come from? Did you know there were literary versions?Ever wonder where Advent Calendars come from? Did you know there were literary versions?

Need a little diversion when you have a few minutes between holiday parties, baking, reading, TV watching, etc.? The UK's intelligence service, Government Communications Headquarters (commonly known as GCHQ) has released its second annual GCHQ Christmas Challenge with a series of seven fiendish brainteaser puzzles (based on the seven disciplines of languages, engineering, codebreaking, analysis, maths, coding and cyber security) and a final twist: once you solve all seven puzzles, you'll need to think outside the box, using the design on the front of the card to assemble the answers.

 

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Michael Keaton, James Marsden, Marcia Gay Harden, Suzy Nakamura, Joanna Kulig, Ray McKinnon, John Hoogenakker, Lela Loren, and Al Pacino are set to star in the noir thriller, Knox Goes Away, which Keaton is directing. Keaton plays John Knox, a contract killer diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia. He vows to spend his final days attempting to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son (Marsden). He finds himself in a race against the authorities as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly deteriorating mind.

Jack Huston is set to make his feature directorial debut with Day of the Fight, a project that will re-team him with his Boardwalk Empire colleague, Michael Pitt, who will star. Huston will also write and produce the movie about a once-celebrated boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present, on the day of his first fight since leaving prison. Production is underway in New York and New Jersey. Day of the Fight will also star One Night in Miami's Nicolette Robinson, Oscar winner Joe Pesci, John Magaro, and Ron Perlman.

Legendary Entertainment and AfterShock Media have closed a deal for a feature adaptation of the latter’s graphic novel, Party & Prey, from creators Steve Orlando and Steve Foxe. Patrick Brice (Creep) has been tapped to direct from a script by Rob Forman (iZombie).  Published in 2021, the graphic novel is billed as "a social horror-thriller with a bold genre twist." It tells the story of Alan, a wealthy, older gay man, who meets a confident and attractive young man named Scott at a nightclub. Their chemistry leads them to end up at Alan’s house, where the men’s dark secrets are laid bare and they have a night together neither of them expected.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

CBS has ordered its first series for the 2023-24 season, titled It’s The Never Game, a new drama that will star and be executive produced by Justin Hartley. Based on the bestselling novel by Jeffery Deaver, The Never Game features Hartley as lone-wolf survivalist, Colter Shaw, who roams the country as a "reward seeker," using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. Robin Weigert, Abby McEnany, Eric Graise, Fiona Rene, and Academy Award Winner Mary McDonnell will also star.

NBC is developing The Chase, a crime drama from Supergirl alumna, Azie Tesfai, and Universal Television. Written and executive produced by Tesfai, The Chase follows undercover CIA agent, Robert, who falls for his target, Katherine, which sets in a motion a Bonnie-and-Clyde style escape. But the plan goes sideways when they’re captured by the American government and forced to use their opposing assets and skills to find some of the most wanted criminals in the world, all while learning the other person isn’t who they first thought.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

NPR's Fresh Air interviewed director Rian Johnson about making his latest "Agatha Christie-style whodunit," Glass Onion.

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Chip Jacobs. His latest book is The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles.

The It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club Elves settled in for a long winter's tale and shared what they've read recently, including The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning (Anty Boisjoly Mysteries #2) by P.J. Fitzsimmons, and What Child is This? (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure #5) by Bonnie MacBird.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed their favorite mysteries and thrillers of 2022.

On Crime Time FM, authors Araminta Hall (Hidden Depths), Erin Kelly (The Skeleton Key), and CL Taylor (The Guilty Couple) chatted with Victoria Selman about why women are drawn to crime fiction; reflections on violence in society; gaslighting; frenemies; media coverage; and whether women have fair representation in the press.

Mystery Melange

Nina Bhadreshwar has won the 2022 Little, Brown UEA Crime Fiction Award with her debut novel, The Day of the Roaring. The annual award is given to the best book by a graduating student from UEA’s Creative Writing Crime Fiction MA. Bhadreshwar wins the £3,000 prize, which was chaired by Sphere Fiction publishing director Ed Wood and judged by a diverse panel of Little, Brown staff. The runner up, Kat Latham, was highly commended for her novel, No Man’s Land. Previous winners included Femi Yayode (Lightseekers; published by Raven) and Emma Styles (No Country for Girls; Sphere).

Here's some conference good news: Not only will CrimeFest in Bristol celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2023, Specsavers has renewed its title sponsorship of the event through 2025. The convention has grown to be one of the biggest crime fiction conventions in Europe and will convene at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel from May 11-14, 2023, with headline authors to be announced in the New Year. The conference will also once again sponsor the CrimeFest bursary in 2023 for a crime fiction author of color, which includes attendance fees and a guaranteed panel appearance.

James Patterson has been hired to complete an unfinished Michael Crichton book. The late author’s estate provided Patterson with over 100 pages of a novel about the imminent eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, which threatens a secret cache of deadly chemical weapons. Ironically, the volcano did start erupting just last month. The author’s widow, Sherri Crichton and chief executive of CrichtonSun, a company that oversees the estate, found the manuscript after his death. She said, "Michael had been working on this book for years, it was his passion project and centered in the place that inspired him the most, Hawaii." She also noted her late husband had conducted extensive research including interviews with volcanologists and location scouting. Crichton died in 2008, leaving behind a career of books including Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Congo and Sphere, many adapted for TV and film.

Mystery Readers Journal has released its Winter 2022 issue, themed around Legal Mysteries, with columns, reviews, and Author! Author! essays. You can catch a sneak peak online (and order a print or PDF copy) with two free articles, "Grief, Loss and a Con Man Changed My Life" by Steve Cavanagh and "Writing What You Know—Sort of" by Martin Edwards.

As the end-of-the-year best books list continue apace, Barry Forshaw offered up his "End-of-Year Crime Round-Up" for The Financial Times, and Michael Dirda chose "14 mystery books to savor during the long nights of winter" for The Washington Post.

Writing for MSN Online, Nick Kolakowski investigated "The Enduring Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe’s Macabre Death," a real-life puzzle that endures.

Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Sophie Hannah, Mark Billingham, Dreda Say Mitchell, Ann Cleeves, Sara Paretsky, David Baldacci, and other crime authors revealed their favorite detectives for The Guardian, from Lew Archer to Phillip Marlowe.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Jeffrey Epstein Speaks From the Grave" by Tom Barlow.

In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene chatted with John Yearwood, whose novel, Jar of Pennies, was a featured new release in October; Crime Fiction Lover spoke with physician Cristina LePort about her debut medical thriller, Dissection; and Criminal Element had a Q&A with Peter Blauner, author of the historical suspense novel, Picture in the Sand, set in part during the filming of Cecil B. DeMille's classic The Ten Commandments in Egypt in the 1950s.

Author R&R with Mark Ellis

UK-based Mark Ellis is former barrister and entrepreneur turned thriller writer and creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War: his father served in the wartime navy and died a young man, and his mother told him stories of watching the heavy bombardment of Swansea from the safe vantage point of a hill in Llanelli, Wales. As a consequence, Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavor, crime flourished—murder, robbery, theft, rape and widespread looting. This was an intriguing, harsh and cruel world, the world of DCI Frank Merlin.

Dead in the Water is the fifth and latest installment in the Frank Merlin series, set in 1942 with the war still raging. A mangled body is found in the Thames River just as some items of priceless art go mysteriously missing. What sinister connection links the two? Following a twisting trail of secrets, Merlin and his team must investigate a baffling and deadly puzzle.

Mark Ellis stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the series:

 

The Importance of Research in my Writing

I am the author of a detective series set in World War Two London. My hero is Detective Chief Inspector Frank Merlin, a police officer working out of Scotland Yard. There are 5 books in the series to date,  and I’m currently working on the sixth. The Embassy Murders (formerly titled Princes Gate) kicked off the series with Merlin investigating deaths at Joe Kennedy’s London American Embassy in January 1940. The series then progressed to the latest, fifth book, Dead In The Water, set in August 1942, when Merlin investigates a number of deaths linked to Nazi-stolen art. The next book will take Merlin on to early summer 1943.

When I took up crime writing I chose wartime London for a number of reasons. One was that it was a period which had not been covered very much recently in crime fiction. Another was that I found out there had been a crime boom during the war. Crime grew by approximately sixty per cent in England and Wales between 1939 and 1945. Criminals benefited from the blackout, rationing and the black market, the growing market for vice, and the general civil disarray caused by bombing and the war. It seemed to me this would be a great time in which to set a detective series.

I am very keen on achieving historical accuracy in my books. I aim to transport readers to another very different time and place and in my view this cannot be done successfully without accuracy and authenticity. As to the research process I use to achieve this, it has changed a little over time. When I began writing in the early 2000s, I relied very heavily on libraries. In particular I spent a lot of time at the British Public Records Office in Kew, London, where amongst much other helpful information, they hold copies of all the newspapers printed in the war. However as the internet grew, I found that I could increasingly get much of that information online, and the balance of my research process changed, both in terms of sources and procedure.

Having built up a good detailed general knowledge of the period, my main focus now is the specific timeline of the story. Merlin 6, as mentioned above, will be set in early summer 1943. Before starting to write this autumn I spent around 3 months immersing myself in May and June 1943. I began by trawling through the internet searching for any information connected to that time. Then I did the same with my own wartime library of histories, biographies, autobiographies, diaries and literature of the period by authors like Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh and Elizabeth Bowen. Public libraries still play a part if I encounter gaps. Of course, the research process hasn’t stopped completely now I am writing. There are always facts to verify, and geographical locations to check out.

Good research is crucial, but it is important for the author to remember that the story is the most important thing. There is often a temptation to show off the depth of research done. Many readers enjoy learning new facts in historical fiction books but authors should not overdo it and allow the fruits of research to overwhelm the story. I try hard not to leave myself open to that criticism.

PS I’ve been asked to say who I would consider for the part of Frank Merlin if my series was filmed. This is not so unlikely an event as I have had tv/movie interest from the BBC and others. I like a British actor called Luke Evans who has a Hollywood pedigree (Beauty and the Beast, Midway, The Hobbit). He has similar looks and build to Merlin, as does another possibility, the experienced British actor, Orlando Bloom. Both are the right age.

 

You can learn more about Mark Ellis and his books via his website, and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Dead in the Water is available now from Headline Publishing and via all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Following the success of their Ocean’s Eleven movies, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are taking on an another heist film, The Instigators, with Doug Liman (who directed Damon in the Bourne Identity films) also on board to helm the project for Apple Original Films. Damon and Casey's brother, Ben Affleck, are producing through their newly announced banner, Artists Equity, along with Jeff Robinov and John Graham's Studio 8, and Kevin Walsh's The Walsh Company. The film, which was penned by Chuck MacLean and developed by Robinov, Graham, and Casey Affleck, follows two thieves who must go on the run with the help of one of their therapists after a robbery goes awry.

Netflix released a trailer for The Pale Blue Eye based on Louis Bayard's 2006 novel, which acts as an alternative origin story for Edgar Allan Poe. Adapted and directed by Scott Cooper, the film stars Christian Bale and hits select theaters December 23 before landing on the streamer beginning January 6. Set in the 1830s, Bale plays a local detective tasked with solving the grisly murder of a cadet at then-fledgling West Point. That’s where he meets Poe (Henry Melling), an eccentric cadet with a disdain for the rigors of the military and a penchant for poetry, and engages him to help pursue the case. The cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Hadley Robinson, Timothy Spall, Joey Brooks, Brennan Cook, Gideon Glick, Fred Hechinger, Matt Helm, Jack Irving, Steven Maier, Charlie Tahan, and Robert Duvall.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

FX has given a pilot order to The Border, a drama based on the third book in Don Winslow’s bestselling Cartel Trilogy, from Daniel Zelman, (Damages, Bloodline), Shane Salerno (Salinger, Avatar sequels, and FX Productions). E.J. Bonilla is set to lead the cast, which also includes Frank Blake, Annie Shapero, Sebastián Buitrón, and Luis Bordonada. The Border is an epic saga that reveals the dark truths about America’s failed fifty-year war on drugs, exploring the myths of the drug war through the intertwining narratives of characters on both sides of the Mexican-American border.

Better Call Saul producer, Gordon Smith, is adapting The Destroyer book series (which was first published in 1971) for Sony Pictures Television. Originated by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, The Destroyer books are about a U.S. government operative named Remo Williams, a former Newark cop framed for a crime and sentenced to death. His death is faked by the government so he can be trained as an assassin for CURE, a secret organization set up to defend the country by working outside the law. The books were previously adapted as a 1985 feature film, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.

In his first major foray into TV, Jake Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to star in and executive produce Presumed Innocent, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series from David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams, and Warner Brothers TV. The series is inspired by the courtroom thriller novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which was published in 1987 and turned into a 1990 feature starring Harrison Ford. It tells the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. Gyllenhaal will play Rusty Sabich, the fervent prosecutor suspected of killing a close colleague when the evidence begins to point to him.

CBS is developing Citizen Jane, a drama from the co-creators of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol and Jay Beattie and CBS Studios. In Citizen Jane, written by Beattie, a law school dropout turned citizen sleuth—haunted by her sister’s unsolved murder—partners with a jaded homicide detective seeking redemption to solve cold cases and deliver justice across the country. 

Taron Egerton and the creators behind Apple TV+’s Black Bird are re-teaming on the crime series, Firebug, inspired by events surrounding notorious California arsonist, John Leonard Orr. Former firefighter Orr was an arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California. Initially hired to understand and track down cases of arson, he became a convicted serial arsonist himself. He was found to be the cause of a spate of high-profile fires across California in the 1980s and ’90s that led to tens of millions of dollars' worth of damage and four deaths.

Colin Callender’s production company, Playground, has optioned the crime novel, The Wicked Girls, to develop as a limited TV series. Filmmaker Richard Shepard (Ugly Betty) is attached to write and direct, while also serving as an executive producer alongside Callender, Scott Huff, and David Stern. The book was written by Alex Marwood and tells the story of journalist Kirsty Lindsay, who reports on a series of attacks on female tourists in a seaside town.

Hulu’s limited series based on Rebecca Godfrey’s book, Under The Bridge, has added to its cast. Emmy winner Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) is set as a lead, along with Vritika Gupta, Javon "Wanna" Walton, and Aiyana Goodfellow. They join previously announced series stars Riley Keough, Izzy G, Chloe Guidry, and Ezra Faroque Khan. The book is based on the 1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk (Gupta) who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Seven teenage girls and a boy were accused of the savage murder, and the resulting investigation reveals startling truths about the unlikely killer.

Alona Tal, Johnny Ray Gill, and Eloise Mumford have joined the cast of Amazon’s Cross in series regular roles. They will star opposite Aldis Hodge, who plays the titular forensic psychologist character in the series, which is based on the best-selling Alex Cross book series by James Patterson. Tal will play Kayla Craig, a brilliant, determined, and abrasive FBI agent with a sharp sense of humor who aims to recruit Cross into the bureau; Gill will play Bobby Trey, a deadly and cunning ex-police officer; and Mumford will play Shannon Witmer, a frustrated dreamer with artistic aspirations.

Netflix released a trailer for the spy thriller, Treason, from Bridge of Spies' writer Matt Charman. The limited series explores the trials, tribulations, and treasonous actions of MI6 agent, Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox), who finds himself taking over as Chief after his predecessor was poisoned. Treason also stars Olga Kurylenko as Kara, a Russian spy who Lawrence shares history with, and Oona Chaplin as Maddy, Lawrence's wife.

A teaser trailer was also released for Perry Mason Season 2, starring Matthew Rhys in a gritty new murder mystery conspiracy featuring the scion of a powerful oil family.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

It was a Dark and Stormy Book Club took at look at The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Annotated, the definitive edition from Mysterious Press of Robert Louis Stevenson’s immortal tale of depraved murder and unrelenting horror. The edition is introduced by Joe Hill, annotated by Edgar-winner Leslie S. Klinger, and illustrated with over 100 color images.

On Crime Time FM, Barry Forshaw chaired a panel of top critics and writers about their picks for the Best Crime Novels of 2022. The panelists included Laura Wilson (Guardian critic, novelist) , Maxim Jakubowski (editor, publisher, writer, bookseller), Jake Kerridge (crime fiction critic for the Telegraph), Ayo Onatade (critic at ShotsBlog), Victoria Selman (novelist and Crime Time presenter), and Paul Burke (reviewer and Crime Time host).

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with Lord Peter Hains, politician and thriller writer, to discuss wildlife poaching, apartheid protests, and the different forms of meditation.

Mystery Melange

The winner of the 2022 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson, translated from the Swedish by Agnes Broomé and published by Zaffre. Maria Adolfsson will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize. The other finalists include: Helene Flood - The Therapist (tr. Alison McCullough); Ruth Lillegraven - Everything is Mine (tr. Diane Oatley); Anders Roslund - Knock Knock (tr. Elizabeth Clark Wessel); Lilja Sigurðardóttir - Cold as Hell (tr. Quentin Bates); Antti Tuomainen - The Rabbit Factor (tr. David Hackston).

Although there hasn't been an official announcement yet following the recent Wolfe Pack Literary Society awards dinner on December 3, Michael Sears posted on Facebook that his novel, Tower of Babel, was named 2022 winner of the Society's annual Nero Wolfe Award. Jacqueline Freimor also posted that she won the Black Orchid Novella Award with "The Case of the Bogus Cinderellas," which will be published in the July/August issue of Alfred HItchcock's Mystery Magazine.

The UK-based Crime Fiction Lover site announced the winners of their second annual Crime Fiction Lover Awards across six categories. Best Novel Winner was The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths; Best Novel Editor’s Choice: The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee; Best Debut Winner: A Christmas Murder of Crows by DM Austin; Best Debut Editor’s Choice: Bad for Good by Graham Bartlett; Best in Translation Winner: The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer, translated by KL Seegers; Best in Translation Editor’s Choice: The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim; Best Indie Novel Winner: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill; Best Indie Novel Editor’s Choice: Five Moves of Doom by AJ Devlin; Best Author: Elly Griffiths; Best Author Editor’s Choice: Steve Cavanagh.

On Sunday, December 11th in Minneapolis, Michael Allan Mallory will serve as moderator for a panel of mystery writers following the 2 p.m. performance of Theater in the Round's production of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Members of the Twin Cities chapter of Sisters in Crime, including Julie Holmes, Christine Husom, and Sherry Roberts, will participate in the post-show panel about why we love mystery and the role of women in the creation of the genre.

Washington, DC.s Virtual Noir at the Bar is returning Sunday, December 11, at 7 pm ET. The event will be hosted by E.A. Aymar and feature readings from authors May Cobb, Kelly J. Ford, Jordan Harper, Wanda Morris, Raquel Reyes, and Johnny Shaw. Music will also be provided by local jazz star Sara Jones and a custom cocktail by celebrity mixologist Chantal Tseng. Even if you can't attend in person, you can register and watch via Crowdcast.

The New York Times released a list of its choices for Best Thrillers of 2022, including Janice Hallett’s The Appeal; J.M. Lee’s Broken Summer, which has been translated from the Korean by An Seon Je; Adam Hamdy's The Other Side of Night; Sascha Rothchild's Blood Sugar; Dervla McTiernan’s The Murder Rule; and Adrian McKinty’s The Island. Sarah Weinman also picked her best of the best among the mystery titles of 2022 for the NYT; The Guardian published its list of the Best Crime and Thriller Books of 2022; the SunSentinel's Oline Cogdill also chose her picks for the best mystery books of the year; and the Herald Scotland's reviewer, Barry Didcock, listed his pick of the best Scottish novels of 2022.

Kate Jackson a/k/a "The Armchair Sleuth" over at the Cross-Examining Crime blog is putting together a listing for the blog's Reprint of the Year awards, drawing from over 160 possible reprints to choose from that will be voted on by participating bloggers and blog readers. The winner(s) will be announced later this month. In the meantime, you can check out the blog link that includes a listing of all the available titles, including many classics and several titles I was unaware were being re-released this year.

Artificial Intelligence is getting more advanced all the time, but there are still hordes of moral and ethical challenges associated with these technologies. In a Mashable review of the new, and wildly popular online ChatGPT, it was noted that when other similar chat-bots were asked questions related to cold-case murder suspects, they seemed "all too eager to throw innocent people under the bus for such a crime without hesitation."

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Gulp" by Eric D. Goodman.

Author R&R with Tessa Wegert

Tessa Wegert is a journalist and former digital media strategist. Her business and marketing articles have appeared in such publications as Forbes, The Huffington Post, Adweek, and The Economist. She grew up in Quebec near the border of Vermont and now lives with her husband and children in Coastal Connecticut, where she writes while studying martial arts and dance. Tessa is also the author of the Shana Merchant series of mysteries, beginning with Death in the Family. The latest installment in that series is The Kind to Kill. 

In The Kind to Kill, a missing tourist spells trouble for former NYPD detective Shana Merchant, who is now a skilled Senior Investigator keeping New York's beautiful Thousands Islands community safe. As she investigates the disappearance, the case threatens to destroy not just the annual Pirate Days celebration but what remains of Shana's reputation, revealing secrets she's tried to keep hidden.

Tessa stops by In Reference to Murder for a little Author R&R about the book:

 

True Crime in Fiction: A Killer in the Family

In recent years, we’ve seen a pretty sizeable uptick in thrillers with true crime themes. Chalk it up to North America’s true crime podcast obsession, the glut of new docuseries available on Netflix, or cyclical trends—whatever its origins true crime is booming, and weaving it into crime fiction makes perfect sense.

There’s a true crime connection with The Kind to Kill, my latest thriller, too. In the book, New York State Police Senior Investigator Shana Merchant’s secret is finally out: she’s related to a notorious serial killer, and the man she’s been hunting for years was once her closest friend. I did a lot of research on true crime while writing—you’ll see local journalist Jared Cunningham mention a few real-life cases in his conversations with Shana—but this is a book that looks at true crime through a different lens. Instead of solely focusing on the victim and killer, it also explores the killer’s family.

When the news gets out that Shana has blood ties to Blake Bram, she quickly becomes a pariah. Even members of her own family, who are related to Bram too, opt to shut her out. Exploring true crime from the point of view of the killer’s family fascinated me, and Shana provided the perfect entry point for this analysis. What would it feel like to discover a relative had committed a brutal crime? How would that revelation affect someone who was duty-bound to uphold the law? These were the questions I wanted to address. In the end, it didn’t surprise me that Shana’s struggle to accept the truth and reconcile it with her profession and deep-seated desire to protect others became the heart of this story about resentment, redemption, and the darkest family secrets of all.

 

You can find out more about Tessa and her books via her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter. The Kind to Kill is available in ebook and print formats from Severn House and all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Following a competitive bidding war with several studios and streamers involved, Amazon Studios has landed the film, Red Shirt, to star Channing Tatum. Based on an original pitch by Simon Kinberg (who also produced Sherlock Holmes, among others), the project will also see David Leitch on board to direct. Plot details are being kept under wraps other than the story being described as "an international spy thriller" and a "new spin on James Bond" with the potential to become a franchise.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will star in and executive produce the upcoming Miramax TV limited series, The Christie Affair, based on Nina de Gramont’s best-selling novel. The story centers around Agatha Christie’s real-life eleven-day disappearance In 1926 when her husband’s affair became public. In this reimagining, told through the eyes of her husband’s mistress, Nan O’Dea (Ridley), Nan and Agatha become entwined in each other’s lives in ways neither expected.

Bestselling author David Baldacci’s Atlee Pine books are headed to television via Amazon Studios, which is developing an untitled drama series based on the novels. The project follows exceptional FBI agent, Atlee Pine, as she finds herself at a crossroads in her life and career and she has to go back and solve the one case that has shaped her entire existence — the disappearance of her twin sister thirty years ago. If the project moves forward, it will mark the second series based on Baldacci books following TNT’s King and Maxwell, which was an adaptation of the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell book series.

A series adaptation of E. Lockhart’s YA suspense thriller, We Were Liars, has also landed at Amazon for development. Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie (Roswell, New Mexico co-creator) are adapting the book. We Were Liars is an amnesia thriller set on a privately owned island off the coast of Massachusetts. Focusing on the theme of consequences of one’s mistakes, the series follows the wealthy, seemingly perfect Sinclair family, who spend every summer sitting gathered on their private island. However, not every year is the same: When something happens to Cadence Sinclair during the summer of her 15th year, she and the other three "liars" — Johnny, Gat and Mirren — re-emerge two years later to prompt Cadence to remember the incident.

The very-busy Amazon Studios strikes again with Scarlett Johansson's first major foray into television as she gets set to star in and executive produce Just Cause, a thriller limited series based on John Katzenbach’s 1992 novel. In the straight-to-series TV adaptation, the book’s male protagonist, Miami newspaper editorial writer, Matt Cowart, is undergoing a gender swap, with Johansson playing the series’ female lead Madison "Madi" Cowart, a struggling reporter for a Florida newspaper sent to cover the final days of an inmate on death row. Johannson, a two-time Oscar nominee and a Tony winner, has a personal connection to the title: at age 10, she appeared in Warner Bros.’ 1995 feature adaptation of Katzenbach’s book in only her second film role, playing the daughter of the main character (portrayed by Sean Connery).

Robert De Niro has signed on to star in the new Netflix limited political thriller series, Zero Day. The project comes from the team behind Narcos (executive producer, writer, and showrunner Eric Newman, and Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News and Jackie screenwriter). There are currently no exact details on the limited series’ plot, although the show is set to center around political themes, with De Niro playing a former U.S. president. 

Paramount’s UK network Channel 5 has unveiled a four-part thriller, Black Cab, with Robert Glenister (Sherwood), Suzanne Packer (In My Skin), and Sean Pertwee (Gotham) starring. Black Cab will follow Glenister as a down-and-out Liverpool taxi driver, who begins to form an unhealthy obsession with a late-night radio talk show host (Pertwee). Nick Saltrese (A Prayer Before Dawn) has penned the series and Diarmuid Goggins (Bulletproof) is directing.

African streamer, Showmax, is producing Crime and Justice Lagos, which follows the activities of the fictional Serious and Special Crimes Unit working in the Nigerian capital, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Femi Biboye (William Benson). The show will debut on December 8, with Folu Storms and Jammal Ibraham also starring as the heads of an elite team of detectives.

Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam) and Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter 2) will star opposite Aldis Hodge in Amazon’s Alex Cross series, Cross, in series regular roles. Eggold will play Ed Ramsey, who is initially a fan of Cross (Hodge) but soon becomes a formidable adversary. Mustafa will play John Sampson, Alex’s partner on the force and best friend of 30 years. Cross is created by producer and writer Ben Watkins and based on the best-selling book series by James Patterson. The title character of Alex Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify — and ultimately capture — the murderers.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Louise Penny was interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning about her new Inspector Gamache novel, A World of Curiosities and how a painting and forgiveness inspired the 18th novel in the Gamache series.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring an excerpt from the first chapter of Lost and Found in Harlem by Delia C. Pitts, as read by actor Theodore Fox.

The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured a 1950s holiday story told by Hollis Seamon, a frequent contributor to EQMM whose story, "Black Swallowtail," finished in third place for 2021's EQMM Reader's Award. "Book Lovers" is a story that is sure to entertain mystery fans and lovers of classic literature alike. 

Crime Time FM welcomed Vaseem Khan (The Lost Man of Bombay) and Janice Hallett (The Twyford Code) to discuss cozy crime; warmth and humor in the murder mystery; how every novel needs an elephant, and more.

Spybrary spoke with the former UK Home Secretary and best-selling author, Alan Johnson, about how his background as Home Secretary helped him to write his fiction books Late Train to Gipsy Hill and One of Our Ministers is Missing.

All About Agatha featured a discussion of Parker Pyne, a detective featured in a series of short stories by Agatha Christie.

On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed true crime for a (belated) Nonfiction November.

Mystery Melange

At the ceremony revealing the winners of 2022's An Post Irish Book Awards, it was announced the Crime Fiction Book of the Year was won by Breaking Point by Edel Coffey. The other finalists in the category include Remember My Name by Sam Blake; Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard; The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh; The Interview by Gill Perdue; and Hide and Seek by Andrea Mara.

British author, Stuart Turton, was awarded Germany’s 2022 Viktor Crime Award for The Devil and Dark Water. Other shortlisted authors/titles included Kazltes Herz (Cold Heart) by Henri Faber and Horvath und die verschwundenen Schüler (Horvath and the Missing Students) by Marc Hofmann. The award has been handed out since 2018 and was announced at Mord am Hellweg, which has been dubbed "Europe’s largest international crime film festival.”

Icelandic crime novelist Ragnar Jónasson's novel, Snjóblinda (Snow Blind), was voted the best crime novel published in France in the last 50 years, by French book aficionados. Ragnar accepted the award last Wednesday in Paris. The French publisher, Points, which specializes in paperbacks, and the periodical, Le Point, decided to present special literary awards to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the magazine. In the literary works category, the winner was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Voting continues for the final round of the Goodreads Choice Awards competition, which includes ten titles in the Best Mystery & Thriller category. Readers can vote through December 4, with winners announced Thursday, December 8.

Submissions to the 2023 Louie Award competition, sponsored by the Australian Crime Writers Association, will be accepted through Friday, December 30. The Louie prize celebrates microfiction of less than 500 words that is focused on a specific theme, which this year is "Locked." ACWA members can entry for the chance to win a $750 cash prize. Last year's award was won by Hayley Young for her crime story, "I’m Not Telling." (HT to the Rap Sheet)

Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop will host a virtual cozy mystery event via Zoom on Sunday, December 4th, 2022, at 2:00 pm Eastern. Authors scheduled to participate include Marilyn Levison, Heather Weidner, Jackie Layton, Sarah E. Burr, and Alice Adler. This is a free event although reservations are required so that each person receives the code to sign in.

Kirkus Reviews released its Best Mysteries and Thrillers list for 2022. You can check out all ten titles via this link.

The multidisciplinary conference, Crime Fiction and Democracy, intends to explore the complex, multifaceted relationship between crime fiction and democracy from the late 19th century to the present. It's being organized by the Centre de Recherches Anglophones (Université Paris Nanterre) and Queen’s University Belfast, and will be held Université Paris Nanterre June 22-23, 2023. Conference organizers are inviting proposals for 20-minute papers, either in English or French, focusing on the multiple connections between democracy and crime fiction throughout the world, and seeking, if possible, a broad analytical approach rather than the analysis of single works. (HT to Shots Magazine)

Congrats to Elizabeth Foxwell, whose The Bunburyist blog passed its 1 millionth view since its debut in 2005. You can check out her top ten most-read blog entries, counting to #1, "The dozen best detective short stories ever written," as selected by author-critics such as Anthony Boucher, John Dickson Carr, August Derleth, Howard Haycraft, Ellery Queen, James Sandoe, and Vincent Starrett.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "After Party" by Katherine Heil.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton chatted with Mystery author Jessica Stilling about her new literary fiction, Between Before and After. Haselton also interviewed author Jennifer Juvenelle about her new psychological thriller, Daughter of Belial.

 

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Anjelica Huston, who made her John Wick franchise debut as "The Director" in 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, is joining the Ana de Armas-led spinoff movie, Ballerina. Huston is the second John Wick actor to be officially announced for Ballerina, as Ian McShane is also on board to reprise Winston, the manager of The Continental’s New York branch. It’s also been reported that Keanu Reeves’s John Wick will appear in the spinoff, but Lionsgate hasn’t confirmed if that is indeed the case.

Emma D’Arcy has dropped out of the feature thriller Anna about fearless Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya due to a scheduling clash and has been replaced by Naomi Battrick (The Postcard Killings). The project stars two-time BAFTA nominee, Maxine Peake (Black Mirror), in the title role and is directed by Broadchurch’s James Strong from a screenplay by Eric Poppen. Politkovskaya was a world renowned journalist and human rights activist who went from being a local print journalist to braving the Chechen killing fields and exposing Russian state corruption under Vladimir Putin. She refused to give up reporting on the war in Chechnya despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence and was ultimately murdered in the elevator of her block of flats. Battrick will play Politkovskaya’s daughter, Vera, in the cast that also includes Ciaran Hinds, Jason Isaacs, Harry Lawtey, and Ellie Bamber.

Teresa Palmer is set to join Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in the cast of Universal’s The Fall Guy, which has a March 1, 2024 release date. The film is inspired by the 1980s series of the same name and will be directed by David Leitch. Drew Pearce, who worked with Leitch on Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, wrote the script and serves as executive producer. Although plot details are still unknown, the original TV series starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonlight as bounty hunters.

Sony has rounded out its cast for The Equalizer 3, with Eugenio Mastrandrea, Remo Girone, Sonia Ammar, Daniele Perrone, Andrea Scarduzio, and Andrea Dodero boarding the project. The actors join an ensemble led by Denzel Washington which also includes Dakota Fanning, and Gaia Scodellaro, as previously announced. While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, it’s the third in an action series centered on Washington’s vigilante character, Robert McCall, from director Antoine Fuqua.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The Night Manager producer, The Ink Factory, is creating a TV version of John Le Carré’’s A Most Wanted Man almost a decade after making a feature film version, with Snabba Cash writer, Oskar Söderlund, serving as showrunner. No broadcaster is attached as of yet, although Söderlund’s version is said to be updated to a modern day European context. One of Le Carré’s best known works, A Most Wanted Man follows a young Chechen ex-prisoner who arrives illegally in Germany with a claim to a fortune held in a private bank. It was written against the backdrop of George W. Bush’s policy of "extraordinary rendition" and inspired by the real-life story of Murat Kurnaz.

Red Planet Pictures has struck a deal with Louise Candlish, upon whose book ITV’s Our House was based, to develop another two books by the author, 2016’s The Swimming Pool and the upcoming thriller, The Only Suspect, the latter of which will be adapted by Simon Ashdown. The Red Planet team also acquired the rights to Will Dean's novel The Dark Pines, the first in a contemporary Nordic Noir series about a hearing-impaired bisexual detective, and are working with Orphan Black showrunner, Aubrey Nealon, and Amber Alexander on a major adaptation that is close to being greenlighted in Canada.

Felix Herngren, director and writer of Oscar-nominated The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, is creating and directing an adaptation for the Viaplay streaming service of Emelie Schepp’s novel, Jana – Marked for Life. Herngren is pairing with Henrik Björn (Jordskott) on the six-part adaptation, which tells the story of public prosecutor and former child soldier, Jana Berzelius. During an investigation into the murder of a high-ranking official at the Swedish Migration Agency, the main suspect is also found dead, and Jana immediately recognizes something on his scarred body. To understand her own traumatic past, Jana must reach the killer ahead of the police.

Disney+ has unveiled its debut Nordic original, an adaptation of Swedish author Mikael Niemi’s To Cook a Bear. The six-parter takes place in the mid-nineteenth century in the northern Swedish village of Kengis and centers on a runaway Sami boy, Jussi, who develops a deep relationship with Laestadius, the Lutheran revivalist preacher and naturalist. When the body of a shepherd girl is found in a bog, the villagers set out in search of the killer bear they think is on the rampage, but Laestadius believes a worse, and more human, monster is at work. Swedish screenwriter Jesper Harrie is penning the adaptation, and Anagram Sweden is producing.

The BBC's award-winning murder mystery drama, Shetland, will have a new lead actor when it returns next year. Ashley Jensen will star as DI Ruth Calder, a native Shetlander who returns to the isles after 20 years working for the Met in London. The Scottish actor takes on the lead detective role left vacant by the departure of DI Jimmy Perez, played for seven series by Douglas Henshall. Jensen joins series regulars Alison O'Donnell (DS Alison "Tosh" McIntosh), Steven Robertson (Sandy), Lewis Howden (Billy), and Anne Kidd (Cora).

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Crime Writers of Color welcomed Delia C. Pitts, a former university administrator and U.S. diplomat, about her crime fiction writing, which includes Murder My Past and Murder Take Two, the fifth and sixth books in her contemporary noir mystery series. She also has an upcoming novel featuring small town African American private investigator, Vandy Myrick, to be published by Minotaur in 2024.

Spybrary host, Jeff Quest, chatted with Benjamin Cunningham, author of The Liar: How a Double Agent in the CIA Became the Cold War's Last Honest Man, a book the publisher calls "the Cold War meets Mad Men in the form of Karel Koecher, a double agent whose shifting loyalties and over-the-top hedonism reverberated from New York to Moscow." Quest also chatted about the Prague Spring, declassified documents, and interviewing difficult subjects.

Six Days of the Condor author, James Grady, spoke with Crime Time FM's Paul Burke about his latest thriller, This Train; the Condor series; the US mid-terms; gauging the pulse of the nation; realism, rebellion and redemption; and enjoying life and art to the fullest.

In the latest episode of Red Hot Chili Writers, hosts Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee spoke with Kate Mosse and debut thriller writer, Greg Mosse, discussing historical fiction; the Cathars; climate grief; eco-terrorism; women pioneers; the Matilda Effect; the Tibetan Joan of Arc; and Granny Rosie.

The new episode of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's podcast features Merrilee Robson's tale, "Tired of Bath," from the March/April 2022 issue, which imagines what Jane Austen would experience when transported to the current day, and tracks two friends — an English teacher and a filmmaker — as they handle the situation.

THEATRE

Agatha Christie’s stage thriller, The Mousetrap, a London theater staple for 70 years, is finally heading to Broadway at an as-yet-undisclosed venue sometime in 2023. The play, a West End institution and popular tourist destination since 1952, has been performed in the U.S. before but never on Broadway or in New York. Although a new Broadway cast will be assembled for the production, some physical elements of the long-running London staging will make the crossing, according to the producers: "New York audiences will be able to see and hear some of the original sights and sounds from the production as it has appeared in London since 1952. The set will be a loving recreation of Anthony Holland’s design, and for a truly authentic touch, the only surviving piece of the original set — the mantelpiece clock — will be loaned from the London production for the Broadway run. The unique backstage wind machine, imprinted with the original producer’s name and still used today, will also be shipped across the Atlantic."

Media Murder

Author R&R with Gregor Pratt

Greg "Gregor" Pratt is a former Ohio attorney who retired after 40 years of general practice focused on litigation in the Cincinnati area. But he always wanted to be a fiction writer, and with the winding down of the practice of law, found time over the last several years to write his first novel, Ebola Island, drawing on his experience as a trial lawyer. Ebola Island is the first in a series featuring class action lawyer, Jack Gamble, who is thrust into the middle of a pandemic on an island with a cast of dynamic characters who must grow to trust each other in their dire circumstances if they want to survive.

Pratt's second novel in that series is Dragon's Eye, in which Jack's wife Maddy, a teacher, goes missing. The police think Maddy has run off with one of her students even though there are no clues—she’s simply vanished. When the police and other agents of the New Zealand government begin to pull back the veil on hidden evidence, Jack and friends embark on a harrowing journey to rescue Maddy from the grips of the Chinese government. But how do private citizens challenge an overreaching totalitarian government with limitless resources and connections?

Greg stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about writing and researching the novel:

 

Each author and each novel are different. Like most authors my very first novel is still in a box under my desk. It needs so much work! Researching it was great fun and I mention it because the research process was so much different than my later novels.

Since most of my first took place in Newport, Kentucky, which was close to my home at the time I was able to go there and see the streets and some of the buildings for myself. Of course that meant I had to separate out the new buildings. Focus was on the buildings that were there in the 1960s when the Kennedy Justice Department investigated Newport, which had been a vice hot spot since the Civil War. But buildings and streets are just a start. What was life like? I read a number of books about Newport in those days. One that I remember is Razzle Dazzle, which described the lives of people back then and how the legal operations were used to mask the illegal ones. Razzle Dazzle was a dice game where the player often appeared about to make a big win and somehow they never did. I was lucky to have an acquaintance whose father had been quite the gambler. He played cards regularly with a character named Sleep Out Louie, who got his nickname because he would sleep out a few hands in his chair while the game went on around me. The shared stories were invaluable. For instance Louie and my friend’s father would play gin for stakes so high that major league baseball players who were in town would come by to watch the action. They would keep score but would not play. And one of my brothers in law had an ancestor who was a member of “the mob” in Newport. The real life touches of those “true” stories helped give feeling to those chapters of the book and helped define the characters and their interactions.

On my second and third books which were actually published I was not so well placed geographically. Ebola Island (2019) takes place largely in Madagascar and Dragon’s Eye (2022) takes place in New Zealand and Vanuatu. Not only does my budget not allow travel to far away places like that , when I was writing Dragon’s Eye New Zealand was not admitting visitors due to COVID. So I had to come up with other methods to develop the background for my stories.

Ebola Island is a pandemic novel and as you have likely guessed the island reference is to Madagascar. The conditions of the people the island in my novel are wholly a product of my imagination: the physical attributes of the island itself I gleaned or tried to from Google Earth and online research. What routes would my characters travel? What is the terrain like? What landmarks would they see or cross? How far could they be expected to travel in a day/how many days would an overland journey take? What were the flora and fauna like? What creatures inhabit those lands? How available is water? What does the countryside look like if viewed from a mountain’s edge? These are all items I want to represent as accurately as possible. From Google Earth I could travel visually across the island from one identifiable place to another and the terrain changed as the journey went on just like it would if we were really traversing the island. Flora, fauna, creatures and water were all subject to research. Before I started writing I purchased several books on Madagascar , read them and went back to them for reference while writing. In that fashion the big issues were largely correctly represented and hopefully realistic with some specific areas crafted to fit the story. This is fiction after all.

The locale for Dragon’s Eye was predetermined at the end of Ebola Island when Jack announced that after he and Maddy married they were going to New Zealand. In 2019 I was hoping to go to New Zealand, research locations and specifics and then start writing. And I planned to do a little sightseeing and some fly fishing while there.

That didn’t exactly work out. Ebola Island is a pandemic novel published just weeks before we heard of COVID for the first time. And I am proud to say I got a number of things right in that scenario. And some not, for instance I did not anticipate face masks. And I definitely did not anticipate New Zealand being essentially closed to visitors. So here using Google Earth again I visited Nelson, New Zealand remotely and I was able to identify Jack and Maddy’s house, the school their children would attend and walking routes to get there as well as many other physical attributes that played into my novel. I find the satellite view most helpful.

Other facts needed research. For instance, how long does it take to fly a small plane from Tauranga, New Zealand to Port Vila, Vanuatu,? Is there an airport there? What is the name of the airfield in Port Vila and what is its condition? What are the politics, economy, population of Vanuatu? What nations are they friendly with? Are there any ongoing international issues? For issues like that I prefer to start with the CIA World Factbook or just World Factbook sites for each country. These sites are very comprehensive and are attributed to the CIA. They are readily accessible online. By way of example the World Factbook site for New Zealand has twelve sections identified covering such things as Geography, People and Society, Energy, Military and Security. It is often a good place to start to get to know a new and remote area. And it can even spark additional issues or twists and turns for your novel or perhaps just accurate historical references to give your work more gravitas. That type of site will give you ideas on what to explore in more detail. It can help you spell place names correctly and alert you to historic and cultural issues. And best of all, it fits right in our budget.

 

You can learn more about Greg and his writing via his website and follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can find the ebook version of Dragon's Eye via Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, with print versions available via most major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news, which is a little on the light side due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

The directing team known as Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez and Chad Villella) will helm the reboot of Escape From New York for 20th Century Studios. Original filmmaker, John Carpenter, will serve as executive producer of the project. The 1981 film was set in the then-near-future world of 1997 in a crime-ridden United States, which has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into the country's sole maximum-security prison. Air Force One is hijacked by anti-government insurgents who deliberately crash it into the walled borough. Ex-soldier and current federal prisoner, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), is given just 24 hours to go in and rescue the President of the United States, after which, if successful, he will be pardoned. The film also starred Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Steven Spielberg has found his Frank Bullitt, according to Deadline. Bradley Cooper has closed a deal to play the no-nonsense San Francisco cop in the new original Bullitt story centered on the classic character famously played by Steven McQueen in the 1968 thriller. Cooper will also produce the movie along with Spielberg and his producing partner, Kristie Macosko Krieger (marking their second collaboration after Maestro), with Josh Singer on board to pen the script. Steve McQueen’s son, Chad, and granddaughter, Molly McQueen, will exec produce the new movie. Sources are adamant this is not a remake of the original film but a new idea centered on the character. In the original film, Frank Bullitt is on the hunt for the mob kingpin that killed his witness. Considered one of McQueen’s more iconic roles, the film delivers one of the most famous car-chase scenes in cinema history.

Christian Gudegast (Den of Thieves) has been hired to direct the thriller, Crown Vic, for MadRiver Pictures. Crown Vic, which is based real events, is described as a "too-insane-to-be-true crime story" set in the early 1980s San Fernando Valley — a world where L.A. cops, mythologized by TV shows from Dragnet to CHiPs, were rock stars who operated with unchecked power. Its protagonists are Richard Ford and Robert Von Villas, two Vietnam War heroes turned superstar LAPD cops, who parlayed their positions to get rich, while cozying up to Hollywood’s biggest TV stars. The duo went on to build an underground criminal operation as thieves, gun runners, and murderers for hire, until their unwilling business partner risked everything to bring them down. Alec Ziff (Narcos: Mexico) conceived the original story with Gudegast and is penning the screenplay.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

ABC has reversed course on the drama series, Avalon, opting not to move forward with the show despite giving it a straight-to-series order in February. Avalon hailed from David E. Kelley and executive producer Michael Connelly, with the show based on a short story Connelly wrote. Per the official logline, the show takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole "Nic" Searcy (Neve Campbell) heads up a small office. Catalina has a local population that serves more than 1 million tourists a year, and each day when the ferries arrive, hundreds of potential new stories enter the island. Detective Searcy is pulled into a career-defining mystery that will challenge everything she knows about herself and the island. A+E Studios is said to still be bullish about the project and are weighing options on how to proceed.

The BBC and Amazon Freevee have commissioned Boat Story, a six-part thriller written by Harry and Jack Williams and produced by award-winning All3Media and Two Brothers Pictures (The Tourist, The Missing, Fleabag). Boat Story will premiere in the UK on BBC One and iPlayer, and in the US on Amazon Freevee. When two hard-up strangers, Janet (Daisy Haggard) and Samuel (Paterson Joseph), stumble across a haul of cocaine on a shipwrecked boat, they can’t believe their luck. After agreeing to sell it and split the cash, they quickly find themselves entangled with police, masked hitmen, and a sharp-suited gangster known only as "The Tailor" (Tcheky Karyo). The project is described as having "off-beat humour [that] contrasts with high-octane action sequences against the spectacular backdrop of the beautiful, windswept Yorkshire coastline."

Amazon Prime Video’s conspiracy thriller drama series, Hunters, created by David Weil and executive produced by Jordan Peele, will end after the upcoming second season. The first season followed a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have discovered that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the United States. Season 2, to be focused on a worldwide search for Adolph Hitler (played by German actor Udo Kier), will begin streaming on January 13. Al Pacino, Logan Lerman and Jerrika Hinton star in Hunters, along with Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Tiffany Boone, Greg Austin, Louis Ozawa, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Dylan Baker, and Lena Olin. In addition to Kier, Oscar nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh has joined Season 2, along with Emily Rudd and Tommy Martinez, who recur.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The All About Agatha podcast discussed Marple: Twelve New Mysteries, an anthology of short stories published this fall.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Elly Griffith to talk about her newly published crime fiction novel, Bleeding Heart Yard. The story is set around a high school reunion where London police officer, Cassie Fitzherbert, has to determine if she's experiencing buried memories of having killed someone years ago.

On Crime Time FM, Georgina Clarke chatted with Jenna Gordon about her new historical crime novel, The Dazzle of the Light; the post WWI landscape in 1920; the Forty Thieves; historical accuracy; reflecting on the present through the past - the role of women, class & inequality; dressmaking; and Halloween cocktails.

Mystery Melange

Six crime novels have been shortlisted for the 2022 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year in translation (either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia) published in the UK in the previous calendar year. The winning title will be announced on Thursday, December 8, and both author and translator of the winning title will receive a cash prize. This year's shortlist includes: Maria Adolfsson (Sweden) - Fatal Isles tr. Agnes Broomé; Helene Flood (Norway) - The Therapist tr. Alison Cullough; Ruth Lillegraven (Norway) - Everything is Mine tr. Diane Oatley; Anders Roslund (Sweden) - Knock Knock tr. Elizabeth Clark Wessel; Lilja Sigurðardóttir (Iceland) - Cold as Hell tr. Quentin Bates; and Antti Tuomainen (Finland) - The Rabbit Factor tr. David Hackston.

The Crime Bake conference in Maine held this past weekend awarded the annual Al Blanchard Short Story Award to "The Bookings" by Jason Allison. The Honorable Mentions were "Robin's Hope" by Avram Lavinsky; "Steer Clear of the Devil" by Kim Keeline; "The Tattletale Tattoo" by Karen Whalen; and "Seven Women" by Eleanor Ingbretson. (HT to Joseph S. Walker, one of the judges of this year's contest.) The Award is named after Blanchard, who in addition to being a writer himself served as President of MWA-NE Sisters in Crime and co-created the Crime Bake conference.

Over on the other side of the Atlantic on November 27, there's a crime wave in Torquay (the home of Agatha Christie) via Crime at the Coast: A SW Crime Writers’ Convention. Authors from the Crime Writers’ Association South West Chapter, will be talking about crime writing and the secrets of getting published at a special day-long event in support of the Torquay Museum. Participating athors will include Stephanie Austin, Margaret Barnes, Sam Carrington, Jane Corry, Helena Dixon, Elizabeth Ducie, Richard D Handy, S M Hardy, Michael Jecks, K J Maitland. Special guests also making an appearance include Ian Hobbs of the Devon Book Club, and the book blogger Cherry Smith of the Crimepedia podcast.

As we near the end of 2022, it's time for the inevitable "best of the year" lists to start bubbling up. One of the earliest is Amazon's Best mysteries and thrillers of 2022, with Don Winslow's City on Fire chosen as the best of the best. To check out the list of all twenty selected titles, click on over here.

Mystery Readers Journal has a call for articles (500-1,000 word), reviews (50-250 words), and author essays (500-1,000 words) about mysteries set in Africa. Author essays are first person, about yourself, your books, and the "African Mystery" connection. The deadline is January 5, 2023: Send to: Janet Rudolph, Editor, janet@mysteryreaders.org.

The Guardian reported on The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, the next installment in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series and the first written by a woman. Swedish author Karin Smirnoff takes the reins from David Lagercrantz in continuing the late author's vision for a 10-book series. The first three books — The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest — were written by Larsson and published posthumously after his sudden death in 2004. The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, which continues the adventures of hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, was published in Swedish as Havsörnens Skrik last week, but Sarah Death’s English translation will not be out until August of next year.

The former New Forest retreat of Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has come on the market for just under £3-million. Bignell Wood, a sprawling rural mansion just outside of Cadnam, was owned by Sir Arthur until his death in 1930, and was a birthday present for his wife Jean. Sir Arthur is buried in nearby Minstead, which also featured in his 1891 historical series set in the 14th century, the White Company. The current owner, interior designer Jane McIntyre of Jane McIntyre Design, bought Bignell Wood in 2006 and has restyled the interior.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "It's the Husband" by Sharon Waller Knutson.

In the Q&A roundup, Publishers Weekly spoke with Benjamin Stevenson about his novel, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, where members of a family of killers gather at an Australian ski resort; and Jane Harper, bestselling author of The Dry, was interviewed by Australia's ABC News about exiles, writing in a pandemic, and the rural noir renaissance.