Media Murder for Monday

This is the new (hopefully permanent) home of In Reference to Murder, following Typepad's shutdown of its platform as of October 1, 2025. Please change your old bookmarks to this new link.


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

Fortitude, the World War II espionage action-adventure from Simon West (Con Air) began principal photography on September 8 in London and has assembled an all-star cast. The ensemble includes Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game), Ed Skrein (Jurassic World: Rebirth), Jordi Mollà (Mobland), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Art Malik (True Lies), Lukas Haas (Inception), Adrian Topol (Franz + Polina), Emilio Sakraya (Sixty Minutes), Paul Anderson (Peaky Blinders), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Nicolas Cage (Con Air). The movie is based on the true story of British Intelligence operatives using unprecedented strategic operations to fool Nazi leadership and help change the course of World War II. With historical consultation from Joshua Levine (Dunkirk), the film follows the brilliance of British Army officers Dudley Clarke and Thomas Argyll “Tar” Robertson, who deployed an elaborate web of deception campaigns including fictitious armies, fake military equipment, and a network of double agents to mislead Nazi Intelligence. Among them was Yugoslavian playboy Dusko Popov, a real-life double agent who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond character.


U.S. distributor Row K has taken rights to the Cliffhanger reboot starring Pierce Brosnan and Lily James, in an eight-figure deal. The reimagining of the 1993 classic, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Carry-On), is currently in post-production and is being set for a 3,000 screen stateside theatrical release in 2026.  The film follows a seasoned mountaineer, Ray Cooper (Brosnan), who operates a luxury chalet in the Dolomites with his daughter, Sydney. During a weekend trip with a billionaire’s son, they are targeted by a gang of kidnappers. Ray’s other daughter Naomi (James), still haunted by a past climbing accident, witnesses the attack and escapes. To save her family, she must confront her fears and fight for survival.   


Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the "ultraviolent action film," Normal, which just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The project, written by Derek Kolstad and directed by British filmmaker Ben Wheatley, follows Sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk), whose provisional posting to the quaint Midwestern American town of Normal was meant to be a welcome respite from both his marital woes and recent "moral injuries" in the line of duty. But when a botched bank robbery interrupts the municipality’s tranquil pace, a dark secret is inadvertently exposed, and Ulysses soon discovers that the town is anything but its namesake. Henry Winkler and Lena Headey also star.


TELEVISION/STREAMING

Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Mayor of Kingstown) has been cast as a key guest star in the FX Untitled Witness Protection pilot, with the possibility for the role to expand if the project is picked up to series. He joins the previously announced lead cast of Alison Brie, Pablo Schreiber, Zoë Chao, Jamie Neumann, and Antonella Rose. In the project, a violent confrontation drives a high-end D.C. madam, Remy (Brie), to turn on her partner and enter witness protection in seaside Maine with her adolescent daughter. Gillen will play Carl Milliken III, "a business executive who identifies more with his workface than the military contractors he interacts with."


Philip Winchester (Ransom Canyon) is set for a key recurring role opposite Kyle Schmid in the upcoming second season of the NCIS prequel, NCIS: Origins. He'll play Mason Franks, the older brother of Mike Franks (Schmid), a Texas-tough cowboy who has recently hit rock bottom. Mason is an honorable man who has fallen on hard times and is desperately trying to keep from losing the family ranch. His desperation leads him to seek help from his estranged little brother. NCIS: Origins follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS. In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.


Emmy nominee Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale) is closing a deal for a series-regular role opposite Vince Vaughn in the second season of the Apple TV+ comedy, Bad Monkey. Strahovski will play the role of County State Attorney Delaney. As previously announced, others appearing in major roles this season will include John Malkovich and John Ortiz, who has been upped from special guest star to series regular. Based on Carl Hiaasen’s bestselling novel, Bad Monkey‘s first season introduced viewers to Vaughn’s Andrew Yancy, who has taken up a job as a health inspector in the Keys after being bounced from the Miami Police Department. After stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, Yancy realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey


Lucy Liu (Elementary) will star in and executive produce the new Peacock series, Superfakes, from creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer Alice Ju (Poker Face, Beef). The crime drama follows a small-time Chinatown luxury counterfeit dealer who enters a dangerous black-market underworld in order to fund a life of suburban respectability for her family.

Lupin writer George Kay is writing The Case, a Swedish crime drama, for Netflix. The five-episode series will star Jakob Oftebro and Peter Andersson as lead investigator Thomas and ex-detective Alfred, Thomas’ estranged father, respectively. In the five-part series, clean cut, highly regarded lead investigator Thomas Berg has a serial killer on his hands. With the brutal murderer targeting his police colleagues, Thomas makes a desperate gamble, turning to a once well-regarded but now out of favor misanthropic ex-detective for help:  his estranged father, Alfred.


Prime Video released an official trailer for Harlan Coben’s Lazarus, its new thriller series starring Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy, ahead of its October 22 premiere. Based on an original story idea and written by bestselling author Coben and BAFTA-winner Danny Brocklehurst, Harlan Coben’s Lazarus follows Joel Lazarus (Claflin) who returns home after his father, Dr. Jonathan Lazarus (Nighy), dies by suicide, and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained. He quickly becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.


The release of Apple TV+‘s The Savant has been put on hold. The decision comes three days before the thriller starring Jessica Chastain was slated to premiere on the streamer Sept. 26. No new date has been set. The streamer would not elaborate on the reasons for the last-minute change, but The Savant’s subject matter is believed to be behind it, with the storyline about preventing extremist attacks and some of the imagery considered possibly triggering following the Sept. 10 assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. The series includes a sniper in action and the bombing of a government building among other acts of violence.


Frauds, ITV's "addictive" heist drama starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, has finally confirmed its premiere date for Sunday October 5th at 9pm. The upcoming series follows Bert (Jones) and Sam (Whittaker), two conwomen who reconnect after a decade apart, with their latest meeting being facilitated after Bert is released from prison on compassionate grounds. Owing to their complex shared history, Bert attempts to lure Sam out of her low-key life and back into the game of crime—with a multi-million-pound heist an enticing opportunity for both parties.

Masterpiece PBS has dropped first looks and some hints of who new to expect from season three of The Marlow Murder Club, which follows a retired archaeologist played by Downton Abbey’s Samantha Bond. Filming has concluded on the third season, which will feature three new murder mysteries told across six episodes.

 
PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

Meet the Thriller Author interviewed J.A. Jance, author of nearly 70 novels featuring J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady, Ali Reynolds, and the Walker family.


Murder Junction hosts Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee chatted with crime writer Beth Lewis about her latest novel, The Rush; intrepid women in the wilderness; and the madness of the Yukon Gold Rush.


My Bookcase Slays welcomed Martha Waters, known for writing regency romcoms, but her latest title, And Then There Was The One, mashes up cozy mystery and romance tropes in a witty and rollicking nod to both genres. She discussed how she pulls off her homage to Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.


On Crime Time FM's latest episode, host Paul Burke reviewed books by Yasuhiko Nishizawa, Rory Clements, Noelle W. Ihli, Kate Rhodes, Simon Dinsdale, and Guy Hale.