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

David Fincher’s forthcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel has a new title: The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth. Written by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood helmer Quentin Tarantino and directed by Fincher, the new film catches back up with Brad Pitt’s anti-hero eight years after the events of the 2019 hit as he works as a Hollywood studio fixer in 1977 Los Angeles. Like Pitt reprising his role as Booth, the new film will see Timothy Olyphant reviving his role as Western actor James Stacy. In addition to Pitt and Olyphant, the film’s all-star cast includes Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, and Holt McCallany. In a rare show of theatrical interest on Netflix’s part, the streamer has also set the film to premiere exclusively in Imax theaters on Nov. 25.


Netflix has dropped the first trailer for its upcoming thriller, Unabomber, starring Jacob Tremblay. The film also stars Russell Crowe, Shailene Woodley, Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg, and Marc Menchaca. Januz Metz directs. The drama follows Ted Kaczynski, played by Tremblay, going from 16-year-old Harvard student to the infamous Unabomber. Subjected to controversial psychological experiments by Professor Henry Murray (Crowe), Kaczynski’s troubled past resurfaces decades later, when the manhunt for him led by FBI agent Joanne Miller (Woodley) brings to light the chilling consequences of ambition and isolation. Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves penned the script.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) will take on the titular role as Alex Murphy/RoboCop in the reimagining of the 1987 movie on Amazon Prime, which hails from showrunner, writer, and executive producer Peter Ocko. RoboCop follows a giant tech conglomerate that convinces the city to place a powerful robot on its police force – a robot implanted with the consciousness of a beloved, fallen officer. Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, who co-created and co-wrote the original RoboCop film, also serve as executive producers for the eight-episode series.


Amazon MGM Studios has announced a series order for Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, a darkly comedic murder mystery based on the bestselling book series by Benjamin Stevenson. You's Penn Badgley will star, with David Hemingson (The Holdovers) set as showrunner and executive producer. Set deep in the dense mountains of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone follows Ern Cunningham (Badgley), a mystery-writing expert who reluctantly attends a family reunion to welcome his brother Michael home from prison — the same brother Ern helped convict. When a frozen body appears and a snowstorm traps everyone inside, the deaths begin to mount. Everyone in his family has already killed someone — either by accident or otherwise.


Netflix renewed Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen for a third season, with Ritchie returning to direct, and also released the full trailer for Season 2, ahead of its September 3 premiere. The trailer features returning Theo James (The White Lotus), Kaya Scodelario (Senna), Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast), Joely Richardson (One Day), Vinnie Jones (Snatch), Jasmine Blackborow (Legends), Michael Vu (In The Grey), Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie), Harry Goodwins (Sunset Drive), Ruby Sear, Pearce Quigley (Showtrial), and Giancarlo Esposito (The Residence). The upcoming season is set "from the country piles of England to the majestic Italian lakes" and follows aristocratic Eddie (Theo James) who inherits the family estate and discovers it's home to a huge weed empire. Embroiled in London's dark underworld, Eddie attempts to thrive and survive with the help of career criminal Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone), and his daughter Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario).


Sam Waterston (Law & Order), Campbell Scott (Royal Pains), and Chris Chalk (It: Welcome to Derry) will guest star in the upcoming NBC drama series, Line of Fire. The series follows a family of law enforcement agents—headed by Mike (Peter Krause) and Jane (Hope Davis) Hollingsworth—who bridge personal differences and cross professional boundaries as they tackle cases for the FBI, US Marshals, Secret Service, and Department of Justice. After a seemingly cut-and-dried case turns into a deadly conspiracy, they must use the expertise from a lifetime of protecting civilians and politicians to protect one another and bring the killer to justice…even if it means betraying their sworn code. Waterston will play former President Thomas Barnes, Scott takes on the role of Terry, a U.S. Senator, and Chalk will play current President Kayana.


Oscar-winner Kate Winslet has signed up for her first major Netflix drama series, starring alongside Maxine Peake (Say Nothing) in The Unheard, which hails from the team behind Emmy-winning smash hit, Adolescence. Written by Jack Thorne, the limited series follows two sisters who go on the run after an act of vengeance goes wrong. As they are desperately pursued, we ask the question: "What pushed them to this reckless act, and was it ever their intention to get away with it?" The Unheard will go into production next year.


Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) is set to reprise his role as Jonny McGee for a five-part Netflix prequel series to Top Boy, which will be titled Jonny Boy. McGee was an antagonist in Season 5 of the drama, a high-ranking member of the Irish mob who distributed drugs in London for his uncle, Tadgh McGee. Jonny Boy is not the only expansion of the Top Boy universe, with Netflix also greenlighting Jaq (working title), a series that will focus on BAFTA-winner Jasmine Jobson’s character.


Clive Owen has joined Anya Taylor-Joy in How to Kill Your Family, the British Netflix drama based on Bella Mackie’s bestselling novel. Also cast in the show are Orlando Norman and David Shields. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the murderous Grace Bernard, the protagonist of Mackie’s book. Grace is the forgotten child of Simon Artemis, a merciless billionaire. After a heartbreaking rejection, Grace decides to exact revenge, but will this deadly scheme take even more from Grace than she’s already lost? The project had been subject to a lawsuit (with the studio alleging that Mackie infringed the copyright of Kind Hearts and Coronets, the Ealing Studios comedy it owns), but this was settled last year.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

Robert Harris discussed his novel, Agrippa, an historical thriller set in ancient Rome, on NPR's Weekend Saturday.

 
David Fennell chatted with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about his new crime thriller/comedy novel All Killers Aboard; Agatha Christie and Roger Ackroyd, and more.


On the latest episode of Murder Junction, hosts Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee explored the fifty-year old killing of Sandra Rivett, nanny to the Lord Lucan household, and also chatted with author Hazell Ward who uses the mystery as a basis for her meta crime novel, The Game is Murder.


Liana de la Rosa discussed Mutual Discord with special guest host Tara DeWitt for the Poisoned Pen Bookstore podcast.


The Sisters in Crime podcast welcomed Stacey Horan to talk about her award winning Old City Mysteries, a paranormal mystery series set in historic St. Augustine, Florida.

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

Extraction 3, the latest entry in Netflix‘s action franchise starring Chris Hemsworth, has rounded out its cast with five additions: two-time Golden Globe nominee Pierce Brosnan (MobLand), plus Don Lee (Train to Busan), Joe Taslim (The Furious), Chi Lewis-Parry (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) and Siena Agudong (Amazon’s upcoming Carrie series). Extraction 3's logline is being kept under wraps, as are the roles of the new hires. The project is currently filming in Australia, with Idris Elba and Golshifteh Farahani co-starring alongside Hemsworth. The Extraction films are based on the graphic novel Ciudad from Ande Parks and illustrator Fernando León González and follow Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake, an Australian mercenary taking on high stakes rescue missions the world over. Sam Hargrave returns as director, working from a script by David Weil.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

A first look was revealed for Edward Bluemel as Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in BritBox‘s upcoming six-part drama series Hercule. The origin series, which is currently shooting in Liverpool, is an intimate study of legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Britain between the wars. Hercule will center around three of Agatha Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis. In addition to Bluemel, previously announced cast includes Henry Ashton ( A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder), James D’Arcy (Oppenheimer), Calvin Demba (Supacell), Phil Dunning (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Jack Gleeson (House of Guinness), Tamsin Greig (Riot Women), James Nesbitt (Run Away), Guy Remmers (The Buccaneers,), Rebecca Rittenhouse (Maggie), and Mawaan Rizwan (The Split Up).


The limited thriller series, The Headlands House, starring Colman Domingo has landed at Netflix following a competitive bidding war. The drama is currently in development at the streamer from writer and executive producer Cameron B. Dupont (Yellowjackets). The story follows a marriage that begins to fracture after a gay couple move into their dream home, only to discover that its prior residents were brutally murdered on the property—and their own lives may now be in danger, too.


Prime Video's The Terminal List has released first-look photos for Season 2, featuring Chris Pratt as James Reece, with all eight episodes premiering on Wednesday, October 21. From the best-selling novels by Jack Carr of the same name, The Terminal List centers on Navy SEAL Commander James Reece as he battles unknown conspiratorial forces seeking to upend the world order. Season 2 comes from Carr’s second novel, True Believer, with Reece uncovering a conspiracy that reaches from Moscow to Langley and ties into his own family’s history. Other returning cast include Tom Hopper, Constance Wu, Dar Salim, Luke Hemsworth, and Gabriel Luna.


The CW has announced premiere dates for a pair of spinoff series, Private Eyes West Coast and Law & Order Toronto:  Criminal Intent. Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson star in Private Eyes West Coast, a spinoff of the Canadian series Private Eyes, reprising their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett. In the 10-episode first season, Shade and Everett have left behind their P.I. firm and settled into a new life on the Canadian West Coast, but their new quiet life is shaken when a night out lands them at the scene of a murder. L&O Toronto: Criminal Intent returns for its sophomore season with Toronto’s brightest detective duo, Detective Sergeants Henry Graff (Aden Young) and Frankie Bateman (Kathleen Munroe), who see clues others may have missed and solve the toughest of cases using their unique set of investigative skills, with the help of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit.


Mark Gatiss's cozy crime drama, Bookish, has landed a Season 3 order at UKTV‘s U&Alibi channel, running six episodes and launching in 2027, and also a two-part Christmas special for this year. The show follows Gatiss as unconventional bookshop owner Book, who helps police solve crimes in the years after World War II. He has a lavender marriage with Trottie (Polly Walker), which helps hide his sexuality during an era when homosexuality was illegal in the UK.


AMC+ has slotted Friday, October 2 for the premiere of Kill Jackie, its upcoming revenge thriller series starring and executive produced by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Kill Jackie is based on bestselling author Nick Harkaway’s (writing as Aidan Truhen) novel, The Price You Pay. Zeta-Jones stars as Jackie Price, who has been living a luxurious existence for the last twenty years – traveling the world, selling fine art and, above all, trying to stay anonymous after escaping a dangerous past as an international drug smuggler. But just as life starts to feel a little boring, it takes a sudden lethal turn when she discovers that The Seven Demons, a squad of the world’s most terrifying hitmen, have been hired to kill her.


Olivia Colman has boarded the sixth season of Hulu's cozy murder mystery show, Only Murders in the Building, set to take place across the pond. Colman is the latest addition to the star-studded cast of Season 6, following Doctor Who alum Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker (Capaldi’s successor and the first woman to portray the iconic Time Lord), and David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor. The previously announced Season 6 recurring guest stars also include Nicola Coughlan, Richard Ayoade, Adrian Lukis, Kathryn Hunter, Jennifer Saunders, Sean Teale, Simone Ashley, Amar Chadha-Patel, Rhea Norwood, Matthew Beard, Sharon Horgan, Martin Freeman, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Jamie Demetriou, Anjana Vasan, Jane Horrocks, Derek Jacobi, and Lesley Nicol.  


Apple TV has revealed that Bad Monkey season 2 will make its global debut on December 2 with one episode per week every Wednesday until the finale on February 3, 2027. The streamer also shared a gallery of photos from the upcoming episodes and some of the new cast members joining the series, including Oscar nominee John Malkovich and Handmaid's Tale alum Yvonne Strahovski. The series is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen and centers on Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a one-time detective who can't leave his former profession behind even though he's now a restaurant inspector.


Channel 4 has announced Complicit, a compelling new six-part murder mystery that peers into the shadows of a suburban neighborhood and the hidden lives of its residents. Claire Goose (The Bay) leads the cast as Jen Molloy, starring alongside Moe Dunford (House of Guinness) who plays Jen’s lover, Damian Barr, and Jason O’Mara (The Lincoln Lawyer) as her husband, Chris Molloy. When Jen Molloy slips back home after a night of passion with a man who isn’t her husband, she has no idea how devastating the consequences will be. When a death follows, one split-second lie threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. If protecting your family meant allowing a killer to walk free…what choice would you make?


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

On the Poisoned Pen Bookstore podcast, Barbara Peters spoke with Kemper Donovan about his third Ghostwriter Mystery, Sweet Spot, in which a ghostwriter-turned-sleuth must find a devious killer who’s transforming her new assignment into a real-life thriller.

 
Simon Conway returned to Spybrary to discuss his latest espionage thriller, The British Agent—a contemporary, globe-spanning story involving missing British-made surface-to-air missiles, Ukraine, American extremist militias, political conspiracy—and his new protagonist, Chuff.


Elaine's Literary Salon welcomed Lynda Allen to discuss her new Liv Wilde Mystery, Flashes of Fire and Fury, and how "menopause is a superpower."


Crime Time FM host Paul Burke chatted with authors whose stories were included in the new anthology, Watching the Detectives.


On the Pick Your Poison podcast, Dr. Jen Prosser investigated a routine medication that turned catastrophic when a patient's brain "lost its brakes," leading to one of the most dramatic poisoning emergencies you'll ever encounter.  

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

Netflix has announced the start of principal photography on a sequel to the 2025 action thriller, Ad Vitam, starring Guillaume Canet. With a working title of Ad Vitam Eternam, the new film sees Canet return in the role of ex-elite agent Franck Lazareff who spent the first installment investigating a deadly conspiracy plot after his pregnant wife was kidnapped by masked men. Per the synopsis, in the new film, Franck sets out to find out who wants him dead after surviving an assassination attempt upon his release from prison. He hides away with his family in the mountains, but French intelligence services track him down and offer him a deal: a covert mission in exchange for the truth Franck is seeking. Ludovic Colbeau-Justin (How To Make A Killing) takes over as director from Rodolphe Lauga, who shot the first film.


Actress Charlotte Kirk (The Reckoning, Compulsion) is reuniting with writer Neil Marshall for the psychological thriller, The Spiral Down, directed by Aaron Mirtes (Whiskey Run) with cameras set to roll in Kentucky next month. In the film, Kirk plays Mary Doyle, who is kidnapped by a serial killer obsessed with perfection. But as detectives close in, they discover that Mary is far from a victim and is in fact a dangerous escapee from a psychiatric institution with a violent past of her own. After killing her captor and disappearing without a trace, the investigation is turned on its head, leaving law enforcement hunting an even greater threat.


Newly minted Tony winner, Alden Ehrenreich (who's also known for his turn in Solo: A Star Wars Story) is set to join Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler in the Universal Pictures film, Miami Vice ’85, an original take on the classic 1980s drama series. Joseph Kosinski is directing the picture from a script by Dan Gilroy. The film explores the glamor and corruption of mid-’80s Miami in an all-new version of Miami Vice, inspired by the pilot episode of the landmark Universal Television series that influenced culture and set the style of everything from fashion to filmmaking. Miami Vice ‘85  will be filmed for Imax and is set for release on May 19, 2028.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

The Lincoln Lawyer is eying a franchise expansion at Netflix with a spinoff series headlined by Cobie Smulders, reprising her role as Mickey Haller’s half-sister Artemisia "Emi" Finch. Emi was introduced at the end of Season 4, with Smulders promoted to a series regular for Season 5. In the upcoming fifth season, Mickey Haller’s (Manuel Garcia Rulfo) world is upended when the half-sister he never knew existed, Emi (Smulders), comes to him with a plea to help free a wrongfully convicted woman, a case he takes on, determined to set right an enormous miscarriage of justice. Emi is an original character who is not in Michael Connelly’s books, on which The Lincoln Lawyer is based. She fills a void in Mickey’s family dynamic caused in part by his half-brother, Harry Bosch, not being in the picture due to the rights to the character being owned by Amazon.


Sophia Stallone's Callisto Media and Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions are teaming up on Bourbon & Lies, a romantic suspense series for MGM Television based on the bestselling book series by Victoria Wilder. Set in Fiasco, Kentucky, the series follows ex-cop Grant Foxx, a man trying to keep his life quiet after leaving the force, and Laney Young, a beautiful stranger who arrives in town with too many lies and too much danger behind her. When Laney begins working at the Foxx family distillery, she pulls Grant back into a world of instinct, suspicion, and desire. What begins as distrust turns into something far more combustible as their pasts collide, the town’s mythology darkens, and the truth threatens to burn through everything they are trying to protect.


More than a year after FBI: International was canceled, the series’ star Jesse Lee Soffer and showrunner Matt Olmstead are reuniting for another crime drama project at CBS. Strike Force (working title), from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios, is written by Olmstead and centers on a battle-tested DEA agent (Soffer) who returns home to Kansas City to lead a multi-agency strike force.targeting the violent criminals now trying to exploit America’s heartland.


Shemar Moore, star of S.W.A.T.’s reboot, Exiles, posted an update about the show, announcing that Exiles has already been renewed for Season 2 ahead of the first season's premiere on the 2026 TV schedule. Moore plays Daniel Hondo Harrelson, a S.W.A.T. team veteran pulled out of retirement to lead a last-chance experimental unit composed of untested and unpredictable recruits.


Boris Kodjoe (Station 19, Soul Food) has joined the recurring cast of Fox's Memory of a Killer for its upcoming second season, set to premiere midseason 2027. Inspired by the book and award-winning 2003 Belgian film, De Zaak Alzheimer, Memory of a Killer stars Patrick Dempsey as Angelo Flannery/Doyle, who leads a dangerous double life while hiding an even deadlier personal secret: he is slowly losing his memory. Kodjoe will play Tré, the “Fourth Musketeer.” Tré is the closest childhood friend of Angelo (Dempsey), Dutch (Michael Imperioli), and Angelo’s brother Michael (Richard Clarkin). A high-level executive at a large company, he’s the only one out of the four who “broke good,” and is now being honored for saving their childhood community center.


The CBS series Marshals has added Marque Richardson (Unprisoned) to its Season 2 cast, recurring as Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Burns. In addition, Morgan Lindholm (Leverage: Redemption) will return to expand on her role as Maddie, the bartender at the local watering hole and Cal’s (Logan Marshall-Green) estranged daughter. Production on Season 2 began in Park City, Utah, in June, with the confirmed return of lead Luke Grimes playing Kayce Dutton, head of an elite unit of U.S. Marshals.


HBO Max has decided not to proceed with the drama pilot, American Blue, headlined by Milo Ventimiglia, although the studio behind it, Warner Bros Television, is looking to find a new home for the project. Written by Jeremy Carver and directed by David Ayer, American Blue centers on native son Brian “Milk” Milkovich (Ventimiglia), who returns to his hometown of Joliet, Illinois, to rescue a beleaguered police force while seeking redemption of his own. The series-regular cast also includes Kelly Jenrette, Carlito Olivero, Onye Eme-Akwari, Jess Gabor, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Paulina Olszynski, Algee Smith, Jeremy Bobb, Rich Sommer, Jesse Garcia, Wrenn Schmidt, Ellyn Jameson, and Maisie Merlock.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
 
Murder Junction welcomed crime writer Chris McDonald to discuss his latest novel, The Wrong Man, and his side hustle as a rock musician.


Barbara Peters was in conversation with Chris Bohjalian on the Poisoned Pen Bookstore podcast, talking about Bohjalian's latest novel, The Amateur.


On Meet the Thriller Author, bestselling author, screenwriter, and television producer Kevin Wade discussed his latest crime novel, One Good Eye, the second installment in his Jeep Mullane series.


The Outliers Podcast welcomed veteran Navy helicopter pilot and mission commander-turned author, Ryan Pote, about his Blood and Treasure series, and also continuing the Fargo Series for the Clive Cussler Estate.


Authors on the Air spoke with Lucy Burdette about her writing and her Key West Mystery Series.


On the Sisters in Crime podcast, Deliah Lawrence, a Maryland-based attorney and award-winning author, stopped by to discuss her romantic suspense novels set in Baltimore.


House of Mystery Radio chatted with Bruce Borgos, author of the new novel, The Riddle Maker: A Porter Beck Mystery.


THEATRE

The Oakland Park, Illinois-based Ballet 5:8 has scheduled a national tour of its ballet, The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe, which "traces Poe's life through the short stories that made him immortal." Its creators are Ballet 5:8 artistic director Julianna Rubio Slager and choreographer Glorielle Niedfeldt. Upcoming cities in the tour include Baltimore, Maryland (October 3), Albuquerque, New Mexico (October 17), and South Bend, Indiana (March 6, 2027).

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

Jason Clarke (The Last Frontier and Murdaugh: Death in the Family) has joined the cast of Supermax, the new action-thriller from Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax, although details about his character are unknown. The Australian actor is the second of the week to join following Jaafar Jackson, the breakout star of Lionsgate’s Michael, joining Will Smith and AnnaSophia Robb, who play two FBI agents investigating a seemingly impossible murder within the impenetrable walls of a maximum-security prison. David Gordon Green is directing from a script by David Weil and David J. Rosen. Jason Clarke will also be seen coming up in the Taylor Sheridan-penned action thriller film, F.A.S.T.


Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), Dermot Mulroney (Chicago Fire), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), and rapper Sticky Fingaz have begun filming the action-thriller, Drifter, throughout Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Directed by Randall Emmett, the film also features Bill Sage, Beau Bommarito, Ema Horvath, Maia Kai, and entrepreneur and media personality John Cerasani. Set in a quiet Midwestern town, Drifter follows Wendy Ford, an interim police chief determined to prove she’s worthy of her late father’s badge. But when she arrests a mysterious drifter with a hidden past, Wendy finds herself trapped inside her isolated police station as impostors posing as FBI agents and a heavily armed mercenary team launch a deadly assault to free one of her prisoners. Forced into an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic stranger, Wendy must uncover the truth behind the attack before her town, and everyone inside the station, are wiped out.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Andy Berman is eyeing a return to the USA Network with Sherlock’s Secretary, a new procedural based on a true story. The series follows a quirky London woman whose job is responding to the thousands of letters addressed to the world’s greatest detective. After years of answering them, she unknowingly becomes the closest living thing to Sherlock Holmes — and begins investigating real mysteries arriving at 221B Baker Street. Previously, Berman spent eight seasons on the hit detective series Psych, rising  from staff writer to co-executive producer while writing and directing many of the show’s fan-favorite episodes.


The rest of the cast has been announced for the upcoming adaptation of Hercule, based on the character of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie's novels. Joining Edward Bluemel in the title role are Henry Ashton (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), James D’Arcy (Oppenheimer), Calvin Demba (Supacell), Phil Dunning (Smoggie Queens), Jack Gleeson (House of Guinness), Tamsin Greig (Riot Women), James Nesbitt (Cold Feet), Guy Remmers (The Buccaneers), Rebecca Rittenhouse (Maggie), and Mawaan Rizwan (The Split Up). The six-part adaptation will chronicle how Poirot became the world’s greatest detective and is billed as an intimate study of Hercule Poirot the man and a portrait of Britain between the world wars. It will center on three of Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Poirot to future friends and allies and, producers said, one particular nemesis.


Paramount+ has greenlit Ascent, a character-driven thriller series starring Oscar and Emmy winner Viola Davis. It is created by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Gladiator, Michael), who will serve as showrunner. Set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control, Ascent centers on elite corporate fixer Catriona Vail (Davis), who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger.


MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS announced the premiere dates for its Fall 2026 shows, including The Marlow Murder Club (September 6); Marble Hall Murders (September 6); Maigret (October 18); and The Gold (October 18).


ITV confirmed that the new season of Professor T will premiere on August 19, more than two years after the season three finale aired in May 2024. Professor T stars Ben Miller as the titular Professor Jasper Tempest, a genius criminologist from Cambridge University who has OCD and lives with his mother. The local police force often ask for Jasper's assistance as he is an astute crime solver. The much anticipated season will pick up from season three's heartbreaking cliffhanger, which saw DS Lisa Donckers tragically struck in a hit and run. The new episodes of the crime drama – which is based on the Belgian series of the same name – will chart a new path with original stories, having extended past the Belgian series' three seasons.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
 
The Better in Person podcast welcomed thriller author Harlan Coben to answer the question: "Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories?"


On the Get to Know podcast, Kathleen Antrim and DP Lyle were in conversation with George Pelecanos, author of twenty-three novels and story collections set in and around Washington, D.C.  He was a writer and producer on HBO’s The Wire, The Pacific, Treme, The Deuce, We Own This City, and the feature film D.C. Noir.


On Crimetime FM, Michael Amos Cody chatted with Paul Burke about Avalon Moon; cultural mythology; education and young people; Walnut, North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains; saw mills and more.


Murder Junction hosts, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee, discussed the five brilliant books shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and continued the Scottish theme by exploring the life of Sawney Bean, Scotland's most notorious cannibal.


The Sisters in Crime podcast chatted with Douglas Dorow, a thriller writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, about his FBI thrillers and short stories.


Elaine's Literary Salon welcomed Richard H. Smith, MSc., a futurist, technologist, and science policy expert, about his first full-length novel, the techno-thriller, WhiteGrass.

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

Neon is moving the Chloe Domont-directed thriller, A Place in Hell, from a Christmas Day release to April 23, 2027. The project centers on a successful cutthroat criminal defense attorney (played by five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams) who is on the verge of making partner when she sees her ambitions upended after a younger lawyer is brought in to replace her, and their rivalry escalates into a dangerous battle for control. Andrew Scott also stars.


Billy Zane (Titanic), John Billingsley (Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey), Scottie Thompson (NCIS) and Bonnie Root (Don’t Let Them Out) have signed on to star in writer-director-actor Philippe Caland’s neo noir thriller, Milliseconds. The film is billed as a complex mystery about a reclusive former painter who becomes drawn into an investigation involving a suicide hotline, unraveling long-buried connections and hidden truths from the past. The cast also includes Elijah Lynn Langston, making his feature film debut, along with Kevin Ryan, Don Wallace, and Jason Lee Daniel.


The first trailer dropped for the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair starring Michael B. Jordan in the title role. The film centers on a debonair art thief (Jordan) who goes toe-to-toe with an insurance investigator smart enough to catch him (Adria Arjona). The 1968 movie focused on a rich playboy (Steve MacQueen) who steals art and co-starred Faye Dunaway, playing the insurance investigator who is every bit his match in a sultry game of chess. In the 1999 Pierce Brosnan version, the protag meets his match in an insurance investigator played by Rene Russo.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Apple TV has acquired the rights to Colson Whitehead's “Harlem” trilogy and is in early development on an ongoing series based on the bestselling crime novels. The books include 2021’s Harlem Shuffle, 2023’s Crook Manifesto, and the recently published Cool Machine. Graham Yost (Silo) and Aric Avelino (American Gun) are adapting the books for the small screen. Whitehead’s trilogy is set in New York and spans the 1950s through the 1980s. Blending crime fiction with social satire, the series follows Ray Carney, a furniture salesman who can’t help but be drawn into the criminal underworld of Harlem. Previously, Whitehead’s novel, The Underground Railroad, was made into a 2021 miniseries for Amazon Prime Video, and his 2019 book, The Nickel Boys, inspired the 2024 film directed by RaMell Ross, which was Oscar-nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay. Both novels won the Pulitzer Prize. 

Japanese broadcaster Wowow has announced that it’s producing a live-action series based on Riku Onda’s best-selling mystery novel, The Aosawa Murders (Eugenia), set to star Yukino Kishii, known internationally for her role in recent Cannes title All The Lovers In The Night. The six-episode series is scripted by Naoko Adachi (What Did You Eat Yesterday?) with Go Furukawa (Kaneko’s Commissary) as lead director. Hayato Kawai, whose credits include Disney+ series Gannibal, also directs.


Rebecca Hall (The Beauty, The Listeners) has officially been cast as the female lead, Katherine Solomon, on the untitled new Netflix series based on Dan Brown’s novel, The Secret of Secrets. She will star opposite her husband, Morgan Spector, who will play the character of Robert Langdon. In the 2025 novel, symbologist Robert Langdon races against ancient forces and time to rescue a missing scientist and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind. Katherine is a scientist and Langdon’s girlfriend in the book.


Ahead of the August 12 premiere of Season 4 of Prime Video's Reacher, the drama has added four new series regulars to its Season 5 cast: Jay Baruchel (This Is the End), Kevin Durand (The Naked Gun), Amanda Ip (Cross) and Ciara Bravo (The Most Dangerous Game). The series adaptation of Lee Child’s bestselling “Jack Reacher” novels follows Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a drifter carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served, usually ending up in situations requiring his keen mind and hard-hitting fists. The fifth season of the drama series is based on the 20th book in Lee Child’s global best-selling series, Make Me. In addition to Ritchson, the Season 4 cast also includes Sydelle Noel, Chris Marquette, Agnez Mo, Anggun, Kevin Weisman, Marc Blucas, Kevin Corrigan, and Kathleen Robertson.


Olivia Williams (Dune: Prophecy), Sophie Skelton (Outlander), Indira Varma (The Night Manager) and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) have been added to the cast for season two of Prime Video‘s Young Sherlock, which charts the origin story of the world’s greatest detective. They join lead, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, who plays the titular character, and fellow returning main cast members Dónal Finn (James Moriarty) as well as Natascha McElhone, Max Irons, and Holly Cattle. Not coming back is Season 1’s female lead Zine Tseng, whose character Xiao Wei/Princess Gulun Shou’an saw her arc wrapped up nicely in the finale, and Joseph Fiennes as Sherlock’s father, Silas Holmes.


Acorn TV has renewed the Stephen Moyer-led crime drama series, Art Detectives, for a second season plus an additional two-part special. This comes after the show, which debuted last year, became its most-watched new series premiere ever. The series will return with a two-part special in December, followed by a six-episode season next year. Art Detectives stars Moyer as art-loving Detective Inspector (DI) Mick Palmer and centers around the Heritage Crime Unit. Joined by DC Shazia Malik (Nina Singh), the pair must solve murders connected to the world of art and antiques. Larry Lamb returns as Ron Palmer, Mick’s art-forging father, who is now serving time in an open prison for handling the stolen Sickert painting that was recovered at the end of Season 1.


CBS set premiere dates for its new and returning drama, comedy, and unscripted series. CBS will debut its latest series in stalwart military police procedural franchise, NCIS: New York, on Tuesday, October 6, between the new seasons of the mothership series and Origins. New legal drama Cupertino will arrive Thursday, October 8. Season 3 of the Kathy Bates drama, Matlock, and the series premiere of crime dramedy Einstein will bow in midseason


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

On the Poisoned Pen bookstore podcast, Barbara Peters was in conversation with Bryan Gruley about his latest thriller, River Deep.


On Crime Time FM Jenna Gordon chatted with author Laura Sims about her new novel, The Man; Hitchcock, Highsmith, and Rear Window; perspective and the male gaze and more.


Authors on the Air welcomed Lauren Nossett, a professor turned novelist and the award-winning author of the thrillers The Resemblance and The Professor.


Get to Know hosts Kathleen Antrim and DP Lyle chatted with Elizabeth Little, author of the thrillers Dear Daughter and Pretty as a Picture.


The Sisters in Crime podcast spoke with Liz Bullard, a therapist, coach, and multi‑genre author of such works as The Prophecy Series and the Lira Somers Mysteries.


Murder Junction was live from the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2026, one of the world's biggest crime and thriller festivals.  


On Pick Your Poison, Dr. Jen Prosser investigated a notorious green spirit served in a Belle Époque bar, a violent patient hallucinating and fighting invisible enemies, and a medical myth linked to some of history’s most famous artists.

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

Josh Lucas is set to star opposite Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning in the legal drama series, Discretion, based on the short story of the same name by Chandler Baker. Paramount+ handed the series an eight-episode order with production slated to begin later this year. Lucas will play Greg, a lawyer and the husband of Kidman’s powerful and formidable corporate law partner at the same prestigious firm entangled in a dark web of NDAs. Fanning plays Lenny, a summer associate who realizes she is bound by the exact non-disclosure agreement she is investigating, upending her mentor-protégé dynamic with Kidman’s character.


Josh Duhamel (Ransom Canyon), James Franco (127 Hours), Paula Patton (Precious), and Summer H. Howell (Amazon’s upcoming Carrie TV series) have wrapped up production on Runaway, a new indie action-thriller from director James C. Clayton and IndustryWorks Studios. Runaway follows veteran detective Lou Coleman (Duhamel), who takes a solitary drive into the wilderness after the death of his estranged daughter. But when Lou chooses to protect a teenage runaway (Howell) carrying evidence that could expose the town’s crimes, he soon finds himself the target of a corrupt small-town sheriff (Franco) and his militia. Runaway also stars Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) and Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep).


AnnaSophia Robb (I Play Rocky) is set to join Will Smith in the Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax thriller, Supermax, which David Gordon Green is directing. Robb is set to play Smith’s young partner in the film as the two detectives enter the depths of a supermax prison to solve a mysterious murder. Amazon MGM Studios closed a deal for worldwide distribution rights for the film, which will be available in more than 240 countries and territories on Prime Video.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Following the announcement that Chloe Fineman was leaving Saturday Night Live, she has officially set up her next role, co-starring in Netflix‘s Myron Bolitar as Parker Quinn, a reporter for a major sports publication who has built a stellar reputation through hard work and an undeniable passion for the game. Based on the books by Harlan Coben, Myron Bolitar follows the title character (Colin Woodell), a former NBA hopeful who reinvents himself as a sports agent — using charm, smarts and a ruthless partner to navigate the high-stakes and dirty world of sports, where saving his clients often means risking himself. Also in the cast are KJ Apa as Win Lockwood, Bolitar's right-hand man; Diane Guerrero as Esperanza Diaz, Myron’s right-hand woman; Jabari Banks as Dwayne Richmond, a charismatic tennis prodigy; Jamie McShane as Detective Ray Dimonte, a seasoned NYPD homicide detective; and Ben McKenzie as Gavin Pierce, one of the biggest agents in sports. David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) and Kyle Long (Suits) will co-showrun, write, and executive produce the series.


Lewis Pullman (Remarkably Bright Creatures, Lessons in Chemistry) is returning to television and to Apple TV with a starring role opposite Julia Garner in Guilty Creatures, a thriller drama from director Craig Gillespie, showrunner Stuart Zicherman, and Tomorrow Studios. Adapted for the screen by Sarah DeLappe from Mikita Brottman's true-crime book, Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida, the series is set against a backdrop of violence in the Florida panhandle. It delves into the psychology of a torrid romance and subsequent act of murder between two young, adulterous but God-fearing lovers — believed to be played by Garner and Pullman — unraveling their complex lives and the emotional toll of living as killers for 18 years.


AMC+ has landed exclusive rights to Kill Jackie, an adaptation of Aidan Truhen’s "gonzo thriller," The Price You Pay. The series stars Catherine Zeta-Jones is Jackie Price, who has lived a wealthy, luxurious existence for the last 20 years – traveling the world, selling fine art using sophisticated tax loopholes and, above all, trying to stay anonymous after escaping a dangerous past as an international cocaine dealer. But just as life starts to feel a little boring, it takes a sudden lethal turn when she discovers The Seven Demons, a squad of the world’s most terrifying hitmen, have been hired to kill her. The series is a gender swap from the novel, whose lead is called Jack Price.


After a lengthy development process, Amazon MGM Studios has greenlit Robocop, a series based on the MGM movie franchise, from showrunner Peter Ocko and Blumhouse Atomic Monster. The series started to take shape in 2024 when veteran Ocko (Lodge 49) was tapped as writer, executive producer, and showrunner, with horror master James Wan on board to executive produce. In Robocop, a giant tech conglomerate convinces the city to place a powerful robot on its police force – a robot implanted with the consciousness of a beloved, fallen officer.


Reid Scott, who has played Senior Detective Vincent Riley for the past three seasons, is leaving Law & Order. Taking his place on the crime drama is James Badge Dale (13 Hours, 1923), who is set to play a new Senior Detective. For Scott, who is believed to have one more year on his contract, the departure is said to be his decision, related to the strain caused by the cross-country commute and being away from his family for nine months of the year while filming Law & Order in New York. Det. Riley will get a proper ending as Scott is back on the set, filming a few episodes to wrap the character’s arc before Dale is introduced. Dale is joining returning cast members David Ajala, Tony Goldwyn, Hugh Dancy, Maura Tierney, and Odelya Halevi. Season 26 premieres Oct. 8 at 10 PM, behind the season opener of Law & Order: SVU.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

Debbi Mack's latest guest on the Crime Cafe podcast was poli-sci professor and crime writer Caleb McGee Husmann.


On Murder Junction, screenwriter turned crime author Tim Sullivan chatted about his DS George Cross series and the time he told legendary Hollywood director Ron Howard how to fix his film script.


On the Poisoned Pen Bookstore podcast, Kit Gray (The Black Cat Detectives) and Stacie Ramey (Spellbound by Murder) were in conversation with host John Charles.


CRIMINAL MISCHIEF welcomed former DEA Supervisory Special Agent Jeffrey James Higgins, who writes thrillers (including the Nathan Burke international series), short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays.


The very first episode of the Femmes Detectives podcast with host, Sue Hinkin, spoke with Kathleen Donnelly, a retired K-9 handler and author of the K-9 Justice series.

 
Elaine's Literary Salon welcomed Lynda Allen to discuss her Liv Wilde Mysteries, including the newest title, Flashes of Fire and Fury.

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

Dylan Douglas, son of of Hollywood legends Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, has booked his first feature role in the action-thriller, Killing Hitler. The story follows two notorious American gangsters who plan the impossible: an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler in 1933 Berlin. The movie shows how the FBI prevented these notable Jewish American gangsters from altering the course of history in 1933 and is told through the eyes of lead character, Ben, whose early years are portrayed by Douglas and whose later years are portrayed by David Arquette. Also starring in the cast are Danny A. Abeckaser (The Perfect Gamble) who also serves as director, Harry Goodwins (The Gentlemen), Greg Finley (The Secret Life Of The American Teenager), Graham Sibley (Lincoln), and Lorenzo Antonucci (Ice Cream Man). Killing Hitler is based on an article by Professor Robert Rockaway called, "The Jewish Plot to Kill Hitler."


James Gray’s Cannes-premiering crime thriller, Paper Tiger, will open the 64th New York Film Festival in its North American premiere on September 25. Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson star. Set in 1986 Queens and Brooklyn, the film is a New York story charting the tragic domestic fallout after family man and engineer Irwin (Teller), who aspires to middle-class comforts, is pulled into a shady deal by his brother, Gary (Driver). A former NYPD cop, Gary thinks he can make a killing on a scheme with Russian mafia, dumping oil by the Gowanus Canal. Instead, he ends up endangering his brother, as well as Irwin’s sons (Gavin Goudey and Roman Engel) and wife Hester (Johansson). Neon pictures is planning a Nov. 13 theatrical debut.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

Icelandic producer Glassriver is teaming with ZDF Studios-owned Network Movie to adapt Áróra, a crime drama series based on Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s internationally bestselling “An Áróra Investigation” novels. Network Movie has optioned all five books in the series. Set across Iceland and London, the drama follows Áróra, a tough fraud investigator with Icelandic roots who returns home to search for her missing sister. What begins as a family mission soon expands into a wider criminal investigation as she teams with Daniel, an Icelandic police detective and potential love interest, exposing corruption, betrayal, and violence beneath Iceland’s rugged landscape.


Cooper & Fry is heading to the U.S. after streamer BritBox snapped up the British crime drama. BritBox has snagged Season 1 of the show for U.S. and Canada, while Netflix has taken second window UK rights. Adapted from Stephen Booth’s bestselling detective novels, Cooper & Fry follows unlikely detective duo Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, played by Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey) and Mandip Gill (Doctor Who). Set in and around England’s picturesque Peak District, the series follows Cooper, who is struggling to emerge from the shadow of his late father, while Fry is an outsider fleeing tragedies in her past. Together, they tackle grisly crimes in the remote countryside. The series recently scored a Season 2 commission from 5 (formerly Channel 5), with filming currently underway ahead of a 2027 bow. Specifically, the upcoming season will cover Booth’s novels The Devil’s Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.   


Netflix has announced that Liz Hannah, co-creator and co-showrunner of Netflix’s The God of the Woods, will direct on the show alongside Cory Finley, Meera Menon, and Quyen Tran. Each will tackle two episodes of the eight-episode drama, based on the bestselling novel from co-creator/co-showrunner Liz Moore. Starring Maya Hawke and Kerry Condon, The God of the Woods is a multi-generational series set in the Adirondacks that explores the Van Laar family’s dark secrets, class tensions, and the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from her family’s summer camp — in the wake of an earlier family tragedy that may be related. As the past and present collide, the Van Laars’ wealth and influence unravel, revealing the damaging consequences of privilege and the abuse of power. Hawke plays Judy Luptack, a smart and quietly determined investigator — the first woman in the male-dominated Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who gets assigned to the case of Barbara’s disappearance. Condon, meanwhile, plays Alice Van Laar, mother of the missing 13-year-old.


Australian crime drama Scrublands is back for a third season, with Luke Arnold (Black Sails) and Bella Heathcote (Pieces of Her) returning to lead the cast. Scrublands: Trust, as it will be known, will see the pair chasing conspiracy and corruption through Sydney’s underbelly and the vast vistas of the Blue Mountains. The four-part season is based on Chris Hammer’s bestselling novel, Trust, and will jump the action back a decade on previous seasons. Per the synopsis: Mandy Bond (Heathcote) thought she’d dealt with her past, but an old name has come back to haunt her: Tom Molloy (Lincoln Younes),  the fiancé she never told her partner, investigative reporter, Martin Scarsden (Arnold) about. Molloy stole $15 million before vanishing and now his body has been found and with it, emerging secrets Mandy is desperate to keep hidden.


Gabriel Luna has joined the cast of Showtime's Dexter: Resurrection Season 2, guest starring as serial killer Ray Ballard, who operates under the name The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger. In addition to Luna, the previously announced Season 2 cast will also include Brian Cox as The New York Ripper; Uma Thurman will reprise her role as Charley; Dan Stevens as The Five Borough Killerl Bokeem Woodbine as Capt. Mixon; and Nona Parker Johnson as Fiona Mixon. Krysten Ritter will guest star in Season 2. From Emmy-nominated showrunner and executive producer Clyde Phillips, the series stars SAG and Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under) in the titular role of Dexter Morgan. The original show's first season and characters are derived from the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), the first in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay.


Ella Anderson (Song Sung Blue) is the latest addition to the main cast of Conviction, Hulu‘s upcoming series starring Elisabeth Moss, which is based on the book of the same name by Jack Jordan. Anderson is set as a series regular in the legal drama, joining Moss, who also executive produces, and previously cast Jimmi Simpson, Kevin McKidd, Sebastian De Souza, Adam Godley, and Linda Emond. Written by David Shore (creator of House), Conviction follows criminal defense attorney Neve Harper (Moss), a confident lawyer who finally has her shot at a career-making case: a high-profile murder where the husband is accused of killing his wife by setting their home on fire. But when a mysterious stranger begins blackmailing Neve, she is forced to compromise every legal, moral, and ethical obligation to gain an acquittal — or else risk her dark secrets being exposed. Details about the rest of the characters are not being disclosed.


MASTERPIECE PBS has announced that Season 2 of Maigret will premiere on Sunday, October 18 on PBS at 9/8c and be available to stream via the PBS app and Prime Video. Based on Georges Simenon's novels about the iconic French detective, this ground-breaking, contemporary version of Maigret is written by Patrick Harbinson (Homeland, 24). In the second installment of the series, Chief Inspector Maigret (Benjamin Wainwright) and his team of detectives investigate a series of haunting and complex crimes, while the stakes are raised for Maigret and his wife Louise (Stephanie Martini). Maigret's unique brand of justice exposes him to the critical eye of his mentor, Police Director Xavier Guichard (Nathaniel Parker). He decides that Maigret needs to be taught a lesson and deliberately weakens his team. With the pressure mounting inexorably, Maigret will be forced to make a choice between his personal life and his career.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

In the latest episode of Spybrary, Shane Whaley is joined by fellow Spybrarian and Head of Boston Station, Joe Modzelewski, to welcome bestselling espionage author Charles Cumming back to the show. to discuss his new Lachlan Kite thriller, ICARUS 17, released on July 2 in the UK and July 7 in the United States. Billed as a nail-biting new entry in the BOX 88 series, ICARUS 17 sees Kite pulled back into fieldwork when Martha Rain, a woman from his past, asks for his help in finding her missing son, Max.


In the latest episode of Meet the Thriller Author, Alan Peterson welcomed crime and suspense author Tom Towslee to talk about his fascinating journey from journalism and political communications to writing gripping mystery and thriller novels and to discuss Tom’s latest novel, Finding Lexi Divine, which introduces readers to Charlie Doyle, a suspended police officer hired to track down a missing stripper. What begins as a simple missing-person case quickly spirals into a dangerous investigation involving drug trafficking, corruption, and murder.


The Flamingo Files podcast spoke with Elaine Viets, who has written 36 mysteries in four bestselling series: the Francesca Vierling novels, the Dead-End Job mysteries, the Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper novels and the Angela Richman mysteries; and also with Neil Plakcy about Dog of Secrets, the latest in his dog-centered mysteries.


Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction host DP Lyle, MD, had a fun chat with former police officer, paramedic, and nonfiction author David L. Williams, about interrogation techniques. His debut mystery/thriller novel, The Shadow Box, will be released through Black Rose in February 2027.


Murder Junction chatted with Otto Penzler, legendary owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York, the world's largest specialist crime and thriller bookshop. They also discussed Otto's latest project, editing and releasing a series of "American Mystery Classics."


On Pick Your Poison, Dr. Jen Prosser investigated what ancient remedy was a byword for treating madness in ancient Greece and was used to treat Heracles after he murdered his wife and children. And what flower contains the same toxin as poisonous toads?

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

Matthew Michael Carnahan (Mosul) is set to direct The Gatekeeper for Amazon MGM Studios and Di Bonaventura Pictures. The project is based on bestselling author James Byrne‘s novel, Deadlock, and is being adapted by Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Helgeland. The story follows Desmond "Dez" Aloysius Limerick, an unconventional multi-talented ex-operative. After a chance meeting saving the life of a reporter, Dez stumbles across a vast conspiracy and now must stop the forces intent on keeping their secrets safe.


The Sopranos creator, David Chase, is developing a feature film based on the CIA's MKUltra program. The controversial program was an effort to weaponize LSD as a mind control substance, which the film juxtaposes along with the triumphant rollout of the polio vaccine. Set in the 1950s and inspired by a true story shared by one of Chase’s friends, the untitled film follows a family connected to both worlds.


Bleecker Street has taken U.S. rights to the psychological thriller, NDA, which Audrey Ellis Fox will helm in her feature directorial debut. Ellis Fox also wrote the script, which landed a spot on the 2024 Black List and was selected for the 2023 Women in Film X Black List’s Feature Residency program. NDA follows Dana (Rachel Zegler) during a maddening day of mediation for an office harassment claim she filed, and as the clock ticks towards an immutable deadline, she questions the price of her silence, sanity, and the truth. Penn Badgley and Amy Ryan also star.


Noomi Rapace, Ron Funches, Michael Biehn, Roland Møller, Laz Alonso, Basil Eidenbenz, and Dan Fogler are joining The Kellys, from Amazon MGM Studios and Thunder Road. They join the previously announced Arnold Schwarzenegger, Liam Hemsworth, Kelsey Asbille, Abby Elliot, and Geena Davis in the cast. Brad Peyton is directing from Tze Chun’s screenplay. The story follows Jack Kelly, a disgraced NYC cop whose wife, Molly, is taken hostage by terrorists inside an old armory building. To save her, he’ll have to join forces with the people he fears most: his family.


Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American, Southeast Asian, and worldwide airline rights (excluding France) to the drama-thriller Bunker, written and directed by Oscar-winner Florian Zeller (The Father). The project stars Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), and Patrick Schwarzenegger (The White Lotus). When an architect accepts a morally ambiguous project — building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire — his wife begins to question their marriage after 17 years together. The film is described as "a thriller that delves into the emotional and moral challenges a couple faces amid the tensions of the world around them, exploring the fears, doubts, and dilemmas that define our era."


TELEVISION/STREAMING

Colin Woodell (The Continental) has been set as the lead of the new Netflix drama series Myron Bolitar, inspired by Harlan Coben’s longest-running book series. David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) and Kyle Long (Suits) will co-showrun the drama. Woodell will play Myron Bolitar, a former college basketball star whose NBA career came to an abrupt end. Myron reinvented himself as a sports agent. He built his agency, MB Sports, on an unwavering belief in overlooked athletes, with the same heart and fierce competitive drive he once brought to the court. KJ Apa (Riverdale) will play Win Lockwood. Born into extraordinary privilege, Win walked away from the family business to build something of his own alongside his closest friend, Myron. Unflappable, endlessly resourceful and fiercely loyal, he’s the one Myron turns to when clients find themselves in trouble. Diane Guerrero (The Lincoln Lawyer) will play Esperanza Diaz, a former professional wrestler-turned-Myron’s indispensable right hand at MB Sports. Armed with endless grit and razor-sharp wit, Esperanza is the backbone of the agency and the steady force keeping both Myron and clients in check.


Morgan Spector is in talks to headline Netflix's series adaptation of Dan Brown‘s latest novel, The Secret of Secrets, tackling the role of Professor Robert Landgon played by Tom Hanks in the film versions. Rebecca Hall (The Town) is also in talks for the female lead opposite Morgan. Spector already stars in HBO’s The Gilded Age as railroad tycoon George Russell, but sources say he would be able to do both series with proper scheduling should Gilded Age get renewed for a fifth season. In The Secret of Secrets, symbologist Robert Langdon (Spector) races against ancient forces and time to rescue his girlfriend, missing scientist Katherine Solomon (Hall), and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind. If the deals come to fruition, it will mark the first TV series acting collaboration for real-life couple Spector and Hall who have starred together in a handful of plays and movies, including the Broadway revival of Machinal, Christine, and Permission.


Disney+ is developing Spy School, a series based on Stuart Gibbs's bestselling books, with Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak writing the adaptation. Spy School revolves around Ben Ripley, who may only be a teenager, but he’s already pegged his dream job:  CIA or bust. Ben is not surprised when he is recruited for a magnet school with a focus on science — but he’s entirely shocked to discover that the school is a front for a CIA academy


Apple TV‘s drama series Nocturne has set Friday, October 30, for its premiere date and released first-look photos. Known previously as Lazarus, the series is based on the Lars Kepler novels, Lazarus and The Sandman. The 10-episode drama tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Liev Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his surrogate daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Zazie Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?  The ensemble cast also includes Bill Camp, Rory Culkin, Chrissy Metz, Poorna Jagannathan, and Gary Carr.


HBO is developing Dorothea, a true crime drama starring and executive produced by Oscar-winner Geena Davis. Written by Joshua Michael Stern, who serves as showrunner, from a story co-written by Michael Rosenbaum and Jane Whitney, Dorothea is inspired by the real-life story of Dorothea Puente, California’s most notorious female serial killer. Dorothea centers on a Sacramento woman (Davis) who ran a boarding house for the less fortunate in the 1980s, but her seemingly benevolent actions belied her sinister motives. In reality, she was murdering her boarders and continuing to cash their social security checks. After evading suspicion for years, in part because of her disarming, matronly demeanor, Puente was ultimately arrested. After a wild trial, she was convicted for three of the murders and spent her last years in prison.


Channel 5 in the UK has announced a new six-part thriller led by MobLand star Emmett J. Scanlan and titled An Impossible Way to Die, which is expected to air in 2027. Described as a "character-driven, unpredictable crime drama exploring themes of identity, protection, power and corruption," the series follows a local detective whose life is upended when she must investigate a mysterious murder. The synopsis reads: "Four people sat around a table seemingly set for a dinner party – except they are all dead. The only clue is a scorpion crawling out of one of the victim’s mouths…" Sharon Rooney (Barbie) also stars as DS Katie Salter, who is partnered with lead investigator DI Niall Conway (Scanlan) to try to solve the seemingly impossible case, with the pair's different approaches to their job leading to clashes between them.


Whitstable Pearl will not return for a fourth season after Acorn TV canceled the cozy crime drama. Kerry Godliman stars as Pearl Nolan, a restaurant owner who doubles as a private detective. She investigates crimes across the picturesque Kent seaside town of Whitstable. Howard Charles portrays DCI Mike McGuire, who frequently works alongside Pearl throughout the series. The drama is based on the Whitstable Pearl novel series written by author Julie Wassmer. Despite losing the role, Godliman already has another crime drama lined up for viewers, playing Detective Inspector Andrea Dalziel in ITV’s upcoming reboot of Dalziel and Pascoe alongside Nina Singh.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talked with Irish writer Tana French on All Things Considered about the author's books and other writing that immerses readers in Ireland.


Crime Cafe welcomed thriller author Jennifer Lycette to talk about her medical thrillers, The Algorithm Will See You Now and The Committee Will Kill You Now.


Killer Women chatted with Jennifer Pashley, author of award-winning novels, The Scamp and The Watcher, as well as two short story collections.


On Outliers' Get to Know podcast, Dr. DP Lyle was in conversation with best-selling author Robert Bailey, author of the Max Ringo series, the Jason Rich series, the McMurtrie and Drake legal thrillers, and the Bocephus Haynes series.


On the Pick Your Poison podcast, Dr. Jen Prosser profiled which ancient remedy was a byword for treating madness in ancient Greece and was used to treat Heracles after he murdered his wife and children, and what flower contains the same toxin as poisonous toads.

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

After a year of negotiations, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to star in Michael Mann’s Heat 2 sequel, which will start shooting in November. Bale will play Vincent Hanna, the dogged LAPD Robbery Homicide detective played by Al Pacino in the original film, while DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer. Mann will return to write and direct the sequel, which originated as a novel written by Mann and Meg Gardiner, released in 2022. Heat 2 serves as both a prequel and a sequel, taking place both before and after the events of Mann’s seminal 1995 film. TheWrap also reported that Adam Driver is in negotiations to play the villain, Wardell, and Stephen Graham is in talks to play Neil McCauley, the Robert De Niro role from the first film. A number of actresses are vying for the role of Sharlene, originated by Ashley Judd, while other A-list names are allegedly circling the project.


Josh Gad (Frozen) has been added to the cast of Warner Bros.’ upcoming Ocean’s Eleven prequel film, joining Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper and the recently announced Monica Barbaro. The actor is said to be taking on a significant role in the heist film, which will also be directed by Cooper. The screenplay was written by Cooper based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Robbie teased the plot at CinemaCon, sharing that she and Cooper were set to portray the parents of Danny Ocean (portrayed in the Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s trilogy by George Clooney). The film is currently set to release on June 25, 2027.


TELEVISION/STREAMING

Netflix is developing a TV adaptation of The Castaways author Lucy Clarke’s thriller, The Surf House, directed by Ed Lilly (Tell Me Lies). The Surf House is set high on the cliffs of Morocco and is based in a sanctuary for surfers and travelers chasing sunshine and waves. But the idyll hides a dark mystery, and when Bea washes in, seeking refuge after a dangerous encounter in Marrakesh, she soon gets caught in the current. A woman her age – who stayed in the same area, walked the same beaches, met the same guests – disappeared one year earlier, vanishing without trace, and her last known whereabouts was The Surf House.


A first look was revealed and a release date announced for Prime Videos' Reacher spinoff, Neagley. Starring Maria Sten in a reprisal of her fan-favorite character from the mothership series, Neagley will premiere with all episodes Wednesday, September 16 following the Reacher Season 4 finale. In the spinoff, Sten stars as Frances Neagley, a private investigator in Chicago and former military protégé of Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. When she learns that a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident, she becomes hell-bent on justice. Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil. The ensemble cast includes Greyston Holt as Detective Hudson Riley, Adeline Rudolph as Renee Birdwhistle, Jasper Jones as Keno, Matthew Del Negro as Pierce Woodrow, and Damon Herriman as Lawrence Cole. Ritchson guest stars as Jack Reacher.

 
Mark Harmon is returning to NCIS: Origins for a season-long arc. Harmon, who previously starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 18 seasons on NCIS, will appear in all episodes of Season 3 as part of a present-day mystery tied to his '90s Camp Pendleton days. This marks his third appearance on the spinoff series, though it’ll be the first time his character is part of the entire story. That story seemingly kicked off when he appeared in Season 2 for a Veterans Day crossover between NCIS and Origins featuring the younger Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and his team investigating the small-town death of a naval officer in the '90s on Origins – a case that was unexpectedly reopened in the present day on NCIS. NCIS: Origins follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Stowell) in the early '90s, years prior to the events of the flagship series. The series also stars Kyle Schmid, Mariel Molino, Tyla Abercrumbie, Diany Rodriguez, and Caleb Foote. Season 3 of NCIS: Origins will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT in the fall on CBS.


In more NCIS news, Michael Weatherly is returning as Tony DiNozzo in CBS's NCIS this fall for a season-long arc. The news arrives 6 months after NCIS: Tony & Ziva was canceled after one season at Paramount+. The spinoff reunited Weatherly with Cote de Pablo, who played Tony’s partner in life and in fighting crime, Ziva, on the original series. CBS declined to comment regarding whether de Pablo will also return to NCIS, nor if they plan to retcon the events from Tony & Ziva. Season 24 of NCIS will air Tuesdays at 8:00 PM, ET/PT this fall on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.


After recent behind-the-scenes drama and reports that Tom Hardy would be leaving MobLand, it appears any conflicts have been settled enough for the actor to return to the series alongside Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. In the end, the show proved too big and too important to mess with the lead characters’ dynamic that had won over fans, and the actor also got support from Mirren on social media. In MobLand, Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, a fixer working for the Harrigan crime family led by Conrad and Maeve Harrigan (Brosnan and Mirren).


Joely Richardson (The Gentleman) is set as a series regular opposite Stellan Skarsgård in Apple TV‘s untitled thriller drama series from Alex Cary (Homeland) and Sony Pictures Television. The series is headlined and executive produced by Dakota Fanning. In the series, Fanning stars as an undercover Treasury agent in a multi-billion dollar international conglomerate, with world-changing political and criminal tentacles, who becomes conflicted between her mission and a belief that her principal target, the heir apparent to all that corrupt power, is at his core a good man and worthy of her love. Richardson will play Syd, Brant’s (Skarsgård) wife.


Disney+ has renewed the Polish drama, Breslau, for a second season and is ordering two more shows. After an unexpected release from prison, the second season continues to follow Franz Podolsky, who is reluctantly dragged into an investigation of a murdered woman that appears to be connected to a case he failed to solve years ago. The show stars Tomasz Schuchardt, Adam Bobik, Agata Kulesza, Ireneusz Czop, and Przemyslaw Bluszcz.


After 13 seasons, original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins is leaving the NBC police procedural, Chicago PD, as a series regular and will return to wrap up his character, Kevin Atwater’s, storyline in the first two or three episodes of the upcoming Season 14. The series is currently casting a new series regular, "a Black cop who is an agent of chaos." Hawkins debuted as Atwater in the Chicago P.D. series premiere in 2014 and has been a constant fan favorite across the show’s thirteen seasons. As part of Hank Voight’s (Jason Beghe) Intelligence Unit, Atwater served alongside fellow elite officers.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

On NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, Ayesha Rascoe talked with Gregg Hurwitz about his new thriller, The Delivery.

On the latest Spybrary, Shane Whaley was joined by fellow Spybrarian and Head of Boston Station, Joe Modzelewski, to welcome bestselling espionage author Charles Cumming back to the show.


On Murder Junction, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee spoke with Terry Deary, creator of the bestselling Horrible Histories books, now turned crime fiction writer, about his latest novel, Actually, I'm a Corpse.


Meet the Thriller Author welcomed award-winner author Amy Shojai, whose career spans more than three decades of writing about pets and suspense. Amy is the author of more than 35 pet-care books and a series of unique pet-centric suspense thrillers, where dogs and cats play an integral role in the story.


International bestseller J.D. Barker stopped by Elaine’s Literary Salon to discuss his new novel, The Probability of Murder (co-written with Patrick Logan). It features brilliant math professor, Ivy Reeves, who becomes embroiled in a murder case involving complex puzzles, as she assists Detective Vaughn Ryan in the investigation.


On the Air with Florenza chatted with Caitlin Rother about her new novel, Staged, in which investigative reporter, Katrina Chopin, is chasing two dangerous truths—her family's haunted past and a string of suspicious deaths that point to something far more sinister.