M C Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series will continue for at least another four books. Amazon already lists Death of a Witch for February 2009 and from Publisher's Lunch:
M.C. Beaton's DEATH OF A VALENTINE, DEATH OF A CHIMNEY SWEEP, and DEATH OF A DOCTOR, three new titles in the Scottish Highland mysteries series featuring policeman Hamish Macbeth, to Celia Johnson at Grand Central, by Barbara Lowenstein at Lowenstein-Yost.I've recently reviewed her latest, Death of a Gentle Lady.
Fiona Walker alerted me yesterday to the fact that amazon.co.uk are listing a new offering from Fred Vargas for February 2009 - The Chalk Circle Man.
The lovely publicists at Harvill have advised me that this is in fact the first in the Adamsberg series (and I believe first published in French in 1996 as L'Homme aux Cercles Bleus).
Currently translated in the Adamsberg series are nos 2,3, 5 and 6:
Seeking Whom He May Devour (2004) #2
Have Mercy on Us All (2003) #3
Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand (2007) #5
This Night's Foul Work (2008) #6
There's a seven minute interview with Philip Glenister, star of Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes and Cranford (see left), over on the BBC News website.
Here are this week's new reviews and details of the latest competition.
Latest Reviews:
I get to review the latest in the Hamish MacBeth series, Death of a Gentle Lady by M C Beaton, which is the 24th in the series but Constable are reprinting all the earlier ones at quite a rapid rate for those who have yet to become addicted;
Norman Price reviews the newly translated The Man in the Window by K O Dahl who like his fellow Norwegian Jo Nesbo has had his fifth book (The Fourth Man) translated before his third... Norman writes that Dahl is "one of the ever growing group of excellent Nordic crime fiction authors available in English";
Amanda Gillies reviews the second in the Tom Fletcher series by Patrick Lennon, Steel Witches, who, like Jim Kelly, sets his books in Cambridgeshire and both authors also appear to incorporate extremes of weather in their plots. Amanda calls it "a very fine piece of work";
Back to Norway and Maxine Clarke reviews the first of two books featuring Igi Heitmann, The Butterfly Effect saying that it "is a wonderful book;
Karen Chisholm helps out with Euro Crime's quest to review all ten of the Martin Beck books by Sjowall and Wahloo by reviewing the fourth (and some say the best) in this classic series, The Laughing Policeman
and Maxine provides a second opinion on Shirley Wells' Into the Shadows a book I enjoyed immensely and which Maxine says is "perfect for whiling away a wet Sunday afternoon".
Current Competition (closing date 31 May):
Win a signed copy of Spider by Michael Morley*
* UK/Europe only
The trailer's now online for next week's episode of Doctor Who where he gets to meet Agatha Christie.
Watch it here.
The episode, The Unicorn and the Wasp, will be on at 7pm next Saturday.
The latest title from Minette Walters, The Chameleon's Shadow, is now out in paperback.
The PanMacmillan website has a longish extract. I couldn't put it down when I read it earlier this year.
Frrom Book2book:
Detective-nun, Sister Agnes, the heroine of Alison Joseph's popular crime series will be brought to life in a radio drama for BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour!Bibliography so far for Alison Joseph, can be found here.Celebrated actress Anne Marie Duff (best known for her roles in Shameless and The Virgin Queen and married to actor James McAvoy) will be starring in the role of Sister Agnes. The radio crime-story Sister Agnes Investigates was specially written for Women's Hour by Allison & Busby author Alison Joseph and adapted from her book Shadow of Death (out now in paperback, £6.99). The 5-part mini-series will be broadcast the week of May 19th, every day Monday to Friday at 10.45am and repeated at 7.45pm on BBC Radio 4.
About the author: Alison Joseph first worked as a presenter on a local radio station and then for Channel 4. She later became a partner in an independent production company and one of its commissions was a series presented by Helen Mirren about women and religion. Now an accomplished novelist, her Sister Agnes series so far comprises eight books, the latest two Darkening Sky and Shadow of Death published by Allison & Busby, with a ninth book, A Violent Act, due out in hardback this autumn 2008. Alison also writes original radio drama and has previously adapted novels for BBC Radio 4, including the award-winning production of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. She has also published various short stories. She lives in London with her husband and three children.
The complete set of episodes starring Peter Davison as Margery Allingham's Albert Campion will be available on DVD (R2) on 12 May.
Investigating foul play in the stately homes of 1930s England, assisted by his manservant Magersfontein Lugg, Campion rarely misses a clue or fails to find a motive. Well connected in both the underworld and the aristocracy, his horn-rimmed spectacles and exceptional mind that can solve even the most heinous crime. Featuring episodes: Look to the Lady, Police at the Funeral, The Case of the Late Pig, Death of a Ghost, Sweet Danger, Dancers in Mourning, Flowers for the Judge and Mystery Mile. Special Features include: Subtitles; Cast Filmographies; A Margery Allingham Biography; Campion Bibliography and Picture Galleries.
The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer is published today by Serpent's Tail and the author has kindly answered a few questions posed by Euro Crime.
The Book
Synopsis: Something’s gone seriously wrong in Istanbul - a killer is on the loose, and transvestites are being murdered, the modus operandi becoming increasingly bizarre with each death. Our protagonist – fellow transvestite, nightclub owner and glamour puss extraordinaire downs her lipstick and ups the ante in the search for the religious nut. Not an easy task with the pressures of everyday life - investigations have to be slotted in between leg and chest waxes and rotating lovers.
Luckily she’s the perfect investigator: she knows everyone on the scene, her maitre d’ is the biggest gossip in town, her web skills are rivaled only by the most nerdy computer geek and she’s very, very persistent.
As the killings accelerate, our girl struggles against the odds in her pursuit - after all, everyone knows that running in stilettos and a black leather cat-suit is hell ! Can she end the slaughter without breaking a nail?
The Author
Mehmet Murat Somer was born in Ankara in 1959. After graduating from university, he worked for a short time as an engineer, and for an extended period as a banker. Since 1994, he has been a management consultant, conducting corporate seminars on management skills and personal development. When not working out in the hammam, he writes books in the Hop-Ciki-Yaya series, of which there are now 6.
The Interview
EC: The Prophet Murders is the first of your books to be published in English. Is it the first in the series? In a nutshell, what is it about?
MMS: The order of the books is a strange story. I wrote The Kiss Murders first, but here in UK and in Turkey The Prophet Murders was published first. So, publishing wise, it is the first of the series. In a nutshell, The Prophet Murders is a crime caper set in Istanbul. The hero is a transvestite detective. By day computer wizz, handsome man, corporate consultant and a skillful hacker; by night hip-underground club owner, glamorous and sexy transvestite, amateur sleuth with an Audrey Hepburn alter-ego.
EC: Where did the idea for the main character come from?
MMS: Two reasons really. First, I believe the media presentation of transvestites is usually negative. They are presented as either slapstick fun material or potential criminals by the media, in bad films and books. For example see the freak transvestite character in The Silence of the Lambs. As a result transvestites are perceived by many as potential criminals, doomed to be street hookers but nothing else, with almost no moral values. I don't agree with this attitude at all. So I wanted to create a likeable, intelligent, witty, refined, well educated hero/heroine with "positive skills". Not the typical, stereotypical drag-queen. Therefore I furnished him/her with contrasting and considerable talents… Plus lots of knowledge and warm wit. Hence I created, I believe, the first transvestite detective.
And the second reason was to create a marketing niche in the presence of many straight, and the few gay /lesbian detectives of crime fiction.
EC: So far you've written six Hop-Ciki-Yaya books as well as the 'Champagne' trilogy. What are you writing at the moment? Do you have plans for more Hop-Ciki-Yaya books?
MMS: Yes, I am working on another Hop-Ciki-Yaya adventure. As long as there will be readers and interest, I will produce more Hop-Ciki-Yayas.
EC: Who are your favourite authors (and why)?
MMS: So many with all different reasons. Honore de Balzac is my all time favourite. With his novels he creates a complete panoramic picture of France in his time. A major character from one of his books might have a cameo appearance in another. I like this.
Patricia Highsmith, especially her Ripleys and Those Who Walk Away, I've read and will read over and over.
Naturally Orhan Pamuk! Besides his My Name is Red being one of my favourite books, I believe the Nobel prize Orhan Pamuk won, opened the international door for Turkish writers, including me.
Truman Capote, Christopher Isherwood, Ingrid Nöll… Many more! In fact there is huge list of acknowledgements at the end of The Prophet Murders, as someone said the "the longest acknowledgements in Turkish literature."
EC: Which other Turkish crime novels would you love to see translated into English?
MMS: Alper Canıgüz is my present favourite. Very young one. He only has two books so far, but I find him brilliant. And Perihan Mağden! Although she is not a classical crime author, her recent book (Escape) gave me more chills and thrills than most crime novels.
EC: What do you think about the English crime writers who set their books in Istanbul such as Barbara Nadel and Jason Goodwin? Do you read their books?
MMS: I enjoyed reading them, their oriental perceptions. Although I would say they are quite different: respectively 'contemporary' and 'Ottoman Turkey'. The historical settings of Jason Goodwin are charming since I am also a historical novels aficionado. Top of my list is occupied by Mary Renault, Mika Waltari and the historical novels (Julian) of Gore Vidal.
EC: What can we expect in the second in the series, The Kiss Murders...
MMS: A lady-like transvestite named Buse (i.e. Kiss in Turkish) is murdered. My hero tries to solve the case. Radical nationalists and their political party is in the background. You can expect more joy, more fun, more giggles and a page turner like The Prophet Murders.
Many thanks to Mehmet Murat Somer for answering my questions and Benjamin Usher for arranging it.
Audio
