The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee BurkeSo out of six, there are two women and three Americans.
The Coroner's Lunch - Colin Cotterill
Blood From Stone - Frances Fyfield
Night Work - Steve Hamilton
What The Dead Know - Laura Lippman
A Vengeful Longing - R N Morris
You can download the unabridged Devil May Care from Audible for £13.29. The added bonus is that it's narrated by the super suave Jeremy Northam.WOOLWORTHS IS LAUNCHING a promotion with the Daily Express from this Saturday (31 May) where it will sell featured titles for £2.99. 'Woolworths and the Daily Express recommends' will be announced in the front page of Saturday's issue, together with a voucher for a free copy of Martina Cole's Broken (Headline) to be collected from Woolworths branches. Future promotions will then be held every Friday with a half-page editorial feature on each title in the Express, while branches will promote the offer at the front of store. The first book at £2.99 will be Andy McNab's Crossfire (Corgi). The promotion has no fixed end date.
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's mobile phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies in his time to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the daily police bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives. Another dead man ...It is the identities of the murdered men which give Thorne his first clue, a link to a dangerous killer he'd put away years before and who is still in prison. With a chilling talent for manipulation, this man has led another inmate to plot revenge on everyone he blames for his current incarceration, and for the murder of his family while he was inside. Newly released, this convict has no fear of the police, no feelings for those he is compelled to murder. Now Tom Thorne must face one of the toughest challenges of his career, knowing that there is no killer more dangerous than one who has nothing left to lose.Watch a sneak preview of the tv advert:
Catherine Burke, editor at MIRA Books, has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in an anthology of thriller stories from Claire Roberts at Trident Media Group.You can read more about the anthology, here. Europe is represented by Ken Bruen as well as Lee Child.
Killer Year, edited by author Lee Child, will be published in October in hardback, with a paperback to follow in May 2009.
Saturday 12 July 2008, 3.30pmRead the Euro Crime review of Death in Breslau. Coming soon: an interview with Marek Krajewski at Crime Scraps plus his review of Death in Breslau for Euro Crime.
James Hopkin, Marek Krajewski and Joanna Pawluskiewicz discuss Poland as a setting for their fiction, and the cultural journeys that writers make between different countries. James Hopkins' Winter Under Water charts a cross-cultural love affair in an unfamiliar city. Marek Krajewski's Death in Breslau is the latest novel in his Eberhard Mock quartet. Joanna Pawluskiewicz is a hotly-tipped new voice whose fiction explores the Polish experience in the USA.
Tuesday 15 July 2008, 7.30pm
A special festival event celebrating queer literature. Julian Clary, Dave McAlmont, Andy Bell, Maureen Duffy, Stella Duffy, Paul Burston, Karen Mcleod and Rupert Smith champion their favourite books, and reveal how they've inspired their life and work.
UK Children's
Carlos Ruiz Zafon's four bestselling YA novels (with nearly 3 million copies in print in Spain), PRINCE OF THE MISTS, MIDNIGHT PALACE, SEPTEMBER LIGHTS and MARINA, to Orion, in a pre-empt, by the Colchie Agency, on behalf of the Antonia Kerrigan Agency (UK rights, excl. ANZ).
It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday. When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna. They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day – which was something of an irony under the circumstances. The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.Read the rest of the excerpt, here.
BBC One is making a new five-part crime thriller starring Ben Whishaw and Pete Postlethwaite to air this summer.
Criminal Justice centres on Ben Coulter, who finds himself being prosecuted for murder after waking up in bed next to an attractive young woman who has been stabbed to death.Read the whole BBC Press release...
Coulter, played by Whishaw (Perfume, I'm Not There), finds himself on a "rollercoaster ride" through the criminal justice system. Ending up in prison, he has to learn to survive alongside tough inmates including Postlethwaite's character, Hooch.
The series is from award-winning writer Peter Moffat, whose credits include BBC productions Hawking and Macbeth.
CHILD 44 BY Tom Rob Smith is the William Hill 1/2 favourite to win the inaugural Desmond Elliott Prize, worth £10,000. Published in the UK by Simon & Schuster, it has appeared in 22 countries - though the novel, about a Stalin-era serial killer, is banned in Russia. Three film offers are on the table, including one from Ridley Scott. The other novels in contention are Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking), with odds of 2/1, and Sunday at the Cross Bones by John Walsh (Fourth Estate), which is 3/1.According to the Desmond Elliott Prize website:
The Desmond Elliott Prize is a new biennial prize for a first novel written in English and published in the UK. Worth £10,000 to the winner, the prize is named after the literary agent and publisher, Desmond Elliott.Child 44 is the only crime novel of the three and is reviewed on Euro Crime here.
Charismatic, witty, and waspish, Elliott lived his life with sparkle. He drank only champagne, always crossed the Atlantic on Concorde and lunched at Fortnum and Mason. His office was in Mayfair and he had houses in St James’s and on Park Avenue. Desmond Elliott’s ethos to support new writers will live on in the shape of the prize.
When choosing the winner, a panel of 3 judges will look for a novel which creates a “buzz”, a book with “word of mouth” appeal. In addition, the judges will look for the following qualities:
* a novel which is a page-turner but which makes you pause for thought
* an intelligent book with broad appeal
Antonia Hodgson has bought world rights to Things Ain't What They Used to Be, “a hilarious, personal and evocative trip through the Seventies and Eighties” by “one of our best-loved actors”, Philip Glenister (Life on Mars and Cranford). Publication is scheduled for November.
Macmillan New Writing is discovering some genuine talent: following Brian McGilloway's success, Pan Macmillan has signed a three-book deal with L C Tyler, whose Herring Seller comic crime series has won many admirers. The second in the series, Ten Little Herrings, is set at a philatelists' convention in France.
At Bitter Lemon Press, Francois von Hurter has bought WEL rights in a number of projects, including Rabia (Rage) by Argentine bestseller Sergio Bizzio. The deal was concluded via Mercedes Casanovas Agencia Literia, and a movie is already in production, with Bizzio co-scripting.
Author Colin Dexter will talk about his best-known creation, Inspector Morse. He will explain how Morse was adapted for TV and tell us what John Thaw was really like.To book tickets (£10) online, visit the Malvern Theatre website.
Synopsis: It is 1826, and in the town of Redditch in Worcestershire, Thomas Potts, reluctant Parish Constable, battles to keep the peace. With the notorious ‘Needle Pointers’ up in arms at the news of a cut in their rate of pay, and a mysterious criminal gang, known as the ‘Rippling Boys’, robbing, murdering and body-snatching with impunity, gentle, timid Tom has his work cut out . . .
I decided to wait until the ink was dry(ish) on the paper before announcing anything but, as one or two of you know, Macmillan have agreed to publish the next three books in what will be my "Herring Seller" series. This announcement has been held up mainly by my touching belief that I could negotiate a contract as well as any agent - something that has probably ensured that the ink remained good and wet for several weeks longer than planned. (A tip for those of you also without agents, by the way - the Society of Authors will give you good, prompt advice on your contract, draft by draft - it's well worth joining, just for that.)
The books are scheduled to appear in August 2009, 2010, 2011. The first is provisionally entitled Ten Little Herrings.
BBC One dramas Waking the Dead and Silent Witness will return for new series next year, the corporation has confirmed.
Filming for a new five-part run of police drama Waking The Dead will begin this year, with Trevor Eve (DI Boyd) among the returning cast members.
BBC One has also ordered five new episodes of Silent Witness in addition to six that will air later this year.
"We are delighted to announce Waking The Dead and Silent Witness are set to return to BBC One in 2009 to grip audiences with more bold, original stories," said Kate Harwood, head of drama series and serials.
The trailer for the new X-Files film is online at xfiles.com, where there's also a few piccies in the gallery.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.
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.
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.
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.
On the Penguin website, there's an interview with Michael Morley which touches on the research he did for Spider which is about the hunt for a serial killer in Tuscany.
Synopsis: After her brother, Leland, was committed to an institution for the insane, for a series of brutal murders, Erin Paterson thought that she might have, a little more time to devote to her law practice in Glasgow.Bannister, Jo - Closer Still, #8 Brodie Farrell
Bonnot, Xavier-Marie - The First Fingerprint, #1 Police Captain Michel de Palma, Marseille
Brandreth, Gyles - Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death (apa Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder), #2 Oscar Wilde
Brophy, Grace - A Deadly Paradise, #2 Commissario Alessandro Cenni, Umbria
Cabasson, Armand - Wolf Hunt, #2 Captain Quentin Margont, early 1800s
Campbell, Aifric - The Semantics of Murder
Connolly, John- The Reapers, #7 Charlie Parker, PI, Maine
Dahl, K O - The Man in the Window, #3 Gunnarstranda and Frolich, Oslo Police
Drake, Nick - Tutankhamun, #2 Rai Rahotep, Chief Detective, Thebes Division, Ancient Egypt 1800 BC
Esler, Gavin - A Scandalous Man
Evans, Geraldine - Death Dues, #11 Insp. Rafferty and Sgt.Llewellyn, Elmhurst, Essex
Faulks, Sebastian - Devil May Care (writing as Ian Fleming)
Ferris, Gordon - An Unquiet Heart, #2 Danny McRae, PI in post WW2 London
Fuentes, Eugenio - The Pianist's Hands, #3 Ricardo Cupido, private detective
Gash, Jonathan - The Faces in the Pool, Lovejoy
Gordon-Smith, Dolores - Mad About The Boy?, #2 Jack Haldean, 1920s
Harrison, Cora - Michaelmas Tribute, #2 Mara, Judge, Tudor Ireland
Hill, Suzette A - Bones in the Belfry, #2 Revd Francis Oughterard
Hinchcliffe, Sally - Out of a Clear Sky
Jardine, Quintin - Aftershock, #18 Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Skinner, Edinburgh
Keating, H R F - Inspector Ghote's First Case, #25 Inspector Ghote, Bombay, India
Levison, Iain - Dog Eats Dog
Littleford, Clare - The Quarry (Crime Express Novella)
Lucarelli, Carlo - Via delle Oche, #3 Inspector De Luca, Italy in 1945
MacBride, Stuart - Flesh House, #4 DS Logan McRae, Aberdeen
Monaghan, Nicola - The Okinawa Dragon (Crime Express Novella)
Morley, Michael - Spider
Mosby, Steve - Cry for Help
Oldham, Nick - Screen of Deceit, #9 DI Christie
Parker, Michael - The Devil's Trinity
Simms, Chris - Hell's Fire, #4 Det. Jon Spicer, Manchester
Slade, Nicola - Murder Most Welcome
Somer, Mehmet Murat - The Prophet Murders,#2 Hop-Ciki-Yaya, transvestite, nightclub owner, Istanbul
Story, A M - Straws Upon the Surface, #3 Amos Cotswold, local district councillor
Taylor, Andrew - Bleeding Heart Square
Templeton, Aline - Lamb to the Slaughter, #4 Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, Scotland
Wells, Shirley - A Darker Side, #2 Jill Kennedy, Forensic psychologist & DCI Max Trentham, Lancashire
Westbrook, Kate - The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling, #3 Miss Moneypenny
White, Neil - Lost Souls
Synopsis: Beijing, People's Republic of China. Inspector Wang of the Public Security Bureau is expecting a pleasant and well-earned night out at the People`s Opera House. Instead, he finds himself face to face with a murder victim. A victim who has slipped through the hands of even China's relentless system of mass surveillance.This was the final novel in the quartet. I hugely enjoyed writing it, and it was well published, in the UK and America. My agent wanted more… But I felt this was a good place to stop. So many series lose quality, become more far-fetched or, worse, repetitive. I like the old showbiz adage ‘quit while you’re winning’. So I did.There's more background information to each book on the author's website.
BECKETT, SIMON - Written in BoneMay's reviews will begin this bank-holiday weekend.
CHANCE, ALEX - The Final Days
CHILD, LEE - Bad Luck and Trouble
COOPER, NATASHA - A Greater Evil
FOWLER, CHRISTOPHER - Ten-Second Staircase (audio book)
GUTHRIE, ALLAN - Savage Night
HILL, REGINALD - A Cure For All Diseases
HILL, SUSAN - The Risk of Darkness
HOLT, ANNE - The Final Murder
HUGHES, DECLAN - The Dying Breed
JACKSON, L M - The Mesmerist's Apprentice
KERR, PHILIP - The One From The Other
LIANG, DIANE WEI - The Eye of Jade
LEON, DONNA - The Girl of His Dreams
MCGILLOWAY, BRIAN - Gallows Lane
MANCHETTE, JEAN-PATRICK - Three to Kill
MARR, CHRIS - The Lady of the Manor
PAROT, JEAN-FRANCOIS - The Chatelet Apprentice
SAMPSON, CATHERINE - The Pool of Unease
SMITH, TOM ROB - Child 44
STANLEY, MICHAEL - A Carrion Death
WALKER, MARTIN - Bruno, Chief of Police
WINGFIELD, R D - A Killing Frost
ITV3 is planning a crime drama-themed season culminating in its first Crime Drama Awards ceremony.Read the official announcement, here.
In the run-up to the autumn event the channel will air six programmes profiling authors including Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid and P.D. James.
The shows will be followed by television dramas based on their books, such as Inspector Morse, Wire in the Blood and Rebus.
Viewers will vote for their favourite author while other awards will cover film, television and novels.
"The ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, and the preceding crime thriller season, are the perfect way for ITV3 to cement its reputation as the home of great storytelling and, in particular, great crime thrillers," said ITV and CITV controller Emma Tennant.
"I look forward to hearing which characters, series and novels are the nation's favourites, culminating with the ITV3 viewer's choice award for the top crime author."
Actor Toby Stephens, who played villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day, will play James Bond in the first full radio adaptation of Dr No.
Poirot star David Suchet will play villain Dr No in the Radio 4 adaption, being broadcast on 24 May to mark 100 years since author Ian Fleming's birth.
The station will also air a documentary following Fleming's niece's attempts to find out more about her uncle.
The two programmes are of a season honouring the Bond creator.
In James Bond, The Last Englishman, Professor David Cannadine argues that the Bond novels have played a key role in shaping England's national self-image.
Radio 4 will also re-run Amis, Amis and Bond, featuring writer Martin Amis talking about his father's obsessive interest with Bond and Fleming's writing.
Published in 1958, Dr No was Fleming's sixth Bond novel, and four years later became the first to be made into a film.
It sees Bond sent to Jamaica to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two of his colleagues.
The Radio 4 adaptation's cast also includes Samuel West, John Standing, Martin Jarvis and Peter Capaldi.
Sky customers can receive a £5 discount on all books during May when they spend £25 or more at Waterstones.com.Go here for more information (nb. this page crashes my Mozilla but works ok in IE).
Don’t forget to enter the voucher code 'S22008' in the promotional code box.
Online transactions only.