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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Murder on the Orient Express

Christmas Day tv's looking good in the UK: Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (update: 6pm UK, BBC America at 9pm ET) and Murder on the Orient Express on ITV at 9pm.


From the ITV press release:
World-famous sleuth Hercule Poirot has just solved a complex case in Istanbul for the British Army, when he witnesses an act of brutal injustice on the streets. Relieved when a new case calls him back to London, Poirot’s old acquaintance Xavier Bouc (Serge Hazanavicius), secures him a last minute ticket on the luxurious Orient Express.

Among the eclectic range of passengers are Princess Dragomiroff (Dame Eileen Atkins) and her nervous maid Hildegard Schmidt (Susanne Lothar), English Governess Mary Debenham (Jessica Chastain) and Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson (Marie-Josée Croze).

Whilst aboard the train Poirot is approached by ruthless American businessman Samuel Ratchett (Toby Jones) who offers him $10,000 to watch his back. Could Ratchett be fearful of the Italian Antonio Foscarelli (Joseph Mawle), English Colonel John Arbuthnott (David Morrissey), pushy American Mrs Hubbard (Barbara Hershey) or Hungarian diplomat Count Andrenyi (Stanley Weber) and his wife, Countess Andrenyi (Elena Satine)? Poirot awakes the following morning to find the train stuck in a snowdrift and Ratchett dead in his compartment

With nothing but a scrap of paper to go on, Poirot must piece together Ratchett’s identity before he can establish which of his fellow passengers murdered him and their motive.

David Suchet says: “It's an honour to have such a wonderful international cast on board for this world famous murder mystery. Writer, Stewart Harcourt, has created an exquisite script. His attention to detail is impeccable.”

Producer Karen Thrussell says: “We’re all incredibly delighted that 21 years after David Suchet first played Hercule Poirot he is now starring in arguably the most ingenious and best loved Agatha Christie title of all time.”

Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Reviews: Bruce, de Santis, Ellis, Lawrence, McCarthy, Puzo

One competition for November and it is open to UK & Europe residents and closes on 30th November:
Win the Ellis Peters Award shortlist (6 books)

Here are this week's reviews:
Maxine Clarke reviews The Siren by Alison Bruce the second in her Cambridge set DC Gary Goodhew series;

I review Pablo de Santis's Voltaire's Calligrapher, tr. Lisa Carter which I enjoyed very much but it is not a traditional crime novel;

Don't let the cover put you off this fine first novel from Joy Ellis, Mask Wars set in the Fens, and reviewed here by Michelle Peckham;

Terry Halligan was impressed with Paul Lawrence's A Plague of Sinners the second in the Harry Lytle series and Terry shares some interesting facts about the Plague in his review;

Laura Root reviews Kevin McCarthy's debut novel, Peeler set in 1920s Ireland concluding that it "should appeal to fans of Philip Kerr or C J Sansom"

and Rik Shepherd reviews Mario Puzo's "long lost" revenge thriller, Six Graves to Munich.
Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Review: Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock (audio book)

Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock, read by Clive Mantle (AudioGO, October 2010, 9 CDs, ISBN: 140846814X)

My experience of Doctor Who audio books has been limited mostly to the abridged 3 CD versions of the range of 'new' Who books, which are fairly easy reads aimed at teenagers/adults. This offering from well known science fiction author, Michael Moorcock is quite a different kettle of fish.

The Coming of the Terraphiles features the eleventh Doctor and Amy (but no Rory). The Doctor receives a garbled message from a familiar voice which leads to him joining a group of Terraphiles (Earth lovers) who are playing in a tournament of 'classic' old, old Earth games. It's important to the continued life of the universe that the team he joins wins the ultimate prize of the Silver Arrow of Artemis.

The Doctor and Amy meet the Terraphiles on the planet Peers and then have to make their way to the final on Flynn, in the Miggea system in the centre of the galaxy. Along their journey they stay in a stately home and meet characters out of a P G Wodehouse novel, go on a ship captained by a centaur, make a trip to the Second Aether, encounter General Frank/Freddie Force and his Anti-Matter Men who want to destroy the universe and meet allies such as Captain Abberley and the Bubbly Boys and also, an unknown quantity in the shape of the pirate Captain Cornelius.

Though the underlying plot is fairly straightforward: the Doctor must get from A to B, fight off enemies, win the Arrow and put the balance of the universe back to rights, this was quite a difficult listen at times. There was a lot of detail about the characters and places and most confoundingly for me - the science of space-time, which went mostly over my head. It does take a while for the Doctor and Amy to become the focus of the story but there are enjoyable chapters on Peers to compensate.

This is a novel with a scope hugely outside the normal tv episodes or Doctor Who books; there is a large cast, about fifty-percent non-human which would be impossible to portray outside of a feature film, as well as multiple universes, gigantic (Babylon-5 style) space-ships and numerous planets. The tale is not without humour though: the descriptions of the games are very funny; the Doctor's speciality is Cracking the Nut (with a sledgehammer) as are the customs that have survived, though modified over 50,000 years and the Wodehouse characters: Bingo Loxesley and Mr and Mrs Banning-Cannon (so well portrayed by Clive Mantle) are a hoot. Indeed Clive Mantle does a sterling job with the narration. He has to provide many voices, both human and alien and even has to sing from time to time. His Doctor and Amy are immediately recognisable even though he's not imitating the tv actors.

In conclusion, thought it's always great to read about the unseen adventures of the Doctor, its more complex ideas and language may mean that The Coming of the Terraphiles is not for everyone, and though I enjoyed the audio version, for once I think I'd probably have got on better with the print version.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

OT: And the winner is...Miss Spell

We went to see Harry Potter 7.1 the other night and this poster cracked me up!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Anne Holt on Woman's Hour

Author Anne Holt was interviewed on today's Woman's Hour on Radio 4. You can listen again or download the podcast (the interview's about 10 minutes in).
Anne Holt worked in the Oslo Police Department before becoming a lawyer and setting up her own law firm. Then she saw an advert for a crime writing competition. She set to work, wrote her first novel, but missed the deadline. However the novel did get published, and became an immediate bestseller. She has since written many more books and the latest one, called ‘1222’ is about to be published in Britain. She talks to Jane about the book, which is set in a snowbound hotel where hundreds of people, including at least one murderer, are marooned following a train crash.

Publishing Deal - Victor del Arbol

From today's Publishers Lunch Weekly email:
Spanish novelist Víctor del Arbol's THE SAMARAI'S GRIEF, about multiple betrayals, personal and political, pitched as evocative of Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind, and set alternately in the pro-Nazi Spain of 1941 -- when an aristocrat becomes involved in a plot to kill her Fascist husband, only to be betrayed by her lover -- and during the attempted Fascist coup of 1981, when a young lawyer is accused of plotting the prison escape of the man she successfully prosecuted for attempted murder five years earlier; with the Japanese sword of the title providing -- and ultimately severing -- the link between the two women's lives, to Holt, for publication in February 2011.

The Dove of Death - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Peter Tremayne's The Dove of Death. The US hardback edition came out in October and the UK paperback edition came out last February.

So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Peter Tremayne?

If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story?

Here is Amanda Gillies' Euro Crime review of The Dove of Death.

You can read an extract from Chapter 1 on the US Macmillan website.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

OSS 117 on BBC4

The French comedy-spy thriller, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies is to be shown on BBC4 on Saturday night at 9pm and will be repeated on Tuesday at 11.30pm:

The city of Cairo, Egypt, in 1955 is a veritable den of spies. Everyone distrusts everyone, everyone plots against everyone: the British, the French, the Soviets, the family of the deposed King Farouk struggling to regain his throne, and the Eagles of Cheops, a religious sect thirsting for power.

The President of France, René Coty, dispatches his master weapon to bring order to this bedlam before all hell breaks loose. Its name: Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, alias Agent OSS 117.

Monday, November 22, 2010

News: Denise Mina's next books

If you'd been worrying about the remaining books in Denise Mina's Paddy Meehan series and when they'd see the light of day then the following from a Publishers Weekly interview should be reassuring:
I switched publishers in the U.K., and my new publisher wanted a new series. They didn't want any more Paddy books because they didn't own them, but this summer they bought them from my old publisher. I'm doing a new Alex Morrow book now, after The End of the Wasp Season, and then I'm going back to Paddy to finish the last two. It's not that I got fed up with Paddy or I abandoned her. It was just a technical reason.
Read the whole interview here.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Trailer - London Boulevard

The film based on Ken Bruen's London Boulevard will be released on 26 November in the UK. Here's the trailer:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

BBC4 does it again (Wallander & Montalbano)

One of this blog's regular readers has tipped me off about a letter in the Radio Times revealing that this Christmas will be something to look forward to at least for BBC4 viewers:
BBC4 will be showing four Wallander films starring Rolf Lassgård over the Christmas period: 'The Man Who Smiled', 'One Step Behind', 'Firewall' and 'The Pyramid'. Plus there will be an unspecified number of Montalbano episodes. The second series of Wallander with Krister Henriksson will be repeated next year
Joy, joy, joy...

The Chalk Circle Man - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Fred Vargas's The Chalk Circle Man tr. Sian Reynolds.

So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Fred Vargas?

If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story?

Here are the Euro Crime reviews by Fiona and Michelle.


UK paperback:

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Waking the Dead - news

A snippet in today's TV & Satellite Week has the following news about a spin-off from Waking the Dead:
Tara Fitzgerald will appear in a BBC1 Waking the Dead spin-off centred on her forensic pathologist character Eve Lockhart. The final series of Waking the Dead will air next year.

Sherlock Holmes for Younger Readers

Over on my teenage blog, I've posted a mini write-up of the first book discussion at my work's children's reading group, for which I'd chosen a Sherlock Holmes theme, and the specific title of The Case of the Captive Clairvoyant by Anthony Read. I've also listed a few Holmes-related series that are suitable for 9-12 year olds.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Website updates - November

It's been a while since I refreshed the bibliography pages on the website and as I've recently added lots more titles to the upcoming releases pages I thought I'd better get on and do it.

State of play at 15.11.10:
  • The Author Websites page now lists 852 sites.

  • The New & Upcoming Releases pages have been updated.

  • In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 1617 authors (8301 titles with links to 1856 reviews):

  • I've added new bibliographies for: Esmahan Aykol, Quentin Bates, Carol K Carr, Sam Christer, Alfredo Colitto, James Craig, Adrian Dawson, Sam Fisher, Claudie Galley, Sissel-Jo Gazan, Richard Godwin, Oliver Harris, Casey Hill, Jeremy Hughes, Chris Morgan Jones, Shy Keenan, Graeme Kent, Adam Kolczynski, Torquil MacLeod, Philip McCormac, M J McGrath, Danny Miller, Harri Nykanen, Alessandro Perissinotto, Barbara Corrado Pope, Gordon Reece, Pierre Siniac, Anna Smith, Piers Vemnore-Rowland, Marco Vichi, Peter Walker, Douglas Watt and Tom Wood.

    I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Susanne Alleyn, Ray Banks, Patti Battison, James Becker, Helen Black, S J Bolton, Rhys Bowen, Frances Brody, Karen Campbell, Tania Carver, Clem Chambers, Jean Chapman, Cassandra Clark, Lesley Cookman, Natasha/N J Cooper, Colin Cotterill, Adam Creed, Neil Cross, Judith Cutler, Tim Davys, Carola Dunn, Steven Dunne, Martin Edwards, Roger Jon/R J Ellory, Geraldine Evans, Chris Ewan, Duncan Falconer, Giorgio Faletti, Gordon Ferris, Charles Finch, Sebastian Fitzek, Conor Fitzgerald, Karin Fossum, Matthew Glass, Robert Goddard, Juan Gomez-Jurado, Jason Goodwin, Ann Granger, Susanna Gregory, J M Gregson, Raymond Haigh, Cora Harrison, Mo Hayder, Suzette A Hill, Lis Howell, Graham Ison, Lee/L M Jackson, Maxim Jakubowski, Bill James, Diane Janes, Quintin Jardine, Tobias Jones, Morag Joss, Mari Jungstedt, Erin Kelly, Bill Kitson, Bernard Knight, Tom Knox, Lynda La Plante, Camilla Lackberg, Donna Leon, Simon Lewis, Peter Lovesey, Adrian Magson, Jean-Patrick Manchette, Edward Marston, Andrew Martin, Faith Martin, Priscilla Masters, Peter May, Keith McCarthy, James McCreet, Andy McDermott, Sophia McDougall, Brian McGilloway, Pat McIntosh, Adrian McKinty, Mark Mills, Susan Moody, Keith Moray, Roger/R N Morris, Amy Myers, Martin O'Brien, Niamh O'Connor, Gerard O'Donovan, Andrew Pepper, Ann Purser, Deanna Raybourn, Danuta Reah, Ruth Rendell, Phil Rickman, Stella Rimington, Jean Rowden, Betty Rowlands, Ian Sansom, Kate Sedley, Claire Seeber, Zoe Sharp, Jeffrey Siger, Roger Silverwood, Alexander McCall Smith, Cath Staincliffe, Nick Stone, Frank Tallis, Peter Taylor, Kerry Tombs, Fred Vargas, Jan Costin Wagner, Shirley Wells, Neil White, Emily Winslow, Jacqueline Winspear and Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
    If you spot any errors or omissions do let me know.

    Don't forget to enter the competition or read the latest reviews.

    Sunday, November 14, 2010

    New Reviews: Baraldi, Black, James, Kerr, Martin, Rubenfeld & New Competition

    One competition for November and it is open to UK & Europe residents and closes on 30th November:
    Win the Ellis Peters Award shortlist (6 books)

    Here are this week's reviews:
    Maxine Clarke reviews Barbara Baraldi's The Girl with the Crystal Eyes, tr. Judith Forshaw which unfortunately wasn't to her taste;

    Amanda Gillies reviews the third in the Gus Drury series by Tony Black which is available in paperback now: Loss calling it a "storming success";

    Terry Halligan reviews the paperback release of Peter James's newest Roy Grace book, Dead Like You;

    Laura Root reviews the recently released 'Bernie Gunther' outing from Philip Kerr: Field Grey concluding that it is "an outstanding addition to a very impressive series";

    Rik Shepherd reviews Andrew Martin's Death on a Branch Line which is the fifth in this "excellent but not flashy series" which is soon to number seven

    and Michelle Peckham reviews Jed Rubenfeld's follow-up to The Interpretation of Murder - The Death Instinct.
    Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

    New Competition - Win the Ellis Peters Award Shortlist

    Euro Crime has a set of the CWA Ellis Peters Award 2010 shortlist (6 books) to giveaway. Just answer the simple question and include your details in the form below.

    This competition is open UK & Europe and will close on 30 November 2010.
    Only 1 entry per person/per household please.
    (All entries will be deleted once the winner has been notified.)

    Win:

  • Revenger by Rory Clements
  • Washington Shadow by Aly Monroe
  • Heresy by S.J. Parris
  • Heartstone by C. J. Sansom
  • The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor
  • To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams

  • Read more about each book and discover who was the eventual winner at the CWA website

    Saturday, November 13, 2010

    The Devil's Disciple

    I've just stumbled across this title, published this month by Hesperus Press. I've added it to the lengthening list of International Dagger Candidates!

    'Prosecutor Tsuchida, I am being held here as a murderer. But the truth is that I am probably not that murderer. That's right. Probably.' While Shimaura Eizo sits in jail awaiting trial for the murder of a beautiful young woman, his erstwhile lover and initiator into a sinister, restless existence has risen in the ranks of the legal profession and is now the prosecutor on the case. Spinning a complex web of events and influences in this chilling murder mystery, Hamao probes the notion of guilt - both psychological and legal. The Devil's Disciple is here published alongside 'Did He Kill Them?', a haunting tale of a love affair turned sour.

    The Devil's Disciple by Shiro Hamao (only 112 pages long)

    OT: It's Cat-urday (picture of innocence)

    Butter wouldn't melt..but there is a squirrel tail (only!) under the bush outside. Hmmm.

    Thursday, November 11, 2010

    OT: Bought for the Cover Alone (Cats & Crime) II

    I don't get the chance to indulge my cozy reading much but one day I'd like to read this one as it features a librarian and (magic) cats! It's published next year: February (US) and May (UK).

    When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen's fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines.

    When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect. More stunning is her realization that Owen and Hercules are magical-and she's relying on their skills to solve a purr-fect murder.

    Wednesday, November 10, 2010

    The Last Fix - Cover Opinions

    This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for K O Dahl's The Last Fix tr. Don Bartlett. The US paperback edition will come out on 29 March 2011 (cover unknown at this point).

    So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with K O Dahl?

    If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story?

    Here is the Petrona review by Maxine of The Last Fix.

    Sunday, November 07, 2010

    New Reviews: Cooper, Cottam, Dahl, Duns, Griffiths, Hayder, Kitson, Lewis, Seymour

    Here are this week's reviews, a bumper bundle of 9:
    Michelle Peckham reviews Glenn Cooper's The Tenth Chamber set in France and revolving around a secret method of longevity;

    Amanda Gillies reviews F G Cottam's ghostly The Magdalena Curse;

    Maxine Clarke reviews The Man in the Window by K O Dahl, tr. Don Bartlett (we're anticipating a new Dahl in translation in 2011);

    Laura Root reviews Jeremy Duns's 1960s set spy thriller Free Country;

    Rik Shepherd reviews the paperback edition of Elly Griffiths's The Janus Stone;

    Amanda Brown reviews the paperback edition of Mo Hayder's Ritual;

    Paul Blackburn reviews Minds that Hate by Bill Kitson, the latest in his DI Mike Nash series;

    Geoff Jones reviews Kevin Lewis's Scent of a Killer which is the second outing for DI Stacey Collins;

    and Terry Halligan reviews EV Seymour's latest Paul Tallis thriller: Land of Ghosts in which he's sent to Russia.
    Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

    Saturday, November 06, 2010

    OT: It's Cat-urday (feet in the air)

    Yes, I know, more cat piccies. Lots of new reviews tomorrow though:

    Tickled me when I came down to see all paws in the air:



    CrimeFest attendees will recognise Foxy's bed:



    The boys hoping for chicken:

    Thursday, November 04, 2010

    CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award 2010 - Winner

    Our man on the ground, Ali Karim has twittered that Revenger by Rory Clements has won this year's Ellis Peters Award. Many congratulations to him. The poll I ran for which title ought to win showed a slightly different story, the number of votes are in brackets:

    Revenger by Rory Clements (1)
    Washington Shadow by Aly Monroe (10)
    Heresy by S.J. Parris (3)
    Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (10)
    The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor
    (6)
    To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams (2)

    Wednesday, November 03, 2010

    Complicit - Cover Opinions

    This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US, UK hardback and UK paperback covers for Nicci French's Complicit also known as The Other Side of the Door in the US. (The UK paperback is out in March 2011.)

    So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Nicci French?

    If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story? And which title suits it best?

    Here is the Euro Crime review by Maxine of Complicit.




    Monday, November 01, 2010

    Vote: Ellis Peters Award

    Not much time before the answer will be revealed (4 November) to the question: which of these books has won the Ellis Peters Award 2010?
    Revenger by Rory Clements
    Washington Shadow by Aly Monroe
    Heresy by S.J. Parris
    Heartstone by C. J. Sansom
    The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor

    To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams
    I've set up a poll on the top right of the blog. Please vote for which title ought to win.