Annika Strandhed moving to TV (and Scotland)

Nicola Walker is reprising her Radio 4 role of Detective Annika Strandhed for a TV series based in Scotland (rather than Norway) to be shown on Alibi. According to a tweet from Alibi, she will play DI  Annika Strandhed "as she investigates the unexplained and brutal murders that wash up in the waterways of Scotland". 

In the meantime you can listen to all the radio shows (26 episodes), which are 15 minutes each via BBC iPlayer

Foreign Bodies: Zygmunt Miloszewski's A Grain of Truth on Radio 4

The latest endeavour in Mark Lawson's Foreign Bodies series on Radio 4, is a two part adaptation (by Lawson) of Polish crime writer Zygmunt Miloszewski's A Grain of Truth (tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones).

The first part is avalable now to stream or download, and the second is on later today (at 3pm).

The Blood Painting
Foreign Bodies, Grain of Truth Episode 1 of 2

Taut crime thriller by leading Polish writer, Zygmunt Miloszewski, dramatised for radio by Mark Lawson. War time intrigue and modern politics mesh in a murder mystery.

The complexities and frustrations of the modern Polish legal system are the setting for this bestselling crime novel, featuring long suffering State Prosecutor Szacki who finds himself trapped in a limbo land of half-truths and secrets from post-Communist Poland. Will he prove himself to be a redoubtable seeker of the truth or will he compromise?

Episode 1: The Blood Painting
Szacki is finding small town Poland a little dull but a bizarre murder case soon throws him back into action. The crime scene is littered with grotesque clues suggesting that the murder is mirroring an infamous Jewish blood libel, drawing on historical anti-Semitism.

Radio News: Angstrom on Radio 4

Starting tonight at 6.30pm on Radio 4, four-parter Angstrom, a spoof of Scandinavian crime stories...

A comedic Scandinavian detective yarn starring Matthew Holness, written by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris.

Knut Angström is a brooding, alcoholic, maverick Swedish detective from the tough streets of Oslo. Following the death of his wife, he is posted to the Njalsland peninsula where he becomes embroiled in a labyrinthine murder (or possibly not-murder) case which bears an eerie similarity to the Askeladden killings - a case from his distant past.

BBC Radio 4 Drama: Foreign Bodies: Keeping the Wolf Out

I think this is a repeat but I missed it first time around. Listen now or download via the BBC Radio iPlayer app - a three parter called Keeping the Wolf Out. Available for the next 20 days, each episode is 45 minutes long.

Episode One - Behind the Wall

Special Investigator Bertalan Lázár returns in Philip Palmer's crime drama set in communist Hungary in 1963. Fighting the criminals is hard enough but there are other more sinister battles raging in higher places.

Parts two and three are Waiting by the River and Heroes.

Crime on the Radio

There are a few crime programmes available on listen again/download via iPlayer at the moment:

1. 21 Shades of Noir: Lee Child on John D MacDonald (16 days left)

As the author of the internationally renowned Jack Reacher series, Lee Child knows how to draw his readers into a story.

And for decades he's been intrigued by the unusual life of John D MacDonald. Born in 1916, MacDonald was from a comfortable Pennsylvanian family. He went to Harvard and worked in naval intelligence during The Second World War. mustering out as a Lieutenant Colonel. It was what the British would call "a good war".

But Lee Child has always been confused by what happened next. With the pick of General Motors, IBM or maybe even The Pentagon before him - this Harvard MBA promptly spent five months, sitting at a table and hammering out pulp fiction, losing five stone in the process.

After 800,000 words and constant toil he managed to sell a story for $25 dollars. Writing under dozens of pen-names John D rode the paperback boom, crafting more than 60 novels in all and creating what Lee Child considers to be his greatest creation - the 21 novels featuring his world-weary "salvage consultant" and righter of wrongs, Travis McGee.

Lee Child considers the mystery at the heart of John D's work, and the mysterious life of one of popular fiction's most enigmatic authors.

2a. Meet James McLevy (11 days left)

How it all began - a remake of the first episode of the Victorian detective drama featuring Inspector James McLevy - which first aired on Radio 4 in 1999.

Written by David Ashton.

Starring Brian Cox and Siobhan Redmond

The death of a bank manager from a heart attack might have seemed straightforward enough - except he was found dead and naked in the Water of Leith. When it's revealed that the man was last seen trying to "save" girls in a brothel run by Jean Brash, McLevy's suspicions are aroused. Assisted by Constable Mulholland, newly arrived from Ireland, McLevy investigates.

2b. Four new episodes of McLevy (13 to 16 days left)

3. Short story by Sarah Hilary: Snip-snip (27 days left)

When ten year old Nicky finds himself aboard a boat from his homeland of Russia en route to England where a life of promised adventures and the opportunity to play football awaits, he inadvertently stumbles on a dark, sinister, and terrifying secret.

Sarah Hilary takes us into an ominous and disturbing hidden world in her latest story for Radio 4. Sarah is the author of the Marnie Rome series of crime novels, the first of which, 'Someone Else's Skin' won the 2015 Crime Novel of the Year Award.

4. There are also two Doctor Who serials available for a few more days: Protect and Survive, and Fanfare for the Common Men and not forgetting Doctor Who spin-off Class which began airing on BBC Three on Saturday.

The Crime Writer at the Festival - Short Stories, Episode 4

The last in a series of short stories, set at Festivals/Events, running on Radio 4 is by David Mark and is called A Marriage of Inconvenience. It was on last Sunday but you can listen again for the next 25 days via iplayer or the website.

From the BBC Radio 4 website:

Short story series celebrating the unique atmosphere of Crime Writing Festivals. Tonight, a new story by David Mark, imagining the repercussions when a crime-writing partnership, and marriage, turns sour.

David Mark spent more than 15 years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with The Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for his series of novels featuring Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy. David was reader in residence for the Theakstons Crime Writing Festival between 2013 and 2015.

Reader: James Lailey
Writer: David Mark
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.

The Crime Writer at the Festival - Short Stories, Episode 3

The latest in a series of short stories set at Festivals/Events running on Radio 4 is by Val McDermid and is called Same Crime, Next Year. It was on last Sunday but you can listen again for the next 25 days via iplayer or the website. Next Sunday, the story is by David Mark.

From the BBC Radio 4 website:

Tonight, a new story by Val McDermid, who is one of the co-founders of the Theakston's Crime Writing Festival, held every July in Harrogate, and which has become one of the biggest celebrations of the genre in the world.

Her story, "Same Crime, Next Year" is set at Harrogate and imagines the fallout from a torrid affair between two crime writers.

Last Thursday (21st July), on the opening night of this year's Crime Festival in Harrogate, Val was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, joining past winners Sara Paretsky, Lynda La Plante, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill.

Reader: Siobhan Redmond
Writer: Val McDermid
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.

The Queen of Mystery - Short Stories on Radio 4, Episode 2

The latest in a series of short stories set at Festivals/Events running on Radio 4 is by Sarah Hilary and is called The Getaway. It was on last night but you can listen again for the next 29 days via iplayer or the website. Next Sunday, the story is by Val McDermid.

From the BBC Radio 4 website:

It's often said that there is something different about crime writers - they flock together, they enjoy each other's company and freely interact with their fans. Next week, thousands of fiction fans will head to Yorkshire for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, and this new story series celebrates the very particular atmosphere of such festivals.

In this story, Sarah Hilary (who won last year's Crime Novel of the Year Award at Harrogate for her debut SOMEONE ELSE'S SKIN), takes us to an imaginary festival and a character desperate to break free of the mainstream.

Read by Melody Grove
Writen by Sarah Hilary
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron

The Queen of Mystery - Short Stories on Radio 4

A series of short stories set at Festivals/Events are running over the next three weekends on Radio 4 whilst the first one of the four - this one written by Ann Cleeves - was on last Sunday. You can however listen again for the next 27 days via iplayer or the website. Next Sunday, the story is by Sarah Hilary.

From the BBC Radio 4 website:

In the month that thousands of fiction fans head to Yorkshire for the Harrogate Crime Festival, this new short story series celebrates the very particular atmosphere of such festivals. It's often said that there is something different about crime writers - they flock together, they enjoy each other's company and freely interact with their fans. Over the next four Sunday evenings, festival stalwarts Ann Cleeves, Sarah Hilary, Val McDermid and David Mark, will take us to events real and imagined in four original stories that will charm and intrigue.

In this first story, Ann Cleeves (bestselling author of the Vera and Shetland crime novel series) takes us to Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland - an annual crime convention for lovers of the traditional mystery novel. Her character, Stella Monkhouse, known to her fans as the "Queen of Mystery", is an award-winning crime writer who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her literary star is beginning to wane...

Read by Joanna Tope.

Written by Ann Cleeves.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

Radio News: Foreign Bodies returns tomorrow on Radio 4

Mark Lawson's Foreign Bodies returns tomorrow (17/11) at 13.45 on Radio 4, for series 3. This time, "Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels have reflected five different political systems".

The first episode is about Cuba and Communism:

To complement Radio 4's major dramatisations of The Havana Quartet by Cuba's leading crime writer, Leonardo Padura, Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels have reflected five different political systems in a new series of Foreign Bodies.

In today's programme Mark Lawson explores fictional investigations of Cuba after the Castro revolution with Leonardo Padura, author of The Havana Quartet, and Caroline Garcia-Aquilera, a Cuban-American writing from exile in Miami.

Following episodes cover USA (Anti-Communism), Poland (Post-Communism), Australia (Commonwealth Democracy) and Nigeria (Post-Colonialism).

Borgen - the radio play

Radio Four broadcast Borgen: Outside the Castle back in December 2013 and for those of us who (ahem) missed it, it will be released on audiobook in September 2014:

A thrilling BBC Radio full-cast spin-off from the Danish TV series, starring Tim Pigott-Smith.

Hans Gammelgaard, Private Secretary in the Danish Ministry of the Environment, is seeking approval for the controlled use of genetically modified crops by Danish farmers. However, unseen enemies seem prepared to go to any lengths in pursuit of their own agenda.

When Hans is sacked, he and his grandson Nick join forces with cynical journalist Jan Gleerup to find out who has been pushing commercial interests in the GMO debate in Borgen. A series of threatening phone calls means time is running out. Hans begins to fear not only for the political situation, but also for his family.

Adapted from the original Danish version, this radio drama is set against the backdrop of the first Borgen television series, which followed the unlikely emergence of Birgitte Nyborg as the country's new Prime Minister. At the centre of the drama is the Danish parliament, nicknamed Borgen - 'the castle'. While the TV drama focuses on the politicians, the radio drama is set in the world of the civil service.

Radio News: Foreign Bodies is back

Radio 4's Foreign Bodies, presented by Mark Lawson is back for a second series, beginning today at 13.45. The episodes can be downloaded later and there is an omnibus edition on Friday at 9pm.:

To accompany BBC Radio 4's dramatisations of the Martin Beck novels, which established crime fiction as a form for exploring social change, Mark Lawson presents five more 'Foreign Bodies' focusing on Greece, Argentina, Northern Ireland, South Africa and fictional TV crime-scenes including Broadchurch.

Examining subjects including the way in which crime novels have portrayed transitional societies in South Africa and Northern Ireland and explored the legacy of military rule in Argentina, in this first programme Lawson, in Athens, talks to writers including Petros Markaris, whose detective series featuring Inspector Costas Haritos has both predicted and depicted the Greek financial crisis.

Schedule:

Mon 8 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4
Series 2 Greece - Inspector Costas Haritos

1/5 Mark talks to Petros Markaris, whose crime series prophesied the Greek financial crisis.

Tue 9 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4
Series 2 Argentina - Superintendent Perro Lascano

2/5 How Argentinian writers have dramatised the transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Wed 10 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 Ireland - Inspector Benedict Devlin

3/5 Mark meets novelist Brian McGilloway, whose books explore the long shadows of the Troubles

Thu 11 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 South Africa - Detective Captain Bennie Griessel

4/5 Mark Lawson talks to Deon Meyer about the criminality in post-apartheid South Africa.

Fri 12 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 Screenland - DS Ellie Miller, DI Sarah Lund, Captain Laure Berthaud

5/5 Mark Lawson examines the rise of female investigators in TV crime dramas.

Radio News: Modesty Blaise on Radio 4

A five-part adaptation of A Taste for Death by Peter O'Donnell featuring Modesty Blaise begins at 10.45am this morning on Radio 4, and is repeated at 7.45pm. The episodes are 15 minutes long.

Susan White recently reviewed A Taste for Death for Euro Crime and we'll have more on Modesty Blaise in the next few days...

She's glamorous, intelligent, rich and very, very cool. Modesty Blaise has been called the female James Bond but she's much more interesting than that. With her expertise in martial arts and unusual weapons, the ability to speak several languages and her liking for fast cars, twenty-something Modesty became a female icon long before the likes of Emma Peel, Lara Croft, or Buffy.

In Stef Penney's brand new radio adaptation of Peter O'Donnell's novel, Sir Gerald Tarrant, Head of a secret British agency, tempts Modesty out of retirement and into a job involving a young woman with extra sensory powers, an exotic desert location, and a larger than life public school villain, intent on murdering his way to a vast fortune. With its perfect cocktail of glamorous settings, hidden treasure, a twisting turning plot, and characters to root for, A Taste for Death is an action packed treat - and a guilty pleasure.