Set in Copenhagen, The Chestnut Man opens on the day a government minister returns to work a year after her 12-year-old daughter went missing. On the same day, a young mother is found brutally murdered in a city suburb, her hand cut off and a chestnut doll-figure hanging from a nearby Wendy house. Detectives Thulin and Hess form an unlikely duo must to find the culprit whilst encountering trouble in their own personal lives.
If season two of The Killing, with its highly militaristic storyline, slightly lacked the emotional heart of the Birk Larsen family in season one, then season three is a return to this series' best form. British audiences are in for a genuinely rare treat when it comes to BBC Four in November.The return date being mentioned on twitter is 17 November.
From the publisher's blurb:
It goes without saying that a Scandi-Noir fan like I thinks first of The Killing (original Danish version), because I was indeed hooked and transfixed by it, as was almost everybody. If I could, I would mention the other Scandi-series that had me glued to my telly chair this year: BBC4's showing of that most excellent Icelandic comedy of dysfunction, The Night Shift. But it has to be said that apart from petty pilfering and the violent onslaughts that the increasingly unhinged shift manager inflicts upon staff and customers alike, The Night Shift isn't really a crime story.
So it is with some surprise that I find that my most joyous crime-reading discovery of 2011 is set all the way over in South East Asia with the slightly off the wall crime novels of Colin Cotterill.
I reviewed Killed at the Whim of a Hat for Euro Crime. This is Cotterill's first outing with a new heroine, the woman journalist Jimm Juree, and is set in Thailand. But never having read any of Colin Cotterill's books before and in order to do my homework, I read one of his books set in Laos and featuring pathologist and reluctant shaman, Dr Siri Paiboun. The book that I chose was Curse of the Pogo Stick; foreign setting, social observation, a sense of the absurd, dark reality, black humour, and a helping of the paranormal - just my cup of tea. Although the title does make me wince a little, I love an imagination that can provide the visions of long-suffering shaman Dr Siri Paiboun's regular bruisings at the hands of a pair of tough guy skeletons in the Other Realm. Perhaps it is because I am also a fan of comics and graphic novels that this kind of visual imagination - Colin Cotterill is also a cartoonist - appeals to me. The book also describes the darker reality of life for a minority cultural group amidst the state and politics of 1970s Laos - so not all laughs then. Cotterill's writing is a truly happy discovery for me. So thank you, Euro Crime.
The Killing Series 1 & 2 will be available as a combined box-set from 19 December on R2 DVD, just in time for Christmas, or as individual series box-sets.
You can read Lynn's Euro Crime reviews here by searching for her name.
Colin Cotterill's books with reviews are listed here on the Euro Crime website.
It's been two years since former detective Sarah Lund was divested of her investigative role and transferred to a low-key job in the country, but when the body of a female lawyer is found murdered in macabre and puzzling circumstances, Lund's former boss at Copenhagen police HQ finds that he has no choice but to call her back in to assist with the investigation.Initially reluctant, Lund soon becomes engrossed with the case. As police grapple with what few clues they possess, newly appointed Minister for Justice Thomas Buch strives to oversee some intricate political negotiations between parliamentary parties over the introduction of a series of new anti-terrorism laws. At the same time, soldier Jens Peter Raben awaits release from the psychiatric ward he was committed to following a nervous breakdown.
Over the course of 10 gripping episodes, the worlds of crime, politics and the military become increasingly intertwined. With more dead being added to the list of murder victims as the series progresses, Lund's mission becomes a race against time to find the culprit and prevent further killings...
As Sofie Gråbøl and Søren Malling pay an extraordinary visit to The Scandinavia Show, fans are offered a unique chance to meet the actors behind the popular characters.Also, Arrow Films will be there, selling copies of The Killing and Wallander (reduced to £30 for the event).
The two actors, who in the cult series play lead characters Sarah Lund and Jan Meyer, will take part in an informal and humorous question and answer session hosted by the BBC’s Lars Tharp, who is a great fan of the series. “For me the attraction is mainly the fact that the series goes on in real time, the incredible suspense which that builds up, and the understated acting,” he says. Danish Tharp who, as the host of the BBC’s popular Antiques Roadshow is a familiar face to many, will not just question the actors but will try to involve the audience as well. If you have questions about the series, the actors or their characters, this is most likely to be your one and only chance to get the answers from the stars themselves.
AMC has ordered a second season of "The Killing," a serial drama based on a Danish series about the search for the killer of a teenage girl.
Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman star as Seattle homicide investigating the murder.
"The Killing" premiered to 2.7 million viewers April 3 and is averaging 2.2 million viewers so far this season. It ranks as AMC's second-highest-rated first-season drama after "The Walking Dead." Series creator Veena Sud ("Cold Case") will return as showrunner.
Fox Television Studios president David Madden, whose company produces the hourlong drama, told The Hollywood Reporter in April that "The Killing" was a risk when it launched.
"'The Killing' is as risky in its form as '24' was when it launched. We'll take a season to tell a very careful, deliberate, twisting/turning mystery that is almost more novelistic in its approach," he said.
Time to get the knitting needles out again:Borgen is a compelling drama series about the fight for political power and its consequences. Sidse Babett Knudsen plays 40-year-old party leader Birgitte Nyborg who successfully secures a surprise election victory only to discover the biggest challenge of her life is yet to come.
Privately, Birgitte leads a happy family life with her husband and two children. She is a woman with a burning commitment, a big heart and too little time. Her challenge to be a successful politician and remain true to her beliefs will involve personal sacrifice with far reaching consequences for all those involved.
Borgen's mix of complex characters include cynical but brilliant media adviser, Kasper Juul, and young television political journalist Katrine Fonsmark, whose screen presence has quickly earned her popularity but whose personal life threatens to destroy everything she has worked so hard for.
But here's something you may not have seen, the results of the Euro Crime poll that ran for a week and attracted 66 votes. I lost quite a lot with the Blogger crash:Pan Macmillan has acquired the novelisations to Danish TV series "The Killing", shown on BBC4 in the UK this spring and which triumphed at last night’s Baftas.
Senior commissioning editor for fiction Trisha Jackson [] bought world rights following a "hotly contested auction" for the novelisations of the first two series.
Pan Macmillan plans to publish the novelisation of series one in autumn 2012, with negotiations understood to be underway with a "very well-reviewed and highly respected crime author" to write the novels from [scriptwriter Soren] Sveistrup's scripts.
Jackson said: "I knew from watching episode one that this was a book we had to have. The plotting and content are brilliant—revealing, layer by layer, countless red herrings, twists and turns and numerous possible suspects. Sarah Lund is the female detective crime fiction has been waiting for. We see The Killing being a major publishing event across the world."
Have watched The Killing (Danish) and will watch The Killing (US) | 4 (6%) |
Have watched The Killing (Danish) and might watch The Killing (US) | 12 (18%) |
Have watched The Killing (Danish) and will not watch The Killing (US) | 23 (34%) |
Have not watched The Killing (Danish) but might watch The Killing (US) | 4 (6%) |
Am watching The Killing (US) | 17 (25%) |
What is The Killing! | 6 (9%) |
The first two episodes are on at 9pm and 9.55 on Saturday on BBC4:The Killing is the latest foreign language series to première in the UK on BBC Four, following the huge success of the Swedish Wallander. Nominated for an International Emmy for Best Drama, Denmark's hit TV series is a tense and absorbing whodunit, deftly uncovering some of the evils gnawing at contemporary society.
The 20 episodes play out over 20 days during a bleak Copenhagen November. Inspector Sarah Lund reports for her last day at work and learns that a teenage girl is missing. When her body is found in a car with links to a mayoral candidate's office, the case that gripped Danish TV viewers begins.
About to leave her post as the head of investigations at the Copenhagen homicide department as she is moving to Sweden, Sarah is in the midst of saying her goodbyes when she gets a disturbing dispatch which forces her to rethink her plans: a 19-year-old girl, Nanna Birk Larsen, is missing and her belongings have been discovered in a field.
A top Copenhagen politician, Troels, is in the middle of a promising election campaign when he is suddenly forced to make a change of plans. Meanwhile, in Vesterbro, Theis and Pernille learn that their daughter is missing.
In the first instalment of this 20-part thriller, these unsuspecting characters are drawn together by a series of simultaneous events that will change their lives for ever.
New York, NY – August 11, 2010 - AMC announced today a full series order for the pilot that was formerly known as The Killing, from writer and executive producer Veena Sud (Cold Case). Sud has signed on to also serve as the showrunner for the series, which is currently untitled. Set in Seattle, the series is based on the wildly successful Danish television series “Forbrydelsen” and tells the story of the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation.Read the whole article at Deadline Hollywood.
The series ties together three distinct stories around a single murder including the detectives assigned to the case, the victim’s grieving family and the suspects. The story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. As it unfolds, it becomes clear that there are no accidents; everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t done with them.
Production on the series begins this fall in Vancouver and season one consists of 13, one-hour episodes. The series is slated to premiere in 2011 on AMC.
