Links Just Keep on Comin’

This is destined to be a mad, mad week here at Rap Sheet headquarters, due to the fact that Bouchercon in St. Louis will kick off on Thursday, with plenty of awards announcements to follow. We’ll try to keep track of Bouchercon events as they happen, and will likely also feature wrap-ups of the convention in its aftermath. Meanwhile, we don’t want to ignore smaller but interesting news bits such as these:

• With my longtime interest in Jack the Ripper, I’m more than likely to watch BBC One’s planned eight-episode crime drama titled Ripper Street (provided it’s ever broadcast in the States, that is). As a BBC news release explains,

Ripper Street is an extraordinary new drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the “Ripper” murders. The action centres around the notorious H Division--the police precinct from hell--which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel.

Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper’s legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama’s heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.

There’s still no word on when Ripper Street might debut.

• I also look forward to PBS-TV’s forthcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ unfinished final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (originally published in 1870). This two-part dramatization will be broadcast in 2012 as part of the Masterpiece series.

• R.I.P., Hawaii Five-O’s Charles Dubin.

• Rick29 at the Classic Film and TV Café makes his picks of the “5 Best ‘B’ Movie Detectives.” Among them, the only one I’d forgotten completely about was jewel thief Michael Lanyard, aka The Lone Wolf.

• Meanwhile, the Web site Criminal Justice Degrees Guide offers up a list of “10 Fictional Cops We Wish Were Real.”

• Hard Case Crime hits the runway.

• NBC-TV is apparently planning a series based on Walter Mosley’s Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins mysteries. Omnimystery News reports that “The project is being developed by John Wells (Mildred Pierce, Southland) in association with Warner Bros.”

• Thank you to author Max Allan Collins, who recently wrote that “J. Kingston Pierce ... is rapidly becoming a major figure in mystery/crime criticism.” That may be overstating the case more than a bit, but it’s still good to be recognized.

• Registration is now open for the 2012 ThrillerFest in New York City.

• I didn’t remember there were tie-in novels to the classic 1961-1965 CBS-TV legal drama The Defenders, so am pleased to see Marty McKee pointing me in the direction of one such book. UPDATE: You can find out more here.

• My brother and I loved this movie when we were young.

• Roberta Alexander’s review of Wicked Autumn, by G.M. Malliet, was posted earlier this afternoon in January Magazine.

• Richard Z. Santos explores author Jim Thompson’s adventures in Hollywood in two fine posts for Criminal Element. You will find Part I here, while Part II is here.

• Wallace Stroby conducts a sprightly conversation with fellow novelist George Pelecanos in the Mulholland Books blog. Click here to read Part I; Part II can be found here.

• Another interview worth reading: Jim Winter in Criminal-E.

• Wow! The Monkees turn 45 today.

• And Fair Dinkum Crime reports, “To mark the 20th anniversary of Sisters in Crime Australia a weekend-long celebration of women’s crime writing is being held in Melbourne” next month. The convention Web site is accessible here.