Of Fugitives, Femmes, and Favorite Killers

Given the volume of my other business responsibilities today, a wrap-up post is about the best I can do. So here goes:

• Since my appetite for old TV crime dramas seems never to be appeased, I am pleased to see that the second half of The Fugitive’s 1963-1964 premiere season--15 episodes on four DVDs--is scheduled to go on sale come February 26 of next year.

• Speaking of classic shows, and theatrical movies based on them, Cinematical is up with the promotional poster for next summer’s Get Smart, starring Steve Carell (of The Office) in the old Don Adams role of Maxwell Smart, and the lovely Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, the role originated by Barbara Feldon. You can get an “exclusive” look at that poster here. And there’s a trailer for the forthcoming film here. But if you really want to get into the mood for this release, there’s no better way than to revisit Get Smart’s wonderful old theme music.

• The pseudonymous CrimeFicReader begins a series today in which she asks prominent British and Irish crime writers “which novels they’d select as essential reading to be placed in the crime aficionado’s stocking.” First up is Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award winner Ann Cleeves, who picks Voices, by Arnaldur Indridason. “I love translated fiction for the glimpse it provides into another culture’s preoccupations and prejudices: it gives the experience of travel without the carbon footprint,” Cleaves writes. Read her entire recommendation here.

• It’s Carnival of the Criminal Minds time again. Today’s mistress of ceremonies is Mary Saums at Femmes Fatales. Her selection of current must-reads ranges from a post about Mary Stewart and another piece about “the father of criminal profiling,” to a diversity of blogs covering film noir, cozies, and forensic science. You’ll find Saums’ carnival collection here. Next up in this blog carnival rotation will be the playful Declan Burke at Crime Always Pays.

• In anticipation of the release later this month of Hitman, a film starring former Deadwood lead Timothy Olyphant and based on a video game series of the same name, Cinematical’s Christopher Campbell today chooses his seven favorite movie hit men. Only two are familiar to me. Can you do better?

• You may recall a couple of months back, when we mentioned that Canadian novelist Rick Mofina (A Perfect Grave) was holding a “new global draw to have a minor character named after you” in Six Seconds, his standalone thriller, due out in 2009. He says the response was “terrific,” and that he’s naming not just one winner, but five: Karen Dyer of Oakland, California; Moe Holman of Calgary, Alberta; Carol Mintz of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Terry M. Hamilton of Ontario, Canada; and Sobil Mounce-Bazley from Bristol, England. “The positive response has me considering running another character name draw for my next book,” Mofina tells us.

• Duane Swierczynski’s latest “Hard-boiled Fridays” quote comes from Interface, by Joe Gores, a book he previously recommended to readers as part of The Rap Sheet’s “One Book” project.

• Finally, New Jersey author Wallace Stroby, who has taken it upon himself to stretch our “One Book” list in his own blog, today submits The Heartbreak Lounge, his second book featuring former New Jersey state trooper Harry Rane, to Marshal Zeringue’s renowned Page 99 Test. The results are here.