Bullet Points: Busy Thursday Edition

• There’s now a suspenseful two-minute trailer available for Series 4 of HBO-TV’s True Detective, subtitled Night Country. As The Killing Times explains, it’s set in fictional Ennis, Alaska, and “tells the story of eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station and vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) have to confront ‘the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.’ That and try to get along with one another.” The trailer promises this series of True Detective is “coming this year,” but (frustratingly) gives no specific debut date.


(Above) A trailer for True Detective, Season 4.

• We have finally received word of when several UK-made crime dramas will return to U.S. screens with fresh stories. Grace, based on Peter James’ best-selling Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novels and starring John Simm, will see its Series 3 premiere tonight, Thursday, April 20, on the streaming service BritBox. Expect to see three episodes of Grace. Meanwhile, the historical mystery Grantchester, featuring Robson Green and Tom Brittney, is due to launch its eighth season on Masterpiece Mystery! come July 9, with six new episodes. And Series 5 of Unforgotten, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar and Sinéad Keenan, will reportedly become available “later this year” via PBS Passport, PBS Video, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video channel. Six episodes will comprise its latest season.

• Variety brings word that independent film studio Wiip has optioned the rights to The Eden Test (Flatiron), a suspense novel by New York Times editor Adam Sternbergh that is set to reach American bookstores next week. Here’s a plot synopsis:

Daisy and Craig’s marriage is in serious trouble. That’s why Daisy has signed up for The Eden Test, a week-long getaway for couples in need of a fresh start. Yet even as she’s struggling to salvage her marriage, it seems Craig has plans to leave her for another woman. In fact, his bags are already packed―long before he arrives to meet Daisy in this remote cabin in the woods of upstate New York.

At first, their week away is marked by solitude, connection, and natural beauty―and only a few hostile locals. But what Craig doesn’t know is that Daisy, a slyly talented actress, has her own secrets, including a burner phone she’s been using for mysterious texts. Not to mention the Eden Test itself, which poses a searing new question to the couple every day, each more explosive than the last. Their marriage was never perfect, but now the lies and revelations are piling up, as the week becomes much more than they bargained for ... How far are they willing to go?

Wiip intends to turn Sternbergh’s yarn into a TV series.

• Wow! Former flight attendant T.J. Newman’s Drowning, her second airline thriller—due out at the end of May—proved to be one hell of a hot Hollywood property. “Landing the movie rights to Drowning,” says Variety, “triggered an all-out bidding war, one that drew interest from the likes of [Nicole] Kidman, Alfonso Cuarón and Steven Spielberg, along with seven-figure offers from Apple and [Jerry] Bruckheimer, Paramount and Damien Chazelle, Legendary, Universal Television, and Warner Bros. ‘There was an eight-hour period where I never hung up my phone,’ says Shane Salerno, Newman’s agent. ‘People would call my landline, and I’d put them on mute while I answered a call from another bidder on my cell phone. I’d get an offer and before we had a chance to counter, they’d text me and raise it.’” Warner Bros. eventually triumphed, “agreeing to pay $1.5 million for the rights and an additional $1.5 million on the first day of production. The studio also brought the Drowning author on as an executive producer.”

• Did you know that Netflix commissioned a small-screen adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s 2014 Pulitzer-winning novel, All The Light We Cannot See? I didn’t, but among its stars are Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and Louis Hofmann, and it is set to premiere on November 2.

• Finally, In Reference to Murder offers two recent items of interest. First, news that “Austin Butler will lead the cast of City on Fire, a movie version of Don Winslow’s novel” from last year. And second, a notice that “Writer and director Michael Mann’s Heat 2 is nearing development with Adam Driver set to star. The original 1995 crime film followed the conflict between an LAPD detective (played by Al Pacino) and a career criminal (played by Robert De Niro), while also depicting its effect on their professional relationships and personal lives. The new [film] project will be an adaptation of Mann’s original follow-up novel, Heat 2, which tells both a prequel and sequel story.”

• Happy 30th birthday to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, which editor George Easter says debuted in newsletter form in April 1993. His post on the subject includes a scan of that inaugural issue, which awarded UK crime writer Liza Cody front-page attention.

• With CrimeFest 2023 set to kick off in Bristol, England, on Thursday, May 11, Mike Ripley begins his April “Getting Away with Murder” column with some photographic memories of CrimeFests past. He moves on from there to mentions of Maurizio Di Giovanni’s Inspector Ricciardi series, Joffe Books’ reissuing of James Mitchell’s David Callan thrillers, and new titles by Eli Cranor, Dennis Lehane, Lindsey Davis, and others. You’ll find his full column in Shots.

• When we announced in late March that a new James Bond thriller, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, had been penned by British novelist Charlie Higson and scheduled for release on Thursday, May 4 (just ahead of King Charles III’s coronation), there wasn’t yet a book jacket to show off. However, Amazon UK has now added that cover to its order page. The artwork appears fairly simplistic, but we’re assured that it makes more of an impression in person, with “an eye-catching gold foil effect, fit for a king.”

• Speaking of Agent 007, Kim Sherwood—the author of Double or Nothing (Morrow), set in the world of Bond and unleashed on American consumers earlier this month—has placed an interesting piece in CrimeReads that looks back on “the origins and impact of Ian Fleming’s legendary espionage novel,” Casino Royale (1953).

• From the heterogeneous blog Boing Boing comes news that “Wandering Planet Toys … has just launched a new Kickstarter campaign for a retro-style action figure series inspired by the classic Nancy Drew novels. They’re the first ever officially licensed toys of the iconic detective character in the nearly century since she first debuted.” This campaign’s goal is to raise $60,000 by Wednesday, May 17; at last check, $31,452 had been pledged already. In addition to those action figures, a brand-new, five-chapter Drew novella, The Clue of the Curious Collection—carrying the traditional author byline “Carolyn Keane”—is slated for publication.

• Another fundraiser worth your attention is being mounted by author Max Allan Collins. He’s launched a drive through the crowdfunding Web site Indiegogo to amass $5,000 over the next month and a half, which will be spent on turning his A Christmas Carol-like detective short story, “Blue Christmas” (published in a 2001 collection), into a movie. “It’s kind of a work that pulls together a lot of my interests in one place,” Collins explains in a pitch video, “and something that I’ve wanted to make for a long time.” Contributors at the $100 level will be thanked in the film’s credits; those giving $500 to $2,000 will be recognized as either associate producers or executive producers. What’s more, anyone who donates $25 to $500 can ask Collins to send them books from his backlist. Feeling flush? Go here to chip in. More than $800 has been raised thus far.

• Don Winslow talks with the New Zealand Herald about his current trilogy of crime novels, his “retirement from writing [in order] to concentrate on political activism,” his support of fellow writers, how none of his books expose much about him, and more.

• And Sai Shankar is back with part two of his deep dive into the history of Black Mask magazine. This time, he dissects one of the early issues edited by Florence May Osborne. The first installment of this series can be enjoyed here.

Bullet Points: Coronavirus-Free Edition

That’s right: It’s taken me two weeks, but I have apparently survived the dreaded COVID-19. I had taken all of the shots and all of the boosters, and yet it still managed to tackle me. The virus manifested in my body mostly as a minor cold, though I did lose my sense of taste, as well. After a negative COVID test yesterday, I look forward to spending some quality time outside of my house!

• Among the festivities marking its “70th Jubilee” this year, the British Crime Writers’ Association will present an exhibition of “memorabilia from its archives,” which date back to the organization’s founding (by prolific author John Creasey) in 1953. Shotsmag Confidential reports that this display “will be part of the Alibis in the Archives crime writing weekend which runs 9-11 June at Gladstone’s Library in Wales, as well as other special events linked to National Crime Reading Month in June.” More specifics to come.

• “Amazon continues its cost-cutting measures apace,” observes In Reference to Murder’s B.V. Lawson. “First it was laying off almost 30,000 staffers, then it was eliminating its newspaper/magazine subscription service, closing the textbook buy-back service, shuttering all of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, and cutting off the publishing house, Westland, which published works of several bestselling authors in India. Now, Amazon is also shutting down the Book Depository online shop that it bought in 2011 …” I’m sad to hear about Book Depository. I’ve ordered a variety of British crime novels from there over the last few years, though most of my UK-buying lately has been through Blackwell’s. Lawson goes on to speculate whether “other [Amazon-owned] book services are under the gun, including AbeBooks, et al.—especially since Kobo just announced it’s opening its Kobo Plus subscription service to the U.S. market, making it a viable alternative to Kindle Unlimited and Audible.”

• Easter is this coming Sunday, April 9, and blogger Janet Rudolph welcomes the occasion with an update of her lengthy list of crime and mystery fiction connected to the holiday. From Laurien Berenson’s Show Me the Bunny and J.M. Griffin’s Hop ’Til You Drop, to Julie Hyzy’s Eggsecutive Orders and Robert Wilson’s fabulous The Blind Man of Seville (which I’d forgotten takes place during Easter), there’s something in that collection to satisfy most tastes.

• And enjoy your påskekrim, everyone!

• The history of that most iconic of 20th-century crime-pulp periodicals, Black Mask, is the focus of a new series from Pulp Flakes blogger Sai Shankar. His fellow blog writer, Evan Lewis (of Davy Crockett’s Almanack fame), notes that Shankar will be “looking into the history of the magazine, reviewing random issues from different editors, and seeing how the magazine changed under them.” You can check out the series’ first installment by clicking here.

• Now, this is how readers ought to be cautioned in regard to older books containing material that may be offensive to modern-day sensibilities! Literary Hub says Britain-based publisher Pan Macmillan’s latest edition of Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, features an introductory message reading:

Gone with the Wind is a novel which includes problematic elements including the romanticisation of a shocking era in our history and the horrors of slavery.

The novel includes the representation of unacceptable practices, racist and stereotypical depictions and troubling themes, characterisation, language and imagery.

The text of this book remains true to the original in every way and is reflective of the language and period in which it was originally written.

We want to alert readers that there may be hurtful or indeed harmful phrases and terminology that were prevalent at the time this novel was written and which are true to the context of the historical setting of this novel.

Pan Macmillan believes changing the text to reflect today’s world would undermine the authenticity of the original, so has chosen to leave the text in its entirety.

This does not, however, constitute an endorsement of the characterisation, content or language used.

Better this, than recent, ham-handed efforts to strip dubious references and phrasings from classic works by Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, and Roald Dahl—practices The New York Times says “have drawn intense public scrutiny” and “left publishers and literary estates grappling with how to preserve an author’s original intent while ensuring that their work continues to resonate—and sell.”

• In her latest blog post, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine editor Janet Hutchings provides a number of interesting facts about her publication’s subscription history. Including that, during the mid-1900s era of “more lurid and sexually explicit” cover illustrations, “only newsstand buyers could obtain issues with cover art. Subscribers got plain-type covers.” I would’ve joined the former crowd!

(Above) A trailer for the sophomore series of Dalgliesh.

• Season 2 of the 1970s-set TV drama Dalgliesh, starring Bertie Carver as P.D. James protagonist Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, will premiere on Monday, April 24, on the subscription streaming service AcornTV. The Web site Premiere Date explains that six episodes will comprise this sophomore run, bringing three different James books to the small screen, each of them two parts long. First up will be Death of an Expert Witness; second will come A Certain Justice, debuting on Monday, May 1; and the final adaptation will be of The Murder Room, beginning on Monday, May 8. A third-season renewal of Dalgliesh has already been confirmed.

• Although Season 5 of Unforgotten, now starring Sinéad Keenan and Sanjeev Bhaskar, has already run its course in Great Britain, while American viewers await news of its broadcast on this side of the Atlantic. Yet The Killing Times brings news that this cold-case crime drama has been awarded a sixth season by UK network ITV. Furthermore, series writer Chris Lang discloses that those future episodes will find London detectives Jessica “Jessie” James and Sunil “Sunny” Khan pursuing a murder case “that’ll take them all the way from the wild north Devon coast, to the railroads of Birmingham, Alabama. Yes sir, Unforgotten is heading Stateside.”

• English author Sarah Pinborough is currently adapting her 2022 thriller, Insomnia, into a series for TV streamer Paramount+ . Deadline says the story tells of “successful career woman Emma Averill, who fears she is losing her mind after suffering from sleep deprivation two weeks before turning 40. Her mother had a similar experience at the same age, suffering a violent psychotic breakdown on the night of her 40th birthday. But even as she relives the experience of her mother, Averill believes other forces may be at work. Her mother is hospitalized with a sudden injury, her estranged sister returns without warning, and she feels as if she is being watched. Only by investigating the truth of her painful past, can she find the answers to her present.” Filming on the show is set to commence later this year.

• Finally, I bid an appreciative adieu to Canadian-born actress Sharon Acker, who apparently died at a Toronto, Ontario, retirement home on March 16. She was 87 years old. Acker made her film debut in the 1957 British comedy Lucky Jim, based on Kingsley Amis’ novel of that same name. She went on to roles in the thriller Point Blank and the drama Don’t Let the Angels Fall. But it was the TV field where Acker really grew her career, featuring in shows such as It Takes a Thief, Alias Smith and Jones, McMillan & Wife, Harry O, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, Quincy, M.E., and Crazy Like a Fox. She portrayed an alien from an overpopulated planet on the original Star Trek; the wife of an idealistic national legislator in The Bold Ones: The Senator; a widowed love interest for Richard Boone in the Old West mystery Hec Ramsey; and secretary Della Street to Monte Markham’s eponymous defense attorney in 1973’s ill-fated reboot, The New Perry Mason. Variety says, “Her final TV credit came in 1992 with an appearance on The Young and the Restless.” I always found Acker’s performances watchable, even when she was working with mediocre scripts. Hers is a face not soon to fade from my memory.