Crime Fiction in the news and on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

There have been some more great crime fiction stories on the Web this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and fellow bloggers. Hopefully you will all like finding an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Before we dive in however, I'll just quickly mention that those of you who don't live in the North Island of New Zealand, and so couldn't get the print version of the Weekend Herald last week, can now read my full review of Donna Malane's debut crime novel SURRENDER here.

Thanks again to Linda Herrick and the NZ Herald for allowing me to republish my reviews and features for them here on Crime Watch, for all of you to read (if you want). And of course you can go into the draw to win yourself a brand new copy of Malane's NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize-winning debut, here.

Onto the round-up.

Crime Watch Weekly Round-Up: In the News and on the 'Net

• The Hollywood Reporter has, well, reported, that Swedish production company (makers of thriller 'Easy Money') have announced a wide-ranging film and TV deal with bestselling crime author Camilla Lackberg. Lackberg and Tre Vanner will develop a 10 x 90 minute television series based on the characters in her crime novels. The series, called "The Fjallbacka Murders" will be set in the small Swedish town of Fjallbacka, where Lackberg was born and where all her novels take place. Read more here.
• In an interesting article, Stieg Larsson's friend Kurdo Baksi reveals to Vit Wagner of The Star how Larsson would have reacted, dealt with and coped (or not) with the phenomenal success of his Millennium trilogy, what his friend would have thought of his 'celebrity', and how a Larsson memoir has enabled Baksi to move on with his life.
• The first episode of the TV adaptation of Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks novels screened in the UK this week, proving a hit in the ratings.
• The creator of the terrific TV crime series The Wire, David Simon, has won a prestigious MacArthur 'genius' Award, which carries with it a $500,000 no-strings-attached grant over five years. Read more here.
• Holly Colmes of the Gwinnett Daily Post takes a look at mystery author Lee Martin, who grew up amongst the West Virginia coal fields before a career as a highly-decorated soldier.
• Margot Kinberg of Confessions of a Mystery Novelist takes a closer look at the use of 'leaps of faith' by characters in a wide variety of mystery novels over the decades, ranging from the Golden Age cosy queenpins like Christies, Sayers and Marsh to gritty modern masters like Michael Connelly.

What do you think of this week's round-up? Which articles or posts did you find most interesting? Are you pleased by the thought of more Swedish crime hitting the screen? Are you a Lackberg fan? What did you think of DCI Banks: Aftermath? Were you a fan of The Wire? How much do you think a writer's background influences their crime fiction? What are some of your favourite 'leaps of faith' by crime fiction characters?

Crime Fiction in the news and on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

There's been some more great crime fiction stories on the Web this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and fellow bloggers. Hopefully you will all like finding an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Before I dive into all the fantastic stories out there however, I thought I'd quickly mention my own feature that was in last weekend's Weekend Herald, for those that missed it. You can read my article on bestselling British crime writers Peter James and Peter Robinson, here.

I was fortunate enough to also meet Peter James in person earlier this week, at a great, packed event at Takapuna Library on Tuesday evening. He had the audience in stitches, and is a very funny, interesting, and humble guy. I am currently about two thirds of the way through DEAD LIKE YOU, and enjoying it a lot.

Onto the round-up.

Crime Watch Weekly Round-Up: In the News and on the 'Net

• In his regular slot for the Huffington Post, thriller writer Jason Pinter shares a cool little post from Don Winslow (SAVAGES, THE GENTLEMAN'S HOUR) - whose books Pinter describes jabbing "a fountain pen in the eye of anyone who can read one of his tomes and state with conviction that crime fiction isn't literature" - about using a little poetic license in his latest novel.
• Katie Allan of The Bookseller reveals that Wellington-based crime writer and TV screenwriter - and Ngaio Marsh Award finalist - Neil Cross is to write three spin-off novels for Simon & Schuster, based on his character Luther, made famous by Idris Alba in the recent TV series of the same name.
• In further Neil Cross-related news, it has been announced that Luther will premiere in the United States on 17 October, and that the BBC has also commissioned "a spine-chilling new single drama" from Cross for Christmas - Whistle And I'll Come To You, a "thoroughly modern re-working of the evocative Edwardian ghost story "Oh, Whistle and I'll come to You, My Lad" by M.R. James". Busy man, Mr Cross.
• Echoing a view that I've shared on this blog several times, Justin Peacock of The Daily Beast takes a much more eloquent and lengthy look at how crime fiction really has become the modern social novel. "Tom Wolfe and other writers used to tell us about the state of America, but now if you’re looking for great social novels you’d better turn to crime writers like Richard Price and Dennis Lehane", says Peacock.
• Paul Robinson of the Yorkshire Post talks to actor Stephen Tompkinson about playing Peter Robinson's famous sleuth Inspector Alan Banks in the upcoming "gritty" ITV crime drama, DCI Banks: Aftermath.
• Mike Nicol of Crime Beat SA interviews longstanding South African crime writer Wessel Ebersohn about his latest novel, and much more, as his new political thriller Those Who Love Night, which sees the return of Abigail Bukula, the brilliant young lawyer, is released.
• In a nice little article, "Murder, we read", that seems to have only recently popped up online, Malcolm Jones of Newsweek takes a closer look at our centuries-long preference for crime fiction, a literary trend that dwarfs temporarily 'hot' phenomena like vampires or boy wizards.

What do you think of the round-up? Which articles do you find interesting? Is crime the modern social novel? Is crime fiction the biggest, most longstanding modern literary trend of all? Are you looking forward to DCI Banks: Aftermath? Will you read books centred on the intriguing 'Luther'? Please share your thoughts. I'd love to read what you think.

Peter Robinson on Good Morning (TVNZ)

Some of you may have seen my feature article for the Weekend Herald on Saturday, which highlighted two fantastic British crime writers - Peter James and Peter Robinson. As well as being terrific authors, both of these gentleman were an absolute delight to chat to; funny, down-to-earth, and generous with their time.

I know there are a lot of Peter Robinson fans here in New Zealand, so I thought I would also share this with you; the creator of Inspector Banks appeared on the popular Good Morning show on TVNZ this morning, to talk a bit about his latest novel BAD BOY, and other topics - you can watch his 7mins interview here (note, you'll need Adobe Flash Player 10.1 to watch it).
You can also watch a video trailer for BAD BOY, and another interview with Robinson talking about the writing of this latest Inspector Banks tale, here. Hopefully we will see Robinson down here in New Zealand again soon.

Are you an Inspector Banks fan? What did you think of the interview(s)? Are you going to read BAD BOY (or have already read it)? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Peter Robinson, Inspector Banks, and BAD BOY

Phew! I've been on a bit of a run of big-name author interviews lately. Following my recent interview with James Lee Burke (for the article published in last weekend's Canvas magazine), on Friday I interviewed 2010 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid, and yesterday I interviewed multiple Ned Kelly Award winner Michael Robotham - both of who are visiting New Zealand in the coming weeks.

Tonight (in about three hours) I'm interviewing another 'heavy hitter' of the crime fiction world; Peter Robinson, creator of the beloved hero, Inspector Banks. Robinson is also touring Australia and New Zealand in August, in support of his latest Banks novel, BAD BOY, which is about to be released. I will have more about his NZ tour details soon.

In the meantime, here is a bit of a audio-visual quick squiz at BAD BOY. You can watch a little 'teaser trailer' about the latest Banks adventure here:



And here is Robinson himself talking about the background to the story (with some nice footage of the Yorkshire dales setting too):



If there are any questions you desperately want me to ask Peter Robinson, get a comment in quick and I'll do my best to include them.