Three of the four leading roles in the film adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club have been cast with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley set to play septuagenarian sleuths in a retirement community. Chris Columbus, whose previous credits include Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire and the first two Harry Potter films, is set to direct. The fastest-selling adult crime debut in recorded history (according to The Guardian), the novel is set in the fictional Kentish town of Fairhaven and features the four friends solving the murder of a property developer. H ..read more

The Los Angeles Times announced the winners of the 44th annual Book Prizes in a ceremony at USC’s Bovard Auditorium. The Times’ Book Prizes recognize outstanding literary achievements and celebrate the highest quality of writing from authors at all stages of their careers. Winners were announced in 13 categories for works published last year, including the new prize for achievement in audiobook production, presented by Audible. Additionally, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley was honored with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement and Access Books received the Innovator’s Awa ..read more

Alafair Burke, Margot Douaihy, and Sascha Rothchild are the recipients of the Pinckley Prizes in Crime Fiction for 2022 and 2023. The prizes, named to honor the memory of Diana Pinckley, were presented on March 22nd in New Orleans. The Pinckley Prizes partner with the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, of which Diana Pinckley was a founding member. Alafair Burke is the winner of the 2023 Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work.  Burke is the New York Times, Edgar Award nominated author of twenty crime novels. Published in more than twenty languages, her books ..read more

Earth Day: Climate change, environmental issues, and how we can save our planet. A few years ago I started posting a list of environmental/ecological mysteries. The list has grown. Crime fiction is an excellent way to make readers aware of issues. Mystery Readers Journal (Volume 36:1) focuses on Environmental Mysteries. This issue is available as a PDF download and hardcopy. Take a look at the Table of Contents and order here.  For Earth Day 2023, I updated my Earth Day/Environmental Mysteries list. There are many more authors, and certainly more books by many of the authors on t ..read more

Sister Boniface, Season 3 will premiere on BritBox on April 24 with two episodes. Then one episode a week for 8 episodes total. Be sure and watch the Christmas Special that dropped in December.  It's considered part of Season 3, so 9 episodes (but 8 regular ones). Sister Boniface is a spin-off of the Father Brown series. Check out the first two seasons of this British cozy featuring a crime-solving, Vespa-driving nun who solves crimes in this cozy British mystery series.   ..read more

Passover starts Monday night and lasts for eight days. That should give you plenty of time to read these mysteries set during the holiday. This is an updated list, but, as always, let me know any missing titles/authors. Passover Crime Fiction Passover by Aphrodite Anagnost Conspirators by Michael Andre Bernstein People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks    The Passover Commando by Irving R. Cohen The Passover Protocols by Ellen Frankel The Passover Murder by Lee Harris  All Other Nights by Dara Horn Never Nosh a Matzo Ball by Sharon Kahn Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by ..read more

MASTERPIECE has announced that Grantchester, Season 9 will premiere on Sunday, June 16 at 9/8c on PBS. The new season is set in 1961 and sees the departure of Rev. Will Davenport (Tom Brittany) and the arrival of Rev. Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair).  ..read more

If characters don’t act in congruence with how they generally try to live, there needs be a good reason or they’ll cease to be believable. An upright citizen can’t suddenly decide to rob a convenience store. The killer in a murder mystery has to either be a major creep or someone with a compelling motive or backstory that pulls anomalous behavior out of them. I find it wholly unsatisfying for the solution to a mystery to embody a less than fully explained, out of character act.  All of this is central to the success of many mysteries, including my just released latest—The Not Quite Enli ..read more

THE 2024 CRIMEFEST AWARD SHORTLISTS Eligible titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers votes to establish the shortlist. SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARDIn association with headline sponsor, the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award is for debut authors first published in the United Kingdom in 2023. The winning author receives a £1,000 prize.    - Stig Abell for Death Under a Little Sky (Hemlock Press/HarperCollins) - Jo Callaghan for In The Blink Of An Eye (Simon & Schuster) - Megan Davis for The Messenger  ..read more

Oh My! I was so busy gardening yesterday that I forgot to post on National Gardening Day!  I'm an avid gardener, and I post a photo of a flower or tree or a meandering path from my garden on my FB page every day-- "Behind My Garden Gate."  Although I'm known for my roses, I also have a small poison garden. There are so many ways to kill in the garden what with poisonous plants, pesticides, and tools! Agatha Christie certainly knew that. If you’re looking for ways to murder with plants (for writing purposes only!), I suggest Amy Stewart’s Wicked Plants. It’s a wonderfully illust ..read more