They say that life is stranger than fiction. So it should be no surprise when The Guardian reported that the poet WH Auden repeatedly evaded British intelligence's attempts to find out whether he was involved in the dramatic disappearance of the Cambridge spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean in 1951, according to secret files made public today. The suspicion was triggered by reports from a Reuters journalist that Burgess had tried to call his friend Auden the day before he left England. Investigators thought Burgess may have been planning to flee to Auden's holiday villa on the island of Ischia off Italy, near Naples.
Red the full story in The Guardian
Fifth Series Of Murphy's Law Filming In Dublin
Colin Bateman’s Murphy's Law is currently filming in Dublin for the fifth series of the hit BBC One drama. James Nesbitt is reprising his award-winning role of undercover cop Tommy Murphy in the drama, made by Tiger Aspect Productions.
Following the mysterious disappearance of two undercover officers, Murphy is forced back into the field to find and follow their trail. He enters a world of human trafficking, befriending a vicious criminal ring of sex traders and putting himself at their disposal. Can he find them without going too far himself?
The three-part series is scheduled to transmit in summer 2007. It is written by Russell Lewis; the producer is Stephen Smallwood and Colm McCarthy directs.
The Executive Producer at Tiger Aspect is Greg Brenman and the series' Commissioning Editor at BBC Northern Ireland is Patrick Spence. Following the success of the Shakespeare adaptations, BBC Northern Ireland currently has Lilies and Rough Diamond transmitting on BBC One.
Greg Brenman, Head of Drama, Tiger Aspect, said: "It is great to be back working with Jimmy on this new series of Murphy's Law, which has become an established favourite for millions of viewers. This year the stakes are even higher for Murphy and there will be a few surprises too. It is a drama we constantly reinvent to keep it fresh and series five is no exception."
John Harvey Interview and news
John Harvey dropped me a line to let me know that an interview with Marcel Berlins is scheduled for the Books Section of The Times this coming Saturday, 3rd. And he will be talking about the new book, Gone to Ground with, amongst others, Denise Mina, on the Simon Mayo Show on BBC Radio Five Live on Thursday, 8th March, between 3.00 and 4.00 pm. You can access this via the Internet. Both the new Heinemann hardback, Gone to Ground, and the Arrow paperback edition of Darkness & Light are in the shops [and supermarkets!] and are selling well.There's a brief on line interview currently on the Waterstone's web site
and they seem to be offering most, if not all, of the back list at 70% off list price.
Shady Geezers
Our competition over in the Shots Ezine seems to have had people rummaging around their scrapbooks for weird and wonderful images. These were taken back in 1991 where they had to pose in "what the well-dressed crime writer" would be wearing that autumn. Actually, it was a fashion shoot for overcoats so they all had to look alike apart from the coats. But Mark Timlin, the little rebel, refused to take off his PINK baseball boots and also insisted on sitting on the bonnet of a BMW. And in case you don’t recognise these crime writers, they are from l to r: Michael Dibdin, Mike Ripley, Philip Kerr, Mike Philips and the lone ranger is Mark Timlin.
And speaking of all things Ripley, Mike's latest GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER has been loaded up on the website.
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