Crime Fiction News!

The nominations for 2012 Left Coast Crime Award have been announced.

The Lefty for Best humorous mystery novel:

The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)

Getting Old Can Kill You by Rita Lakin (Dell)

October Fest by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink)

Magical Alienation by Kris Neri (Red Coyote Press)

Dying for a Dance by Cindy Sample (L & L Dreamspell)

The Albuquerque Turkey by John Vorhaus (Crown)

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award for Best historical mystery novel covering events before 1960:

Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)

Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)

A Killing Season by Priscilla Royal (Poisoned Pen Press)

Troubled Bones by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)

A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Harper)

The Golden Nugget for Best mystery novel set in California:

Disturbance by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)

The Drop by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Bit Player by Janet Dawson (Perseverance Press)

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton (Putnam)

City of Secrets by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)

Eureka! for Best first mystery novel:

The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally Carpenter (Oak Tree Press)

Darrell James, Nazareth Child by Darrell James (Midnight Ink)

Dead Man's Switch by Tammy Kaehler (Poisoned Pen Press)

Who Do, Voodoo? by Rochelle Staab (Berkley Prime Crime)

Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival have announced that due to family commitments Charlaine Harris has had to withdraw from attending the festival this year. Her replacement is Kate Mosse.

The BBC have confirmed that there will not be a second series of Body Farm. According to the Radio Times the Body Farm which was a spin-off from Waking the Dead appears to have suffered from falling viewing figures. The full notice can be read here.

According to the BBC the third series of hit Danish drama The Killing will probe the personal and moral consequences of the economic crisis. Broadcaster DR has revealed that Sarah Lund’s final case will see her investigating the apparently random killing of a sailor. The unfolding story, again penned by Soren Sveistrup, will find Lund encountering the prime minister, the financial community and various social strata, all of which have been affected by the downturn.

Of the look of the new series, production designer Jette Lehmann commented: “We’re trying to describe a Denmark on the way down, which was not the premise of the first two seasons. It has become darker and heavier.” Forbrydelsen III (to give the series its original title) will once again star Sofie Grabol as Lund and Morten Suurballe as Lennart Brix and is scheduled for broadcast in Denmark in September. No date has yet been set for transmission on BBC4 in the UK.

According to Deadline.com John Grisham’s novel The Partner is due to be directed by John Lee Hancock who directed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The Partner is the eighth book written by Grisham to be filmed with all seven of the novels that preceded it.

According to the Independent to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the Singing Detective BBC 4 are due to show the Singing Detective on Thursday 2 February at 9pm. The story involves blocked thriller writer Philip E Marlow, who is hospitalised due to the acute skin and joint condition.

According to the Telegraph Andrew Davies’s is set to adapt the Quirke crime novels, written by John Banville under the pen name of Benjamin Black, which are set in 1950s Dublin for the BBC. A little known piece of information is that John Banville is also the co-writer of Academy nominated Albert Nobbs.