Criminal Splattering’s!

Well, if you haven’t heard the news by now, the title of the new Dan Brown novel is Inferno and is due to be published by Transworld in May.  The title of the new book was revealed in an online puzzle.  Once again, the novel will feature Robert Langdon whom readers first met in The Da Vinci Code and subsequently in The Lost Symbol.  According to his publishers, the novel has been inspired by Dante's classic and will be set in Florence.  The Guardian article can be read here and The Independent here.  Inferno is Dan Brown’s sixth novel.

The Independent’s Invisible Ink: No 154 is on Ellery Queen the pseudonym of Manfred Lee and Frederic Dannay and is by Christopher Fowler.  The full article can be read here.  They are also the co-founders of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1941 one of the few mystery based short story magazines still being published today.

Award winning author Robert Wilson who has set his novels in West Africa, Lisbon and Seville and is best known for his Javier Falcón series explains in the Daily Telegraph why he decided to set his new series in London.  The article can be read here.

According to the Daily Telegraph Dominic Cooper is to play Ian Fleming in a drama about the creator of James Bond.  Dominic Cooper is best known for the films My Week with Marilyn and Mamma Mia.

The long-list for the Branford Boase Award has been announced.  The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children and honours the editor of the winning title.  Congratulations go to long-listed author Tanya Byrne whose novel the Heart-Shaped Bruise, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger.

Not something anybody would want to happen to them but Patricia Cornwell who is a notoriously private author is finding herself in the spotlight as she is currently suing her former accounting firm.  The Daily Telegraph article can be found here and the Huffington Post article can be read here.  The Guardian article can be found here.

According to the Bookseller, Titan Books have acquired a military science-fiction thriller entitled Seal Team 666.  The novels have been written by American intelligence officer turned author, Weston Ochse.  Titan Books will publish book one in the UK and US in March 2014, its sequel, Yesterday’s Hero in September 2014 and a third novel, Anti-Hero in early 2015.

The German writer, crime novelist and playwright Jakob Arjouni, has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 48 years.  He was at home in Berlin with his family.  More information can be found here.  His books were published by No Exit Press in the UK and a new Brother Kemal Kayankaya novel is due to be published this year.  Mark Lawson’s tribute in the Guardian can be found here.  His obituary in German can be found here.  Hat tip to Maxim Jakubowski and Janet Rudolph.

Very interesting article on literary agent Andrew Lownie’s website about what UK Fiction Editors want.  The whole article can be read here.  Good to see a vast number of familiar names from those who commission crime and thriller books.  Certainly worth reading by all.

Cathi Unsworth reviews Tom Benn latest novel Chamber Music in the Guardian.  A recent blog post for Shotsblog by Tom Benn can be found here.  One minute with Tom Benn can be read here.

Alison Flood’s review of Malcolm Mackay’s debut novel The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter can be found here. 

Interesting article by Cortina Butler on author Michael Marshall whose new novel We Are Here, is to be published by Orion in March 2013.

Film News -

Parker the film based on the author Donald Westlake’s character and featuring Jason Statham as the eponymous Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte and Michael Chiklis is due to be released on 8 March in the UK.

The premise of the story line is that of a thief with a unique code of professional ethics who is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead.  Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.

  

According to Indiewire.com actors Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven and Juno Temple have signed up to join Robert Rodriguez's 'Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’.  "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" will be shown in cinemas in the States from October 4th.

A new trailer has been released for the true crime thriller The Iceman.  Starring Michael Shannon and Ray Liotta The Iceman is about hit man, Richard Kuklinski who was responsible for over 100 murders between 1964 and 1986.  The film also features Winona Ryder and James Franco.  The trailer can be seen below-

The Iceman will open in the UK on 7 June 2013.

  

Extremely sad news to hear that and according to NME.com that The Wire actor Robert F Chew who played “Prop Joe” has died at the age of 52.  He passed away on Thursday of apparent heart failure.  Chew not only stared in The Wire but also Homicide Life on The Street and The Corner both series based on books written by David Simon.  The Baltimore Sun obituary can be found here. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.com.

Fans of Homeland will be pleased to know that despite the recent cliffhanger of an ending featuring Damien Lewis as Nicholas Brody, executive producer Howard Brooks has now confirmed that Brody will definitely be involved in the third season according to TVLine.