An Evening with Håkan Nesser and Barry Forshaw

Scandinavian crime writing's foremost expert Barry Forshaw will be in conversation with the celebrated Swedish crime writer Håkan Nesser. Håkan Nesser will be discussing 'Hour of the Wolf,' the latest instalment in his popular Inspector Van Veeteren series.

The event is due to take place at Waterstones Piccadilly, London on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 7:00PM Tickets £5/£3 Waterstones Loyalty Cardholders available in store or via 020 7851 2400 or events@piccadilly.waterstones.co.uk

Hour of the Wolf

A young boy is killed in a hit and run. Under the cover of rain and darkness, the driver escapes the scene. But the incident will change his life forever as he becomes the victim of blackmail ...Meanwhile Van Veeteren, now retired from the Maardam police, faces his greatest challenge yet when a family member becomes the victim of a terrible crime. And, as the body count rises, it gradually becomes clear that the person behind these murders is acting on their own dark logic ...

Crime fiction News

The CWA has announced that the 2012 winner of its prestigious Diamond Dagger award with the honour awarded to thriller writer Frederick Forsyth.

Chair of the CWA Peter James said, “Frederick Forsyth is a hugely deserving recipient and The Day of the Jackal remains one of the greatest thrillers of our times. He has set a new standard of research-based authenticity with his writing, which has had a major influence both on my work and on many of my contemporaries in the crime and thriller field. We are very thrilled that he has accepted this award.”

The Diamond Dagger recipient is chosen each year by the CWA committee, from a shortlist nominated by the membership. Shortlisted authors must meet two essential criteria: first, their careers must be marked by sustained excellence, and second, they must have made a significant contribution to crime fiction published in the English language, whether originally or in translation. The award is made purely on merit without reference to age, gender or nationality. The Diamond Dagger will be presented to Frederick Forsyth at an award ceremony later this year.  Frederick Forsyth is the author of a number of thrillers including The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol and The Dogs of War. The Day of the Jackal was published in 1971 and became an international bestseller and won an Edgar Award for Best Novel.

The CWA has also announced the launch of its exciting new initiative The Crime Readers’ Association.

Crime and thriller fiction is booming worldwide with British and Irish writers shining alongside their American and Scandinavian counterparts. The newly formed CRA is a place for fans of these genres to keep up with their favourite CWA authors.

Crime fans are invited to visit a new website at www.thecra.co.uk and sign up to receive a free e-newsletter filled with features, news and articles about crime writing and CWA authors. If you sign up before the end of March, then you will go into a draw to win two free passes to Bristol’s CrimeFest in May this year. The first e-newsletter will feature an exclusive extract from Michael Ridpath’s new novel, a reading by current CWA Chair Peter James and exclusive crime features, together with news and updates from CWA members. This content will not be available elsewhere, so crime and thriller fans need to sign up now to receive it free.

The Crime Writers’ Association Chair Peter James said: “We’re very excited about launching this new initiative. The idea behind the CRA is to bring readers and writers closer together, in order to further promote the crime writing genre. Authors could not survive without their loyal readers and the CRA celebrates the role of the reader in the burgeoning success of the genre. We have showcased members’ events and books on our website for several years now and we see the CRA as an extension of this. Hopefully, it will help our members to grow their careers more.”

Want to know what some interesting information about best-selling author James Patterson then read Rosanna Greenstreet’s  interview with him in the Guardian.

Congratulations go to Jennifer Muller who has joined DHH Literacy Agency as a literary agent. Jennifer has been involved in the publishing industry since 2001. Simultaneously working in the United States' largest mystery bookshop, The Poisoned Pen, and its independent publishing partner, Poisoned Pen Press, she had many roles including assistant editor and associate publisher. In 2005, she helped to create a UK branch of Poisoned Pen Press.

The 13^th Love is Murder Conference took place between 3^rd and 5^th February in Chicago. The Lovey Awards from Love is Murder are as follows –

Best First Novel - Basic Black by Scott Doornbosch
Best Traditional Novel – The Fine Art of Murder by Donald Bain
Best PI/Police Procedural – The Towman’s Daughters by David J Walker
Best Thriller – Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger
Best Historical – Terror at the Fair by Robert Goldsborough
Best Suspense – Toxicity by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Best Paranormal/Sci Fi/Horror – Homefront: The Voice of Freedom by Raymond Benson
Best Series – The White House Chef Series by Julie Hyzy
Best Romantic Suspense – A Lot Like Love by Julie James
Best Short Story – Diamonds Aren’t Forever by Mary Welk

 Agatha Awards –

The Agatha Award Nominees have been announced! The awards will be presented at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD on April 28, 2012.

Best Novel:
The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews
The Diva Haunts the House by Krista Davis
Wicked Autumn, by G.M. Malliet
Three Day Town, by Margaret Maron
A Trick of the Light, by Louise Penny

Best First Novel:
Dire Threads (A Threadville Mystery), by Janet Bolin
Choke, by Kaye George
Learning to Swim: A Novel, by Sara J. Henry
Who Do, Voodoo? (A Mind for Murder Mystery), by Rochelle Staab
Tempest in the Tea Leaves (A Fortune Teller Mystery), by Kari Lee Townsend

Best Non-Fiction
Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure, by Leslie Budewitz
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks, by John Curran
On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling, by Michael Dirda
Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel, by A. B. Emrys
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion, by Charlaine Harris

Best Short Story

“Disarming”, by Dana Cameron (in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
“Dead Eye Gravy”, by Krista Davis (in Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology)
“Palace by the Lake”, by Daryl Wood Gerber (in Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology)
“Truth and Consequences”, by Barb Goffman (in Mystery Times Ten)
“The Itinerary”, by Roberta Isleib (in MWA Presents the Rich and the Dead)

Best Children's/Young Adult:
Shelter by Harlan Coben
The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby
The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
The Code Busters Club, Case #1: The Secret of the Skeleton Key by Penny Warner

Best Historical Novel:
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
Murder Your Darlings by J.J. Murphy
Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker
Troubled Bones by Jeri Westerson
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear

Congratulations to all the nominees.

The UK movie trailer for the film adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s 2008 crime caper Headhunters has been released and can be seen below. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a successful, high-powered headhunter living way beyond his means, lavishing gifts on his stunning blonde trophy wife. He supplements his income by stealing rare artworks from his clients. Handsome Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his original Rubens seem like an irresistible target but Clas lives the life of a Bond villain and the two men are soon embroiled in a deadly feud.

The film was released under its Norwegian title Hodejegerne last August and will be released in the UK on 6^th April 2012.

The BBC has cast Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) in The Fall as a Metropolitan detective superintendent sent to Belfast to conduct a review of a high profile murder case. The Fall is a gripping psychological thriller that forensically examines the lives of two hunters. One is a serial killer who stalks his victims at random in and around Belfast and the other is a talented female Detective Superintendent on secondment from the MET who is brought in to catch him. The crime drama will follow a police investigation that uncovers the intricate story of lives entangled by a series of murders. Produced by Artists Studio and written by Allan Cubitt (The Runaway, Murphy’s Law, Prime Suspect), the five episodes will follow the police investigation uncovering the intricate story of the lives entangled by a series of murders – both the killer's and the victims’ families.  Gillian Anderson stars as DSI Gibson, who arrives to conduct a 28 day review at a Belfast station where the police are getting nowhere on a high profile murder case. Further casting will be announced soon, with filming starting in Belfast next month.

Anna Smith talks about To Tell The Truth

Today’s guest blog post is from Anna Smith who has been a journalist for other twenty years and who is a former chief reporter for the Daily Record in Glasgow. She has covered wars across the world as well as major investigations and news stories from Dunblane to Kosovo to 9/11. She writes a regular newspaper column in the News of The World with a readership of more than a million in Scotland alone. To Tell The Truth is her second novel. Her first crime novel to feature Rosie Gilmour The Dead Won’t Sleep was published last year.

If you embark on a novel where the main thrust of the plot is the kidnapping of a little girl while on holiday in Spain with her parents, you’d better be braced for the obvious questions. Of course, in my novel To Tell The Truth, there will be comparisons made to the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann – it was, and still is one of the biggest stories on the agenda for most of the media. But as a frontline former daily newspaper journalist who has never shied away from any challenge, I’m a firm believer that an author should be free to write about any subject they wish.
Real life events have triggered fiction form the beginning of time.

But in fact I had a very clear picture in my mind who my main characters were – and they bear no resemblance to anyone in real life. I wanted to create a set of circumstances that would enable a child to be kidnapped and also to look at the aspect of guilt. But that isn’t the only reason why I pursued the storyline of child kidnapping.

I did it because I wanted to write a novel where searing guilt was at the heart of the story, and where I could illustrate how a moment of recklessness can wreck so many people’s lives. And I also did it, because I wanted to put a spotlight on the most sickening scourge in the world we live in today - child porn and people trafficking, where the most vulnerable people are at the mercy of ruthless gangsters and perverts. My new novel is the second in the series featuring Glasgow journalist Rosie Gilmour, following on from the debut thriller last year, The Dead Won’t Sleep.

The new book sees Rosie sent on the massive kidnapping story while she is on holiday in Spain. To Tell The Truth is, by the very nature of the title, a story of people who cannot afford to tell the truth of what happened and what they were doing when a three-year-old girl gets kidnapped from a beach in broad daylight while on holiday with her parents. The mother cannot tell the truth because of what she was doing, and the only people who witnessed the crime cannot tell the truth because of who they are.

Of course, I considered the sensitivity of the subject matter, as I’ve always been, and still am, a huge supporter of the McCanns. Indeed, when I was a columnist with the Sunday Mirror and News Of the World, I strongly criticised the shabby way they were treated by the Portuguese authorities investigating the case. But the sensitivity didn’t hold me back from my story.
In fact, as much thought went into the creating of the character who kidnapped the child, as it did when crafting the other characters. I wanted to give the kidnapper a backstory. I didn’t want him to be someone who steps from the shadows and randomly steals a child. I wanted him to have a story and to develop - and the biggest task of all was to see if I could create any kind of empathy at all with a character like that. And I wanted to create a reason why this particular child was kidnapped.

My publishers Quercus held the launch for me in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street branch Watersones last week, and it went down a storm. Having spent a lifetime in journalism I’m fortunate and also grateful to have the continued friendship and respect of others in the industry who always turn out to support me on my book launches. They did it last year and we all shared a glass of wine and an attempt to catch up on each other’s lives before I signed copies for the queue that snaked from the basement almost to the first floor! When I made my little speech at the beginning, I talked of the huge support of friends and family, and without wanting to gush like someone on a reality show – I cannot emphasise how central that support is to my life.

I grew up in a former mining village in Lanarkshire where despite all the social problems in the present climate, there is still a strong sense of community and family. People I’ve known all my life, and some I barely know, all turn up to buy my book and wait in the queue to get it signed. I continue to be genuinely touched and moved by that level of generosity, and I would never take it for granted. Book launches for me are great fun – once the official bit is over and we can all have a few drinks.

Next up, is the rather sumptuous Stena Line ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast and then a long drive to the West of Ireland. The people in the remote villages where my house stands just a stroll to the wildness of the Atlantic, have made me so welcome and give me a great sense of family, even when I’m away from my own back in Scotland.

We had a great launch there last year for The Dead Won’t Sleep, first in the Dingle Bookshop and then back at TP’s pub – my local in Ballydavid, and renowned throughout the west as one of the best places in Ireland for the craic. This year, the launch will be March 16 - the night before St Patrick’s Day, so we’re hoping for a good crowd and that it turns into a bit of a night back at TP’s.

Then it’s onto Spain, where I did a small launch of the mass market paperback in November and to my astonishment the pub there was packed out with ex-pats from the Costa del Sol who love a good crime story! We’re hoping for a big crowd this time in the Mijas Playa restaurant in the little gem of a village called La Cala de Mijas, where again people have made me really welcome.
Actually it was while in La Cala, walking on the beach that I first got the inspiration to write To Tell The Truth, and even as I walk there I can still see the story unfolding in front of my eyes.

Now, I’m on book three in the Rosie Gilmour series. It’s called Refuge and is a story of refugees in Glasgow in the late 1990s, set in the city and also in Bosnia and Kosovo. I have almost finished it – hoping that I can take Rosie once again out of Glasgow and use my journalistic experience covering wars and conflicts across the world, to help give her stories an international appeal.

Kirstie Long’s review of To Tell The Truth can be read on the Shots Ezine website.

Crime Fiction news! 2012 Barry Award nominations

The Barry Award nominations have been released -

Best Novel
The Keeper of Lost Causes (In the UK, Mercy) by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dutton)
The Accident by Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
The Hurt Machine by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus)
Iron House by John Hart (Minotaur)
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson (Viking)
The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell (Knopf)

Best First Novel
Learning to Swim by Sara Henry (Crown)
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur)
The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnette Friis (Soho Crime)
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly)
The Informationist by Taylor Stevens (Crown)
Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (Harper)

Best British (Published in the UK in 2011)
Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton (Bantam Press)
Hell’s Bells (in U.K., The Infernals), John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)
Bad Signs by R. J. Ellory (Orion)
The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason (Harvill Secker)
Dead Man’s Grip by Peter James (Macmillan)

Best Paperback Original
The Silenced by Brett Battles (Dell)
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch (Mariner Books)
A Double Death on the Black Isle by A. D. Scott (Atria)
Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (Harper Perennial)
Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland)
Two for Sorrow, Nicola Upson (Harper Perennial)

Best Thriller
Carver by Tom Cain (Bantam Press)
Coup D'Etat by Ben Coes (St. Martin's)
Spycatcher (Spartan) by Matthew Dunn (William Morrow)
Ballistic by Mark Greaney (Berkley Trade)
House Divided by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly)
The Informant by Thomas Perry (Houghton Mifflin)

Best Short Story

"Thicker Than Blood" by Doug Allyn (AHMM September)
"The Gun Also Rises" by Jeffrey Cohen (AHMM January-February)
"Whiz Bang" by Mike Cooper (EQMM September-October)
"Facts Exhibiting Wantonness" by Trina Corey (EQMM November)
"Last Laugh in Floogle Park" by James Powell (EQMM July)
"Purge" by Eric Rutter (AHMM December)

The Barry Awards will be presented October 4, 2012 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Bouchercon in Cleveland, Ohio. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Donna Leon in conversation with Maxim Jakubowski

Fans of crime writer Donna Leon will be pleased to hear that she will be in conversation with crime fiction commentator Maxim Jakubowski. The event is due to take place at the Italian Cultural Institute London, 39 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8NX on 29 March 2012 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm as part of the In Conversazione programme of events.

Donna Leon is the American born writer of the Commissario Guido Brunetti series set in Venice. The ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger. German Television has produced 16 Commissario Brunetti mysteries for broadcast. The 21st novel in the series Beastly Things is due to be published in April 2012. Her books are constantly on the best sellers list.

Please contact the Italian Cultural Institute for further information.

Crime Fiction News

According to Charlotte Williams at the Bookseller, Orion is publishing an exclusive trilogy of short stories by crime writer R J Ellory, called Three Days in Chicagoland. The first e-exclusive novella, The Sister, will be released on 15th March, followed by The Cop on 5th April and finally The Killer on 26th April. Each will be priced 99p. The stories are set in Chicago between 1956 and 1960. They are inter-related but can also be read as standalones. The first is from the point of view of the murder victim's sister, the second from the detective in charge of the case, and the third from the man accused of the murder as he waits on death row.

The publisher also reports success digitally with Michael Connelly, with his exclusive e-books Suicide Run and Angle of Investigation selling more than 51,000 and 31,000 copies respectively, according to Orion. The publisher also plans an exclusive e-book by crime writer Graham Hurley, called Strictly No Flowers, for publication in August 2012

According to the Metro, BBC’s Sherlock has caused the sale of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel to double since the recent incarnation of the character played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Corvus has acquired the rights to two books by debut adult fiction author, Mark Roberts. Sara O'Keefe, Editorial Director of Corvus, bought the UK and Commonwealth rights to The Herod Killings and an untitled second book by debut thriller writer Mark Roberts, from Peter Buckman at the Ampersand Agency. Peter Buckman has sold German rights to Rowohlt and Longanesi won Italian rights in a pre-empt. The Herod Killings is the first in a gripping thriller series starring DCI David Rose.

For Fans of George Pelecanos and if you are like me looking forward to reading his new book What it Was then the Independent have produced the Blaggers Guide to George Pelecanos.

Interesting and well-written article in the Telegraph by Henning Mankell on Charles Dickens and why his greatness lies in channelling the defiant spirit of the poor.

James Craig talks about launching a new detective series

Today's guest blogger is James Craig who was born in Scotland. A former journalist and TV producer he has lived in London for over 30 years. He is the author(so far) of two books in the John Carlyle series. His character owes much to two Italian police detectives Venetian Guido Brunetti and Sicilian Salvo Montalbano. He talks about launching a new detective series, marketing and e-books.

James Craig

February sees the formal launch of the paperback version of Never Apologise, Never Explain. The digital edition of the book has already been on sale since Christmas. Increasingly, digital considerations are dominating the production and marketing schedules. With Amazon selling 4 million kindles in December that is not really so surprising.

In terms of the book itself, the plot revolves around the killing of an elderly woman called Agatha Mills. It looks like a simple domestic argument gone too far; there is only one suspect – her husband Henry. For Inspector John Carlyle, it looks like welcome a chance for a quick win. But, much to the Inspector’s annoyance, Henry refuses to confess. Worse, he comes up with an alternative version of events that is almost impossible to investigate. When a distraught Henry kills himself on the way to prison, doubts begin to surface. Slowly, Carlyle has to face up to the fact that the man may just have been telling the truth.

The trail leads all the way back to the murder of a Catholic priest on the other side of the world and a family’s forty-year fight for justice. Carlyle sets off on an investigation that spirals out of control as he uncovers a killer stalking the streets of London. How much more blood will have to be spilt before the past can be put to rest?

So far, so good.

But are people reading it on their shiny new Kindles? Happily, yes.

What we’re selling here is contemporary crime fiction; Carlyle is a new character from a new crime writer so it aims to do what it says on the tin, if a potential reader checks it out and reads it on the basis of the blurb at the back the hope is that they won’t feel short-changed.Even better, they will like it enough to check out the next one.

Never Apologise, Never Explain is the second in a series featuring Inspector John Carlyle, working out of Charing Cross police station in central London. The first book, “London Calling”, was published in 2011.

I don’t know the precise numbers but, overall, the vast majority of my sales are digital.

Is that an issue? No.

How people consume the novel matters not a jot – you have to get the product (the book) to people in the way they want it. If you can do that, then it’s a question of getting the pricing right to that everyone – in no particular order the vendor, the publisher, my agent, my SEO guy and me - is kept happy.

The e-book edition ofLondon Callingwas published ahead of the paperback edition in June last year. This was about profile-raising as well as sales. When it reached #1 on the kindle chart (for an hour!) the strapline “the No.1 e-book bestseller” was added to the paperback before that went on sale August.

The Kindle launch was the (very good) idea of Rob Nichols, the Marketing & Digital at my publisher, Constable & Robinson. The other smart thing that he did was price it at a quid, so that it would be competitive with other titles hovering around the top of the kindle lists.

Another great thing that Rob did was hook me up with Chris McVeigh at 451. Chris is a publishing and a social media expert and he has been driving the online marketing for both the first and second books.

It is an interesting time to be a new(ish) writer in the publishing business – the world is clearly changing, so my complete lack of experience is not necessarily as much of a handicap as it might previously have been. I have been extremely lucky to hook up with people who understand both the old and new worlds and are hugely enthusiastic and innovative.

I have stirred the pot occasionally, with book competitions on Twitter and promo videos to provide some more content. However, I would say that all of the success on kindle has been down to Rob and Chris. Rob had the foresight to try it and is constantly working on the marketing. And Chris has the skills and experience to make the most of what C&R are doing.

The key thing remains to get the books out there and get some awareness and reaction. As you can see from the Amazon reviews to London Calling, not everyone is going to love it but, ultimately, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

So far, the whole thing has worked quite well. For the first couple of days, you get addicted to rankings (it’s gone up to 56, hooray!; shit, it’s down to 82, what’s going on?) then you kind of settle down into making sure you engage with the potential readership and make sure that people who are reading similar titles get to know about your book.

In the first month, we sold 15,000 copies ofLondon Callingon Kindle. This gets you in front of the trade as well as the reader. It gave book buyers a certain level of comfort as they calculated their advance orders. It also helped sell the rights for the first two books in Germany – the German translation of London Calling will be published in May.

Like others, we are seeing that if you can demonstrate good sales figures more deals will follow.

So, what next? The plan remains to make sure that we try and put in the right effort in the right places at the right time. Rob got Never Apologise, Never Explain into Amazon’s Christmas promotion and when it went into the top 100, London Calling followed it back in.

Digital is also impacting the print publication strategy, leading to shorter time gaps between titles. Book number three, Buckingham Palace Blues, which has Carlyle hunting down child traffickers, should be out later in the year. Number four should be out next year.

The online world never stops. Better stop surfing and get writing.

Find out more at

www.james-craig.co.uk; twitter: @byjamescraig.

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.