Gone Girl goes to the movies

According to Deadline.com in a whopping summer auction that reached seven figures, 20th Century Fox acquired Gone Girl the recently published Gillian Flynn novel.  The book will be produced by Pacific Standard’s Reese Witherspoon with the screenplay being written by Flynn herself. Reese Witherspoon is to direct the film.

Gone Girl follows a traumatic relationship and a disappearance. After years of fighting, cheating and being combative, a woman goes missing in a small town, and the police look to her husband to find the answers. He denies any involvement, but after his mistakes come to light, authorities find it difficult to believe him. The novel, which has been getting great reviews, is written in the first person, alternating between man and wife; so, it’ll be interesting to see what form the adaptation takes. 

For the Love of Old Bones

Lovers of historical crime fiction and especially medieval historical crime fiction will of course know about Michael Jecks brilliant Templar series featuring Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and Simon Puttock.  For the Love of Old Bones is a collection of four short stories featuring his protagonists.  "The Coroner's Tale", "For the Love of Old Bones", "The Amorous Armourer" and "A Clerical Error" have all appeared in anthologies in the UK and the US and for the first time ever have been collected together in one eBook.

So if you have missed out on reading these stories now is your opportunity to get them all in one place and indulge.  For Love of Old Bones and other Stories can be bought from AmazonUK and AmazonUS.

New biography on Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler
A Mysterious Something in the Light: A New Biography 

Tom Williams

• Using recently discovered letters, Tom sheds new light on Chandler's life in the 30s and gives a detailed account of what happened after he left the oil industry, how he came to write his first pulp stories and how he came to write The Big Sleep

• The first book that looks at Chandler's early life in any detail and shows how it affects his fiction.

• The first book to look at Chandler's poetry as well as his prose.

• Features
interviews with Natasha Spender and the daughter of Jean Fracasse (Chandler's secretary at the end of his life). 

A major new biography of the writer who, more than any other, has defined modern crime fiction

        What we know of Raymond Chandler is shrouded in secrets and half-truths as impenetrable and deceptive as anything in his magisterial novel, The Long Goodbye. Now, drawing on new interviews, previously unpublished letters and archives on both sides of the Atlantic, literary gumshoe Tom Williams casts light on this most mysterious of writers.

The Raymond Chandler he reveals is a man troubled by loneliness and desertion from an early age – experiences that fuelled his writing as much as they scarred his life. Born in Chicago, in 1888, the disappearance of his alcoholic father forced Chandler and his doting mother back to Ireland, and eventually London. Later, intent on forging a new career unconstrained by the petty mores of the British middle class, he returned to the US – to corruption-ridden Los Angeles – where he met his one great love: Cissy Pascal, a married woman 18 years his senior.

It was only during middle age, after worsening alcoholism wrecked a lucrative career as an oilman, that Chandler seriously turned to crime fiction, although his success was to prove bittersweet. An obsessive attitude towards his craft, unrealised literary ambitions and a suicidal turn after Cissy’s death combined to prevent him from recapturing the verve of his earlier novels.

In this long-awaited new biography, the most balanced and comprehensive yet written, Tom Williams shadows one of the twentieth century’s true literary giants and considers how crime was raised to the level of art.

TOM WILLIAMS was born in Newcastle in 1981 and was educated at University College London. He now lives in Kentish Town and works in publishing. A Mysterious Something In The Light is his first book. Follow him on twitter: @twilliams81

www.tomwilliamsonline.com

Raymond Chandler: A Mysterious Something in the Light

by Tom Williams

 is published by

Aurum Press on 26^th July 2012 at £25

For further information on interviewing the author or featuring this title, please contact

Liz Somers on

Tel: 020 7284 7181 or Email: liz.somers@aurumpress.co.uk

The Murder Room and Curtis Brown Creative Team Up For A Crime Writing Weekend

Orion and Curtis Brown Creative have recently and are excited to announce a new partnership to run a crime writing course. The course will be a collaboration between Curtis Brown's creative writing school, and Orion's major new digital publishing initiative, The Murder Room, which will be launched in September.


The course will be held at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London, on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2012. 30 new crime-writers (selected on the strength of work submitted) will take part in practical teaching sessions with the two tutors, crime-novelists Harry Bingham and Meg Gardiner. The weekend will feature a special guest talk from best-selling author Steve Mosby, and a group discussion with Orion's Deputy Publishing Director Bill Massey and Curtis Brown literary agent Gordon Wise.

Curtis Brown Creative launched last year and has run three highly successful courses for debut novelists. The Crime Writing Weekend is its first partnership with a publisher.

Anna Davis, Director of Curtis Brown Creative said: "We're thrilled to be offering this dynamic course with Orion, the market-leaders in crime fiction.. The weekend will benefit hugely from their expertise in publishing new and established crime writers."

The Murder Room website launches in September as Orion's online community for readers of crime fiction. From the Golden Age detective novel to best of noir and espionage fiction, The Murder Room will publish hundreds of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles in ebook for the first time.

Julia Silk, Editor of The Murder Room said: "Just as we hope that the Murder Room will inspire a new generation of crime readers, we know that our collaboration with Curtis Brown Creative will be a fantastic way to encourage new crime writers. The agency has always been at the forefront of discovering and nurturing talent, and we are delighted to be their partner for the Crime Writing Weekend."

To find out more about the Crime Writing Weekend with The Murder Room and Curtis Brown Creative and to apply for a place on the course, go to www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk

To find out more about The Murder Room go to www.themurderroom.com

To find out more about Orion's crime list, go to www.orionbooks.co.uk

Forthcoming Books to Look Forward to From Little, Brown

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.  Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.  Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, and teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.  Moreover, the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.  Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?  A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is by J K Rowling and is due to be published in September 2012.

The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds is by Alexander McCall Smith and is due to be published in September 2012.  Isabel Dalhouise leads an enviable life in Edinburgh, with time for cloud-gazing, civilised conversation and good coffee from Cat’s delicatessen.  Alongside these pastimes, she must also keep with the varied pursuits of her musician husband and their young son Charlie, who is exhibiting the first, rather worrying signs of mathematical genius.  But an unexpected appeal for help from a collector who has been the victim of an important art theft threatens to take her far outside her comfort zone.  As an incorrigible rescuer of others, Isabel can hardly refuse to assist in the collector’s negotiations with those holding his beloved painting, however shadowy the circumstances may be…..

Bode Bonner is the Republican governor of Texas.  He has everything he ever wanted: money, power, influence.  But something isn't right in his life - everything feels too settled and easy.  He longs for one more moment of excitement, one more challenge.  Lindsay Bonner is Bode's wife, and she's bored too.  Bored of Bode's womanising, bored of the endless cocktail parties and receptions.  She is desperate to break free of her bland, wealthy Texan lifestyle.  And that moment comes when she saves a poor Hispanic boy's life.  From that moment on, nothing will be the same for Bode and Lindsay Bonner.  Their lives are about to change in ways they could never have predicted...Filled with dramatic and ingenious twists and turns, this is an addictively readable novel that delves deep into the dark heart of Texas.  The Governor’s Wife is by Mark Gimenez and is due to be published in August 2012.

A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada.  Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston.  She has no idea why.  But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect the palaeontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age.  When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles.  Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles.  Her lead investigator Pete Marino and FBI husband Benton Wesley have secrets of their own.  Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel.  The Bone Bed is by Patricia Cornwell and is due to be published in October 2012.

'What would cause someone to want so many people, surely many of them strangers, to slaughter each other?' The scene that greets Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team one terrible evening in New York is more shocking than any of them have ever witnessed. The usually comfortable downtown bar is strewn with bodies - office workers who have been sliced, bludgeoned or hacked to death with the nearest weapon available. It appears they all turned on each other in a desperate blinding rage. As Eve and her husband Roarke - who owned the bar among his many properties - investigate the big-business workers of the city, they link the attacks back to the Urban Wars and the chemical warfare used all those years ago. With another slaughter imminent, Eve must turn to unexpected sources in order to stop a killer who is getting revenge by creating mass carnage...  Delusion in Death is by J D Robb and is due to published in September 2012.

After a CIA-sponsored op in the Khorasan Valley, operative John Stratton is looking forward to a holiday - until old friend and ex-SBS commander Berry Chandos calls him up out of the blue. Through his contacts, Chandos has discovered that a nuclear dirty bomb has gone missing in Pakistan. When Chandos disappears a few days later, Stratton finds himself drawn into a desperate race to find his old partner before an assassin targets him and before the bomb can fall into the wrong hands. Alone and unsupported, Stratton must fight to find his friend and discover the truth in this high-voltage thriller.  Assassin is by Duncan Falconer and is due to be published in August 2012.

It's every parent's worst nightmare...  Stephanie Harker is travelling through the security gates at O'Hare airport, on her way to an idyllic holiday.  Five-year-old Jimmy goes through the metal detector ahead of her.  But then, in panic and disbelief, Stephanie watches as a uniformed agent leads her boy away - and she's stuck the other side of Security, hysterical with worry.  The authorities, unaware of Jimmy's existence, just see a woman behaving erratically; Stephanie is brutally wrestled to the ground and blasted with a taser gun to restrain her.  And by the time, she can tell them what has happened, Jimmy is long gone.  But as Stephanie tells her story to the FBI, it becomes clear that everything is not as it seems with this seemingly normal family.  What is Jimmy's background?  Why would someone want to abduct him?  And, with time running out, how can Stephanie get him back?  The Vanishing Point is by Val McDermid and is due to be published in September 2012.

Grave Secrets In Goa is by Kathleen McCaul and it is due to be published in July 2012.  Ruby Jones just needed to relax and take a holiday. She made a bad decision when she headed for Goa...Famed for beaches and full moon parties, Goa is also home to one of the most famous Christian shrines in Asia - St. Francis Xavier, his body still miraculously intact after five hundred years. But when the head of the saint is stolen, Ruby discovers there's a lot more going missing in Goa than the head of the famous saint, and beyond the palm-fringed beaches is a world of smuggling, corruption and crime. The weather is balmy, the sea is warm, but Ruby can't play at being tourist when her journalist instincts are twitching. And soon she finds herself at the centre of a lethal world turning in on itself - with deadly consequences.

Rush of Blood is by Mark Billingham and is due to be published in August 2012.  Perfect strangers.  A perfect holiday.  The perfect murder...  Three couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends.  But on their last night, their perfect holiday takes a tragic twist: the teenage daughter of another holidaymaker goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves.  When the shocked couples return home, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better.  But they don't always like what they find: buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some dark secrets, hidden kinks, ugly vices...Then, a second girl goes missing.  Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine?  A brilliantly plotted, utterly gripping thriller about the danger of making friends on holiday.

 

Joe Coughlin is nineteen when he meets Emma Gould.  A small-time thief in 1920s Boston, his task is to tie her up while his accomplices loot the bank she works in.  But Joe falls in love with Emma - and his life changes forever.  That meeting is the beginning of Joe's journey to becoming one of most feared and respected gangsters.  It is a journey beset by violence, double-crossing, drama and pain.  And it is a journey into the soul of prohibition-era America...  Live by Night is by Dennis Lehane and is due to be published in October 2012.

Gold Digger is by Frances Fyfield and is due to be published in November 2012.  The warmth of him, the glorious warmth, was fading by the minute. In a huge old school house by the sea, full of precious paintings, Thomas Porteous is dying. His much younger wife Di holds him and mourns. She knows that soon, despite her being his sole inheritor, Thomas's relatives will descend on the collection that was the passion of both of their lives. And descend they do. The two needy daughters, who were poisoned against their father by their defecting mother, are now poison themselves. The family regard Thomas's wealth as theirs by right, with the exception of young Patrick, who adored his grandfather and is torn between his parents and Di, the interloper. The family know Di's weaknesses, and she has to learn theirs. After all, she met Thomas when she came to his house to rob him. With the help of an unlikely collection of loners and eccentrics, she sets a trap to hoist the family members on their own greed. And on the night they are lured to the house, Di will be ready. Or will she?

 

Linda Fairstein follows up her 13th bestselling Alexandra Cooper thriller with another taut, fascinating foray into the dark side of New York City, this time centred around the city's most glamorous and storied restaurants.  With the help of NYPD's Mike Chapman, Alex is set to uncover the shocking secrets that have lurked just beneath the surface of the bustling metropolis for centuries - only to come screaming to light in the present day.  Night Watch is due to be published in July 2012.

The Lost Girls of Rome is by Donato Carrisi and is due to be published in July 2012.  A young girl has mysteriously disappeared in Rome.  As rain lashes the ancient streets, two men, Clemente and Marcus, sit in a cafe near the Piazza Navona and pore over the details of the case.  They are members of the ancient Penitenzeri - a unique Italian team, linked to the Vatican, and trained in the detection of true evil.  But they are not alone.  Sandra - a brilliant forensics expert with a tragic past - is also working on the case.  When her path crosses theirs, not only do they make headway in the case of the missing girl, but they also uncover a terrible secret world, hidden in the dark recesses of Rome.  A world that is as perfect as it is evil...A spellbinding literary thriller from the author of The Whisperer, The Lost Girls of Rome offers a window onto the hidden secrets of Rome.  Beautifully capturing the atmosphere of the city, it blends a page-turning plot with fascinating historical fact. 

The Panther is by Nelson DeMille and is due to be published in October 2012.  It also sees the return of his charismatic hero John Corey. It's one of the most dangerous and volatile countries in the world: Yemen. A Middle Eastern hotbed of corruption and insurgency and the perfect training ground for Islamic terrorists. When Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield are assigned to overseas posts in Sana'a, Yemen's capital city, they are tasked with hunting down a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative. This man, known as Othman, is wanted for terrorist acts and multiple murders...and the CIA is convinced that he is planning a spectacular attack on the Americans stationed in Yemen. John and Kate quickly realize they are latecomers to a dangerous game that has been going on for years; they don't know the rules or what the score is. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment that meets the eye...and that the hunters are about to become the hunted. In an action-packed and terrifying race to take down one of the most ruthless men alive.

 

Detective Inspector Phil Brennan and criminal psychologist Marina Esposito have just returned from their honeymoon and are spending the Easter weekend in Suffolk with their baby daughter Josephina and Phil's adoptive parents.  But their rural idyll is cruelly destroyed.  After a devastating arson attack on the cottage, Josephina goes missing.  With Phil in a coma, Marina is alone when she receives the first phone call.  The kidnappers say that if Marina ever wants to see her daughter alive again, she has to do exactly what they say…  Choked is by Tania Carver and is due to be published in September 2012.

Ash Rashid is a former homicide detective who can't stand the thought of handling another death investigation.  That's until his niece's body is found in the property of one of the city's wealthiest citizens.  The coroner calls it an overdose, but the case doesn't add up.  Against orders, Ash launches an investigation to find his niece's murderer.  But the longer he searches, the darker the case gets - and if he doesn't solve it fast, his niece won't be the only family member he has to bury….  The Abbey is the debut novel by Chris Culver and is due to be published in August 2012.

Boyd Morrison has two books due to be published.  In July 2012 The Roswell Conspiracy - 1947 Ten-year-old Fay Allen of Roswell, New Mexico, witnesses the fiery crash of an extraordinary craft unlike anything she's ever seen...2012 More than sixty years later, army engineer Tyler Locke rescues Fay from a pair of assassins.  She says they were after a piece of wreckage she obtained from the Roswell crash - and she claims to know secrets about that incident that have never previously been revealed.  Tyler is initially sceptical, but after he is kidnapped by a mysterious band of mercenaries, he comes to believe that Roswell holds the key to his and his countrymen's survival.  And he realises that there is a desperate race against time for him to uncover its secrets...Fast-paced and thrilling, The Roswell Conspiracy draws on actual details from the Roswell Incident to create a page-turning and thought-provoking thriller.  In December 2012 – The Tsunami Countdown - Over the remote central Pacific, a plane is suddenly rocked by a massive explosion. Despite the pilot's valiant efforts, the blast sends it plummeting into the ocean, leaving no witnesses to the fireball. Kai Tanaka, the new and untested director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, notes a minor seismic disturbance in that region but doesn't make the connection with the lost airplane. There's no reason to be worried about his wife, who is the manager of a luxury hotel, or his daughter, who is enjoying the sunny holiday morning at Waikiki with friends. But when all contact with Christmas Island and its 3000 inhabitants is lost, Kai is the first to realize that Hawaii faces a catastrophe of epic proportions: in one hour, a series of massive waves will wipe out Honolulu. He has just sixty minutes to save the lives of a million people, including his wife and daughter...

  

The Demon Code is by Adam Blake and is due to be published in August 2012.  Three years ago, Heather Kennedy left the Metropolitan police under a shadow that has followed her ever since.  Now she has been called in to advise on a supposed burglary in the now-defunct British Museum reading room.  Kennedy soon establishes that rather than steal anything, someone has broken into the stacks in order to photograph pages from books about Johann Toller, a crazed prophet of 17th century Europe.  Toller believed that the end of days was at hand, and he made a number of prophecies relating to the Apocalypse and the events that would precede it.  None of them came true.  Until now.  One after another, the grotesque signs and wonders Toller predicted come to pass, no matter how unlikely they seem.  The river Rhine runs bright red, the towers of London bow to kiss the ground, and an angel with a fiery sword is seen over Jerusalem.  With the help of a nineteen-year-old girl from a secretive tribe and ex-mercenary Leo Tillman, Kennedy must work to stop the next prophecy coming true - the destruction of an unnamed city...

Uncompromising.  Tenacious.  Fiercely intelligent.  Ava Lee will follow the money...wherever it takes her.  Hired by Tommy Ordonez, the richest man in the Philippines, to recover $50 million in a land swindle, Ava has her work cut out.  Tommy's brother has messed up and the Filipino billionaire's reputation is on the line, and his family are on the brink of disaster.  Tracking the money, Ava uncovers an illegal online gambling ring, and follows the trail to Las Vegas.  Once there, she turns her gaze to David Douglas, one of the greatest poker players in the world - and someone who knows more about the missing money than he's letting on.  Meanwhile, Jackie Leung, an old target of Ava's, has made it rich.  He wants revenge, and he's going after Ava.  The Disciple of Las Vegas is by Ian Hamilton and is due to be published in November 2012.

Little Sister is by Lucy Dawson and is due to be published in October 2012.  In the dead of night, Kate receives a phone call.  Police have recovered her sister Anya's clothes and personal belongings at the poolside of a remote hideaway in Mexico - a place she had no idea Anya would be.  Anya was last seen getting into a vehicle with a local diving instructor but now he's missing too.  Their relationship has been complicated ever since a devastating tragedy blew their family apart, but Kate cannot believe Anya would willingly travel somewhere so isolated with a man she barely knows ...would she?  In a race against time, Kate must fight to find her little sister before it's too late.

CWA Dagger Awards

On Thursday 5 July 2012 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) announced the winners of half a dozen of its annual Dagger Awards at a dinner held at The Library, One Birdcage Walk, London.  There were over 160 people in attendance at the dinner. The winners were -

CWA International Dagger: The Potter’s Field, by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Mantle)

CWA Non-fiction Dagger: The Eleventh Day, by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Transworld/Doubleday) (Sponsored by the ALCS)

CWA Short Story Dagger: Tie — “The Message,” by Margaret Murphy (from Murder Squad: Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories, edited by Martin Edwards; The Mystery Press) and “Laptop,” by Cath Staincliffe (from Murder Squad: Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories)

CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger: Icelight, by Aly Monroe 
(John Murray)

CWA Dagger in the Library: Steve Mosby (Sponsored by Random House)

CWA Debut Dagger: Beached, by Sandy Gingras (Sponsored by Orion)

A full list of the short listed titles for the above awards can be found here.  The short lists were announced at Crimefest in Bristol earlier this year.

The event also included the presentation of the CWA’s 2012 Diamond Dagger Award to Frederick Forsyth author of The Day of the Jackal (1971), The Odessa File (1972) The Dogs of War (1974), The Fourth Protocol (1984) to name a few.  Frederick Forsyth was introduced by last year’s recipient of the Diamond Dagger Lindsey Davis.

A number of the Dagger long lists were also announced that evening and they are as follows-

The John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

The Doll Princess by Tom Benn (Jonathan Cape)
Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne, (Headline)
A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash, (Transworld/Bantam)
So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman, (Century)
Good People by Ewart Hutton, (HarperCollins)
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante, (Harvill Secker)
The Expats by Chris Pavone, (Faber & Faber)
What Dies in Summer by Tom Wright, (Canongate)

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Dare Me by Megan Abbott (Picador)
The Shadow Patrol by Alex Berenson (Headline)
A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)
The Fear Index by Robert Harris (Hutchinson)
The Dispatcher by Ryan David Jahn (Macmillan)
Uncommon Enemy by Alan Judd (Simon & Schuster)
The Child Who by Simon Lelic (Mantle)
Reamde by Neal Stephenson (Atlantic Books)

The Gold Dagger

A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash (Transworld/Bantam)
Vengeance in Mind by N. J. Cooper (Simon & Schuster)
Grandad, There’s a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill (Quercus)
The Flight by M. R. Hall (Mantle)
The Rage - Gene Kerrigan (Vintage)
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (Harvill Secker)
The Child Who by Simon Lelic (Mantle)
Bereft by Chris Womersley (Quercus)

The Press Release can be found here.

The CWA also announced an ongoing partnership with Cactus TV over the Specsavers ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards.

Karin Slaughter - an interview with Will Trent

Karin Slaughter is an internationally bestselling author of several novels, including the Grant County series.  She is also a long-time resident of Atlanta.  Her most recent book is Criminal and is the fourth book in the Georgia series featuring Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Dr Sara Linton and Amanda Wagner.  The Georgia series combines characters from her Grant County series with that of her Atlanta series characters.

In an exclusive for Shotsmag Confidential and in conjunction with the publication of Criminal Karin kindly agreed to be briefly interviewed by Will Trent and answer some of those pressing questions that we would all like to know the answer to.

*******

WT:    Jeez, why did you make me a dyslexic?  A GBI agent with dyslexia – talk about giving a guy a hard time!

KS:      You seem to be doing well despite that!  Being able to read fluently is such a natural thing, especially for people who read books, so I wanted to give you something that made you feel like an outsider.  Also, your dyslexia is something you hide from other people, which gives you insight into the criminals you speak with who are, after all, hiding something.  I'd also like to point out that you are capable of reading, just not quickly.  You fill out all your paperwork for your boss, too.  It takes you a longer time than it does Faith, but you've proven over the years that you can do just about anything you set your mind to.

WT:    And what’s the deal with Atlanta?  Couldn’t you have sent me to a state with a lower crime rate so I’m not always rushed off my feet.

KS:      How boring would that be?  I suppose I could've plopped you into some sleepy small town, but as we learned from Grant County, even small towns have bad things happen.  Basically, if you're the subject of a crime novel, you know it's never going to be easy.  At least you have great sex!

WT:    I’m all for equality but what’s with all the ball-breaking women in my life?

KS:      I wouldn't say they are all ball-breaking, nor would you, I imagine.  In fact, I think you love that you're surrounding by women, because that's how you grew up.  Amanda can be hard, but Criminal tells us a lot about why.  Faith's worst sin is her nosiness and I can't imagine anyone who's easier on you than Sara (for a bit, anyway).  Now, if you mean Angie: yeah, she's kind of bad, but you're the one who puts up with her.  You could always change the locks.

WT:    So, who am I based on?  Or am I so special that I’m a one-off?

KS:      I think you're pretty special, but I am sure there are other dyslexic law enforcement officers out there (there's actually been lawsuits filed by some who were discovered and had to sue to keep their jobs).  

WT:    And what’s in store for me next – a holiday in the Caribbean?  A guy can hope…

KS:      You get a short vacation to Florida in between Criminal and the next book (which I am currently writing).  Fortunately, you didn't get too sunburned, but Amanda has a way of letting the people who work for her know that she doesn't like when they take vacations...

******

1975: In the blistering heat of an Atlanta summer, a killer prowls the street, searching for the weak, the vulnerable and the lost.  Almost 40 years later, a young woman is found brutally murdered in a sordid high-rise apartment.  The specifics of her death are detailed and macabre, but for Special Agent Will Trent they are startlingly familiar, and can only mean one thing.  Desperate to deny this might be happening to him, he is forced to return to the home he grew up in, to the grimy crime-ridden streets, to a childhood he has spent the best part of his adult life trying to avoid.  As the tension on the inner-city streets starts to simmer, Will becomes convinced that the clue to the killings now, and in 1975, may lie in his own past; a past that he hates yet feels responsible for.  And that the killer is much, much closer to him than anyone thought possible. 

Criminal by Karin Slaughter is published by Century in hardback, £18.99.

Colin Dexter to receive Outstanding Contribution Award and Theakston's Short List Announced

CHILLS AND THRILLS DOMINATE THEAKSTONS OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLIST 2012

COLIN DEXTER TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CRIME FICTION AWARD

Chilling suspense thrillers lead the way on this year’s Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award shortlist.  One of the most prestigious crime writing prizes in the country, the 2012 shortlist reflects the ever increasingly popularity of psychological and suspense-driven narratives.

In a move away from the grittier whodunits that have long dominated the crime fiction genre, this year’s shortlist is comprised of four thrillers out of six: SJ Watson’s smash hit debut Before I Go To Sleep; The Burning Soul by veteran author John Connolly; SJ Bolton’s multi-layered, page-turner Now You See Me; and Steve Mosby’s horror-tinged tale Black Flowers.

The two non-thriller titles are Where the Bodies Are Buried and The End of the Wasp Season by Chris Brookmyre and Denise Mina respectively, both of whom have based their plots on the streets of Glasgow and have focused on a police procedural style.  The presence of two Scots on the list also reaffirms the consistent level of success enjoyed by crime writers north of the border.

The shortlist in full:

·       Now You See Me by SJ Bolton (Transworld)

·       Where the Bodies are Buried by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)

·       The Burning Soul by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)

·       The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina (Orion)

·       Black Flowers by Steve Mosby (Orion)

·       Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson (Transworld)

Now in its eighth year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, in partnership with Asda - who will promote the shortlisted titles in stores nationwide from today - and in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1st June 2011 to 31st May 2012.

The overall winner will be decided by a public vote and a panel of experts which this year comprises DI Tom Thorne actor David Morrissey, Festival chair Mark Billingham, Daily Mirror Literary Editor and crime novelist Henry Sutton, Asda Fiction Buyer Ruth Lewis, and Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston Ltd.

The public vote opens today, Thursday 5th July, and closes on Tuesday 17th July at www.theakstons.co.uk

The winner of the prize will be announced by title sponsor Simon Theakston at an award ceremony hosted by radio broadcaster and Festival regular Mark Lawson on Thursday 19th July, the opening night of the 10^th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons brewery.

On the same night a special presentation will be made to the winner of the third Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, which this year is awarded to Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse.

Born in Lincolnshire in 1930, Dexter won a scholarship to the local grammar school and, after completing his National Service, went on to study at Cambridge. Since 1966 he has lived in Oxford with his wife, with whom he has two children. After retiring from a 13-year teaching career, he began writing mysteries in 1973 while on a family holiday. His debut novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, was published in 1975 and introduced the world to Inspector Morse for the first time. One of the most iconic detectives ever to have been created, Morse’s crime-solving talents found a whole new audience in the successful TV series, bringing further acclaim for Dexter. Inspector Morse has appeared in 13 novels and numerous short stories. Dexter has won many awards for his novels, including the CWA Silver Dagger twice and the CWA Gold Dagger for both The Wench is Dead and The Way Through the Woods. In 1997, he was presented with the CWA Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature and, in 2000, was awarded the OBE in The Queen's Birthday Honours.

Dexter said: "Never had I thought that the gods would be kindly enough to give me such a huge honour so late in my life. Yet here I am, in my early eighties, feeling a profound and heartfelt gratitude for the great honour bestowed on me.”

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, said:

"The variety of narratives within crime fiction means that every year we have a shortlist that reflects the diversity of the genre; this year, the thriller seems to be the popular choice. It’s great to see crime writing in such rude health, although it doesn’t make the job of picking a winner any easier!

“I’m also delighted and privileged to welcome Colin Dexter to Harrogate to collect his much- deserved Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. Few writers are as prolific as Colin has been over his long and varied career and even fewer create a character as iconic and well-loved as Morse. This award acknowledges Colin’s huge contribution to crime fiction and to British culture.”

--Ends--

For further information or to request interviews with any of the authors please contact Liz Hyder on 07939 372 865 /liz@riotcommunications.com or Preena Gadher on 07833 431 119 / preena@riotcommunications.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

KEY DATES

5th July: shortlist titles on promotion in 252 Asda stores nationwide

19th July: 10^th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival opens in Harrogate

19th July: Winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award announced; Colin Dexter collects award

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2011 – 61 Hours by Lee Child

2010 - A Simple Act of Violence by RJ Ellory

2009 – Death Message by Mark Billingham

2008 – The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

2007 – Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie

2006 – The Torment of Others by Val McDermid

2005 – Lazy Bones by Mark Billingham

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CRIME FICTION AWARD

2011 – PD James

2010 – Reginald Hill

THE 2012 CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST

·       Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)

·       Darkside by Belinda Bauer (Corgi)

·       Now You See Me by SJ Bolton (Corgi)

·       Where the Bodies Are Buried by Christopher Brookmyre (Abacus)

·       The Burning Soul by John Connolly (Hodder Paperback)

·       The Calling by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)

·       The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris (Corvus)

·       Bryant and May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler (Bantam)

·       Blue Monday by Nicci French (Michael Joseph)

·       The Fear Index by Robert Harris (Arrow)

·       The Retribution by Val McDermid (Sphere)

·       The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina (Orion)

·       Black Flowers by Steve Mosby (Orion)

·       Collusion by Stuart Neville (Vintage)

·       The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin (Orion)

·       Mice by Gordon Reece (Pan Books)

·       Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster)

·       Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson (Black Swan)

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is Europe’s largest event dedicated to the celebration of crime fiction. Taking place annually over four days each July, the Festival programmes over 70 best-selling UK and international crime authors and over 20 events.  It is promoted by the north of England’s leading arts festival organisation, Harrogate International Festivals.  Ranked in the top three literary festivals in the UK by the Guardian, it is also featured in the Independent ‘50 Best Festivals’.

ABOUT THEAKSTONS

Title sponsor of the Festival since 2005, Theakstons Old Peculier ale is produced by T & R Theakston Ltd.  It is one of the country’s most famous and highly regarded traditional ale brewers.  Theakstons was established in Masham, North Yorkshire in 1827 by Robert Theakston.  After a brief period in the 1980s when the company was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc, the company has been back under family ownership since Autumn 2003.  It now operates as an independent brewer producing five permanent brands in the Theakstons range including the iconic Old Peculier – its best-known beer with a rich, dark flavour, celebrated by ale enthusiasts all over Britain and around the world.  The brewery also produces twelve seasonal cask ales, together with keg and bottled brands.  Now appreciated by real ale lovers on the other side of the Atlantic, thanks to a recent agreement between the brewer and Latis Imports of Connecticut Theakstons Old Peculier is once again available in eighteen States in the USA.