Wallander on BBC4

BBC4 has just repeated the two episodes of the Swedish version of Wallander that were previously shown last December. These can still be watched via iplayer for a few more days: Before the Frost and Mastermind.

A new episode, The Village Idiot, is to be shown next Monday (13th July) at 9pm:

When a harmless former asylum resident holds up a bank for money and then blows himself up, Wallander, Linda and the Ystad team are forced to dig for leads to find reasons. Who could have persuaded him to do it, and why? Was the explosion an accident? The answers are unexpected.

This is listed as episode 3 of 13 so fingers crossed that the rest of the series will be shown. The Village Idiot is repeated on Thursday 16th July at 10.30pm.

Before the Frost is available on DVD with English subtitles, but not cheaply:

More African crime fiction - Mike Nicol

I mentioned a few months ago a few titles set in Africa and then added Margie Orford's series. The Bookseller announced today that Old Street have bought three Mike Nicols books:

Old Street Publishing has bought a trio of crime books by South African author Mike Nicol.

Managing director Ben Yarde-Buller acquired world English rights from literary agent Tina Betts at Andrew Mann.

The first book in the deal will be called Payback and is due to be published in spring 2010. The title will be set in Cape Town at the turn of the 21st Century with two main characters who become embroiled in drugs and violence.

The two following books are yet untitled and will be stand alone titles, but will be linked by the same characters.

I don't know whether the 'turn of the 21st Century' bit is a misprint as that's quite a futuristic setting.

More Jack Frost books (not by R D Wingfield)

News from the Bookseller:

Transworld has signed a deal to publish two new Jack Frost novels, written on behalf of the estate of R. D Wingfield, who died in 2007.

Sarah Turner, editorial Director, acquired the UK & Commonwealth rights from Philip Patterson at Marjacq Scripts.

Writing under the pseudonym James Henry, the books will be co-authored by James Gurbutt, who has just joined Constable & Robinson to found a new imprint, and Harvill Secker author Henry Sutton.

They will be prequels to the bestselling series written by Wingfield, which inspired the series A Touch Of Frost, and the first will be published by Bantam Press in early 2011.

Read the whole article here.

The Euro Crime bibliography for R D Wingfield is here.

Bodies in the Bookshop - 21st July

Just a reminder of one of the many excellent events taking place at Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge:

Bodies in the Bookshop

Tuesday July 21st 6.00pm

Join us for a glass of wine and make murder your business at our annual crime fiction extravaganza for an evening free from speeches and readings - a great chance to meet both debut and established crime writers including:

Tom Bale, Stephen Booth, Alison Bruce, Maureen Carter, Clem Chambers, Cassandra Clark, Mary Andrea Clarke, Barbara Cleverly, Nick Connell, Adam Creed, Judith Cutler, R. S. Downie, Nick Drake, Jeremy Duns, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Roger Jon Ellory, Stewart Evans, Jane Finnis, Ariana Franklin, Meg Gardiner, Tony Gheeraert, Dolores Gordon Smith, Ann Granger, Steve Hague, Tarquin Hall, Matt Hilton, Veronica Heley, Kaye C. Hill, Suzette Hill, Seth Hunter, Jim Kelly, Christobel Kent, Deryn Lake, Patrick Lennon, James McCreet, George Mann, Edward Marston, Andrew Martin, Rose Melikan, Janet Neel, Malcolm Pryce, Ann Purser, Mike Ripley, David Roberts, Imogen Robertson, Leigh Russell, Alex Rutherford, E. V. Seymour, Stav Sherez, Harry Sidebottom, Yrsa Sigurdartottir, Roz Southey, Rebecca Tope, L. C. Tyler, Nicola Upson, Dan Waddell, Michael Walters, Paul Waters, John Wilcox and more.

This is a ticketed event ONLY. Tickets, value £5.00, can be obtained from the Ground Floor Payment Desk at Heffers Bookshop, 20 Trinity Street, Cambridge or by contacting Richard Reynolds 01223 568532 or by email on literature@heffers.co.uk

News page updated

There won't be any new reviews this weekend due to the house being in chaos; the gas people are coming tomorrow to begin fitting a new boiler and half my book collection has been packed up and my work desk dismantled so I'm left with a large laptop on my knees in the living room. Not very easy to use (arm already aches from using the mouse on the armrest!) but I'll try and keep up :).

I have managed to update the Euro Crime News-page on FriendFeed.

Normal service will hopefully resume next weekend though the unpacking might not have finished.

I'm using Twitter a bit more (see side-bar) but only at a beginner's level.

Rupert Penry-Jones - Simon Mayo show

I haven't listened to it yet so I don't know if anything relevant to Euro Crime is being discussed, but today's Daily Mayo podcast contains an interview with former Spooks star, Rupert Penry Jones. Download or listen at the Radio 5 website.

Inspector Sejer is back

Karin Fossum's The Water's Edge is published today and after a Sejer-free year, the tall detective is back...

Synopsis:

Walking through the woods one warm September day, Reinhardt and Kristine Ris pass a man who is in a state of agitation. Unusually in a small town, he does not return Kristine’s smile and drives off in a hurry. Near the end of their walk they make a terrible discovery: lying in a cluster of trees is the lifeless body of a young boy. It is a moment that will change their lives for ever.

Inspector Sejer is called to the scene, but can find no immediate cause of death. As the weeks go by, the appeal for the man seen in the woods to come forward remains unanswered. A once peaceful community is deeply shaken and the children lose the sense of complete freedom they had enjoyed. Then a second boy goes missing.

Click on the widget below to go to a 28 page extract:

Reviews: Charles, Fitzgerald, French, Ingram, Jones & Allison, McGilloway

The current competition runs until 4 July (UK only I'm afraid): win a copy of The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard, donated by the translator Tiina Nunnally.

Following on from last week, here's part two of the focus on Irish authors. Along with 2 Irish authors and 1 Northern Irish there are two Scottish and two English (writing together) authors reviewed today:

Geoff Jones reviews The Beautiful Sound of Silence by Paul Charles;

Maxine Clarke reviews Dead Lovely by Helen Fitzgerald writing "it slips down a treat - like an ice-cream with a vindaloo centre";

Michelle Peckham reviews The Likeness by Tana French concluding that it's "an engrossing read, and one to definitely recommend";

Paul Blackburn reviews The Stone Gallows by C David Ingram;

Terry Halligan reviews The Last Straight Face by Bruce Kennedy Jones & Eric Allison

and Norman Price reviews Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway saying that the main character is "a successor to Rebus and Morse".

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found here.

OT: Cats in Deckchairs

Making the most before the thunderstorms later...

Law and Order UK - renewed

From Digital Spy:

ITV1 has commissioned Law & Order: UK for a 13-episode second series, it has announced.

The first series, starring Freema Agyeman, Jamie Bamber and Bradley Walsh, opened its seven-episode run with strong ratings earlier this year. The second half of the series is yet to air.

Series two will see the return of the original cast and will go into production later this year.

"This new commission brings our total order to 26 episodes, which demonstrates our commitment to series that have concepts and storylines that can run long-term," said ITV's Laura Mackie.

"Audiences clearly loved the first series, which featured the cream of British acting talent with gripping 'torn from the headlines' storylines, and this will again be at the heart of the new series."

The ITV1 website is here.

The Guardian coverage is here.

Publishing Deal - Jessie Keane

From the Bookseller:

HarperCollins has bought additional books from author Jessie Keane.

Publishing director at HarperFiction Wayne Brookes bought UK and Commonwealth rights to three Keane novels from Judith Murdoch for “a good six-figure sum”.

The first book is due in 2010.

The Euro Crime bibliography for Jessie Keane is here.

I haven't read any of her books but the covers are Martina Cole-esque.