A compendium of recently published mystery news articles. Note that we're rapidly catching up on getting news items posted and once current plan on publishing once a week or so. This update includes news items from early- and mid-August 2008.
• We missed the premiere of Jane Seymour as Dear Prudence which aired last night on the Hallmark Channel. But fortunately Hallmark is airing the episode again this coming Friday, so set your DVRs! In Dear Prudence, Seymour stars as Prudence McCoy, a humorous, Martha Stewart-like TV personality, who, while on vacation in Wyoming, turns amateur sleuth when a young man is found dead, supposedly of a suicide. Dear Prudence is the latest in the Hallmark Channel Mystery Movie franchise which includes the Mystery Woman series, available on DVD from Mysteries on TV. For more information, visit the Dear Prudence site at HallmarkChannel.com.
• Mark Arsenault (The Providence Journal) talks to thriller writer Michelle Gagnon who says having a thick skin is a definite must for authors today. She also provides some pointers for new authors. [MBN note: Mysterious Reviews has reviewed both of Gagnon's books: The Tunnels by Michelle Gagnon and Boneyard by Michelle Gagnon.]
• As reported by Entertainment Weekly, BBC has abruptly cancelled The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. In an extended conversation with star Nathaniel Parker, he says "Well, it’s kind of strange because when we shot [the final season] we didn’t know it would be the end. They canceled the series after we finished shooting, so there is no tie-up to it." [MBN note: The first 6 seasons of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries are available on DVD at Mysteries on TV. The 7th season aired this summer and is expected to be on DVD either later this year or early next year.]
• The Times has an interview with crime writer Kate Atkinson. She studied for her doctorate in in literature, but didn't complete it. She doesn't regret leaving academia. “If I had got my doctorate I wouldn't have become a writer. Had I continued I would probably be studying something like passivity and activity in the language of Jane Austen. In fact, in my next book (What Would Jane Do?) that's what the heroine will be studying - I am living vicariously through her."
• NPR is reporting that the much-beloved murder mystery game Clue is getting a makeover. It's been on the shelves for 60 years, but game maker Hasbro has redesigned the game for a modern audience. The weapons have changed, the characters have bios and the mansion has new rooms, like a spa, a theater and a guesthouse. And the company added an element of suspense with a second deck of cards. [The new version of Clue is in stores now, and available from Games of Mystery: Clue Games.]
• The Allentown Morning Call has a Q and A with author Andrew Gross who, before setting off on his own, co-authored six bestselling novels with James Patterson. [Mysterious Reviews picked Dark Tide by Andrew Gross as one of the best books of 2008, giving it our highest rating.]
• In other James Patterson news, Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to Patterson's Maximum Ride series for young adults. Though not mysteries, the Maximum Ride books are suspenseful and feature six children who have been genetically altered to be 98% human and 2% avian.
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