RSS feed for all content appearing in the blog river, with links back to the site http://www.criminalelement.com/ Sun, 27 May 2012 21:24:00 +0000 Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management en-gb http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/h5MN9Ia-d18/new-preview-for-cbs-vegas-dennis-quaid-michael-chicklis <p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-holmes-fans-mistrust-elementary-an-open-apology-to-cbs-lyndsay-faye">Lyndsay Faye</a> may have her doubts about <em>Elementary</em>—and I may agree with them—but I’ve been eager to see what CBS is planning to do with <em>Vegas</em>. It combines many of my favorite things, after all: historical setting, western sensibility and a great cast. So, naturally, when I saw they’d released a preview, I was all over it.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="267" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RuHRnqMkwXY?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>“I’m the law here, Mr. Savino, and I will decide who’s breaking it.”</p><p>Yep. I’m in.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-preview-for-cbs-vegas-dennis-quaid-michael-chicklis">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=h5MN9Ia-d18:C2Pv6Hvatl4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/h5MN9Ia-d18" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Sun, 27 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-preview-for-cbs-vegas-dennis-quaid-michael-chicklis http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-preview-for-cbs-vegas-dennis-quaid-michael-chicklis http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/yXb9200-JO4/ed-lin-on-paul-cain-slayers <p><img alt="The Complete Slayers: The Fast One and the Complete Short Stories of Paul Cain" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Lin_Paul-Cain-Complete-Slayers-Cover-250.jpg" title="The Complete Slayers: The Fast One and the Complete Short Stories of Paul Cain" />It’s about time all of <strong>Paul Cain</strong>’s published fiction was reprinted and collected. When people say Cain was a run-of-the-mill writer whose work deserves to fall out of print (“Cain wasn’t any good,” <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> bluntly assessed in March), I say that his work speaks to many readers 80 years later who continue to champion his work.</p><p>If you’re familiar with Cain and like his work, you’ve already ordered the book. If you’ve never read his sole novel, <em>Fast One</em>, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a shot.</p><p>Cain is often viewed as the hardest of the hard-boiled, toughest of the tough guys. He hacked down sentences to the bare minimum. Sometimes less than that.</p><p>[Like less than the model is wearing on the cover of <em>The Complete Slayers</em>?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ed-lin-on-paul-cain-slayers">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=yXb9200-JO4:R3G8q89Nn3w:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/yXb9200-JO4" height="1" width="1"/> Ed Lin Published Sun, 27 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ed-lin-on-paul-cain-slayers http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ed-lin-on-paul-cain-slayers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Al46waSfbdY/the-criminal-element-grand-tour-faq-how-to-terrie-farley-moran <p><img alt="Handcuffs, the website logo" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Moran_Criminal-Element-FAQ-Cuffs.jpg" style="height: 177px; width: 200px;" title="Unleash the power of Criminal Element!" />This post has been reposted with permission from the wonderful (if now defunct) blog, <em>Criminal Brief</em>. It has been slightly edited as changes have occured on the site since its original writing.</p><p>Thank you, Leigh [Lundin, of <em>Criminal Brief</em>], for inviting me to talk about <i>Criminal Element</i>, a publisher-neutral site with lots of great material written by crime/mystery fans especially for crime/mystery fans. So now we have a place for fans to gather, share news and information, banter with other fans or roam the links and investigate on their own. There is no limit to subgenre, era, or medium. <i>Criminal Element</i> covers dark noir to light, comedic cozies and everything in between. It’s boiled to your taste.</p><p>In a recent email exchange, Leigh mentioned that although he spends time at <i>Criminal Element</i>, he feels that he may only be scratching the surface of what is available to site users. Naturally, I volunteered to do a guided tour and I invite you all to come along.</p><p>[The magical mystery tour, aka the FAQ]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-criminal-element-grand-tour-faq-how-to-terrie-farley-moran">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Al46waSfbdY:taI6UouMezY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Al46waSfbdY" height="1" width="1"/> Terrie Farley Moran Published Sat, 26 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-criminal-element-grand-tour-faq-how-to-terrie-farley-moran http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-criminal-element-grand-tour-faq-how-to-terrie-farley-moran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/0dOoqDzS4ZI/the-seven-wonders-new-excerpt-historical-steven-saylor-rome <p><img alt="The Seven Wonders by Steven Saylor" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Saylor-The-Seven-Wonders-250.jpg" style=" height: 380px; width: 250px;" title="The Seven Wonders by Steven Saylor" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>The Seven Wonders</em>, a historical mystery by Steven Saylor (available June 5, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>The year is 92 B.C. Gordianus has just turned eighteen and is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Gordianus is not yet called “the Finder”—but at each of the Seven Wonders, the wide-eyed young Roman encounters a mystery to challenge the powers of deduction.</em></p><p><em>Accompanying Gordianus on his travels is his tutor, Antipater of Sidon, the world’s most celebrated poet. But there is more to the apparently harmless old poet than meets the eye. Before they leave home, Antipater fakes his own death and travels under&nbsp;an assumed identity. Looming in the background are the first rumblings of a political upheaval that will shake the entire Roman world.</em></p><p><em>Teacher and pupil journey to the fabled cities of Greece and Asia Minor, and then to Babylon and Egypt. They attend the Olympic Games, take part in exotic festivals, and marvel at the most spectacular constructions ever devised by mankind. Along the way they encounter murder, witchcraft and ghostly hauntings. Traveling the world for the first time, Gordianus discovers that amorous exploration goes hand-in-hand with crime-solving. The mysteries of love are the true wonders of the world, and at the end of the journey, an Eighth Wonder awaits him in Alexandria. Her name is Bethesda.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong><br /><em>Prelude in Rome: The Dead Man Who Wasn’t</em></p><p>“Now that you’re dead, Antipater, what do you plan to do with your­self ?”</p><p>My father laughed at his own joke. He knew perfectly well what Antipater was planning to do, but he couldn’t resist a paradoxical turn of phrase. Puzzles were my father’s passion—and solving them his pro­fession. He called himself Finder, because men hired him to find the truth.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>The Seven Wonders</em> by Steven Saylor]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-seven-wonders-new-excerpt-historical-steven-saylor-rome">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0dOoqDzS4ZI:N2BK_Yl9M4Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/0dOoqDzS4ZI" height="1" width="1"/> Steven Saylor Excerpts Sat, 26 May 2012 20:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-seven-wonders-new-excerpt-historical-steven-saylor-rome http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-seven-wonders-new-excerpt-historical-steven-saylor-rome http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/1DlQbYwg8Ng/underground-new-york-public-library-subway-books-readers-unsolved-mystery-photo-clare-toohey <p><img alt="Reading The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson, partial crop / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/UNYPL-Gray-Flannel-Friends-Lovers.jpg" style="height: 314px; width: 250px; " title="Reading The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson, partial crop / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" />If you read on the subway, you may have unknowingly entered the <em><a href="http://undergroundnewyorkpubliclibrary.com/" target="_blank">Underground New York Public Library</a></em> or UNYPL.</p><p>The website of street photographer Ourit Ben-Haim (who gave us permission to reproduce these photos) beautifully and simply documents people and their books.</p><p>The images are wonderful, and the range of readers and subjects reflects the variety of people taking the subways, which is to say, everyone in the city.</p><p><img alt="Reading IQ84 by Haruki Murakami / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/UNYPL-IQ84-Murakami.jpg" style="height: 318px; width: 475px; " title="Reading IQ84 by Haruki Murakami / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Reading Einstein’s Cosmos by Michio Kaku / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/UNYPL-Einstein-Cosmos.jpg" style="height: 313px; width: 475px; " title="Reading Einstein’s Cosmos by Michio Kaku / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" /></p><p>However, sometimes, it’s hard to make out the titles because of visibility or circumstances, and in those cases, the photo will be listed as <a href="http://undergroundnewyorkpubliclibrary.com/Unsolved%20Titles" target="_blank">Unsolved</a> to invite a crowd-sourced solution.</p><p><img alt="Unsolved Title from UNYPL / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/UNYPL-Unsolved.jpg" style="height: 391px; width: 475px; " title="Unsolved Title from UNYPL / photo: Ourit Ben-Haim" /></p><p>We can’t stand the U word, so this is a super close-up of the only currently unsolved book at the UNYPL, which its founder frankly admits now haunts her dreams. (I think I saw that same palm in the movie <em>Dune</em>. The sleeper awakens.) Do you recognize this book cover?&nbsp; Can you help crack this case?</p><p><span style="font-size:14px;">Hat tip: CrimeHQ’s Social Media Maven, the fabulous Jen Forbus.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/underground-new-york-public-library-subway-books-readers-unsolved-mystery-photo-clare-toohey">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=1DlQbYwg8Ng:DV6ab3ExA_U:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/1DlQbYwg8Ng" height="1" width="1"/> Clare Toohey Published Fri, 25 May 2012 19:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/underground-new-york-public-library-subway-books-readers-unsolved-mystery-photo-clare-toohey http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/underground-new-york-public-library-subway-books-readers-unsolved-mystery-photo-clare-toohey http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/R3306hB2UAQ/fresh-meat-the-providence-rider-by-robert-mccammon-thriller-historical-matthew-corbett-leslie-gilbert-elman <p><img alt="The Providence Rider by Robert McCammon" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Elman-The-Providence-Rider-by-Robert-McCammon.jpg" title="The Providence Rider by Robert McCammon" /><strong><em>The Providence Rider</em> by Robert McCammon is the fourth installment in his series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett (available May 31, 2012).</strong></p><p>Matthew Corbett is a problem-solver. That’s not a judgment; it’s a job title. Employed by the Herrald Agency, he’s part detective/part vigilante, and over the course of his brief yet eventful career he’s managed to find his way into and out of a number of dark and dirty situations.</p><p>In fact, everything around Matthew Corbett seems to be dark and dirty, but that’s not his fault. This is New York in 1703 and the narrow, cobblestoned streets of the city are as fishy and foul as the characters Matthew meets there.</p><p>[I smell a rat . . . ]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-providence-rider-by-robert-mccammon-thriller-historical-matthew-corbett-leslie-gilbert-elman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=R3306hB2UAQ:ye_M0HRSDqM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/R3306hB2UAQ" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-providence-rider-by-robert-mccammon-thriller-historical-matthew-corbett-leslie-gilbert-elman http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-providence-rider-by-robert-mccammon-thriller-historical-matthew-corbett-leslie-gilbert-elman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Wk-TQbKVJ00/the-case-for-marcia-clark-john-valeri-rachel-knight-series-thriller <p><img alt="O.J. Simpson prosecutor, Marcia Clark, turned crime author (Photo Courtesy of John Valeri)" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Valeri_Marcia_Clark_on_Book_Tour-250.jpg" title="O.J. Simpson prosecutor, Marcia Clark, turned crime author (Photo Courtesy of John Valeri)" />Recently, I had the opportunity to go on book tour with <a href="http://www.marciaclarkbooks.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Marcia Clark</strong></a> as she ushered her second crime novel, <em>Guilt by Degrees</em>, into the world. (Translation: Marcia Clark went on book tour and I independently followed her as she traversed the East Coast—three states in four nights!) Seeing as she gamely refrained from taking out a restraining order on me, I can now share some eyewitness testimony from the road.</p><p>[Is that an O.J. pun in the making?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-case-for-marcia-clark-john-valeri-rachel-knight-series-thriller">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Wk-TQbKVJ00:IGeIC_-TK9g:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Wk-TQbKVJ00" height="1" width="1"/> John Valeri Published Fri, 25 May 2012 18:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-case-for-marcia-clark-john-valeri-rachel-knight-series-thriller http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-case-for-marcia-clark-john-valeri-rachel-knight-series-thriller http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/e2-ScgMAMbk/rule-4-wear-your-seatbelt-thriller-true-crime-zombies-just-for-fun <p>There’s a reason Rule #4 in <em>Zombieland</em> is to always wear your seatbelt. No reason to die unnecessarily, especially with a zombie horde running after you. Apparently, the Illinois Department of Transportation took this to heart in its latest public service announcement.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Remr08GzTU?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/rule-4-wear-your-seatbelt-thriller-true-crime-zombies-just-for-fun">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=e2-ScgMAMbk:YqkveqRaens:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/e2-ScgMAMbk" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Fri, 25 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/rule-4-wear-your-seatbelt-thriller-true-crime-zombies-just-for-fun http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/rule-4-wear-your-seatbelt-thriller-true-crime-zombies-just-for-fun http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/qkyfS9Xtbio/first-look-at-michonne-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-chris-morgan <p><img alt="Danai Gurira as The Walking Dead’s Michonne" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/walking_dead_michonne450X275.jpg" style=" height: 275px; width: 450px;" title="Danai Gurira as The Walking Dead’s Michonne" />Ladies and gentlemen: Our Michonne.</p><p>So yeah there has been some talk here on Criminal Element about a <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-cult-of-daryl-dixon-a-lesson-in-mass-appeal-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-angie-barry" target="_blank">certain cult surrounding a much beloved crossbow wielding hillbilly</a>, but next to Rick, Michonne is the main reason I love the comics. She started out as such a great Man With No Name/Ronin/Knight Errant type character and has become an awesome addition to the group. I for one love the fact that they finally got around to introducing her character.</p><p>What do you think? Does this interpretation of Michonne scream “Yeah, I was once a lawyer, but now I’m a quasi-nihilistic zombie murdering machine” to you?</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/first-look-at-michonne-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-chris-morgan">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qkyfS9Xtbio:VK3XZzxfC9E:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/qkyfS9Xtbio" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Morgan Published Thu, 24 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/first-look-at-michonne-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-chris-morgan http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/first-look-at-michonne-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-chris-morgan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/URSE48_5-Os/grandad-theres-a-head-on-the-beach-new-excerpt-colin-cotterill-jimm-juree-series-thailand-traditional-mystery <p><img alt="Grandad, There’s A Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Granddad-Theres-A-Head-On-Beach-by-Colin-Cotterill-250.jpg" style=" height: 377px; width: 250px;" title="Grandad, There’s A Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>Grandad, There’s A Head on the Beach</em>, a </strong><strong>Jimm Juree mystery </strong><strong>set in Thailand by Colin Cotterill (available June 19, 2012).</strong></p><p><strong>Once you’ve finished the excerpt, don’t forget to enter the comments contest below!</strong></p><p><em>Jimm Juree, who was well on her way to becoming the primary crime reporter for the major daily newspaper in Chiang Mai, is less than thrilled to have lost her job and relocated to a place where nothing ever happens. When she learns that a head has washed up on the beach, she greets the news with mixed emotions. It’s tragic, of course, but this could be the sort of sensational murder that would get her a byline in a major daily—if she still worked for one. Instead, all she can do is find out who was murdered and why.<br /><br />With her former cop grandfather as backup, she sets out to discover how the poor fellow ended up where he did—and why. On their journey, with the rest of their disjointed family in tow, they uncover gruesome tales of piracy and slavery, violence and murder in the Gulf of Thailand. Are the authorities uninterested because they’re involved, or because the victims aren’t Thai? Whatever the reason, Jimm and her team are going it alone and their lives are under threat. And who exactly are those two elegant women in cabin three and why has the engine number of their car been filed away?<br /><br />Airport hostages and hand grenades, monkeys and naked policemen—once more the sublime and the ridiculous clash at the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort and Restaurant.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong><br /><em>Slipping on the Dog</em><br />(from “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”—Burt Bacharach)</p><p>“Grandad?”</p><p>He didn’t so much as look up. He had a lot of problems, did Grandad. Deafness wasn’t one of them. Ignorance was. He feigned the former to achieve the latter.</p><p>“Grandad?”</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Grandad, There’s A Head on the Beach</em>]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/grandad-theres-a-head-on-the-beach-new-excerpt-colin-cotterill-jimm-juree-series-thailand-traditional-mystery">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=URSE48_5-Os:yj-W3wD-HjU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/URSE48_5-Os" height="1" width="1"/> Colin Cotterill Excerpts Thu, 24 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/grandad-theres-a-head-on-the-beach-new-excerpt-colin-cotterill-jimm-juree-series-thailand-traditional-mystery http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/grandad-theres-a-head-on-the-beach-new-excerpt-colin-cotterill-jimm-juree-series-thailand-traditional-mystery http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/xQzYki1K6HM/fall-television-finds-mystery-afoot-tv-nbc-cbs-abc <p><img alt="The cast of Last Resort" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Gelsomino_Fall-TV-Lst-Resort.jpg" style="height: 310px; width: 475px;" title="The cast of Last Resort, coming to ABC" />The major television broadcast networks unveiled their fall and midseason schedules last week and when it comes to new dramas, mystery is definitely afoot. Whether it’s far-reaching government conspiracies or cunning and lethal serial killers that make your pulse pound, the 2012-2013 TV season has something for everyone.</p><p><strong><u>Conspiracies</u></strong><br /><strong><em>Last Resort</em></strong> (Thursdays at 8, ABC) is my pick for the most promising new drama. With Shawn Ryan (<em>The Shield</em>, <em>Chicago Code</em>) at the helm, this military thriller’s trailer was an action-packed knockout akin to a mashup between Tom Clancy’s <em>The Hunt for Red October</em> and J.J. Abrams’ <em>Lost</em>. When the U.S. government issues a suspicious order to one of its naval subs to fire on Pakistan, the commander (the impressive Andre Braugher) questions it and the ship soon comes under attack . . . from our own Navy. And that’s just the beginning. An impressive supporting cast featuring Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Dichen Lachman, and Robert Patrick offer more great reasons to tune in.</p><p>[More mysterious, more deadly, the shows keep on coming!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fall-television-finds-mystery-afoot-tv-nbc-cbs-abc">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=xQzYki1K6HM:m4K_eWzAgnc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/xQzYki1K6HM" height="1" width="1"/> Tara Gelsomino Published Thu, 24 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fall-television-finds-mystery-afoot-tv-nbc-cbs-abc http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fall-television-finds-mystery-afoot-tv-nbc-cbs-abc http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/kwuGeid1Qss/hey-girl-ryan-gosling-goes-gangster <p><img align="left" alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Hey-Girl-Ryan-Gosling-Tommy-Gun.jpg" /></p><p>At Criminal Element, we like our memes. We also happen to like Ryan Gosling in <em>Gangster Squad</em>, so what’s a Crime HQ agent to do but make our own “Hey Girl, Ryan Gosling” memes, of course! We’re big fedora fans, and <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gangster-squad-cops-la-mickey-cohen-sean-penn-movie-mobster-crime-hq">the new <em>Gangster Squad </em>trailer</a> is filled with ’em. Plus we’re loving the story behind <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-la-gangster-squads-crusaders-in-the-underworld-the-stories-behind-the-story">the real Gangster Squad,</a> too. Between now and the movie’s September release, we’ll just have to satisfy ourselves with looking at the delectable Mr. Gosling.</p><p>[Hey Girl, want to stop a 1950s Kingpin with me? We’ll cuddle after, I swear]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/hey-girl-ryan-gosling-goes-gangster">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kwuGeid1Qss:TTCTg7Lx8F8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/kwuGeid1Qss" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Thu, 24 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/hey-girl-ryan-gosling-goes-gangster http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/hey-girl-ryan-gosling-goes-gangster http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/BfYCtXeDF9s/daniel-craig-in-first-james-bond-skyfall-trailer-thriller-espionage-ian-fleming <p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/24mTIE4D9JM?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>He’s neither shaken nor stirred in this trailer, but James Bond is certainly ready for any mission ahead.</p><p>We got all bubbly inside just listening to Daniel Craig. Watch and enjoy this first trailer from <em>Skyfall</em>, the next Bond installment, coming in November.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/daniel-craig-in-first-james-bond-skyfall-trailer-thriller-espionage-ian-fleming">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=BfYCtXeDF9s:83aeeVSsAyA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/BfYCtXeDF9s" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Wed, 23 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/daniel-craig-in-first-james-bond-skyfall-trailer-thriller-espionage-ian-fleming http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/daniel-craig-in-first-james-bond-skyfall-trailer-thriller-espionage-ian-fleming http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/aeCPOus22hA/naked-bicyclists-drippy-showers-and-the-perils-of-planless-peregrination-janice-hamrick-humor-cozy <p><img alt="Godzilla with a planner" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Hamrick_Perils-of-Planless-Peregrination-Dino.jpg" style="height: 211px; width: 250px;" title="The author planning a trip." />When it comes to travel, I’ve always been a bit of a planner. Okay, I’ve always been a giant, monster-size devour-the-world sort of planner. Picture Godzilla with a day organizer, and you’ve pretty much got it. I’m not proud of it, but I really know how to put the “anal” in “analysis.”</p><p>So when my younger daughter and I decided to take a trip to England, I eagerly fired up my laptop to start monster surfing and asked where she’d like to go first.&nbsp; Her response? “Can’t we just drive around and stop when we feel like it?”</p><p>Imagine crickets chirping in the distance.</p><p>[No plan? No problem!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/naked-bicyclists-drippy-showers-and-the-perils-of-planless-peregrination-janice-hamrick-humor-cozy">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=aeCPOus22hA:tbL32PmX2DA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/aeCPOus22hA" height="1" width="1"/> Janice Hamrick Published Wed, 23 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/naked-bicyclists-drippy-showers-and-the-perils-of-planless-peregrination-janice-hamrick-humor-cozy http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/naked-bicyclists-drippy-showers-and-the-perils-of-planless-peregrination-janice-hamrick-humor-cozy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/hsDAFakA1DI/the-women-of-noir-kristin-centorcelli-megan-abbott-christa-faust-patricia-highsmith-alfred-hitchcock-femme-fatale <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Centorcelli-Noir-Women-Patricia_Highsmith.jpg" title="Patricia Highsmith: Her work was adapted into some of the most iconic films of this century. " />When most people think of noir/crime fiction (casual violence, knocking heads, guy’s guys, and blowzy dames), lots of names come to mind. Here, I’ll throw out a few, classics first:&nbsp; <strong>Dashiell Hammett</strong>, <strong>Raymond Chandler</strong>, <strong>Mickey Spillane</strong>, <strong>James M. Cain</strong>, and more recently, <strong>Derek Raymond</strong>, <strong>Elmore Leonard</strong>, and the list goes on. Notice a theme? Yep, all men! Don’t get me wrong, I love hardboiled, noir crime fiction, and all of these authors&nbsp; have brought wonderful work to the table, but it’s time the dames of noir had a (big) piece of the spotlight, so here we go.</p><p>Let’s start with <strong>Patricia Highsmith</strong>. The wildly talented Ms. Highsmith is one of my faves, and she’s a local girl (Ft. Worth, Texas!), and also thought to be one of the first great female noir authors. Her first novel was <em>Strangers on a Train</em>. You know the one: it was famously made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. Maybe you’re also familiar with a film called <em>The Talented Mr. Ripley</em>? That was hers too, and Tom Ripley is one of the most disturbing characters in crime fiction history, in my opinion. Her work was punctuated by violence and very dark humor, and if you haven’t discovered her yet, you’re in for a real treat. Sadly, Ms. Highsmith passed away in 1995, but she has a bibliography of over 20 novels and many short stories, so what are you waiting for?</p><p>[All the noir ladies, now put your hands up!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-women-of-noir-kristin-centorcelli-megan-abbott-christa-faust-patricia-highsmith-alfred-hitchcock-femme-fatale">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=hsDAFakA1DI:LkRLwVpaUpw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/hsDAFakA1DI" height="1" width="1"/> Kristin Centorcelli Published Wed, 23 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-women-of-noir-kristin-centorcelli-megan-abbott-christa-faust-patricia-highsmith-alfred-hitchcock-femme-fatale http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-women-of-noir-kristin-centorcelli-megan-abbott-christa-faust-patricia-highsmith-alfred-hitchcock-femme-fatale http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/JjEO3Qrsfxc/so-wrong-and-so-cute-its-knitler-the-leader-of-the-knotsie-party <p><img class="blog-pic-left-align "alt="" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.23-05.29/Knitler-knitted-hitler.jpg" style="height: 294px; width: 475px; " />We&rsquo;d prefer all murderous, evil tyrants to be this easily squooshed.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/so-wrong-and-so-cute-its-knitler-the-leader-of-the-knotsie-party">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=JjEO3Qrsfxc:UujsefO4X1w:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/JjEO3Qrsfxc" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Wed, 23 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/so-wrong-and-so-cute-its-knitler-the-leader-of-the-knotsie-party http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/so-wrong-and-so-cute-its-knitler-the-leader-of-the-knotsie-party http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/zFR1JGxQxM0/fresh-meat-reckoning-by-jane-casey-police-procedural-mystery-british-crime-jordan-foster <p><em><img alt="The Reckoning by Jane Casey" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Foster_FM-The-Reckoning-Jane-Casey.jpg" style="height: 379px; width: 250px;" /></em><strong><em>The Reckoning</em> by Jane Casey is the second in her DC Maeve Kerrigan British procedural series (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>I have no patience for weak heroines. This is why Maeve Kerrigan and I get along well. Take her debut appearance in last year’s <em>The Burning</em>. This is a woman who gets kicked in the head by a serial killer and is itching to check out of the hospital to wrap up the case. Fractured skull? All in a day’s work for this London DC. She is on the Serious Crimes Squad, after all. Boots and heads don’t usually collide in white-collar crime. It’s lucky that blow to the head didn’t cause lasting damage because the brain inside that formerly fractured skull is a formidable one. Too bad her new DI is content for said brain to rattle around like a lump of unused muscle tissue as long as Maeve looks the part of the attractive female subordinate. They’re investigating the torture and murder of two men, unconnected except that both were convicted pedophiles.</p><p>[Maeve’s not the one with a damaged brain . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-reckoning-by-jane-casey-police-procedural-mystery-british-crime-jordan-foster">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=zFR1JGxQxM0:aTlxP_YtcSA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/zFR1JGxQxM0" height="1" width="1"/> Jordan Foster Published Tue, 22 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-reckoning-by-jane-casey-police-procedural-mystery-british-crime-jordan-foster http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-reckoning-by-jane-casey-police-procedural-mystery-british-crime-jordan-foster http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/WrXcVu2l0eE/now-win-this-chase-brandons-the-cryptos-conundrum <p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/cryptosconundrumsweepstakes"><strong>CLICK HERE TO ENTER for a chance to win an Uncorrected Advanced Reader’s Copy of <em>The Cryptos Conundrum </em>by Chase Brandon.</strong></a></p><p><img align="left" alt="The Cryptos Conundrum by Chase Brandon" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/sweepstakes/Cryptos-Conundrum250x365.jpg" title="The Cryptos Conundrum by Chase Brandon" /><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/cryptosconundrumsweepstakes"><strong>Click here to enter for a chance to win!</strong></a></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.&nbsp;A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter.&nbsp;Promotion begins May 22, 2012, at 12 pm ET, and ends May 29, 2012, 11:59 am ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-cryptos-conundrum-sweepstakes" style="text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Click here for&nbsp;details and official rules</a>.</p><p>[About the book...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-chase-brandons-the-cryptos-conundrum">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=WrXcVu2l0eE:nPmZ0TyqooU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/WrXcVu2l0eE" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 22 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-chase-brandons-the-cryptos-conundrum http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-chase-brandons-the-cryptos-conundrum http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/WDkwmx7ePw8/fresh-meat-a-dark-anatomy-traditional-historical-mystery-by-robin-blake-vanessa-parker <p><img alt="A Dark Anatomy by Robin Blake" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Parker_FM-Blake-A-Dark-Anatomy.jpg" style="height: 380px; width: 250px;" /><strong><em>A Dark Anatomy </em>by Robin Blake is an historical mystery featuring Titus Cragg and Luke Fidelus, and set in 1740s England (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if Sherlock Holmes had investigated a mystery in the halls of Downton Abbey? I’ll admit that thought never crossed my mind, but, after reading <em>A Dark Anatomy</em> by <strong>Robin Blake</strong>, I got a taste of the answer. And I liked it.</p><p>In the year 1740, around the little town of Preston, Titus Cragg, coroner and attorney, receives a ghastly request while eating breakfast. He is to come at once to Garlick Hall, the estate of Remille Brokletower. The body of Dolores Brokletower, the mistress of the house, has been found under the branches of an old oak tree. She is wearing riding clothes, but her horse is nowhere to be found. The state of her body seems odd, and, in the words of the messenger boy sent to fetch Mr. Cragg, “it seemed like Mistress dove down from the sky. Her face and hands were in the earth.” Oh, and her throat has been cut from ear to ear.</p><p>[Yikes!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-a-dark-anatomy-traditional-historical-mystery-by-robin-blake-vanessa-parker">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=WDkwmx7ePw8:xIMI6GfRBf0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/WDkwmx7ePw8" height="1" width="1"/> Vanessa Parker Published Tue, 22 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-a-dark-anatomy-traditional-historical-mystery-by-robin-blake-vanessa-parker http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-a-dark-anatomy-traditional-historical-mystery-by-robin-blake-vanessa-parker http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/dh41RRulWbo/zombies-for-education <p><img alt="Zombie Education" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/AMCoffee_Zombie-Education.jpg" style="height: 391px; width: 250px;" title="A middle-school-friendly zombie." />Despite the fact that they are known for eating brains, we don’t usually associate zombies with education and intellectual improvement. But the zombies are invading every sector of our society including one very near and dear to my own heart, education.</p><p>I was absolutely ghastly at Geography as a kid. It seemed so . . . flat. It wasn’t particularly exciting to me because there was nothing to “figure out”—all memorization, no analysis. Which is why I was so tickled by the <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hunterd/zombie-based-learning-geography-taught-in-zombie-a" target="_blank">Zombie-Based Geography Learning</a> project on Kickstarter.</p><p>Says the project’s creator:</p><blockquote><p>Imagine being in a classroom where instead of reading about maps, you’re designing them to show the spread of a zombie outbreak. Instead of reading about the distribution of resources on Earth in a textbook, you are researching available resources to plan your post-outbreak settlement. I’m not just talking about learning where places are or memorizing capitals of states or countries, I’m talking about learning the deeper concepts of geography that geographers actually use.</p></blockquote><p>Well, yeah. That sounds pretty cool, I have to admit.&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Zombie Learning map" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/AMCoffee_Zombie-Education-2.jpg" style="height: 249px; width: 475px;" /></p><p>So here’s how the curriculum works:</p><ol><li>You hear about the zombie outbreak and start making plans in case the epidemic reaches your community.</li><li>The zombie outbreak comes to your area and you have to figure out how to survive and how to find other survivors and band together.</li><li>Find a place that’s as safe as it can be to settle down and make a new, long-term community</li><li>Build your community.</li><li>Plan for the future.</li></ol><p>It’s all about the zombies! If I had kids I was homeschooling, I would totally do this!</p><hr /><p><strong>Laura K. Curtis</strong> lives in Westchester, NY, with her husband and 3 dogs who’ve taught her how easily love can co-exist with the desire to kill. She blogs at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.womenofmystery.net/" style="color: rgb(156, 106, 61); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Women of Mystery</a>&nbsp;and maintains an online store at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/adeptmagic" style="color: rgb(156, 106, 61); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">TorchSongs GlassWorks</a>. &nbsp;She can also be found on&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/LauraKCurtis" style="color: rgb(156, 106, 61); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Twitter</a>&nbsp;and poking her nose into all sorts of trouble in various spots around the web.</p><p>Read all posts by <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Laura%20K.%20Curtis#filter">Laura K. Curtis on Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/zombies-for-education">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dh41RRulWbo:_1QVB6JmtOs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/dh41RRulWbo" height="1" width="1"/> Laura K. Curtis Published Tue, 22 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/zombies-for-education http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/zombies-for-education http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/QVTV0oomHcQ/ordinary-people-new-bbc-sherlock-holmes-and-the-reichenbach-fall <p><img alt="Sherlock and The Reichenbach Fall Benedict Cumberbatch" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Elman_New-Sherlock-Reichenbach-Fall-250.jpg" style="height: 211px; width: 250px;" title="Go take a flying leap." /><em>Aren’t ordinary people adorable?</em><br />&nbsp;—Jim Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes</p><p>You know the type he means: the ones who are certain that good is good, bad is bad, and dead is dead. Truly adorable, those gullible, fallible creatures.</p><p>Moriarty would keep them as pets. And Sherlock? Well Sherlock is facing a bit of dilemma over this ordinary people thing. At one time he’d have agreed readily with Moriarty. Problem is, he’s coming to realize that ordinary people—the ones who actually <em>feel; </em>the ones who actually <em>care</em>—aren’t necessarily inferior. They have their uses; even their advantages (although he’s loath to admit it). That’s never been as clear to him as it is in “The Reichenbach Fall,” the final episode of <em>Sherlock</em> series 2 on PBS’s <em>Masterpiece Mystery.</em></p><p>As Sherlock goes head-to-head (brain-to-brain?) with his archnemesis Moriarty, the ordinary people in the drama provide us with the landmarks we need to find our way through. We identify with them. We understand them. And we recognize their strengths.</p><p>[Oh, the humanity!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ordinary-people-new-bbc-sherlock-holmes-and-the-reichenbach-fall">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=QVTV0oomHcQ:7nLRjsLpizI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/QVTV0oomHcQ" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Tue, 22 May 2012 03:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ordinary-people-new-bbc-sherlock-holmes-and-the-reichenbach-fall http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ordinary-people-new-bbc-sherlock-holmes-and-the-reichenbach-fall http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/hTjkJojdAWc/fresh-meat-dark-magic-by-james-swain-paranormal-thriller-urban-fantasy-vanessa-parker <p><img alt="Dark Magic by James Swain" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Parker_FM-Swain-Dark-Magic.jpg" style="height: 382px; width: 250px;" /><strong><em>Dark Magic</em> by James Swain is a supernatural thriller (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>Did you hear the one about seven psychics who attend a séance? Do you think anything surprised them?</p><p>Joking aside, this is how <em>Dark Magic</em>, the new book by <strong>James Swain</strong> opens. Each week, Peter Warlock and his fellow psychics meet to observe the near future. Armed with this knowledge, Peter and his friends provide anonymous tips to the police all in the hope of averting the witnessed crime. One night, however, Peter—an orphan whose parents were murdered years ago—sees an act so heinous it could destroy New York. The scenes are a kaleidoscope of horror: women, children, and men all gasping for breath, breaking down in convulsions; cars and buses crashing; and, amid all of this carnage, a man dressed in black. The Grim Reaper?</p><p>[When Death comes calling . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dark-magic-by-james-swain-paranormal-thriller-urban-fantasy-vanessa-parker">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=hTjkJojdAWc:hjYcJBP0wGE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/hTjkJojdAWc" height="1" width="1"/> Vanessa Parker Published Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dark-magic-by-james-swain-paranormal-thriller-urban-fantasy-vanessa-parker http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dark-magic-by-james-swain-paranormal-thriller-urban-fantasy-vanessa-parker http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/lTIK_UYkzoA/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning- <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Sherlock-John-Crochet-Dolls.jpg" style="height: 287px; width: 475px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Of course, here at Crime HQ, we #BelieveinSherlock. Did you have any doubt?!</p><p>Still, while your head may be certain, your heart may be wobbly at the moment. We understand. These adorably squishy little crocheted dolls of Sherlock and John don’t mind how much you need to fret, weep, or rail, they’ll be there for you. And even there for each other, as they’re (optionally) handcuffed together!</p><p>Console yourself, there is a season 3 to come, and one lucky winner can stage their own reunions with these yarnmade stand-ins until then!</p><p><em><strong>To enter for a chance to win the crocheted Sherlock and John pair of dolls made </strong></em><strong><em>by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/people/CaitsCrochetShop" target="_blank">Caityln Orlomoski</a></em></strong><em><strong><a href="http://www.etsy.com/people/CaitsCrochetShop" target="_blank"> </a>of Caitlyn’s Crochet Shop, make sure you’re a registered member of the site and then simply leave a comment below.</strong></em></p><p>NOTE: Only comments from <strong>registered users</strong> will be tabulated—so if your user name appears in red above your comment—STOP—go log in, and try commenting again. If your user name appears in black above your comment, you’re in!</p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 or older. To enter, fill out entry at<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning-" target="_self"> http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning</a> beginning at 08:45 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) May 21, 2012. Sweepstakes ends at 11:59 a.m. ET on May 28, 2012 (the “Promotion Period”). Void outside of the 50 US and DC and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules at<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-comments-contest" target="_self">&nbsp;</a><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-comments-contest" target="_self">http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-comments-contest</a>. Sponsor: Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning-">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=lTIK_UYkzoA:gYI-iowD4xM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/lTIK_UYkzoA" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 21 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning- http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-john-crocheted-handcuffed-dolls-stuffed-amigurumi-reichenbach-mourning- http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/rFbwkSJX7wg/ice-cap-new-excerpt-chris-knopf-jackie-swaitkowski-series-legal-thriller-traditional-mystery <p><img alt="Ice Cap by Chris Knopf " class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Ice-Cap-by-Chris-Knopf-250.jpg" title="Ice Cap by Chris Knopf " /><strong>An excerpt of <em>Ice Cap</em>, a </strong><strong>Jackie Swaitkowski</strong><strong> legal mystery set in the Hamptons (available June 5, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>It’s the middle of the worst winter on record in the Hamptons, and Jackie Swaitkowski’s client, Franco Raffini, is headed for a 1st degree murder rap.&nbsp; The case pulls her reluctantly back into her late-husband’s extended, and partly nutty family, entangles her in intrigue both criminal and romantic, and challenges her basic principles of right and wrong.&nbsp; Crazy weather, crazy artists, the uniquely close-knit and colorful Polish-American community in the East End of Long Island, organized crime, and digital wizardry all play a role in&nbsp;</em>Ice Cap<em>, a&nbsp;murder mystery that could only happen in the Hamptons.</em><br />&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Chapter 1 </strong></p><p>It would have been the blizzard of the century if a bigger one hadn’t hit a few weeks later. But for the people of the Hamptons marooned in the off-off season of mid-January, it was like we’d been plucked from the end of Long Island and dropped into the Arctic Circle.</p><p>For me, it was another opportunity to praise my Volvo station wagon, both steadfast and true, no matter how little maintenance or care I re­membered to bestow upon it. That evening the biggest challenge was identifying the car among the other giant heaps of rapidly building snow in the parking lot behind my apartment. I was only out there be­cause I got a call from one of my clients, Franklin Delano Raffini, aka Franco—an ex-investment banker who’d served time for killing his girlfriend’s husband with a rotisserie skewer before the husband could kill him with a steak knife.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Ice Cap</em> by Chris Knopf]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/ice-cap-new-excerpt-chris-knopf-jackie-swaitkowski-series-legal-thriller-traditional-mystery">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=rFbwkSJX7wg:mrfYa846xN8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/rFbwkSJX7wg" height="1" width="1"/> Chris Knopf Excerpts Mon, 21 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/ice-cap-new-excerpt-chris-knopf-jackie-swaitkowski-series-legal-thriller-traditional-mystery http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/ice-cap-new-excerpt-chris-knopf-jackie-swaitkowski-series-legal-thriller-traditional-mystery http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/ywkksnxf3xg/noir-la-gangster-squads-crusaders-in-the-underworld-the-stories-behind-the-story <p><img alt="Mickey Cohen after booking/ Bruce H. Cox, L.A. TImes" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Gangster-Squad-Mickey-Cohen.jpg" style="height: 318px; width: 250px; " title="Mickey Cohen after booking/ Bruce H. Cox, L.A. TImes" />We’re just getting our feet wet (wingtips wet? brogues? Dapper haberdasher Mickey Cohen would know) with <em>Gangster Squad</em>. As a result, I’m diving into the original <em>L.A. Times</em> articles by Paul Lieberman upon which the movie’s based.</p><p>In case you’re a true crime/noir junky, or just love the period, there are loads of fascinating, specific only-in-LA anecdotes about what was nothing less than a local war, in fact, the Sunset Wars.</p><p>So, if I may humbly offer links and some crib notes?</p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-gangsters26-2008oct26,0,978507,full.story" target="_blank">Part 1, Crusaders in the Underworld: The LAPD takes on Organized Crime</a></p><blockquote><p>If they joined the Gangster Squad, their targets would be the likes of Bugsy Siegel, the playboy refugee from New York’s Murder Inc., and Jack Dragna, the Sicilian banana importer who quietly lorded over the city’s rackets...They’d have no office, only two unmarked cars. They’d almost never make arrests. They’d simply gather “intelligence” and be available for <i>other chores</i>. In effect, they would not exist...</p><p>The view was great from the hills off Mulholland Drive. So why not escort these hoodlums up there and, as [Sgt. Jack] O’Mara put it, “have a little heart-to-heart talk with ’em, emphasize the fact that this wasn’t New York, this wasn’t Chicago, this wasn’t Cleveland. And we leaned on ’em a little, you know what I mean?”...</p><p>Mickey’s crew did complain about the leader of the Gangster Squad, Willie Burns, and how some cops were harassing customers at his haberdashery. “It’s ridiculous,” Mickey said. “Anybody who they see leave the store they take right downtown.” Not long after, Burns’ wife received flowers at home, a funeral arrangement...</p></blockquote><p>There’s also a lot about the bugging and intelligence gathering, including how the LAPD’s own bug man wrapped his shoes in burlap for quiet footsteps and perfumed himself with ammonia to deter curious dogs as he snuck through the neighborhood and into Cohen’s home.</p><p>[But that’s not nearly all, ladies and gentlemen of the jury]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-la-gangster-squads-crusaders-in-the-underworld-the-stories-behind-the-story">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=ywkksnxf3xg:W--DB718p7Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/ywkksnxf3xg" height="1" width="1"/> Clare Toohey Published Sun, 20 May 2012 20:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-la-gangster-squads-crusaders-in-the-underworld-the-stories-behind-the-story http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-la-gangster-squads-crusaders-in-the-underworld-the-stories-behind-the-story http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/73YItVw2_Sk/quiz-sherlock-character-motivation-masterpiece-mystery-inner-self-adler-moriarty-watson-mycroft-facebook-crime-hq <p><img alt="Which Sherlock Character Are You? Moriarty (Andrew Scott), John Watson (Martin Freeman), Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss), Irene Adler (Lara Pulver), and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Sherlock-Characters-Quiz.jpg" style="height: 326px; width: 300px; " />Arrgh!</p><p>We can’t believe tonight is already the LAST episode of <em>Sherlock</em>’s Season Two—we just got started and now we’re already to the finale, “The Reichenbach Fall!” With its murky agendas and personal complications, this season has us curious to uncover our own hidden selves and deeper motivations. Lurking within, do you suspect you harbor an inner Adler, a malcontented Moriarty, megalomaniac Mycroft, unwavering Watson, or even a secret Sherlock?</p><p>Use music’s Top 100, among other completely foolproof guides, to diagnose yourself with <a href="https://apps.facebook.com/crimehq/quizzes/Take/2907" target="_blank">Criminal Element’s Facebook Quiz: Which Sherlock Character Are You</a></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/quiz-sherlock-character-motivation-masterpiece-mystery-inner-self-adler-moriarty-watson-mycroft-facebook-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=73YItVw2_Sk:R0EOqX5MDj4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/73YItVw2_Sk" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Sun, 20 May 2012 16:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/quiz-sherlock-character-motivation-masterpiece-mystery-inner-self-adler-moriarty-watson-mycroft-facebook-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/quiz-sherlock-character-motivation-masterpiece-mystery-inner-self-adler-moriarty-watson-mycroft-facebook-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Cbh0r-8gyBk/last-call-for-the-living-new-excerpt-thriller-bank-job-peter-farris <p><img alt="Last Call for the Living by Peter Farris" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Farris-Last-Call-for-the-Living-250.jpg" style=" height: 376px; width: 250px;" title="Last Call for the Living by Peter Farris" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>Last Call for the Living,</em> a rural noir thriller by Peter Farris (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>For bank teller Charlie Colquitt, it was just another Saturday. For Hobe Hicklin, an ex-con with nothing to lose, it was just another score. For Hobe’s drug-addled, sex-crazed girlfriend, it was just more lust, violence, and drugs.&nbsp; But in this gripping narrative, nothing is as it seems.<br /><br />Hicklin’s first mistake was double-crossing his partners in the Aryan Brotherhood. His second mistake was taking a hostage. But he and Charlie can only hide out for so long in the mountains of north Georgia before the sins of Hicklin’s past catch up to them.&nbsp;<br /><br />Hot on Hicklin’s trail are a pair of ruthless Brotherhood soldiers, ready to burn a path of murder and mayhem to get their revenge. GBI Special Agent Sallie Crews and Sheriff Tommy Lang catch the case, themselves no strangers to the evil men are capable of. Soon Crews is making some dangerous connections while for the hard-drinking, despondent Lang, rescuing Charlie Colquitt might be the key to personal salvation.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>By 6:45 a.m.<em> </em>the sun had risen over Jubilation County. Like a drunken eye, it seemed to stare across the highway, ten lanes running north and south that cut like a river between restless walls of sweetgum and pine, oak and maple. It was Saturday. Few cars on the inter­state except for a lone state trooper or delivery van. Tractor-trailers rumbled. Eighteen-wheeled earthquakes heading south toward the Piedmont. Passing by low hills and valleys, the exits marked by diners and gas stations and roads that disappeared behind kudzu-covered pastures and thickets of pine trees.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Last Call for the Living</em> by Peter Farris]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/last-call-for-the-living-new-excerpt-thriller-bank-job-peter-farris">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Cbh0r-8gyBk:uGa9OjP50xQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Cbh0r-8gyBk" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Farris Excerpts Sat, 19 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/last-call-for-the-living-new-excerpt-thriller-bank-job-peter-farris http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/last-call-for-the-living-new-excerpt-thriller-bank-job-peter-farris http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/eWIdM4VEuWA/fresh-meat-dandy-gilver-and-an-unsuitable-day-for-murder-by-catriona-mcpherson-traditional-historical-series-scotland-world-war-one <p><img alt="Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder by Catriona MacPherson" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Moran-Fresh-Meat-Dandy-Gilver-and-the-Unsuitable-Day-for-a-Murder-250.jpg" title="Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder by Catriona MacPherson" /><em><strong>Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for Murder </strong></em><strong>by Catriona McPherson</strong><strong> is an historical mystery set in Scotland after WWI (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>Upper-class Scottish socialite Dandy Gilver’s sleuthing adventures begin in earnest in 1923, when she starts out to recover some stolen diamonds and is confronted by a suspicious death in <em>After</em> <em>The Armistice Ball</em>, the first of this series. Fast forward to 1927 and we find book number six, <em>Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for Murder</em>. Dandy receives a note requesting her services as a detective in order to find a missing young woman. When she arrives at the appointed place and time, Dandy finds that she is not expected, and there a verbal brawl going on among the women of the house. In this passage we get the tenor of Dandy’s reaction.</p><blockquote><p>In times gone by, I should not have known—as my maid Grant says—‘where to put myself’. Things being what they were these days, of course I watched all three with my piercing detective’s eye, wondering how the disappearance of a girl could produce three such very different reactions among a mother and two grandmothers, one fondly exasperated, one faint with terror and one so angry that I almost expected steam to hiss from her ears.</p></blockquote><p>[It’s just not done . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dandy-gilver-and-an-unsuitable-day-for-murder-by-catriona-mcpherson-traditional-historical-series-scotland-world-war-one">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eWIdM4VEuWA:_15omXupsRQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/eWIdM4VEuWA" height="1" width="1"/> Terrie Farley Moran Published Sat, 19 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dandy-gilver-and-an-unsuitable-day-for-murder-by-catriona-mcpherson-traditional-historical-series-scotland-world-war-one http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dandy-gilver-and-an-unsuitable-day-for-murder-by-catriona-mcpherson-traditional-historical-series-scotland-world-war-one http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/UA0NwbMrL9o/gangster-squad-cops-la-mickey-cohen-sean-penn-movie-mobster-crime-hq <p><img alt="L.A. Cop John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) faces down Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) in Gangster Squad." class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Gangster-Squad-Penn-Brolin-Mickey-Cohen.jpg" style="height: 307px; width: 475px; " />Hey...why does the bad guy look like he’s the one with the halo? Because <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/you-cant-forget-it-chinatown-noir-detective-new-york-city-john-geraci-film" target="_self">it’s Chinatown</a>. At least the time and place and stink of corruption are about right. <em>Gangster Squad</em> is an upcoming movie about an LAPD squad assembled and working off the books from 1946 through the 1950s to prevent the incursion of east coast organized crime into the west. Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling star as two of the cops, and Sean Penn plays boxer-turned-kingpin and their personal Most Wanted, Mickey Cohen. Here’s the stylish trailer:</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gViqCxibW6A?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>The film is based upon a set of <em>L.A. Times</em> articles by journalist Paul Lieberman, and here’s a clip about those, including pictures of the real Mickey Cohen, who appears further off his fighting weight than the rangy Penn.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Alu76iIFJ60?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>(Special Undead point of interest: Director Ruben Fleischer directed the campy-good <em>Zombieland </em>and is signed on for <em>Zombieland 2</em>. So there’s that.) Naturally, around here, we adore the subject matter and the period, and to us, this one has an L.A. Confidential feel with an Untouchables story.</p><p>What do you think? You in?</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gangster-squad-cops-la-mickey-cohen-sean-penn-movie-mobster-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=UA0NwbMrL9o:uMDwOmHvSSo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/UA0NwbMrL9o" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Sat, 19 May 2012 02:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gangster-squad-cops-la-mickey-cohen-sean-penn-movie-mobster-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gangster-squad-cops-la-mickey-cohen-sean-penn-movie-mobster-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/aVcuUY55E48/tween-building-middle-grade-mystery-summer-reading-list-traditional-detective-historical-kid-ya-teen-ft-bradley <p><img alt="No more Nancy Drew books for our tweens!" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Bradley-Nancy-Drew-movie-still.jpg" title="No more Nancy Drew books for our tweens!" />School’s out, and your tween is ready to toss the backpack and books in a corner. But summer is a great time to discover new books, those that are not on the required reading list—and what better genre than mystery to get your kid excited about reading.</p><p>Forget about Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys—there’s a whole new selection of mysteries for the eight-to-twelve crowd, and it’s growing each season. These MG (Middle Grade) mysteries can be hard to spot though, since there’s usually no special section within the kids’ department to identify the genre. So to make it easy, here’s a list of books to consider for your tween’s summer reading stash:</p><p>[Out with the old, in with the new!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tween-building-middle-grade-mystery-summer-reading-list-traditional-detective-historical-kid-ya-teen-ft-bradley">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=aVcuUY55E48:co3K2IKffrM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/aVcuUY55E48" height="1" width="1"/> F. T. Bradley Published Fri, 18 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tween-building-middle-grade-mystery-summer-reading-list-traditional-detective-historical-kid-ya-teen-ft-bradley http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tween-building-middle-grade-mystery-summer-reading-list-traditional-detective-historical-kid-ya-teen-ft-bradley http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/dClszp1vJ7g/fresh-meat-beautiful-sacrifice-by-elizabeth-lowell-manda-collins-romantic-suspense-mayan-calendar <p><img alt="Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Collins-Beautiful-Sacrifice-by-Elizabeth-Lowell-250.jpg" style=" height: 378px; width: 250px;" title="Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell" /><strong><em>Beautiful Sacrifice</em> by Elizabeth Lowell is a romantic suspense novel featuring the Mayan doomsday prophecy (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>The heroine of Elizabeth Lowell’s latest romantic suspense offering, Dr. Lina Taylor, an archaeologist who works for her family’s museum in Houston, is one of the last descendents of the powerful Reyes Balam family:</p><blockquote><p>“The Balam family was among the first Maya nobility to accept the Spanish rule and sign formal treaties with the Spanish king,” Lina said. “In return, the Balams were granted a good chunk of the Yucatan and a Spanish noble title. Thus the Reyes Balam line began.”</p></blockquote><p>With the approach of December 21, 2012, Lina, whose archaeological specialty is all things Mayan, is fielding more than her fair share of questions about how the Maya prophecy of the end of the world thing will shake out. So when former ICE agent Hunter Johnston comes to her with a story about stolen Mayan artifacts—that sound to be rarer than rare and might possibly be fakes—she’s already got her hands full. &nbsp;And then there’s that tickle at the back of her neck that tells her someone is watching her.</p><p>[What’s a girl to do when the end of the world is coming?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-beautiful-sacrifice-by-elizabeth-lowell-manda-collins-romantic-suspense-mayan-calendar">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dClszp1vJ7g:iqEZ9W8xg5M:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/dClszp1vJ7g" height="1" width="1"/> Manda Collins Published Fri, 18 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-beautiful-sacrifice-by-elizabeth-lowell-manda-collins-romantic-suspense-mayan-calendar http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-beautiful-sacrifice-by-elizabeth-lowell-manda-collins-romantic-suspense-mayan-calendar http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/t0GyyL8rJbo/x-lock-what-happens-when-sherlock-meets-the-x-files <p>More mash-up goodness! Sherlock, Watson, Mulder, and Scully investigate...</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N9uSlVP0lM4?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/x-lock-what-happens-when-sherlock-meets-the-x-files">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=t0GyyL8rJbo:1ZniAQkVgmY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/t0GyyL8rJbo" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Fri, 18 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/x-lock-what-happens-when-sherlock-meets-the-x-files http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/x-lock-what-happens-when-sherlock-meets-the-x-files http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/yQuY8-qcaN0/sherlock-holmes-fans-mistrust-elementary-an-open-apology-to-cbs-lyndsay-faye <p><img alt="They Might Be Giants poste" class="blog-pic-right-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Faye_Elementary-Sherlock-Watson-Apology.jpg" style="width: 225px; height: 333px" title="Understanding pastiche and homage" />In 1971, Universal Pictures produced a film titled <em>They Might Be Giants </em>starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward as, respectively, “Sherlock Holmes” and Dr. Mildred Watson, chronicling their adventures fighting crime in New York City. Sound familiar? But wait, it gets better. This Holmes is in fact a mental patient by the heroic name of Justin Playfair, whose life is in real danger due to his grasping elder brother’s attempt to usurp the family estate. When Dr. Watson is naturally seized upon as Playfair’s partner in imaginary mayhem, the pair gallivant about Manhattan fighting foes both real and illusory, all the while pretending to be the dynamic duo of the Victorian era.</p><p>But <em>They Might Be Giants</em>, for all its Sherlockian iconography, isn’t a Sherlock Holmes reimagining. In fact it’s a <em>Don Quixote </em>pastiche, and an admirable one—it’s about defying reality when reality is too grim or too dull or too heartbreaking, about falling in love with heroism and refusing to be told that the world no longer needs justice served up by brilliant vigilantes.</p><p>It takes Cervantes’s novel as its inspiration and delightfully tweaks it for a modern era.</p><p>It respects the spirit of the source material.</p><p>And that, makers of CBS’s <em>Elementary</em>, is why I must apologize to you for recent murmurs of Sherlockian pissiness. Because some of us fear you don’t get that principle. At all.</p><p>[But lest you think our hearts are barred. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-holmes-fans-mistrust-elementary-an-open-apology-to-cbs-lyndsay-faye">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=yQuY8-qcaN0:OHYeQw147GI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/yQuY8-qcaN0" height="1" width="1"/> Lyndsay Faye Published Thu, 17 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-holmes-fans-mistrust-elementary-an-open-apology-to-cbs-lyndsay-faye http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sherlock-holmes-fans-mistrust-elementary-an-open-apology-to-cbs-lyndsay-faye http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/j5AWZiAmtA8/fresh-meat-last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris-noir-thriller-kristin-centorcelli <p><em><img alt="Last Call for the Liivng by Peter Farris" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Farris-Last-Call-for-the-Living-250.jpg" style="height: 376px; width: 250px;" /><strong>Last Call for the Living</strong></em><strong> by <a href="http://peterfarris.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Peter Farris</a> is a southern noir thriller, a novel of psychological terror and suspense (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>Last Call for the Living</em> is not your momma’s mystery. Heroes are in short supply in this dark, gritty, southern noir grinder of a novel, but the characters who populate it, and their strong but strange bonds, make the novel a standout in its field.</p><p>At the center, there’s Charlie Colquitt, who goes to his job as a bank teller on a Saturday morning only to be kidnapped at gunpoint by Aryan Brotherhood member and ex-con Hobe Hicklin. Charlie is a bit of a savant, smothered by the fierce, protective love of his mother, and all he wants to do is build rockets. Life is pretty simple, if a bit staid, and it’s all he knows.</p><p>[All that is about to change]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris-noir-thriller-kristin-centorcelli">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=j5AWZiAmtA8:6VWgh_2ZweY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/j5AWZiAmtA8" height="1" width="1"/> Kristin Centorcelli Published Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris-noir-thriller-kristin-centorcelli http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris-noir-thriller-kristin-centorcelli http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/-XDwamDa33k/sterling-hayden-film-noirs-nothing-man-thriller-noir-wwii-the-godfather-jake-hinkson <p><img alt="Sterling Hayden never wanted to be part of the movie business but became one of the most iconic men of film noir." class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Hinkson-Sterling-Hayden-250.jpg" title="Sterling Hayden never wanted to be part of the movie business but became one of the most iconic men of film noir." />There were many great leading men in the heyday of classic film noir and each one seemed to carve out a little piece of the kingdom for himself. Robert Mitchum was the King of the Suckers, ultra laidback and super smooth but always and forever a chump for the ladies. Robert Ryan was the ultimate Man on the Edge, the embodiment of unchecked fury. John Payne was The Ass-Kicker, a one man demolition crew.</p><p>And then you have Sterling Hayden. In some ways he might be the hardest to pin down. What makes Hayden fascinating is that, as an actor, he really only makes sense within the context of film noir. He made many different kinds of films, but noir is his métier. His voice, a kind of rapid-fire bellow, is made for the clipped dialogue of a suspicious cop or a surly thug. His shopworn good looks and imposing physical presence make him a natural to play men stalking darkened city streets at three in the morning. What he lacks in nuance, he makes up for in essence. In crime films, he’s as natural as cheap carpet and cigarette smoke. No, he couldn’t act, he could only <em>be</em>. And that <em>being</em> was the key to why he was a great actor. Among noir heroes, he may well be the most intrinsically existential.</p><p>[There’s no business like show business, except in Hayden’s opinion . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sterling-hayden-film-noirs-nothing-man-thriller-noir-wwii-the-godfather-jake-hinkson">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=-XDwamDa33k:vODlfivTsrY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/-XDwamDa33k" height="1" width="1"/> Jake Hinkson Published Thu, 17 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sterling-hayden-film-noirs-nothing-man-thriller-noir-wwii-the-godfather-jake-hinkson http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/sterling-hayden-film-noirs-nothing-man-thriller-noir-wwii-the-godfather-jake-hinkson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/73E4Qr0SXEQ/spate-detective-bluth-justice-rain-platform-videogame-steampunk-robot-clare-toohey <p><img alt="Spate by Eric Provan" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Spate-Detective-Bluth.jpg" style="height: 380px; width: 250px; " title="Bluth dresses for the weather in ever-waders." />If you recall one thing from the early days of arcade video games, you know you had to line up your quarter for next play and that Donkey Kong is a low-down kidnapper. And platformers—video games where the character moves across suspended platforms while dodging obstacles—have continued their diverting existence carrying that banana-shaped stain of injustice.</p><p>However, in the upcoming <em>Spate</em>, that old account may finally be squared. At last, we’re not trying to face down a hulking evildoer with a couple of diminutive trade-school dropouts. No, this time we’ve got a real detective on the case! Besides the admittedly unconventional-looking Detective Bluth, there will be dames, a missing husband, <em>lots and lots </em>of rain, and a bizarro steampunk world with a perilous no-go district called the Xzone. Did I mention that there’s an unfolding mystery element, and not just the one Bluth’s solving? (Also, there will be robots . . . that poop.) See the game trailer below.</p><p>Creator Eric Provan is funding <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379113968/spate" target="_blank"><em>Spate</em>’s</a> development on Kickstarter but as he’s been working professionally in cool films already and further claims that the beloved <em>Clue</em> is among the game’s inspirations, we have high hopes he’ll make his goal and we’ll get the chance to enjoy helping Bluth earn his fee!</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4I6YV_EqqCQ?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spate-detective-bluth-justice-rain-platform-videogame-steampunk-robot-clare-toohey">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=73E4Qr0SXEQ:XVcJhGJfMtE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/73E4Qr0SXEQ" height="1" width="1"/> Clare Toohey Published Thu, 17 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spate-detective-bluth-justice-rain-platform-videogame-steampunk-robot-clare-toohey http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spate-detective-bluth-justice-rain-platform-videogame-steampunk-robot-clare-toohey http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/5tBWzp5JuUM/you-cant-forget-it-chinatown-noir-detective-new-york-city-john-geraci-film <p><img alt="Chinatown (1974)" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Geraci-Chinatown-post-250.jpg" title="Chinatown (1974)" />It’s been nearly thirty-eight years, yet Roman Polanski’s <em>Chinatown</em> remains easily the best detective movie of all time. Not only because of its signature closing line, or the <em>tour de force</em> performance by Jack Nicholson, or Faye Dunaway and John Huston showing their acting chops, or the way Polanski uses the camera to give us Jake’s perspective, or the picture-perfect scenes of L.A. in the 1930s with the cars, clothes or, even that haunting opening saxophone solo, darkly sexy and still elegiac.</p><p>It’s all those highly visible qualities and more. The <em>more</em> being the hidden meanings that suddenly gleam, capturing our vision, much like the set of bifocal eyeglasses that Jake sees shining in the murky depths of the Mulwray’s salt water pool.</p><p>[I’m pretty sure the face of pure evil is John Huston in <em>Chinatown </em>. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/you-cant-forget-it-chinatown-noir-detective-new-york-city-john-geraci-film">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5tBWzp5JuUM:Wp50m39OvGc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/5tBWzp5JuUM" height="1" width="1"/> John Geraci Published Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/you-cant-forget-it-chinatown-noir-detective-new-york-city-john-geraci-film http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/you-cant-forget-it-chinatown-noir-detective-new-york-city-john-geraci-film http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/5Eh6dn_EV9k/fresh-meat-dont-ever-get-old-by-daniel-friedman-funny-thriller-nazi-gold-mystery-terrie-farley-moran <p><img alt="Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Moran-Dont-Ever-Get-Old.jpg" style=" height: 378px; width: 250px;" title="Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman" /><strong><em>Don’t Ever Get Old</em> by Daniel Friedman is a funny thriller featuring a feisty retiree who can still kick some serious butt (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>I can’t think of a more unlikely hero than Baruch “Buck” Schatz. Okay, so he spent decades in the Memphis PD and was quite the hotshot detective—that ended in 1973. And yeah, he had what it took to survive as an American GI in a German POW camp—but that was more than sixty years ago. The guy is eighty-seven years old. Should he even still be driving a car?</p><p>Here’s how Buck sees himself:</p><blockquote><p>Rose and I buried our only son six years ago. He was fifty-two, and he’s gone. We’re still here. Dragging that reality around gets exhausting. I was a hard man, once. Immovable, like the face of a mountain. But wind and rain can erode even granite if they have enough years to do it. No matter how tough you think you are, if you live long enough, eventually you get all squishy.</p></blockquote><p>[But not this ol’ guy!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dont-ever-get-old-by-daniel-friedman-funny-thriller-nazi-gold-mystery-terrie-farley-moran">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5Eh6dn_EV9k:lg-DynQocII:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/5Eh6dn_EV9k" height="1" width="1"/> Terrie Farley Moran Published Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dont-ever-get-old-by-daniel-friedman-funny-thriller-nazi-gold-mystery-terrie-farley-moran http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-dont-ever-get-old-by-daniel-friedman-funny-thriller-nazi-gold-mystery-terrie-farley-moran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/coo7UJ8X5P0/death-and-destruction-network-cancellations-tv-fall-2012- <p><img alt="Maria Bello as Jane Timoney in Prime Suspect" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/Nimble_Cancellations.jpg" style="height: 324px; width: 250px;" title="No more prime time Prime Suspect, American style." />We told you about <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cbs-cancel-csi-miami-unforgettable-police-procedural-caruso-horatio-cain-sunglasses-elementary-vegas-golden-boy-tv-crime-hq#5214">CBS canceling <em>CSI: Miami</em>, <em>Unforgettable</em> and <em>NY-22</em></a>, but of course networks all like to do things at the same time, so here are the crime shows that have gone belly up on the other networks and won’t be returning.</p><p><strong>ABC</strong>: <em>Missing</em> and <em>Charlie’s Angels</em> (blogger Rachel Hyland <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/11/should-i-watch-the-episode-two-test-part-3">knew that one would fail by episode 2</a>)<br /><br /><strong>NBC</strong>: <em>Awake</em>, <em>Harry’s Law </em><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/07/harrys-law-targets-mark-valley" target="_self">(and its updated cast</a>), <em>The Firm</em> (<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/01/did-you-watch-the-series-premiere-of-the-firm">our commenters were split on the pilot</a>), and <em>Prime Suspect</em> (<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/09/primally-bummed-about-prime-suspect">which created controversy</a>)<br /><br /><strong>FOX</strong>: <em>Alcatraz </em>(blogger <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/01/1963-alcatraz-shares-issues-with-age-of-telegraph">Clare Toohey didn’t care for this one</a>) and<em> </em><em>The Finder</em></p><p>How do you feel about the cancellations?&nbsp; Anything you’re going to miss, or is it “good riddance to bad rubbish?”</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/death-and-destruction-network-cancellations-tv-fall-2012-">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=coo7UJ8X5P0:LX-bEy5sNCU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/coo7UJ8X5P0" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/death-and-destruction-network-cancellations-tv-fall-2012- http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/death-and-destruction-network-cancellations-tv-fall-2012- http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/AJazf6R9Tfc/the-cult-of-daryl-dixon-a-lesson-in-mass-appeal-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-angie-barry <p><img alt="Daryl Dixon of AMC’s Walkind Dead" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Barry-Cult-of-Daryl-Dixon-475.jpg" style="height: 317px; width: 475px;" title="There’s just something about a redneck with a crossbow..." />He’s a bad-tempered, foulmouthed redneck. He rides a hog, frequently has dead squirrels hanging from his belt, and isn’t afraid to get his hands bloody. And he happens to have a very vocal bunch of fans—most of them ladies.</p><p>Daryl Dixon has become an unlikely hero and stand-out addition to <em>The Walking Dead</em> TV series. For a guy that never bathes, there are certainly a lot of women who’d like to throw themselves into his arms. And in many ways, he illustrates the power a fanbase has over entertainment today.</p><p>Just what makes Daryl so darn appealing? I’ll readily admit that out of the cast of characters, he’d be my number one choice for a survival partner. There’s his vast well of useful knowledge—Daryl grew up poor in a rural area, and often had to hunt for his own food, which is handy in a world without refrigeration. He’s the sort of tracker that would put Prince Humperdinck of <em>The Princess Bride</em> to shame, and no mean fighter, either. There’s the Harley, the jacket, and the antisocial air for those who enjoy a bad boy. Not to mention the crossbow, for those stealth shots in the nick of time.</p><p>[Who needs a 24-hour deli when you have Daryl?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-cult-of-daryl-dixon-a-lesson-in-mass-appeal-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-angie-barry">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=AJazf6R9Tfc:onFEIUFIFRw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/AJazf6R9Tfc" height="1" width="1"/> Angie Barry Published Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-cult-of-daryl-dixon-a-lesson-in-mass-appeal-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-angie-barry http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-cult-of-daryl-dixon-a-lesson-in-mass-appeal-thriller-comics-walking-dead-zombies-angie-barry http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/LdhXjQnDyB8/no-place-is-safe-the-perils-of-interstellar-crime-nasa-black-hole-leslie-gilbert-elman <p><img alt="Computer-Simulated image of a black hole flare" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.16-05.22/AMCoffee_Black-Hole-Crime-475.jpg" style="height: 267px; width: 475px;" /></p><p><em>So there I was, just wandering around minding my own business when all of a sudden this enormous, dark . . . thing . . . comes out of nowhere. I’m telling you it was massive—no, supermassive. Next thing I knew, I was being ripped to shreds. Thing just chewed me up and spit me out . . . 2.7 billion light-years away from earth this happened. . . . I tell ya, no place is safe anymore.</em></p><p>Why limit yourself to terrestrial crime, when there’s a whole universe of murder and mayhem to explore?</p><p>A team of astronomers from The Johns Hopkins University, NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and other astronomic research institutions reported an interstellar crime last week. A supermassive black hole, lying in wait like a vast outer space mugger, literally killed a star, gobbled up some of its remains, and spewed the rest back out into space.</p><p>Investigators believe the victim might have met its assailant before. It’s likely that the star was robbed of its hydrogen-filled envelope during a previous encounter with the black hole. This time around, the black hole attacked the star’s helium core effectively ending its life.</p><p>“It is like we are gathering evidence from a crime scene,” <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/news/galex20120502.html" target="_blank">says astronomer Suvi Gezari, who led the Hopkins team</a>. “Because there is very little hydrogen and mostly helium in the gas we detect, we know from the carnage that the slaughtered star had to have been the helium-rich core of a stripped star.”</p><p>Take that <em>C.S.I.</em>!</p><hr /><p><strong>Leslie Gilbert Elman</strong> is the author of <em><a href="http://bit.ly/rGsLdY">Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts</a></em>. Follow her on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/leslieelman">@leslieelman</a>.</p><p>Read all of <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Leslie%20Gilbert%20Elman#filter">Leslie Gilbert Elman’s posts for Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/no-place-is-safe-the-perils-of-interstellar-crime-nasa-black-hole-leslie-gilbert-elman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=LdhXjQnDyB8:4WfhZwXRkpg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/LdhXjQnDyB8" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Wed, 16 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/no-place-is-safe-the-perils-of-interstellar-crime-nasa-black-hole-leslie-gilbert-elman http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/no-place-is-safe-the-perils-of-interstellar-crime-nasa-black-hole-leslie-gilbert-elman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/3McHnoE5iEY/fresh-meat-the-dead-of-summer-by-mari-jungstedt-anders-knutas-sweden-mystery-nordic-jordan-foster <p><img alt="The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Foster_FM-Mari-Jungstedt-Dead-of-Summer.jpg" style="height: 333px; width: 250px;" /><strong><em>The Dead of Summer </em>by Mari Jungstedt is </strong><strong>the 10th book of the Anders Knutas series of Swedish</strong><strong> police procedural mysteries (available May 15, 2012).</strong></p><p>Crime fiction generally is not the best place to look for a vacation spot. If Hannibal and Clarice had transported their bloody tango to the sands of some tropical beach, readers probably wouldn’t be queuing up to follow suit. So why is it that, despite the body count, I’d gladly take a holiday on Gotland, the Swedish island where Mari Jungstedt sets her whodunits?</p><p>[Because you’re crazy?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-dead-of-summer-by-mari-jungstedt-anders-knutas-sweden-mystery-nordic-jordan-foster">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=3McHnoE5iEY:aha2j2SLPZk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/3McHnoE5iEY" height="1" width="1"/> Jordan Foster Published Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-dead-of-summer-by-mari-jungstedt-anders-knutas-sweden-mystery-nordic-jordan-foster http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-the-dead-of-summer-by-mari-jungstedt-anders-knutas-sweden-mystery-nordic-jordan-foster http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/0vAmWdFEwjY/now-win-this-richard-lloyd-parrys-people-who-eat-darkness <p style="margin: 14px 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Sorry, this sweepstakes has ended.</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Stay tuned on our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/features/series/sweepstakes" target="_self">Sweepstakes</a>&nbsp;page for more offers!</strong></span></p><p><img align="left" alt="People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/sweepstakes/People-Who-Eat-Darkness250x377.jpg" title="People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry" /><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/peoplewhoeatsweepstakes"><strong>Click here to enter for a chance to win!</strong></a></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.&nbsp;A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter.&nbsp;Promotion begins May 15, 2012, at 12 pm ET, and ends May 22, 2012, 11:59 am ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-people-who-eat-sweepstakes" style="text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Click here for&nbsp;details and official rules</a>.</p><p>[About the book...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-richard-lloyd-parrys-people-who-eat-darkness">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0vAmWdFEwjY:VRfg9WeWEqA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/0vAmWdFEwjY" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 15 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-richard-lloyd-parrys-people-who-eat-darkness http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-richard-lloyd-parrys-people-who-eat-darkness http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/8u_qmw16vCA/ew-and-also-ow-public-naked-unicycling-is-illegal <p><img alt="Joseph Farley" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Nimble_Naked-Unicycle.jpg" style="height: 313px; width: 250px;" title="Stay away from this man’s unicycle." />The headline pretty much says it all: “Police Arrest Naked Man Riding Unicycle Over Texas Bridge.” But in case you were wondering, no, he wasn’t drunk. And no, he’s not a kid. That’s him at left in his mug shot (courtesy of <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/texas/naked-unicycle-rider-arrested-657309" target="_blank">The Smoking Gun</a>, the mug shot experts, who also have the dashcam record of the incident).</p><p>Joseph Farley is forty-five years old and apparently enjoys “the experience of naked unicycling.”</p><p>He doesn’t seem to care what other people enjoy, however. Or, more to the point, what they probably <em>don’t</em> enjoy, like being forced to watch him take his afternoon constitutional with his dangly bits swaying hither and yon.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ew-and-also-ow-public-naked-unicycling-is-illegal">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8u_qmw16vCA:fYPCrYINhOw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/8u_qmw16vCA" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 15 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ew-and-also-ow-public-naked-unicycling-is-illegal http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/ew-and-also-ow-public-naked-unicycling-is-illegal http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/5Nx_yq0kLG0/down-dog-bbc-new-sherlock-holmes-encounters-the-hounds-of-baskerville <p><img alt="Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Elman_New-Sherlock-Hound-Cumberbatch-Holmes.jpg" style="height: 247px; width: 250px;" title="A case, a case, my kingdom for a case!" />“<em>A 20-year-old disappearance.&nbsp; A monstrous hound. Wouldn’t miss this for the world.</em>”</p><p>Literally climbing the walls—or at least the furniture—for lack of a case (it’s positively been <em>minutes</em> since his last one!) Sherlock is bored /nonplussed/ repelled /intrigued by the scenario Henry Knight presents to him: 20 years earlier, Henry’s father was mauled to death by a “gigantic hound” at a place called Dewar’s Hollow. Henry, just a little boy at the time, saw the whole thing happen. Now he’s gone back to visit the site—on the advice of his therapist, no less—and he’s seen the hound again. If he’s to unravel this mystery and come to terms with his childhood trauma, he’ll need more than a shrink to help him: he’ll need Sherlock Holmes.</p><p>Upon a nanosecond’s reflection, Sherlock agrees to take the case, and before you can say “weekend in the country,” he and Watson are off to the wilds of Dartmoor in the picturesque county of Devon.</p><p>[Emphasis on “wilds” . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/down-dog-bbc-new-sherlock-holmes-encounters-the-hounds-of-baskerville">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5Nx_yq0kLG0:cJ2VWDWayVw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/5Nx_yq0kLG0" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Mon, 14 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/down-dog-bbc-new-sherlock-holmes-encounters-the-hounds-of-baskerville http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/down-dog-bbc-new-sherlock-holmes-encounters-the-hounds-of-baskerville http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/syeo3pUqIh4/cbs-cancel-csi-miami-unforgettable-police-procedural-caruso-horatio-cain-sunglasses-elementary-vegas-golden-boy-tv-crime-hq <p><img alt="David Caruso as CSI:Miami’s Horatio Caine" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/David-Caruso-Csi-Miami-Sunset.jpg" style="height: 250px; width: 250px; " title="So many one-liners left unsaid!" />Caine disappears into the sunset?! Considering its crime shows, CBS has just announced that it’s pulling down the shades on Poppy Montgomery’s <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/tuesday-night-television-unforgettable-body-of-proof-detective-shows" target="_self"><em>Unforgettable</em></a>, which wasn’t unpopular, but suffered in comparison to blockbusting shows. Rookie cop drama <em>NYC-22</em> also fell off the pier and, after a gigundous ten seasons, stalwart <em>CSI: Miami</em>.</p><p>Still enjoying a place in the sun are several upcoming crime series, including the modern Sherlock-in-NYC of <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/tags/Elementary"><em>Elementary</em></a>, <em>Vegas</em> (perhaps sadly, not with awesome Dan Tanna, but a 1960s crime drama based on a real sheriff), and cop-to-commissioner story <em>Golden Boy</em>.</p><p>Perhaps you’d argue, but if Archie Bunker’s chair belongs in the Smithsonian, don’t Horatio Caine’s shades? Of course, we’ll always savor Scott D. Parker’s spirited explanation of <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/05/questions-about-csimiamis-season-nine-finale" target="_self">why <em>CSI:Miami </em>was beloved by its fans</a>, but if you haven’t seen this in a while, let’s enjoy this sunset-kissed montage together.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_sarYH0z948?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>Hat tips: <em><a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/unforgettable-and-a-gifted-man-canceled-by-cbs-rob-also-gone.html" target="_blank">Zap2it</a></em> and <em><a href="http://www.omnimysterynews.com/2012/05/telemystery-cbs-orders-3-and-cancels-3.html" target="_blank">Omnimystery News</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cbs-cancel-csi-miami-unforgettable-police-procedural-caruso-horatio-cain-sunglasses-elementary-vegas-golden-boy-tv-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=syeo3pUqIh4:GRzNkjvEDTY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/syeo3pUqIh4" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 14 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cbs-cancel-csi-miami-unforgettable-police-procedural-caruso-horatio-cain-sunglasses-elementary-vegas-golden-boy-tv-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cbs-cancel-csi-miami-unforgettable-police-procedural-caruso-horatio-cain-sunglasses-elementary-vegas-golden-boy-tv-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/I_r2wvYBia8/westerns-of-the-sixties-hombre-classics-film-jake-hinkson <p><img alt="Hombre means man... Paul Newman is The Man..." class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Hinkson-Hombre-Paul-Newman.jpg" style=" height: 188px; width: 250px;" title="Hombre means man... Paul Newman is The Man..." />By March of 1967 things were falling apart. America was in the midst of massive cultural changes, and while the summer of love was fast approaching, beyond it waited the violent turbulence of 1968. In Hollywood, things had never been more uncertain. The old studio system had come crumbling down. Splintered into pieces by a Supreme Court anti-monopoly ruling, weakened by the emergence of television, and shaken by the deaths of many of its moguls, directors, and stars, the Dream Factory was a shell of its former self.<br /><br />One bright spot in ’60s film was the career of Paul Newman. A star since the late ’50s, he’d emerged alongside other Method actors like Brando, Clift, and Dean, but as the ’60s progressed he’d only seen his star rise. Behind him lay <em>The Hustler</em> and <em>Hud</em>, and ahead of him was the smash hit <em>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</em>, but it was 1967 that marked his transformation into something more than an actor. In 1967, Newman underwent a process to which only a few actors are subject: he became the movie embodiment of an idea.</p><p>[An icon in a time of upheaval . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/westerns-of-the-sixties-hombre-classics-film-jake-hinkson">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=I_r2wvYBia8:542jdzLGH3k:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/I_r2wvYBia8" height="1" width="1"/> Jake Hinkson Published Mon, 14 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/westerns-of-the-sixties-hombre-classics-film-jake-hinkson http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/westerns-of-the-sixties-hombre-classics-film-jake-hinkson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/neMUFsnFpUE/walt-disneys-taxi-driver-mash-up-video <p>In the world of mash-ups, there’s weird and then there’s Walt Disney’s <em>Taxi Driver.</em></p><center><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/37154658?byline=0&amp;portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="475"></iframe></p></center><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/walt-disneys-taxi-driver-mash-up-video">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=neMUFsnFpUE:KeIlOB-ZVvQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/neMUFsnFpUE" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 14 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/walt-disneys-taxi-driver-mash-up-video http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/walt-disneys-taxi-driver-mash-up-video http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/GaltlwMpxEo/americas-most-famous-feud-comes-to-the-history-channel-the-hatfields-and-the-mccoys-bill-paxton-kevin-costner-western-historical <p><img alt="Bill Paxton in The Hatfields and the McCoys" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Nimble_Hatfields-McCoys-Bill-Paxton.jpg" style="height: 243px; width: 250px;" title="Bill Paxton" />Memorial Day is a day to remember. This year, the History Channel wants you to remember one of bloodiest feuds in history, that between the Hatfield family and the McCoy family. Perhaps you don’t recall the exact details of the feud, in which case you may want to check out <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/12/family-can-be-murder-the-hatfields-and-the-mccoys">Tony Hays’s excellent refresher</a>.</p><p>Below, you will find the theatrical trailer for the miniseries. (As an aside, I really like this trend of doing television trailers for big premieres in the theater.) And the History Chanel has poured serious bucks into the production. It stars Kevin Costner, Bill Paxton, Tom Berenger, Powers Boothe, and Mare Winningham. That’s some star power for a miniseries!</p><p>So, will you watch?</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IYIWdXYm8bc?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/americas-most-famous-feud-comes-to-the-history-channel-the-hatfields-and-the-mccoys-bill-paxton-kevin-costner-western-historical">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=GaltlwMpxEo:u1O1OPBxvng:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/GaltlwMpxEo" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Sun, 13 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/americas-most-famous-feud-comes-to-the-history-channel-the-hatfields-and-the-mccoys-bill-paxton-kevin-costner-western-historical http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/americas-most-famous-feud-comes-to-the-history-channel-the-hatfields-and-the-mccoys-bill-paxton-kevin-costner-western-historical http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/RGNynnfLOxo/cryptos-conundrum-new-excerpt-thriller-noir-espionage-chase-brandon-cia- <p><img align="left" alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Brandon-Cryptos-Conundrum-250-correct.jpg" /><strong>An excerpt of<em> The Cryptos Conundrum</em>, a speculative, time-slip thriller by Chase Brandon (available June 19, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>A fifteen-foot tall steel sculptur</em>e <em> sculpture stands in the courtyard of the Central Intelligence Agency building, engraved with a message no one can decipher. One man knows exactly what the statue says. Dr. Jonathan S. Chalmers heads a CIA working group tasked with protecting the greatest secret the U.S. government has ever kept—and planning for its consequences. He alone knows the full story of the threats that face America: threats that have shaped the country’s past, present, and future. If Chalmers can’t save America, nobody can.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong><br /><em>Verdun, France. February 26, 1916</em><strong> </strong></p><p>The cordite-clouded sky flashed sparks of primordial fire. And Earth’s anvil shook with concussions that pounded his body and soul as though smithed by Thor’s angry-red hammer. In terrified awe, Dr. Jonathan S. Chalmers, Jr., watched as blinding artillery bursts and dismembering det­onations reinforced the enemy’s specter of Death that he felt already over­shadowed him.</p><p>Cold, wet, wounded, and a lifetime’s distance from his family in New York, Chalmers gripped the steel barrel and bloodstained stock of his 8mm French Lebel, but he would gladly have swapped the rifle for a crys­tal brandy snifter.</p><p>A brilliant mathematician, Chalmers was a scholar and gentleman com­pletely out of his affluent Long Island element. Against reasonable odds or definable logic, he was also a private in the U.S. Army and at present trapped in a gash of dangerous dirt between France and Germany known as the Western Front. Here, a form of human slaughter called trench war­fare raged unabated with the rising sun of each new day in a world at war with itself.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>The Cryptos Conundrum </em>by Chase Brandon]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cryptos-conundrum-new-excerpt-thriller-noir-espionage-chase-brandon-cia-">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=RGNynnfLOxo:qfdgl47Wk5o:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/RGNynnfLOxo" height="1" width="1"/> Chase Brandon Excerpts Tue, 15 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cryptos-conundrum-new-excerpt-thriller-noir-espionage-chase-brandon-cia- http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cryptos-conundrum-new-excerpt-thriller-noir-espionage-chase-brandon-cia- http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/8KP5bLUnubk/mother-knows-best-moms-favorite-crime-fiction-detective-police-procedurals-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-deborah-lacy <p><img alt="Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, both plunged into the world of mystery—and one of them was a favorite for the moms!" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Lacy-Mother-Knows-Best-MHC-and-Daughter.jpg" title="Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, both plunged into the world of mystery—and one of them was a favorite for the moms! " />“Listen to your mother.”&nbsp; Excellent words of advice, so today on the occasion of Mother’s Day, we are going to give some of our mothers the opportunity to make crime fiction book and TV recommendations. &nbsp;Of course, it just wouldn’t be right unless I started with my own lovely and talented mother whose favorite authors consistently deliver . . .</p><p><strong>Great Characters and Gripping Suspense</strong></p><p>My mom’s absolute top three authors are <strong><a>Mary Higgins Clark</a><a href="http://maryhigginsclark.com/" target="_blank">,</a> <a href="http://www.tessgerritsen.com" target="_blank">Tess Gerritsen</a> </strong>and <strong><a href="http://www.harlancoben.com" target="_blank">Harlan Coben</a></strong>.</p><p>“All three of them need to write faster,” she says. “I read much faster than they write.”</p><p>[Don’t we all?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/mother-knows-best-moms-favorite-crime-fiction-detective-police-procedurals-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-deborah-lacy">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8KP5bLUnubk:2Xq7_1jj458:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/8KP5bLUnubk" height="1" width="1"/> Deborah Lacy Published Sun, 13 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/mother-knows-best-moms-favorite-crime-fiction-detective-police-procedurals-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-deborah-lacy http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/mother-knows-best-moms-favorite-crime-fiction-detective-police-procedurals-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-deborah-lacy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/eskLFHfeYyQ/before-killing-joel-kinnaman-made-easy-money-noir-thriller-jens-lapidus-leslie-gilbert-elman <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Elman_Jens-Lapidus-475.jpg" />Recently, CrimeHQ’s own <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Laura%20K.%20Curtis#filter">Laura K. Curtis</a> hosted a discussion with Swedish crime writer <strong>Jens Lapidus</strong>. He was in New York to promote the U.S. release of his novel <em>Easy Money</em>, the first in his “Stockholm Noir” trilogy, which also includes <em>Never F*ck Up</em> and <em>Life Deluxe</em>.</p><p>Lapidus is a criminal defense attorney in Stockholm whose clients include some serious heavies not unlike the drug lords and Mafiosi in his books. If you like your crime fiction blunt like your murder weapons, Lapidus will appeal to you. It’s safe to say he knows whereof he writes.</p><p>Originally published in 2006, <em>Easy Money</em> (<em>Snabba Cash</em> in Swedish) was a best seller in Sweden. Not surprisingly, that success led to a movie adaptation of the book.</p><p>But this might be a surprise:</p><p>Take a good look at that photo of the actor starring as Johan “JW” Westlund in <em>Snabba Cash</em>.</p><p>Yes, fans of <em>The Killing</em> . . . it’s Holder!</p><p>Joel Kinnaman, aka Detective Stephen Holder of the Seattle P.D., was born and raised in Sweden and he’s appeared in a number of TV shows and films there, including police series <em>Johan Falk</em>. <em>Snabba Cash</em> seems to have been his calling card for Hollywood.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/guuiDfwulc4?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>Want to see more? <em>Easy Money</em>/<em>Snabba Cash</em> is set to be released in the United States in July, and as we speak (according to IMDB) Kinnaman is finishing up production on <em>Easy Money II</em> in Sweden. Meanwhile, there have been rumors of a possible U.S. remake of <em>Easy Money</em> starring Zac Efron floating around since the Swedish film came out in 2010. And Joel Kinnaman’s next film project is a retooling of <em>RoboCop</em>. (Bet <em>he’d</em> have no trouble finding out who killed Rosie Larsen!)</p><hr /><p><strong>Leslie Gilbert Elman</strong> is the author of <em><a href="http://bit.ly/rGsLdY">Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts</a></em>. Follow her on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/leslieelman">@leslieelman</a>.</p><p>Read all <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Leslie%20Gilbert%20Elman#filter" target="_self">posts by Leslie Gilbert Elman for Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/before-killing-joel-kinnaman-made-easy-money-noir-thriller-jens-lapidus-leslie-gilbert-elman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eskLFHfeYyQ:bTByXIWj4zY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/eskLFHfeYyQ" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Sat, 12 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/before-killing-joel-kinnaman-made-easy-money-noir-thriller-jens-lapidus-leslie-gilbert-elman http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/before-killing-joel-kinnaman-made-easy-money-noir-thriller-jens-lapidus-leslie-gilbert-elman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/jjB-oAgBHJ4/thriller-noir-true-crime-nonfiction-fresh-meat-people-who-eat-darkness-richard-z-santos-richard-lloyd-parry <p><img alt="People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Santos-People-Who-Eat-Darkness-by-Richard-Lloyd-Parry.jpg" style="height: 377px; width: 250px;" title="People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry" /><strong><em>People Who Eat Darkness</em> by Richard Lloyd Parry is the true crime story of Lucie Blackman, who stepped out on the streets of Tokyo and disappeared in the summer of 2000 (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p>The research montage. <em>CE </em>readers know what I’m talking about. Whether it’s Cumberbatch sherlocking around a crime scene, the <em>Doctor Who</em> or <em>Torchwood</em> gang banging away on impossible, alien computers, or the <em>CSI</em> crew banging away on even <em>more</em> impossible, alien computers, the research montage is a key part of crime and science fiction television. Usually the montage has some sort of fast-paced electronic music thumping underneath it and shocking clues are unearthed.</p><p>Research is cool.</p><p><strong>Richard Lloyd Parry</strong>’s <em>People Who Eat Darkness</em> is a testament to research, and how it can be used to completely immerse a reader in a dark tale. <em>Darkness</em> tells the true story of Lucie Blackman, a twenty-one-year-old British woman abducted in Tokyo in 2000. This book isn’t only the story of Blackman’s disappearance; it’s also the story of her entire life, her family’s life, the life of her killer and, to a lesser extent, a history of Japan. This massive book is built on a foundation of interviews, newspaper articles, trial transcripts, official evidence, and tons of endnotes. Parry is the Tokyo bureau chief of <em>The Times </em>(London) and the man knows how to layer information, often dense historical information, in a way that pulls the reader deep into the mystery.</p><p>[Some of the scariest stories happen in real life...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/thriller-noir-true-crime-nonfiction-fresh-meat-people-who-eat-darkness-richard-z-santos-richard-lloyd-parry">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=jjB-oAgBHJ4:xR8ZbrMN-uY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/jjB-oAgBHJ4" height="1" width="1"/> Richard Z. Santos Published Sat, 12 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/thriller-noir-true-crime-nonfiction-fresh-meat-people-who-eat-darkness-richard-z-santos-richard-lloyd-parry http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/thriller-noir-true-crime-nonfiction-fresh-meat-people-who-eat-darkness-richard-z-santos-richard-lloyd-parry http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Odcu8QcHwjM/fresh-meat-stolen-prey-by-john-sandford-prey-series-police-procedural-thriller <p><img alt="Stolen Prey by John Sandford" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Amper-Stolen-Prey-by-John-Sandford.jpg" title="Stolen Prey by John Sandford" /><strong><em>Stolen Prey</em> by John Sandford is </strong><strong>the 22nd book of the <em>Prey</em> series, </strong><strong>an edgy police procedural featuring Lucas Davenport (available May 15, 2012).</strong></p><p>Is it just me, or has Lucas Davenport lost a little something off his fastball? In <em>Stolen Prey</em>, 22nd in John Sandford’s <em>Prey</em> series, Lucas has to puzzle out the connections between a horrific murder and the theft of millions of dollars. But he doesn’t seem up to the task. During his daily run, Lucas muses:</p><blockquote><p>He was getting older, with almost as much gray hair as black at his temples, with the beginnings of what would someday be slashing lines beside his mouth, but right now, on this spring day, he could run five miles in a little less than thirty minutes, even on wet city streets; and at home, there were four people who loved him.</p><p>As much as he could have hoped for.</p></blockquote><p>Maybe so, but this reader had hoped for more.</p><p>[Don’t give up hope yet!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-stolen-prey-by-john-sandford-prey-series-police-procedural-thriller">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Odcu8QcHwjM:Nh0ITY4hm50:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Odcu8QcHwjM" height="1" width="1"/> Susan Amper Published Fri, 11 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-stolen-prey-by-john-sandford-prey-series-police-procedural-thriller http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-stolen-prey-by-john-sandford-prey-series-police-procedural-thriller http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/qeIii9t4QWA/now-win-this-bruce-desilvas-cliff-walk <p style="margin: 14px 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Sorry, this sweepstakes has ended.</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Stay tuned on our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/features/series/sweepstakes" target="_self">Sweepstakes</a>&nbsp;page for more offers!</strong></span></p><p><img align="left" alt="Cliff Walk by Bruce DeSilva" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/sweepstakes/DeSilva-Cliff-Walk250x379.jpg" title="Cliff Walk by Bruce DeSilva" /><strong>Click here to enter for a chance to win!</strong></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.&nbsp;A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter.&nbsp;Promotion begins May 11, 2012, at 12 pm ET, and ends May 18, 2012, 11:59 am ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-cliff-walk-sweepstakes" style="text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Click here for&nbsp;details and official rules</a>.</p><p>[About the book...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-bruce-desilvas-cliff-walk">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qeIii9t4QWA:ANZn9SYOdrk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/qeIii9t4QWA" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Fri, 11 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-bruce-desilvas-cliff-walk http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-bruce-desilvas-cliff-walk http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/6piSCGlrqi0/cliff-walk-new-excerpt-bruce-desilva-liam-mulligan-series-prostitution-journalist-traditional-mystery-thriller <p><img align="left" alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/De-Silva-Cliff-Walk-250.jpg" /></p><p><strong>An excerpt of <em>Cliff Walk</em>, a Liam Mulligan thriller by Bruce DeSilva (available May 22, 2012).</strong></p><p id="yui_3_3_0_1_1336059059145_2841"><em>Prostitution has been legal in Rhode Island for more than a decade; Liam Mulligan, an old-school investigative reporter at a dying Providence newspaper, suspects the governor has been taking payoffs to keep it that way. But this isn’t the only story making headlines . . . a child’s severed arm is discovered in a pile of garbage at a pig farm. Then the body of an internet pornographer is found sprawled on the rocks at the base of Newport’s famous Cliff Walk.</em></p><p><em>At first, the killings seem random, but as Mulligan keeps digging into the state’s thriving sex business, strange connections emerge. Promised free sex with hookers if he minds his own business—and a beating if he doesn’t—Mulligan enlists Thanks-Dad, the newspaper publisher’s son, and Attila the Nun, the state’s colorful Attorney General, in his quest for the truth. What Mulligan learns will lead him to question his beliefs about sexual morality, shake his tenuous religious faith, and leave him wondering who his real friends are.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>Cosmo Scalici hollered over the grunts and squeals of three thousand hogs rooting in his muddy outdoor pens. “Right here’s where I found it, poking outta this pile of garbage. Gave me the creeps, the way the fingers curled like it wanted me to come closer.”</p><p>“What did you do?” I hollered back.</p><p>“Jumped the fence and tried to snatch it, but one of the sows beat me to it.”</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Cliff Walk</em> by Bruce DeSilva]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cliff-walk-new-excerpt-bruce-desilva-liam-mulligan-series-prostitution-journalist-traditional-mystery-thriller">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=6piSCGlrqi0:ZNHcO6xcWI0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/6piSCGlrqi0" height="1" width="1"/> Bruce DeSilva Excerpts Fri, 11 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cliff-walk-new-excerpt-bruce-desilva-liam-mulligan-series-prostitution-journalist-traditional-mystery-thriller http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/cliff-walk-new-excerpt-bruce-desilva-liam-mulligan-series-prostitution-journalist-traditional-mystery-thriller http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/G7xlHxsd2JY/have-you-seen-the-avengers-movie-1978-tv-superheroes-comics <p>Last weekend, <em>The Avengers</em> broke box office records. So maybe you want another Avengers-style treat. Some enterprising soul has created this hilarious trailer out of silly ’70s television superhero shows. It’s the perfect start to a weekend!</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x0jBF912xYY?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/have-you-seen-the-avengers-movie-1978-tv-superheroes-comics">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=G7xlHxsd2JY:FZg5EPYOAKM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/G7xlHxsd2JY" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Fri, 11 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/have-you-seen-the-avengers-movie-1978-tv-superheroes-comics http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/have-you-seen-the-avengers-movie-1978-tv-superheroes-comics http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/ooKZbN0jB_0/crime-and-horror-with-a-four-color-twist-hack-slash-and-fatale-comics <p><img alt="Hack Slash...killing Chucky" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Richards_Crime-Horror-Comics-Chucky.jpg" style="height: 294px; width: 250px;" title="I have *always* wanted to do that to Chucky." />In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Publisher William Gaines’s EC Comics began a new line of titles that included several different genres, most notably crime and horror. The comics featured stunning art and tightly plotted tales that often incorporated twist endings. They were violent, lurid, and fun, so naturally they incensed alarmist academics and politicians looking for something to blame all of society’s ills on. In 1954, a number of publishers banded together to create the Comics Code Authority as a way of satisfying a hysterical public that believed comic books were turning adolescents into violent criminals</p><p>The Comics Code Authority contained strict regulations on what could be published in Code-approved books and these regulations basically prohibited EC from continuing to publish most of their best selling crime and horror titles. As time wore on though the code began to become looser and gradually lost power. These days, there are a number of crime and horror comics. There are even a few titles that combine those two genres together to tell fun, frightening, and intriguing stories. <strong>Tim Seeley</strong>’s long-running <em>Hack/Slash</em> series and <strong>Ed Brubaker</strong> and <strong>Sean Phillips</strong>’s fifteen-issue epic <em>Fatale</em> both exemplify this kind of work, though in very different ways.</p><p>Seeley’s <em>Hack/Slash</em> series was born in 2004 out of his love for good and so-bad-they’re-good horror films, specifically those of the slasher sub-genre like <em>Halloween</em>, <em>Friday the 13th</em>, and <em>A Nightmare on Elm Street</em>. These tend to involve some form of serial killer stalking a group of restless teenagers until one of their number, usually a female, fights back and destroys the killer.</p><p>[Bring on the slashers!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/crime-and-horror-with-a-four-color-twist-hack-slash-and-fatale-comics">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=ooKZbN0jB_0:hOywAYLsHME:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/ooKZbN0jB_0" height="1" width="1"/> Dave Richards Published Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/crime-and-horror-with-a-four-color-twist-hack-slash-and-fatale-comics http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/crime-and-horror-with-a-four-color-twist-hack-slash-and-fatale-comics http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/zSBmSdfsghs/chelsea-cain-gretchen-lowell-gets-a-tv-show-thriller-laura-k-curtis <p><img alt="Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Nimbke_Chelsea-Cain-FX.jpg" style="height: 381px; width: 250px;" title="Too brutal for TV?" />Last night I was on Twitter and friend and blogger Tara Gelsomino mentioned that FX had greenlit a television series about a female serial killer. The conversation then went like this:</p><blockquote><p><strong>laurakcurtis</strong>: So . . . like a female Dexter, or more like a Chelsea Cain character?<br /><strong>taragel</strong>: Actually is an adaptation of the Cain novels, FX greenlit<br /><strong>laurakcurtis</strong>: Whoa. That’s pretty grim for TV.&nbsp; But could be cool if done right.<br /><strong>taragel</strong>: Fitting that it’s FX taking it on, I think. Closest you’ll get to premium cable.<br /><strong>laurakcurtis</strong>: Indeed.&nbsp; And FX does <em>Justified</em>, so they might manage it.<br /><strong>taragel</strong>: And Sons of Anarchy.</p></blockquote><p>For those of you unfamiliar with <a href="http://chelseacain.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Chelsea Cain</strong></a>, her series is about Gretchen Lowell, a female serial killer, and Archie Sheridan, the Portland detective she captured and tortured and with whom she maintains a relationship of sorts. It’s very, very dark stuff.</p><p>According to Cain’s site,</p><blockquote><p>The plan is for <em>Heartsick</em> to be season one, season two would be <em>Sweetheart</em>, etc.&nbsp; They would be short seasons, like 13 episodes.</p></blockquote><p>We should note that before this series was a glimmer in anyone’s eye, blogger Tara Gelsomino (taragel above) posted her own <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/05/fantasy-casting-chelsea-cains-heartbreaker-series" target="_self">Chelsea Cain Heartbreaker Series Fantasy Casting</a>, with her choices for Gretchen, Archie, and young journalist Susan Ward. Tara’s wishing to see this series on screen was ahead of the curve, but now that the show’s a reality, we want to know your picks, too!</p><p>For those of you who know the books, what do you think? Can a network pull this off and make it as original and compelling as the books for a full season of television or more?</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/chelsea-cain-gretchen-lowell-gets-a-tv-show-thriller-laura-k-curtis">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=zSBmSdfsghs:Bf1orcWXJUY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/zSBmSdfsghs" height="1" width="1"/> Laura K. Curtis Published Thu, 10 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/chelsea-cain-gretchen-lowell-gets-a-tv-show-thriller-laura-k-curtis http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/chelsea-cain-gretchen-lowell-gets-a-tv-show-thriller-laura-k-curtis http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/_qQd0kPK9G0/the-revival-house-twilight-1998-detective-police-thriller-noir-film-recommendations-femme-fatale-cold-case <p><img align="left" alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Beetner-Revival-House-Twilight-.jpg" /><em>Shining a light on underrated crime films. The coulda-beens and shoulda-beens you ought to know about.</em></p><p><strong>Tonight’s Screening: <em>Twilight</em> (1998)</strong></p><p>Poor <em>Twilight</em>. Never a big hit when it was released, and thus proving to Hollywood accountants that movies starring people over 50 will never do well, it has since been relegated to forever being confused for that <em>other</em> Twilight movie and feeling the anger of every tween girl who got confused when accidentally adding the Paul Newman-starring film to their Netflix queue.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Twilight </em>plays as a sort of spiritual cousin to Newman’s <em>Harper</em> from the 1960s. It is a swan song, in a way, to a classic style of mystery. A little slower, less sex and car chases. Newman gets to play a retired cop and investigator who is friends with Gene Hackman as an aging, cancer-stricken movie star. Susan Sarandon is Hackman’s trophy wife, starting to feel her age as well. And let’s not forget James Garner as a pal of Newman’s. Not exactly a cast for the teen set.</p><p>[I don’t know about you, but I’ll take Paul Newman any day!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-twilight-1998-detective-police-thriller-noir-film-recommendations-femme-fatale-cold-case">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=_qQd0kPK9G0:AfcOyU-jTdA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/_qQd0kPK9G0" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Beetner Published Thu, 10 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-twilight-1998-detective-police-thriller-noir-film-recommendations-femme-fatale-cold-case http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-twilight-1998-detective-police-thriller-noir-film-recommendations-femme-fatale-cold-case http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Rn7u6W5uRWM/honest-abe-abraham-lincoln-invent-facebook-1845-social-media-likes-pages-friends-gazette-patent-historical-mystery-crime-hq <p><img alt="Abe Lincoln pioneered Social Media in 1845, devising a system Like Facebook! By Crime HQ." class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Facebook-Abe-Lincoln-Patent.jpg" style="height: 277px; width: 475px; " />You know how we adore history’s mysteries around here, and new research shows that Honest Abe was the proto-Zuckerberg of the 19th century, even conceiving of Pages and Friends! Head over to<a href="http://natestpierre.me/2012/05/08/abraham-lincoln-patent-facebook/" target="_blank"> Nate St. Pierre</a>’s blog for all the fascinating detail about our 16th president’s social media prescience, discovered while investigating also-intriguing evidence of a relationship between him and consummate showman P.T. Barnum. But here’s a nibble about Abe’s entrepreneurial notion—submitted to the U.S. Patent Office and denied (boo, h8ers)—that each town could have its own Gazette full of Personal Pages:</p><blockquote><p>The whole Springfield Gazette was one sheet of paper, and it was all about Lincoln . . . The first column underneath his picture contains a bunch of short blurbs about what’s going on in his life at the moment—work he recently did, some books the family bought, and the new games his boys made up. In the next three columns he shares a quote he likes, two poems, and a short story about the Pilgrim Fathers. I don’t know where he got them, but they’re obviously copied from somewhere. In the last three columns he tells the story of his day at the circus and tiny little story about his current life on the prairie . . .</p><p>Lincoln was requesting a patent for “The Gazette,” a system to “keep People aware of Others in the Town.” He laid out a plan where every town would have its own Gazette, named after the town itself. He listed the Springfield Gazette as his Visual Appendix, an example of the system he was talking about. Lincoln was proposing that each town build a centrally located collection of documents where “every Man may have his own page, where he might discuss his Family, his Work, and his Various Endeavors.”</p></blockquote><p>Furthermore, Lincoln devised how Friending would operate under his system—making the comparison between The Gazette and Facebook even more provocative—but you’ll have to go over to Nate’s to read about that. And while you’re there, congratulate him and Matt of the Lincoln Museum on their jaw-droppingly nifty bit of original historic detection! Abraham Lincoln, not only as brilliantly sharp as a newly honed axe, but way ahead of his time.&nbsp;</p><p>We LIKE!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/honest-abe-abraham-lincoln-invent-facebook-1845-social-media-likes-pages-friends-gazette-patent-historical-mystery-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Rn7u6W5uRWM:wS0Ye72arPA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Rn7u6W5uRWM" height="1" width="1"/> Clare Toohey Published Thu, 10 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/honest-abe-abraham-lincoln-invent-facebook-1845-social-media-likes-pages-friends-gazette-patent-historical-mystery-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/honest-abe-abraham-lincoln-invent-facebook-1845-social-media-likes-pages-friends-gazette-patent-historical-mystery-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/JQL_0xPeUVY/weird-news-four-news-stories-that-sound-stranger-than-fiction-china-inspector-chen-just-plain-strange-detective-police-procedurals-thriller-noir-traditional-cozy-mysteries-true-crime-nonfiction <p><img alt="Bo Xilai, once a top Party Official in China, no disgraced after wife suspected in murder case." class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Proffitt-Nimble-Stranger-than-Fiction-Murder.jpg" title="No the top dog any more..." />Is it just me or do recent events in the news seem like they were ripped from the pages of a mystery novel? I love a good mystery, and of course reality is much more, well, <em>real</em> than anything I could find in books, but recently, I feel like the truth has been stranger than fiction—or at least as good as.</p><p><strong>Ain’t No Party Like the Communist Party</strong></p><p>Back in April, Bo Xilai, a Chinese Party official with hopes of becoming one of the top dogs in party politics, was thrown into the papers after his wife was accused of killing a British businessman. It got stranger when the deceased businessman, one Mr. Neil Heywood, was revealed to have been threatening to expose Xilai’s wife’s plot to move money abroad—money she may or may not have collected by misbegotten means. Seems like a plot straight out of Inspector Chen.</p><p>[What do the National Archives, China and the Great Bambino have in common...? They’re on this list!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/weird-news-four-news-stories-that-sound-stranger-than-fiction-china-inspector-chen-just-plain-strange-detective-police-procedurals-thriller-noir-traditional-cozy-mysteries-true-crime-nonfiction">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=JQL_0xPeUVY:tyM2xC0ilgs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/JQL_0xPeUVY" height="1" width="1"/> Jennifer Proffitt Published Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/weird-news-four-news-stories-that-sound-stranger-than-fiction-china-inspector-chen-just-plain-strange-detective-police-procedurals-thriller-noir-traditional-cozy-mysteries-true-crime-nonfiction http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/weird-news-four-news-stories-that-sound-stranger-than-fiction-china-inspector-chen-just-plain-strange-detective-police-procedurals-thriller-noir-traditional-cozy-mysteries-true-crime-nonfiction http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/MGGElH-q2do/the-five-points-of-new-york-city-historical-crime-leanna-renee-heiber <p><img alt="Leanna Renee Heiber" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Heiber_Five-Points-Dressing-Up.jpg" style="height: 228px; width: 250px;" title="The author in her Victorian finest." />As a licensed New York City tour guide, whenever I waxed rhapsodic about my particular area of interest, nineteenth century New York City, tourists assumed everything about New York City then—and even now—was summed up in the film <em>Gangs of New York</em>. Well. . .&nbsp; <em>no</em>. The storylines presented in <em>Gangs of New York</em> only scratch a fictional surface of Five Points history. The fullness of the Five Points can’t be summed up in mere pages, but here’s a glimpse.</p><p>[Get an early feel for where <em>Copper</em> will be set . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-five-points-of-new-york-city-historical-crime-leanna-renee-heiber">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=MGGElH-q2do:o2stbEqOxpU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/MGGElH-q2do" height="1" width="1"/> Leanna Renee Hieber Published Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-five-points-of-new-york-city-historical-crime-leanna-renee-heiber http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-five-points-of-new-york-city-historical-crime-leanna-renee-heiber http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/rZV_e61ooZE/wheres-the-love-for-and-in-hardboiled-what-is-noir-max-allan-collins <p><img alt="Serie Noire novel" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/Collins_Love-hardboiled-serie-noire.jpg" style="height: 343px; width: 225px;" title="Truly *noire*." />You don’t see the term “hardboiled” much any more. “<em>Noir</em>” has supplanted it, co-opted from the French film critics who intended it for the American crime films made during and shortly after World War II. Those critics had co-opted the term from<em> Serie Noire</em>, the black-covered paperbacks from publisher Gallimard that reprinted the likes of <strong>Dashiell Hammett</strong>, <strong>Raymond Chandler</strong>, <strong>James M. Cain</strong>, and <strong>Mickey Spillane</strong>.</p><p>Hardboiled, as early as twenty years ago, became a dirty word in publishing. Cozy mysteries were outselling hardboiled, and likely still are. So the appropriation of “<em>noir</em>” was a hipper, more elegant-sounding way to rebrand the tough stuff.</p><p>[A dead rose by any other name is just as black, er, <em>noir</em> . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/wheres-the-love-for-and-in-hardboiled-what-is-noir-max-allan-collins">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=rZV_e61ooZE:IFmUYxih4rw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/rZV_e61ooZE" height="1" width="1"/> Max Allan Collins Published Wed, 09 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/wheres-the-love-for-and-in-hardboiled-what-is-noir-max-allan-collins http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/wheres-the-love-for-and-in-hardboiled-what-is-noir-max-allan-collins http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/wJ_8bp7SX_I/listen-up-earprints-identify-burglar-true-crime-leslie-gilbert-elman <p><img alt="The ear, via Science Direct" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.09-05.15/AMCoffee_Earprints.jpg" style="height: 334px; width: 250px;" title="Hear no evil" />If you’re the type who likes to listen at keyholes, there’s something you need to hear: Police in Kiel, Germany, identified a burglar by the <em>earprints</em> he left at crime scenes.</p><p>Before he entered a home, the 33-year-old burglar would press his ear against the front door, listening for signs that the house was occupied. If it wasn’t, he’d break in and help himself to jewelry, cash, and other loot. What he didn’t realize was what he’d left behind: an earprint as unique and incriminating as any fingerprint or DNA evidence could be.</p><p>Now, we hear that thanks to those earprints the police can link him to 96 burglaries accounting for more than half a million dollars worth of stolen goods.</p><p>Sounds like the jig is up.</p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">Hat tip: <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,830659,00.html" target="_blank">Spiegel Online</a>. Image via <a href="http://ars.sciencedirect.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0379073803005176-gr3.gif" target="_blank">sciencedirect.com</a></span></em></p><hr /><p><strong>Leslie Gilbert Elman</strong> is the author of <em><a href="http://bit.ly/rGsLdY">Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts</a></em>. Follow her on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/leslieelman">@leslieelman</a>.</p><p>See all posts by <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Leslie%20Gilbert%20Elman#filter">Leslie Gilbert Elman for Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/listen-up-earprints-identify-burglar-true-crime-leslie-gilbert-elman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=wJ_8bp7SX_I:NZNvsM97j58:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/wJ_8bp7SX_I" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Wed, 09 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/listen-up-earprints-identify-burglar-true-crime-leslie-gilbert-elman http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/listen-up-earprints-identify-burglar-true-crime-leslie-gilbert-elman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/wE8RXCyc4NQ/castle-season-four-finale-always-nathan-fillion-stana-katic-by-deborah-lacy <p><img alt="Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Lacy_Castle-Season-Finale-Beckett-and-Fillion.jpg" style="height: 267px; width: 475px;" />If you haven’t watched all of this season of <em>Castle</em> yet, stop reading and go catch up. This episode is worth it.</p><p><strong>Who Killed Beckett’s Mother?</strong></p><p>We start out with a recap from seasons past to remind us how we got here. Flashes of Beckett’s dead mother fill the screen. Captain Montgomery reminds Kate that these guys, “. . . are coming to kill you and I’m not going to let them . . .” Then we see Roy Montgomery fulfilling this promise with his own death.</p><p>[Death is only the beginning]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/castle-season-four-finale-always-nathan-fillion-stana-katic-by-deborah-lacy">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=wE8RXCyc4NQ:xBZDISQtgbo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/wE8RXCyc4NQ" height="1" width="1"/> Deborah Lacy Published Tue, 08 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/castle-season-four-finale-always-nathan-fillion-stana-katic-by-deborah-lacy http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/castle-season-four-finale-always-nathan-fillion-stana-katic-by-deborah-lacy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/nmDx8bWJx00/now-win-this-brothers-of-baker-street <p style="margin: 14px 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Sorry, this sweepstakes has ended.</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; "><strong>Stay tuned on our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/features/series/sweepstakes" target="_self">Sweepstakes</a>&nbsp;page for more offers!</strong></span></p><p><img align="left" alt="The Brothers of Baker Street and The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/sweepstakes/Robertson-Baker-Street-Brother250x190.jpg" title="The Brothers of Baker Street and The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson" /><strong>Click here to enter for a chance to win!</strong></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.&nbsp;A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter.&nbsp;Promotion begins May 8, 2012, at 12 pm ET, and ends May 15, 2012, 11:59 am ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-brothers-of-baker-street-sweepstakes" style="text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Click here for&nbsp;details and official rules</a>.</p><p>[About the books...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-brothers-of-baker-street">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=nmDx8bWJx00:e4ZHmc8JZVc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/nmDx8bWJx00" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 08 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-brothers-of-baker-street http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-brothers-of-baker-street http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/9ctqkK4uiNM/the-baker-street-letters-excerpt-traditional-mystery-sherlock-holmes-michael-robertson <p><img alt="The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/BakerStreetLetters-by-Michael-Robertson-250.jpg" title="The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>The Baker Street Letters,</em> the first in a contemporary, traditional mystery series by Michael Robertson.</strong></p><p><strong>[Like the excerpt? <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/now-win-this-brothers-of-baker-street">Enter to win both this book and the sequel</a>!]</strong></p><p><em>In Los Angeles, a geological surveyor maps out a proposed subway route—and then goes missing. His eight-year-old daughter in her desperation turns to the one person she thinks might help—she writes a letter to Sherlock Holmes.</em></p><p><em>That letter creates an uproar at 221b Baker Street, which now houses the law offices of attorney and man-about-town Reggie Heath and his hapless brother Nigel. Instead of filing the letter as he’s supposed to, Nigel decides to investigate. Soon he’s flying off to L.A., inconsiderately leaving a very dead body on the floor in his office. Big brother Reggie follows Nigel to California, as does Reggie’s sometime lover, Laura—a quick-witted stage actress who’s captured the hearts of both brothers.</em></p><p><em>When Nigel is arrested, Reggie must use all his wits to solve a case that Sherlock Holmes would have savored, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fans will adore.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Prologue</strong><br /><em>Los Angeles, 1997</em></p><p>He only wanted just one cigarette.</p><p>He knew he shouldn’t, and not just because both of his ex-wives used to say so or because his doctor still said so.</p><p>He knew he shouldn’t because the company rules for sandhogs on the new subway dig said so.</p><p>But the rules hadn’t been pulling twelve-hour shifts.</p><p>And the hot permits for acetylene torches had already been granted, so he knew there wasn’t any flammable gas.</p><p>And he really only needed just one.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>The Baker Street Letters</em> by Michael Robertson]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-baker-street-letters-excerpt-traditional-mystery-sherlock-holmes-michael-robertson">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=9ctqkK4uiNM:SE1IW0Y_AKs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/9ctqkK4uiNM" height="1" width="1"/> Michael Robertson Excerpts Tue, 08 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-baker-street-letters-excerpt-traditional-mystery-sherlock-holmes-michael-robertson http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/the-baker-street-letters-excerpt-traditional-mystery-sherlock-holmes-michael-robertson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/cUT1zZHJaxk/tom-selleck-jesse-stone-benefit-of-the-doubt-trailer-cbs-tv-movie-police-procedural-new-england-robert-b-parker-crime-hq <p><img alt="Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Jesse-Stone-Tom-Selleck.jpg" style="height: 285px; width: 250px; " title="Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone, police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts" />The next installment of the Jesse Stone movies airs on CBS Sunday, May 20th. These films&mdash;starring and produced by Tom Selleck and based upon the novels by <strong>Robert B. Parker</strong>&mdash;have consistently been fan favorites among book-to-screen TV adaptations. But will <em>Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt</em> be the last one?</p><p>According to Jay Bobbin at <em><a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/03/tom-selleck-most-likely-ending-his-jesse-stone-run-on-cbs.html" target="_blank">Zap2it</a></em>, maybe, and almost certainly at CBS. Selleck explains:</p><blockquote><p>“Bless them, they’ve done eight of these and they always perform far above what’s normally in the time slot, but they are constantly perplexed: ‘We’re not in the two-hour movie business.’ That being said, that’s not the end of Jesse, or at least I don’t think so. There are a lot of other entities, whether cable or even feature films, but this is most likely the last one on CBS. I’m not done with the character, though.”</p></blockquote><p>So, enjoy the next movie (and the trailer below) because there are doubts as to where Jesse will turn up next!</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i_EJk6pyDew?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tom-selleck-jesse-stone-benefit-of-the-doubt-trailer-cbs-tv-movie-police-procedural-new-england-robert-b-parker-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=cUT1zZHJaxk:BshyJnK1fXY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/cUT1zZHJaxk" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 08 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tom-selleck-jesse-stone-benefit-of-the-doubt-trailer-cbs-tv-movie-police-procedural-new-england-robert-b-parker-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/tom-selleck-jesse-stone-benefit-of-the-doubt-trailer-cbs-tv-movie-police-procedural-new-england-robert-b-parker-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/xqAEr0hU66E/brainy-sexy-cool-season-2-new-sherlock-holmes-begins-a-scandal-in-belgravia-episode-1-leslie-gilbert-elman <p><img alt="Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Elman_New-Sherlock-Holmes-Watson-Scandal.jpg" style="height: 174px; width: 250px;" title="BFFs" /><em>“What are you typing?”</em><br /><em>“A blog”<br />“About?”<br />“Us.”<br />“You mean me.”<br />“Why?”<br />“You’re typing </em>a lot<em>.”</em></p><p>Sherlock and Watson (as if you couldn’t guess).</p><p>As we begin Season 2 of <em>Sherlock</em> on <em>Masterpiece Mystery</em>, Holmes has become an Internet phenomenon. He’s learning to deal with the fame.</p><p>Meanwhile, my friends at CrimeHQ have presented me with the monumental task of blogging about the new series of <em>Sherlock</em> airing on PBS this month.</p><p>Monumental for two reasons:</p><p>1) The deeply Sherlockian, immensely talented <strong>Lyndsay Faye</strong> watched the U.K. feed of <em>Sherlock</em> Season 2 and provided commentary here. With my limited knowledge of the <strong>Arthur Conan Doyle</strong>/Sherlock Holmes canon, there is no way I can surpass her insights. (<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/01/bbcs-sherlock-season-2-a-scandal-in-belgravia">Here’s what she said about “A Scandal in Belgravia.”</a>)</p><p>2) I’m dazzled by “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season 2, Episode 1) and I’m still trying to sort it all out. If Dr. Watson has trouble keeping up, where does that leave me?</p><p>With those caveats in place, I commence.</p><p>[Yes, do get on with it. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/brainy-sexy-cool-season-2-new-sherlock-holmes-begins-a-scandal-in-belgravia-episode-1-leslie-gilbert-elman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=xqAEr0hU66E:9-x1-owxoxU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/xqAEr0hU66E" height="1" width="1"/> Leslie Gilbert Elman Published Mon, 07 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/brainy-sexy-cool-season-2-new-sherlock-holmes-begins-a-scandal-in-belgravia-episode-1-leslie-gilbert-elman http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/brainy-sexy-cool-season-2-new-sherlock-holmes-begins-a-scandal-in-belgravia-episode-1-leslie-gilbert-elman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/qRbijj4-37U/new-longmire-trailer-we-cant-wait-tara-gelsomino-western <p><img alt="Walt Longmire" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Longmire-New-Trailer.jpg" style="height: 260px; width: 250px;" title="Rough and ready." />Hold on to your ten-gallons, pardners, because A&amp;E TV is cowboy-ing up. The cable network, better known for its reality shows like <em>Storage Wars</em> and <em>Hoarders</em>, will air a new scripted Western series, <em>Longmire</em>, based on <strong>Craig Johnson</strong>’s bestselling mysteries, this summer (the premiere is Sunday, June 3, 10 pm).</p><p>Featuring Australian actor Robert Taylor (<em>The Matrix</em>), as the stoic Sheriff Walt Longmire of Absaroka County, Wyoming, the series promises breathtaking western vistas, solid mysteries, pulse-pounding action, and a host of colorful characters causing mischief. Not the least of which are Walt’s new volatile deputy&nbsp; Victoria “Vic” Moretti (played by <em>Battlestar Galactica</em>’s, Katee Sackhoff), and his best friend Henry Standing Bear (film, TV actor, and amateur chef Lou Diamond Phillips).</p><p>[I long, you long, we all long for Longmire!]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-longmire-trailer-we-cant-wait-tara-gelsomino-western">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qRbijj4-37U:8HuB-MHleT8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/qRbijj4-37U" height="1" width="1"/> Tara Gelsomino Published Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-longmire-trailer-we-cant-wait-tara-gelsomino-western http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/new-longmire-trailer-we-cant-wait-tara-gelsomino-western http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Pn5j6qmIAjQ/johnny-depp-in-the-dark-shadows-jonathan-frid-thriller-comedy-film-deborah-lacy <p><img alt="Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Michelle Pfeiffer in the remake of Dark Shadows" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Lacy-Dark-Shadows-Poster-250.jpg" title="Will Johnny Depp succeed in this remake or fall into the Dark Shadows of Jonathan Frid?" />It’s hard to keep a good vampire down and Barnabas Collins is one of the best. Gothic soap opera, turned horror-classic, <em>Dark Shadows,</em> ran daily on ABC from 1966-1971 with its mega popular 200-year old vampire named Barnabas Collins, fabulously portrayed by Jonathan Frid (<a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/04/dark-shadows-original-barnabas-collins-jonathan-frid-passes-away" target="_blank">who passed away on April 15, 2012</a>.) And now, coming May 11, Johnny Depp stars as his own version of Barnabas Collins in a new movie version of <em>Dark Shadows</em>, directed by Tim Burton, co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter.</p><p>Depp has a tough act to follow. Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas was so beloved that at one point he was getting 5,000 fan letters a week. <em>Shadows</em> fans complained bitterly once the show was taken off the air, even disrupting a taping of its replacement show—<em>Password</em>. Two <em>Dark Shadows</em> movies were made, NBC aired a short-lived revival in 1991, and in 2004, the WB filmed a pilot for another revival that didn’t make the schedule. Even after being off the airways for more than 40 years, <em>Dark Shadows </em>still has a cult following including its own <a href="http://www.darkshadowsfestival.com/" target="_blank">festival</a> (Jonathan Frid was the guest of honor in 2011), multiple fan sites, and <a href="http://www.collinwood.net/" target="_blank">fanzines</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>You have to wonder if the <em>Twilight</em> characters will retain their popularity to the year 2052 and beyond.</p><p>[We’re guessing not...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/johnny-depp-in-the-dark-shadows-jonathan-frid-thriller-comedy-film-deborah-lacy">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Pn5j6qmIAjQ:pbGd6xkNNp8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Pn5j6qmIAjQ" height="1" width="1"/> Deborah Lacy Published Mon, 07 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/johnny-depp-in-the-dark-shadows-jonathan-frid-thriller-comedy-film-deborah-lacy http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/johnny-depp-in-the-dark-shadows-jonathan-frid-thriller-comedy-film-deborah-lacy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/kaOJeDjIhHs/what-if-hitchcock-had-directed-james-bond <p><img alt="Hitchcock Bond mashup" class="blog-pic-right-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/AMCoffee_Bond-Hitchcok-250.jpg" style="height: 293px; width: 250px;" />Over at the endlessly fascinating <a href="http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/05/hitchcock-for-bond.html">Letters of Note</a>, they have a telegram from <strong>Ian Fleming</strong> to <strong>Eric Ambler</strong>, asking Ambler to see whether his friend Alfred Hitchcock might be interested in directing the first Bond flick. Hitch was busy with <em>Psycho</em>, so the answer was no, but isn’t it something to imagine?</p><p>You can read the whole telelgram at Letters of Note. In part, it reads:</p><p>WOULD HITCHCOCK BE INTERESTED IN DIRECTING THIS FIRST BOND FILM IN ASSOCIATION WITH XANADU QUERY PLENTIFUL FINANCE AVAILABLE STOP</p><p>Ah, yes. Plentiful finance. Those were the days.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/what-if-hitchcock-had-directed-james-bond">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kaOJeDjIhHs:_DbUD2j7vUw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/kaOJeDjIhHs" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 07 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/what-if-hitchcock-had-directed-james-bond http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/what-if-hitchcock-had-directed-james-bond http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/vuFEvLx7too/copper-bbc-america-teaser-4-seconds-revolver-lips-eyes-police-new-york-1864-crime-hq <p>Our pals at <a href="http://www.omnimysterynews.com/2012/05/brief-teaser-video-for-bbc-americas.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mysterybooks+%28Omnimystery+News%29" target="_blank"><em>Omnimystery News</em></a>, who brought this funny teaser to our attention, note wryly that it’s “really <em>really</em> brief.”</p><p>That’s one way to put it! Mostly big words and names spelled in red letters, as for actual footage of the look and feel of the show, don’t blink or you’ll miss four whole seconds of a slivered face. Revolver, lips, eyes, not to mention some distressed wood framing it and a hint of mustache. Okay, he’s right-handed. There’s also a shout for police.&nbsp; Unless there’s something subliminal, guess we’re not good enough detectives to deduce anything further, and we’re not sure it merits the Zapruder treatment.&nbsp; What do you take away?</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/STlopK4gFnI?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p>We’ve been unabashed about our anticipation for <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/tags/Copper" target="_self"><em>Copper</em> here at Criminal Element</a>. In return for this teaser, we’re happy to tease back, because this stingy clip is a bit ridiculous. We sure hope BBC America will get more generous with the sights and sounds already!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/copper-bbc-america-teaser-4-seconds-revolver-lips-eyes-police-new-york-1864-crime-hq">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=vuFEvLx7too:ga63U_fU5So:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/vuFEvLx7too" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Sun, 06 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/copper-bbc-america-teaser-4-seconds-revolver-lips-eyes-police-new-york-1864-crime-hq http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/copper-bbc-america-teaser-4-seconds-revolver-lips-eyes-police-new-york-1864-crime-hq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/8nqwhXEsies/dont-cry-tai-lake-new-excerpt-qiu-xiaolong-inspector-chen-international-crime-china <p><img alt="Don’t Cry, Tai Lake by Qiu Xiaolong" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Xialong-Dont-Cry-Tai-Lake-250.jpg" style=" height: 380px; width: 250px;" title="Don’t Cry, Tai Lake by Qiu Xiaolong" /><strong>An excerpt from <em>Don’t Cry, Tai Lake</em>, a police procedural in the Inspector Chen series by Qiu Xiaolong (available May 8, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is&nbsp;offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party—a week’s vacation at a luxurious resort near Tai Lake, a&nbsp;week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. </em></p><p><em>Unfortunately, the once beautiful Tai Lake, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants. Then the director of one of the manufacturing plants&nbsp;responsible for the pollution is murdered and the leader of the local ecological group is the primary suspect of the local police.&nbsp;Now Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is&nbsp;to uncover the truth&nbsp;behind the brutal murder and find a measure of justice for both the victim and the accused.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau found himself standing in front of the gate to the Wuxi Cadre Recreation Center.</p><p>His vacation in the city of Wuxi was totally unexpected. Earlier that Sunday morning, Chen was in Zhenjiang, attending an intensive political seminar for emerging Party officials training for “new responsibilities,” when he got a phone call from Comrade Secretary Zhao, the former second secretary of the Central Party Discipline Committee. Though retired, Zhao remained one of the most influential figures in Beijing. Zhao was too busy to take a vacation arranged for him at the center in Wuxi, so he offered it to Chen instead.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Don’t Cry, Tai Lake</em> by Qiu Xiaolong]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/dont-cry-tai-lake-new-excerpt-qiu-xiaolong-inspector-chen-international-crime-china">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=8nqwhXEsies:SCSRi3tkHq8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/8nqwhXEsies" height="1" width="1"/> Qiu Xiaolong Excerpts Sun, 06 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/dont-cry-tai-lake-new-excerpt-qiu-xiaolong-inspector-chen-international-crime-china http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/dont-cry-tai-lake-new-excerpt-qiu-xiaolong-inspector-chen-international-crime-china http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/2BJhxe3y4hc/in-plain-sight-is-in-the-rearview-mirror-series-finale-what-did-you-think-terrie-farley-moran <p><img alt="Mary Shannon, In Plain Sight" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Moran_In-Plain-Sight-Series-Finale.jpg" style="height: 254px; width: 250px;" title="She’s in mourning...as are we viewers." />During the first few days of May, I wandered around the <em>In Plain Sight</em> website, clicking here and there, remembering this and that. It was kind of like visiting the house you grew up in right before your parents move to Boca. You know that nothing will ever be the same, so you try to memorize everything.</p><p>And finally, it was here—the goodbye episode. Our last glimpse inside the life of Mary Shannon, U.S. Marshal. <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/01/the-end-of-mary-shannon-is-in-plain-sight">Crime HQ speculated back in January</a> that Mary had a lot of issues to be resolved in the eight episodes of season five. In the countdown to the finale, Mary struggles with parenting even though Norah’s father, Mary’s longtime ex-husband Mark, is a very participatory dad. Then, Mary accidently discovers Stan’s romance with the lovely dance instructor, Lia. And we see broad hints at Washington D.C.’s plans for major changes at Albuquerque WITSEC. Then, in “The Merry Wives of WITSEC,” protecting a witness who has two simultaneous families brings up all of Mary’s issues about her father’s abandonment thirty years before. Marshall reminds Mary of his oft-repeated mantra, “Sometimes you just have to let go.”</p><p><img alt="Mary and Marshall of In Plain Sight" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Moran-in-plain-sight-finale-mary-marshall.jpg" style="height: 241px; width: 250px;" title="Did they or didn’t they?" />And what about Mary and Marshall? Could there possibly be any hope for a romantic ending? Well, when Marshall gets engaged to Abigail at the end of this episode, I felt a twinge of “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” &nbsp;Still . . . maybe, I thought . . . we had four episodes to go.</p><p>(Spoilers ahead!)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>[The end, alas, the end. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/in-plain-sight-is-in-the-rearview-mirror-series-finale-what-did-you-think-terrie-farley-moran">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=2BJhxe3y4hc:eSKd6l3V2SY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/2BJhxe3y4hc" height="1" width="1"/> Terrie Farley Moran Published Sat, 05 May 2012 21:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/in-plain-sight-is-in-the-rearview-mirror-series-finale-what-did-you-think-terrie-farley-moran http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/in-plain-sight-is-in-the-rearview-mirror-series-finale-what-did-you-think-terrie-farley-moran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/dPlZ3stZqyg/transcending-genre-why-transcend-lasagna-tropes-conventions-literary-snobs-crime-fans-reviews-critics-readers-clare-toohey <p>At its heart, lasagna is a simple dish in concept. But if you have a version you love—your grandma’s or uncle’s, favorite checked-tablecloth joint’s, even favorite freezer box’s—you can taste the differences. Subtleties come alive in the taster’s experience, appreciable, even if not specifically definable. Crime stories across all subgenres (heck genre fiction in general) get castigated for being “formulaic.” But many of us fans view each subgenre as a beloved basic recipe, one that invites endless tinkering among aficionados.</p><p>That’s why “transcending lasagna” is how I think of the persistently irritating tendency of non-genre readers and writers to bestow “It transcends genre!” as a compliment.</p><p><img alt="Trascending Genre is like Transcending Lasagna" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Transcending-Genre-Lasagna.jpg" style="height: 148px; width: 475px; " title="All recognizably lasagna yet simultaneously unique expressions" /></p><p>I’ve actually come to think of that phrase as a Big. Red. Flag.</p><p>WARNING, UNSATISFYING CONTENT AHEAD!</p><p>[Genre fans have been fed this line too many times. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/transcending-genre-why-transcend-lasagna-tropes-conventions-literary-snobs-crime-fans-reviews-critics-readers-clare-toohey">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=dPlZ3stZqyg:0Lsog4pJo2M:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/dPlZ3stZqyg" height="1" width="1"/> Clare Toohey Published Sat, 05 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/transcending-genre-why-transcend-lasagna-tropes-conventions-literary-snobs-crime-fans-reviews-critics-readers-clare-toohey http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/transcending-genre-why-transcend-lasagna-tropes-conventions-literary-snobs-crime-fans-reviews-critics-readers-clare-toohey http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/V4XkjABhKCM/havana-requiem-new-excerpt-detective-traditional-mysteries-thrillers-legal-wranglings-paul-goldstein-cuba <p><img align="left" alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Goldstein-Havana-Requiem-250.jpg" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>Havana Requiem</em>, a legal thriller set in Cuba by Paul Goldstein (available May 8, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>Fueled by alcohol and legal brilliance, Michael Seeley once oversaw his law firm’s most successful litigation. Until it all fell apart. Recklessness and overreach cost him his wife, his job, and likely the life of his last client, a Chinese dissident journalist. After two sober years practicing small-town law in upstate New York, Seeley has earned back most of what he lost: the partnership in his Manhattan law firm, if not his corner office; the wary respect of most of his partners; the lucrative clients—but not the gin-sharpened passion. </em></p><p><em>Then the renowned Cuban musician Héctor Reynoso enters his office with a simple request: help him and six other composers who defined Cuba’s musical golden age of the 1940s and 1950s—the music that made the Buena Vista Social Club internationally famous—reclaim the copyright to their work. </em></p><p><em>When Reynoso goes missing, Seeley’s reluctant promise to help draws him progressively deeper into Havana’s violent underbelly and a decades-long conspiracy that runs from the partners in his firm to the U.S. State Department to Cuba’s security police, who are willing to do anything to suppress the truth. In the heat of Havana, Seeley will lose himself to his worst and best passions as his pursuit of justice becomes a desperate gambit to save not only his composers but the stunning Amaryll, who is playing her own dangerous game.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>The man could have climbed from the frame of an ancient newsreel: a sharecropper escaping the Depression-era South with the last scraps of his possessions; a skin-and-bones survivor fleeing yet another sub-Saharan catastrophe. His suitcase, scuffed and worn, was a cardboard imitation of tweed and leather straps, but the way the old man clutched it to his chest, the valise held his most precious belongings. Black but light-skinned, erect as a recruit, he waited inside the office doorway, intelligent eyes darting about, undecided between entering and escaping. Was it apprehension that Michael Seeley detected, or just curiosity? Fear that Seeley wouldn’t take him as a client, or that he would?</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Havana Requiem</em> by Paul Goldstein]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/havana-requiem-new-excerpt-detective-traditional-mysteries-thrillers-legal-wranglings-paul-goldstein-cuba">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=V4XkjABhKCM:8EDF1xs6Hps:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/V4XkjABhKCM" height="1" width="1"/> Paul Goldstein Excerpts Sat, 05 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/havana-requiem-new-excerpt-detective-traditional-mysteries-thrillers-legal-wranglings-paul-goldstein-cuba http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/havana-requiem-new-excerpt-detective-traditional-mysteries-thrillers-legal-wranglings-paul-goldstein-cuba http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/eF-WvDsC3t8/huzzah-free-comic-book-day-approaches-detective-westerns-cozy-traditional-just-for-fun-kid-friendly-crime-comics <p><img alt="Cowboy by Nate Cosby and drawn by Chris Eliopoulos" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/COWBOY-by-Nate-Cosby-Chris-Eliopoulos.jpg" title="Cowboy by Nate Cosby and drawn by Chris Eliopoulos" />Yes, Marvel’s <em>Avengers</em> comes out today, but the comic book world is only just getting going this weekend. If you really want to get into that comic book groove, then tomorrow you&rsquo;ll be celebrating <a href="http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/992" target="_blank">Free Comic Book Day!</a> Thousands of stores are now participating worldwide, giving away millions of comics each year. So use the participating <a href="http://www.freecomicbookday.com/storelocator" target="_blank">store locator</a> and start reading! Maybe it&rsquo;s all the talk about <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/features/series/justified" target="_self"><em>Justified </em></a>and <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/the-magnificent-seven-an-iconic-western-historical-terrie-farley-moran-shane-high-noon-film-old-west" target="_self"><em>The Magnificent Seven</em></a>, but the comic above caught our eyes right away.</p><p><a href="http://cowboycomic.net/" target="_blank"><em>Cow Boy </em></a>is written by <strong>Nate Cosby</strong> &amp; drawn by <strong>Chris Eliopoulos. </strong>It’s about a 10 year-old turned bounty hunter, determined to send his entire outlaw family to jail.&nbsp; This one will be part of a unique giveaway by Archaia, who’s including it with other comics in a <em>hardback volume</em>. But wherever you are and whatever injustice or payback story floats your boat, don’t forget to pick up your free comics tomorrow!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/huzzah-free-comic-book-day-approaches-detective-westerns-cozy-traditional-just-for-fun-kid-friendly-crime-comics">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=eF-WvDsC3t8:XsN-fjVaajc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/eF-WvDsC3t8" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Fri, 04 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/huzzah-free-comic-book-day-approaches-detective-westerns-cozy-traditional-just-for-fun-kid-friendly-crime-comics http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/huzzah-free-comic-book-day-approaches-detective-westerns-cozy-traditional-just-for-fun-kid-friendly-crime-comics http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/538U6Mhoa9s/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead <p><img alt="Zombie puppy ereader cover" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/AMCoffee_Zombie-Puppy-Ereader.jpg" style="height: 338px; width: 250px;" title="Contain your enthusiasm for all things undead!" />One of the saddest things about eReaders is their lack of personality. Once upon a time, when you spied someone on the plane, train, or bus reading a novel, you could get an inside look at their taste. But now, all books look the same. No cracked and crumbling font on the spine, no blazing inferno on the cover lets others know you’re a fan of all things spooky.</p><p>However, there’s no reason to leave your zombie fandom out of the eBook experience! This (very imperfectly crocheted) cover will fit a Kindle 3 Keypad or any of the smaller readers. (It will fit the Kindle Fire tightly, but the Nook Color is too big.)&nbsp;</p><p>Of course, the envelope shape lends this piece to more uses as well...perhaps you could keep your love letters from the Undead inside, or any other treasure you wish to keep away from prying eyes.</p><p><strong>WARNING:</strong> This is a crocheted piece made of wool with buttons. <strong>IT IS DECORATIVE, NOT PROTECTIVE</strong><strong>.</strong> Sharp items in your bag will still poke through to your eReader and while it has some cushioning, it won’t protect your eReader if you drop it. We take no responsibility for the safety of your device.</p><p>Mother’s Day is coming...and we’ll be drawing the winner’s name in time for you to tell her whether she’s getting something really special...</p><p><strike><em><strong>To enter for a chance to win the hand-crafted “Zombie Puppy” eReader case, make sure you’re a registered member of the site, and then simply leave a comment below.</strong></em></strike></p><p><strike>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 or older. To enter, fill out entry at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead">http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) May 4, 2012. Sweepstakes ends at 12:59 p.m. ET on May 11, 2012 (the “Promotion Period”). Void outside of the 50 US and DC and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-zombie-ereader-case-sweepstakes">http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-zombie-ereader-case-sweepstakes</a>. Sponsor: Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010</strike></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=538U6Mhoa9s:amsWRTabbK4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/538U6Mhoa9s" height="1" width="1"/> Laura K. Curtis Published Fri, 04 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/would-your-mummy-like-a-zombie-puppy-ereader-case-win-contest-sweepstakes-crochet-felt-undead http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/5FspLkMGiwM/nameless-in-newark-meeting-brad-parks-by-joan-tuohy-carter-ross-series-traditional-mystery <p><img alt="Brad Parks" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Tuohy_Brad-Parks.jpg" title="Brad Parks" />It’s always fun to find a new author; someone who’s created an environment and characters outside our usual reading zone. The irony of this particular case is that I found <a href="http://www.bradparksbooks.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Brad Parks</strong></a> almost exactly where he should have been found: walking down a street in Newark, New Jersey, the haunt of his newspaper reporter protagonist, Carter Ross. I guess it was serendipity that had us each park our cars almost simultaneously in front of the venue that had been chosen for his Meet the Author site, a local bar on Halsey Street. I had seen his picture so he was easy to spot and since we were both early and nobody has ever called me shy, I introduced myself. I found him friendly, open and charming.</p><p>[In this case, we think you can judge a book by its cover. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nameless-in-newark-meeting-brad-parks-by-joan-tuohy-carter-ross-series-traditional-mystery">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=5FspLkMGiwM:ldOLbedEZk4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/5FspLkMGiwM" height="1" width="1"/> Joan Tuohy Published Fri, 04 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nameless-in-newark-meeting-brad-parks-by-joan-tuohy-carter-ross-series-traditional-mystery http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nameless-in-newark-meeting-brad-parks-by-joan-tuohy-carter-ross-series-traditional-mystery http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/o6-oMDVzW-0/the-revival-house-state-of-grace-1990-detective-police-thrillers-noir-mob-eric-beetner <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Beetner-State-of-Grace-Poster.jpg" /><em>The Revival House: shining a light on underrated crime films. The coulda-beens and shoulda-beens you ought to know about.</em></p><p><strong>Tonight’s Screening: <em>State of Grace</em> (1990)</strong></p><p>There is so much to love about <em>State of Grace</em>, and almost all those things are what made it a flop at the box office. It didn’t even crack the 2 million mark. Granted those were 1990 dollars, but even back then under 2 mil put it at #156 for the year. Right in the neighborhood of flop city.</p><p>The trials and travails of the Irish mob in New York is rich, untapped territory and <em>State of Grace</em> takes us deep inside a crime organization undergoing growing pains and struggling to prove itself with the big dogs on the street—the Italians. The first and only produced screenplay by Dennis McIntyre (who I will assume is Irish) is a twisty and tense thriller that plays out slowly and draws you in like quicksand.</p><p>[Quicksand never felt so good . . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-state-of-grace-1990-detective-police-thrillers-noir-mob-eric-beetner">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=o6-oMDVzW-0:r8hSuvW77Uw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/o6-oMDVzW-0" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Beetner Published Fri, 04 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-state-of-grace-1990-detective-police-thrillers-noir-mob-eric-beetner http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-revival-house-state-of-grace-1990-detective-police-thrillers-noir-mob-eric-beetner http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/LMan9rpSPIk/watson-the-puppy-detective-stories-police-procedurals-traditional-mystery-cozy-bbc-sherlock-sherlock-holmes-dr-john-watson-just-for-fun <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Sherlock-and-Watson-the-Puppy.jpg" /></p><p>Yes, I really did name my puppy after Sherlock Holmes’s assistant Watson. And yes, this was an excuse to look at pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch without his shirt. Enjoy.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/watson-the-puppy-detective-stories-police-procedurals-traditional-mystery-cozy-bbc-sherlock-sherlock-holmes-dr-john-watson-just-for-fun">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=LMan9rpSPIk:fwoql5skpyE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/LMan9rpSPIk" height="1" width="1"/> Jennifer Proffitt Published Fri, 04 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/watson-the-puppy-detective-stories-police-procedurals-traditional-mystery-cozy-bbc-sherlock-sherlock-holmes-dr-john-watson-just-for-fun http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/watson-the-puppy-detective-stories-police-procedurals-traditional-mystery-cozy-bbc-sherlock-sherlock-holmes-dr-john-watson-just-for-fun http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/mhgTJgJ2d1k/spinetingler-award-winners-donald-ray-pollock-anthony-neil-smith-david-cranmer-scott-d-parker <p><img alt="Donald Ray Pollack, The Devil All The Time" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Nimble_Spinetingler-Pollock.jpg" style="height: 303px; width: 200px;" />One of coolest things about the Spinetingler Awards is the recognition that there’s not just one great book a year and that comparing relative newcomers to the field to legends is a tough bet. Thus the categories of “New Voice” (those who have published 1-3 books), “Rising Star” (4-8 books) and “Legend” (9+ books). We told you about the <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/03/2012-spinetingler-award-nominees-announced-were-delighted-and-conflicted">Spinetingler nominees</a> back in March, and yesterday the winners were announced. Congratulations to all on a fine job!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Best Novel: New Voice<br />— <em>The Devil All the Time</em> by<strong> <a href="http://donaldraypollock.com/" target="_blank">Donald Ray Pollock</a></strong></p><p>Best Novel: Rising Star<br />—<em> All the Young Warriors</em> by<strong> <a href="http://anthonyneilsmith.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Anthony Neil Smith</a></strong></p><p>Best Novel: Legend<br />—<em> A Drop of the Hard Stuff</em> by<strong> <a href="https://lawrenceblock.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Lawrence Block</a></strong></p><p>Best Short Story Collection<br />—<em>Volt</em> by<strong> <a href="http://alanheathcock.com/" target="_blank">Alan Heathcock</a></strong></p><p>Best Anthology<br />—<em>Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled</em> edited by <strong><a href="http://davidcranmer.blogspot.com/">David Cranmer</a> </strong>&amp;<strong> <a href="http://scottdparker.blogspot.com/">Scott D. Parker</a></strong></p><p>Best Mystery/Crime Comic or Graphic Novel<br /><em>— 99 Days</em> by <strong>Matteo Casali &amp; Kristian Donaldson</strong></p><p>Best Crime Fiction Publisher<br />— New Pulp Press</p><p>David Thompson Community Leader Award<br />—<a href="http://www.elizabethawhite.com/" target="_blank"> Musings of an All Purpose Monkey</a> (<strong>Elizabeth White</strong>)</p><p>Best Zine<br />— <a href="http://www.thecrimefactory.com/" target="_blank">Crime factory</a></p><p>Best Short Story on the Web<br />— “<a href="http://thecrimefactory.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/CFIssue008.pdf">Either Way it Ends with a Shovel</a>” by<strong> <a href="http://davidjameskeaton.com/">David Jones Keaton</a></strong> from Crimefactory (link is to a pdf of the full issue)</p><p>Best Cover<br />— <em>Noir at the Bar</em></p><p>and last, but definitely not least...</p><p>The Fireball Award for Best Opening Line<br />— “This is Detroit, so welcome to the jungle.” from <em>In Nine Kinds of Pain</em> by <strong><a href="http://leonardfritz.com/" target="_blank">Leonard Fritz</a></strong></p><p>Again, congratulations to all and may you keep our spines a-tingle for years to come!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spinetingler-award-winners-donald-ray-pollock-anthony-neil-smith-david-cranmer-scott-d-parker">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=mhgTJgJ2d1k:xDt34Nfdpuw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/mhgTJgJ2d1k" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Thu, 03 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spinetingler-award-winners-donald-ray-pollock-anthony-neil-smith-david-cranmer-scott-d-parker http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/spinetingler-award-winners-donald-ray-pollock-anthony-neil-smith-david-cranmer-scott-d-parker http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/SqozMQhO868/lady-go-die-new-excerpt-pi-private-detective-noir-historical-mickey-spillane-max-allan-collins-mike-hammer <p><img alt="Lady, Go Die! by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane, the lost Mike Hammer novel" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Lady-Go-Die-by-Mickey-Spillane-and-Max-Allan-Collins-250.jpg" style=" height: 354px; width: 250px;" title="Lady, Go Die! by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane, the lost Mike Hammer novel" /><strong>An excerpt of <em>Lady, Go Die!</em>, the lost Mike Hammer novel, a private detective thriller by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (available May 8, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>Mickey Spillane’s lost 1940s Mike Hammer novel, written between&nbsp;</em>I, the Jury<em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</em>My Gun Is Quick <em>and never before published! Completed by Spillane’s friend and literary executor Max Allan Collins, </em>Lady, Go Die!<em> is finally making its way into print almost 70 years after its inception!</em></p><p><em>When Hammer and Velda go on vacation to a Long Island beach town, Hammer becomes embroiled in the mystery of a missing well-known New York party girl who lives nearby. When the woman turns up naked—and dead—astride the statue of a horse in the town square, Hammer feels compelled to investigate.</em></p><p><br /><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>Pulling the trigger had been easy. Living with it had been hard. Crazy rage got replaced with a joyless emptiness. No emotion, no feeling. I felt as dead as the one I’d shot.</p><p>I had evened the score for a friend but the cost had been high—a woman I loved was dead, and the bullet that sent the killer to hell had along the way punched a gaping hole in my soul. I tried to fill it with booze, or at least cauterize the damn thing, spending most of my evenings at Joe Mast’s joint, trying not to fall off a bar stool and usually failing. But it hadn’t worked. Nothing worked.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Lady, Go Die!</em> by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/lady-go-die-new-excerpt-pi-private-detective-noir-historical-mickey-spillane-max-allan-collins-mike-hammer">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=SqozMQhO868:asArITD5MiE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/SqozMQhO868" height="1" width="1"/> Max Allan Collins Excerpts Thu, 03 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/lady-go-die-new-excerpt-pi-private-detective-noir-historical-mickey-spillane-max-allan-collins-mike-hammer http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/lady-go-die-new-excerpt-pi-private-detective-noir-historical-mickey-spillane-max-allan-collins-mike-hammer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/iEbauv_Q0Ig/traditional-historical-mysteries-in-the-aftermath-of-wwi-victoria-janssen <p><img alt="World War I soldiers in a trench. " class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Janssen-World-War-I-Mysteries-soldiers-475.jpg" style="height: 319px; width: 475px;" />The period immediately following World War I was a time of particular social turmoil, involving issues such as labor, class, and colonialism. People were changed as individuals, too. Former soldiers had to deal with their return from battle to families who might not understand them any longer. Those who’d stayed on the home front had to adapt to changes necessitated by the death or disablement of so many men. And women who had been vital to industry and the food supply during the war were forced back into their traditional roles by the soldiers’ return.</p><p>A basic theme of the mystery genre as a whole is society and its morals and ethics. Perhaps that’s why so many historical mystery series have been set in the aftermath of World War I—it’s a perfect venue for examining issues that are crucial to the genre itself. I’m discussing those series that specifically provide some insight into postwar society, or that I particularly enjoyed.</p><p>[Does mystery still abound in a postwar world?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/traditional-historical-mysteries-in-the-aftermath-of-wwi-victoria-janssen">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iEbauv_Q0Ig:_A8muFd_QcM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/iEbauv_Q0Ig" height="1" width="1"/> Victoria Janssen Published Thu, 03 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/traditional-historical-mysteries-in-the-aftermath-of-wwi-victoria-janssen http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/traditional-historical-mysteries-in-the-aftermath-of-wwi-victoria-janssen http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/4xwVtsMXOew/three-reasons-not-to-involve-your-dog-in-criminal-activities <p>From the amazing and hilarious (if rude, crude, and occasionally completely unacceptable) Tumblr, <a href="http://textfromdog.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Texts from Dog</a>.</p><p><img alt="Text from Dog: Reward scheme comic" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/AMCoffee_text-from-dog-reward.jpg" style="height: 375px; width: 250px;" /></p><p><strong>1. He doesn’t understand the concept of money or ownership. </strong>Well, except that he will happily “mark” anything you steal, which will lead the police right to both of you when his DNA shows up everywhere.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Text From Dog Cartoon: Gandalf" class="blog-pic-right-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/AMCoffee_Text-from-dog-gandalf.jpg" style="height: 375px; width: 250px;" /><strong>2. He is easily distracted, regardless of what he’s supposed to be doing. </strong>Unless, of course, you are stealing something edible, in which case the bounty won’t make it to your car.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Text From Dog cartoon: Zombie Pigeon and Batdog" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/AMCoffee_Text-from-dog-zombie-pigeon.jpg" style="height: 375px; width: 250px;" /><strong>3. Regardless of what he believes, he does not have superpowers.</strong> And, really, do you want the molding corpses of smaller animals along for the ride when you take off, tires screeching, Batdog’s ears flying back as he sticks his head out the window?</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/three-reasons-not-to-involve-your-dog-in-criminal-activities">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=4xwVtsMXOew:xa9yX6ljt0I:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/4xwVtsMXOew" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Thu, 03 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/three-reasons-not-to-involve-your-dog-in-criminal-activities http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/three-reasons-not-to-involve-your-dog-in-criminal-activities http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/kkjZt4-OZuw/the-dark-knight-is-rising <p>The third (and final) trailer for <em>The Dark Knight Rises</em> is out. The movie comes to theaters July 20, and there has been a full court press on teasers and trailers. I have to admit, it&rsquo;s working on me slowly but surely. What about you?</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="271" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M-mf5IyVIAc?rel=0" width="475"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-dark-knight-is-rising">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=kkjZt4-OZuw:2_OTn5UC3hU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/kkjZt4-OZuw" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Wed, 02 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-dark-knight-is-rising http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/the-dark-knight-is-rising http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/EIwp9Ecr5fk/nero-wolfe-rex-stout-private-investigator-classic-traditional-mystery-chuck-greaves <p><img alt="Rex Stout in 1969 /photo Bruce Davidson" class="blog-pic-right-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/05.02-05.08/Rex-Stout-1969-Bruce-Davidson.jpg" style="height: 367px; width: 250px; " title="Rex Stout circa 1969 /photo Bruce Davidson" />Auctorial influence is a tricky thing, even for those writers whose style or choice of subject is consciously patterned (admittedly or otherwise) after another writer’s work. When confronted with the question of influence, I usually mention <strong>Nelson DeMille</strong>, because it was his John Corey novels, beginning with <em>Plum Island</em>, that convinced me both that I wanted to write crime fiction, and that I could probably do so with some degree of proficiency.</p><p>But if you were to take a tissue sample of my writing and centrifuge it and place it under a microscope, I suspect the DNA would match to an earlier point in the crime fiction genome. To my teens, in fact, when I read, if not all, then certainly a majority of the fifty or so Nero Wolfe detective novels authored by mystery grand-master <strong>Rex Stout</strong>.</p><p>[What’s a master without acolytes?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nero-wolfe-rex-stout-private-investigator-classic-traditional-mystery-chuck-greaves">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=EIwp9Ecr5fk:CNsEJFEyE8s:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/EIwp9Ecr5fk" height="1" width="1"/> Chuck Greaves Published Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nero-wolfe-rex-stout-private-investigator-classic-traditional-mystery-chuck-greaves http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/nero-wolfe-rex-stout-private-investigator-classic-traditional-mystery-chuck-greaves http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/9mDH-2uDoKs/top-five-detectives-john-connolly-michael-connelly-t-jefferson-parker-konrath-george-chesbro-kristin-centorcelli <p><img alt="Ever Dead Thing by John Connolly, Book 1 in the Charlie Parker Series" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Centorcelli-Top-5-Detectives-Charlie-Parker.jpg" title="Ever Dead Thing by John Connolly, Book 1 in the Charlie Parker Series" />Sure, most of us aren’t the serial killers, jewel thieves, or mobsters we read about, but we still wouldn’t want anyone poking their noses into our business. Literature is filled with sleuths we wouldn’t want anywhere near our dirty laundry, but they’re oh so fun to read about. Let’s have a look at the top five I wouldn’t want on my case, should I have done something . . . slightly less than legal.</p><p><strong>1. </strong><strong>Charlie Parker (The Charlie Parker<em> </em>series by John Connolly)</strong></p><p>Charlie’s been through just about the most heartbreak that you could imagine, with the murder of his wife and child. He carries this heartache with him through every case he tackles, and the ghosts of his family always seem to be just outside his line of vision. Charlie is willing to make some hard decisions in order to do the right thing, and his sense of right and wrong almost verges on righteousness.&nbsp; He will do anything, and I mean anything, to keep those he loves safe, and if a case is brought to his attention that he’s willing to take on, especially one involving a child, watch out, he’s unstoppable.</p><p>[What other unstoppable forces are on this list?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/top-five-detectives-john-connolly-michael-connelly-t-jefferson-parker-konrath-george-chesbro-kristin-centorcelli">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=9mDH-2uDoKs:apfZV9gWKDc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/9mDH-2uDoKs" height="1" width="1"/> Kristin Centorcelli Published Wed, 02 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/top-five-detectives-john-connolly-michael-connelly-t-jefferson-parker-konrath-george-chesbro-kristin-centorcelli http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/top-five-detectives-john-connolly-michael-connelly-t-jefferson-parker-konrath-george-chesbro-kristin-centorcelli http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/E8zRh9b92rs/cake-or-death-eddie-izzard-enduring-question-lego-humor-deborah-lacy <p>For your entertainment and morning coffee pleasure, a brilliant Lego re-enactment of the Eddie Izzard bit where he explains why the Spanish Inquisition (which, as we all know, no one ever expects) would never have worked in England: the Church of England is too moderate and its inquisitors would have offered everyone the hideously difficult choice between cake and death.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rZVjKlBCvhg?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></p><hr /><p>Deborah Lacy is an avid mystery reader and aspiring novelist.&nbsp; You can follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/quippy" target="_blank">@quippy.</a></p><p>Read all of <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Deborah%20Lacy#filter">Deborah Lacy’s posts for Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cake-or-death-eddie-izzard-enduring-question-lego-humor-deborah-lacy">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=E8zRh9b92rs:liZFxvQyMtY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/E8zRh9b92rs" height="1" width="1"/> Deborah Lacy Published Wed, 02 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cake-or-death-eddie-izzard-enduring-question-lego-humor-deborah-lacy http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/cake-or-death-eddie-izzard-enduring-question-lego-humor-deborah-lacy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/B8XBqZcjNcM/noir-short-fiction-long-island-kaylie-jones-anthology <p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/longislandnoirsweepstakes"><strong>CLICK HERE TO ENTER for a chance to win a trade paperback copy of <em>Long Island Noir</em>, edited by Kaylie Jones.</strong></a></p><p><img align="left" alt="Long Island Noir by Kaylie Jones" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/sweepstakes/Jones-Long-Island-Noir250x395.jpg" title="Long Island Noir by Kaylie Jones" /><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/longislandnoirsweepstakes" target="_blank"><strong>Click here to enter for a chance to win!</strong></a></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.&nbsp;A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter.&nbsp;Promotion begins May 1, 2012, at 12 pm ET, and ends May 7, 2012, 11:59 am ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/page/official-rules-the-long-island-noir-sweepstakes" style="text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Click here for&nbsp;details and official rules</a>.</p><p>[About the book...]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-short-fiction-long-island-kaylie-jones-anthology">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=B8XBqZcjNcM:5rwT5XmyQ58:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/B8XBqZcjNcM" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-short-fiction-long-island-kaylie-jones-anthology http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/noir-short-fiction-long-island-kaylie-jones-anthology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/XxtwmH_SVPY/fresh-meat-body-in-the-boudoir-by-katherine-hall-page-cozy-traditional-mystery-laura-k-curtis <p><em><img alt="Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Boudoir" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Page_Body-in-the-Boudoir.jpg" style="height: 378px; width: 250px;" /></em><strong><em>The Body in the Boudoir</em> by <a href="http://www.katherine-hall-page.org/" target="_blank">Katherine Hall Page</a> is the twentieth in her Faith Fairchild caterer and reverend’s wife cozy mystery series (available May 1, 2012).</strong></p><p>What do you want when you pick up a traditional mystery? I am sure the answers vary some from person to person, but for me some of the big selling points of this kind of story are a solid sense of place, a few offbeat characters, and—sorry, culinary cozy haters!—delectable treats. I’d never read Katherine Hall Page’s Faith Fairchild series, but it took only a few pages into <em>The Body in the Boudoir</em>, the latest in the series, for me to realize it would have all three.</p><p>[Why <em>do</em> corpses and caterers go together so well, anyway?]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-body-in-the-boudoir-by-katherine-hall-page-cozy-traditional-mystery-laura-k-curtis">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=XxtwmH_SVPY:12rBKR7jh2g:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/XxtwmH_SVPY" height="1" width="1"/> Laura K. Curtis Published Tue, 01 May 2012 16:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-body-in-the-boudoir-by-katherine-hall-page-cozy-traditional-mystery-laura-k-curtis http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/fresh-meat-body-in-the-boudoir-by-katherine-hall-page-cozy-traditional-mystery-laura-k-curtis http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/6xih_HEwQvI/thriller-noir-getaway-excerpt-lisa-brackmann-espionage-drugs-mexico <p><img alt="Getaway by Lisa Brackmann" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/excerpts/Getaway-by-Lisa-Brackmann-250.jpg" title="Getaway by Lisa Brackmann" /><strong>An excerpt from <em>Getaway</em>, a thriller set in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by Lisa Brackmann (available May 1, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>Michelle Mason tells herself she’s on vacation. A brief stay in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a chance to figure out her next move after the unexpected death of her banker husband, who’s left behind a scandal and a pile of debt. The trip was already paid for, and it beats crashing in her sister’s spare room. When a good-looking man named Daniel approaches her on the beach, the margaritas have kicked in and she decides: why not? </em></p><p><em>But the date doesn’t go as either of them planned. An assault on Daniel in her hotel room, switched cell phones, and an encounter with a “friend” of Daniel’s named Gary gets Michelle enmeshed in a covert operation involving drug runners, goons, and venture capitalists. Michelle already knows she’s caught in a dangerous trap. But she quickly finds that running is not an option. If she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried in the town dump with the rest of the trash. Now she needs to fight smart if she wants to survive her vacation.</em></p><p><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p><p>Michelle dropped the sarong she’d started to tie around her waist onto her lounge chair. Nobody cared what her thighs looked like.</p><p>Sand burned the soles of her feet as she walked down to the water. Look at these people, she thought. Foreigners, mostly. Like her. Older, a lot of them. Sagging, leathered skin, the ones who’d been here awhile. Pale tourists, big-bellied, pink-faced, glowing with sunburn. A family of locals—Mexicans anyway, who knew if they were really from here? Dark, short, and blocky, eating shrimp on a stick from the grill down the beach, giant bottles of Coke tucked in a Styrofoam cooler.</p><p>Out of shape. Lumpy. Flabby. Aging.</p><p><em>Nobody cares.</em></p><p>And her thighs weren’t bad, anyway.</p><p>[Read the full excerpt of <em>Getaway</em> by Lisa Brackmann]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/thriller-noir-getaway-excerpt-lisa-brackmann-espionage-drugs-mexico">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=6xih_HEwQvI:7-UInzLrFsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/6xih_HEwQvI" height="1" width="1"/> Lisa Brackmann Excerpts Tue, 01 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/thriller-noir-getaway-excerpt-lisa-brackmann-espionage-drugs-mexico http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/05/thriller-noir-getaway-excerpt-lisa-brackmann-espionage-drugs-mexico http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/0r7SVBCFXjw/gambling-on-or-with-sherlock-holmes-slot-machine <p><img alt="Sherlock at the Murder Mansion Slot Machine" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/AMCoffee-Sherloc-Slot-Machine-475.jpg" style="height: 147px; width: 475px;" />Last week I was away. Our timeshare offers many things my normal life does not—beaches, drinks with umbrellas in them, someone else making the beds, and gambling. Now, I am not a big gambler. I play penny slots. I sometimes bet as much as fifty cents on a single bet. Woohoo!</p><p><img alt="Sherlock at the Murder Mansion Slot Machine" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/AMCoffee-Sherlock-Slot-Machine.jpg" style="height: 303px; width: 200px;" />But the thing I like best about the penny slots are the bonus rounds. Since slot machines went electronic with touchscreens, these can be very elaborate...ordering food off a menu, picking pirates who will dance for you, having your “rich uncle” read his will to tell you what you’ve been left, even going into the hospital and getting a bill for services rendered.</p><p>And on this trip...I solved mysteries on a game called Sherlock at the Murder Mansion. If you get to the bonus round, you get to attempt to “solve a murder.” You have five possible weapons and five suspects. You choose one of each. If you miss, the game gives you a clue you can use to help you the next round. (The clues are things like “the knife was used only for cooking.”) It’s actually quite a bit of fun! Silly, I know, but more entertaining than just watching the wheels go round and round.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gambling-on-or-with-sherlock-holmes-slot-machine">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=0r7SVBCFXjw:GuMsY-uPnn0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/0r7SVBCFXjw" height="1" width="1"/> Laura K. Curtis Published Tue, 01 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gambling-on-or-with-sherlock-holmes-slot-machine http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/05/gambling-on-or-with-sherlock-holmes-slot-machine http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/qBWHi9f3Q0M/congratulations-2011-agatha-award-winners-cozy-margaret-maron-rhys-bown-sara-j-henry-dana-cameron-leslie-budewitz-chris-grabenstein <p><img alt="Malice Domestic" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Awards-Malice-Domestic.jpg" style="height: 170px; width: 225px; " />This past weekend was the <a href="http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaawards.html" target="_blank"><em>Malice Domestic</em></a> conference, whose motto is “If traditional mysteries are your cup of tea...” And, as they do annually, they gave out the Agatha Awards for the best published in 2011:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Three Day Town by Margaret Maron" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Three-Day-Town-Margaret-Maron.jpg" style="height: 364px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best Novel:</u> <em>Three Day Town</em> by <strong>Margaret Maron</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Learning-to-Swim-Sara-J-Henry.jpg" style="height: 386px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best First Novel:</u> <em>Learning to Swim</em> by <strong>Sara J. Henry</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Books, Crooks, and Counselors by Leslie Budewitz" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Books-Crooks-Counselors-Leslie-Budewitz.jpg" style="height: 375px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best Non-Fiction:</u> <em>Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure </em>by <strong>Leslie Budewitz</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Disarmed by Dana Cameron, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazone, June 2011" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Disarming-Dana-Cameron-EQMM-June-2011.jpg" style="height: 333px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best Short Story:</u> “Disarming” by <strong>Dana Cameron</strong>, <em>Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine </em></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Chris-Grabenstein-The-Black-Heart-Crypt.jpg" style="height: 377px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best Children’s/Young Adult:</u> <em>The Black Heart Crypt</em> by <strong>Chris Grabenstein</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Agatha-Naughty-in-Nice-Rhys-Bowen.jpg" style="height: 403px; width: 250px; " /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u>Best Historical Novel:</u> <em>Naughty in Nice</em> by <strong>Rhys Bowen</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is always a fun conference with a special appeal for cozy and traditional mystery lovers, and the winners are voted by attendees. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/congratulations-2011-agatha-award-winners-cozy-margaret-maron-rhys-bown-sara-j-henry-dana-cameron-leslie-budewitz-chris-grabenstein">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=qBWHi9f3Q0M:Agct_rPSUQ8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/qBWHi9f3Q0M" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/congratulations-2011-agatha-award-winners-cozy-margaret-maron-rhys-bown-sara-j-henry-dana-cameron-leslie-budewitz-chris-grabenstein http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/congratulations-2011-agatha-award-winners-cozy-margaret-maron-rhys-bown-sara-j-henry-dana-cameron-leslie-budewitz-chris-grabenstein http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/iAUFdSMre68/long-island-noir-mastermind-excerpt-anthology-reed-farrel-coleman <p><img alt="Long Island Noir, edited by Kaylie Jones" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Long-Island-Noir.jpg" title="Long Island Noir, edited by Kaylie Jones" /><strong>“Mastermind” by Reed Farrel Coleman appears in <em>Long Island Noir</em>, an anthology of short crime fiction set in Nassau and Suffok counties of New York, edited by Kaylie Jones (available April 30, 2012)</strong>.</p><p><em>Selden</em></p><p>Jeff Ziegfeld was always the exception to the rule: the dumb Jew, the blue-collar Jew, the tough Jew. No matter the Zen of the ethnic group the wheel of fortune got you born into, dumb and poor was the universal formula for tough. And he had to be tough because it’s hard to be hard when your name is Jeffrey Ziegfeld. Didn’t exactly make the kids on the block shit their pants when someone said, “Watch out or Ziggy’ll kick your ass.” He was extra tough because his dad liked to smack him around for the fun of it, all the time saying, “Remember, dickhead, no matter how strong you get, I’ll always be able to kick your ass. I grew up the last white kid in Brownsville. And where’d you grow up? Lake Grove, a town with no lake and no grove. What a fucking joke. Kinda like you, huh, kid?”</p><p>J-Zig, as one of the other inmates at the jail in Riverhead had taken to calling him, could trace what had gone wrong with his life back to before he was born. Neither one of his parents had ever gotten out of high school or over moving out of Brooklyn. Long Island was a rootless, soulless place where everyone except the Shinnecock, the East End farmers, and the fishermen came from Northern Boulevard or the Grand Concourse or Pitkin Avenue. And even the natives were trading in their roots and souls for money. All the goddamned Indians wanted to do was run slot machine and bingo parlors.</p><p>[Read the complete story: “Mastermind” from <em>Long Island Noir</em>]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/04/long-island-noir-mastermind-excerpt-anthology-reed-farrel-coleman">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iAUFdSMre68:ndnsLvXcoAE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/iAUFdSMre68" height="1" width="1"/> Reed Farrel Coleman Excerpts Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/04/long-island-noir-mastermind-excerpt-anthology-reed-farrel-coleman http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/04/long-island-noir-mastermind-excerpt-anthology-reed-farrel-coleman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/Ysfxf3qb2vA/traditional-mysteries-cozy-historical-fresh-meat-fatal-induction-western-bernadette-pajer-professor-bradshaw-victoria-janssen <p><img alt="Fatal Induction by Bernadette Pajer" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.18-04.24/Janssen-Fatal-Induction-by-Bernadette-Pajer-250.jpg" style="height: 387px; width: 250px;" title="Fatal Induction by Bernadette Pajer" /><strong><em>Fatal Induction</em> by Bernadette Pajer is the second in her Professor Ben Bradshaw series of historical mysteries (available May 1, 2012).</strong></p><p><em>The race to win an electrical competition incites Professor Bradshaw’s obsession for invention in this sequel to </em>A Spark for Death<em>, but the search for a child who may have witnessed a murder forces him to transform his contest entry into a trap to catch a killer.</em></p><p><em>Fatal Induction</em> is the second in <strong>Bernadette Pajer’s</strong> series about Ben Bradshaw, who serves as Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington.&nbsp; I have not yet read the first book in the series, <em>A Spark of Death</em>, but there was enough detail in <em>Fatal Induction</em> to bring me up to speed on the various secondary characters and how Bradshaw had fallen into investigation.</p><p>I chose the book because the series is set in 1901, when many of the devices we take for granted today—or have abandoned in favor of better alternatives—were new and exciting.&nbsp; I loved having a historical view of what it might have felt like to live in that era and deal with such rapidly changing technology—sort of like today, in fact.&nbsp;</p><p>[Getting a taste for history’s mysteries. . .]</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/traditional-mysteries-cozy-historical-fresh-meat-fatal-induction-western-bernadette-pajer-professor-bradshaw-victoria-janssen">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=Ysfxf3qb2vA:feXit-lMRXE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/Ysfxf3qb2vA" height="1" width="1"/> Victoria Janssen Published Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/traditional-mysteries-cozy-historical-fresh-meat-fatal-induction-western-bernadette-pajer-professor-bradshaw-victoria-janssen http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/traditional-mysteries-cozy-historical-fresh-meat-fatal-induction-western-bernadette-pajer-professor-bradshaw-victoria-janssen http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/iiXdRt50ADI/cupcakes-for-the-bibliophiles-in-all-of-us-detective-police-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-true-crime-nonfiction-just-for-fun-food-fatale-mario-puzo-steig-larsson-alice-sebold <p><img alt="Book Cupcakes from London Bakery, Victoria’s Kitchen" class="blog-pic-left-align " src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/MC-Book-Cupcakes.jpg" title="Book Cupcakes from London bakery, Victoria’s Kitchen" /></p><p>This gives a whole new meaning to “devouring books.” These cupcakes are from London bakery <a href="http://www.victorias-kitchen.com/cake-gallery/?pid=139" target="_blank">Victoria’s Kitchen</a> and look good enough to eat. We’re torn between wanting to gobble these up and shelving them!</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/cupcakes-for-the-bibliophiles-in-all-of-us-detective-police-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-true-crime-nonfiction-just-for-fun-food-fatale-mario-puzo-steig-larsson-alice-sebold">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=iiXdRt50ADI:e89EeUdsSTs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/iiXdRt50ADI" height="1" width="1"/> Crime HQ Published Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:45:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/cupcakes-for-the-bibliophiles-in-all-of-us-detective-police-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-true-crime-nonfiction-just-for-fun-food-fatale-mario-puzo-steig-larsson-alice-sebold http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/cupcakes-for-the-bibliophiles-in-all-of-us-detective-police-traditional-cozy-mystery-thrillers-noir-historical-westerns-true-crime-nonfiction-just-for-fun-food-fatale-mario-puzo-steig-larsson-alice-sebold http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~3/sBx0toTMxLw/sherlock-goes-to-bollywood-detective-police-traditional-mysteries-jennifer-proffitt-bbc-holmes-film-adaptation-elementary-tarquin-hall <p><img alt="" class="blog-pic-left-align caption" src="http://www.criminalelement.com/images/stories/04.25-05.01/Nimble-Indian-Sherlock.jpg" title="Holmes Away from Home: Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) could be the next Sherlock." />Sherlock has seen a few different incarnations lately. I’m mostly thinking about the modernization with the wonderful <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/features/series/bbcs-new-sherlock">Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock</a> and the action hero we see in Robert Downey Jr.’s Holmes and soon <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/02/cbs-flips-sherlocks-script-lucy-liu-as-joan-watson">Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu will enter the Sherlock universe.</a> But there’s one more new Sherlock that will join the ranks—Indian Sherlock.</p><p>While the movie so far is being called <em>The Indian Sherlock</em> it’s looking more like Sherlock-esque detecting in modern India. The way the character is described he’s not really going to be anything like the Sherlock we’ve come to know and love—quite the opposite. According to a <a href="http://india.nydailynews.com/article/ea1ff8fdddc1a0e3e0e5593fb9302666/jhakaas-kapoor-set-to-play-indian-sherlock" target="_blank">NY Daily News article</a> our Indian Sherlock, Vish Puri, is “portly, persistent and unmistakably Punjabi.”</p><p>Now to some, that name might sound familiar. That’s because he is. The screenplay for <em>The Indian Sherlock</em>, is based on the <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/05/africa-india-and-alexander-the-great">novels by Tarquin Hall. </a></p><p>The man producers hope to play Vish Puri, Anil Kapoor, is a semi-familiar face outside of the Indian film industry as he was in 2008’s <em>Slumdog Millionaire</em>. Anand Tucker is the director behind <em>The Indian Sherlock </em>and is equally familiar to American audiences as he directed <em>Leap Year</em> and <em>Shop Girl</em> a few years back.</p><p><br />There seem to be a lot of variables still up in the air about this particular Sherlock movie, but it’s definitely got us thinking! What about you? What do you think about a Holmes away from Baker Street?<br />&nbsp;</p><hr /><p>Jennifer Proffitt is a Midwest transplant to New York City. She spends most of her time reading and writing about romance and watching crime shows, but you can follow her other adventures on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/#/JennProffitt" target="_blank">@JennProffitt</a>.</p><p>Read all <a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/Jennifer%20Proffitt#filter" target="_self">Jennifer Proffitt’s posts on Criminal Element</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/sherlock-goes-to-bollywood-detective-police-traditional-mysteries-jennifer-proffitt-bbc-holmes-film-adaptation-elementary-tarquin-hall">Read the full article</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?a=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/criminalelementpartial?i=sBx0toTMxLw:w5fhe_95Cy0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/criminalelementpartial/~4/sBx0toTMxLw" height="1" width="1"/> Jennifer Proffitt Published Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/sherlock-goes-to-bollywood-detective-police-traditional-mysteries-jennifer-proffitt-bbc-holmes-film-adaptation-elementary-tarquin-hall http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/04/sherlock-goes-to-bollywood-detective-police-traditional-mysteries-jennifer-proffitt-bbc-holmes-film-adaptation-elementary-tarquin-hall