Thursday, July 10, 2025
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
JANE STANTON HITCHCOCK: R.I.P.
In 2019, however, she won the award outright for her novel Bluff, which drew on her personal expertise as a professional level poker player. Humorous crime novels are quite rare and even rarer are those that hold up years later. Seek out a copy of Bluff if you have not read it and read it again to learn something about writing.Her entertaining satire of the upper classes drew on her personal knowledge as the adoptive daughter of a major tycoon and a popular actress. Jane herself was a delightful person, witty, intelligent, and, of course, sophisticated.
Linda Fairstein who informed us of Jane’s passing, mentioned “Jane, who was one of my best friends for 40 years, was immensely proud of the honor of being awarded the Hammett.” Her obituary in the New York Times even mentioned her pride in this achievement. She gave the impression to me that she didn’t quite understand just how talented she was."
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
GRANTCHESTER NEWS
In the forthcoming season, Robson Green returns as Geordie Keating with Rishi Nair as Alphy Kottaram, Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. C, Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, Nick Brimble as Jack Chapman, Bradley Hall as DC Larry Peters and Melissa Johns as Miss Scott.
Daisy Coulam, writer, series creator and executive producer, said: “At its heart, Grantchester is a show about the power of friendship and love. We’ve been so lucky over the last 11 series to experience that on and off screen. For over a decade now - cast and crew have met each Summer to film. And it’s been an absolute joy. Thank you to James Runcie for entrusting us with his characters. Thank you to the lovely people of real Grantchester. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of the show in any way - big or small. I’ll miss you terribly.”
Season 10 of Grantchester is currently airing on MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS and is available to stream via the PBS app, PBS.org and PBS MASTERPIECE on Prime Video.
2025 David Thompson Special Service Award Recipients: Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich
Bouchercon, the world’s largest mystery writers and fans conference, announced that Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich are the 2025 recipients of the David Thompson Memorial Special ServiceAward for their extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime fiction field.
“We’re insanely thrilled to receive the David Thompson Award and humbled to join the starry ranks of past honorees!” Stan and Lucinda reacted when notified of the award.
Mystery/crime fiction enthusiasts, Lucinda and Stan have been key leaders in the landscape for more than twenty years. Their first mystery convention was Bouchercon 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska and they have since served in a variety of Bouchercon volunteer positions. Stan joined the Bouchercon national board serving as Treasurer and Rules Committee Chair. Later Stan and Lucinda were Chairs of the volunteer subcommittee for two Bouchercon conventions, and Anthony Awards Chairs in Long Beach in 2014 and in Dallas in 2019.
Lucinda and Stan are also the driving force behind the mystery conference, Left Coast Crime. Stan, a retired lawyer, is President of the Left Coast Crime Conference. Lucinda, a former educator, is the organization’s Secretary. They’ve been managing the Lefty Awards since 2011.
“Stan and Lucinda exemplify the dedication and expertise of those in a special category: key volunteers,” says Cheryl Head, Bouchercon Board Chair. “We couldn’t be successful without them.”
The David Thompson Award will be presented to Stan and Lucinda at the Opening Ceremonies of Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed in New Orleans, September 3-7, 2025.
Ballard: New streaming series based on Michael Connelly's novels
Ballard, starring Maggie Q in the title role, will debut on Prime Video,Wednesday, July 9, 2025. There will be10 episodes. This is the latest chapter in the universe of Bosch: Legacy, which aired its third and final season earlier this spring. Renée Ballard, a homicide detective who appeared in the Bosch: Legacy series finale, investigates cold cases in the Los Angeles Police Department with the help of Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver).
This new cop show is definitely for fans of the Michael Connelly novels novels. Based on the six books in the Ballard series, which began with the 2017 novel The Late Show, the new Prime Video show will follow Renée Ballard as she attempts to solve several cold cases in Los Angeles.