Agatha Christie: An Action-Adventure Film - Script by Tom Shepherd

One of the world’s most famous crime novelists may, once again, be headed to the big screen. AGATHA CHRISTIE, from a script by Tom Shepherd, is in the works at Columbia Pictures with Roth Kirschenbaum Films set to produce.

The action-adventure pic, which is being pitched as Sherlock Holmes meets The Thomas Crown Affair, finds a young, adventurous Agatha Christie joining Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on a mission to track down the whereabouts of a missing oil tycoon.

According to The Tracking Board:

Shepherd’s script is reminiscent of another Agatha Christie-inspired project, Agatha from writer Allison Schroeder. Schroeder’s spec similarly sees the crime novelist set in an action-adventure story, but surmises what happened during a period of 11 days during which she went missing. That project was set up at Paramount with Mary Parent set to produce through her Disruption Entertainment, but in the wake of Parent’s move to Legendary, the project’s fate – like many Disruption projects – remains unclear. Furthermore, Will Gluck, who was previously attached to direct Agatha, appears to have fallen off. That gives Columbia an opportunity to develop their competing Christie project, which is seeking a Margot Robbie-type for the titular heroine.

HT: BV Lawson - In Reference to Murder

Science is Murder: December 14 Panel

Thanks to BV Lawson at In Reference to Murder for this news. If you're not following this blog, you should be!

The Washington Academy of Sciences in D.C.  
"Science is Murder": December 14th

Experts include:
Dr. Janet Sorrentino, lecturer and "authority on science and Harry Potter"
Sandra Parshall, author of the Rachel Goddard mysteries
Mary Ellen O'Toole, former FBI agent, expert on psychopathy and author of Dangerous Instincts: How Gut Feelings Betray Us.
Moderator: Kathy Harig, owner of the bookstore Mystery Loves Company in Oxford, Maryland,

Where: 1200 New York Ave. NW (use 12th St entrance between NY Ave & H St)
6:3-9:00$5. Register online. To reserve space, send an email with your name & number of people to: scienceismurder@washacadsci.org

Charles Darwin 200 years

I was so involved with Lincoln's birthday and Valentine's Day this year on both of my Blogs (Mystery Fanfare and Dying for Chocolate) that I completely forgot to comment on the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Luckily, BV Lawson has a great post "The Evolution of a Mystery" on her Blog "In Reference to Murder." Lawson highlights the date with a great list of scientists in mysteries with protagonists who are naturalists, zoologists, biologists, botanists or geologists. More to add to the TBR shelf!