John Banville To Write New Philip Marlowe Novel

John Banville, who recently finished his novel Ancient Light will be writing a Philip Marlowe novel under his pen name of Benjamin Black. It would be the first novel featuring the character created by Raymond Chandler since 1991, when Robert B. Parker wrote the novel Perchance to Dream.

“This all happened very speedily, in a matter of a few weeks,” Banville said of the deal to write a Philip Marlowe character. “Some years ago my agent, Ed Victor, had come up with the idea that I might write a Philip Marlowe novel, but the terms at the time weren’t right. In the meantime the Chandler estate changed hands, and suddenly I found myself committing to what is a daunting project. (more…)

Order of Inspector Banks Books

Inspector Alan Banks is a fictional character featured in a series of novels as well as short stories by English-Canadian author Peter Robinson. After working in the Unsolved Crime Squad for the Metropolitan Police in London, Banks got sick and tired of the materialism of the big city, packed his bags and left for the (fictional) town of Eastvale near Yorkshire. He works there as Detective Chief Inspector. The series has been adapted into a television series by ITV called DCI Banks, with the title character played by Stephen Tompkinson. (more…)

Order of Peter Robinson Books

Peter Robinson was an English-Canadian author of crime fiction. Robinson’s main character was Inspector Alan Banks, who works as a the DCI in a fictional town outside of Yorkshire. Robinson left England for Canada in 1974, where he occasionally teaches crime writing at the University of Toronto. (more…)

Order of Erica Spindler Books

Erica Spindler is an American author of romantic thriller novels. Erica found herself sick in bed, tired of daytime TV and decided to pick up a romance novel. From then on, she was hooked. Soon after, she tried her own hand at writing them. In 1996, she moved to suspense with the novel Forbidden Fruit. (more…)

Order of Griffin Powell Books

Griffin Powell is a series of romantic suspense novels by American author Beverly Barton, featuring the Griffin Powell character. (more…)

Order of The Protectors Books

The Protectors is a series of romantic suspense novels by American author Beverly Barton. The series was created for the Silhouette Intimate Moments imprint of Harlequin. Although mostly unconnected, the overall connecting theme of the series is a man keeping his woman safe. (more…)

Order of Beverly Barton Books

Beverly Barton (1946-2011) was an American novelist of romance and romantic suspense novels. She is perhaps best known for her series The Protectors, but she also wrote the Griffin Powell series, the Cherokee Pointe trilogy, the 3 Babies for 3 Brothers trilogy and many standalone novels. She passed away due to heart failure in April of 2011. (more…)

Philip Seymour Hoffman Sinking Teeth Into “The Hunger Games”

Now that he’s been cast as Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in the film version of Catching Fire, Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is now rushing to read the Suzanne Collins books after enjoying the film script.

“It’s a great group of actors. It’s a great environment. And the character was something I was attracted to. It was just an interesting role,” Hoffman told Entertainment Weekly. (more…)

Order of Philip Marlowe Books

Philip Marlowe is a fictional detective created by American author Raymond Chandler, and was later written by Robert B. Parker and Benjamin Black. The Philip Marlowe series is a hardboiled detective fiction series that actually started out as a series of short stories. Chandler would later cannibalize these stories into the first (and most famous) novel of the series, The Big Sleep. In 1946, The Big Sleep would be adapted into a film directed by Howard Hawks starring Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe. Other actors who would play the character in adaptations were Dick Powell, Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Elliot Gould and Robert Mitchum. (more…)

London’s Agatha Christie Memorial Gets Go-Ahead

A London memorial to the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, has been given the go ahead. The statue will be sculpted by Ben Twiston-Davies and will be placed in Covent Garden, between Great Newport Street and Cranbourn Street in the heart of London’s theatreland.

The bronze statue has been commissioned by The Mousetrap play’s producer Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and Mathew Prichard (Christie’s grandson) and be in the shape of a large book. Inside the book will be the statue of the novelist. (more…)