Sunday, 28 November 2010
altOne of my new favorite TV shows is old to many viewers.
Luther is one of the grittiest, darkest police dramas to come around in a while. It's also one of the most fascinating.
Luther, now airing on BBC America, stars Idris Elba as Luther, an intelligent detective whose own torments mirror those of the criminals he hunts. Luther is emotional, impulsive and prone to take the law into his own hands. He is both appealing and repulsive and
impossible to resist.
Luther is as much a psychological thriller as it is a police procedural, giving an insider's view to the mean streets of London.
The smart scripts are matched by the insightful performance by Elba, who also was so wonderful as Stringer Bell in HBO's brilliant series The Wire.
Luther airs on BBC America on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and 9 p.m. CST.
The finale is tonight, Nov. 28. And judging from last week's amazing, emotional roller coaster, this should be quite an episode. (For those trying to catch up, Luther is available On Demand.)
Luther on Bbc America
Oline Cogdill
luther-on-bbc-america
altOne of my new favorite TV shows is old to many viewers.
Luther is one of the grittiest, darkest police dramas to come around in a while. It's also one of the most fascinating.
Luther, now airing on BBC America, stars Idris Elba as Luther, an intelligent detective whose own torments mirror those of the criminals he hunts. Luther is emotional, impulsive and prone to take the law into his own hands. He is both appealing and repulsive and
impossible to resist.
Luther is as much a psychological thriller as it is a police procedural, giving an insider's view to the mean streets of London.
The smart scripts are matched by the insightful performance by Elba, who also was so wonderful as Stringer Bell in HBO's brilliant series The Wire.
Luther airs on BBC America on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and 9 p.m. CST.
The finale is tonight, Nov. 28. And judging from last week's amazing, emotional roller coaster, this should be quite an episode. (For those trying to catch up, Luther is available On Demand.)
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
titleAs I have written about countless times, I love finding those inside jokes in mysteries. It never fails to make me smile to read about a character reading another author's work. It's a nice homage from one author to another.
Bruce DeSilva's debut novel Rogue Island is loaded with these references. DeSilva's hero is old-school newspaperman Liam Mulligan, who covers Providence, Rhode Island. He grew up in the area and knows every inch of his hometown as well as being
on a first-name basis with mobsters, bookies, cops, fire fighters, attorneys and strippers – mainly from his childhood.
Liam also is an avid reader. During the course of Rogue Island, Liam shows his good taste in novels with references to Dennis Lehane, Robert Parker, Ken Bruen and Tim Dorsey.
But tough-guy Liam draws the line at poetry. When a friend begins to read a slim volume of poetry by Boston poet Patricia Smith, Liam calls her "some lame poet." In the next scene balks when his lady friend wants to read aloud some of Smith's work.
But when he hears the poem -- which DeSilva includes -- he quickly changes his mind about poetry. Liam also wants to see the poet's photo and calls Smith "hot."
alt
I doubt that Smith's husband would object to Liam calling her "hot" because she is married to DeSilva. And I am sure that by now Smith has forgiven Liam for calling her lame, because she is anything but. This reference is an amusing way for DeSilva to pay homage to his wife's work and it also fits nicely in the story.
Patricia Smith is an award-winning poet and performance artist and a four-time national individual champion of the notorious Poetry National Slam.
In his debut, DeSilva, former Associated Press reporter, delivers a strong, well-plotted
mystery. Rogue Island looks at organized crime, political conspiracies and the newspaper industry. And a bit of poetry, too.
PHOTO: Patricia Smith and Bruce DeSilva in San Francisco
Bruce Desilva's Rogue Island Poetic Turn
Oline Cogdill
bruce-desilvas-rogue-island-poetic-turn
titleAs I have written about countless times, I love finding those inside jokes in mysteries. It never fails to make me smile to read about a character reading another author's work. It's a nice homage from one author to another.
Bruce DeSilva's debut novel Rogue Island is loaded with these references. DeSilva's hero is old-school newspaperman Liam Mulligan, who covers Providence, Rhode Island. He grew up in the area and knows every inch of his hometown as well as being
on a first-name basis with mobsters, bookies, cops, fire fighters, attorneys and strippers – mainly from his childhood.
Liam also is an avid reader. During the course of Rogue Island, Liam shows his good taste in novels with references to Dennis Lehane, Robert Parker, Ken Bruen and Tim Dorsey.
But tough-guy Liam draws the line at poetry. When a friend begins to read a slim volume of poetry by Boston poet Patricia Smith, Liam calls her "some lame poet." In the next scene balks when his lady friend wants to read aloud some of Smith's work.
But when he hears the poem -- which DeSilva includes -- he quickly changes his mind about poetry. Liam also wants to see the poet's photo and calls Smith "hot."
alt
I doubt that Smith's husband would object to Liam calling her "hot" because she is married to DeSilva. And I am sure that by now Smith has forgiven Liam for calling her lame, because she is anything but. This reference is an amusing way for DeSilva to pay homage to his wife's work and it also fits nicely in the story.
Patricia Smith is an award-winning poet and performance artist and a four-time national individual champion of the notorious Poetry National Slam.
In his debut, DeSilva, former Associated Press reporter, delivers a strong, well-plotted
mystery. Rogue Island looks at organized crime, political conspiracies and the newspaper industry. And a bit of poetry, too.
PHOTO: Patricia Smith and Bruce DeSilva in San Francisco
Sunday, 21 November 2010
altNot every part of an interview makes it into the final story. It just can't. There is never enough space to include every topic, every quote, every bon mot that comes out during the course of an interview.
I often ask a lot of questions and try to include as much in an author profile to give the reader a good sense of who that person is. But still, so much is left on the cutting floor.
During my interview with Kathy Reichs, which is the cover story of the Fall 2010 issue of Mystery Scene, she and I talked a lot of about science.
Reichs writes the novels about Temperance Brennan, a fortysomething forensics anthropologist who returns in the newly released Spider Bones. That mirrors Reichs other occupation. Dr. Reichs, who received her PhD. at Northwestern University, is one of only 82 forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina, and continues to do so for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec, both of which she weaves in her novels.
So making sure the science aspects of her novels is correct is very important to Reichs. I wondered how her colleagues view her work.
"I get a lot of positive feedback from my scientific colleagues," she said. "It very gratifying to hear from medical school professors or my other colleagues that they like the books. The best thing I can hear is about my books is 'you got it right.' That is so rewarding for me."

Kathy Reichs and Science
Oline Cogdill
kathy-reiches-and-science
altNot every part of an interview makes it into the final story. It just can't. There is never enough space to include every topic, every quote, every bon mot that comes out during the course of an interview.
I often ask a lot of questions and try to include as much in an author profile to give the reader a good sense of who that person is. But still, so much is left on the cutting floor.
During my interview with Kathy Reichs, which is the cover story of the Fall 2010 issue of Mystery Scene, she and I talked a lot of about science.
Reichs writes the novels about Temperance Brennan, a fortysomething forensics anthropologist who returns in the newly released Spider Bones. That mirrors Reichs other occupation. Dr. Reichs, who received her PhD. at Northwestern University, is one of only 82 forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina, and continues to do so for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec, both of which she weaves in her novels.
So making sure the science aspects of her novels is correct is very important to Reichs. I wondered how her colleagues view her work.
"I get a lot of positive feedback from my scientific colleagues," she said. "It very gratifying to hear from medical school professors or my other colleagues that they like the books. The best thing I can hear is about my books is 'you got it right.' That is so rewarding for me."