A few tasty tidbits as we (finally) make it to the weekend.
1. Spotted on It’s a Crime! (Or a Mystery): the BAFTA TV nominations are out, and the International category includes two series with strong elements of crime – The Bridge and Homeland. They make up half of the nominations (listed below).
The one I want to win…
• The Bridge – Hans Rosenfeldt, Charlotte Sieling, Anders Landstrom, Bo Ehrhardt (Filmlance, Nimbus, ZDF Enterprises/BBC Four)
• Game of Thrones – David Benioff, D.B Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger (HBO/Sky Atlantic)
• Girls – Lena Dunham, Jennie Konner, Judd Apatow (HBO/Sky Atlantic)
• Homeland – Production Team – (20th Century Fox/Channel 4)
The full list with all categories is available here (thank you, Rhian!).
2. The Independent foreign fiction prize 2013 shortlist has been announced, and contains one of the crime narratives I highlighted in an earlier post – Gerbrand Bakker’s The Detour (translated from the Dutch by David Colmer / Harvill Secker).
Publisher description: A Dutch woman rents a remote farm in rural Wales after confessing to an affair with one of her students. In Amsterdam, her stunned husband forms a strange partnership with a detective who agrees to help him trace her. They board the ferry to Hull on Christmas Eve. Back on the farm, a young man out walking with his dog injures himself and stays the night, then ends up staying longer. Yet something is deeply wrong. Does he know what he is getting himself into? And what will happen when her husband and the policeman arrive? The Detour is a deeply moving new novel, shot through with longing and the quiet tragedy of everyday lives.
It all sounds rather existential. I’m intrigued! Here’s the full shortlist, which might need further exploration as well.
3. Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year
I’m getting very excited as crime novels for the 2014 Petrona begin to arrive. Having been away from the university for a while over Easter, I returned to a veritable mountain of packages, and felt like proverbial kid in a sweet shop as I opened them all up.
Petronas on the right; other goodies to the left
The winner of the first Petrona Award will be announced at CrimeFest in Bristol (30. May to 2. June). I’ve just booked my ticket and hotel and am looking forward to it all greatly, not least because this will be my first ever visit to the convention. The programme looks very inviting. Perhaps see you there?
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
Mrs. P. – I wish I could be there. Well, perhaps next year. I know it’ll be a terrific event. Thanks for this excellent roundup.
You’re welcome, Margot. I wish you could be there too. We’ll also have to make sure we meet up one of these days – on one side of the pond or the other…
Am delighted to hear you’ll be at CrimeFest this year and look forward to having a bit more time to speak than our quick chat at Harrogate. It’s a great event, you’ll love it.
Excellent! Glad to hear you’ll be there and look forward very much to having a proper chat.
Kat
In the piece for Swedish Book Review, do you want to give me a strapline for you as per Karen & Sarah?
Barry
Have just replied to you by email, Barry!
Looking forward to crimefest too Kat. The books are arriving in Derbyshire too. My postman hates me – I think he’ll need a big tip at Christmas. The Detour does sound intriguing.
It’ll be good to have a proper Petrona get-together, Sarah – really looking forward to it.
There seem to be quite a few ‘literary’ crime narratives out there. I’ve just finished Gaute Heivoll’s Before I Burn, which was a mix of memoir and crime. Perhaps your postman has already lugged this your way?!
Hi yes – I’m half way through it. I was reading ‘Two Soldiers’ which is good, but not really my style so I’ve switched books for a while. Looking forward to the get together!
See you then!
Thanks for the mention. I have my eye on that Gerbrand Bakker…
Me too. Intrigued by that Welsh connection too 🙂