READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN

Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
Fans of dour detectives -- rejoice!
Published: 7/18/2008 2:18 PM
Last Modified: 7/18/2008 2:18 PM

I received a press release announcing the offering for PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery" season for 2009, which states that Agatha Christie's two most famous characters will return in new episodes -- David Suchet again portraying Hercule Poirot, and Julia McKenzie as the latest incarnation of Miss Jane Marple.

But the real news is that Kenneth Branagh will star in a series of films based on the novels of Henning Mankell.

Mankell is a Swedish novelist whose novels about Kurt Wallander, who operates in the small town of Ystaad, kick-start the current boom in Scandinavian mysteries. Wallander is a fascinatingly complex, and yet recognizably down-to-earth character, and Mankell's novels manage to capture the often crushing routine of police work while never losing narrative momentum. Mankell is one of those authors who is very good at creating a sense of dread -- we vividly remember passages of "The Fifth Woman," in which you know various hunters and their prey are all converging in one place, that were almost unbearably suspenseful.

I wasn't terribly impressed with what Branagh did with his recent "re-invention" of Anthony Shaffer's "Sleuth," but for the most part I've found his work to be worthwhile, from the mini-series "Fortunes of War," to his great Shakespeare films ("Much Ado...," "Henry V," "Hamlet") to his turn as an American private eye in "Dead Again."

The series will feature adaptations of "Sidetracked," "One Step Beyond" and "Firewall" -- novels that are in the middle of the series -- and will air on PBS in the summer of 2009.

Fortunately, there are 10 Wallander novels available in English in the U.S. Now's the time to start reading....






Reader Comments


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

Subscribe to this blog


Archive

 
James D. Watts Jr's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  








Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise | Privacy
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.