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Place of Execution on PBS, part two

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Those of you who watched last week’s first installment of Place of Execution on PBS, know how well this novel by Val McDermid translated to film.

Those who haven’t seen it yet – I promise not to give anything away.

Lee Ingleby, left, Philip Jackson. PBS photo

The second part of Place of Execution airs Sunday Nov. 8 at 9 p.m. Check your local PBS listings. (Note, the novel is A Place of Execution but the filmed version is Place of Execution…I don’t know why)

McDermid’s 2000 novel remains one of my favorites. This story of a young girl’s disappearance in a remote village and the ramifications it has is the perfect mesh of police procedural, English village mystery and social novel. When people ask me for a recommendation – regardless of age, sex or tastes – A Place of Execution is one of the first one I mention.

McDermid shows that an author doesn’t have to use profanity or violence to weave an enthralling story with plot twists and a shocking finale.

Here’s the plot of A Place of Execution:

In 1963, Alison Carter goes for an after-school walk with her dog and never returns. Alison lives with her mother and wealthy stepfather in the small English village of Scardale where the residents are hardworking, close-knit families. The investigation falls to young detective George Bennett whose handling of the case will eventually make his career. About 40 years later, journalist Catherine is writing a book about the crime but near her deadline George abruptly pulls out of the project.

In the film version, a few things are changed but nothing that harms the novel and, in fact, make it a better movie version. While the novel kept the 1963 scenes and the contemporary scenes separate, the filmed version overlaps the two. Instead of a print journalist, Catherine now makes documentaries, which, again, enhances this screen version.

George Bennett is played by Lee Ingleby and Catherine Heathcote is played by Juliet Stevenson (Truly Madly Deeply, The Politician’s Wife).

The filmed version of Place of Execution does justice to a terrific novel.

And if you miss it again, it is available on DVD. And buy the book, too.

Posted in PBS, Val McDermid | 2,332 Comments »

Place of Execution on PBS

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Some novels stick in a reader’s psyche years after that first read.

Val McDermid

For me, British writer Val McDermid’s masterpiece A Place of Execution is one of those novels.

A Place of Execution is more than the story of the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl in 1963 and a reporter’s overview of this crime more than 40 years later.

In this novel, McDermid expertly blended the old-fashioned English village mystery with a contemporary story for a thoughtful look at crime, punishment and retribution.

In my initial review of this 2000 novel, I said “A Place of Execution is much more than a novel about one crime — the disappearance of a teen-ager. It is equally about the tragedy of a family, the violation of a village and the loss of innocence of an entire country. Flawlessly executed, A Place of Execution deserves its place as one of the best mysteries of this year.”

Greg Wise, Juliet Stevenson; PBS photo

Happily, that McDermid’s novel flawlessly translates to the screen. Place of Execution will air as part of PBS’ Masterpiece Contemporary series. It is scheduled to air in two parts – at 9 p.m. Sunday Nov. 1 and Sunday Nov. 8. Check your local listings.

For cinematic reasons, some liberties are taken with the novel – but not with the plot. Those who have read the novel will find the film a wonderful complement to the printed word. Those who have never read the book will be engrossed in the gripping mystery.

In 1963, Alison Carter goes for an after-school walk with her dog and never returns. Alison lives with her mother and wealthy stepfather (Greg Wise) in the small English village of Scardale of hardworking, close-knit families.

The investigation falls to young detective George Bennett (Lee Ingleby) whose handling of the case will eventually make his career.

Lee Ingleby

About 40 years later, journalist Catherine Heathcote (Juliet Stevenson, Truly Madly Deeply, The Politician’s Wife) is making a film about the crime and uncovers more evidence that causes George to abruptly pull out of the project.

In the novel, the 1963 disappearance and Catherine’s contemporary reporting are two separate novellas. Catherine is working on a true-crime manuscript about the crime and her story is only a fraction of the novel.

In the PBS movie, Catherine’s reporting and personal crisis are woven into flashbacks about the crime and how it was handled. This works perfectly for the filmed version, allowing Place of Execution to breathe as a film and enhance the story. (I don’t know why the novel A Place of Execution lost its “a” to become Place of Execution as a film.)

Place of Execution is a fine two-part series that does justice to an even finer novel.

Posted in PBS, Uncategorized, Val McDermid | 2,740 Comments »

First book it, then see it

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

I started to ramble on to a question raised by one of our intelligent readers and authors, Deborah Shlian, about whether it’s better to see the filmed version before reading a book.

The question came up in the blog about The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency that starts March 29 on HBO, with numerous encores planned.

I think that the beautifully filmed and acted The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency can be enjoyed by those who have not yet read the novels as well as those who helped make them bestsellers.

But the filmed version of Alexander McCall Smith’s novels are an exception.

Most of the time, it’s obvious to me – read the novel, savor the novel, enjoy the novel. Then, if there is a filmed version, see it but realize that no film version can match the intricacies of the novel.

First, there’s the reality of time. An averaged-sized novel would be too long to be filmed entirely for the movies; not even a miniseries could capture all the nuances of a novel.

And it’s that word nuances that really matters.

Authors feature wonderful large and small nuances about their characters, scenery, plot and dialogue.

The best novel to screen projects are those that capture the essence of the book.

They show you through talented actors and directing the essence of what the characters are thinking and respect the source material.

(For another perspective on this, be sure to read Kevin Burton Smith’s excellent article “The Casting Couch” on casting mystery characters in film and television in Mystery Scene’s upcoming Spring issue.)

Mystic River was an excellent filmed version of Dennis Lehane’s novel. The cast, including Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, and Laura Linney, could not have been better.

Anyone could see that movie and be satisfied.

But they would have missed Lehane’s nuances. Like those lovely paragraphs talking about the fathers who worked in the candy factory and “carried the stench of warm chocolate back home with them.” Because of that, Sean Devine and Jimmy Marcus “developed a hatred of sweets so total” they never had dessert.

Or the line “Brendan Harris loved Katie Marcus like crazy, loved her like movie love…,” which Lehane once said was one of the first lines he wrote for Mystic River.

Imagine James Crumley’s 1978 The Last Good Kiss as a film. Sure it would make a great action film.

And the first scene would have to be of a man and a bulldog drinking in a falling down bar.

But could any film capture what is considered to be one of the best beginnings of any novel?

“When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.”

Sometimes there isn’t even an attempt to capture that essences of a novel. Take Michael Connelly’s Blood Work, a good novel, a mediocre film.

Or Burglar, based on Lawrence Block’s funny Bernie the Burglar novels. I mean really….did anyone in their right mind imagine Whoopi Goldberg as Bernie?

But let’s end this on a positive note.

Those that do work include Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels reimagined as HBO’s True Blood and Ian Rankin’s John Rebus novels shown on BBC America as Rebus, now available on Acorn Media.

I also am looking forward to seeing Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution, which got nothing but rave reviews when it was shown on television last year in England.

Surely I have missed some. What do you think?

Posted in Alexander McCall Smith, Charlaine Harris, Dennis Lehane, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Val McDermid | 1,710 Comments »

An in-joke from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

I always get a kick out of seeing those little inside jokes in mysteries.

Linda Fairstein always has a tribute to her husband in each of her novels.

Alafair Burke once had one of her characters call Louisiana police detective Dave Robicheaux, the hero of James Lee Burke’s series. James Lee and Alafair Burke, as you well know, are father and daughter.

One of the latest in-jokes I came across was in the late Stieg Larsson’s brilliant The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I recently listened to Larsson’s debut on audio (I also read it last year).

During the course of the novel, the lead character, disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist reads to relax.

Don’t we all.

One of the novels Blomkvist reads is Val McDermid’s Wire in the Blood and he also offers a little (positive) review.

As soon as he is done with McDermid’s novel, Blomkvist picks up a novel by Sara Paretsky.

It works because Blomkvist is an intelligent, articulate and well-read man. So naturally he reads mysteries.

Any inside jokes or homages to other authors that you’ve seen lately?

Posted in Uncategorized, Val McDermid | 3,125 Comments »

ON THE ROAD WITH INTERNATIONAL MYSTERIES

Monday, February 16th, 2009

I may never get to Norway. I’d like to someday. There’s not much stopping me, frankly.

But as I get older, I realize that there are so many places I want to visit, so little time and that one has to sacrifice some places to enjoy others.

My father used to tell me you can’t do everything in this world. Took me a long time to believe him.

Instead, mysteries have given me the chance to vicariously visit the world. That’s why when I am asked to review a mystery set in a foreign country, I seldom turn it down.

So Jo Nesbo’s Nemesis gave me a view of Norway that was off the beaten path, showing the country and Oslo in particular as only an insider can. Amaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir have brought me to Iceland. Cara Black to Paris. The list is endless.

I’ve been in London and England nearly a dozen times and for years I have relished novels written by authors from the United Kingdom about their countries. Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Peter Robinson, and Ian Rankin have given us insider’s views of England and Scotland. Declan Hughes’ The Wrong Kind of Blood opened up Ireland to me.

McDermid’s latest novel, A Darker Domain, not only showed me a part of Scotland that few know exist, but also took me on a side trip to Italy.

A few months ago while getting ready for a cruise that would go to England, France and Ireland, then trans-Atlantic to Canada, I packed the essentials. Oh, yeah, sure, clothes, make up and money were already in the suitcase.

I am talking about the real essentials of any trip – books. The cruise was 12 days and I worried that I was only packing 12 mysteries. (For the record, 12 novels taken, 12 read; had my suitcase been able to handle more I would have taken another five as I did run out of books. GASP!)

It wasn’t until I was in England that I realized that subconsciously every mystery I had chosen was written by a U.K. author. So while I was in London, I was reading Mark Billingham’s stand alone, In the Dark, Mo Hayder’s Ritual and Kate Atchinson’s When Will There Be Good News?

Aside from the thrilling plots and complex characters, mysteries sometimes act as travelogues.
So I wonder what foreign set novels have given you an unusual glimpse of a country or city?

Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, Cara Black, Declan Hughes, Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Kate Atchinson, Mark Billingham, Mo Hayder, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Yrsa Sigurdardottir | 1,697 Comments »