The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

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Cactus TV turns to crime writing

02.05.08 Anna Richardson

ITV3 has teamed up with Cactus TV to launch a six-week Crime Thriller Season this autumn, culminating in televised ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards to celebrate crime fiction in film, TV and books.

Cactus has support from major publishers and retailers to promote the season, with posters and stickered books to be placed in shops and supermarkets.

Launching with an event at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival (17th–20th July), the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards will focus on the best of British and international crime novels, with around 15 categories in books, film and TV. The winners will be voted for by a panel of publishing industry figures, with an ITV3 viewers’ choice award for the top crime author.

ITV3 will also broadcast six weeks of crime dramas in the run-up to the awards. Each week will begin with a documentary profiling one of six crime writers—Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, P D James, Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell. Viewers of ITV3 will then be able to vote between these authors to select the author who will win the first ITV3 Award for Classic TV Crime Drama.

Cactus TV m.d. Amanda Ross said: “This is the most popular genre of fiction, these authors are responsible for some of the most popular entertainment, books, film and TV so it’s fantastic to give them the recognition they deserve."

She is also expecting strong international support for the awards. "The big American authors like John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell have told us there’s nothing like this anywhere in the world," she explained.

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