Richard F Hartman

Jane Austen fan Amelia Bennett sneaks away from a dull tour of an English country manor, only to run into a man more dashing than Mr. Darcy himself. About to lose his ancestral home to family debts, charming aristocrat Tom Calder invites his American guest to join him in drinking his way through the estate’s priceless wine collection. But when they wake in his bed the next morning, they’re convinced that in their drunken haze they witnessed a murder. Problem is, the body has vanished and no one believes them.

Obituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn’t mind being called “Lady Death”. It suits the ice queen persona she’s cultivated to survive the fast-paced Toronto Herald. So when Nadine learns that famous (and reclusive) author Dot Voline has died, she doesn’t hesitate to run the obituary…only to discover that Dot is very much alive. Nadine’s screw-up has brought Wesley Chen of the rival Spear no end of joy—she’s been a thorn in his extremely ambitious side for years. But the renewed interest in Dot also surfaced chatter about a mysterious past scandal.

Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.

Dib is an Earthlike planet, only slightly smaller, with shorter days and longer years, in orbit around twin suns. On the continent of Geo, in the city of Velon in the nation of Inimata, a man lies dead in his study. In life, Professor Orno Linus was a world-class scholar: an astrophysicist, a dead-language linguist, and an expert in (and apparent true believer of) the religious concept of the Cull, i.e., the end of the world. Widely respected, nothing about Linus’s expertise suggests somebody might want him dead.

Someone is committing random murders across Chicago—and making sure detectives Billy Harney (Aaron Paul) and Patti Harney (Krysten Ritter) are first on the crime scene. What connects the victims, and why is the killer leaving clues behind with each body? Billy and Patti are scrambling to stop the next killing when their father, Chief of Detectives Dan Harney (Beau Bridges), is kidnapped. But in their race to track him down, they uncover pieces of his past that simply can’t be true. Could their own flesh and blood be covering up a dark secret?

The doorbell rings, just days after my beloved husband’s sudden death. I don’t recognise the woman on our doorstep, with her blonde highlights, a diamond bracelet identical to my own and a bouncing baby boy in her arms. As I show her inside, I notice her eyes grow wide as she takes in our spacious hallway, and the big squashy sofas that we all used to pile on. She glances at the silver-framed family photos and my little daughter hiding behind my skirts. She looks at me, her blue eyes serious. ‘I’m sorry’ she says. ‘I am your husband’s girlfriend. And this is his son.'

Against the backdrop of worldwide, unexplainable natural disasters, Dr. Virginia Marilyn Edwards (Emmy Award-winner Kerry Washington) seeks out Agent Scott Thomas (Emmy Award-winner Laurence Fishburne) at a secretive government headquarters. Virginia claims these events are signs, and unless Agent Thomas helps her, she believes things will only get worse. Her desperation is dialed up higher with a shocking proclamation as she stands before him pregnant, weak, and weary: “Agent Thomas,” she says, “I believe I am Mary.”

What if you could travel back in time 100 years and right the wrongs of the past—would you take the risk? “Sundown: A Time Travel Society Mystery” is a wildly imaginative podcast from Michael Dante DiMartino, the co-creator of the animated classics “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra.” “Sundown” explores the story of a group of teens who go back into the past and uncover secrets about themselves, their families, their town—and America. 17-year-old Darius Hightower (played by Emmy-nominated actor Asante Blackk of “When They See Us”) is just about the only Black person in his small New England town of Norhaven. Adopted by a wealthy white family when he was a baby, Darius has learned to keep his head down and not challenge his family or its history. But when the outspoken Sanaa Starr (played by NAACP Image Award-winner Storm Reid of “Euphoria”) transfers to his high school and starts asking questions, Darius re-examines the truth about his ancestors’ involvement in the town’s most infamous murder. A time capsule from 1920 may hold some clues, but when Norhaven’s most powerful conspire to destroy its contents, it’s up to Darius, Sanaa, and their friends (including “Reservation Dogs” star Devery Jacobs) to investigate what really happened. After a strange incident sends them back 100 years to the scene of the crime, their fact-finding mission becomes life-or-death. Forced to confront their town’s prejudiced past, the teens race against time in order save an innocent man’s life and clear his name. “Sundown” is a sci-fi mystery adventure like you’ve never heard before.

Vivian, a former reporter and a newlywed, doesn’t know what to do with herself after an incident with her husband forces her to question their partnership and her future. Yearning for the ocean air and a sense of home, she retreats to Tybee Island to clear her head and visit her Nana, a retired PI who now struggles with dementia. The phone rings: Catherine Grant, a housewife living in a private development nearby, woke up to find her husband and their baby girl missing, and she is desperate for help.

From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.