Molly MacRae's "Plaid and Plagiarism"

Molly MacRae spent twenty years in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Upper East Tennessee, where she managed The Book Place, an independent bookstore; may it rest in peace. Before the lure of books hooked her, she was curator of the history museum in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town.

MacRae lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois, where she connects children with books at the public library.

Here MacRae dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, Plaid and Plagiarism:

I’ve had jobs in bookstores and libraries, and both are great places to work. Not only are you surrounded by books, but there’s the added benefit of being surrounded by interesting people—staff and patrons. And by “interesting” I mean worth studying and putting into my own books. It might be difficult (and possibly unpleasant) to ask some of those real people to drop everything and answer a casting call for a movie, though, so thank goodness there are professionals to call on. Here are my picks for the main characters and director of Plaid and Plagiarism, a mystery set in the village of Inversgail on the west coast of Scotland.

Kathy Bates as Janet Marsh, the retired American librarian who dreamed up the offbeat retirement scheme of buying a bookshop in Scotland. Janet is a planner who loves research and books. Kathy Bates will bring intelligence to the role and the right touch of humor.

Dinah Sheridan (as she was twenty or thirty years ago) as Christine Robertson. Christine is Janet’s best friend and new business partner. She’s a Scot who lived in the States for thirty years and is returning to the village where she grew up. Dinah Sheridan was a deft comic actress who could have pulled off Christine’s Queen Elizabeth look perfectly.

Linda Cardellini as Janet’s daughter Tallie Marsh. Tallie is a burnt-out lawyer and law professor. She sees the bookshop enterprise as a refreshing career change. Linda Cardellini has Tallie’s serious, bookish look.

Sarah Michelle Geller as Summer Jacobs. Summer is the fourth bookshop partner. She’s a college friend of Tallie’s, and a newspaperwoman in an age when print newspapers are struggling. She joins the bookshop venture as way of reinventing herself.

Peter Capaldi as Rab MacGregor. Rab is an odd jobs man who comes and goes, appears and disappears, and is reliably unreliable. If Peter Capaldi has time away from filming Doctor Who, he’d make a great Rab.

David Tennant as Constable Norman Hobbs. Hobbs is long-suffering but not without surprises. David Tennant proved he can be a policeman in Broadchurch and showed he’s capable of surprises as another Doctor Who.

Elaine Claxton as Pamela Lawrie who, with her husband Kenneth, are the former owners of the bookshop. Elaine Claxton is a wonderful actress who also happens to be the narrator of the audio version of the book.

John Hannah as Kenneth Lawrie, Pamela’s husband. John Hannah will give Kenneth the right “everyman” appeal.

Jenny Agutter as the victim, Una Graham. Una is the advice columnist—the agony aunt—for the local paper. She’s spiky-haired, sharp-eyed, and acid-tongued, and someone wants her dead. Jenny Agutter is exactly right for the role.

Nigel Cole, who directed the film Saving Grace and several episodes of Doc Martin, would be a brilliant director for Plaid and Plagiarism, the film.

Visit Molly MacRae's website.

--Marshal Zeringue