G. M. Malliet's "Death and the Final Cut"

G. M. Malliet is the Agatha Award–winning author of the St. Just mysteries. She lives on the East Coast of the U.S. but dreams of living in the U.K.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Death and the Final Cut: St. Just Mystery #7:

If Death and the Final Cut makes it to the screen, I can predict the opening shot: the ancient stones of Cambridge’s Round Church faintly glowing in nightlight, its peace about to be shattered by ambitious actors, a frazzled camera crew, and bloody murder.

Hollywood has descended on the University of Cambridge to film Viking Bride, starring once-famous actress Agnes Dermont in what’s meant to be her big comeback. But the project quickly dissolves into farce—an overworked script, an overwrought leading lady, and a general disregard for historical accuracy.

Then a prop Viking knife turns out to be real, and poor Agnes is found with it buried in her chest.

Enter Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just. A stalwart, quietly decent policeman in his forties, St. Just tries to apply a steady moral compass to a world gone mad. Assisted (and sometimes challenged) by his fiancée, criminologist Portia De’Ath, he navigates a minefield of jealousies and tabloid-worthy secrets as he searches for the truth. Though set in present-day Cambridge, the tone is Golden Age / Agatha Christie whodunit.

My Dream Cast

St. Just should be easy to cast, as I’ve described him vaguely as a large policeman with a head full of dark hair! While my choices have had to change over the years, Chris Evans might now make a good St. Just. He has that rare mix of intelligence, restraint, and quiet wit—a man whose stillness makes people underestimate him.

For Portia, I picture Emily Blunt—graceful, sharp-eyed, and capable of tenderness and patience—the sort of vast patience required of any woman betrothed to a policeman. (Their wedding date keeps getting pushed forward.)

Emily will, however, have to cut her hair short for the part.

The ill-fated actress Agnes Dermont calls for someone who can play fading glamour with heartbreaking accuracy. Cate Blanchett (although not that old!) could capture Agnes’s brittle charm, her lingering vanity, and the slight madness of a woman watching her fame slip away.

The film’s handsome director—in over his head with this film—could be played by any of a dozen too-handsome Hollywood actors, while Jodie Comer could play the too-perfect ingénue a bit too eager to step into Agnes’s shoes.

My Dream Director

For director, I’d love to see Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion) bringing a witty, contemporary spin to the classic whodunit form, balancing humor with tension. And for a Brideshead element, Julian Fellowes of Gosford Park fame, of course. (That is still one of my favorite films—I’ve viewed it a dozen times.) At its heart, Death and the Final Cut is—above all the other books in the series—about performance and pretense. Everyone in this story is acting for their lives, because there’s just so much money and reputation riding on the outcome.

Visit G. M. Malliet's website, Facebook page, and Instagram home.

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--Marshal Zeringue