CULPRITS – the Heist Was Just the Beginning

Zoë Sharp

Four years ago, an email arrived from Richard J Brewer and Gary Phillips, asking me if I would be interested in contributing a short story – of sorts – to a rather unusual anthology they were putting together, entitled CULPRITS: The Heist Was Only The Beginning.

Richard and Gary had come up with the set-up and the opening chapter for a heist story. A crew is brought together to rob a rich Texas cattleman, he told me. They do the job, get the money, and then – as the subtitle suggests – things start to get interesting.

 

And this is where the contributors came in.

 

We were to choose one of the characters and let our imaginations run riot with what happens to them after the heist. Do they get away? Do they get caught? Do they keep the money? Or lose it along with their lives?

 

It was a fascinating idea with a great cast and opening – and an even better line-up of contributors.

 

How could I resist?

 

In fact, the exact words I used in response to Richard’s invitation were, ‘I don't need to think over your proposition. It's a terrific idea and I'm in. Hell yes.’

 

The jacket copy for CULPRITS runs:

 

Some stories are all about the crime. These stories are about the maelstrom of what happens after…

 

A hard-bitten crew of professional thieves pull off the score of their lives, coming away with seven million in cash. Like any heist there are some unforeseen complications, and unfortunately they don’t get away without a few bodies dropping. But despite this, they get away with the swag. Seven million. Enough to change their lives, make new identities, start fresh. But that’s when the real trouble begins…

 

In this unique, riveting, linked anthology, we follow each member of the crew of culprits as they go their separate ways after the heist, and watch as this perfect score ends up a perfect nightmare. Featuring stories penned by acclaimed writers Brett Battles, Gar Anthony Haywood, Zoë Sharp, Manuel Ramos, Jessica Kaye, Joe Clifford, and David Corbett, CULPRITS examines what happens next to these criminals once they take their cut and go their separate ways, only to find that the end of the heist was the beginning of their troubles.

 

The anthology came out from Polis Books in February of 2018 and picked up some great reviews.

 

As it turns out, that wasn’t all it picked up.

 

Yesterday, I got another of those out-of-the-blue emails that put a different perspective on your whole day. Richard wrote to us all to point us in the direction of an announcement in Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter that CULPRITS is on its way to the small screen as a series for Disney+UK.

 

“BAFTA-winning writer Sally Wainwright (‘Happy Valley’, ‘Gentleman Jack’), ‘Killing Eve’ producer Sally Woodward Gentle and producers Faith Penhale (‘Les Miserables’) and Stephen Garrett (‘The Night Manager’) are among the creatives behind Disney Plus’ first scripted slate out of the U.K.”

 

Culprits

“Star Original ‘Culprits’ is a dark comedy heist series from filmmaker J Blakeson (‘I Care A Lot’, ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’). The show follows what happens after a heist, when the crew have gone their separate ways, but are being targeted by a killer one-by-one. Created and directed by Blakeson, the series is executive produced by Garrett and produced by Morenike Williams (‘Killing Eve’). Culprits is a Character 7 production.

 

Noting that work began on ‘Culprits’ a couple of years ago, Garrett said, “We are immensely proud that Disney Plus have decided to make it one of their platform-defining shows. The additional thrill for me is that I’m working with a writer-director at the very top of his game.”

 

The Heist, it seems, really was only the beginning. I’ll be watching with interest to see what they make of our efforts.

 

This week’s Word of the Week is scurryfunge, meaning to hastily rush round tidying the house because company is on the way over.

OK, back to the edits...

The not-so-nice bits of Nice

Zoë Sharp

Writers must make for strange travelling companions. And crime writers must make for the strangest travelling companions of all. Mostly, we are not there simply for the view. When I visit anywhere that I’ve pencilled in as a possible location for a novel, I’m looking for something specific – something that could only happen in that place, or where the place dictates the action to begin with. I generally want to see the grubby backstreets rather than the tourist hotspots.

Take my trip to France earlier this month, for instance. On the homeward leg, I was due to fly out of Nice, which presented the ideal opportunity for some on-the-ground research.

Nice is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean, if you discount the package jets flying into the beachfront airport at regular intervals during the day. The Promenade des Anglais runs from the airport for 7km along the seafront. Known to locals as “La Prom” it is a place to stroll, cycle, skate, or sunbathe, and to be seen doing so. Until the Bastille Day attack of 2016, that is.

I was interested to see a bit of La Prom, but mostly to check what additional security barriers and precautions had been brought in over the last two years. London bridges these days have concrete and steel central reservations worthy of a motorway.

Mainly, though, I wanted to see the harbour. Or, more particularly, the boats therein. Ever since I lived aboard as a child, I’ve been fascinated by yachts, from the traditional to the sleekly modern.

Their ports of registration were interesting to note. The majority were from the Channel Islands or Malta, and the reasons behind that will make intriguing further reading for me, no doubt.

The big money had clearly been spent on power rather than sail, although when you have so many multi-million-pound floating gin palaces about the place, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.

On the far side of the harbour were the smaller local boats. 

And the lovely traditional fishing boats. Is there still a living to be made from tiny crafts like these, I wonder?

And then, of course, was the gated marina, where boats jostle on floating jetties. I’ve always wanted to know just how often some of these ever actually go to sea.

Simply getting in and out of the harbourside involved barriers and cameras, but I get the impression this is more to ensure you pay for your parking than for security.

I haven’t yet mentioned the elephant in the water, which was taking up one whole quay to herself, and that was the Quantum Blue, looming over everything else on the waterfront.

This 340ft mega yacht – or is it a super yacht? – is Russian owned, Channel Islands registered and reputed to have cost $250,000,000. It must be like having a cruise liner all to yourself.

Personally, doing my sailing with engines rather than sails, and five storeys off the water, is not my idea of fun, but thinking about the kind of person who commissioned, bought, and owns this vessel, gets my creative juices flowing.

What about you? Are there any specific bits of a foreign place that always seem to draw you in? What do you look for first?

This week’s Word of the Week is Pantagruelian meaning enormous, and originating in the late 17^th century from Pantagruel, who was the giant in Rabelais’s novel of the same name.

Coming up next week is not really an event as such, but it is the launch of CULPRITS: The Heist Was Just the Beginning, edited by Richard Brewer and Gary Phillips. The book is an anthology, but not in the usual way. The editors wrote the opening set-up – the heist and the complications that followed. The contributors wrote what happened next, and I’m proud to be a part of it. If you're on NetGalley, you can order a copy for review now.