"The Last Detective" Series 2 DVD

Series 2 of "The Last Detective" DVD's (based on books by Leslie Thomas)highlights Detective "Dangerous" Davies' considerable skill and doggedness in pursuing a case to the end -- even after all the other detectives have declared a case solved. This series also delves a little more into Davies' marriage and the separation from his wife. The Last Detective is quickly becoming one of my favorite mystery series and I look forward to finding Series 3 to watch next.

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"The Hunter"

I made the mistake of reading Julia Leigh's "Disquiet" before I read her first novel, "The Hunter," and almost didn't read the latter. After reading "The Hunter" in just a few days, I now understand why the forward to this book says Leigh, a thirty-one year old Australian living in Paris, was "included on the London Observer's list of twenty-one writers to watch in the twenty-first century." The story is told from the viewpoint of the protagonist, "The Hunter," and the writing is magnificent. I couldn't set aside the time to spend the day reading it or I would have finished it in one sitting. It's another paperback I picked up from my library's "Best Picks" shelf and I'm glad I did!

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"The Widower's Two-Step"

Although I discovered Rick Riordan because of his Percy Jackson and the Olympians teen series, I then learned he wrote mysteries and I just finished reading the second one in a series (Hint -- read them in order!). The first book, "Big Red Tequila" introduced Tres Navarre as he is returning to his home town of San Antonio after living in California for a number of years. In the second book, "The Widower's Two-Step" he's apprenticed to a female private eye serving his time (at her whim) until he can apply for his own P.I. license. When he's told to back off a case that he's investigating for a friend in the music business, it's not his style to do so -- especially after two murders -- and he becomes embroiled in a case that is much bigger than he anticipated -- a great read!

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Foyle's War

My spouse and I began watching this series when our local PBS station aired it and it quickly became one of our favorite BBC series--for the mysteries and for the historical background. We seem to have missed part of the series, though, so just picked up Set 3 at our local library for our latest date night viewing. Detective Christopher Foyle (played by Michael Kitchen) plays the lead in this series based on historical fact and filmed in England. Although Detective Foyle would love to be part of the war effort, he seems to be destined to stay in Hastings solving local crimes while his son serves in the war as an RAF pilot. Honeysuckle Weeks plays "Sam," the female military driver assigned to squire him around while he's on duty. Sgt. Milner's (Foyle's able assistant)war wounds force him to return home and to his work in the police department helping solve crime on the home front. The story line also does an excellent job of developing the personal lives of all the characters and the impact the war has on each of them as well as the local community and England in general.

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"The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club"

Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in this DVD version (two 90-minute disks) of a Dorothy L. Sayers mystery. Lord Peter is given the task of determining which of two elderly siblings (who died within a few hours of one another) died first -- a matter of inheritance. He also has to determine if foul play was involved in the death of one of the siblings. I was guessing (and changing my mind numerous times) throughout as to whether it was or was not foul play and, if so, who did it? I highly recommend this DVD if you like to play amateur sleuth!

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"The Men Who Stare At Goats"

Jon Ronson write a non-fiction best seller based on true events which was made into this very entertaining, very funny movie. George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Goat do a great job of bringing this story to life as they play what appear to be a group of eccentric men. It's New Age and thought provoking -- What if we did have an army that could fight without killing our enemies and invoking more bloodshed? For additional information on this unit, I recommend watching the segment (after the movie) titled "Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion."
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"The Wives of Henry Oades"

This first novel by Johanna Moran is based on a true story and she has done an excellent job of fleshing out details to tell a fascinating tale. It is the story of Henry Oades and his wife Margaret who set sail from England for New Zealand with their children as part of his employment. All goes well until Margaret and the children are kidnapped by native Maori. Although Henry looks for them, he is unable to locate them and they never return home. Eventually, his despair leads him to leave New Zealand to make a new life for himself in the San Francisco area. He becomes a respected rancher and eventually marries a young widow with a baby to raise. However, the story doesn't end there because Margaret and her children are allowed to leave the Maori when they develop smallpox and they eventually make their way to America to find Henry. As Paul Harvey would say, then comes the "rest of the story." It's a tale of legal battles and who is the rightful wife and how it is all resolved. It's a fascinating, well-written book and I'm sure Book Clubs will also find it ripe for discussion. You can visit the author's blog at www.johannamoran.com.

"Once In Every Life"

This is the second novel I've read by Kristin Hannah and is my favorite so far. The story lines are completely different but they have common threads -well developed relationships (particularly family relationships), romance, suspense and a plot twist. I'm not usually a romance fan so I skimmed over two fairly lengthy sex scenes which didn't really add to the story for me but this book was a quick read that kept me engaged from beginning to end. It's about two lonely people searching for second chances. There was humor, too, that had me laughing out loud at times.
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The Last Detective

Date night this weekend was spent watching Series 1 (4 episodes) of "The Last Detective," based on the Dangerous Davies novels by Leslie Thomas. Davies is played by Peter Davison and his friend, Mod, is played by Sean Hughes.

Episode 1 sets the stage for why Davies is known as "The Last Detective" and the other episodes showcase his ability to doggedly set about to solve cases that no one else wants. Characters are well developed -- his fellow staffers and supervisor at the police station, his estranged wife,his landlady, and his friend, Mod. There's also a touch of humor and interesting sidelights -- like some characters that appear in the background consistently throughout an episode -- more for human interest than anything else because they have nothing really to do with the story line. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and intend to look for Series 2 next. I won't share more because I don't want to give away any plot lines.

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"The Manual of Detection"

This novel by Jedediah Berry is one of the most unique mysteries I've read in a very long time. It is so strange, though, that there were times I thought about just returning it to the library's "best picks" shelf without finishing it. Although it was slow going (I wasn't able to just sit down and read it in a few hours.), I just couldn't give up on it for some reason and by the time I neared the end, I no longer wanted to. Charles Unwin is a clerk at a large detective agency with very segregated departments. Detective Travis Sivart is his charge -- the man he compiles details about -- determining what facts from Sivart's cases will be saved for prosperity in the archives. When he accidentally has direct contact with Detective Sivart (forbidden by agency rules), Charles Unwin's life is turned upside down and he himself is promoted to Detective without a clue as to why or as to what that entails. This is where his adventure begins and where he meets a host of new characters while trying to unravel a mystery along the way. I found the conclusion so satsifactory that it was worth wading my way through the book's beginning.

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"Wit's End"

Although I didn't read Karen Joy Fowler's "The Jane Austen Book Club," I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and have viewed it many times. In fact, I own a copy so I can watch it whenever I want. So...when I spied "Wit's End" at the library, I decided I must read this other book by Fowler.

The story revolves around Rima Lanisell who arrives in California to meet (and stay with for an extended period of time)her legendary godmother (a famous author) as well as recover from a series of personal losses in her life -- most recently her brother and father. The house inhabitants (a housekeeper in addition to the godmother) and its regular visitors are an unusual group of characters. As it turns out, Rima also has a hidden agenda in getting to know her famous godmother -- to gain more information about her father and what, if any, his relationship was with this woman. Along the way she discovers a lot about her godmother and the people she interacts with on a regular basis. I found the story a little difficult to really get into at times but persevered to the end and was highly satisfied with how all the loose ends were resolved. (It had a bit of a mystery within a mystery aspect to solve.) Do I recommend this book -- I'm not really sure. How's that for a very vague review?!

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"Murder Most English"

Murder Most English

My spouse and I found this DVD (based on the book by Colin Watson) at our local library and we found it a delightful mystery series for two date nights! There seem to be a lot of evildoers in Flaxborough and they keep Detective Inspector Purbright and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Love busy solving cases. Detective Purbright has a laid back but persistant method of solving cases and even occasionally gets unsolicited help from a Ms. Teatime.

"True Colors"

This novel by Kristin Hannah is an indepth and insightful look at complicated family relationships -- between sisters, fathers and daughters, sons and fathers, sons and mothers, spouses, and lovers. It's about a miscarriage of justice and the incredible hardship and grief it brings to a family as well as rifts among family members on opposite sides of an issue. As is often the case with siblings, each sister finds her own unique way of dealing with her childhood loss and the coping skills she acquires translate to the type of life she builds for herself as an adult and the way she deals with future losses. The book, though, is also about healing relationships and accepting relationships that can't be healed or changed. It's about being there for one another when it really counts.

The author acknowledges "the various Innocence Projects around the country who fight for justice one case at a time." To learn more about Kristin Hannah and the other books she's written, go to www.kristinhannah.com.

"Death of an Outsider"

This third book in the Constable Hamish Macbeth mystery series by M. C. Beaton was a quick afternoon read. Macbeth has been loaned out to Cnothan while their constable and his wife take a lengthy holiday. The local folk tend to be a little cool towards outsiders but Macbeth is able to thaw a few out and make some friends. Things heat up when a murder occurs. The victim has made so many enemies that there are no lack of suspects. As usual, Detective Chief Inspector Blair and his staff arrive to take over the case but it is Macbeth who solves it in the end while juggling a local romance. Is this the end of his pining for Prescilla Halburton-Smythe? You'll have to read it to find out!

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Detective Inspector Bill Slider

I discovered a new detective series last summer on my library's recommended reading shelf. The Detective Inspector Bill Slider series (www.billslider.com) is authored by Englishwoman, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, who writes with humor and well developed characters.

Her hero, London's Detective Inspector Bill Slider, has a very interesting life outside his profession of solving crimes. I always look forward to reading the next book in the series not only to solve a murder but to see what's happening in Slider's personal life so I highly recommend reading them in order.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has a way of writing that brings her characters to life. My biggest challenge is sometimes figuring out her English humor. That's when I resort to contacting my daughter in England and/or her British husband for help translating from English to American. We may share a common language but what a world of difference at times!

The first book in the series is "Orchestrated Death" where investigating the murder of a beautiful violinist leads Slider and his partner, Atherton,as far afield as Birmingham and disrupts Slider's home life.

The second book, "Death Watch," has Slider and Atherton investigating the death of a man in a fire that may have links to a 20-year-old homicide.

The third book, "Necrochip" (also known as "Death to Go"), provides additional challenges for Slider. While he investigates a murder that takes him to Hammersmith and Notting Hill, he has to deal with a change in supervision back at the station.

The fourth book, "Dead End" (also known as "Grave Music"), takes Slider back to the world of music when he and Atherton investigate a death at the Royal London Philharmonic.

The fifth book, "Blood Lines," keeps Slider in the music world when he investigates the death of a music critic and tries to prevent another murder.

The sixth book, "Killing Time," finds Slider solving the murder of an erotic dancer without Atherton's help because Atherton is in the hospital recovering from an injury sustained while working their last case.

The seventh book, "Shallow Grave," gives us a glimpse into Slider's interest in old homes when he investigates the death of a woman at a famous historian's home.

The eighth book, "Blood Sinister," is the investigation of the death of a journalist who championed the underdog and attacked the police whenever she could. She had enemies in high places who don't want Slider digging too deep.

In the ninth book, "Gone Tomorrow," Slider investigates a death on a children's playground in Shepherd's Bush and becomes involved with all kinds of unsavory and very scary characters as he attempts to solve this murder and the subsequent murders it spawns. At the point of exhaustion due to lack of sleep, Slider has even less time to deal with his increasingly complicated personal life.

The tenth book, "Dear Departed," has Slider investigating the death of a young woman found murdered in a park in broad daylight while the park was full of people. While trying to find out more about the victim, he discovers she led a complicated life - both in terms of her work, her private life, and her family. Was her death that of a notorious serial killer or something else?

The eleventh book, "Game Over," has Slider in the middle of solving a high profile murder that, for once, the major case squad does not want to take off his hands to solve themselves, Slider has his hands full. With his boss and his whole department behind him, he sets out to solve the case while trying to thwart the attempts of a crazed escaped convict threatening violence against him and his family. This English whodunit gets my vote!

The twelfth book is "Fell Purpose."

These books are also available in "Omnibus" versions.

"Bill Slider Omnibus" contains the first three books; "The Second Bill Slider Omnibus" contains the next three books; "The Third Bill Slider Omnibus" has books 7 and 8 while "The Fourth Bill Slider Omnibus" has books 9 and 10.

"Blonde Roots"

"Blonde Roots," a novel by Bernardine Evaristo, is an innovative view of the slave trade and asks the question: What if it were Africans who had enslaved Europeans? What would the slave trade have looked like in that scenario? Evaristo creates a believable,clever,and satirical story following the life of Doris, a young girl kidnapped in England. As the story unfolds, we discover what happened to Doris from the time of her capture to adulthood. We also eventually learn what happened to the parents and sisters she left behind -- a thought-provoking read.

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