The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

2013 PBS Masterpiece Mystery Schedule

Yikes! I don’t know how this happened, but I didn’t get this post put up in time to tell you about the Inspector Lewis, series VI starting this past Sunday night. If these times aren’t convenient for you, check to see when your local PBS station re-runs the shows.

2013 PBS Masterpiece Mystery line up:

INSPECTOR LEWIS, Series VI (all of the shows are 90 minutes long and are slated to run at 9:00 Eastern time zone)
Yes, Inspector Lewis (Kevin Whately) and his trusty Detective Sergeant Hathaway (Laurence Fox) are back on the job!

June 16, 2013 —– Down Among the Fearful

June 23, 2013 —– The Ramblin’ Boy
Actually, D.S. Hathaway is on vacation…

June 30, 2013 —– Intelligent Design
(Do you see the family likeness between Edward and Lawrence Fox?)

ENDEAVOR, Series I (all of the shows are 90 minutes long and are slated to run at 9:00 Eastern time zone)
Detective Inspector Fred Thursday (Roger Allum) helps mold Detective Constable Endeavor Morse (Shaun Evans) into the Morse (John Thaw) we all came to love. (Abigail Thaw, John Thaw’s daughter, is a special guest star – playing Dorothea Frazil.)

July 7, 2013 —–  Girl

July 14, 2013 —– Fugue

July 21, 2013 —– Rocket

July 28, 2013 —– Home

August 18, 2013 The Lady Vanishes  (90 minutes long and slated to run at 9:00 Eastern time zone)

SILK  (all of the shows are 2 hours long and are slated to run at 9:00 Eastern time zone)
(I’m not sure what this mystery show is about, however, it looks like it is a court room drama.)

August 25, 2013 —– Silk, Part 1

September 1, 2013 —– Silk, Part 2

September 8, 2013 —– Silk, Part 3 

FOYLE’S WAR, Series VII (all of the shows are 90 minutes long and are slated to run at 9:00 Eastern time zone)
It’s now 1946, and Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) has returned from America, and is ready to take on crime in England! Lucky for us, he will be reuniting with Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks)!

September 15, 2013 —– The Eternity Ring

September 22, 2013 —– The Cage

September 29, 2013 —– Sunflower

Looks like a great PBS Mystery! season – or should I say Masterpiece Mystery?

A Touch of Frost Television Series

A Touch of Frost is yet another example of a British police procedural television show that (to me) makes most of these types of shows made in the USA look overly ambitious and… if you’ll excuse me for saying… idiotic.

A Touch of Frost began airing in 1992 and continued many years after that (2010). The shows are based on the mystery books by author R. D. Wingfield. I have read several of Wingfield’s mysteries, and highly recommend them to people who want to read a really good police procedural series. Unfortunately, there are only six in this mystery series.

The always-entertaining actor, David Jason, portrays  Detective Inspector Jack Frost. This is another example of an actor who made the part his own, much like John Thaw in the British Inspector Morse television series. (See what I mean?!? Bravo to the Brits!)

I think what I like the most about A Touch of Frost is the interaction Jack has with everyone – both his superiors and his subordinates, as well as the individuals he interviews. Frost isn’t the most patient man, but his character exudes an incredible amount of empathy for others, which in a lot of  television police procedurals is lacking.

He is a great detective, as well as a wonderful teacher. For some reason, Frost seems to be assigned a lot of young “newbies” to teach the ropes to. Unfortunately, some of Jack’s “ropes” include tip-toeing down the hallways to avoid his superiors (more on that later) as well as leaving piles of unfinished paperwork on his desk.

Frost’s permanent sergeant is Detective Sergeant George Toolan, played by John Lyons. There is a great rapport between these two men. However, the most interesting interaction for me is between Jack and the young detectives assigned to him. While Jack seems gruff with them, he actually is a perfect teacher for them. I always feel like those young detectives have benefited immensely from their time with unconventional and independent Jack.

As in a lot of police procedural television shows, Jack and his boss (Superintendent Mullett – played by Bruce Alexander) don’t see eye to eye. As a matter of fact, if Jack sees his boss before Mullett sees him, Jack makes it a point to slip out/hide/leave very quickly… before Mullett sees him. This makes for some comedic scenes.

My husband and two adult children watched the entire series, which of course indicates that we like it. There is one minor qualm we have with the show: for some reason, Jack invariably runs after culprits.. literally! We didn’t notice this until the final seasons of the show. We would find ourselves wondering when Jack would start running after the robust, young criminals, and when he would overtake them. (Did I mention that Jack is not a young man?) Jack would run up stairs, down stairs, through corridors with obstacles being thrown at him, etc. (Or should I say ETC?!? As in capital etc!) While I always enjoy David Jason, and I must admit he has kept himself very trim, we just found it a little odd that a man of his age could tackle/catch men one third his age. We couldn’t quite understand why the director decided to include these action-filled chase scenes.

Regardless, we all truly enjoyed A Touch of Frost, and I highly recommend it.

For more Cozy viewing ideas, click on my Cozy Mystery TV & Movies page.

Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder

Julian Fellowes Investigates - A Most Mysterious Murder Before leaving home, my husband and I started watching Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder.  Written and presented by Academy-award winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, A Most Mysterious Murder is a five episode “docudrama”, a crime drama based off of real-world unsolved murder mysteries.

Each episode of A Most Mysterious Murder is completely self-contained.  The only character appearing in each is Julian Fellowes, who narrates the episode and presents the possible solution he feels most fits the evidence available.  He also has writing credits on each episode.  The rest of the acting stands up as well.

Production values are very high.  The periods shown feel authentic, the costuming, sets, and language all giving a strong feeling of immersion in the appropriate atmosphere to the time.  According to what I’ve read elsewhere, the actual locations where the crimes were committed were used when possible, leading to an extra level of authenticity that would be hard to beat.

So far I’ve only seen the first two episodes of the five episode series, but what I’ve seen so far leaves me confident in recommending this for most cozy fans.  A Most Mysterious Murder isn’t completely fiction, so it isn’t a cozy but the episodes so far have shared a lot in common with cozies.

The first episode was a bit better than the second, and the solution provided seemed a bit more clever.  That said, the other episode I’ve seen was also very good, just not quite as strong as the first.

Overall this seems like a series I would definitely recommend.  I’ll post in later if the rest of the episodes go downhill, but for now I feel confident in saying that most cozy fans interested in some real-world unsolved murder cases should find a lot to like in Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder. 

P.S. >>> Julian Fellowes won an Academy Award for his writing and original screenplay for the 2001 movie Gosford Park. He also is the creator, executive producer, and writer for the very popular Downton Abbey television series.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for April 2013

I should preface this with: all of these movies are on the Turner Classic Movie channel. I get their television movie guide (thanks to AndieP telling us about it) and go through it each month so that I can catch the movies I think my husband and I will like. The movies I’m going to list are all mysteries, except for one that I have seen (twice) which I will probably watch again!

I haven’t seen all of the movies I’m going to tell you about, so I can’t vouch for all of them. They look like they might be right up our mystery-loving alleys! Also, I believe I am giving you all of the times in Central zone, but you should probably check.

Hurry quick! I’m sorry I didn’t write this entry a little earlier, and know I’m not giving you much time, but tonight Sleuth will be on.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

SLEUTH (1972)  7:00 PM (Central)
A mystery novelist plots revenge on his wife’s lover.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cast: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alex Cawthorne.
C-138 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday, April 13, 2013

THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP (1937)  9:45 AM (Central)
Perry Mason tries to find out if a long-lost heiress is the real thing.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Donald Woods, Ann Dvorak, Anne Nagel.
BW-71 mins, TV-G

MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963)  11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple suspects foul play when an old friend is supposedly scared to death by a cat. (***As an aside, this is not the Miss Marple you are expecting. Very campy!***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Robert Morley, Flora Robson.
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948)    9:15 PM (Central)
Set to music, a symphony conductor envisions multiple possible scenarios for dealing with his wife’s infidelity.
Dir: Preston Sturges Cast: Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee.
BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC,

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday, April 14, 2013

THE LADY VANISHES (1938)    7:00 AM (Central)
A young woman on vacation triggers an international incident when she tries to track an elderly friend who has disappeared. (***Small world! Joshua just commented on this movie.***)
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas.
BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC

DODSWORTH (1936) 9:15 PM (Central)
A husband whose wife left him looks for new love in Europe. (***This is a non-mystery movie, based on the book by Sinclair Lewis. I love this film!***)
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas.
BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

REBECCA (1940)   10:45 PM (Central)
A young bride is terrorized by the memories of her husband’s glamorous first wife.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders.
BW-130 mins, TV-PG, CC,

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday, April 18, 2013

MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963)  5:30 PM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple suspects foul play when an old friend is supposedly scared to death by a cat. (***If you missed it on Saturday, 15.***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Robert Morley, Flora Robson.
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday, April 20, 2013

MURDER MOST FOUL (1964)    11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple joins a small-town theatre to investigate a murder. (***Again, this is a Miss Marple that is like no other. Very campy!***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Charles Tingwell.
BW-91 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday, April 25, 2013

MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD (1934)   7:45 AM (Central)
A schoolteacher matches wits with a police detective when they both try to solve a pretty music teacher’s murder. (***Edna May Oliver is delightful as Hildegarde Withers, Stuart Palmer‘s sleuth.***)
Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: James Gleason, Edna May Oliver, Bruce Cabot.
BW-72 mins, TV-G

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday, April 27, 2013

A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1941)   9:45 AM (Central)
The gentleman detective postpones his wedding to find a cache of stolen diamonds.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason.
BW-63 mins, TV-G

MURDER AHOY (1964)          11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple takes to the seas to investigate murder on a naval training ship. (***This rounds up the three Miss Marple movies starring Margaret Rutherford.***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Lionel Jeffries, Charles Tingwell.
BW-93 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

If you know of any other mystery movies that are going to be airing this month, feel free to post a comment.

(All of the above descriptions were copied from the TCM site. I hope they don’t change their line-up!)

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