The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Rosemary & Thyme…. Thrice is Way Enough!!!!

You may wonder what exactly I mean by the title of this blog. Of course, that is probably not the case if you have watched any of Rosemary & Thyme’s season three shows.

Since my husband and I started watching the Rosemary & Thyme show two years ago, we have invested a reasonable amount of time and money in the series. So, I went ahead and procured the latest season of the show thinking that we were making a wise investment of both time and money…. I have to admit that we have only watched the first five episodes of season three, but I am sure that my husband considers that five shows too many!

One of the things that I most enjoyed about seasons one and two was the beautiful colors that the producers seemed to be able to capture……. not only the flowers in the gardens, but also the clothes of the actresses. It seemed (to me) that the actresses wardrobes would reflect the palette of the flowers they were currently planting. I don’t think that they are at all interested in that aspect of the show anymore. It seems to me that the location of the gardens is now of tantamount importance, rather than the splendour of the flowers.

The last episode that we watched was The Gooseberry Bush. Why the two amateur detectives were not jailed for child abuse/neglect was never dealt with….. Perhaps, since they are such busy gardeners, they have the luxury of leaving a newborn baby in their car all day while they attend to their busy gardening chores, but as a mother of two, I found that part of the plot to be absolutely appalling.  Also, another part of the plot that I found disgusting was the fact that the natural mother of the newborn had left her baby out in the woods so that the father could pick up the baby some time that morning. Unbelievable! Good thing that there were no wild animals…. or even hungry pets rummaging through the underbrush of the “Gooseberry Bush”!!! Was anyone on the set even paying a little attention to these plot developments!?!?

Another question that I have: Why wasn’t one of the amateur detectives jailed for breaking and entering the home of a murder victim? And, here’s yet another question I have: Why weren’t the amateur detectives jailed for deliberately moving a murder weapon because the person who owned it (and who was trying to bury it) said she hadn’t used it to commit the murder… and since they had just met her, they knew she was telling the truth! Need I say more!!!?!!!?!!!?

I was not sure whether I should write this blog or not, but decided to go ahead and write it since I had previously recommended the Rosemary & Thyme series. I still think that the first two seasons are worth  watching, but three times might still mean you’re out….

House of Eliott……Definitely Cozy, Though Not a Mystery

My husband and I just finished watching the House of Eliott DVDs, and I’m not quite sure how I feel. As with most series that we watch, I miss the shows when they are over, as they seem to almost  become a part of our lives for the brief time that we watch them. After devoting an hour every day for , let’s see……… 34 episodes, I feel like I am “addicted” to finding out what the characters are going to do next. When the show is over, I am left thinking about the characters and wondering what they are up to NOW!  I missed the series when it first aired on the A & E network, and can’t imagine how I did that!

The House of Eliott series was created by Jean Marsh (of Upstairs, Downstairs fame).The three-year series revolves around two sisters and their photographer friend. The sisters (played by Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard) and their photographer friend (Aden Gillet) live in London during the 1920s. The sets are beautiful, and are only surpassed by the wardrobe. 

I have to say, this series was a little different for me than most. I actually enjoyed the first season’s shows more than the following two seasons. I won’t plant any spoilers here, but I was very sorry that they got rid of two particular characters who I thought added an incredible amount of energy to the series. But, other than that, I think that it is fair to say that House of Eliott, season one is incredibly believable and very interesting.

The second season of the House of Eliott continued telling about the sisters’ plight, and I enjoyed this season almost as much as the first. I was, however, again sorry to see two more characters leave the show. They were characters who (or should that be “that”?!) added a nice background to the main story line.

I have to admit that during the third season, there were times when I caught myself thinking: “You have got to be kidding!” I almost felt like I knew the characters more than the cast, writers, directors, etc. did. I found myself thinking……….. “Jack wouldn’t have done that.” OR “Bea wouldn’t have said that.” ETC.  Even so, I was very sorry to finally watch the last episode of the show. I will miss our nightly visits with Jack, Bea, and Evie!

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Inspector Alleyn Mysteries…..

If you are a Ngaio Marsh fan, and/or a fan of BBC productions, then you will surely enjoy the DVDs that feature Scotland Yard Inspector Roderyck Alleyn (as played by the wonderful Patrick Malahide.)  The main characters are Inspector Allyen, his girlfriend, artist Agatha Troy (Belinda Lang) and Detective Inspector Fox (William Simons).  Beware, though, if you expect over-the-top performances from these accomplished actors….Malahide’s portrayal of Inspector Allyen is very upper crust British, without a lot of emotion. If you expect overacted enthusiasm and emotions, then you had better pass on these BBC productions and stick with some of today’s current TV fare…

My husband and I both enjoyed Season One (1993) and Season Two (1994) of these shows. The only thing that we didn’t like about the series of shows is that they didn’t make more of Ngaio’s books into movies. We did not see the shows when they first aired on television, and wonder how we missed them.

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Hetty Wainthropp Investigates

If you are looking for a mystery series to watch that is short on the gore and long on fun with a lot of “cozy-ness” thrown in, then look no more……. you have found it……. Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is for you!

I first started watching the Hetty Wainthropp series on PBS years ago, and, having been a fan of Keeping Up Appearance, I was already a fan of Patricia Routledge. If you first saw Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances… and pronounced “Bouquet”!!!) and then as Hetty, you will know what a wonderful actress Dame Routledge is. Don’t expect any “pratfalls” when you see Hetty…

Expect the BBC’s wonderful attention to detail when you see the Hetty Wainthropp Investigates shows. Patricia Routledge (as I stated above) is absolutely wonderful. And, for all of you Tolkien Trilogy movie fans, Geoffrey, her young, but very capable sidekick is played by Dominic Monaghan. (You might also recognize him from the TV show Lost…)

The first season of the Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is from 1996. We meet Hetty (right as she turns sixty), her retired husband Robert (Derek Benfield), and Geoffrey. Hetty is determined that she will not be a “senior citizen”… She is too young for that label, and she is going to show the world that people in the later part of their lives are viable and productive. And that, she does!

She starts up a detective agency with Geoffrey as her assistant in the field, and Robert, who is only involved in the field when absolutely necessary, handles the phone back in the “office” (home). She slowly wins the admiration and respect of DCI Adams (played perfectly by John Graham Davies), and is even called in a few times when DCI Adams feels that a case needs Hetty’s gentle technique. Unfortunately, PBS only showed four of the six episodes in the first season of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.

At the end of 1996 and beginning of 1997, the BBC filmed six new shows for the second season of the Hetty Wainthopp Investigates series. (Again, for some reason, PBS only showed four of the six episodes.) These shows were as good as the first season’s. The scenery is beautiful, the acting is faultless, and the shows are great fun to watch. Very cozy!

Apparently, the BBC knew that they had a great show on their hands, because the third season of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates has nine episodes in it, instead of the previous two seasons that only had six episodes each. During the middle of the season, Robert (Hetty’s husband) makes an abrupt trip to Australia to visit their son. I am not quite sure what happened to the actor who played Robert, but, they brought Robert’s brother Frank in to replace him for the rest of the season. Although I missed Robert, Frank was able to infuse a new type of “friction” to the series, as he insists on helping Hetty and Geoffrey, usually messing things up along the way.

In 1998 the BBC made the fourth season of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, which unfortunately is the end of the shows. Hetty’s husband is back, and you don’t want to miss him as the millionaire who is confined to a wheelchair!  Of course, seeing Geoffrey as his chauffeur is a real treat!

One thing that I feel I must add is that six years before the BBC bought the rights to Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, another network commissioned a pilot for the series. Missing Persons is the name of the pilot, and it is based on the David Cook novel with the same name. The station (ITV) didn’t pick up the series.  I was able to track down this movie, and was really surprised at how different everything is. I would definitely not recommend watching this episode first; it is not at all like the BBC Hetty Wainthropp Investigates series. And, if you do decide to watch this pilot, it might help if you convince yourself that it is another character with the same name as the wonderful Hetty Wainthropp, even though Patricia Routledge is also the actress playing this very different Hetty.

I can truly say that I love (and highly recommend) the Hetty Wainthropp Investigates series!

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