The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Hardcover Mysteries : New Discovery Channel Show Featuring Some of the "Biggest- Name" Mystery Authors…

Good news for ALL of us!!! Investigation Discovery channel is beginning a new show that I think ALL of us will find interesting: Hardcover Mysteries will start airing this Monday, Oct. 11 (at 9:00 ET)… and personally, I can’t wait!

This is a new show that will feature some of the very biggest names in mystery authors.

Hardcover Mysteries is going to let us watch as eight New York Times’ best-selling mystery authors take us on a journey… Each of these (best-selling) mystery authors is going to take us along with him/her as they show us how he/she was influenced by a particular true-life crime. Perhaps the author used it as a basis for one of his/her novels, or perhaps the crime was so abhorrent that it lingered with the author as he/she wrote the best-selling mystery books that we associate with him/her.

The authors who we will have the pleasure of accompanying on these journeys are:

David Baldacci,   Sandra Brown,   Harlan Coben,   Linda Fairstein,   Sara Paretsky,   Kathy Reichs,   Lisa Scottoline,   and   Joseph Wambaugh

You can see by that line-up that I wasn’t joking when I told you they were some of the biggest names in the mystery book arena!

David Baldacci is going to be featured in this Monday’s Hardcover Mysteries premiere. He will be talking about a 1964 Washington D. C. murder case which influenced Baldacci’s first best-selling  mystery novel – Absolute Power.

Blue Bloods is Finally Here! (Friday Night CBS Line Up)

OK, so I was previously wrong about the title for the new police procedural, but I am correct about it now… Blue Bloods is finally here!  At the risk of repeating myself (since I already wrote an entry about this new CBS show) please click on the link above to get the specifics. (Just disregard the first few paragraphs of that entry…)

But of course, as I am rarely not more verbose than I need to be, let me just say, I have already set up our mode of taping>>> Actually, I have set this show up on three modes of taping! That’s how excited I am about trying this new police procedural. (Before I forget, Blue Bloods is on TONIGHT… on CBS, 9:00 for us, but check with your time regions…)

Boy! Was I perplexed when I last saw Donnie Wahlberg on Rizzoli and Isles – as the new boss at the precinct who grew up with Rizzoli. (And, “old boss” since he was only at the precinct a few episodes before being promoted.) I thought that perhaps Blue Bloods had been cancelled and this was his new gig. I actually Googled to make sure that this was just a temporary guest spot for him. I was relieved to see that Blue Bloods was still in the CBS plans…

Here’s hoping that Blue Bloods is as good as some of us hope that it is!

Inspector Lewis: Your Sudden Death Question – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery! (Season 3)

I am going to keep this very brief… Don’t forget that tonight your local PBS station should be showing a new Inspector Lewis episode: Your Sudden Death, which of course, is inspired by the wonderful (non) cozy Colin Dexter mystery books.

And, for all of you Jonathan Creek fans >>> The terrific news is that Alan Davies will be in this Inspector Lewis episode!

The Duchess of Duke Street Miniseries…

The Duchess of Duke Street - The Complete Collection [DVD] The Duchess of Duke Street is a BBC series from the mid 1970s. Masterpiece Theatre aired this British miniseries, which is set in Victorian and Edwardian England… the late 1800s and early 1900s. The series follows Louisa Trotter, a young woman from England’s lower class society – during a time when the possibility of bettering your social standing was pretty much nil to nothing.

Louisa (played magnificently by Gemma Jones) works as a scullery maid (the lowest servants’ position possible for women) but has three very strong traits: ambition, the inability to “hold her tongue,” and intelligence. We watch Louisa go from a very young, almost abrasive girl to a self-assured woman of high society.

Gemma Jones’ portrayal of Louisa Trotter, as she goes up the ladder of British society, is absolutely superb. This period BBC (and Masterpiece Theatre) production will stay with you way after you watch the two-season miniseries.

As you watch the episodes in The Duchess of Duke Street, try to keep in mind that the plot is based on the true life story of Rosa Lewis and The Duchess of Duke Street‘s Bentinck Hotel is based on London’s Cavendish Hotel.

The Duchess of Duke Street miniseries takes us along as Louisa goes from being a scullery maid to a great chef, to eventually the owner of a London hotel. Quite a feat for those times!

This period piece production is (to me) delightful. I enjoyed the costumes, make up, acting, sets, and plot line. Fans of Upstairs, Downstairs will no doubt become fans of  The duchess of Duke Street.

Watching it is addictive, but beware – it is not for young children. (Also, it is not a mystery…)

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

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