The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Agatha Christie AND Ellen Byerrum Television Mysteries…

OK, everyone!!! Don’t forget that PBS will be airing Six by Agatha starting this weekend! Poirot starts out the fun:

June 21….. Cat among the Pigeons

June 28….. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead

followed by Miss Marple:

July 5….. A Pocket Full of Rye

July 12…..  Murder is Easy

July 19….. They Do It with Mirrors

July 26….. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

On another note: Shirley just wrote to tell me about some Crimes of Fashion which will be taking place on the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN).  (As in Ellen Byerrum‘s Crime of Fashion mysteries…)

Killer Hair (first book in the series)will debut on Sunday, June 21 and Hostile Makeover (third book in the series) will be debuting on Sunday, June 28.

So, dot down the above information for some Cozy Mystery viewing!

Thank you, Alfred and Shirley!

New Cozy Mystery Shows Coming Soon!

Good news, Cozy Mystery lovers! A site reader (Thank you, Alfred!) just told me about some upcoming shows on PBS… So>>> mark your calendars!

PBS is calling this the “Six by Agatha” event. It all kicks off with two new Hercule Poirot episodes (Hercule Poirot Series X) at the end of June. Of course, we wouldn’t want them with any other actor than David Suchet… And, lucky for us, he will be starring in them. Both of these Agatha Christie episodes are ninety minutes long:

June 21….. Cat among the Pigeons

June 28….. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead

And then on to four brand new Miss Marple (Miss Marple, Series IV) shows. This time Julia McKenzie will be starring as Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. If you were lucky enough to catch Cranford when it aired on PBS earlier this year, then you already know what an exceptional actress she is. These episodes are also ninety minutes long.

July 5….. A Pocket Full Of Rye

July 12…..  Murder is Easy

July 19….. They Do It with Mirrors

July 26….. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

Now that the major television stations have all run their two hour season finales, what better way to celebrate the summer than with some brand new Mystery! shows on PBS?

Thanks, again, Alfred!

Castle: New Show on Monday Nights, ABC

I just watched a new show called “Castle” and enjoyed it so much that I took a look at my Replay machine to see if they will be re-airing the pilot. The good news is that they are, on Saturday at 9:00 PM (our local Texas time).  So if you are at all interested, you can check it out!

ABC is the network that is carrying this very clever mystery show, and I sure hope there are enough people who tune it so that it remains on the air. I know that it is difficult to start up a show in the middle of the season… By then, people already know their weekly television viewing schedules.  This Monday night show is well-worth “shaking it up” and changing your Tivo/Replay/HD Box/VCR programming.

Anyway… If you have seen my TV & Movie entries, then you should know that I am a big Firefly fan. Castle stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly’s captain) as the main character of the show… a mystery book author who hangs out with “real life” big-name mystery authors over poker. Yes, for those of you who watched the show on Monday, those two men discussing killing off their main characters (Scully and Alex) in their mysteries are Stephen J. Cannell and James Patterson. (I could not get a good view of the woman at the poker table, and I hope that I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes by saying that I don’t know if she is a mystery author or not.)

Stana Katic stars as the police detective who is the basis of the main character of Castle’s new mystery series, which of course means that he has to shadow her for an undetermined amount of time. And, for all of you Falcon Crest fans, Susan Sullivan plays Castle’s mother… a wonderful character who I hope we get to see a lot more!

If you missed Monday’s pilot… you might want to check out Saturday night’s rerun so that you can start enjoying what I hope is a very long-running mystery show!

PS>>> My husband just asked me why he didn’t get to watch Castle… So, I will be taping the rerun this Saturday night!

Hercule Poirot with David Suchet

All of you Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie’s Belgian private detective) fans are more than likely already aware of David Suchet’s wonderful portrayal of the rather prim, always correct detective. For those of you very few people who have not yet experienced any of the Agatha Christie’s Poirot delightful shows, you will be glad to know that you have many hours of entertainment to look forward to.

The setting is London in the 1930s. The scenery is perfect. I love the outside shots of the London streets: the architectural detailing is exactly how I imagine it must have been back then. As a lover of art deco, I love seeing the “modern” furniture, the clothes, and cars.

The long running British series starred four regulars: David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Capt. Hastings (his not-so-astute side kick), Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp, and Poirot’s very capable, always correct secretary Miss Lemon was played by Pauline Moran. All of them “became” the characters they portrayed for this series. (I have since seen two of the actors in other projects, and was surprised to see one of them playing the evil villain!)

What a treat it is to watch these shows… from Poirot’s penguin-like walk to Poirot trimming his  waxed moustache. The attention to detail really pays off for the viewer. Miss Lemon’s bobby pin curls, Capt. Hastings’ car fetish, and even Inspector Japp’s overcoat… the detailing is perfect. It’s all a treat to watch! And, the friendship between Inspector Japp and Poirot goes so much farther than the predictable rivalry that “modern day” shows depict.

This Poirot series is as cozy as you can find. I truly believe that Agatha Christie would have been very happy with this series… no gore, plenty of humor, great ambiance, quirky characters (Poirot being the quirkiest! – a model for today’s “Monk” character) and no need for “adult” situations. Poirot is able to solve all of the cases with the use of his “little gray cells” so that Inspector Japp is able to close the cases, and retain his dignity.

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

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