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Death In Paradise – Fun Cozy Mystery TV

I recently discovered the British TV mystery series, Death in Paradise. This is currently one of my favorite TV shows and one of the few that falls well within the bounds of the Cozy Mystery genre.

The show is set in the fictional tropical island of Saint-Marie which is a British possession and filmed on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. The setup of the first episode is that a murder has occurred on the island, and because the murder is that of the local British detective, a new detective from London is brought in to investigate.

The London detective, Detective Inspector Richard Poole, played wonderfully by Ben Miller, is not happy to be sent to the island. His character is very much a “fish out of water” type character, much in the mold of the Doc in Doc Martin. The London detective refuses to adopt the casual island clothing, for example. He goes everywhere in a suit and tie despite the tropical heat (which bothers him quite a bit.)  And, for some reason, he always carries a briefcase no matter where he goes. I like that the character is quirky, but not over-the-top zany.

Other characters include a few members of the local police force. The refreshing thing about the additional characters is that they are all intelligent, and they all provide great help to the main detective in gathering the facts for each episode’s mystery. They make a great team both in the stories and with their great chemistry on the screen.

Besides the characters and the settings (which are beautiful, by the way), I really like that the mysteries are well plotted. All the clues that are necessary to solve the crime are actually presented to the viewer. One of my pet peeves is when the writer of a mystery saves one important clue for the detective to disclose during the final scene’s “reveal”. I always feel cheated when the clues remain hidden until after the sleuth has solved the case. One of the fun things I like about good Cozy Mysteries is that they provide a puzzle to solve. Holding back a clue until the end strikes me the same as keeping some of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle off the table. Frustrating — and not fun!

I have not yet finished watching seasons one and two, but I understand (from Ian) that something big happens during the first episode of season three. Hmmm… I hope it’s something good! I can’t attest to the quality of the later seasons (yet), but I have really enjoyed what I have seen so far. And (again, from Ian) they are currently watching season 4 across the pond, so good news for us!

(Note – this show is not based on the Robert B. Parker Jesse Stone novel Death in Paradise nor is it related to the mystery novel of the same name by Carolyn Hart. Death in Paradise is a popular title among mystery writers!)

P.S. Thank you so much, Ian, for all the Death In Paradise information, including this fun fact:

Ian:

(Fun fact – Ben Miller found it so hot that whenever his feet were out of shot he took his shoes off, and his shirt was only a front and cuffs).

Comments

  1. A green lizard appears in many, if not all, the scenes of Richard in his beach house, which he apparently hates, but I would LOVE to live in it! Don’t let anyone provide you spoilers…just let the series unfold itself for you. DIP is one of my absolute favorite mysteries on TV and I love the main characters, especially Camille…what an intelligent strong tough beautiful woman!

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      • The PBS station in my area of NC has shown all the episodes in order, and it’s a show I never miss! It’s that good! I stumbled upon the spoiler quite by accident on another forum a few weeks before it aired. In a way I was glad that I was prepared for what was coming instead of being taken off guard. It continues to be a very good cozy mystery, just a bit different. And the lizard stays in character. 🙂 I wonder if it is trained or if it is all done by CGI, like the one on the commercials? Seems like it would be difficult to train a lizard!

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        • Donna Mc, my PBS station doesn’t carry a lot of the shows I see other PBS stations carrying. I’m glad to hear that the show is just as good in season four as it is in season two!

          When we lived in Panama, I would find all sorts of lizards that somehow got into our house. Speaking from experience (which I would rather not have had!) I doubt you could train a lizard.

          (Of course, having said that, someone will probably come up with a whole website that shows how to train lizards!)

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          • You can train just about any animal with food. My father-in-law in the Philippines fed rice to the little geckos that lived in their house. He sat in an easy chair with a bowl of rice and when the geckos saw it, they’d come down off the ceiling and take grains from him one at a time. Geckos were encouraged to hang around since they eat mosquitoes.

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  2. I saw these last year when they were shown on PBS. I looked on my library website to see if they were available, but, just found the books and CDs of the other ones you mentioned. It was a pretty good series, different slant on mystery, different setting. I liked it.

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    • Karen, recently I have been hearing about mystery shows that people in other parts of the country watch on their local PBS stations. I would love to see my local PBS station go that route! For some reason, our station doesn’t seem to care so much about these types of shows.

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  4. Danna, what channel are you watching them on? Or do you have the DVDs? Not sure if Houston’s PBS shows it. Will have to check. Thanks for the heads up.

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  5. I love this show. I’ve seen Season 3 on my local PBS station, and you won’t be disappointed. I can’t wait for Season 4.

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  6. Thank you for the suggestion, Danna! 🙂 Watching the first one on Amazon and I’m already hooked. It’s nice to watch a show with lots of sunshine while in the midst of a very cold winter day too!

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  7. I’ve been watching Death in Paradise for awhile and know the spoiler LOL WE SURVIVE IT NO WORRIES. I’ve also been watching Father Brown which is another fun mystery about a Catholic priest who involves himself in murders that happen around his Parish.

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  8. I just saw the first episode of Season 3 a couple of days ago, and it truly is a shocker (no spoilers from me, though!). This is a great series, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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  9. Glad to see someone else who’s enjoying this fun, breezy mystery series. I’m currently enjoying series 4 at the moment, and would like to assure you that, despite the major spoiler your husband gave you, the series still maintains its overall quality and sense of fun.

    You also might like to know that the series creator, Robert Thorogood, has just had his first (of three, apparently) “Death in Paradise” mystery novels published: A MEDITATION ON MURDER, featuring D.I. Richard Poole. Thorogood wrote most of the more intricately-plotted DEATH IN PARADISE episodes. The novel is a fine, fun read, basically coming across very similarly to a typical episode of the TV series.

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  10. I love this series, but unfortunately missed the first one of season 3. Hopefully, they’ll run it again at some point. (I found the first season DVDs at the library)
    Ann

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  12. I have been watching Death in Paradise for the past few years. Good show. I also watched Grantchester on PBS Sunday night (the one you mentioned). A very good show. Will be a must see every week.

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  13. I am also a fan of death in paradise, having watched it from the beginning! I loved seasons one and two, was a bit disappointed with the beginning of season three but am loving season four and the lizard is still making an appearance! It really is a cozy mystery. And I’m excited to learn there are novels!

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  14. Thanks for the heads up. Our PBS station doesn’t show this series so I went to Netflix and ordered the dvds since the series isn’t on streaming video. Also checked on Acorn TV for the show but they don’t have it yet. Thanks again for all you do

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    • Suzanne, our PBS station hasn’t shown Death in Paradise either. And I just found out they (our PBS station) are going to be airing the Father Brown new version, but they aren’t going to start showing them from the beginning of the series. I’m not complaining, though, since we’ll probably end up DVR-ing them out of sequence and then watch them when we finally can do so chronologically.

      P.S. Try your library, they may carry Death in Paradise…

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  15. I really do enjoy DEATH IN PARADISE. The scenery is so beautiful! The green lizard is a character! I look forward to a new episode each and every week. Not many clean, wholesome programs to watch now, but in my opinion, everything is enjoyable to watch with BBC. I can name a bunch of them. Please keep DEATH IN PARADISE coming.

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    • Nellie, my husband and I really like this show. Our daughter is going to be moving up to Washington D.C. during the summer, and has some time off between jobs. We have stopped watching Death in Paradise until we can watch it when she is home for a few weeks. We know she’s going to enjoy this show… a lot!

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  17. I know this post is a few months old but after reading the comments, I thought I’d let anyone know who is interested, that Netflix now has seasons/series 1-3 available via streaming. I just finished all 3 this way and I’m impatient for season 4!

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  19. This is a fabulous series! My local PBS has had seasons 1-3 so far. I’m awaiting season 4 and hope they continue with a season 5. The location is beautiful, I enjoy the local accents, and how well the team works together yet each member gets to showcase his or her unique personalities. Let’s all hope it stays on the air for more seasons to come. I enjoy cozy mysteries on the Hallmark channels as well.

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  20. Death in Paradise is an excellent series with great mysteries and humor designed like the party theme music to chase the blues away.

    The series reminds me a lot of the movie The Mighty Quinn starring Denziel Washington which is based on the mystery Finding Maubee by A.H.Z. Carr.

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  22. Houston, we have confirmation! 🙂

    Waiting for Death in Paradise? We know the feeling. Have patience, the wait is almost over. Death in Paradise will return with new episodes on Thursday, January 5.

    Share the excitement at Facebook or Twitter!

    And don’t worry, we will send you a reminder email the day of the premiere.

    For more details head to http://waitwith.us/death-in-paradise-season-6-6872/

    From the team at waitwith.us

    Reply

  23. While I certainly enjoyed Death in Paradise (for a while), it was never a Cozy – it was an episodic police procedural. All of the investigations are done by police detectives and officers. No one outside the police force is investigating anything. Just because Richard (and then Humphrey) liked to use the Agatha Christie-styled scene of putting all of the suspects in one place to reveal which among them is the murderer, does not make it a Cozy. The quirkiness of the characters also didn’t make it a Cozy. It was simply a police procedural the entire time.

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  24. I have watched all series (seasons) on BBC Canada. Funny and great mysteries/crimes to solve. Main detective – 3 so far is always a British transplant with quirks.

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  25. This show does have a book series, the books are by Robert Thorogood. The first book it titled “ a meditation on murder”.

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  26. You all will be happy to know they now have 8 seasons of “Death in Paradise”. Lots of changes from the beginning, however, except for the initial shock as the changes happen, they all work out well and I haven’t been disappointed with the changes. The only thing that I don’t like is each season is only 8 episodes, then you have to wait a loooooooong time for the next season. Enjoy and tell all your friends. PS. My son has copied all the episodes for me to watch on my Ipad. Love the kid.

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  27. LOVE this series, first discovered it on PBS. I am now up to season 10! Not crazy about all of the cast changes in the DI, I miss Ruby, hope she returns. IF you search on google, you can read a bit about why all the DI changes, but in my opinion, ALL of the DI’s have been great in the role! (Great change to see Ardal O’Hanlon from the Father Ted series step in for a bit). MORE please!

    Reply

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