The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Doc Martin Television Series: Very Cozy (and Quirky!)…

My daughter, husband, and I are huge fans of Doc Martin, a fabulously quirky and funny British television series. The series (not a mystery series) is set in the present day on a quaint, and beyond beautiful little coastal village. The only problem that we had in watching Doc Martin is that we had to wait between season one (2004), season two (2005/2006), three (2007), and four’s (2009) release dates! (And, we are now waiting for season five!!!)

Doc Martin (played faultlessly by Martin Clunes) is simply put… a  curmudgeon. I don’t want to give away too much, so I will just say that he is a brilliant surgeon who has given up his London practice to move to the aforementioned beautiful coastal village. He has done this to become the village general practitioner.

Doc Martin is not only eccentric/neurotic and impersonal – but he even hates dogs! (For those of you dog-lovers who are fans of Martin Clunes, you’ll be happy to know that he loves dogs so much, he hosted a series called Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs and he has authored the bestselling A Dog’s Life).

Caroline Catz costars as the absolutely delightful teacher/principal of the village elementary/primary school. Also, Stephanie Cole (from Waiting for God) plays Martin’s (yes, Martin is his first name >>> the villagers refuse to call him Dr. Ellingham!) often-times exacerbated aunt, his source of unconditional love during his youth. Also wonderful in their roles are: his receptionists (Elaine Denham & Pauline Lamb), the local police (Stewart Wright & John Marquez), the father and son plumbers (Ian McNeice & Joe Absolom), and the local pharmacist (Selina Cadell).

I highly recommend the Doc Martin series. The locale is gorgeous, the characters are three-dimensional, the plots are clever and absolutely never dull or slow-paced, and the acting is superb.

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

Mystery Book with Jane, Tea Scones, and Madeleine's Truffles…

The site received a comment a few days ago from Patricia who would like help identifying an author:

“I have just found your site and am absolutely thrilled to find your wonderful lists, especially  those of the culinary cozies.

It may not be appropriate to ask for help here, but I just have to try! I’m desperately seeking the name of what I believe would be classified as a cozy, but I don’t know the name or the author. I found a couple of recipes I copied from the book, and all the information I know for certain comes from these two xeroxed pages: the protagonist is named Jane and the two recipes (tea scones and Madeleine’s truffles) were supposedly Jane’s mother’s. As I recall, Jane was not engaged in any sort of culinary related profession before finding these recipes. Jane went to visit a relative (I think) at a time of marital strife and found or was given her mother’s “recipe book.” Has anyone ever heard of this book? I’m guessing this book is one of a series, and I’d look to get reacquainted with this unknown author.”

If you think you might be able to help Patricia identify the author, please post a comment. Thank you!

Pamela DuMond, Charles Finch, Cynthia Robinson, & Diane A. S. Stuckart: Four Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site…

I just added four authors to the Cozy Mystery site. I have not read any of the authors yet, but other Cozy Mystery site readers believe they belong on the site. Here are the four newest authors to the site:

Pamela DuMond writes the Annie Graceland Mystery Series. Annie is the owner of a very up-scale bakery who, when stressed, has psychic abilities…

Charles Finch writes the Charles Lenox Mystery Series. Finch was nominated for the 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award, which is quite an accomplishment. His series is set in London during the 1860s…

Cynthia Robinson pens the Max Bravo Mystery Series. Max is an opera singer who is not as accomplished as he had hoped to be when he hit his 30s…

Diane A. S. Stuckart writes the Leonardo da Vinci Historical Mystery Series which, of course, is set in Italy during the late 1400s. Dino, the sleuth, is an apprentice of da Vinci’s…

How to Train Your Dragon: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless…

Last year, my daughter recommended a movie that I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to watch. This year I FINALLY watched it.

I just finished watching the 2010 DreamWorks Animation movie How to Train Your Dragon, and my daughter was right! This movie IS a joyous, colorful, and whimsical ride. (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois directed this beautiful, fun movie, and joined Will Davies in writing the screenplay. To them, I say thank you!) 

The movie is based on the children’s books by Cressida Cowell, an Oxford English Literature major. While I haven’t read any of the nine books in her How to Train Your Dragon book series, I can tell you this: If they had been available when my children were young, they would have been a staple in our home! They truly look like a whole lot of fun for children, and let’s face it, reading should be a whole lot of fun!

Getting back to the movie… The premise is a “coming of age” story, where becoming a Viking means slaying your first dragon. Unfortunately for our hero (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III), his dad (Stoick the Vast) happens to be the chief of the village, which in Viking terms mean his dad is TOUGH! 

Hiccup just doesn’t fit into the Viking mentality… He is sensitive and inquisitive, by no means TOUGH! When given the opportunity to complete the dragon-slaying task, Hiccup has a difficult time wrestling with the dilemma of letting his father down or not being true to his beliefs. 

As I don’t want to spoil the movie by saying too much, I won’t go into the movie’s details. What I will say is that I join my daughter in recommending this PG movie. There aren’t hidden “adult innuendos” (at least I didn’t pick up on any!) and the movie doesn’t need them to keep the adults entertained… It is that good! I will say that there are some “scarey” dragon scenes, which would be the reason the movie is PG and not G.

PS>>> I loved that Toothless (a Night Fury dragon) wasn’t a brightly colored, comical dragon. I also loved watching Toothless move>>> I wondered if the artists used a dog as their point of reference…

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