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Cozy Mystery Spinoffs: Beyond Paradise and Frankie Drake Mysteries

19 Jun

Beyond Paradise
One of the favorites of library staff and patrons when it comes to cozy mysteries has been Death in Paradise where a variety of fish out of water UK detectives take on the detective inspector position at an imaginary Caribbean Island, Saint Marie. A fan favorite was DI Humphrey Goodman who left the island to be with his fiancée, Martha. Now in the 2023 spinoff, Beyond Paradise, we find out what they have been up to as the couple leave London to start a new life on the Devon coast, where Martha grew up. Humphrey takes up the vacant position of Detective Inspector at Shipton Abbott police station while Martha opens up a café focused on serving local produce and products. Although less tropical, the town still parallels the other series with its charming seaside visuals, in this case filmed in several Cornish towns. The first season is a bingeworthy 6 episodes, clocking in at just over 5 hours. You don’t have to have watched Death in Paradise to enjoy Beyond Paradise, but if you enjoy the show and haven’t watched the original, it is definitely worth checking out. Both shows are available to stream from Kanopy.

Frankie Drake Mysteries
Another popular long running cozy mystery series is Murdoch Mysteries which is set around a 1895 police station in Canada. This series spun off the Frankie Drake Mysteries set in the 1920’s, though in this case older versions of the Murdoch Mystery characters like George Crabtree make guest appearances in the new show rather than having them be a central focus, which instead is on an all female detective agency. Lauren Lee Smith plays the lead character with Chantel Riley as Trudy Clarke, Frankie’s partner and bff. My two favorites though are Rebecca Liddiard as Mary Shaw a morality officer from the Toronto’s police department who often manages to sneak herself into murder cases and Sharron Matthews who plays Flo Chakowitz, a morgue attendant. The series ran for four years (41 episodes). It is a charming mix of mystery, humor and history.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Enthralling Mysteries: Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen, Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews, and Harry Wild starring Jane Seymore

19 Oct

Lavender House
by Lev AC Rosen
Lavender House is a captivating new mystery by Lev AC Rosen set in 1952.  Andy Mills was recently fired from the police force for being caught at a gay bar.  He is contemplating ending it all when he gets a proposal he can’t refuse.  Irene Lamontaine the matriarch of the famous Lamontaine Soap Company passed away under suspicious circumstances, her personal assistant, who is secretly her widow, wants Andy to prove whether Irene’s death was a tragic accident or murder.  Andy feels a sense of safety at Lavender House, where almost everyone is gay including Irene’s son and the staff, and is able to be his true self, but he becomes increasingly suspicious about what happened to Irene.  The ending though the one I was hoping for, felt a bit simplistic for what was otherwise a fairly gritty story.  I would recommend the book for its interesting fictionalization of a tumultuous time in LGBTQ history and engaging characters.  Rosen has previously written for YA and Middle Grade audiences as well as for adults.

Dashing Through the Snowbirds
by Donna Andrews
You may remember that back in August, I reviewed Donna Andrew’s Round Up the Usual Peacocks, now only a few months later and we have received an early holiday gift in the form of her annual holiday installment in the bird themed Meg Langslow series, Dashing Through the Snowbirds.  This Christmas a herd of Canadians from an Ancestry like company have taken up residence at the Langslow residence while they work on a project with Meg’s brother’s computer programmers.  Things are going wrong with project and they get even worse when one of the Canadians turns up dead on Meg’s property.  There is also a subplot for those that enjoyed the true crime podcast storyline in the previous novel, about Meg’s nephew Kevin’s fellow podcaster, Casey, being stalked by a fan.  As usual Meg’s quirky relatives play a large part in the charm of the story.  Particularly in this novel, Meg’s grandfather causes trouble and lends a helping hand.  For cozy mystery fans Dashing Through the Snowbirds is a warm cup of holiday cheer.

Harry Wild
Literature Professor Harriet “Harry” Wild played by Jane Seymour, has just retired but instead of a life of relaxation she is drawn to solving crimes. Her son is a senior detective on the Dublin Police force, who would prefer his mother let him be the one solving cases, but she soon finds a sidekick in Fergus Reid played by Rohan Nedd, a teen in need of some adult guidance. Nedd previously was a recurring character on Whitstable Pearl. The first season of Harry Wild is a bingeable 8 epsiodes and is available to stream for Hoboken patrons from Hoopla or borrow on DVD from BCCLS libraries. Cases include a wife looking to learn the cause of her husband’s death, a mysterious kidnapping, and even the case of a murder of the wife of one of Harry’s former colleagues. For those who like cozy capers and are fans of Seymour’s Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman series or movies, this is sure to please.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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