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Seaside Mysteries: An Island of Suspects and Beyond Paradise Season 2

26 Feb

An Island of Suspects
by Jean-Luc Bannalec
Originally from Paris, Georges Dupin has begun to embrace his new home along the northern coast of France in Brittany. In An Island of Suspects, he heads to the nearby island of Belle-Ile after the body of Patric Provost turns up in the harbor. Provost was universally disliked so there are plenty of suspects despite the small size of the island. Having visited the area of Brittany myself, spending an August there as a teen in Dinard, I found it interesting that Bannalec included unique details about the area such as Dupin enjoying salt marsh lamb, where the lamb is said to be pre-seasoned from eating pastures with high salinity. It gave me lots of moments of nostalgia. Besides background research, Bannalec brings alive the look of the area describing the unique colors and vistas. There is no slow build like some mystery novels where the characters are first introduced before the action; the book thrusts into the case immediately and picks up speed to the dramatic end. Although there are several prior books in the series it is easy to jump in without having read past entries. It reminded me of a classic Agatha Christie novel. Hoboken resident cardholders can stream the 2014 German television adaptation of Bannalec’s Inspector Dupin series from Hoopla.

Beyond Paradise Season 2
I had written previously about Beyond Paradise and the show it spun off from Death in Paradise. In season 2 Humphrey a detective that had been previously stationed on a small French island is now settling in to life on the equal beautiful and prone to quirky crimes, Devon town of Shipton Abbott with his fiancee, cafe owner, Martha. Last season dealt with the stress of infertility possibly causing the end of their relationship, while this season has the couple eagerly looking into the possibility of becoming foster parents. You can stream the 6 episodes of Season 2 along with the the 2023 Christmas Special with your Hoboken Library Card from Kanopy. Episodes include a Murder Mystery Play on a train that becomes the real thing, a psychic whose predictions seem to be coming true, and a case of a disappearing priest. The season finale ends with Humphrey and Martha’s wedding day which of course has some bumps along the road to wedded bliss. The show is if anything even more charming then the first season as it more deeply develops the various characters and their relationships. If you love cozy dramadies than this will be your cup of tea.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Valentine’s Day Picks: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales and Dead Until Dark

12 Feb

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here are two romantasies, one a classic and another brand new that I recommend checking out.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is the third and supposedly final in Heather Fawcett’s series about a scholar studying fairies who becomes mixed up in their magic. The books are written as if fairies are a real scholarly subject and Emily is studying them as one would another culture; footnotes to various fairy stories are even included throughout to add to the seeming reality of the stories. However, fairies can be capricious and dangerous. In this novel Emily has the possibility of becoming the queen of a fairy realm if she marries its heir. She has some hesitation though that despite Wendell’s devotion that fairies have been known to tire of their mortal loves. The couple must also overcome a curse put upon the land by Wendell’s half fairy/half human step mother. Fawcett does a great job at creating a strange world that is both beautiful and yet spooky at the same time such as trees that have leaves with eyes and kind brownies with needles for fingers. Beauty can be monstrous and monsters can be kind in the story which also speaks to being aware of ones expectations and prejudices. You can also read my two previous reviews of Fawcett’s books. We are reading the first in the series for this month’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club, if you would like to join us on February 24 at 6 PM at the Main Branch.

Dead Until Dark
by Charlaine Harris
It had been awhile since I had read the first in the Sookie Stackhouse series or watched the HBO show True Blood that it was based upon so I enjoyed rereading it along with the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club last October. This series starts with vampires being revealed to be real after Japanese scientist find a blood alternative that they can survive on. Slowly over the course of the series other supernatural creatures including weretigers, shifters, and fairies also are revealed. We know from the beginning that Sookie is special with her ability to read human’s minds and her irresistible scent when it comes to vampires. Much like with the fairies, vampires are both alluring and yet highly dangerous to people. Sookie struggles in this story to decide if Bill’s charm and the sense of peace she gets from not constantly having his thoughts enter her mind is enough to overlook the more deadly side. Craving more?; you can also read the review of the last book in the series, Dead Ever After, that I had written when it came out as well as a review of the True Blood Cookbook.

Love is in the air! According to the National Retail Federation’s survey those celebrating Valentine’s Day are up from last year with over half those in the US celebrating. Need to get statistics? Access Statista.com while in the library to get statistics and graphs on a variety of topics.

Share your favorite Valentine’s Day Read in our Comments!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Tags: ,

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