DVD Review: Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries + Just Desserts meeting later this week

Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries
(DVD Miss)

Last month I reviewed “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” on DVD, that take place in the late 1920’s Melbourne, Australia. That series is based on the Phryne Fisher books by Kerry Greenwood.

 

Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries is an offshoot and revolves around Miss Fisher’s niece, Peregrine Fisher, in 1960’s Melbourne. Peregrine inherits Phryne’s fortune when she goes missing after crashing in the jungle over New Guinea. Peregrine had never met her aunt and decides to follow in her footsteps to become a private-detective. She makes her way to Phryne’s club, The Adventuresses’ Club, where she is befriended by the other members who thought highly of Phryne.

 

I wasn’t sure I’d take to this series because I’m not that fond of the 1960’s – the color schemes, the furniture, the blatant sexism. But I ended up enjoying the characters, the mysteries, and watching Peregrine take on the challenges of meeting, learning from, and befriending the exceptional women of the Adventuresses’ Club.

Of course our thoroughly modern heroine meets a straitlaced guy, James, who is a police detective (just as her aunt did). He tries to dissuade her from investigating the various murders she encounters but they end up teaming together – against the wishes of his captain.

 

Produced by Acorn, the library owns all of this series on DVD.

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series )

 

See Charlotte M.’s review of The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries in the January 2024 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting this coming Thursday, February 29th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, we'll be discussing the recent thriller The Only One Left by American thriller/suspense author Riley Sager.

 

Even if you haven't read The Only One Left for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

DVD Review: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries + reminder of the return of the Just Desserts book group

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
(DVD Miss)

This character-driven mystery series takes place in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in the late 1920’s. Produced by Acorn so you know this series is going to be well done between the acting, the sense of place, and the interesting mysteries.

 

The world is still recovering from WWI and Phryne Fisher is new to the wealthy, titled life as her family grew up in poverty. However, due to all the family men dying in the war, the title and wealth passed to her father.

Phryne Fisher surrounds herself with interesting characters as her household help and friends as she gets involved with solving murders everywhere she goes. She believes she’s as capable as any man and should have the same rights and privileges. So you can imagine how she buts heads with the local authorities — who never appreciate a private individual involved in crime-solving anyway.

 

Based on the Phryne Fisher novels by Kerry Greenwood, Lincoln City Libraries owns all of the books, including the most recent one released this year (2023). LCL has all three of the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series, and the standalone movie, “Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.”

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Heat of the Sun, from Masterpiece Theatre’s Mystery series, vol 1-3.)

 

(Books in this series are also available in traditional print format.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series ) | ( official Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries web site )

See Scott C.’s review of the first season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries in the June 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting this coming Thursday, January 25th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, in our 2024 season premiere, we'll be discussing the body of works of contemporary American thriller/suspense author Allison Brennan.

 

Even if you haven't read anything by Brennan for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Audiobook Review: The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Result
by Graeme Simsion (libraries have as print book under Simsion; I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Dan O’Grady, borrowed through InterLibrary Loan)

This novel brings the trilogy of books focused on Don Tillman to a satisfying conclusion. In The Rosie Project, Australian geneticist Don Tillman (think Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory) takes a scientific approach to finding the perfect woman for him…except the woman who seems to the the right one doesn’t really match his checklist for optimum “mate” material. In The Rosie Effect, Don and Rosie are married, have relocated to New York City, and face a series of life-changing events as they approach parenthood.

 

In The Rosie Result, over ten years have passed. Don and Rosie, having moved from Australia to New York City in the previous volume, uproot their family and return to the land down under. Don finds himself between jobs and decides to focus his scientific and creative energies on bonding with their 11-year-old son, Hudson, who is facing some educational and interpersonal challenges. Both Don and Hudson are approaching their likely (but not technically diagnosed) places on the Autism spectrum in completely different ways, and Don’s highly-analytical method of studying everything in his life leads to some very funny, but also very touching observations on life.

 

I found this final volume in the trilogy to be bittersweet but enjoyable, though the ending felt a bit rushed. Hudson is a terrific character, as are the oddballs and misfits he surrounds himself with. Temporarily prevented from working in an academic setting, Don launches a specially-themed cocktail bar called “The Library”, and I’ll have to admit — I want to visit!

 

I’m sorry to see this series end, but if it had to end, I’m glad that Simsion finally addressed the Autism plotlines that have lingered throughout the earlier volumes. And audiobook narrator Dan O’Grady does another stellar job on this one!

 

(Obviously, you’ll want to have read or listened to The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect before reading or listening to this book. Although this third volume can stand on its own, the character relationships between Don and most of the other adult characters will make much more sense if read in the context of this being a third in a series.)

 

( Wikipedia page for The Rosie Result ) | ( official Graeme Simsion Twitter feed )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Dexter Down Under by Jeff Lindsay and Dalibor Talajic

Dexter Down Under
by Jeff Lindsay, art by Dalibor Talajic

Never having actually read any of the Dexter novels by Jeff Lindsay (nor having watched the Dexter television series, starring Michael C. Hall), I was surprised to be finding myself reading this graphic novel (a collection of a multi-issue comic book from 2012) featuring Dexter Morgan on loan to the Australian police to help solve a serial-killer case that has them stumped. I knew enough about the Dexter character -- he's a forensic pathologist who is also a serial killer himself, although he only kills other serial killers -- that I wasn't at all lost being dropped in the middle of his storyline continuity. In this Australian case, he and an attractive young female Aussie cop, investigate the disappearance and deaths of Asian immigrants to Australia, eventually stumbling on a sick "Most Dangerous Game" type of scenario. I found this graphic novel format to be fast-paced and entertaining, with excellent art. However, I sense, from what little I know of both the books and TV series, that the gruesome qualities and dark psychological suspense of both those formats, was a bit watered down for the comic-book storyline. That caveat not-withstanding, I enjoyed this read, and recommend it as an introduction to the character of Dexter. Longtime fans of the Dexter series may have differing opinions. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try some of the other "graphic novel" adaptations of other popular series, such as the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton, and the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.]

[ Wikipedia page for the Dexter comic books ] | [ official Dexter book series web site ]

Have you read this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!