DVD Review: Magpie Murders + Just Desserts meeting reminder for tonight

Magpie Murders
(DVD Magpie)

This is a whodunit that takes place in present day and the 1950’s. Both the original book and this Masterpiece Theatre production were written by author Anthony Horowitz.

 

In the present-day story, author Alan Conway, who is famous for the fictitious Atticus Pünd murder mysteries that take place in the 1950’s, has recently died, apparently of a suicide. He had just turned in his most recent manuscript, but the final chapter is missing! Now his editor is trying to locate that chapter or figure out whodunit in the book so she can publish his final mystery, and also determine what happened in real-life to Conway. Did he actually kill himself?

 

This dramatization constantly criss-crosses between the mysteries of the two time periods – the 1950’s characters in Conway’s book and present-day. Everyone in the Pünd manuscript is based on someone in Conway’s life — and the same actors play them both. It was fascinating to watch how seamlessly this story moved between the two timelines. One of my favorite transitions was watching our contemporary character take a left turn in her car and drive out of our view, and the oncoming car contains our 1955 Pünd and we continue the manuscript’s 1955 story with him.

 

Both storylines kept the suspense going as we tried to solve all of the mysteries. The DVD version did an excellent job of abridging the book while remaining true to the characters and the mysteries.

As usual, an excellent production from the folks at Masterpiece Theatre. You can easily binge this two-disc, six-episode series in an afternoon and evening.

 

If you decide to read the original Magpie book (which I also enjoyed), keep in mind that the presentation is different from the DVD. The first part of the book tells the 1955 mystery as told in the manuscript (but we won’t know its ending yet because that chapter is missing), and the second part follows our editor as she tries to find that missing chapter and sort out Conway’s death. I actually preferred the DVD version of moving between both storylines at the same time.

 

And yes, we find out whodunit in all the mysteries including that missing chapter.

 

(Also available in traditional print format.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this mini-series ) | ( official PBS page for Magpie Murders on Masterpiece )

 

See Scott C.’s review of Magpie Murders in the June 2021 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!

 

The print version of Magpie Murders was used as the book for discussion at a Just Desserts meeting in 2021.

 

If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight, February 23rd, 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. This month's book assigned topic of discussion is the first three novels by American author S.A. Cosby.

 

Even if you haven't read anything 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

New BookTalks Booklists: Once Upon a Crime - True Crime book discussion group

Are you aware of the Once Upon a Crime book group, which started at the Gere Branch Library in the Fall of 2021, and continues there on a monthly basis?

This group is all about True Crime books, DVDs and podcasts. Each month has a specific "theme". This group is designed to be partially "presentation" style, and partially "participation" style. A team of three Gere staff members are the hosts, and every month each of them will provide a detailed description of one or more books on the monthly focus theme, plus give out a prepared handout with even more recommended reads. Before the end of the meeting, attendees are all given an opportunity to make recommendations of additional True Crime books, audiobooks, and podcasts to the assembled group members.

 

Check out the complete lists of prepared handouts from past Once Upon a Crime (OUaC) meetings in 2021 and early 2022, in these bookstalk booklists on the Lincoln City Libraries' BookGuide reader resources pages at the following links:

OUaC: All in the (Manson) Family: Cult Crimes
OUaC: And You Thought Your Co-Pay Was Bad: Medical Crimes
OUaC: Blood Red Carpet: Hollywood Crimes
OUaC: Cornhusker Crimes: True Crime Cases in Nebraska
OUaC: Don't Be Yourself: Identity Crimes
OUaC: March Madness: Irish Crimes
OUaC: Satanic Panic
OUaC: To Err is Human, to Arr is Pirate: Pirate Crimes
OUaC: With Friends Like These: Friends Who Kill

Reading Recommendations from Let's Get Books Together book group - Jan 8 2020

The “Let’s Get Books Together” reading group met on Wednesday, January 8^th, 2020. The theme of this meeting was “Graphic Novels” that address LGBTQ+ topics. All attendees shared their reading suggestions. Many of these Graphic Novel selections are available from the libraries via the Hoopla digital downloads service. If a title was also available in physical printed format, the call # for that version is provided first in the list below. Hotlinks will go to all formats of the title in the libraries’ online catalog. This list is in Alphabetical order by author name.

Various call # - various authors – Lumberjanes

741.5 Tar – various – Motor Crush

Hoopla only – Allison, John – Giant

306.766 Bar – Barker, Meg-John – Queer: A Graphic History

(not in library) – Be-Papas (collective) – Revolutionary Girl Utena (manga/anime)

741.5 Bec – Bechdel, Alison – Dykes to Watch Out For (multi-volume series)

YA PB (Non-Fiction) Bongiovanni – Bongiovanni, Archie – A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns

741.5 Car – Carrol, Emily – When I Arrived at the Castle

Hoopla only – Ellis, Grace – Moonstruck

741.5 Fra – Franklin, Tee – Bingo Love

(not in library) – Gillan, Kieron – The Young Avengers

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Gillman) – Gillman, Melanie – As the Crow Flies

(not in library) – Jacques, Jeph – Questionable Content

(not in library) – Kamatani, Yuki – Our Dreams at Dusk

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Larson – Larson, Hope – Goldie Vance

(not in library) – Nagai, Go – Devilman

741.5 Nag – Nagata, Kabi – My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness

(not in library) – Neely, Tom – Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever

YA PB (Graphic Novel) O’Malley – O’Malley, Bryan Lee – Snotgirl

j O’Neill – O’Neill, Katie – Princess Princess Ever After

J O’Neill – O’Neill, Katie – Tea Dragon Society

jPB Series Osterag – Osterag, Molly – The Witch Boy

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Panetta – Panetta, Kevin – Bloom

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Pascat – Pascat, C.S. – Fence

(not in library) – Patil, Amruta – Kari

Hoopla only – Rivera, Gabby – America, Vol 1.: The Life and Times of America Chavez

YA Stevenson – Stevenson, Noelle – Nimona

741.5 Tag – Tagame, Gengoroh – My Brother’s Husband

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Tamaki – Tamaki, Jillian – Supermutant Magic Academy

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Tamaki – Tamaki, Mariko – Laura Deen Keeps Breaking Up With Me

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Tamaki – Tamaki, Mariko – This One Summer

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Tynion – Tynion, James – The Backstagers

YA PB (Graphic Novel) Usdin – Usdin, Carly – Heavy Vinyl

741.5 Vau – Vaughn, Brian – Paper Girls

jPB Series Wang – Wang, Jen – The Prince and the Dressmaker

(not in library) – Weaver, E.K. – The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal

(not in library) – Woolfson, Alex – Artifice

(not in library) – Woolfson, Alex – Young Protectors

Hoopla only – Young, Keezy – Taproot

YA PB (Non-Fiction) Zuckerberg, J.R. – A Quick and Easy Guide to Trans and Queer Identities

Just Desserts meeting tonight -- Favorite Stand-Alone Mystery Novel

Join the members of the Just Desserts Mystery Fiction Discussion group tonight at Bennett Martin Public Library (14th & "N" St.) in the 4th floor auditorium for their month meeting.

Our theme this month is "Memorable Stand Alone Mysteries" -- instead of all members of the group reading the same title to discuss it, we will be doing a round robin style of discussion, with each attendee given time to describe their favorite "stand alone" mystery/thriller/suspense novel -- it can't be part of a series, but it can be either an old classic or a more recent book.

This is your perfect opportunity to attend Just Desserts for the first time and see what kinds of mysteries all the "regulars" enjoy!

You can find out more about Just Desserts by clicking this link!

Join fellow mystery fans for the 100th meeting of Just Desserts

Hey, Mystery Fans!

In April 2006, the Lincoln City Libraries held its first Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting, at the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown. For the next 11 years, the Just Desserts group has continued to meet, once a month (January through October), first at the Bennett Martin Public Library, and more recently at the South Branch Library, on the last Thursday of each month.

Over the course of 99 meetings, we've discussed novels or short story collections from 94 different mystery authors, and shared dozens of different types of desserts during our discussions.

To celebrate the 100th meeting of Just Desserts on March 31st, we're having a special meeting, moved to the Walt Branch Library for one-month-only. We invite any and all area mystery fans to join us.

Just Desserts #100
Walt Branch Library -- 6701 S. 14th St.
Thursday, March 31st, 6:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Instead of our normal format -- in which all group members read the same book to discuss as a group -- we will be inviting all attendees to speak for a few moments about their all-time favorite mystery novel or short story collection. We plan to record this month's meeting to release as one of our audio podcast episodes. And a list of all the titles discussed will be shared online after the meeting.

So...join us, even if you've never attended a Just Desserts meeting before. You're welcome to bring a Dessert to share with fellow readers. And be prepared to share a mystery novel that holds meaning to you...and why!