Saturday Morning Brain Drain [2/5/20]

What I watched: Keitel and I watched season five of Grantchester on PBS. Premise: late 50’s early 60’s, England, vicar helps solve crimes. And it has Robson Green – a fine actor, I have liked anything he’s been in. I was rather miffed that lead vicar Sidney was written out of the series and refused to watch it for some time. But I finally give in (peer pressure) and it was quite good – I may like the new vicar even better. While his issues are more severe, his whiny level is much lower. I really get tired of angsty characters – I just want to smack them upside the head and say, “suck it up and get on with it”.

What I read: I’ve been reading the Lady Darby Mystery Series by Anna Lee Huber. I’m almost done with the first eight books and am pleased to see that she plans to release a new one each April through 2023. Here is a review “Anna Lee Huber’s spirited debut mixes classic country house mystery with a liberal dash of historical romance. Fans of Tasha Alexander and Agatha Christie rejoice! Lady Darby is an engaging new sleuth to follow and The Anatomist’s Wife is history mystery in fine Victorian style!” (Julia Spencer-Fleming.)

What I listened to: Kamauu, Clover. I have zero clue where I found out about him – could it have been on DUAN? If so, thank you!

And lately I like Hiss Golden Messenger.

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About Elliecoo 563 Articles
Four dogs, one partner. The dogs win.

38 Comments

  1. …by the by…looks like a but of text got repeated on the reading there…if it’s still doubled up when I double back I’ll clip it but I’m on a phone at the minute so I might clip too much or something dire if I do owt about it the now

  2. Good morning Ellie and deadsplinters! I’ve often wondered if Grantchester was any good. I’ll have to give it a try.
    What I’m watching
    Run – Merritt Weaver and Domhnall Gleeson have tons of chemistry, and I’d watch Weaver read the phone book.
    What I’m reading
    Code name Villanelle- the basis for Killing Eve, dark and funny like the series
    What I’m listening to
    the podcast Hit Man – Motown producer Lawrence Horn hired a man to murder his wife and the role a Paladin Press book played in the case
    and my college radio station

    • Thank you!I am so interested in your recommendations. Sadly, we do not have access to HBO, where Run is aired. But you can bet I will add Villanelle to my read list!

    • Another good one is “Murdoch Mysteries.” It takes place in Toronto around the turn of the 19th -> 20th-century and Murdoch is especially good at technology, so he kind of invents (often with the help of guest stars) police tools that weren’t available until many years later. I’m not explaining this very well but it’s a very good show. It’s still going on; they have 13 seasons so far.

  3. If you like mysteries and don’t mind the police procedural end of the genre, I’m reading the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. Rebus is a Detective Inspector in Edinburgh. I found out about the books when I was in the Scottish National Museum last year. The Arthur’s Seat Coffins are there, as well as an exhibit about Scotland in popular culture. As it turns out, the coffins are featured prominently in one of the Rebus books. A cool feature for me is that having been to Edinburgh, I recognize a lot of the landmarks referenced in the books. Rebus is kind of an anti-hero, not in a Vic Mackey way, but maybe more like Harry Bosch. I see of lot of parallels between Rebus and Wallender from Henning Mankel’s books.

    • Excellent! I read Inspector Rebus (a few anyway) years ago when we had to go to the library and loan physical books. I do like a good police procedural and will add his Rebus to reading as well. Keitel and I liked it on TV. And your landmark recognition thong is cool. Kind of the same, in that reading world and real world merge, I adored the Phryne Fisher books and acquired Guerlain’s Jicky perfume because Phryne wore it.

      • …me mother was always fond of the likes of VI Warshawski or the Scarpetta books but she liked Beck when the Scandi-noir thing hit

        …Rebus is great but I’d also give a shout out to Inspector Frost for the old school & the Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovich (which are surreal & involve magic) but also have a policeman for a protagonist

        • I think you and I have communed over the joys of Rivers of London in past posts. I’ve been know stay up all night reading a Rivers book. Quirky, funny stuff – I’ll stop and read aloud some of the funny stuff to Keitel. Tell me, do read the short Rivers graphic novels? I’ve not because it feels like I want to buy the physical version.

          • …I have a cousin who picked up.a few of the comics…they’re not bad but I think I prefer the prose editions?

            …Neil Gaiman stuff I’d take as a comic over prose, though…Neverwhere is definitely better as a comic book (imho) than either the book or TV versions?

      • Have you read John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series? It’s excellent. Connolly injects elements of the supernatural that are both creepy and poignant. Parker “lives” in the next town over from me so I know everywhere he goes.

  4. i watched rambo last blood the other night…it was uhhh..well a rambo flick.. bit slow and grim dark to start then turns into fun and inovative ways to kill a whole bunch of people in as much gorey detail as they could think of… did what it said on the tin really
    im currently not reading anything
    and currently listening to every thing (seriously…all the things..tho..thats just a day ending in y for me) kinda enjoying the quarantine videos lately

    • I’ve been watching Cougar Town on Amazon lately because it’s funny and dumb and I can have it on in the background while I do other stuff. Anyhow, he was on there as a dude who makes every song sad and he was charming and adorable. It’s the episode where they go to Hawaii too.

  5. For an English costume crime show that is different from the usual, I liked Year of the Rabbit. Setnin the 1890s, foul mouthed Matt Berry and his foul mouthed deputies stumble around London solving murders.

  6. I like the new look – it’s spiffy!

    I like Grantchester it’s a pleasant way to spend an hour of murder.

    For books if you like historical fiction – I always suggest The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. They’re set in the 16th century about a Scottish nobleman turned mercenary trying to clear his name and discover dark family secrets while traipsing around with historical figures of the time. Dorothy Dunnett has spoiled me for other writers – no one can write like her.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymond_Chronicles

  7. I put season 6 of Schitt’s Creek on my Plex server for someone else before having ever watched it. Then I said I would watch it so I put season 1 and season 2 on it. I fell asleep near the end of season 2 and woke up to EVERYTHING being a whole lot of different. I asked, “what is going on? What did I miss?” and the response was, “I don’t know. They were at this party and I dozed off and now there is a baby and a wedding being planned.” So I watched a couple episodes whilst half asleep before I realised that it had skipped from season 2 to season 6. I put season 3 on my server and am now a few episodes into that but I keep falling asleep and having to go back. Knowing what is going to happen a few seasons later isn’t helping me with my interest.

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