Book Review: Mrs. Claus and the Fatal Figgy Pudding by Liz Ireland (Mrs. Claus Mysteries #7)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Charming characters and a good mystery

Cons: Pacing was off, but book was still entertaining

The Bottom Line:

Mystery baby

Plus poisoning on the stage

Series still charming

Unexpected Complications at Christmas

It is always a pleasure when the next Mrs. Claus Mystery lands at the top of my to be read pile.  The world author Liz Ireland has created is magical.  And I smiled my way through Mrs. Claus and the Fatal Figgy Pudding, book seven in the series.

This series features the real Mrs. Claus.  And this version of the North Pole is exactly what you would imagine.  We’ve got elves, snowmen, and reindeer.  Everything you’d expect for life with Santa.  Of course, we also have murder and mayhem.  This is a cozy mystery series, after all.

While we have visited April Claus and the rest of the cast for various other holidays, for this book it is once again Christmas, and April has a full schedule as always.  That’s before someone leaves a baby elf on the doorstep of Castle Kringle asking April to care for her.  April is willing to take that on, but she also sets out to find out how the baby came to be left on her doorstep.

Meanwhile, April has also added being stage manager for this season’s production of A Christmas Carol to her already busy schedule.  But things take an unexpected turn when one of the elves in the cast dies after eating the figgy pudding April prepared for the rehearsal.  Can she figure out what happened to her pudding and why?

The dualling plots didn’t quite work here.  While I was invested in the mystery of the baby elf, it took a lot of time at the beginning of the book and that made the mystery surrounding the play take longer than it should have to really get cooking.  The stories do come to a logical climax, and I set the book down satisfied.

Of course, the characters are still charming as always, and they kept me engaged the entire time.  We’ve gotten to know quite a few supporting players over the course of the series, and they are all here and in fine form.  I enjoyed getting to see what’s new with them as their characters and lives continue to grow.  And the new characters were just as entertaining.

Plus there’s the humor.  I couldn’t help but laugh as I was reading the book, and when I wasn’t laughing, I was smiling.  Yes, this series is hyper cozy, so expect that when you pick it up, but it’s so warm and charming, it’s hard not to fall under the spell.

If you aren’t already enjoying these delightful mysteries, do yourself a favor and fix that right away.  Fans will be charmed once again with this latest entry in the series.

Check out the rest of the Mrs. Claus Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Movie Review: Coyote vs. Acme

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and fun character moments

Cons: A bit broad overall

The Bottom Line:

Taking on a corp

Looney Tunes humor in court

Goal? To entertain

“How Hard Could It Be to Catch a Bird?”

The first time I heard about Coyote vs. Acme, I was on board.  It just sounded like so much fun.  Then, there was the whole drama with Warner Bros. deciding to shelve it for a tax write off.  So, I was thrilled when I heard that Ketchup Entertainment had bought the film, and I made a point of going to see it in the theater.

While the film is more live action than animated, we do have a good mix of animation in the real world.  And it starts like a classic Coyote and Road Runner cartoon.  Coyote is out to catch his dinner, Road Runner, and his latest Acme products do not work as he envisions them.  When he goes home that night, defeated, he sees an ad from a lawyer who represents people like him, harmed by shoddy products.

So Coyote heads into Albuquerque, New Mexico to hire Kevin Avery (Will Forte).  But Kevin just wants to go for the simple settlement, something that Coyote doesn’t want.  Suddenly, Kevin finds himself going up again his law school nemesis, Buddy Crane (John Cena), in a case that is drawing national attention.  Can he figure out how to win the case?

As I said earlier, this film is a mix of mostly live action with a little animation.  But the animation looks wonderful.  It’s more modern 3D, although they do have some fun nods to 2D animation.  The effects are outstanding.  It’s easy to buy what we are seeing on the screen.  And the human actors do a fantastic job of making us believe this world is real.

And yes, many of the Looney Toons characters show up.  Most have extended cameos to further the story.  This is Coyote’s film, and that’s fine.  But I did appreciate how the rest of the characters were used.

Anyone who goes to see the movie will have fun.  There are plenty of laughs from start to finish.  Yes, most of them are slapstick, but what would you expect?  This is a movie that is having fun, and it invites us along for the ride.  It knows it has one job, to entertain us, and it does it.

It is also refreshingly free of so much of the modern movie agenda.  Yes, the movie is an allegory for one issue (I’m being vague so as to not spoil things), but it’s never preachy about it, and it’s an easy issue to agree with the movie on.  While there is a mention or two of corporations being bad, in this case, Acme is pretty evil, so it works.  Again, the movie is focused on entertaining us.

Yet, it does have some nice, tender moments near the end.  These moments kind of snuck up on me, but they were well earned.

I mentioned earlier that the actors did a great job with the effects of the film.  The acting overall was good.  The characters were fairly broad, but that’s the writing.  Likewise, the character arcs were fairly predictable, but I was having fun overall, so I didn’t care.

Coyote vs. Acme is the light comedy we don’t get much anymore.  It’s not an event movie, but it’s a fun way to spend an hour and forty minutes.  You won’t be sorry you gave it a chance.

Book Review: The Pie & Mash Detective Agency by J. D. Brinkworth (Pie & Mash Detective Agency #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Two leads in intriguing premise

Cons: Slow and meandering at times

The Bottom Line:

Two fledging PIs

Take on weird first mystery

Wanders bit too much

Even Fledging Detectives Need More Focus

When I heard about The Pie & Mash Detective Agency a few months back, I thought the premise sounded like fun.  Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be as good as I hoped it would be.

The book introduces us to Jane Pye and Simon Mash, a millennial couple.  Jane has recently lost her job, and she’s signed them up for a beginning private eye class, something Simon is less than interested in.  Nearing the end of the term, the instructor passes out cases for the students to work on.  However, Jane and Simon’s case is a little different.  It’s one their instructor hasn’t already solved.

On the surface it seems simple enough – a man returned home from work one day to discover his front door open and his girlfriend gone.  He was certain she was the love of his life, and he’s equally as certain that something bad has happened to her.  But the police aren’t taken him serious because of the girlfriend’s name.  You see, there have been multiple women with the name Nellie Thorne who have disappeared in this area of England over the decades, so she’s become something of an urbane legend.

But Jane and Simon, well mostly Jane, are determined to show they are taking the class seriously, so they dive into the case.  Is Nellie real?  If so, is she in trouble?

You can see the appeal.  Jane and Simon sounded like a fun detecting duo, and the mystery intrigued me.  I just had to know what was going on.

And I did enjoy Jane and Simon.  They shared time as our third person point-of-view characters, which allowed us to really get to know them better.  While at times they did seem to lean a little too hard into millennial stereotypes, they grow over the course of the book, which I appreciated.  They brought some humor to the proceedings as well.

It was mostly the mystery that let us down.  Now, let me be clear.  I expected that Jane and Simon would take some detours and hit some road blocks along the way – more so than in a typical mystery novel.  It’s part of the premise.  The problem was they spent quite a bit of time on some of these detours and even a side quest.  The uneven pacing was frustrating at times.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the characters we met along the way were interesting.  And the book did build to a logical, suspenseful, and fun climax.  It just had some fat it needed to trim along the way.

I’m not sorry I picked up The Pie & Mash Detective Agency.  But I probably won’t be moving on to their next case when it comes out next year.

TV Show Review: Happy's Place - Season 2

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Lots of laughs with some great characters

Cons: One ongoing storyline I wasn’t a fan of

The Bottom Line:

Return to the bar

Filled with much laughter and heart

Strong second season

“You’ve Created a Monster.” “My Work Here is Done.”

The first season of Happy’s Place quickly became my favorite sitcom currently on the air, so I was anxious to see how things developed in season two.  Fortunately, the laughs and character relationships that I loved in the first season continued to make me laugh.

Happy’s Place is the name of a bar in Knoxville, Tennessee.  It is now run by Happy’s daughters, Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo).  Of course, Bobbie didn’t know about Isabella until after Happy passed.  Despite the rocky start that surprise gave Bobbie, the two new half-sisters have started learning how to get along and run the business well.  Rounding out the staff at the bar (and the cast), we have bartender Gabby (Melissa Peterman), cook Emmett (Rex Linn), server Takoda (Tokala Black Elk), and the bar’s accountant Steve (Pablo Castelblanco).

This season starts off focuses on Bobbie’s relationship with Emmett.  With a nudge from Isabella, they finally start dating.  Unfortunately, Emmett has a secret that might destroy their budding romance if Bobbie finds out.  Elsewhere this season, Isabella gets an idea to open an alcohol-free speakeasy upstairs from the main bar.  Gabby’s mother (played by Jane Lynch) comes for a visit.  Takoda’s band gets booked at the bar.  And Steve discovers that AI might be better at his job than he is.

The one ongoing storyline I didn’t care for involved Gabby’s continued interest in becoming a single mother through insemination.  Yes, I’m old fashioned enough to think that kids should be raised by two parents in a married relationship.  Having said that, I did still find the episodes focusing on this to have laughs and great character moment.

And that’s why I love this show.  These six characters, and actors, play off each other perfectly.  They are building on the chemistry we saw in the first season.  The laughs flow freely, and the more serious moments hit exactly as they should.  And yes, that means the acting is great.

This is even more impressive when you pay attention and realize that there are several episodes this season without any guest stars.  It’s only these six characters making us laugh as the story unfolds.  But if you aren’t watching for it, you won’t notice.

Having said that, a pretty important guest star did pop up this season.  JoAnna Garcia Swisher appears in an episode.  And yes, there are some jokes with a wink to her earlier role as Reba’s daughter on Reba.

For years, I’ve been saying I was going to go to a sitcom taping, and I finally managed to do it last October.  I went to a taping of an episode of this show.  Specifically, I went to see episode 11, “Dart to the Heart.”  It was a lot of fun, and that episode will probably always be a favorite.  I’m not alone since it seems to have gotten a good rating at IMDB.

Overall, there were eighteen episodes in season two.  Almost as many as a traditional order of a sitcom.  And it worked for this show.  It allowed time for several storylines to unfold and some fun random stand-alone episodes as well.

If you are looking to laugh at a traditional sitcom, Happy’s Place is the show for you.  And if you are already a fan, you’ll find season two continues the fun.

Book Review: Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #39)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters we love and a good mystery

Cons: The mystery could have been stronger

The Bottom Line:

Rescuing horses

Until dead body turns up

Charming as always

Rescuing Horses is Murder

While the titles in Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow series always feature a bird pun, the animals that are featured can vary some.  That’s the case with Probable Caws, book thirty-nine in the series.  Yes, a murder of crows does play a part, but the main plot involves rescuing horses.

Meg becomes aware of the situation when she gets a phone call from her dad.  A horse rescue organization in a neighboring county has to move their horses, and Meg’s neighbor and friend Ragnar has agreed to take the horses in.  But they need people to help settle the horses, so she goes over to help.  As the day progresses, Meg begins to learn about the fight between the owner of the farm the horses came from and his brother, who has just inherited half of the farm.  That night, Meg finds a dead body in one of the barns.  Can she figure out who the killer is?

This series, and cozies in general, need to balance the hook of the series and the murder, and I get that it is a delicate balancing act.  This one erred on the side of the information on animals and how these horses were doing, meaning the pacing was a little slow for my taste.

I’m not saying we don’t have a good mystery.  There were some good twists that kept me guessing as I read, and I was surprised by the ending.  The climax was fun, and I appreciated how everything was wrapped up.

At this point, the characters are old friends, and this book was another great visit with them.  Not everyone was present, but we still got updates on those who weren’t in town.  And the cast we did get to spend time with were their usual charming selves.  The suspects were interesting as well.

This series is known for its humor.  The laughs weren’t as plentiful here, but there were some along the way.  And there were plenty of grins.

While this may not be the strongest entry in the Meg Langslow series, Probable Caws will still entertain fans.

Enjoy the rest of the Meg Langslow series.

TV Show Review: The Brady Bunch - Season 3

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Light, fun episodes

Cons: Only if you are looking for something serious

The Bottom Line:

Start with a road trip

Series continues to charm

Dated but still fun

“If Silence is Golden, This Must Be Worth a Fortune.”

I am now half way through the story, or at least the original story, of The Brady Bunch.  I guess technically, I crossed the half way point in season three.  If you’ve been enjoying the show so far, I’ve got great news – this season is more of the same.  Of course, if you don’t enjoy the show, that’s bad news for you.

The setup remains the same.  When Mike (Robert Reed) and Carol (Florence Henderson) get married, they each bring three kids to their second marriages.  This means that Mike’s three boys, Greg, Peter, and Bobby (Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland) and Carol’s three girls, Marcia, Jan, and Cindy (Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, and Susan Olsen) suddenly have twice as many siblings.  Rounding out the cast (because we need one more character), we have Ann B. Davis as Alice, their live in house keeper.

Season three kicks off with an iconic road trip as the nine characters head off in a rented tent trailer to the Grand Canyon.  This three-part episode finds the Bradys trapped in a ghost town (by Jim Backus of Gilligan’s Island fame) and Bobby and Cindy lost at the bottom of the canyon.  While I know these episodes are well loved, I’m not the biggest fan of them.  They were more travel log than actual story, or at least they felt that way to me as I watched them again.  It also makes me wonder who I will feel when they go to Hawaii to start next season.

The good news is, the remaining 20 episodes this season were more like typical episodes of the show.  Among the most famous episodes from the season, Peter tries to develop a personality (leading him to mutter “Pork chops and applesauce”).  Jan, tired of being in the shadow of “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” tries out for the pom-pom squad.  Marcia promises to get Davy Jones to play for the school dance.  Cindy and Bobby set out to break the teeter totter record.  When Alice goes on vacation, her identical cousin Emma shows up with her drill sergeant ways.  And all the kids set out to record a song that Greg has written, only to learn that it might be “Time to Change” the song.

In earlier seasons, I’ve commented on the fact that each episode only has one storyline, with everyone getting involved in some way with whatever the story of the week is.  For the first time, we have a few sub-plots.  Most noticeably, the family is building a dunk tank in an early episode.  Of course, there are times that the two storylines merge, like when Greg gets a delivery job just as Bobby is upset about being small.  Only a hand full of episodes contain a subplot, but I thought it was interesting to note.

There’s nothing here that will change anyone’s mind about the show.  It’s still light entertainment.  And that includes the jokes, which aren’t as sharp as you’d prefer for a sitcom.  The conflicts are usually low stakes with a focus on the kids learning something at the end of the episode.  And yes, everyone is mostly well behaved and the situations is resolved happily at the end of the episode. 

But it works.  There’s a reason this show is still in pop culture almost 60 years later.  It’s comforting to imagine a world where everything works out each week.  The characters are good role models or, if misbehaving, learn something to improve their character.

And we are in peak 70’s here.  The use of slang is laughable at times, even for a show set back then.  Carol gets her iconic flip.  And the clothing styles are groovy.  It certainly was a memorable decade that way.

As I implied earlier, there are 23 episodes this season, down from the 24 we got in each of the first two seasons.  The DVD set I have preserves the episodes in their original full frame and mono sound.  The picture is a bit fuzzier than I remember them being in the first two seasons, but they are still watchable.

As I was watching, I discovered that music rights keep a few of the episodes from the season from being available for streaming.  I don’t remember seeing that with previous seasons, so I found this an interesting bit of trivia.  All the episodes are available on DVD, fortunately.

Season 3 of The Brady Bunch continues to charm and entertain.  The show isn’t for everyone, but if you find yourself craving comfort watching, you’ll enjoy it.

Movie Review: A Royal Wedding - A Prince in Paradise III

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Nice caper to a fun trilogy

Cons: Plot could have been more original; low-budget cheese

The Bottom Line:

A wedding on hold

Revisiting characters

Who are still charming

Will Politics Stop a Wedding?

When I was perusing Great American Family movies a few years ago, I stumbled on A Prince in Paradise, and immediately fell under its charm.  I was there to watch the Christmas themed sequel that aired in 2024.  And I’ve been keeping my eyes opened for the promised third movie, A Royal Wedding.  It was exactly what I expected, which means I enjoyed it.

If you haven’t been following the franchise, romance writer Olivia (Rhiannon Fish) met Prince Alexander of Trovia (Mitchell Bourke) while both were vacationing on a tropical island.  Despite the differences in their stations in life, they fell in love, getting engaged at Christmas.  Now, the time has come for them to finally wed, and they and their families are thrilled the day has arrived.

But not everyone is happy about it.  One of the lords of Trovia has rallied a few other nobility to invoke a little-known law and stop the wedding the night before it is to take place.  While Alexander’s mother, Queen Patricia (Andrea Moor), attempts to find a legal way to get the wedding back on track, Olivi and Alexander take their own paths to overcome the obastcle.  Will the couple ever get married?

It would have been nice to see them come up with some kind of new obstacle for the couple here since this has been a theme in the first two movies.  And, I get it, this is a real issue for royals over the centuries.  But I feel like they could have found something new to threaten the wedding.

Because, let’s face it, we know where this movie is going to wind up.  It’s right there in the movie’s title.  And it’s what we’d expect from a light romance.  I suspected the how, but I didn’t mind because I was enjoying hanging out with the characters again as they tried to figure things out.  And yes, I might have shed a tear or two.

And this is due to the characters.  They continue to be charming.  I loved getting to spend time with them again.

Obviously, this is due to the acting from the cast.  They bring their characters to life wonderfully and make us want to see what happens in this next chapter.

Now, this isn’t to say the movie (and franchise) don’t suffer from low-budget cheese.  If that bothers you, you’ll want to steer clear.  But if you can accept that, you’ll have fun with these films.

With how this movie ends, I feel like we are saying goodbye to the characters.  I do feel like this is a good place to stop because I feel good about where we left the characters.  But if they decided to revisit Olivia and Alexander, I’d certainly watch.

A Royal Wedding is a fun ending to the A Prince in Paradise trilogy.  Fans will definitely want to tune in to see how it ends.

Book Review: Dead Days of Summer by Carolyn Hart (Death on Demand #17)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Interesting mystery and characters we love

Cons: One aspect left dangling; slow middle

The Bottom Line:

A disappearance

Pace is sadly uneven

Fans will still enjoy

What Happened to Max?

I got tripped up a bit this year since none of the library systems I have access to had the next couple Death on Demand Mysteries on digital audio.  Heck, I had to dig out my hardcover of the previous book in the series.  But I was able to find Dead Days of Summer, book seventeen, on audio CD, so I just got it listened to.  While I enjoyed it overall, it did have flaws.

The series is set on the (fictional) island of Broward’s Rock off the coast of South Carolina, where Annie Darling runs a mystery bookstore.  Her husband, Max, runs an inquiry agency, which is helpful given the number of mysteries the two seem to get involved in.

As this book opens, Annie thinks the biggest problem she is facing is keeping the surprise birthday party she is planning for Max a secret, especially given how Laurel, Max’s mother, keeps thinking for herself.  But that’s before Max vanishes.  He’d taken a new case that Monday afternoon, and he let Annie know he’d be home late.  But he never comes home.  The search uncovers a dead body.  What does it mean?  Where is Max?

While I knew what the ultimate outcome of the book would be, I was quite caught up in the story at the beginning.  I needed to know what exactly was going on as well.  However, the story stalls out in the middle, with nothing new happening for quite a while.  Fortunately, it picks up as the story heads into the final act.  While the ending does make sense, it leaves a big why unanswered.  It was a pretty big question I had early on, too.

The usual characters are all here, and I enjoyed getting to spend time with them.  But I did feel that one character seemed to be pretty different from the last time we saw him.  It was a change I was happy to see since I felt his personality transplant last time was out of character.  But I do feel like the series relies a little too much on the trope of hostile authority figures, and that has driven some of the changes in the series, not necessarily for the better.  We don’t really get to know the suspects until the third act, but they are good for the page time they get.

Despite the more serious plot, I did feel we got some laughs, still, usually thanks to Laurel.  I really have come to love her character as the series has gone along.

While the language has calmed down from earlier books in the series, there is still more than you would usually expect in a cozy.

And Kate Reading did her usual great job bringing the story to life with her narration.

The early books in the series went overboard in the references to other mysteries.  Now that we are in 2006, I was looking for references to books I was reading back then.  Sadly, these references seem to be mostly gone with only a handful.  I liked the happy medium we had for a while and hope that comes back.

While Dead Days of Summer won’t be my favorite in the series, I’m still glad I got to read it.  Fans of the series won’t want to miss it despite the flaws.

Check out the rest of the Death on Demand Mysteries.

TV Show: R.J. Decker - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good characters and fun mysteries

Cons: Still room to build the characters

The Bottom Line:

Ex-con detective

Rebuilding life in freedom

It’s a solid start

“I Got Work to Do.  Try Not to Get Sent Back to Prison Today.” 

When I first heard about the show R.J. Decker, I was hesitant to watch it.  It is based on a book by Carl Hiassen, and I didn’t particularly like the book of his I read.  Still, I didn’t have much else on, so I decided to give season one a try.  I’m glad I did because I wound up enjoying it.

R.J. Decker (Scott Speedman) has just gotten out of prison after serving several years for assault on a young man who stole his camera.  You see, R.J. was a photographer.  Now that he’s out, R.J. is changing careers, becoming a P.I.  He’s returned to Miami, where’s he connecting with his ex-wife, Catherine (Adelaide Clemens).  In fact, he’s crashing in Catherine’s garage, much to the dismay of Catherine’s new wife, Mel (Bevin Bru).  And Mel?  She just happens to be a homicide detective that R.J. just keeps crossing paths with.  Then there is, Wish (Kevin Rankin), R.J.’s former cellmate who is now the owner of a bar.  Rounding out the cast is Emi (Jaina Lee Ortiz), who R.J. doesn’t know if he can trust since she had a hand in sending him to prison.

Since this was a spring replacement show, we got nine episodes in season one.  Along the way, R.J. helps a friend of Wish’s who has been accused of murder, discovers why a little league coach’s family is being targeted, and helps a woman find out what happened to her boyfriend.  He also starts to learn what really happened the fateful day that got him sent to prison in the first place.

The cases on this show are a bit bizarre, but in a completely entertaining way.  By the time we reach the end, everything makes sense, even if you think “only in Florida” a time or two.  There’s definitely some laughs as we head toward a logical climax.

We also get to know the main cast better.  I’m still not completely sold on them and their relationships.  Some of their friction seems forced to me.  Hopefully, that will smooth out in season two.  With only nine episodes, there is plenty of room for them and their relationships to grow, which makes me glad we are going to get a second season this fall.

The cliffhanger is another reason I’m glad the show is coming back.  I’m very anxious to find out what is going to happen next.

The cast is getting to know their characters still.  They are doing a good job bringing them to life each week, and I’m sure they will grow into their roles as the writers get a better handle on things.

While the show does have some ongoing storylines, it doesn’t rely on them.  It features more case of the week with a few updates to the ongoing stories in most of the episodes.  This is my favorite kind of story telling for most shows.

R.J. Decker takes itself just seriously enough to make us care while still having plenty of fun along the way.  I’m hoping season two builds on the success of season one.

TV Show Review: Wings - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: A promising first six episodes

Cons: Characters are still pretty broad here

The Bottom Line:

A short first season

Just the basic set up here

But still solid laughs

“Offering That Man a Job at My Airline Would Be the Stupidest Thing I Could Do.” “So Why Are You Going to Do It?” “I Have No Idea.”

Somewhere along the way, I caught reruns of the sitcom Wings.  I enjoyed the ones I saw, but I never followed the show regularly.  A few years ago, I decided to get the complete series DVD set, and then it sat on my shelf for a while.  I finally pulled it out and enjoyed season 1.

Season 1 of the show was a late replacement in spring of 1990.  It must have done well since it would go on for seven more full seasons before flying off the air.  It came from the creative team of David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee who had worked on Cheers and would also create a little show called Fraiser. 

The show is set around a small commuter airport on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts.  In the first episode we meet brothers Joe and Brian Hackett (Tim Daly and Steven Weber), who are both pilots.  They’ve been estranged ever since Brian ran off and married Joe’s girlfriend.  Newly single, Brian winds up taking a job for Joe’s small airline, Sandpiper Airline.  The other employee is Fay (Rebecca Schull), who works the counter for the airline.  Of course, the brothers have competition in the form of Roy (David Schramm) who owns a larger airline, Aeromass.  There’s also the mechanic, the slow-witted Lowell (Thomas Haden Church).  And then there’s Helen Chapel (Crystal Bernard).  She was a childhood friend of Joe and Brian, and both brothers seem to be interested in turning that friendship into something more even though Helen wants to remain friends.  She is currently running the lunch counter in the tiny airport.

Season 1 consisted of six episodes.  In this day and age, that’s the norm, especially on streaming, but back then, that was extremely low.  Of course, it helps that it premiered on April 19, 1990, so there wasn’t long before the season ended.  (Again, when the networks had true TV seasons.)  In a lot of ways, these episodes are just setting up the characters.  The first episode reunites the brothers and sets up them working together.  We learn that Helen is trying to get a career playing cello to take off.  And, honestly, those three characters are the main focus of the episodes, especially when Brian’s ex-wife (and Joe’s ex) returns to their lives in a two-parter.

Even though it’s hard to fully judge a show in only six episodes, you can see why this would become a show that lasted.  There are plenty of great laughs.  While the main trio is beginning to develop, they are still fairly flat here.  And the other three characters, while promising, definitely show room for growth.  Most shows having growing pains in their first few episodes, so none of this is surprising.  Still, it is easy to see why the show was back in the fall.  It may not be a classic thought about frequently today, but it has solid laughs, especially for the first few episodes of a show.

And the actors are already stepping into the characters they would play for the next several years.  I’m sure I’ll see their performances and comedic chemistry improve, but they are off to a great start here.

In my DVD set, season 1’s six episodes share space with the first couple of episodes of season 2 (which I didn’t watch yet).  We don’t get any extras.  The stereo sound is good, but the picture leaves much to be desired.  I get it, the show is older and was filmed, so things are going to lose something as they age.  But this is pretty consistently poor quality, especially on the wider shots.  But the show is still enjoyable.

I’m hoping my push to watch more of the TV on DVD sets I’ve bought will mean I can get back to Wings soon.  Season 1 may be short, but it teases more great laughs to come.

Book Review: All Aboard for Murder by Ellen Byron (Golden Motel Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and mystery with plenty of fall atmosphere

Cons: No cons got on board

The Bottom Line:

An autumn murder

Showcasing California

Another fun book

Dee is Tracking Another Killer

Ellen Byron has long been a favorite author, but the setting and characters for her Golden Motel Mysteries couldn’t have been better tailored for me if she tried.  So, I was anxious to dive into All Aboard for Murder, the third in the series.

Ellen used to write sitcoms in Hollywood, a past she gave to her main character here, Dee Stern.  But Dee has given all that up and bought and restored a motel in California’s Sierra Nevada’s gold country right on the boarder of Majestic National Park (a thinly disguised Yosemite).  Between my love of sitcoms in particular and TV in general and being a California native, you can see why this series appeals to me so much.

Every October, the community of Goldsgone, which is near Dee’s motel, celebrates the birthday of Angus Sprockles, the man who made sure they got designated a historic landmark.  Of course, they are also celebrating Halloween.  Among the events is a Halloween themed fundraiser for the historic society on the railroad that Angus’s only living heir runs.  But the event ends with Moses Sprockles dead.  It originally looks like an accident, but there are things that don’t add up.  Dee’s father had become friends with Moses, and he asks Dee to poke around even though this murder doesn’t appear to have anything to do with her motel.  Can Dee find the killer?

Anyone familiar with Ellen Byron’s books will know there is plenty else going on.  The subplots are woven in and out of the main mystery expertly.  The result was that I was never bored, and the mystery was never sidelined.  Some of the storylines impact each other, which adds to the fun.

Speaking of adding to the fun, we also have some former child actors joining the plot of this book – again, Dee’s background coming into play.  I really liked that aspect of the story.

Anyway, everything comes to a logical climax that I didn’t expect, and I appreciated how Dee was able to figure a couple of things out.  This is a case where only she could have solved things, which I always appreciate.

As always with an Ellen Byron book, there are a lot of characters, and there’s a helpful list of characters at the beginning of the book.  Some of the characters feature more prominently than others, of course, but I enjoyed whatever time the characters got on the page.  I also appreciate how one relationship developed.  Dee is an entertaining main character, and the suspects did a good job of keeping me confused.

There’s also some great humor in this book, with parts that made me laugh and smile.  Yes, some of that comes from skewering Hollywood as well as some funny interactions and a few funny moments.

At the end of the book, you’ve got a tip for making a road trip memorable and a bonus recipe.

I mentioned the location earlier.  While I haven’t spent as much time in that part of California as I should, I still really enjoy getting to visit it fictionally via this series.

And yes, the story does play into the Halloween season more than I’ve teased so far as well.  Whether you read it now or wait for October, it will give you fall vibes.

All told, All Aboard for Murder is another winner for Ellen Byron.  This is one mysterious trip you’ll enjoy.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

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Book Review: Strong Medicine by Steve Hockensmith (Holmes on the Range #8)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery, the leads, and the humor

Cons: None – you’ll want to take this Medicine

The Bottom Line:

Blackmail and murder

Brothers continue to shine

Brimming with laughter

Time For Your Dose of Fun Medicine

It’s always a treat when Steve Hockensmith has a new Holmes on the Range book.  So, when I was offered an ARC of book eight in the series, I jumped at it.  I’m happy to say I took my dose of Strong Medicine and every page was a delight.

If you aren’t familiar with this series, you are truly missing out.  The series focuses on Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer.  They are brothers who were making their living as cowboys when we first met them.  But thanks to the stories of the famed Sherlock Holmes, Old Red has started using Sherlock’s methods to solve cases the brothers have found themselves part of.  At this point, they have helped start the A.A. Western Detective Agency.

This book finds them in Galveston, Texas, in 1894.  They aren’t on an official case, but they have gone down to help their friend Olivia Pertwee.  Her family has suffered from a blackmailer, but their business partner just died in a fire in his warehouse.  Is someone out to destroy the family’s business?

I must admit, I didn’t remember Olivia, who we met in the previous book in the series, but that didn’t matter.  I really liked getting to know her as the book went along.  The book is filled with suspects, and they are a colorful lot, and that made it easy to keep them straight.

Old Red and Big Red are the only returning characters we see here.  I really liked the development they both got.  Old Red’s arc was a bit of a surprise, but I’m not complaining.  And Big Red, while the narrator of the stories (in a Dr. Watson role), is beginning to gain some skills of his own, which I loved to see.

And the mystery itself?  I called one part early on, but the rest kept me guessing until the end.  Yet, when Old Red explained things, it all made perfect sense.  Yes, I do find the use of a prologue set during the action of the book frustrating as I do with many authors, but at least we don’t have to wait too long to get back to that scene.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that this isn’t a cozy series.  It’s mostly language that would keep it from that category, so as long as you are expecting that when you pick it up, you’ll be fine.

What I’d forgotten about with the series is just how funny it can be.  The main characters are brothers, after all, and they act like brothers do.  But there are some funny interactions with the suspects, and Big Red infuses his first-person narration with humor.

Strong Medicine is another strong mystery from Steve Hockensmith.  As always, I’m anxious to find out where his imagination and pen will take us next.

Roam with the rest of the Holmes on the Range series.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

TV Show Review: The Golden Girls - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Lots of laughs with these new friends

Cons: Some of the humor isn’t to my taste

The Bottom Line:

The strong laughs start here

As we meet these characters

Glad I started show

“I’m So Scared.  My Dentures are Chattering.”

Being the sitcom fan I am, I’d long heard people raving about The Golden Girls, but I’d been hesitant to watch it.  I finally decided to give it a shot via streaming.  After all, if I didn’t like it, I wasn’t out any money.  Before I was finished with the second episode, I was looking to buy it on DVD.

This sitcom centers on four roommates and friends living in Miami.  The house is owned by Blanche (Rue McClanahan).  Then there, Rose (Betty White), Dorothy (Bea Arthur) and Dorothy’s mother Sophia (Estelle Getty).  Together, the women are dealing with what life throws at you in your late 50’s or early 60’s.  That includes plenty of issues in their love lives, and some bumps in their careers.

For example, Blanche is constantly trying to land a man, but what happens when the man she loves comes with two young children.  Rose has to deal with losing her job when her grief center closes.  And Dorothy must deal with her ex-husband.  All of these women have adult children they are also dealing with in addition to grandkids and other relatives who come to visit, like Blanche’s father, who is trying to start a surprising new career.  And Sophia?  She deals with a health scare and considers moving in with one of her other daughters.

My hesitation to watch the show was that I’d heard the show delt frankly with the ladies’ love lives.  And it does.  I really could have done without some of those jokes or storylines that involved the more physical parts of those relationships.  And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the characters’ ages.  I feel the same way about some of the storylines on Friends and The Big Bang Theory, both shows that I stopped watching at various points before finally giving in and becoming a full-fledged fan.  There isn’t anything here we haven’t seen on those shows.  But if those kinds of jokes bother you, know they are here.

But what I’ve heard about the humor is completely true.  This show is hysterical.  As I was watching, I would sometimes get laughing so hard.  The writing in the show is brilliant, sometimes going for the obvious sitcom joke and sometimes going someplace completely unexpected.

And the writing is matched by brilliant acting by the leads.  Their delivery of the lines is perfect.  I can’t remember seeing sarcasm put to such good use in a sitcom, but Rose’s naiveite is just as hilarious.  And there are times that the reactions to what another character is saying are actually funnier than the line.  Yes, they are getting laughs from just a look.  I can tell a few bits might wear by the end of the series, but for now, I’m still loving it.

And some of the scenes about women as they age?  Absolutely hilarious as well.

What is really remarkable about this to me is that shows often need a few episodes to find their footing.  Heck, sometimes it needs a season to really find itself.  That’s not the case here.  Yes, there are a few tweaks over the course of the season, but much of what works is in place early on.

Like many shows, this one has some changes from the pilot, like the house keeper who vanishes.  And it sure seems like the house only had three bedrooms at one point even though all four of the ladies have their own rooms.  They never explain that, or even when Sophia officially moves in.

Among the guest stars I spotted this season, we had Sheree North and Priscilla Morrill who both guest starred a few times on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which also starred Betty White in the later seasons.  (And I found Priscilla Morrill’s character here very ironic given the character she played on that earlier show.)  Harold Gould would come back in later seasons as a different character, but he pops up here.  WKRP star Gordon Jump also shows up.  Robert Picardo appears as a doctor almost a decade before he became The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager.  Finally, while most people probably know Herb Edelman best from his role as Dorothy’s ex on this show, a character who pops up throughout the run of the show, I recognized him as Lieutenant Artie Gelber on a handful of Murder, She Wrote episodes. 

I can already tell I will be bummed by the TV show curse of most of the guest star characters only showing up in one episode.  I’d like to see more of some of them.  But that is the nature of TV, especially back in the 1980’s.

The DVD set I bought has all 25 season one episodes on three discs.  They are full frame and surround sound.  Some of the images do show their age a bit, but it is still watchable.  The only extra is a look at the fashion with Joan and Melissa Rivers.  I often find them hit of miss, but in this case, I loved their thoughts.

Safe to say, I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to start watching this show.  But I do have the rest of the seasons on DVD, so hopefully, I will get to the rest of the show soon.  If it’s as good as season one of The Golden Girls, I’ve got lots of laughs ahead of me.

Book Review: The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood (Marlow Murder Club #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Lots of laughs with a great plot

Cons: The ending is a bit overly convoluted

The Bottom Line:

Judith faces past

High profile victim in town

Filled with laughs and twists

Judith’s Past Comes Back to Haunt Her

I’ve really been enjoying the Marlow Murder Club books, and with the way book four ended, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on book five, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts.  When it arrived, I made it my top priority, and I am glad I did since I really enjoyed it.

This book picks up where the last book ended, which means no time has passed for the characters.  And poor Judith Potts, a seventy-something widow, is facing a woman claiming to be her step-daughter.  But this isn’t a happy family reunion.  The other woman is accusing Judith of killing her husband before the other woman was even born.

While Judith is trying to process all of this, her friend on the police force, Tanika, is contacting Judith and her two friends, Becks and Suzie, about the latest murder in town.  A famous footballer has just been shot on his property.  The ladies of the Marlow Murder Club are a bit surprised since Tanika doesn’t normally try to pull them into a case.  Why is she doing it in this case?  Can they solve it while also resolving Judith’s problem?

With two strong storylines, this book never lags.  I was engaged the entire time I was reading it, and this book juggles both storylines well.  At first, the climax felt a bit rushed, but as the ladies talked through it, I came around.  I still feel like a couple of things were a bit convenient, but I’m willing to let them slide.

Much of that is because I was having so much fun.  While Judith, Becks, and Suzie are great friends, they are all very different, and their reactions to the storylines as they unfold are comic gold.  We also get some fun escapades along the way.  I think I laughed at this book the most since book one.

Given her name is in the title, this is Judith’s story more than the other two.  We really get to see her develop more over the course of this book.  That’s not to say that the rest, including Tanika, don’t have their moments to shine.  And Suzie and Becks get plenty of page time as well.

And the new characters?  They work perfectly as the suspects in this case.  They certainly kept me guessing as the story unfolded.

Fans of these characters will devour this book and put it down satisfied.  While I think it will mean more if you’ve read others in the series first, anyone will find The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts to be fun.

Enjoy the rest of the Marlow Murder Club Mysteries.

Book Review: The Quirky Quiz Show Caper by Sally Carpenter (Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More of Sandy’s family; overall, a good mystery

Cons: Quiz show comes in late; issue with the climax

The Bottom Line:

His brother accused

Sandy must find a killer

Good despite some flaws

Does Sandy Know the Answer to the Big Question?

It’s been almost a year since I checked in with Sandy Fairfax.  So when I finally got my hands on book four in the series, The Quirky Quiz Show Caper, I decided to dive right in.

If you have yet to meet Sandy, he was a teen idol in the 70’s, complete with a TV show (where he played a teen detective) and several number 1 singles on the radio.  Sadly, he spent the 80’s making headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it’s now November of 1993, and Sandy is trying to rebuild his personal and professional lives.  What he’s discovered is that the comeback trail is littered with dead bodies.

One Monday, Sandy stops by a small local theater to talk about an upcoming appearance and to talk to his brother, Warren, who moonlights at the theater’s organist when he’s not teaching at a nearby college.  As Sandy is going to leave, he stumbles on a dead body in the building’s basement.  The victim turns out to be one of Warren’s students, and the evidence seems to be pointing to Warren.  Can Sandy find the killer before his brother goes down for a crime he didn’t commit?

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “Mark, isn’t the title of this book something about a quiz show?  Why didn’t you mention it in your plot teaser?”  There is a quiz show that Sandy has agreed to appear on as a celebrity panelist.  And it does play into the mystery.  While it is set up early on, we don’t really get to it until the second half of the book.  It does feel a little weird to me for the title namesake to be sidelined for so long.

This isn’t to say we were spinning our wheels until we got to the quiz show.  There were plenty of motives and suspects before that part of the book came into play.  This added another layer to the mystery that helped keep me engaged.  It really does work even if it seems a little odd to me.

My other issue with the book is the climax.  I bought the identity of the killer and the motive.  As far as my questions go, they were all answered.  All my issues had to do with how the villain tried to silence Sandy.  It makes no sense!  But maybe that’s just me.

Over the course of the series, we’ve slowly been getting to know the people in Sandy’s life.  This is the first time that Warren has gotten much page time.  And we got to know his parents better as well.  I appreciate how these characters were brought to life and what they showed us about Sandy.  This approach has been nice since it meant we weren’t overwhelmed with supporting characters early on.

To be clear, I did enjoy this book.  The flaws are obvious, but they are minor.

I’m glad I got the chance to catch up with Sandy.  As long as you go into The Quirky Quiz Show Caper with the right expectations, you’ll enjoy it as well.

Be sure to read the rest of the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries.

Book Review: Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg (Edison Bixby #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun new characters in an interesting mystery

Cons: Some of the humor doesn’t work, the ending was a little weak for me

The Bottom Line:

A tricky murder

Can Bixby catch the killer?

Fun series debut

Has Someone Designed the Perfect Murder?

I’ve been reading Lee Goldberg for years.  While there are a few of his earlier books I still haven’t gone back to read, I automatically start any new series he comes out with.  So, reading Murder By Design, the first in a new series, was a no brainer for me.

This book introduces us to Edison Bixby, a brilliant and handsome detective who, due to being shot while on the job with the LAPD, has a condition that makes him say whatever he is thinking.  His rudeness led to him being let go from the Los Angeles police department, but he works as an investigator for an insurance company.  In classic mystery fashion, he has an assistant, and the book is told from that assistant’s point of view.  In this case, it is aspiring actor Wally Nash, the latest in a line of assistants who are supposed to help smooth over Bixby’s interactions.

Wally has barely started with the pair get their first case.  A woman died in a Southern California mall due to a poorly built step in some new construction, and the insurance company wants to use Bixby’s incredibly mind for spotting design flaws to make sure it truly was negligence before they pay out.  However, what Bixby finds is evidence of something much more nefarious.  Is he right that it was murder?  If so, can he find the person behind it?

This book knows where it stands in the pantheon of mystery fiction, and it doesn’t pretend that the brilliant detective with the sidekick is anything new, referencing a few of those pairings.  And no, Bixby isn’t just a clone of Monk, although there are certainly some similarities.  Wally is an over thinking actor, and his contributions to the case and the book are fun.

I will say, for someone with a brain injury that makes him impulsively rude, I found many of Bixby’s insulting comments to be rather mild.  I’m not saying they are okay, but they definitely could have been worse.  So don’t let that keep you from picking up the book.

There is a lot of humor in this book, and it often worked for me.  I laughed and smiled as I read through the story.  There are a few times when the book was trying to be clever and funny, and it didn’t work.  That’s par for the course in Lee’s books.

And the mystery itself?  I enjoyed it with plenty to keep me engaged.  I did feel the ending was a little weak, but that might just be me.

This isn’t a cozy mystery, but the non-cozy content never gets excessive.

Oh, and I have to mention Bixby’s house.  I so want to move in!

This new series is set in the same world as the author’s Eve Ronin books since a supporting character from that series has a cameo here.  I wonder if that will play into any future books in either series.  But don’t worry, you can pick this up without knowing anything about that series and follow this story perfectly.

Overall, I enjoyed Murder by Design.  I’m not sure how many books this premise will support, but I am looking forward to finding out.

TV Show Review: Step by Step - Season 2

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More laughs as the characters get stronger

Cons: The writing still needs to find ways to use all the characters better

The Bottom Line:

A step family

Learning to blend in sitcom

Glad I found these laughs

“We Tried to Help and Both Kids are Miserable.  I Think Our Work Here is Done.”

My journey through 90’s sitcom Step by Step continues with season two.  With when this show ended, I never watched it when it was originally on.  I didn’t really begin to hear much about it until I started listening to some rewatch podcasts that mentioned it.  So, I’m watching this show now blind.  But I’m glad I am giving it a chance since I am really enjoying it.

If you’ve missed it, this was a 90’s take on a blended family sitcom.  The parents are Frank and Carol (Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers) who each brought three kids into their second marriage.  Frank’s three kids are J.T., Al, and Brendan (Brandon Call, Christine Lakin, and Josh Byrne) while Carol’s three kids are Dana, Karen, and Mark (Staci Keanan, Angela Watson, and Christopher Castile).  Rounding out the main cast is the required goofy character, in this case, Frank’s nephew Cody (Sasha Mitchell). 

Fans know that there is a cast change between seasons one and two.  Carol’s mother and sister, regular characters in season one, aren’t back.  And, in true 90’s sitcom fashion, they are never mentioned this season.  Considering they worked with Carol in her beauty salon, that’s quite an omission.  Honestly, with nine characters for the writers to juggle, they had plenty of characters to try to write for each week.  And, with how underutilized these two characters were in the first season, it’s no surprise they didn’t return.

So, what does happen this season?  Dana takes the SAT and is surprised to find Cody taking them as well.  All the kids struggle to adjust to the new school year, with Al’s cooking being bad, Mark struggling in wood shop, and J.T. having an unfair English teacher.  J.T. starts a Wayne’s World knock off on the local cable access station.  (Truly, those two episodes are horrible.)  Dana finds out being a boss is harder than she expected when she is hired as the manager of a 50’s themed café with Karen and J.T. as her employees.  An overdue video under Brendan’s bed prompts the family to cut down their spending.  Cody inherits money from the resident of a retirement home he regularly visits.  And the family wins a trip to Hawaii.  Plus watch for a very fun storyline poking fun at Christopher Castile’s role in the recent (at the time) hit movie Beethoven.

While I did enjoy season one, I found the writing stronger here for the most part.  Many of the episodes included some wonderful laugh out loud moments and some tender moments as well.  Still, the writers are struggling to find things for all the characters to do.  Even with two storylines per episode, the younger kids often get under served, especially poor Brendan, who somethings only has a line or two.  While all the characters get at least one episode focused on them this season, you can tell who the writers favored by who has more.  It’s definitely not even.

Not that I’m blaming the writers.  There are twenty-four episodes this season, and that’s a lot of work.  If there are characters it’s easier to come up with storylines for, it’s going to be natural to focus on them more.  Still, I hope things even out a little going forward.

One thing that makes this sitcom stand out is that not all the characters like each other.  Frank and Carol got married before the kids had even met each other, so they are trying to navigate that while all living under one roof.  That makes for some great one liners and insults.  And, we do see more evidence that those relationships and bonds are growing this season, which I appreciate.  It’s more realistic than some shows while not being as spiteful as others. 

The actors are all killing it this season.  They are getting more familiar with their characters, and they are hitting the jokes well.  I find everyone a joy to watch.

As I said earlier, the jokes are funny.  Yes, it’s a typical family sitcom in that department, but I love sitcoms, so I’m really enjoying getting to laugh at these characters as I get to know them better.  In addition to the dialogue, the cast does some great physical comedy, especially the adults.

The show is already diving into some very special episodes this season.  I’m thinking especially of a couple this season involving teenage sex lives, and I appreciated how both were handled.  Of course, I would have preferred they not be included at all since I cringed more than laughed, but if they had to be here, this was a nice way to handle the topics.

This season featured 24 episodes.  The show doesn’t appear to be available for streaming, but I got it on DVD.  We don’t have any extras, but the show looks and sounds great for a 90’s sitcom.

I’m so glad I found Step by Step.  I’m truly enjoying getting to know these characters and watching what happens despite some minor flaws.  Now that I’ve finished season two, I’m looking forward to diving into season three.