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AGATHA CHRISTIE’S LITTLE MURDERS: THE MOVING FINGER (Season 1: Episode 3)

SUMMARY:                    RUNNING TIME: 1 Hour, 31 Min.

The French translation of the series title is les petis meurtres d’Agatha Christie. First airing in France on September 11, 2009, this episode loosely adapts Agatha Christie’s 1948 Miss Marple novel, The Moving Finger. Produced by Escazal Films, Eric Woreth directed this installment entitled “La plume empoisonnée.” 

Set in 1930’s Northern France (in proximity to Lille), Police Superintendent Larosière (Duléry) is stunned by his chief assistant’s near-death in a fatal shootout.  Blaming himself, he escorts the critically-injured Inspector Lampion (Colucci) to a low-key village in the countryside to begin his convalescence. 

Secretly rife with gossip, the village has become inundated with anonymous poison pen letters viciously taunting locals for their suspected past sins.  A sympathetic Larosière is intrigued by the teenage Louise’s (Demoustier) introverted demeanor.  No one realizes that mousy Louise has been secretly befriended by the ethereal Clara (Pasquier) – a beautiful drowning victim from years before.

Three increasingly vile homicides pit Larosière and a still-injured Lampion against an ever-elusive culprit.  Larosière senses the long-reaching shadow of Clara’s death is the crux of this dangerous enigma.  More so, the Superintendent and Lampion recognize that there may well be multiple killers on the loose. 

The episode’s language is French with easy-to-follow English subtitles.   

Superintendent Jean Larosière: Antoine Duléry

Inspector Émile Lampion: Marius Colucci

Ménard: Serge Dubois

Louise Simonet: Anaïs Demoustier

Emilie Dubreuil: Françoise Bertin

Angélique: Corinne Masiero

Mathilde: Julie Ravix

Clara: Sara Pasquier

Père Hector: Cyrille Touvenin

Dr. Jean Villiers: Frédèric Pierrot

Rose Villiers: Laurence Côte

Monsieur Kochenko: Christophe Alévêque

Henriette Simonet: Catherine Wilkening

André Simonet: Olivier Rabourdin

Guite: Fanny Chevalier

Clémence: Cassandre Vittu de Kerraoul

Lucien: Franckie Defonte

Jeanjean: Maxime Lecluyse

Louise’s Brothers: Uncredited

Lampion’s Doctor: Uncredited

Larosière’s Girlfriend/Lunch Date: Uncredited

Lille Shop Clerk: Uncredited

Villagers: Uncredited

REVIEW:

For the most part, it is a high-caliber pendulum effectively balancing classic suspense and risqué, practically absurdist humor.  Ironically, this wily French effort surpasses the more faithful Agatha Christie’s Marple TV series, in terms of making the most of Christie’s premise.  Not only do headliners Antoine Duléry and Marius Colucci shine, the same applies to their exemplary supporting cast.  For instance, young Anaïs Demoustier shines conveying the evolution of her complex ‘Louise,’ as the Superintendent’s temporary protégé. 

Most significantly, this ensemble’s appeal easily surpasses sporadic logic gaffes – i.e., the reality of a deteriorating corpse’s impossible-to-miss stench is ignored until the dramatic moment finally preceding the corpse’s discovery.  The same applies to a hilarious yet utterly nonsensical gag about sharing a bed with a corpse – let alone then a subsequent swapping of bedrooms to accommodate this same corpse. 

Trying to analyze this outrageous sequence further is pointless vs. merely enjoying its inspired and decidedly macabre wit.  Either way, a subsequent sight gag is hilariously predictable.  Also, given the episode’s undercurrent of gay and lesbian themes, its clever in-plot mockery of close-minded bigotry-meets-hypocrisy becomes unmistakable.   

Provided one is not easily offended (including spurts of coarse language and a scene depicting fully-clothed intercourse), this almost-anything-goes take on “The Moving Finger” is eminently entertaining.     

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                  8½ Stars

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Agatha Christie-Related Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

Written by Agatha Christie.

SUMMARY:

First published in 1954, William Morrow (HarperCollins Publishers) released this 248-page paperback edition in 2012.  Over the course of several months, notable scientists from various countries have mysteriously vanished.  The latest is American nuclear physicist Dr. Thomas Betterton, though now working for a British company, who disappears while attending a conference in Paris. 

Two months later, British intelligence grimly has too few leads.  Yet, one of them is Betterton’s stressed wife, Olive, who claims to have obtained medical clearance to seek some much-needed and secluded rest overseas. 

A fatal plane crash in Casablanca soon claims Olive Betterton’s life, but the enigmatic British operative, Jessop, concocts a makeshift strategy.  Having dissuaded a distraught Hilary Craven from suicide, Jessop recruits the lookalike Miss Craven to impersonate the late Mrs. Betterton.  With any luck, she could help him identify the shadowy perpetrators behind this international scheme.  Essentially, if Hilary Craven indeed has a death wish, Jessop assures that a covert suicide mission on behalf of world security will be far more exciting than a fatal overdose of sleeping pills. 

Though Hilary’s mission initially goes according to plan, the opposition’s unpredictability traps her in an African compound where there is no telling who she can trust. 

Note: The novel’s alternate title is So Many Steps to Death.

REVIEW:

Considering Destination Known is one of Agatha Christie’s few novels not yet adapted for film, one might suppose this Cold War espionage caper is justifiably obscure.  Such an assessment owes more to a mixed-bag plot that could readily be tweaked for movies or television – either as a traditional period piece thriller or even a perverse black comedy. 

More specifically, the pulpy storyline is intriguing for the first third setting up everywoman Hilary Craven’s undercover mission.  As an amateur spy, Hilary’s impersonation of Olive Betterton comes off generally well-played. 

The plotting, however, bogs down upon Hilary’s journey with potential criminals into a remote corner of Africa where nefarious scientific research is peddled behind the Iron Curtain’s ingenious front: a leper colony.  With Hilary now effectively isolated, Destination Unknown struggles keeping readers tuned into the suspense of her plight.  The good news is that, once the enigmatic Jessop resurfaces, a final series of plot twists makes dramatic sense and rewards Destination Unknown with a solid finish.

For readers seeking to complete their Christie bucket list, rest assured that Destination Unknown does not fall among her worst literary works.  More so, the tinge of racism is not present, nor does she torment readers with unnecessary social rants later plaguing her books during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Conveyed as an average person surrounded by self-absorbed super-geniuses, Hilary Craven supplies a relatable and likable enough protagonist to take a ride with. 

If anything, Christie’s Destination Unknown lands on a slippery slope between enjoyable spy games and a middling read.  That being the case, the book’s likable finale merits giving Destination Unknown at least a chance for re-discovery.  

Note: Offering potentially better reads are these Christie thrillers with British female protagonists caught up in espionage: The Man in the Brown Suit and They Came to Baghdad.  Both books possess a breezily humorous flair that Destination Unknown mostly does not.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The first page is the author’s biography.  Included is Christie’s dedication to her son-in-law, Anthony Hicks.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                             6 Stars

Categories
Agatha Christie-Related Anthologies Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MARPLE – TWELVE NEW MYSTERIES

Written by (Various Authors)

SUMMARY:

In 2022, HarperCollins released this 370-page hardcover anthology heralding Miss Jane Marple’s return to crime-busting after forty-five years.  In short story form, a dozen female authors offer their own takes on the elderly amateur sleuth from St. Mary Mead.  Resurrecting some other familiar faces, this anthology consists of:

  1. “Evil in Small Places” (by Lucy Foley): Miss Marple’s visit to a childhood classmate coincides with a choir member’s murder in the quaint English village of Meon Maltravers.
  2. “The Second Murder at the Vicarage” (by Val McDermid): In a sequel to Christie’s first Marple novel, vicar Len Clement narrates the mystery of a former employee’s homicide inside his home.
  3. “Miss Marple Takes Manhattan” (by Alyssa Cole): Set in the Early 1960’s, Miss Marple accompanies nephew Raymond and his wife, Joan, to explore New York City.  Comic mayhem ensues when they attend a dress rehearsal for an Off-Broadway play adapting one of Raymond’s novels.
  4. “The Unravelling” (by Natalie Haynes): A merchant couple in St. Mary Mead is suspected of killing an enigmatic stranger after a public scuffle with the husband.
  5. “Miss Marple’s Christmas” (by Ruth Ware): Sharing a low-key Christmas Eve with family and old friends, Miss Marple  contemplates who may have stolen a fellow guest’s valuable pearl necklace.  This tale spells out its homage to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Hangman’s Holiday (with Lord Peter Wimsey).
  6. “The Open Mind” (by Naomi Alderman): In Oxford, a fatal drug overdose at a high-profile academia dinner makes Miss Marple suspect what really precipitated the tragedy.
  7. “The Jade Empress” (by Jean Kwok): Aboard a cruise ship to Hong Kong, Miss Marple probes the ominous deaths of two passengers. 
  8. “A Deadly Wedding Day” (by Dreda Say Mitchell): In a sequel of sorts to A Caribbean Mystery, Miss Marple and her friend, Bella Baptiste, probe a murder-mystery at the wedding reception of Bella’s strangely evasive niece. 
  9. “Murder at the Villa Rosa” (by Elly Griffiths): A crime novelist seeks inspiration at a scenic Italian hotel, only to encounter some peculiar fellow guests, including Miss Marple.
  10. “The Murdering Sort” (by Karen M. McManus): Narrated by Raymond & Joan West’s teenage granddaughter, Nicola, she describes how amateur sleuthing evidently runs in the family.
  11. “The Mystery of the Acid Soil” (by Kate Mosse): Visiting a convalescing friend, Miss Marple stumbles into a situation where a woman’s disappearance is book-ended by two peculiar deaths.
  12. “The Disappearance” (by Leigh Bardugo): Called home from London by an old friend, Miss Marple senses a roguish fiancé’s disappearance is linked to a young female gardener’s tragic death.

Notes: The book’s U.K. title is simply Marple.  Also, these stories aren’t contained by any internal chronology.  The stories by Ruth Ware and Leigh Bardugo, however, both clearly occur after The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side.  Given Dolly Bantry is evidently widowed at the time of “The Disappearance,” Bardugo’s story fittingly concludes this anthology.

REVIEW:

Whether by loving homage or by contractual design, Christie afficionados will spot regular name-dropping to Marple’s world, i.e. cases she solved long ago or old friends she knows.  Still, readers will be left to define their own good, the bad, and the boring amongst this fresh assortment of Miss Marple whodunnits.  It’s a given that some stories mimic Christie’s clichéd Marple formula by resolving a baffling mystery with last-minute, seemingly impossible deductions (let’s just refer to these clues and name-dropped culprits conjured up from thin air as ‘Marple-isms’).    

To minimize confusion comparing authors, the fairest means of discerning which stories are remarkable (or not so much) is briefly analyzing them one by one.

  • * “Evil in Small Places.”  Though some plot details are too convenient, the opener is worthwhile.  Most significantly, Lucy Foley devises a final stretch that even Christie might well have applauded.
  • “The Second Murder at the Vicarage.”  Including the Clement family’s welcome return, Val McDermid’s sequel is mostly promising.  Yet, like Christie’s worst cop-outs, this double-homicide’s solution resorts to Marple-isms where incriminating evidence late in the story isn’t fair game to readers.   
  • * “Miss Marple Takes Manhattan.”  Briskly concocting allusions to timeless snobbery, communism, racism, and no doubt a few other ‘-isms,’ the author’s humorous snark surpasses Christie’s own propensity for societal jabs.  Bordering on parody, Alyssa Cole’s amusing wit places Marple and her family on unfamiliar and clearly less-than-glamorous ground.  Her sense of fun is definitely this collection’s most energetic highlight.
  • “The Unravelling.”  Set within St. Mary Mead, one is led to expect a traditional Christie-style Marple.  However, faulty bio-science and a ludicrous ‘big reveal’ sabotage this tale, making it the book’s weakest inclusion.
  • “Miss Marple’s Christmas.”  Besides its tribute to Dorothy L. Sayers, this likable Marple caper is reminiscent of Christie’s own Poirot novella: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (aka Theft of the Royal Ruby).  Hampered by a predictable solution, the more significant hiccup affecting Ruth Ware’s tale is sluggish pacing.
  • “The Open Mind.” Unlike Christie’s social commentaries near the end of her career (i.e., in-story rants re: anti-drugs; anti-promiscuity; anti-hippie, etc.), Naomi Alderman’s tale goes the opposite direction with near-sensationalism of early 1970’s drug use.  Two-thirds of Alderman’s mystery appear solid, but her final third collapses upon divulging the culprit’s absurd, practically eye-rolling motive and tactics.    
  • “The Jade Empress.”  Though the solution isn’t a surprise, the mystique of a Marple whodunnit with an exotic Asian backdrop is intriguing.  Jean Kwok’s somewhat contrived plot isn’t the book’s best, but it’s far from its worst. 
  • * “A Deadly Wedding Day.” The detective tag-team of Miss Marple and her Caribbean-born counterpart, Bella Baptiste, proves an exceptional treat.  One is left to wonder if this tale is a dry run on a possible Bella Baptiste series.  Even it isn’t, Dreda Say Mitchell’s storytelling concocts a high-caliber whodunnit that serves as one of this anthology’s best entries.
  • “Murder at the Villa Rosa.”  One could construe this slightly odd caper as a bait-and-switch reflecting Christie’s notorious disdain for Hercule Poirot’s popularity.  With Miss Marple reduced to a secondary character, Elly Griffiths pitches this book’s second most original offering – that is, after Alyssa Cole’s.  Griffiths’ ‘whodunnit,’ in this sense, is reminiscent of mysteries occasionally found in the Malice Domestic anthology series.
  • * “The Murdering Sort.”  It’s obvious that Jane Marple ought to be long dead by the time her nephew has a 17-year-old granddaughter.  That logic aside, Karen M. McManus still devises an intriguing legacy spin-off where Miss Marple’s great-great-niece, Nicola West, might become a British-American Nancy Drew. The story’s only goof would be a pair of character name typos.  Otherwise, this whodunnit is well-played!     
  • “The Mystery of the Acid Soil.”  Openly referring to Marple’s “A Christmas Mystery,” from The Tuesday Club Murders (aka The Thirteen Problems), the plot hinges too much upon a reader’s knowledge of gardening.  Though Kate Mosse’s storytelling reminds one of classic Marple, the result is something of a bore.
  • “The Disappearance.”  Like Kate Mosse’s tale before it, insights re: amateur gardening are necessary to keep up with Leigh Bardugo’s grim plotting. This book’s final tale, for the most part, seemingly has the makings of a satisfying whodunnit. The resolution, however, is marred by several Marple-isms, which diminishes the out-of-character ‘big reveal’ scene to a poignant yet hardly fair ending.             

No matter how much of a mixed-bag this anthology is, its dozen stories are worth anyone’s armchair sleuthing.  Hopefully, this classy literary experiment will serve as a prelude to a similar Poirot anthology.

*=Recommended!

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

There’s a single-page introduction.  The book concludes with a section presenting the contributors’ mini-bios.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                7½ Stars

Note: For an even more ambitious sleuthing anthology, one might consider “The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” edited by John Joseph Adams.

Categories
Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

THE RISING TIDE (VERA STANHOPE)

Written by Ann Cleeves

SUMMARY:

Published in 2022, as the tenth Vera Stanhope mystery, Minotaur Books released this 374-page hardcover in the U.S. while MacMillan released the novel’s British edition.  For nearly a half-century, a small group of British ex-schoolmates have reunited at Northumberland’s Holy Island once every five years for a long mid-October weekend.  A tragic car accident at the first reunion would claim the life of their vivacious friend, Isobel. 

Now, in their mid-sixties, the remaining contingent of friends: vicar Philip; bombastic media personality Rick; deli owner Annie; and married couple Louisa & Ken return to the Pilgrims’ House property once more.  One of them teases writing a tell-all memoir disguised as a novel. Come morning, an apparent suicide soon shatters their calm.

Pulled away from an off-duty weekend, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team must delve into this group’s long-kept dark secrets to reach the truth behind more than just one homicide.  Worse yet, the culprit’s impulsive wrath may well extend to Vera’s own circle of trusted associates.

REVIEW:

Though skillfully written, The Rising Tide is very much a somber read.  Ann Cleeves’ loyal fanbase won’t likely be disappointed, but a potential obstacle for others is overcoming the book’s deliberate absence of charisma.  The author’s cast of characters, in that sense, is realistic for the British procedural murder-mystery genre.  Yet, the issue is really more how often the plotting drags along. 

The final chapters, however, are well-played, especially how Cleeves’ plot twists would be easy to visualize if The Rising Tide was ever adapted by the Vera TV series.  Ultimately, that may be the preferred choice: watching this bleak storyline play out on-screen someday vs. reading it.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The author includes her acknowledgements and a note explaining her fictionalization of Holy Island.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    6 Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

MURDER AT THE FBI

Written by Margaret Truman

SUMMARY:

Ballantine Books / Fawcett Crest first published this stand-alone whodunnit in 1985; its sixteenth printing occurred in 1992.  At Washington D.C.’s J. Edgar Hoover Building, in front of two hundred shocked tourists, a routine FBI target range demonstration reveals the perforated corpse of Special Agent George Pritchard.  It appears that Pritchard had been murdered sometime overnight and was then left hung on an overhead trolley behind the range’s paper target. 

Seeking to quickly end this ultra-embarrassing PR scandal inside its own headquarters, the Bureau’s upper command assigns Pritchard’s immediate subordinate, Special Agent Ross Lizenby, to find answers.  Reluctantly heading up the investigative team, a slick Lizenby understands what murky rules his superiors want him to play by.

Assigned to Lizenby’s squad, Special Agent Christine Saksis finds their discreet romance compromised by a necessary yet increasingly intense probe into a hive of sordid Bureau secrets.  The deadly conundrum Saksis & Lizenby soon face is whether or not the unsavory truth behind Pritchard’s death supersedes protecting the Bureau’s reputation.      

REVIEW:

Even if Murder at the FBI is a formulaic potboiler, author Margaret Truman still devises a taut read.  Awaiting patient fans are some well-played twists that spell out why this storyline doesn’t need sequels.  Headlined by the intriguing Saksis-Lizenby duo, Truman’s plot exudes welcome potential for a film adaptation.  As a sampler for other titles in Truman’s repertoire of Washington, D.C. whodunnits, Murder at the FBI is a solid find for adult mystery afficionados.        

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

A brief author bio is included.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                         6 Stars

Categories
Agatha Christie-Related Digital Movies & TV Movies & Television (Videos) Online Videos TV Episodes & Movies

HERCULE POIROT: DEAD MAN’S FOLLY (1986 TV Film)

SUMMARY:                     RUNNING TIME: 94:00 Min.

Adapting Agatha Christie’s same-named 1956 Hercule Poirot novel, CBS-TV first broadcast this Warner Bros. Television film on January 8, 1986.  Set in the present-day, acclaimed British mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver (Stapleton) is commissioned to devise a mock ‘Murder Hunt’ for a Devon village’s community fair. 

With the fair set up at the posh Nasse House estate, Oliver invites the esteemed Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot (Ustinov), to attend as her guest consultant.  Yet, the event’s macabre fun turns shockingly real when the supposed teenage victim is indeed murdered in the secluded boathouse. 

Further complicating the crime, the estate’s owner (Pigott-Smith) discovers that his reclusive wife (Sheridan) has ominously vanished.  Soon afterward, an inebriated third victim drowns due to the elusive culprit.  It’s up to Poirot, along with Mrs. Oliver and his trusted associate, Hastings (Cecil), to unravel the sordid truth behind the nefarious events plaguing Nasse House.

Hercule Poirot: Peter Ustinov

Ariadne Oliver: Jean Stapleton

Capt. Arthur Hastings: Jonathan Cecil

Sir George Stubbs: Tim Pigott-Smith

Hattie Stubbs: Nicollette Sheridan

Amy Folliat: Constance Cummings

Detective Inspector Bland: Kenneth Cranham

Police Constable: Jack Ellis

Alec Legge & Sally Legge: Christopher Guard & Caroline Langrishe

Michael Weyman: Ralph Arliss

Amanda Brewis: Susan Wooldridge

Marilyn Gale: Sandra Dickinson

Mr. & Mrs. Tucker: Leslie Schofield & Marjorie Yates

Marlene Tucker: Pippa Hinchley

Marilyn Tucker: Vicky Murdock

Eddie South: Jeff Yaegher

Merdell: Jimmy Gardner

Boatman: Alan Parnaby

Hostel Girl: Siv Borg

Unnamed Women: Dorothea Phillips, Joanna Dickens, & Fanny Carnaby

Unnamed Men: James Gaddas & Cyril Conway

Fair Attendees: Uncredited

Note: This film would be Ustinov’s fourth of six Poirot films (three of which were released theatrically).

REVIEW:

Reasonably faithful to Agatha Christie’s source material, this decent adaptation recognizes that its storyline is indeed TV-caliber, as compared to Peter Ustinov’s ultra-scenic Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun.  Populated by a good cast, the highlight is Ustinov & Jean Stapleton’s entertaining chemistry, with some third-wheel help from Jonathan Cecil, giving all three of them amusingly comical quirks. 

As to the mystery itself, Christie’s novel isn’t among her best Poirot whodunnits, but the plot still makes for watchable mainstream television.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                                    5½ Stars

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Categories
Books & Novels Children's Books Reference & Science

FRIGHT-LOPEDIA

Written by Julie Winterbottom & Illustrated by Stefano Tambellini

SUMMARY:

Released by Workman Publishing in 2016, this 212-page paperback is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek encyclopedia of haunts, legends, and real-world spooks meant for an audience of 8-to-13 year-olds. 

Presented as short chapters rather than a traditional encyclopedia, writer Julie Winterbottom casually discusses topics including spiders, crocodiles, ghosts, haunted houses, evil scientists, monsters, mummies, Ouija boards, séances, snakes, UFOs, werewolves, witches, and zombies. 

Illustrator Stefano Tambellini contributes frequent kid-friendly illustrations (usually with a macabre sense of humor) to provide visual reference for Winterbottom’s text.  The book also incorporates black-and-white photography to further enhance its narrative.   

REVIEW:

Given her intended young audience, author Julie Winterbottom does a solid job describing icky subject matter with reasonable depth and a friendly emphasis on modern-day science surpassing traditional legends.  Though Fright-lopedia may be a single seasonal read for most children, there is a practical advantage for parents.  Specifically, if one is looking for inspiration to spark a middle schooler’s Halloween party, then Fright-lopedia may present some appropriate ideas.   

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Besides Winterbottom’s acknowledgements, a helpful table-of contents is provided.  In the “Find Your Biggest Fear!” tournament, readers eliminate an assortment of options to pinpoint their most ghastly phobia.  The last page details the sources for the book’s stock photography.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                          6 Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Movies & Television (Books) Mystery & Suspense

VERONICA MARS: THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE

Written by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

SUMMARY:

Released in 2014 by Vintage Books, Veronica Mars series creator Rob Thomas teams up with author Jennifer Graham to concoct an immediate 324-page sequel to the Kickstarter-funded feature film. 

Set a few months later, 28-year old Veronica has resettled in Neptune, California, as her father, Keith, recuperates from a near-fatal vehicular assault.  Keith uneasily supports his daughter’s presence, but he would much prefer Veronica returning to a play-it-safe-life in New York City as an attorney. Running a struggling Mars Investigations with her receptionist/hacker, Mac, Veronica accepts a high-profile case from the city to locate college co-ed Hayley Dewalt, who ominously vanished during a riotous Spring Break party.

Veronica’s instant suspects include a disgruntled ex-boyfriend and even Hayley’s jealous older brother.  Worse yet, the blonde sleuth discovers that the illicit party hosts are really heirs to an ultra-dangerous Mexican drug cartel.  Then, another bombshell drops: a second party girl vanishes; only it turns to be Veronica’s previously unknown, 16-year old step-sister.  Hence, Veronica’s dual cases are rocked by the re-appearance of her long-estranged mother, along with a step-father and much younger half-brother that she never knew of.    

Shocking revelations are pushed into the light, as Veronica seeks out the truth.  Still, there’s the potentially fatal reality that, with her father physically unavailable and boyfriend Logan overseas in the U.S. Navy, she has no back-up this time.

Notes: Sprinkled in the text are occasional F-bombs.  The second (and presently last) novel in this series is titled Veronica Mars 2: Mr. Kiss and Tell.

REVIEW:

Very slickly written, this Veronica Mars caper is far superior to bare-bones movie novelizations. Painting boozing Spring Break college co-ed stereotypes with an unflattering wide paintbrush, the novel’s mystery initially delivers on its ominous premise.  Yet, upon conveniently adding Veronica’s mother and her new family to the plot, subsequent twists revert The Thousand Dollar Tan Line to a somewhat clichéd “this only happens in movies and television” vibe.

Staying plot-focused, co-authors Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham still effectively resurrect Veronica Mars, making it easy to visualize Kristen Bell, Enrico Colatoni, and Percy Daggs III reprising their roles.  The plotting, in that sense, is faithful to the TV show’s style of gimmickry rather than merely phoning in a blatant cash grab.  

Thomas & Graham’s concerted effort at devising necessary depth makes their mystery both stylish and multi-layered. The reader’s subsequent payoff is a solid finish worthy of the TV series. Hence, for stalwart fans, Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line becomes the next best thing to a filmed sequel to the 2014 film.   

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The first page provides thumbnail bios and photos of the co-authors.  There’s also a brief dedication to fans.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                 7 Stars

Categories
Digital Movies & TV Movies & Television (Videos) Online Videos Sherlock Holmes-Related TV Episodes & Movies TV Series TV Series (Specific Episodes)

SLIMER AND THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS: ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WINSTON (Season 5, Episode 4)

SUMMARY:                 RUNNING TIME: 22:00 Min.

First aired on ABC-TV on September 16, 1989, this early Season 5 episode was directed by Will Meugniot.  With New York City readily emanating evil, the apparitions of Professor James Moriarty and a monstrous (dragon-like) Hound of the Baskervilles arise to collect enough evil supernatural power to bring Moriarty back to ‘life.’   Courtesy of a primitive-looking automobile, the ghostly duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson subsequently chase their foes across the city. 

Aiding Holmes in his rescue of an abducted Watson, only Winston Zeddemore initially senses the Ghostsbusters’ true foes in this odd skirmish.  Worse yet, upon invading the Ghostbusters’ HQ, Moriarty intends to feed off the captured ghosts held in their containment chamber to make himself unstoppable.    

Note: Egon speculates that, though Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters are indeed fictional, their ‘ghosts’ somehow manifest themselves because mass audiences firmly believe in them.  Hence, Doyle’s characters exist in their own ‘quasi-reality.’ 

Dr. Peter Venkman: Dave Coulier

Dr. Raymond Stantz, Slimer, Hound, & Miscellaneous Voices: Frank Welker

Winston Zeddemore: Buster Jones

Janine Melnitz: Kath Soucie

Dr. Egon Spengler & Dr. John H. Watson: Maurice LaMarche

Sherlock Holmes: Alan Shearman

Louis Tully & Professor James Moriarty: Rodger Bumpass

REVIEW:

Aside from a nice homage referencing the original film’s library sequence, this episode doesn’t age well.  Courtesy of a blah script geared towards first-graders with, at most, a rudimentary idea who Sherlock Holmes is, adults expecting little won’t be surprised.  While it is fun seeing Winston essentially take command of the team, the flimsy plotting (much like the animation) won’t likely impress anyone.

More so, Dave Coulier’s annoying take on Venkman makes the show’s lead character sound as dim-witted as John Travolta’s Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back, Kotter.  Let’s just say Venkman’s dubious contributions to this episode become an unwelcome distraction.  Despite entertaining its undemanding target audience for twenty minutes, the content of “Elementary, My Dear Winston,” clearly falls short of its intriguing premise. 

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                     3½ Stars

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Categories
Agatha Christie-Related DVD International/Foreign-Language Television Movies & Television (Videos) TV Episodes & Movies TV Series TV Series (Specific Episodes)

POIROT: THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNIE WAVERLY (Season 1: Episode 3)

SUMMARY:                  RUNNING TIME: 51:00 Min.

First broadcast on January 22, 1989, Renny Rye directed this early episode that Clive Exton adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1923 short story.  Both Scotland Yard and Poirot are baited ahead of time daring them to prevent the abduction of a country squire’s young son from his own home.  Despite Poirot and the police’s best efforts, young Johnnie Waverly still mysteriously vanishes. 

It’s up to Poirot and Hastings to track down the enigmatic kidnapper (or, quite possibly, kidnappers) to save the young boy. 

Hercule Poirot: David Suchet

Capt. Arthur Hastings: Hugh Fraser

Chief Inspector James Japp: Philip Jackson

Felicity Lemon: Pauline Moran

Ada Waverly: Julia Chambers

Johnnie Waverly: Dominic Rougier

Marcus Waverly: Geoffrey Bateman

Jessie Withers: Carol Frazer

Tredwell: Patrick Jordan

Miss Collins: Sandra Freeman

Police Sergeant: Phillip Manikum

Policemen: Jonathan Magnanti & Jona Jones

Hughes: Patrick Connor

Rogers: Robert Putt

Barmaid: Samantha Beckinsale

REVIEW:

Remaining faithful to Agatha Christie’s weak source material invariably backs this TV adaptation into a corner.  In spite of an initially ominous premise, the plotting then deteriorates into a rather flimsy excuse for a mystery.  Still, Poirot’s production values are stellar, even if this particular storyline is easily forgettable.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                   5½ Stars