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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Postscript Murders in Books

Mar 4, 2021

The Postscript Murders

Elly Griffiths | 2021 | History & Politics, Mystery, Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Witty mystery with lots of bookish references

When the elderly Peggy Smith passes away, her carer, Natalka, is convinced the death was suspicious. While helping clean out Peggy's flat, she finds a variety of books--all crime novels--dedicated to Peggy. Then a gunman breaks into Peggy's flat to steal only a book. DS Harbinder Kaur is not convinced at first about Peggy's death, but she cannot deny everything that begins to happen after Peggy's death. After another death occurs, DS Kaur is convinced writers are being targeted.

This is such a fun book. Not only is it an engaging mystery, it's truly a wonderfully bookish book for people who love reading, especially mysteries. This is Griffiths' second book featuring Harbinder Kaur, the Best Gay Sikh Detective in West Sussex--the "first out of a field of one," as she puts it. It's wonderful to have a crime series with a lesbian lead, especially one as intelligent and witty as Harbinder. She notices everything and offers some humorous insights into her life living with her parents and working with her rodent-like partner, Neil.

POSTSCRIPT is written in truly Elly Griffiths fashion. It's incredibly easy to read and everyone just embodies their characters so effortlessly. The supporting cast here is excellent: a former monk; Peggy's elderly neighbor; Natalka; and a host of folks spread across the writing community. The wonderful inside jokes and asides about writing, publishing, and books are so much fun.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. The mystery of what happened to Peggy and the subsequent sequence of events is interesting while the story and characters are witty and diverse. Elly Griffiths remains my go-to author. I highly recommend you read both Harbinder books, but this one does stand-alone.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in return for an unbiased review. The U.S. version releases 03/02/2021.

Kudos (1)

The Lost Prince: The Life & Death of Henry Stuart

Catharine MacLeod, Malcolm Smuts and Timothy Wilks

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This exploration of Henry's life and image, and the extraordinary reaction to his death, transforms...

Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Shot in the Dark in TV

Nov 25, 2017 (Updated Nov 26, 2017)

Shot in the Dark

2017 | Crime, Documentary

7.8

(6 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Great for the first few episodes

For fans of @Nightcrawler (2014), this is the real-life version following the journeys of three stringers, competing to out-shoot each other. From fires, crashes to shootings and industrial accidents, it's life and death on a daily basis, but at what cost?

Howard Raishbrook of RMG News attempts to ward off competition from his more successful counterparts Scott Lane of LoudLabs and Zak Holman of OnScene, in this cutthroat industry where morals seem sparse. While not as completely corrupt as Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Nightcrawler, Scott and Zak seem closer to his personality, with nothing off the table. In between are internal battles with Raishbrook's twin brother becoming a news story himself, the monopoly of the industry squeezing out smaller companies such as RMG, and how close each of them get to sudden death every night.

It's a great series, but after four episodes it begins to wear you down quite quickly and the images end up appearing no different to one another (I should know, we used to use stringers in the newsroom every day). As a result, it has a desensitising effect, and the series' initial lure begins to wear thin. The show could have been cut down by four episodes to remain interesting.