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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2084 KP) rated Four Parties and a Funeral in Books

Mar 29, 2023 (Updated Mar 29, 2023)  
Four Parties and a Funeral
Four Parties and a Funeral
Maria DiRico | 2023 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reality Show Gets Real with Murder
Even though Mia Carina has no desire to be part of the new reality show, Dons of Ditmars Boulevard, Belle View has been hired as a location for some events and to cater others. Not only that, but some mobsters she knows have been cast. She quickly learns that the drama unfolding before the cameras is no match for the drama unfolding among the crew. Still, she is surprised when a dead body turns up. With someone she knows the police’s chief suspect, Mia jumps in to find out what is really happening. Can she figure it out?

It was wonderful to be back with Mia and the rest of her family and friends. Yes, I did find a few things related to the production of the show stretched believability a bit for me, but that’s mostly minor. I was having fun the entire way through the book, laughing quite a bit at the antics of the characters. I suspect if I watched the kind of show being lampooned here, I would find it even funnier. There are several sub-plots, but they never take away from the strong mystery, which goes to some rather creative places before Mia reaches the logical solution. The regular characters are up to their usual antics, which is always fun, and I loved the development that some of them got. This book will leave readers, old and new, with a grin on their face.
  
    Hosts of Eden

    Hosts of Eden

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    Hosts of Eden is a modern radio drama, written and performed by Jay Mcfarland. The 11-part fictional...

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Bombshell (2019) in Movies

Jan 20, 2020  
Bombshell (2019)
Bombshell (2019)
2019 | Drama
Based-on-fact drama exposing the reality of sexual harassment in the American media, from the director of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (feel that cognitive dissonance!). When a broadcaster is hired from right-wing network Fox News, she resolves to sue the founder, causing ructions throughout the organisation. It's actually a bit more wide-ranged and discursive than that, touching on various issues connected to attitudes towards the media and the exploitation of woman. Not explicitly anti-Trump, but the mood music is certainly not supporting him - I doubt many of the red cap brigade will find much here to enjoy.

To be honest, I was kind of expecting something more like The Big Short or Vice - angry and smart, but also blackly funny and formally creative. After a fairly sparky first act this just becomes quite a serious drama about sexual harassment. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but the thing is that it does become a bit issue-led. Some very good performances, though, and the prosthetics are fun too, I suppose (most of these people are unknown in the UK, though - did like Malcolm McDowell's Rupert Murdoch). Very watchable.