Staff Recommendation #40: Psych

On the surface, comedy and murder mysteries are not two genres that seem tailor-made to compliment one another. But there's something about combining the serious with the silly that can make for fantastic storytelling, and if you want a prime example of that concept in action, look no further than the USA series Psych.

The show tells the story of Shawn Spencer, a guy whose freewheeling ways chafe against the rigorous lessons drilled in him by his father, a Santa Barbara police detective. Despite his determination to avoid following in his dad's footsteps, Shawn can't keep from using his own well-honed powers of observation to call in tips to the police for various unsolvable crimes. But when his astute observations seem a little too on the nose, Shawn finds himself a suspect in the very case he was trying to help solve. Panicking, Shawn blurts out the first thing he thinks of: he knows all these details because he's psychic.

It says something about the character that the police find it easier to believe that Shawn's psychic than to credit this irresponsible trickster with a natural affinity for crime solving. But then, that seems to suit Shawn just fine, as he finagles his way into becoming an official consultant to the Santa Barbara Police Department while also opening his own private psychic detective agency.

Roped in for the ride are Gus, his lifelong best pal who is reluctant (at least at first) to get involved in such shenanigans; and Shawn's dad, now retired, who is none too amused at his son's new profession. But Shawn needs all the help he can get to keep the truth from being discovered by Detectives Carlton Lassiter (who can't stand Shawn from the moment they meet) and Juliet O'Hara (who seems a little more inclined to give Shawn the benefit of the doubt). Luckily for Shawn, his sense of humor is as well-developed as his powers of observation, both being important skill sets when you're a fake psychic -- and a real detective.

The show ran eight seasons, making it a daunting task to know precisely where to begin. So if you'd like to start with a sampling, allow me to recommend a few of my favorite episodes:

- Tuesday the 17th (Season 3)

By the show's second episode, Psych had fun setting their mysteries in quirky places (a Civil War reenactment, a reality show set, and a comic book convention, to name but a few). But by Season Three, the show began to push the creative envelope, changing up not just the settings of the story, but the genre of the episodes themselves.

Tuesday the 17th is arguably the first episode where Psych blends its humorous procedural roots with another genre entirely -- in this case, horror movies. Shawn and Gus are called in to find a missing camp counselor at a closed summer camp, only to find themselves being stalked by a psychotic killer (in proper Friday the 13th fashion). The episode retains its signature humor as it plays and twists the tropes of the horror/slasher genre, which sets the stage for a recurrence of genre-bending episodes.



- Extradition: British Columbia (Season 4)

To make a mystery story work, you need a great detective -- but you also need a great villain. This episode introduces one of my favorites: Pierre Desperaux, an international art thief (played with great mischief and humor by Cary Elwes). Being a thief, rather than a murderer, Desperaux's more trickster than bad guy, and Shawn and Gus must decide exactly how far they can trust such a man. That is, when they're not working themselves out of the trouble that Desperaux continually manages to get them into.



- Dual Spires (Season 5)

Series star James Roday (who also wrote a fair few episodes of the show) is a huge fan of Twin Peaks and was the one to pitch the idea of a Psychified version of that show. The result was "Dual Spires," an episode which pays faithful homage to the David Lynch series while still telling an entertaining story in its own right.

Shawn and Gus travel to Duel Spires after receiving a mysterious email invitation to a local festival, only to find themselves trying to solve the mystery of "Who Killed Paula Merral?" ("Paula Marral" being an anagram of "Laura Palmer," of course.) The episode included seven of Twin Peaks' original cast members, including Ray Wise (Leland Palmer), Lenny Von Dohlen (Harold Smith), Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne), and Laura Palmer herself -- Sheryl Lee.



- Right Turn or Left for Dead (Season 7)

A long-running theme of the show was Shawn's ongoing struggle to decide whether or not he should (or could) come clean about his decidedly un-psychic abilities. When the fallout finally hits, things go … rather poorly.

I consistently enjoyed watching the show expand its storytelling techniques the longer it was on the air, but I was particularly impressed with this Season 7 episode, which employed a storytelling tactic rarely seen outside the realms of science fiction: a splintered timeline. As Shawn grapples with the sudden fallout of his exposed secret, an unexpected taxi ride leads him to discover a badly-injured woman by the side of the road -- a person in desperate need of his help.

But the scenario plays out in two timelines, and, in the other, Shawn's secret stays safe -- but there's no one to help the injured woman, whose eventual murder comes to Shawn's attention when he's called in to investigate. Lives are on the line in more than one sense, and the resulting story is one of the most unique episodes of a procedural I've ever seen -- and a creative look at the ways in which our choices have the most unexpected, and powerful, of consequences.



- The Yin/Yang Trilogy (Seasons 3-5)

Psych is not the only show to combine comedy with the mystery procedural, but, being chock-full of murder and mayhem, it generally keeps a sense of serious stakes beneath the show's fun and frivolity. In a handful of episodes, those high stakes come to the forefront -- as best exemplified in the three episodes centered on Mr. Yang, Santa Barbara's resident serial killer.

Serving as the season finales of seasons three through five, Shawn finds himself the focus of Mr. Yang's psychotic puzzle-games -- on an increasingly personal level, as Yang targets Shawn's friends and family alike. The darker subject material allowed the writers and actors to show us other sides of these characters, while giving added weight to what we already know about them. Plus, Mr. Yang ended up being not only one of my favorite Psych villains -- but one of my favorite fictional baddies of all time.



- A Nightmare on State Street (Season 8)

Written by James Roday, the penultimate episode of Psych is one of their all-time weirdest (I mean that as a high compliment). The episode has the unique distinction of being fan-chosen -- it was filmed after the script's synopsis won the most votes in an online contest pitting it against two other possible episodes.

The fans chose well. The episode sees Gus seeking "dream therapy" (the original title of the episode) for a series of recurring nightmares filled with zombies, monsters, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre house. The story neatly interweaves with the episode's requisite mystery, but the murder Gus and Shawn are trying to solve takes a backseat to the more pressing problem of Gus's nightmares. Many of the scenes are shot in a style befitting a horror film -- it's one of the most artistically-done episodes of Psych's run, stylistically-speaking -- which intertwines brilliantly with Gus's struggles to come to terms with how rapidly his life and circumstances are changing around him.

Most shows find it difficult to address the emotional fallout of the major changes their characters face in a series finale, mostly because it's hard to explore the issues of a final episode when there are no more episodes to do so in. Psych solves this problem by devoting their next-to-last episode to that very fallout; when the final episode gives our characters a happy place on which to end their current story, the happiness feels earned as a result.



- The Musical

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, That '70s Show, Grey's Anatomy, Ally McBeal, Northern Exposure, Oz … Doing a musical episode has become something of a rite of passage for many television shows. For a show like Psych, which excels in satire and homages, it would almost have been odder if they hadn't done a musical episode at some point in their run.

Psych: The Musical was done as a standalone special, airing during the show's seventh season. The songs were written by showrunner Steve Franks (along with show composer Adam Cohen) and manage to both pay homage to Broadway musicals while also perfectly encapsulating the spirit of the show. (Not to mention, they're quite catchy.)

Read more about the musical here.

From the Catalog

Request Psych - Season One
Request Psych - Season Two
Request Psych - Season Three
Request Psych - Season Four
Request Psych - Season Five
Request Psych - Season Six
Request Psych - Season Seven
Request Psych - Season Eight

Request Psych - The Musical

Request the book Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting For the Totally Unqualified

-- Post by Ms. B 

Staff Recommendation #39: Cassidy Jones and The Secret Formula

Since becoming a librarian I have read more Young Adult novels than I ever thought I would at this point in my life. Luckily, most of them have been good and some have been outstanding. One such book is Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes.

Several years ago I stumbled upon this book, although now I'm not really sure where I read about it. It was available as a free ebook, so I decided to take a chance. And what a find it was!

Cassidy Jones is like many other fourteen-year-old girls - she has a loving family that gets on her nerves on occasion, she's mostly ignored in school and has a secret crush on a boy who happens to be one of her twin brother's friends. Oh, and now she has super human strength!

Cassidy joins her television reporter Dad when he sets off to the lab of world-renowned geneticist, Serena Phillips, for an interview one day after school. Unfortunately, for Cassidy she doesn't leave that lab the same person. After a freak accident, she inhales fumes from several vials that have been knocked over and end up mixing together.

The next morning Cassidy begins to notice many changes. Her senses and strength have been altered dramatically and soon realizes that she has the speed of a jaguar. She decides to keep her new freakish abilities to herself. To make matters worse, Professor Phillips goes missing!

Then she meets the professor's enigmatic and brilliant fifteen-year-old son Emery. After confiding in Emery, the duo are determined to find Emery's mother which puts them both in danger.

I found Cassidy Jones to be a believable and relatable character even for someone, like me, who hasn't been a teen in a very long time. Cassidy is at an age where so many things are happening in her life and now she has the added burden of super human strength. These new abilities scare her and she behaves as many teenagers would - she keeps it to herself. She doesn't even tell her best friend. Instead she turns to a steady and reliable new friend. It's refreshing to see an author have a boy and a girl be real friends and not automatically turn it romantic.

This is really a story about how a young woman learns to deal with the unexplained changes in her life and the new friend who is helping her through this tough time. Ms. Stokes has given us a young woman who could be a great motivator for anyone, let alone other teens. Cassidy learns that she has courage and integrity. She also learns to rely on herself, but to also lean on others when she needs to.

More than anything, this book, and the continuing series, are just a lot of fun to read. So, if you'd like to check out a young adult book that isn't Twilight, The Hunger Games or The Fault in Our Stars, then be sure to read Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula. You won't be sorry!


The Series:

-- Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula

-- Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift

-- Cassidy Jones and the Seventh Attendant

-- Cassidy Jones and the Luminous

--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #38 -- "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

Films from director Wes Anderson are not to everyone's liking. Until recently, they weren't completely mine either. They've slowly been growing on me and his latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel has made me a convert!

Wes Anderson is a darling of the indie film world with his unique storytelling style. Since his days as a student at the University of Texas, he's been making films; many with his good pal Owen Wilson. Their first collaboration was on a short film called Bottle Rocket (1994) which did well enough at the Sundance Film Festival that they turned it into a full length film which was released in 1996.

Minor successes followed with Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and The Darjeeling Limited (2007). He started getting even more critical and audience attention with the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012).

His latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, stars Ralph Fiennes in one of his finest performances. He plays M. Gustave, the concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, the finest and grandest hotel in Eastern Europe just before the start of the Second World War. He is well loved and respected by the guest and co-workers alike. Young Zero, the new lobby boy, comes to Gustave's attention and he takes the young man under his wing. Gustave plans on grooming Zero to be his successor some day.

Before that can happen, Gustave ends up in jail for the murder of a rich and titled widow who was quite found of Gustave. He must rely on Zero and Zero's girlfriend Agatha, the town baker's assistant, to free him. What follows is a mad cap and zany adventure of jail breaks, shoot outs and a wild race down a ski slope in a sleigh.

Family is a recurring theme in any Wes Anderson film, and this film is no exception. Gustave and Zero form a tight family unit, although more like brothers than father and son. This bond will help them through a few tight spots.

I don't claim to understand the technical aspects of making a film, but I know a unique vision when I see one and Wes Anderson sure has it. An Anderson film has a visual style all its own. He intertwines many different film making techniques into almost everyone of his films, such as stop motion animation, which is used frequently in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I have to admit I'm not very familiar with Anderson's early films. I started to become a fan with Fantastic Mr. Fox and my admiration for his uncommon way of telling a story has continued to grow. The Grand Budapest Hotel, has made me a firm fan of Wes Anderson.

Request The Grand Budapest Hotel [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request Bottle Rocket [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request Rushmore [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request The Royal Tenenbaums [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request The Darjeeling Limited [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request Fantastic Mr. Fox [DVD] from the Catalog.

Request Moonrise Kingdom [DVD] from the Catalog.


--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #37: "Becker"

I like sit-coms, as you've probably gathered. I've mentioned several of my favorites in previous posts: The Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond. 

But I've never actually mentioned my favorite of all sit-coms, and that is the 1998-2004 CBS series Becker.

Becker and friends. 

(It's an unusual picture of Becker: he's smiling.)

Before Dr. Gregory House, there was Becker. A brilliant Harvard Med School graduate who was a rising star in the world of medical research, John Becker gave it all up to open a small family practice in the Bronx. His office is run by Margaret, a good-humored and no-nonsense registered nurse, and Linda, an office assistant whose airhead nature is, fortunately, offset by her big heart.

Aside from the doctor's office, Becker spends plenty of time at a nearby diner. There, we meet Jake, Becker's best buddy, who lost his sight in a car accident when he was a teenager, and Reggie, who serves as both the diner's owner and staff. There's other supporting cast members, too: the patients, the customers, and the people of the neighborhood -- all who, as often as not, end up on the receiving end of one of Becker's tirades.

Because oh, are there tirades. While we're never exactly certain what made Becker turn his back on his rising career in the big leagues for the smaller prospects of an obscure family practice, we can at least be sure his fellow researchers weren't sorry to see him go. If there's one thing you can say about Becker, it's that he is, to put it kindly, an opinionated soul:


"The world is full of idiots, and someone needs to point it out to them or they will never know."

"The [New York City] Marathon just gets my hopes up. At first it seems like 20,000 idiots are leaving the city, but then they just make a big loop and come right back."


"What is the matter with you people?!  This is a movie!  You're here to listen to the actors talk!  That's why the seats face the screen, and not each other!"

"Romance is like the cheese in the mousetrap -- it baits you into position so the cold, metal bar of reality can come down and snap your neck."


"I never told you to shut up."
"You hung up on me once!"
"So I didn't have to tell you to shut up."

"I have this friend -- well, we aren't really friends. We just share custody of an ex-wife."

"If you and I were the only people on the face of the Earth, that would be the only thing we'd have in common."


"That's the problem with the world!  Everybody says, 'Everybody does it,' so everybody does it!"

"Someday you'll look back on this and laugh!"
"Maybe I will. But before then, I will kill you. And then I'll use my powers as a physician to bring you back to life. And then, I will kill you again."


Like Dr. House, it's an almost cathartic experience to watch Becker rant and rave about life's little indignities, which are unfailingly hilarious and utterly relatable. But if there was no more to Becker than frustrated outbursts and angry tirades, I doubt the show would've hooked me. What really made Becker special to me is that our title character has a far bigger heart than his gruff exterior would lead one to believe.

For all his anger, Becker is a guy who genuinely cares -- not just for his patients, but for the friends he's managed to find who can tolerate his rather abrasive personality. (Reggie and Company are all pretty adept at simply ignoring him, which is generally the best tactic for dealing with Becker when he's in full-rant mode.) Many episodes give us an example of Becker acting out of genuine compassion: baby-sitting a neighbor's kids for the evening when she's got nowhere else to turn, quietly paying for a patient's specialist care out of his own pocket, lending a gruff but sympathetic ear to his friends as they navigate through their own struggles. Becker may be an opinionated soul -- but his friends find him worth the rough edges.

Becker himself was not the only engaging character. My personal favorite was Reggie, a former model who's back in New York after inheriting her dad's diner -- and, with it, her dad's most faithful customer: Becker himself. Reggie is a smart, independent thirtysomething who is also confronting the reality of her life not quite turning out the way she had expected it to, and we see her struggle to decide what she really wants for herself and her future.

Real depth of character extended to the rest of the cast and storylines, and such real-world issues as poverty, the AIDs epidemic, race, ableism, and political correctness were tackled throughout the show's six-season run. With its ability to balance the serious with the satirical, the weightiest of issues with the simplest of day-to-day routine, the result was a unique blend of philosophy and fun that I've rarely encountered in other sit-coms.

Besides, we've all got a little bit of Becker in us.

"Just when I think God couldn't screw me any further, He gets out the old Black & Decker and twists a little harder!"

"Interesting. You're being persecuted by a God you don't believe in."

"That's why He's after me, Margaret."

Request the first season of Becker from the Catalog

-- Post by Ms. B 

Staff Recommendation #36: More Neil Gaiman!

"[Gaiman] is, simply put, a treasure house of story, and we are lucky to have him in any media." -- Stephen King

I am a fairly recent fan of Neil Gaiman and have only read a few of his works, but he has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Actually, I was well aware of him for quite some time before I read any of his books. At some point I realized that I needed to stop planning on reading Gaiman and just do it. I'm so glad I did!

While I still have many more of his titles on my to-read list, here are a few that I have already read and have quickly become some of my favorite books. Enjoy!



-- Neverwhere (1997)

This was the first Gaiman book I ever read after a suggestion from a friend. She knew of my interest in parallel and alternate worlds and thought this would be a good way to start reading Neil Gaiman. Unassuming (and somewhat milquetoasty) Richard Mayhew helps a stranger on the streets of London one evening and his life is forever changed. The stranger, Door, takes Richard on an adventure through London Below. To reclaim his life, which mysteriously disappears after his first encounter with Door, he must accompany her on a quest to avenge her family's death. Traversing the long forgotten London, Richard discovers a side of himself he didn't know existed.

Request Neverwhere from The Catalog



-- The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains: A Tale of Travel and Darkness with Pictures of All Kinds (2014)

The Truth Is a Cave In The Black Mountains is a short story first published in Stories: All New Tales in 2010. In August of that year Neil Gaiman read this before a sold out audience at the Sydney Opera House. Along with artwork especially created for the event, Gaiman was also accompanied by a string quartet. In 2014 the original artwork and the story were newly published. This short haunting story is a story of family, a search for a treasure and an otherworldly creature. I enjoyed it so much in book form that I also listened to the audio version, read by the author with the music used for the live performance. It's a fairy tale for adults.

Request The Truth Is a Cave In The Black Mountains from The Catalog

-- American Gods (2001)

American Gods is one of those books I had been hearing about for years, but couldn’t tell you what it was about. Even when I got around to reading it I don't think I was still sure of what I was getting into. But boy was it worth it! American Gods is a great, big epic story of the gods of stories and myths that the many American immigrants brought with them when they landed in this country. It’s also the story of how we have forgotten many of them along the way. Shadow, just released from prison, finds out that his wife has just died in terrible car accident. He then meets Mr. Wednesday who gives him a job and exposes him to a world that he didn't know existed. Shadow then becomes entangled in the battle that has erupted among those forgotten gods with Shadow the key to it all.

Request American Gods from The Catalog


--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #35: "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman

Coraline is best explained as a family horror story. By "family horror story," I don't mean it's a horror story about family -- although it certainly is that, too -- but rather that it's a horror story suitable for (older) children as well as adults of all ages.

It doesn't start out like a horror story. When we are first introduced to Coraline, her life is actually quite boring. She and her family have just moved to a new town, taking up residence in an ancient house known as the Pink Palace. They've got plenty of colorful neighbors, but no one that Coraline really feels she can be friends with -- and even her parents are too busy with their own tasks and concerns to pay her any attention.

But then Coraline discovers a tiny door in the wall, a door that takes her to a very different version of the Pink Palace. In this world, Coraline meets her Other Mother, a sweet and mischievous doppelgänger of Coraline's real mom. Unlike her real mom, though, the Other Mother always has time for Coraline, making up games and shows and favorite foods, all for Coraline's amusement. Even the neighbors are better.

The set-up is all very boilerplate, author Neil Gaiman's own fairytale version of Lucy in Narnia or Alice in Wonderland. But then the Other Mother offers Coraline a way to remain in this new, enchanting world forever -- and suddenly, Coraline finds herself no longer living in a dream world, but facing, and fighting, a monster.

The book was published in 2002, and went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella. It was also released as a film in 2009, directed by Henry Selick (the director behind The Nightmare Before Christmas), and it was as a film that I first experienced the story. It's not a bad place to start; the movie is both a gorgeously-rendered (and brilliantly-acted) film in its own right, while also being spectacularly faithful to the book it's based on.

But however you choose to approach the story, what makes it so special is not the spine-chilling horror elements in and of themselves. Instead, it is in watching Coraline find the courage, determination, and resourcefulness necessary to defeat the darkness. It transforms Coraline from a heartless horror story into a Hero's Journey about facing the monsters and finding your courage. To borrow the quote that opened the book, observed by G.K. Chesterton (as paraphrased by Neil Gaiman):

"Fairy tales are more than true -- not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."

-- Request Coraline from the Catalog

-- Request the Coraline audiobook from the Catalog

-- Request the Coraline film from the Catalog

-- Request the Coraline film soundtrack

-- Request the Coraline musical soundtrack

-- Post by Ms. B 

Staff Recommendation #34: Snowpiercer

I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic/dystopian stories and have been for a very long time. My first post-apocalyptic book I can recall reading was Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien, which is about a young girl who seems to be the sole survivor of a nuclear accident, until one day a man shows up at her house. I suppose as a young person I was impressed by this young woman, not much older than me at the time, who was surviving on her own in a desolate world. Of course, I've read many more since then, with The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood being my favorites.

After watching the recently-released DVD Snowpiercer, I've finally realized what appeals most to me about this genre -- the determination of the human spirit and the will to persevere. There are many other genres that tackle this subject, but dystopian stories resonate with me for some reason. Maybe it's the idea that we hope the future will be bright and shiny-- but here are stories of nuclear destruction, plagues, and war. How did we let this kind of event happen? How can anyone survive such a cataclysmic event?

In the case of Snowpiercer, based on a French graphic novel, the event is a failed attempt to control global warming. Instead of cooling the earth a little bit, it cooled it a whole lot and froze the earth. The lucky few who survive board a train that continually travels the globe, with the wealthy traveling in style and the poor crammed into the last few cars of the train, literally living on top of each other.

There have been several attempts at getting to the front of the train in the 17 years they have been traveling, but they have all failed. Curtis (Chris Evans) is determined to break out and help the rest of those stuck at the back who are eating gelatinous mounds called protein bars. Messages are mysteriously appearing in those bars, but who is sending them and why? With the help of Gilliam (John Hurt), Edgar (Jamie Bell), and many others, they make their break. Will they make it to the front and what will they find if they do?

No matter the circumstances that find humans in a post-apocalyptic situation, they somehow find a way to survive. It may not be a wonderful existence, but they keep battling on, longing for that day when things will get better. While I read and watch, I wonder how I would survive in this kind of world and am constantly amazed by what the people in these stories are willing to sacrifice in order for them and many others to survive. I'm not sure how I would do, but I hope I never have to find out!

Click here to request Snowpiercer [DVD or Blu-Ray].

Click here to request Snowpiercer [graphic novel].

--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #33: The Phryne Fisher Series

Although I am a lifelong fan of mystery stories (with, as you'll recall, a particular love of Sherlock Holmes), I am quite picky when it comes to the type of mysteries I like to read. I insist, of course, on a cracking-good story -- but it's just as important to me that the characters be well-written and engaging. If I'm not interested in the characters, it won't matter how good a puzzle the plot may be.

So finding the Phryne Fisher series has been pretty terrific.

The books are set in the Roaring Twenties -- and, indeed, part of the pleasure of reading them is the amount of research of the period that author Kerry Greenwood has undertaken. Our heroine, Phyrne Fisher, is an aristocrat with an unusual past: she was born into poverty in Melbourne, Australia. Her father had a far-removed relative of nobility, but it wasn't until several of the gentlemen between her father and the title died off that Phyrne's father was able to inherit. Phryne now finds herself with an official title ("the Honourable Phyrne Fisher"), a vast fortune, and a life of opportunities available to her.

After spending some years in London, she returns to Australia at the request of one of her fellow aristocrats, who have hired her to track down their daughter and rescue her from her husband (who they believe may be poisoning her). The case is recounted in the first book in the series, Cocaine Blues, which contains not only a crackling good puzzle with lots of twists and turns, but also introduces the reader to Phryne and her new family. Because, as it turns out, a life in Australia suits Phryne after all.

Phyrne has been described by her author as a female take on James Bond; her skills range from solving mysteries to flying planes. She's poised and eminently stylish, and has a zeal for adventure that befits an unofficial P.I. But she is also possessed of an incredibly huge heart, and she quickly fills her large Australian house with a new family: Dot, her official maid and unofficial "Dr. Watson," who Phryne rescued from a life on the streets; and her two adopted daughters, Jane and Ruth, who she rescues from orphaned poverty and slavery. She also has a romantic interest or three, although Phryne has no intention of settling down ...

It's precisely her mixture of independence and kindness, of stubbornness and compassion, that makes Phryne such a rich and engaging character. It also makes her quite a lot of fun to read about, making the Phryne Fisher series one that any mystery fan may want to take out for a spin.

She also has a tendency to drive too fast. Like, really too fast. Don't try this at home.

Books


1. Cocaine Blues
2. Flying Too High
3. Murder on the Ballarat Train
4. Death at Victoria Dock
5. The Green Mill Murder
6. Blood and Circuses
7. Ruddy Gore 
8. Urn Burial
9. Raisins and Almonds
10. Death Before Wicket
11. Away with the Fairies
12. Murder in Montparnasse
13. The Castlemaine Murders
14. Queen of the Flowers
15. Death by Water
16. Murder in the Dark 
17. Murder on a Midsummer Night 
18. Dead Man's Chest
19. Unnatural Habits
20. Murder and Mendelssohn
- A Question of Death [short story collection]



Television Series

- Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Series One [DVD]
- Series One on Blu-ray

- Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Series Two [DVD]

"He sounds like he might bear more investigation," said Dot.

"Did he fancy her?" asked Ruth. "It might be a tale of forbidden love."

"I swear, Ruth, one day I am going to make a little bonfire of all the romance novels in the world," said Phryne without rancour. "Actually, it would have to be a very big bonfire. Perhaps I could rent a volcano and drop them in from the air. Honestly."

-- from Unnatural Habits

-- Post by Ms. B

Staff Recommendation #32: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm

by Robert Galbraith

Once again J.K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith, takes a look at the world of celebrity in her latest Cormoran Strike novel, The Silkworm. This time she's out to expose the publishing industry, something she knows a thing or two about.

After the successful resolution of the murder of model Lula Landry, Cormoran Strike has almost more cases than he can handle. These cases are nothing like the high profile Landry case, but he's now able to pay off his debts and actually move into a real apartment instead of sleeping in his office. This also means that he's able to keep his new assistant Robin Ellacott despite her fiancé Matthew's misgivings. Matthew still hasn't quite forgiven her for not taking that higher paying human resources job. But Robin is intent on working with Strike no matter what either man in her life thinks.

While Strike is in the midst of dealing with yet another disgruntled spouse, in walks Leonora Quine. A somewhat frumpy looking, middle aged woman who needs help finding her missing husband. Despite her inability to pay him, Strike decides to help her. This is not the first time her husband Owen, a nominally famous author, has gone missing.

As Strike begins his search, he's discovering the seamy side of the publishing industry. The back stabbing, gamesmanship and ruined friendships. Owen Quine was desperate to be famous for his writing so he sets out to write a book betraying everyone he knows from his publisher, to his editor and even to his long-suffering wife. But did he go too far? Strike thinks that Quine might have when he discovers Quine's murdered body posed exactly as described as a body in his manuscript. Now Strike has to determine who knew about Quine's manuscript and when they knew about it.

With the help of his eager assistant Robin, Strike finds the killer in this great new addition to the series. As I wrote in my review of The Cuckoo's Calling, the first in the series, this mystery is once again above average, but nothing outstanding. What sets this series apart are the characters that Rowling has created. As with her Harry Potter series, I think that she is at her best when developing a world and its inhabitants over the long haul. And since it's just been announced that Rowling plans on writing even more books in this series than she did for Harry Potter, this should make all of her fans very happy!


To request The Silkworm click here.

To request The Cuckoo's Calling click here.


--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #31: Veronica Mars

If you are already a fan of the television series Veronica Mars, you will understand the above reference. If not, you really should rectify that!

Veronica Mars, starring Kristin Bell, was a modern day Nancy Drew/high school drama set in Southern California. The show ran for three short seasons (2004-2007), much to the dismay of its many die hard fans.

The first season follows Veronica, her new best friend Wallace and assorted other friends, through the trials and tribulations of dating, homework and plans for the future, all the while trying to solve crimes. The main mystery surrounds the death of her best friend Lily Kane, the daughter of a computer software magnate and the sister of her boyfriend Duncan. Each season featured one season long mystery that Veronica is trying to solve along with a variety of puzzles and problems that her classmates hire her to figure out.

We also get to experience Veronica's life with her single father Keith, a private investigator in Neptune, a fictional suburb of San Diego. Keith is the former sheriff who lost his job over his handling of the Lily Kane murder.

While the show had an early exit, it has lived on in the hearts of its devoted fans. Which also includes creator Rob Thomas and star, Kristin Bell. For many years they attempted to get a movie made, but the studio wasn't willing to spend the money. Then came along this little website called Kickstarter and everything changed. The campaign began on March 13, 2013 at the crowd sourcing site. The goal was $2 million. They reached it in just 10 hours! They ultimately raised over $5 million. 

The film, released in March 2014, was well received by most critics and fans. It picks up the story 10 years after the end of the show with Veronica now living in New York City attempting to land her first job as a lawyer. She returns home to Neptune to help out her ex-boyfriend Logan, who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Along the way she hooks up with many of her old high school friends (and enemies!). The story is continued in a novel Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line from creator Rob Thomas. A second book will be published in the fall.

I missed Veronica Mars the first time around, but I recently did a bit of binge watching and now am a dedicated Marshmallow! The devotion of the cast and the fans intrigued me and once I started watching I could see why. The issues and problems that teens deal with in high school were handled in a realistic manner. Even as an adult I couldn't help but identify with Veronica's feelings of isolation from her former friends and her difficulty making many new ones. 

For many fans the big draw was the turbulent relationship between Veronica and Logan. But for me, the strongest relationship of the show is the one between Veronica and her father Keith. After her alcoholic mother abandons them both, the bond between father and daughter grows even stronger. It was refreshing to see such a solid father-daughter relationship on television. Throughout the series, and the film, they have their differences but their support for each other is unwavering. 

So if you are looking for a well-written mystery/high school drama, look no further than Veronica Mars. You won't be sorry!

From the Catalog: 

- Veronica Mars -- season one [DVD]

- Veronica Mars -- season two [DVD]

- Veronica Mars -- season three [DVD]

- Veronica Mars -- the movie [DVD]

- Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line [book]

--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #30: The Martian by Andy Weir

"Maybe there'll be a day of national mourning for me, and my Wikipedia page will say, 'Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars.' And it will be right, probably. 'Cause I'll surely die here. Just not on Sol 6 when everyone else thinks I did."

As any of our regular readers know, I am a fan of science fiction. But that usually means television. I'm always searching for a great sci-fi read, but I'm very choosey. I like my science fiction to be a bit more science based and I like it be in relation to Earth. The Martian by Andy Weir meets my criteria on both counts.

Set in the near future, The Martian opens with us meeting astronaut Mark Watney six days after being left for dead on Mars. Watney is the engineer and botanist on NASA's second manned mission to Mars. During an escape attempt during a dust storm, Watney gets knocked down from flying debris and assumed dead by his crew mates who must continue on with out him or they will never make it back to the ship.

Watney figures he most likely will be the first man to die on Mars. Everyone thinks he's dead, he has no way to communicate with Earth and even if they did know he was alive, his provisions wouldn't last long enough for a rescue mission to reach him.

But Mark Watney is resourceful, optimistic and determined to live as long as he can.

Told mostly from Watney's point of view through his journal entries, we also get to witness NASA's reaction to this disaster. Through these personal observations we get a chance to see Watney's determination and humor while he tries to survive on Mars.

This is a hard sci-fi book that should appeal to readers who like Michael Crichton as well as Stuart Woods. This is the author's first published novel and he made a determined effort to make everything that happens to Mark Watney as plausible as possible. The suspense and tension of Watney's survival is very compelling. And with his wit and humor you can't help but like and admire Mark Watney.


-- Click here to request The Martian

Click here to see the book trailer for The Martian by Andy Weir

--Post by Tracy

Staff Recommendation #29: Daria

"I'm too smart and too sensitive to live in a world like ours at a time like this with a sister like mine. Maybe I do miss out on stuff -- but this attitude is what works for me now."

From Freaks and Geeks to Friday Night Lights; from Beverly Hills, 90210 to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from The Wonder Years to Smallville -- television shows exploring the trials and tribulations of high school are hardly in short supply. And the variety of approaches that such shows have taken are truly extraordinary, incorporating elements of everything from sci-fi to soap opera.

But for me, there is no show about high school that's quite like Daria.

Daria and Friends

(Such as they are)

The show centers on the title character, a seventeen-year-old high school student whose family has just recently moved to the town of Lawndale. Her family includes her mother, Helen, a workaholic attorney who nonetheless means it when she says that family comes first; and her father, Jake, a slightly-unbalanced but well-meaning consultant, who rarely understands his kids but is always there for them. And then there's Quinn, Daria's younger sister, a materialistic and Popular girl who becomes vice president of her new school's Fashion Club within the first week ... and who has more depth to her than anyone (least of all Daria) might always see. They are characters who contradict themselves, making them a fitting family for Daria herself -- as complex a character as you could ask for.

Filled with biting wit and sarcastic observations, Daria is known as a dorky "brain" at school. She's an outsider to most of her fellow students, and has few friends. Luckily, she's got one -- a best friend, Jane, who comes from her own quirky family and wants to be an artist.

Daria and Jane on a school field trip.

Heavy emphasis on the "field."

There's a lot of reasons to love Daria: she's a reader, a writer, and a person willing to think for herself. But it's also hard not to admire her for her quippy one-liners:


"Sometimes, your shallowness is so thorough, it's almost like depth."

"Do you think if you breathe on me, I might catch your enthusiasm?"

"My biggest fear right now is that I'll wake up and this conversation won't be a dream."

"I've been busy procrastinating all day."

"I don't like kids. I didn't even like kids when I was a kid."

"It never would've worked. I mean, unless I tried, or something."

"There is no moment in life that can't be improved with pizza."

"You're never going to make friends if you keep your nose buried in a book!"
"Let's hope."

Daria and her baby-sitting charges

But Daria isn't quite the cynic she makes herself out to be. She's not miserable or hard-hearted -- she just likes to think for herself. And she knows there's often a price for that -- including the undeniably tough position of not always feeling accepted. "I'm so defensive," she admits at one point, "That I actively work to make people dislike me, so I don't feel bad when they do." Her sarcasm is more of a shield than a sword -- though she's not afraid to wield such verbal weapons as needed when she finds a cause she believes in.

The show, which premiered in 1997 on MTV, ran for five seasons. Throughout its run, Daria faces challenges to her friendships, her relationships, and her own belief system. By the end of the series, Daria is not only graduated from high school and preparing for her first semester of college -- she'd also discovered that it might be okay to leave some of her cynicism behind.

She finds her answers in an unquestionably Daria-ish fashion, and without compromising the core of her wholly unique character. But her unique character is precisely what makes her so easy to relate to -- even after you've left high school behind.

Request Daria: The Complete Animated Series from the Catalog here

-- Post by Ms. B