Miss Otterbourne is right. I love to talk. I am vain, you see. I love people to hear me bring the solution to a crime and say, “See, how clever is Hercule Poirot!”
I really loved the latest Kenneth Branagh Agatha Christie movie - Death on the Nile. Branagh really shows another side to the famous detective Hercule Poirot that I haven’t seen before. Bravo!
As much as I’m vocally not a fan of the CW’s drama shows whole aesthetic for the most part in addition to the issues with representation and such, I still think that it’s weird that rather than making a show based around Zatannaor someone investigating spooky crimes, they instead had to bolt spooky crimes onto other preexisting characters who notably dealt with more mundane fare.
Like the Nancy DrewandHardy Boys shows. What was wrong with them solving actual mysteries and crimes, a la Veronica Mars, why add ghosts and stuff?
Or is it because these days when networks make mystery shows they always seem to become a murder-a-week series rather than investigating interesting thefts or whatever. Kind of wonder if the reason why they focus on murders (specifically rich people killing other rich people) is because they want clean resolutions carefully removed from any social or economic issues that may have led to said crime being committed in the first place.
Hence why shows about heists and vigilante conmen like the UK’s Hustleor that Leverageshow tend to be more on the rare side ‘cause they actually focus on how the harm being perpetrated by the wealthy on a regular basis has wider reaching social harm than, say, any given story of one rich person getting murdered by another for whatever petty reason.
this was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my LIFE
Cabbot Cove
No violent pre-meditated murders here for
15
10
5
0 days
You know, I just realized something. The series is called “Murder, she wrote” in English, right? And you know that theory about how she’s actually the killer in all of her cases (since people always seem to die when she’s around)?
Well, in the german dub they translated the show as “Mord ist ihr Hobby”, which literally means “Murder is her Hobby”. Which implies her being a very different sort of person.
HOW MANY HAS SHE KILLED
You can’t even just look up the number of episodes, because there are plenty of episodes where two, three, even four people get offed!
Mrs. Fletcher, the Harbinger
I have no proof for this at all, but my theory is the Jessica Fletcher is either a manifestation of Death, or is beloved by death. The action of her husband’s death forms the primium mobile of the series. It is his death that compels her to write her first murder mystery, and it is only after her death that, seemingly, her life becomes peppered with dead bodies. Please remember that the first horseman of the apocalypse in Revelation carries a bow, although he himself does not do the killing, he is only there to conquer, but death follows after him. Her last name means ‘maker of arrows.’
There appears to be a supernatural myopia surrounding the frequency of the murders. The seemingly quaint town of Cabbot Cove, ME, population nobody, has several murders a year. The per-capital murder rate is astronomical, but nobody seems to be aware of this. Likewise, whenever she leaves town, somebody dies. It’s never someone she loves directly, although persons she love may become caught up in the aftermath, falsely accused of murder.
Jessica appears to be unaware of the strangeness of all of this as well. This implies either 1. She is similarly under the same supernatural effect that is cast upon ever other person she is around, or, 2. She is play acting.
So, upon the death of her husband, the close association with death did one of two things – it attracted Death to her, and Death as a metaphysical force, enjoying her company, chooses to kill off dozens so that it may remain near her until finally she falls into her end, OR the experience awakened something inside of her/Death overshadowed her being, and now she has become an embodiment of Death, a sort of psychopomp for death-by-murder, with the rest of the world unaware of the sudden shift in policy.
I saw the phrase “primium mobile” and I knew I was in for a fucking ride.
One of my favorite tropes in murder mysteries is when the cops become aware of the detective’s status as a Mystery Magnet. The amateur sleuth is in town? Better make sure there’s room in the morgue!
At some point, surely someone must notice the pattern… right? Note: Beginning slightly edited for clarity.
##
It took a while, but I’ve convinced Maggie to tell me when she goes out of town. I’ll feel better, I say, if I know for sure where she is when a body makes the news.
Which is true, of course. The sheer frequency with which that little lunatic does it keeps me awake at nights. But it also enables me to take certain precautions.
Like this one.
“Hello, Branford County Police Station, Constable Ford speaking.”
“Hello, Constable Ford, this is Detective Inspector Winsbury. I’m going to need to speak to whoever is in charge there about a possible murder.”
As usual, there was some back and forth at that point, but eventually I got through to an Inspector. “What do you mean, a possible murder?!” he asked, irritated.
“Just what I said. Tell me, Inspector, have you ever had dealings with an amateur detective? The real thing, I mean. The genuine Carrion Crow.”
His tone went from hostile to guarded. “I’ve… heard some things. Never met one.”
“You’re about to. Mine’s visiting Branford, ostensibly to see an old school friend, and I wouldn’t bet you the price of a beer that she’s not going to show up to report a murder within a few days.”
“You can’t possibly - “
“Her count’s at fourteen, to my certain knowledge.”
I’m not really sure what kind of books you’re interested in, but these are the ones I’ve read would recommend you guys check out. Some are fun, some are more serious.
Mercy Thompson novels by Patricia Briggs - heavy on werewolves, but the main character is a coyote shifter who often ends up in dangerous situations and ends up solving crimes, usually in an effort to help her friends. (the books do deal with heavy topics, including sexual assault, so please proceed with caution).
The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger - a lot more fun and lighthearted that Patricia Briggs, also heavy on werewolves and vampires. The main character has to solve a mystery of dying vampires to cover her own butt because people thing she’s at fault because she’s Soulless, and typically her kind being immune to supernatural charms are considered dangerous.
White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland - starts off fun and then gets more serious. The MC is a loser drug addict who suddenly finds herself turned into a zombie and mysterious person is basically helping her adjust to a new life. There’s a serial killer on the loose.
Jane Jameson and the Naked Werewolf books by Molly Harper – very fun and romancy series, Jane becomes a vampire and has to solve a mystery to cover her own butt cause someone keeps murdering people, and Naked Werewolf is about werewolves and someone killing people.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo - the MC is a survivor of a mass homicide, has special abilities to see ghosts, attends Yale thanks to a mysterious benefactor with a task to monitor the secret societies. Very dark academia.
If anyone has other suggestions, drop them in the comments.
