Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

It is the end of the month so this is where I reveal some stuff I have read throughout the month.

Hello all. After having watched all the episodes of Death in Paradise series 2, I am going to be rating them all and ranking them from my most favourite to least favourite just as I did with the series 1 episodes. First of all though, it is confession time. I struggled a little in trying to rank the series 1 episodes of Death in Paradise. Series 2 was much more exciting to me. Anyway, let us get into it. 2, 1, 7, 5, 3, 4, 6, 8. 1st place: Episode 2 - An Unholy Death. To me the best episode is the second one where religion and sin collide in this excellent episode. I love the idea of this phantom nun that people claim to have seen. It is no surprise that this annoys Richard who wastes no time in dismissing such a claim. The episode was filled with moments that made me gag. The secrets were all juicy! What an episode this was! Nothing failed to disappoint me. I will never forget it when someone tried to strangle the Mother Superior, sister Anne. Oh crikey! Then later on in the episode ho...

Deceit, revenge and silencing continue as I review series two of Robert Thorogood's Death in Paradise . Immediately we open up with a wealthy man being stabbed in the back in episode one. Seeing the floral love heart with the knife through it really felt symbolic of the episode in a way. Richard struggled to muster up a loving feeling for the voodoo festival of love relating to Erzulie, the goddess of love while Camille was set up on a date by her mother. The loving theme present throughout the episode was contrasted with a theme of hatred evident with the bickering family of the deceased. I enjoyed this episode, seeing the family's problems and secrets. Funny how the ex-wife screamed at the discovery of his death but not the current wife. Their characters added to all the family backstory which provided me with clues to solve this case. The best bit though was the doctor finding the victim because I thought that regardless of who the killer was, the doctor could not be immedia...

Hello everyone. I was looking at potential bookshops to visit on a day out I was due to go on. Despite the fact that I never went out where it was a few of us considered going to, I still remember a bookshop I had come across. I found a bookshop which I wish I could have gone to because not only does it seem cool, but it also fits the theme of the month. What are the chances? For over forty years, Kim's bookshop has been offering what appears to be a mix of second-hand books with something to suit everyone. The other thing here, that is important is how they consider themselves to be "book detectives" and will try to track down rare books, first-hand editions or other books you want, if you are having trouble finding something. Just the thought of that sounds incredible. Currently they have one shop in the West Sussex town of Arundel. They did use to have another shop in the not-too-far-away coastal city of Chichester, West Sussex's only city. However, that closed dow...

Now I know she only appeared in one episode but Detective Sergeant Angela Young basically was an alternative version of Richard, only a hundred times more irritating. How can that be? Yes Richard can a bit annoying at times but this D. S Young was driving me somewhat mad! As soon as she started she just chucked all of Richard's things aside as if she was in charge now and he was gone for good. Eugh! Then I had to put up with her disorganised way of trying to solve the crime (which totally backfired on the whole team). She missed clues that could have helped her. Honestly, I was wishing that Camille would just return so that we could hopefully get a correct result sooner rather than later. Instead we spent the episode stuck with her! It says something when Dwayne and Fidel are trying to think like Richard. That never  happens. Richard did a much better job and he was in bed - sick! Thank heavens I only had to put up with her for one episode. Until next time, Thomas (they/them).

After giving you all my verdict on Detective Inspector Charlie Hulme last Friday, I decided it was time to the same for Detective Sergeant (D.S.) Lily Thompson. Now what words could be used to sum up D.S. Lily Thompson? Sneaky, unassuming and quiet. She was the one that no one saw coming. Well... I did not straight away but after thinking about things in some more depth, I quickly arrived at some answers I wanted. The thing is that Lily does not seem out of the ordinary and when she attends the crime scene in episode one, this just seems natural. Dwayne has his attention elsewhere so Lily just goes instead. Here's the thing though - she did offer. It was not as if there was any reluctance on her part. However, that can be put down to being a keen and thorough police officer just doing her job properly. Once the end of the episode arrived and the truth all came spilling out, some things made a lot more sense to me. I understood what she said but did I have any sympathy for what she ...

Welcome back to my blog people. I decided I wanted to do a post dedicated to Detective Inspector Charlie Hulme who we said goodbye to in the first episode of Robert Thorogood's Death in Paradise  (2011-) television series. D. I. Charlie Hulme was a likeable character who you never would think could have any enemies. I certainly liked him for the short and brief moments we did see him for. One thing that stood out to me was his choice of clothing. Imagine working on a Caribbean island as the most senior police officer of the police team and wearing a Hawaiian shirt in bright red. That there is a man who knows how to have fun and be a party animal when he wants to be. Look at his successor Richard Poole. For me the stark comparison of this bright, colourful and charismatic personality of Charlie's, with the moody, at times arrogant and somewhat dull personality of Richard was a clincher. Seeing the difference made me appreciate D. I. Hulme a lot more. Therefore, despite not disli...

For today's blog post I will get to the bottom of the different sub-genres of the crime and mystery genres. There are a few so I will go through and explain some of the main ones here. 1: The classic whodunnit. A whodunnit features a detective or similar character who solves a crime that has been committed by looking for clues to determine means, motive and opportunity. A classic example of this would be the Hercule Poirot stories by well-known crime author Agatha Christie. 2: Locked room mystery. This is a subgenre in which a crime such as a murder is committed inside a locked room and whoever is solving the crime must work out how it was committed inside the locked room. One example of this would be The Tokyo Zodiac Murders (1981) by Soji Shimada. 3: Cosy crime. This is a subgenre which infuses some comedy into the crime to make it more humorous or heartwarming. The Shakespeare and Hathaway  television series is a  clear example of the cosy crime subgenre . 4: Noir. Noir i...

Welcome everyone... Today I am going to go through every episode of Death in Paradise series one, placing them from my most favourite to my least. I shall also rate each episode out of ten. Please do be mindful that though I have tried my best to avoid giving any, there might be some spoilers included here... 1st place: Episode 2 - Wicked Wedding Night. This episode was thrilling and entertaining; it had it all! You take a family on the day of a wedding, with various secrets, desires and greeds... What do you get? A bride plunging to her death, having been murdered on her wedding day, and just after she's got married. The episode started off great because as a viewer, I witnessed the poor victim falling from the hotel room. This was also witness by Camille and Richard after she followed him while he searched for a good cup of tea. For them to witness the bride falling to her death, you would think some sort of clue might be there. Of course not because that would be too easy! Still...

Hi all. Sorry I am late posting by 30 minutes than originally planned. The internet went and I have only just got it sorted. However, here I begin with my first review of the month. As we examine the collection of Robert Thorogood, we are presented with his Death in Paradise T.V series. I am giving you series 1 which opens to show Detective Inspector (D.I) Charlie Hulme. Now I am going to try not to give any major spoilers as I review the series but bare in mind that sometimes it will be hard not to mention things... I liked how we started off the first episode with what appeared to be a casual cosy crime drama on a sunny Caribbean island. When I saw this episode I expected something to happen but certainly not what did. Now let me point out that when I watched this episode, identifying the killer was an easier one for me. This is because for me, there was an obvious clue. Here I thought this was cleverly done and was unsuspecting regarding the actions committed by certain people. The ...

The crime genre, mystery genre and thriller genre are three literary genres that sometimes people might confuse with one another. You yourself might have thought them one and the same. But there are differences between the three genres. Here I will cross-refence the facts and the clues to provide you with some clarity should you be unsure. I shall start by defining each one... Crime: The crime genre focuses on someone committing a crime who a law-abiding figure of justice (and sometimes of authority) tries to stop them before they can continue committing further crimes. Often this heroic figure of justice and the crime-committing villain are enemies though not always. One thing they do have in common is clashing with opposing views such as that of morality. Take Batman and The Joker as a example in popular culture - these two are archenemies of each other and have views that completely differ. Batman wants justice and a fair society with peace. On the other hand, The Joker is out to ca...

Hello all. For today's post, I am going to delve into the origins of the crime and mystery genres. You might be wandering by whom did the crime and mystery genres start with? How long has it been around? Let me tell uncover the truth... The ideas of crime and mystery have been around for a long time with The Arabian Nights collection of tales which included murder in the story 'The Three Apples'. This collection of tales seem to have been from various authors across centuries. The thing is that there is not a single, clear author or date for this collection of Arabian tales. Though this collection offered murder, it was in 1841 that brought about what is considered the first modern detective story. In 1841, Edgar Allan Poe published the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in Graham's magazine. This is considered the first modern detective story. Allan Poe was well known as fundamental in the Gothic horror genre but was lesser known in his role starting modern th...

Hello all, it is a mystery to me as to why books are undervalued. We are sucked in by social media and technology and wander if it not too much. I must admit that I make this statement, typing to you while using an electronic device. That in itself begs the question - when are we not "glued" to our screens as it were. Think about it. Do you wake up in the morning and immediately check your phone all the time? Sometimes there is good reason but sometimes you do just because. I am not judging though but I just question whether books can be considered and not ignored as much unlike social media. Plus, a good book can put you in a good mood or a calmer one. I know it has for me! I know some people cannot read but I think for those who can then definitely, why not pick up a book? You never know you might find that you enjoy it. This is just one of my mysteries that I shall be highlighting across this month and August. Until next time, Thomas.

As today is the first of the month, that means I have a new author of the month on my blog. Further to this, I also have a new theme of the month for July and August. The theme of the month for both July and August is going to be crime/mystery. I shall be looking forwards to trucking into a bit of plotting, killing, stealing and whatever else is in store for me. Now as for author of the month I was unsure at first who to pick from as there were a few I was torn between. One author who has created books and TV shows too, stood out to me. Therefore I settled on choosing Robert Thorogood for author of the month. He probably most well known for creating the Death in Paradise TV series along with some Death in Paradise novels and two spin off TV shows - Beyond Paradise and Return to Paradise. He also has his book series The Marlow Murder Club which he writes and an accompanying TV series which he also made. So here we are in July with criminals and detectives on the way... I hope you all ha...