Murder Mystery Archives - K.J. McFadyen

Three Pines is a murder mystery series by Louise Penny. These books have now been turned into a TV series. I haven’t seen the entire series, as it is coming out in sections. But I have seen the first four episodes of Three Pines, which seems to cover two books.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Image from the internet.

I feel I should take a moment to make a disclaimer: I read one book in this series and it was not the first book. So I don’t know anything about Three Pines or Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his detective team. I don’t know how accurate the TV episodes are to the book series. I can say that I like what I am currently watching. The series takes place in Quebec, in a small town outside of Montreal. Since the main character is part of the police, he speaks French. Recognizing the largely English audience, most of the dialogue is in English – but not all. They still switch to French on a regular basis – which I find helps to reinforce the characters and world building. Also the French is subtitled so I can actually follow what is being said. Oftentimes these are background comments being made that enhance the flavour but not the plot. For instance, the assistant constable calls for additional support from Headquarters when a body is found in French at the end of a scene. Even if you don’t read the subtitles, you are not missing out on important information.

The village locals meeting at the bookshop – totally not suspicious! Image from the internet.

The current pattern as each mystery requiring two episodes to solve. However, in the background, there is another case that the detectives are slowly working on. I think this is to provide an overreaching narrative to the series. Interestingly, they have decided to tackle the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women. Infact, the creators have leaned in heavily to the conflict between colonists and First Nation People in Canada. I don’t know how much is true to the books and how much is being added to reflect current times, but it is interesting to see discussion about residential schools and the lasting harm they caused brought into more mainstream TV. I cannot speak for anyone but myself, however, it seems they are presenting these issues in a meaningful and thoughtful manner. It certainly adds the feeling of relevance to the series that I don’t get with most cop shows on TV – which are generally pure escapism from reality.

The acting is good. There is certainly a range of colourful characters existing in the small village of Three Pines. Though much like Midsommer (England), it is not a place I want to live for there are far too many murders! 🙂 I do like the show and happily give it 4.5 stars out of 5. For a cop drama, I think it is just different enough to make it interesting and just similar enough to make it fun to watch.

I confess, I am late in writing my review of the Glass Onion. See, I saw the movie (in theaters) in November, but that was also the month I participated in Nanowrimo and I got sick. It was a busy month, so here I am quite late but still wanting to share my opinion of the movie: It was Great!

This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Edward Norton, Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, and Daniel Craig in a scene from “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” (Netflix via AP)

I really enjoyed Knives Out. It wasn’t perfect – but nothing ever is. There were some distinct flaws to Knives Out, but I liked that old-time murder mystery feel to it. It was like an Agatha Christie mystery, but new and modern. One of my biggest complaints about Knives Out was that it had an amazing caste of characters, but ditched them about half way through the film. This is one area I think the sequel did better.

The Glass Onion has an amazing caste of characters and actors to portray them. And this time, all the key characters get lots of screen time. This made the Glass Onion so much better than Knives Out. By far the best of them is Janelle Monae – she gives the most amazing performance. And since I really don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of the film, I wont say anymore – but gosh she was brilliant!

Really, Knives Out was the better movie title. The Glass Onion sounds silly to me.

While it is true that Danial Craig’s southern accent for Benoit Blanc wavers in and out, he still plays the detective quite well. Benoit has all the self-confidence of a classic, world-famous detective. He can even back up some of his boasting with the ability to notice details.

It was also really interesting watching a movie that so clearly referenced the pandemic and some of the impacts it had on society. In fact there are a number of modern issues that run though this movie placing it nicely in current times, while still having a classical flare to the filming and script. It was really well done and easily deserves 4.5 stars out of 5 (because I am feeling slightly too stingy to give out perfect scores!).

Oh, so what is the plot of the Glass Onion? Well, I don’t really want to give too much away. But it follows a group of old friends, from different walks of life, getting together for a weekend on a private island. It is a murder mystery – so death is involved. Really, for more information, you should watch the movie. I know I am definitely going to see it again!